1.16.3304--Reed's Rest Refugee Rescue
18 Jan 2018VictoriaTerpsichore
After assisting with the efforts at Blackmount, I traveled to the rescue ship at Reed's Rest, where I found a situation similar to Obsidian, although on a much smaller scale. 
I was surprised at the smaller size of Reed's Rest rescue ship. There seemed to be a similar amount of patrols running, with no interference from Thargoid sympathizers. Because of the rescue ship's size, I assumed that Reed's Rest was a small installation, similar to Levi-Strauss Installation in Barnard's Star.
Imagine my surprise when I checked my galaxy map and discovered that Merope has a population of 800,000 and only one station (Reed's Rest) while Maia has a total population of 75,200 and two ports (Obsidian Orbital and Moni's Hub). So why is the smaller rescue vessel at the system with the highest population? Merope has a corporate government, while Maia has an anarchy, but neither have swore allegiance to anyone. I wonder why the Pilots Federation chose to allocate the bulk of their resources to a station with a smaller population, while holding the lives of nearly a million people bottlenecked, waiting aboard tiny ships like mine, stuck in a landing queue.
My frustration at the nonsensical rescue ship situation only became worse once I approached Reed's Rest. I'd never seen it myself, and as I said before I was expecting a small extraction installation. What I found instead was a large station, and upon first glance, damage to the station did not look that bad, not compared to the fireball that was Obsidian Orbital.
The closer I got to the station, however, the more I realized the true extent of the destruction.
When I got inside the station, my ship was rocked by explosions happening within. It took twice as long as it had ever taken to get to my landing pad in Obsidian. Reed's Rest is unstable and there were more than enough refugees still desperately waiting for a rescue. There were also countless components floating around outside and inside the station, which just highlights the lives that have been torn apart by the recent attacks by the Thargoid.
At this point, the nonstop efforts of rescuing people from attacked stations and my first encounter with the Thargoid left me with a numb feeling. From a personal level, I feel deeply unprepared for what seems an inevitable Thargoid invasion. Maybe it won't happen in my lifetime, but at my first station away from the Pleiades I was a shaky hand at the flight stick, still diving hastily and slamming into the landing pad, desperate to dock before my ship could overheat. My time in the Pleiades has changed me in many ways, especially with regards to my priorities. There are several things I must do in order to get prepared, including upgrading my ship, improving my combat skills, and building relationships with (carefully chosen) minor and major factions across the 'verse.
I've heard that there are groups organizing their efforts toward the repair of still-damaged systems. While I want to participate in those efforts and will likely be back out in the Pleiades very soon to report on the repair efforts, I've decided to return to the bubble to make some more money, pick up a better ship, and better learn the history made by the humans that have expanded our reach into the unknown. Inside the bubble might be the best place to coordinate relief and repair efforts. I plan on contacting and learning more about relief organizations while also running cargo/passenger missions to upgrade to a new ship.