Rescued by the Fuel Rats!
18 Jan 2020Tobytoolbag
Well, I got cocky with the Neutron Highway, and forgot to check fuel levels before jumping.I came out of Witchspace on my neutron-enhanced jump just shy of Sleguae AZ-N b40-4's M-Class star as normal, but was interrupted IRL by my daughter, who decided she wanted to chat for a change. During the course of the conversation, I was aware of COVAS telling me something in the background, but I didn't hear precisely what he said. Then the ship just shut down - with modules just dead, and sucking on O2, it took me a while to realise the fuel gauge was firmly parked on 'empty'.
I thought about a self-destruct and rebuy, but by then I had amassed a few million credits in exploration data, so I came to the slightly uncomfortable conclusion that facing up to fact I had run out of fuel and seeking out the Fuel Rats' big red 'Get Help' button on their web page was a sensible, if slightly embarrassing, option. To paraphrase their motto, They Have Fuel, I Didn't. Any Questions? At least I had the Mats to synth a bit more oxygen to buy myself a bit more time.
Thanks to Dispatcher Suxariki and Fuel Rat CMDR Puddlemonster14 for taking time to come help in his Anaconda ('Rataconda'?). The whole process took just under a couple of hours (1:52:40) from ship shutdown to reservoir replenished, and was a real eye-opener that someone would dedicate hours of their gameplay to rescue a spacefarer in distress and on emergency oxygen - a 'Code Red' Fuel Rat case.
It was also amazing to see how professional they are on their IRC channel - I witnessed another rescue of someone on the Xbox platform while I waited for my 'Rat' to arrive, and was impressed by the seamless operation with the briefest of communication.
I now keep a closer eye on the fuel gauge, and I want to be a Fuel Rat when I grow up.