Damaged Starport

A Damaged Starport is a Starport that has been damaged in a Thargoid attack. These Starports will be displayed on the Galaxy Map, and their status updated on GalNet.

Overview

Damaged Starports are normal space stations that can often appear outside of The Bubble. During an Incursion, one or more Starports in a star system can be damaged by attacking Thargoids, and Rescue Megaships will be deployed to nearby systems to coordinate efforts to repel the Thargoids and rescue personnel who are still trapped within those Starports. A Damaged Starport is a dangerous location, as catastrophic malfunctions and potentially the continued presence of Thargoids render attempting to dock extremely hazardous for any ships in the area; nevertheless, evacuating civilians can be a lucrative pastime for any independent pilots willing to risk their ships.

History

We are immensely grateful to those courageous Commanders for helping to prevent what could have been one of the most horrific disasters in modern history.

— Spokesperson for Sirius Inc after the event of The Fall of the Oracle, displayed on the GalNet

Before 14 December 3303, large-scale attacks against Starports were rare. At that time, a number of stations in the Pleiades Nebula were devastated by the Thargoids. On 24 May 3307, The Oracle Starport located in the Delphi system was attacked by Thargoids, being the first Starport on record to take such comprehensive damage. This damage led to a catastrophic failure that shut down The Oracle's thruster systems, destabilizing The Oracle’s orbit and threatening a collision with the moon below. Very fortunately, independent pilots saved The Oracle by risking their lives to rescue trapped personnel and stabilize The Oracle’s orbit. Titan's Daughter also experienced similar damage on a later date.

Further stations throughout the Core Systems have been damaged as a result of the Second Thargoid War.

Effects

Starports in a system experiencing an Incursion will first enter an "under attack" state, which is marked with a red skull icon on the Galaxy Map. Starports in this state do not experience any adverse effects, but the local system will experience increased Thargoid activity. After each week in which human forces fail to repel the Thargoid incursion, one Starport in the system will enter the "damaged" state, which is marked with a fire icon on the Galaxy Map.

Starports in a damaged state will experience multiple adverse effects:

• Nearly all Starport services will be disabled, and the service interface will be glitched.
• An emergency protocol will be activated to evacuate remaining civilians on the damaged Starport; this takes the form of Evacuation Missions available from the Passenger Lounge.
• Docking Computer usage is disabled, forcing incoming ships to dock with the Starport manually.
• Ships that enter the Starport corridor will gain heat over time, even when docked.
• Random explosions can occur in the Starport corridor, potentially damaging and displacing ships inside.
• Some Black Boxes will be available for salvage within the Starport corridor.
• A breach in the Starport's reactor core will leak radiation to the Starport's exterior, disrupting nearby ships' HUDs.
• No-fire zone punishments are partially reduced; bounties will not be imposed (though fines may still be accrued), and the station's defense turrets will not fire at attacking vessels (however, System Authority Vessels will still defend the Starport from attackers).

Evacuation Missions

When a Starport is damaged, the Mission Board is still accessible. Passenger missions are replaced with evacuation missions, which require one or more Passenger Cabins to accept; these missions require pilots to carry passengers to a deployed Rescue Vessel. This mission type can reward anywhere from tens of thousands to tens of millions of Credits, depending on the Starport being evacuated.

Repairing

After the system enters a Post-Thargoid Recovery state, the Starport will enter a repairing phase which is marked with an orange wrench on the Galaxy Map. During this state, the system's population will begin efforts to repair damaged Starports, which requires a large amount of materials over the course of days or even weeks. Commanders cam accelerate the progress by delivering necessary materials to the system. Once the repairs are complete, the previously damaged Starport will return to full operations.