What to do? Grind or rescue?

I've been trying to read and google, and theres a ton of information on here and ya'll are freaking great at helping out and giving advice, but honestly a lot of it gets complicated to understand for fairly new players. Theres a lot of advice and talk about things that I don't even know what it is, how to get it, what it does, etc., so bear with me if I don't quite understand what some of you are talking about.

I'm currently rocking a Viper MK4, decently set up for a Viper (I think). I have a few engineered things, but lack a lot of materials to engineer beyond what I have.

2x small 1G Burst Lasers, Efficient
2x medium 2F Multi-cannons
3A Power Distro, Shielded
4A Power Plant, Overcharged
4A FSD
3C AFMU
1l Military Hull
3D Hull Reinforced
Ol Point Defense
Just over 5mil credits (not much to work with for a better ship and rebuy)

Originally I wanted to get to Sol, and eventually get a Corvette, so I've been grinding to get materials and federal rep/rank but haven't made it far yet, but now with the Thargoids I've been thinking of getting involved and maybe running rescue missions though I know my Viper isn't the best option.

Do I strip my ship and store my modules, install heatsinks and passenger bays and run rescue missions?

Or

Do I keep grinding on my current path and hopefully be capable of helping more when the rest of the Stargoids arrive? I suspect they will place themselves all over the bubble in critical systems (thats what I would do, send one Stargoid in first to test defenses and distract them, while strategically placing others in critical areas while they are focused and massing on the first threat), so eventually I'll be in the middle of it all regardless.