Finally got myself into an Asp Explorer and got the FSD decently upgraded. I'd heard good things about doing Sothis runs, so I headed out that way.
That was...an adventure.
I didn't really do enough research before I set out, and discovered about ten to fifteen jumps in that Sothis is surrounded by quite a bit of...nothing. I was beginning to worry that I'd run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere until I found an inhabited system I could just reach and get my fuel tanks topped up. (Foothold Orbital in Takurua, you are getting a Christmas card this year.)
I finally made it to Sothis, and spent a little while shuttling data back and forth between there and Ceos to get in good with the locals, and just today took on a few missions to ship hydrogen fuel and biowaste four-hundred-odd light years back towards the bubble. The payouts were too good, so I bought myself a fuel scoop and off I went.
Adventure time again.
Turns out I didn't pay close enough attention while shopping, and the fuel scoop I bought (the only one the station had available) was the smallest, cheapest one that didn't actually consist of me rolling down a window and holding a small pitcher in the stream of hydrogen going past. I discovered this when I started running low and trying to scoop fuel, only to find it was like trying to drink a super-thick milkshake through a coffee stirrer. I could technically have filled my tank back up, but I think the star would have actually burned out first.
Back to the galaxy map again, where I managed to find a route with enough fuel stops along the way to keep me from getting stranded. (Seriously, if they sold "I *HEART* TAKURUA" bumper stickers for your ship, I'd buy one.)
I made it to my three destination systems, immediately buying a much better fuel scoop, and turned in my deliveries. I made over eight million credits. Eight. Million. FOR HYDROGEN AND SPACE POOP, YOU GUYS.
Now I'm going to turn back around and do it all over again, because I am building the legend of Mr. Bad Example, Masochist Space Trucker Who Is Not Very Good at Planning.