After running most of the build for the Power distributor and the Beam laser, I decided to take some time out and go and pay my respects to CMDR John Jameson at the Crash site on HIP 12099 - 1b. It was a humbling experience to see the grave of the pioneer commander and one so well known to Every pilot, whether Federation, Imperial or Alliance. O7 Commander and rest in peace. Your memory will live on. !(https://inara.cz/data/gallery/114/114330x1482.jpg)

The Tuscan Explorer is coming along nicely as far as the elements of the build are concerned. Thrusters, Power plant and FSD are all in place, as are Beam lasers and a fragment cannon for defence and all the relevant mining equipment except the refinery. I need to figure out where on earth I am going to put that, and still keep as much as possible of the build I have already done. Shield boosters, point defence and a pulse wave analyser have filled all the Utility mounts, so I have good shields even before engineering them.

Remaining items are a guardian FSD booster, Guardian Plasma charger and a guardian fighter for the hangar bay. I also need to upgrade my shields to prismatic ones. Once all that is in place, then the engineering can continue, though I will still need to do all the work to get invites from the relevant people.

Need to build the list of who I need to see and in what order and of course, what they want for the pleasure of their services.

To be honest, i am not happy in the bubble. I want to be back out in the black, exploring new worlds and mapping previously unknown systems, of which there are so many. Who knows what lies out there on the outer rim. I want to travel like the old lady mentioned in "Reclamation" by Drew Wagar. I want to see things out there that no one else has ever seen. I hope it comes soon! I want to be back out in the void, where my footprint is the first human print on that landscape.

It seems that getting Painite is almost impossible, so I am going to have to mine it, but after a serious attack on the Tuscan Explorer (Anaconda) that left me with only 12% hull, I think I need to try to improve my ship in attack as well as defence. I have picked up a little Dolphin to Visit Engineer Liz Ryder. Then I realised that she required you to have a Cordial relationship with the Eurybia Blue Mafia, who are currently on a war footing with the Imperials. Why is life for an explorer never easy? I am going to do a few mission to get the cordial relationship, then I am out of the Eurybia system. Far too dangerous for someone like me.

With the requisite 500 tonnes of minerals mined, I have received a communication from Selene Jean, inviting me to pay her a visit at her planetary outpost in the Kuk system. However the request also included a few of 20 tonnes of painite to allow access to her workshop. Believe it or not, finding someone to sell me painite is harder than signing a mining contract with the Thargoids. You find someone who sells it and head there only to find they have run out,or go to a fleet carrier that won't let you dock. Tomorrow I will get it sorted, even if I have to mine it myself!

With the plan to use the Krait for exploring shelved, I have sold the Krait Mk. II and transferred the name and ID to the Anaconda.

Mining has been a little easier today. I have managed to deliver 200 tonnes of mined material to Song Tzu, so I am halfway to my 500 Tonne target to being granted access to visit Engineer Selene Jean. Only one person decided to take a pot-shot at me today, after I refused to give up my goods to him. He regretted it and is no more! Two other tried in interdict me on the way back to Song Tzu, but I was able to evade them easily and deliver my cargo. I love watching the limpet drones scurrying off to collect the fragments for me; their movement is almost a choreographed dance which when you are aligned correctly, you can also see in shadow play on the asteroid. I will continue mining tomorrow and hopefully reach the required target then I'll be off to see Selene, once I have bought her a gift of 20 tonnes of Painite.

After yesterday's dismal attempts at mining in the Type 6 and getting shot at every few minutes, I have decided to get a Federal Drop ship and equip it for mining. There is also enough power in the ship to at least have a few weapons as well to defend myself. Mining in the bubble is a nightmare, so I have headed out about 100 LY to Col 285 Sector PS-T d3-98.

Here I have found a quiet ring around an S-1 Gas giant and, staying away form any hotspots, I have been able to mine for Rutile, Bauxite, Gallite etc. I have 100 tonnes of cargo space, so once I am full, I will head to the neighbouring system of Song Tzu where there is an orbiting outpost that has a commodities market, so hopefully I will be able to sell everything there.

Pending no problems, I hope to have my 500 tonnes gathering fairly quickly... with any luck that is.

I never wanted to be a miner. I still don't, but it is necessary to unlock Selene Jean the engineer. I bought a heavy ship with loads of mining lasers and limpets and, of course, a refinery, which I almost forgot! I headed out to an asteroid belt and started to mine. There weren't many ships around, but I still got attacked more than once. I headed off to a resource field in the rings of a gas giant. Attacks continued from NPCs. How do you guys put up with the constant hassle? I have done defence runs in mining areas to defend the miners, but I was not fortunate enough to have those come and defend me (except for the brave police on some occasions). I have to mine 500 tonnes of material; so far I have managed about 20. I have a long way to go, so... O7 to all miners!

I have spent the day researching ships and found the best build is actually with a engineered Anaconda, so I am going to do that by unlocking the various engineers I need to create the build. So far I have done some minor combat in the Krait to unlock, even though i did not really need him, but needed those beneath. To access Selene Jean, I need to mine about 500 tonnes of ore, just to get an appointment, so building a reliable Cobra Mk.III to do that. Must remember to take her some painite in payment.

This is to strengthen the lightweight alloys on the hull.

Headed on the the Guardian site at Synuefe NL-N c23-4 and after at 3 least attempts, I finally got a guardian blueprint Module component. Heading back to get it unlocked and to replace the 8 HM shock mounts I lost yesterday at the White dwarf. Once I have them I will be able to to add the Guardian FSD booster. After that, I'll decide on what other things to add and whether to stay with the Krait, or add another ship to the Fleet, possibly something Imperial. I'll definitely look at all the specs and decide the best way forward with regard to speed and jump capability as well as module capacity, As I am finding the Krait highly manoeuvrable, but lacking in available module space!

The Tuscan Explorer is now fully equipped, but on heading out on its maiden Voyage, I took it too close to a White Dwarf and the ship was destroyed.

With the insurance paid, I set off again, and made it eventually to a guardian site. Then, whilst exploring, the first of my SRVs was destroyed by heavy fire from a pair of sentinels. One more left to try to get the blueprint, but I have not found any of the towers.

All-in-all, a very frustrating day!