There are different levels of Fuel Rats. When you first sign up, you are expected to learn the various protocols and procedures but, once you have those down, you are encouraged to dive in and start making rescue runs.

Commander Altsain has been doing this for a little while now, racking up a total of 27 successful rescues. However, there was one thing she was after and had not yet achieved – becoming a Drilled Rat, or getting the tail, as it is called.

This basically involves getting together with three experienced Rats who put the recruit through their paces on a simulated rescue run – the Drill.

The commander had requested a Drill a little while before, but could never seem to get hold of the right three Rats at the same time. To begin the Drill, you need someone to watch over you as a Mentor, someone to act as Dispatch (Drillspatch), and someone to rescue (the Damsel).

However, out of the blue, a senior Rat contacted the commander over the Fuel Rats comms channel, and asked if she still needed a Drill. She quickly agreed, and put her Winters work on hold while waiting for everyone to get into place.

She was first alerted as to what might lie ahead when she saw how many Rats were volunteering for the Damsel duty – they seemed just a tad too eager…

However, a Damsel was duly selected (Commander RorkenFR), and he scooted away to hide himself in some dark corner of the galaxy to pretend to be out of fuel. The Drillspatch got themselves ready while Commander Altsain sipped her coffee, mentally recounting all the steps needed for a successful rescue.

She should not have had anything to worry about, surely. She had already done this 27 times before.

But not in front of an audience.

A Ratsignal soon came in – Commander RorkenFR had become stranded in Pegasi Sector PK-L A9-4. Checking the Galmap for the system and plotting the route, the commander called her jumps (just six away) and was quickly assigned the rescue. Her Fuel Ratting Orca, the Exxon Valdez, leapt into witchspace, ready to rescue the Damsel!

Commander RorkenFR established personal comms with the Exxon Valdez, and Commander Altsain double-checked the rescue location.

Ah ha!

As it turned out, Commander RorkenFR was actually in Pegasi Sector CG-X C1-13, a further jump away! She immediately relayed this to the Drillspatch, and the information was duly updated in the Fuel Rats’ database.

Actually, the commander had been expecting this. First, because she figured the Damsel would try to stuff things up as much as possible (hence the earlier eagerness to adopt the role) and second, more importantly, because this often happens on real rescues – instead of looking at the system they are currently in, it is not uncommon for clients to call in the system they have plotted their next jump to.

Pays to be alert if you are a Fuel Rat!

The Damsel had some (apparently legitimate) issues in forming a wing with Commander Altsain and, by the time these were done, the Exxon Valdez was already in the same system and flying fast to Commander RorkenFR’s wing beacon, nearly 4,000 light seconds from the primary.

Once the Orca dropped out of supercruise to meet Commander RorkenFR, everything went like clockwork – fuel limpets were deployed and his ship quickly topped up enough to reach a scoopable star.

After that, the debriefing took place, wherein Commander Altsain had to demonstrate that she could explain fuel scoops, scoopable stars, jump ranges, and other fuel management tips to clients. In practice, she has found that she rarely has to go through the entire procedure, as clients either tend to be very aware of what they had done wrong and had simply made a mistake, or they are super new to the cockpit and susceptible to information overload. However, it is important to know every step, as every client is different.

And that was the Drill completed!

Commander Altsain had her own debrief with Drillspatch afterwards and, on the whole, it seemed to have gone well. Drillspatch gave her a few hints and tips, such as reporting on client status and confirming which system they were in a little earlier but, overall, the commander had passed.

She had earned her tail!

As well as a decent sense of accomplishment, being a Drilled Rat means the commander now has access to the dispatch board, which is a far smoother way of keeping an eye on ongoing rescue runs, and perhaps Dispatch will now be happier assigning her more difficult rescues.

Commander Altsain is now plying the spacelanes, awaiting the next Ratsignal to come in, but she is going to be signing up for the Fuel Rats Tactical Face Plant (TFP) training so she can improve her skills in reaching clients who have got themselves into some hard to reach places!