More trip reports:
I finally got a colony going and I've had a "perfect drink" and "VIP treatment" interactions when going to the bar. "Um, I own the house." was a great dialog option. I don't expect to be a hero but these are wholesome little nods that the player is doing something. I don't know if there are more to these than just acknowledgements or if, let's say stability was really low, you get shouted down or something. There's also been a few occasions (on other planets) where someone shouts at me and the place riots.
Escort Package: So, I've S-modded a nice contingent of 6 Destroyers to complement my Eradicator and Falcon. I've been making the Destroyers defend the two Cruisers while the Carriers and Frigates run harassment. When the Destroyers are tied to my ship, they keep within distance but their target priority is rarely mine. I guess I can't expect them to focus fire on my target but I had a Sunder get in between me and a Venture Mk. II as it tried to shoot a Hound. It wound up eating an engine full of missiles when it turned its rear toward the Venture! I don't think it would have done that if I hadn't put any orders on it. Since then, I haven't been making the Destroyers escort anything and if they get the bonus for being near the Cruisers, good, but it's not a great loss if they don't. Overall, I haven't found Escort Package to be a massive advantage despite gearing my fleet towards it. Maybe once I get a Capital I'll see more.
I also encountered a new Galatia mission where I bargained with a Beta Core over some scientists. The core said some interesting things and the Omega/Luddic connection is going deeper. This, too, was a nice change of pace.
Two things stood out that were odd: the Denkanmyru (or however its spelled) Mining Station was still a Pirate base when I encountered it for the first time. I skipped the tutorial but I can't recall a time when this happened on previous playthroughs. A few months later it was Independent. Maybe I just don't visit the system early enough in my other runs. Second, I was chased by a full Ordo when I was level 2 while hunting a 40k bounty. The whole fleet was heavily D-modded but it had an Alpha Core Radiant and Brilliant along with 10 or so smaller ships. I can only assume it was a sensor ghost that turned into an Ordo but I don't remember any chasing me into and around a system. I don't recall salvaging anything that causes a fleet to come. Suffice to say, I E-burned out of there.
