The Fuel Rats - Thargoid Rescue
14 Aug 2022ShoggothPete
I’d been watching the fuel rats’ banter as I patrolled the stars. Everything was running smoothly, a deep space client was being redirected to a safe DSSA Carrier, a client from Sweden was shutting down systems as two rats hightailed it to rescue them. CMDR Saru was wearing the dispatch hat today, calmly orchestrating the safe rescues of our clients within minutes. A two-hour rescue was about to begin, one that directly involved six rats deep into Thargoid territory.
15 AUG 3308 10:56:31 - FUEL RAT SIGNAL ALERT - Incoming Client: MRK (not the actual CMDR's name) - System: HIP 22460
The client MRK called for help, “hello! I don't need a fuel, but i've landed on planet in HIP 22460, was surrounded by thargoids and my ship was destroyed... so, i'm alone at the planet without ship”.
I can only imagine what MRK was going through, cowering on the desolate planet surface, looking at the full oxygen supply on their suit, and looking up to swarms of angry Thargoid ships.
HIP 22460 is the system that features the wreckage of Salvations attempt to perform genocide upon the Thargoids. The place is now toxic to guardian technology, computer systems barely function, and Thargoids are everywhere.
Fuel rats typically fly ships with long jump range, very light shielding, guardian frame shift boosters, little weapons, and of course fuel limpets. The question initially asked was “do we have any chance of success”?
True to form though brave rats began to step forward, knowing full well that they may face death in the attempt. CMDR Marc13 was the first and set their fleet carrier to jump to a nearby system. CMDR Nothunta followed closely with their fleet carrier. I (CMDR ShoggothPete) met with them in the eerie system, by the light of glitching computer panels and ever-present doom.
Saru worked on the plan, one ship to fly in, the others to distract and draw the Thargoids away.
ATTEMPT NUMBER ONE 15 AUG 3308 11:44:30
Multiple Thargoid ships of different types swarmed in as we flew above the clients position. Thargoids were drawn away, all the time shooting their toxic fire upon our hulls. Our brave Alliance Chieftain flew down to the client but faced a problem. There was no-where to land, the terrain was too rough for the medium sized ship to land. On top of that, fresh Thargoid reinforcements were appearing above.
A call to abort rang out, but it was too late, the Chieftain was a sitting duck, hovering near the client as toxic rain fell upon its hull. Its remains fell to the rocks near the clients destroyed ship and the plume of fire marked the Thargoids victory.
A moments silence for the fallen, but our client was still stranded. Saru extended the call for more volunteers. CMDR’s Firehawk894, -AWR, and Toby Charles joined the effort. Ship repairs were made, although staying still for any time in normal space drew the attention of the alien bugs.
Saru re-assessed the strengths of the team and adapted our standard operating procedures. Mark13 was to fly a small ship (one capable of landing amongst rough terrain) in close to the client and pick them up, while the remaining rats drew fire from the Thargoids, and keeping our client safe. We knew the risk that extra ships would draw in extra Thargoids. We were to stay close to the client, so that we could protect our client from extra reinforcements. Our hope was that our squadron could stay alive long enough to enable a safe escape.
ATTEMPT NUMBER TWO 15 AUG 3308 12:48:05
Another victory for the Thargoids. Our squadron didn’t have tight enough timing on dropping to the planet. Our Krait Mk II found themselves surrounded well before the rescue ship was in place. The Thargoids shutdown field wasn’t neutralised in time and cabins went dark. Again, the call for abort rang out across the depths. After the Krait trailed a smoke path all the way into the rocky surface, another rat found their final resting place in a tomb of melted metal far from home.
ATTEMPT NUMBER THREE 15 AUG 3308 12:58:38
Saru called for a final attempt. Our ranks were broken, but not destroyed. We still had a chance, and with each attempt we had learnt something, the rats that crashed in the name of duty had provided valuable intel. A tight formation was set up around Mark13 flying their speedy Mamba towards the client.
We were outnumbered, Thargoids of different shapes and colours appearing, the smell of corroding metal signaled multiple hull breaches. The odds were against us from the start, but it is the fuel rats binding strength to try to rescue a client if there’s even a slim chance. Thousands of light years, days of travel, are regularly made to reach a client without fuel and mere seconds of oxygen. The fuel rats are no strangers to slim odds.
I made a pass over the Mamba. Through the smoke in my cockpit I could see that it had successfully landed, though I couldn’t make out the client making their final steps towards the ship.
“GO GO GO”, the fuel rats action call sang out as I watched the Mamba rise from the surface, I wondered if they’d managed to pick up the client this time. I positioned my Orca directly behind the Mamba as it sped upward, ready to take more hits for the cause. Another anomaly warning was neutralised just as the Mamba made the jump out of system.
A quick check of the comms, excellent, the client is on board, and rescued from the Thargoid threat!
OUT OF FUEL? CALL THE FUEL RATS.
Fuel rats find no shame in running out of fuel. We see commanders of all levels of experience, flying all types of ships run out of fuel. We do have a chuckle amongst ourselves when a fuel rat themselves becomes distracted and runs out of fuel.
As our Mamba jumped to safety with our client aboard, one thing that wasn’t on the pilots’ mind was the small size of the fuel tank. Mambas are speedy combat ships, and like most combat ships require regular refuelling, even for short journeys. In jumping away, our rescue ship had run out of fuel! Just one jump away from the safety of the fleet carrier they had come to a full stop. Saru expressed our feelings pretty well,” lmao you gotta be joking”.
I should mention that even more rats were offering advice during this rescue, performing other rescues of other clients that called in during this time. Extra rats were preparing to potentially lay down their lives to join the effort.
With a smile on my face, I launched a fuel limpet at the briefly stranded Mamba. I’m proud to be a member of the fuel rats, and it was awesome to play my small part in this successful rescue.