Search and Rescue

Template:RoleInfobox The Search and Rescue (SAR) career concerns providing assistance in emergency situations. Certain Legal Salvage items, such as escape pods (occupied or damaged), "black box" flight recorders, and personal effects, can be turned in to a station's Search and Rescue Agent contact for a reward. Damaged stations offer passenger missions to evacuate refugees to the nearest Rescue Vessel, and Rescue Vessels offer missions to salvage items from inside damaged stations. Search and Rescue Patrols offer fuel to travelers in need, and Rescue Team ships search for survivors at crisis-stricken areas and warzones.

You can also help a stranded pilot in deep space by refueling their ship, repairing the hull or restoring the shields.  

Signal sources

Signal sources like Degraded Emissions and Distress Call sometimes offer Rescue activities and can contain ships performing rescue operation.
High Grade Emissions and Encoded Emissions may possibly also appear with Rescue activities.
File:Ship-HUD-Nav panel-Signal sources-rescue.webp

Station Evacuation

File:Station Attack The Oracle.png

Exterior damage to The Oracle, Pleiades Sector IR-W d1-55

For over 11 months, the Thargoids have been attacking our systems, burning our stations, and wreaking havoc in a series of small-scale incursions into human space - even dancing in the systems around Sol, the cradle of our civilization. So far, 45 stations have suffered attacks, and, while Operation Ida has been instrumental in getting 17 of those back online, as I write this 2 stations are currently on fire, with basic medicines being imported and civilians being exported onto station-orbiting Rescue Ships.

For months now, independent CMDRs have worked hard to hold the line, slaughtering literally thousands upon thousands of Thargoid scouts in an attempt to force the Thargoids to bypass systems. Your fellow pilots have honed their skills in the caustic clouds of Thargoid death, driving the Thargoids back again and again.

But it's not always enough. And when the line falters, when exhaustion hits humanity's hope and heroes, when the cards fall at the end of the game, sometimes we lose. We have to accept that, and move on, because the Thargoids are only pressing harder.

While the experienced combat pilots prepare for the next fight, there's still work to be done. For a week, while a station burns, evacuation protocols are in place and we must work to get civilians off the station safely. If you've never done it, here's how...

Guide

File:Station Attack Titan's Daughter.png

Exterior damage to Titan's Daughter, Taygeta

If a system is burning - oftentimes there will be posts about it and occasionally mentioned on GalNet. you'll need to get a passenger ship out there to help out. There also filters on the galaxy map for "Damaged Starports"; these will be stations that have just been attacked.

Start with a ship that's equipped with as many economy-class cabins as possible, a small shield, and a heat sink. Evacuees pay by the head, and they just want a seat; fancy first-class cabins will do you no good here! Everything else is optional, though I recommend an A-rated power plant, if possible, for heat dissipation. Don't bother with a docking computer; that service is offline inside the station.

• If you're brand new, consider this low-cost Type-6, which can carry 52 passengers for 2.7 million credits
• I'm particularly partial to the Type-7, which can carry 150 passengers for 28 million credits.
• A Python can carry 142 passengers for 94 million credits.
• For 226 million credits, the mighty Anaconda can carry 194.

Other ships obviously work, these are merely some suggestions and guidance. In any event, you'll want to get this ship to an attacked system and head toward the station.

Request docking from the panicking station controller, and he or she will give you authorization to land. Put your finger on the heat sink button and enter, slowly. You'll get a warning about increased temperatures; that's why you have a heat sink!

File:Station Attack interior.png

An Anaconda inside a damaged station

Once inside, head for your Landing Pad. There will be debris that can hit you, explosions that can throw your ship off course, and the occasional black box or escape pod that could be retrieved.

As soon as you land, you'll be whisked inside the station so you can start loading passengers. The interface is glitching; that's what happens when a station is attacked. Numbers may appear to be wrong, so no, they're not going to charge you 999 billion credits for fuel.

Go to "passenger missions", and start taking as many missions as you can. If you're so inclined, prioritize for whatever factions you like - you'll get a bit of superpower rep for evacuating their aligned civilians. I recommend aiming for small to mid-sized groups (8-15 passengers) at first, saving the smallest ones for rounding out your manifest at the end. You'll often be given a time bonus for prompt delivery; the more groups you have, the more opportunities for this bonus you'll have.

As soon as you're fully loaded, launch. You'll probably need to fire a heat sink on your way out, but as soon as you're clear of the station, chart a course for the rescue ship. It's only 5Mm away, which means you won't even have to slow down before dropping out of supercruise!

File:Anaconda-Search-and-Rescue-Ship.png

Search and rescue ship

Land at the rescue ship, refuel, repair, and reload your heat sinks, and get ready to go again.

You should be making about 10k per head for evacuations, meaning that, for a full Type-6, you should be getting 500k credits per round trip (which takes less than 10 minutes) and closer to 2 million credits per trip in an Anaconda.

Rescue & support

File:Cobra Mk III Repair Limpet.png

Cobra Mk III and repair limpet

Tools

You can support a stranded pilot or damaged ship with:

• Fuel Transfer Limpets for refuels
• Repair Limpets for hull repairs
• Beam Lasers engineered with Regeneration Sequence to restore shields.

Rescue

Many explorers find themselves in need of fuel or repairs while wandering the far reaches of the galaxy.

Combat support

Combat ships benefit from hull repairs during and after a battle. In AX Conflict zones you can support pilots with Decontamination limpets to remove caustic chemicals off a ship's hull. You do not engage in direct combat, because support ships are not optimized for that.

Reward

These activities do not guarantee any monetary reward, but it can be an entertaining and virtuous pursuit.

Related squadrons

Several squadrons have volunteers who are dedicated to rescue pilots in deep space such as:

• Fuel Rats - provide fuel to pilots in need
• Hull Seals - premier hull repair specialists for ships and vehicles

Videos

• File:Elite Dangerous - Damaged Station Rescue Missions Gameplay Only
• File:Elite Dangerous - The Hive
• File:How to Complete Search & Rescue Missions - Elite Dangerous
• File:Scenic Deep Space Repair Mission
• File:Testing the healing clipper!