There we go, two damaged stations, both with Fed factions, but Sosong has 3 Fed factions, so that's our focus. However, these tips can apply to any rescue runs (even Imperial!)
First: how to find damaged Fed stations? Use that link above. From the list, click on the system, not the station. Scroll down and you'll see a list of factions in the system. Sosong has 3 Federation aligned factions, better odds for any wannabe Rear Admirals out there. The damaged station is Dzhanibekov Station, easy enough. Didio only has one Fed Faction. Tough luck for Laumer Orbital, maybe next time.
Second: get a rescue ship. This is mine:
Why Python? It's a good balance of small and maneuverable, with lots of internal space. You can start with a Dolphin (and discover one of the only places you can overheat it), or go with a bigger ship if you prefer. Just be warned, large ships, especially the T-9/10 takes care and precision to get in and out of the mail slot. Even the Anaconda isn't a picnic if you've never manually docked it. If you're not already used to manually docking a big ship, now is not the time to start (or at least, practice in a non-burning station).
Note: You don't really need to worry about matching my example Core Internals, which are setup here to work with Ribgo Runs. All you need (aside from the usual A rated FSD) is an A rated power plant to fight heat. No need to downsize anything or engineer anything if you're not comfortable or don't have the resources. Ignore any steps if you know what you're doing is better.
I prefer a docking computer and SCA for the Search and Rescue Ship back and forth, but these are obviously optional (the damaged station does not have autodock support anyway). The slots are small enough not to make a huge difference either way.
What you do need if you are building your own ship:
- Fill the utility slots with heat sinks
- Bring a small shield, you will get bumped around (although explosions are safe without shields, the problem is when they throw you into a wall or debris)
- Get an A rated power plant
- Fill up all remaining optional internals with only economy cabins
What's optional if you want to collect cargo and materials for extra missions:
- 32 T of cargo space (more is fine but unnecessary, while less means you'll definitely need to pick and choose)
- A 3D collection limpet controller (or 1D if you are going with less cargo — I found my heat sinks last long enough to land and take off later with 32 T and 2 collectors, which is above the most cargo you can expect to find. If you go with fewer collectors, you won't have time to collect 32T worth of stuff)
- Stock yourself with 4 limpets
Third: Run some rescues!
Start by going to the damaged station. Enter the station with docking permission. Hang out in the central station corridor, away from walls.
Optional: Launch your collectors and let them go. We won't have as much time when leaving, so we use the longer docking clock to collect things. Pop heat sinks right when you hit 100% heat (a little late is fine). Do not wait too long! Sure, you can take the damage, but one of the first things to fail will be your cargo hold, at which point, it'll start dumping cargo. Sounds fine? Not when you get fined! You'll get hit with a littering fine and have to go to the S&R ship to clear it. Waste of time!
When you've filled your hold, have 2 heat sinks left, or have 2 minutes left to dock, (or aren't collecting cargo) it's time to land! You'll likely need at least one heat sink to land.
If you're not confident you can dock well, give yourself more time or skip the cargo collection to figure out how much time you do need to land.
Once you lock onto the pad, you don't have to worry about heat until you take off again.
Pick passengers starting with the Fed factions! First, pick the biggest Rep+++ rewards, this gets you Fed rank. More pluses more better! If there's a tie, pick the smaller group. 3 passengers giving Rep+++ is the same reward as 20 passengers giving Rep+++.
If you run out of Rep+ rewards, fill up your ship with the smallest groups first, then big, then whoever can fit.
If you run out of Fed passengers, go ahead and fill your ship. Get the cash or material rewards or whatever you like from them. This can be really good for collecting engineering materials, too.
Leave to the rescue ship. You'll need at least one heat sink to escape, but one should be enough.
When you dock at the rescue ship, unload passengers first. There are bonuses (mostly cash though, but still).
Optional: This is how I do it, I get mission to match the cargo I have, not the other way around. After passengers, go to Missions. Look for Rep++ rewards first, then look for matches with cargo you have. Pick any mission that matches, and turn it in immediately. You'll likely end up with a few unmatched items. You can turn these in for a pittance to Search & Rescue, or better, keep them for your next run and next trip back. There's a balance here to figure out. Mission RNG, cargo RNG, and all that will ensure you can't empty your hold with missions on every trip. Sometimes you'll need the space over hoping there's going to be 1 more Black Box on your next trip. Sometimes you might want to pick a mission because you're close already. Only do this if the Rep+++ reward is good enough to hold onto. Abandoning missions won't hurt your rank, but can hurt your rep, which can be catastrophic (in terms of getting fast rank here) if you do a lot of them.
And I think that's it. Repeat the cycle and in a few hours, you'll be at Rear Admiral.
But wait, what about ranking up? Well, naval rank missions won't be available at the damaged station or rescue ship, so ignore the desire to "catch up." Wait until you are about done for the day, find a nearby Fed system, and do your rank ups all at once. If you didn't hit Rear Admiral, you know what to do next time. If you hit or pass it, go enjoy your new Corvette.
