Good question, if I had seen the bounty was only 200 credits, I would have sent a message saying get out of dodge, so my fault for not checking the contacts panel. Heat of battle and all that. My wingman and I, had just finished fighting a FAS with two Chieftain wingmen, not a hard fight really, I think the FAS was expert and the Chiefs were competent, my wingman is novice, and I'm sharing kills to help him get some credits. I think "White knight in rusty armour" about sums it up.
It would be nice to have a credit transfer system between players, but it would probably get abused.
One of the ways I have thanked players is to give them meta-alloys for the Farseer unlock. Whether they will trust you again is another matter of course. Trust is far easier to lose than it is to gain.