Long Range Rescue Standard Operating Procedures

Introduction

Long Range Rescues are defined as any rescue surpassing 5,000 LY from the bubble boundary(or the nearest rat’s starting location) . For rescues at this range, the expenditure of time requires more judicious use of Fuel Rat resources, and is subject to slightly different procedures.  

Verifying client position

When a client calls for rescue outside of the bubble, our first action (Unless it is a Code Red rescue, of course) is to have the client's position verified. This is usually accomplished by having the client send a friend request (And if needed, a wing request) to a Rat. It doesn't matter if this rat will be going on the LRR or not, they are just confirming the client's location.  The rat checks their galaxy map to verify that the client is in the system they claim to be.  This ensures that the rat does not jump out unnecessarily to a client who may be in a different location.  After a sysconf is obtained, the dispatch will log out the client to preserve their fuel.  For CR cases, we need to rely on the system information as read from the client’s main menu.

Arranging client meetup

In many cases, long range rescues require a travel time of several hours, if not a day or more. This makes it infeasible to have the client wait for the rat(s) to arrive. In conference with the rat(s) assigned, a suitable meeting time is set up with the client for when they will be available to log on after the rats have completed their journey to the client's system.

Flexibility is key here; clients or rats sometimes can't make their arranged time, and rats may run into unforeseen consequences en route to their rescue.  

Case Management for Dispatch

When a long range rescue arrives, the rescue workflow deviates from normal.  This is a potential flow for an LRR rescue.

• Obtain the client’s O2 and fuel status (log out immediately if CR)
• Verify client position
• Log client out of the game, if they are not already
• Ask for rats interested in going on the LRR in #ratchat.  It's also a good idea to post the message to Mastodon for rats that may already be nearby exploring (see Mecha's command documentation for information on how to Tweet case information)
• !assign rats to the case. If at all possible, send more than one rat..  Keep in mind that this may leave a minimal number of rats in the bubble, especially on consoles.
• Gauge time needed to reach the system. Assume a pace of about 1 jump per minute, and utilize the plotted jumps by the rat to determine an approximate arrival time.  Rats may opt to use the in-game route plotter and allow or disallow neutron jumps.  Alternatively they may choose to use an external resource such as Spansh’s Neutron Plotter.  Their method of plotting may be indicated in their jump call.
• Based on pace and the rats' and client’s needs (work, sleep and other commitments), arrange a meeting time with the client.
• !inject information on meetup time and other details into the case such as an approximate distance from a major landmark (i.e. Bubble or Colonia).  Make sure to reference all times UTC
• Once the rats are on the way, make the case inactive.  You may wish to invite the client into #ratchat to wait until the rescue is about to be undertaken. At this point, move rescue traffic back to #FuelRats and reactivate the case.