Kill #8: The Distant Merlin

In Old Man Star, I found a Merlin-class frigate on scan. I was quickly able to track it down to a planetary orbit, but when I arrived it was 250 klicks off, sitting motionless. Was it powered down? Did the pilot think that sitting so far off from the standard orbit would keep him safe? Or was it a trap?

I aligned the Rust III towards another planet in his direction and warped out, returning moments later by warping in 100km off the mark - this put me at about 150 klicks from the Merlin. I set my navigation for flat-out approach and burned hard towards the target. I realize at about 80km that I've accidentally had my crews fit a Warp Disruptor II module instead of a Warp Scrambler - normally not what I'd want on a Rifter, but at least this time it would let me lock down the target as soon as he was within targeting range.

At 24km, my targeting systems acquired a lock, and the disruptor kicked on. The first of the Merlin's missiles was already in flight, and impacted against my shields a split second later. I was still 20 klicks out from effective range, and only gaining slowly as the other ship fled. I was taking a barrage of missiles and railgun fire. My shields melted and my armor took enough damage that I kicked on my repairer.. but then finally I was within 10km and caught the Merlin in my stasis web. From there, it was all over. I was too close and fast for his missiles or his railguns, and the battle was almost one-sided.

I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy piloting Rifters.

Kill #7: Ratting Fat Man

Back in Old Man Star, I was sitting at a safespot avoiding the large fleet of Battleships and Assault Cruisers that had been called in by some local militia pilots to scare off their enemies. Scanning everywhere but the gate they were gathered at, I did manage to find a Tristan in an asteroid belt, hunting bounties against the local Serpentis.

Militia pilots, and pilots used to high-sec, often erroneously consider systems with large numbers of friendly militia as ‘safe.’ I wondered if that was why he was so leisurely fighting in that asteroid belt.

Despite the easy catch, the Tristan put up a good fight. He managed to destroy 70% of my armor before exploding.

Kill #6: A Tusker

After cleaning myself up and getting checked out for any long-term damage that being adrift for so long might have done to me, I headed to the hangar level of the station to procure myself another ship. Some kind benefactor had left my accounts 30 million ISK richer while I had been gone.. this time, it hadn't been Guillome. I used the money to outfit another Vengeance, the Heritage III. It was time to get back in the saddle. I fitted the Heritage III with high-tech pulse lasers instead of rockets, as the rockets from my usual supplier had changed their payload, and seemed much less effective now.*

I began roaming my old hunting grounds, and decided to stray a little outside my usual path. This took me to the system of Hevrice, home system of The Tuskers, a group of pirates I quite respect. There wasn't much on the scanner, so I took my time exploring the system, until an Incursus-class frigate showed up on the scanner, hiding behind the first planet of the system.

I practically collided with the Incursus as I dropped from warp, and began my orbit. Then I noticed his ID tag on my HUD. The pilot was Two50, a member of The Tuskers. I knew I was in for a fight. And that it was; Incursus held its own quite well, and actually managed to be doing damage to my armor in between cycles of my repair module. I was also having a harder than normal time hitting it with my own turrets...

Damn. I hadn't enabled my stasis web. I slapped myself for falling out of practice. I willed it to activate, and the Incursus slowed noticeably, suddenly allowing my turrets to pound away the last of its armor. His pod didn't attempt to escape, but I decided I didn't need the security hit on my record just yet. I told the pilot so, and he transmitted back a brief complement on the fight as I warped off.

I had some business to get to in high sec...

* OOC: <whining> Damned missile nerf. It was already dumb of me to fit rockets instead of pulses pre-patch, but they needed an additional damage nerf?? C'mon guys, change the Vengeance to get a laser bonus instead, or fix rockets. </whining>

Kill #5: Frigate miner

Still adrenaline-charged from my last kill, I resumed my roaming and came to Costolle. I scanned down an Imicus-class frigate in an asteroid belt, and made quick work of him.

Looking over the CONCORD report of the incident, I noticed that he was a very young pilot, and had fit nothing but mining tools. Feeling a twang of guilt, I opened a channel to him and told him I'd leave him his wreckage. I even transferred him the minimal cost of a new Imicus. Hopefully he'll avoid low-sec until he's better prepared in the future...

Loss #6: Finally a good fight

Last night was another evening of roaming and finding very little beyond the automated industrial haulers that are so common late at night. After hours of searching, I did finally manage to find a Rifter in the system of Ostingele and after scanning him down, I realized he was chasing me. I laid in wait in a planetary orbit, and he was on me soon enough. We exchanged fire and it wasn’t long before I was at 50% structural integrity. I had him at about 70% armor at that point, when I mysteriously stopped taking damage. I managed to get him closer to 50% armor before I began taking damage again, and the Restock Three exploded. As I warped away, I pondered on why I had that brief period of grace.

I contacted the pilot later to ask how his Rifter was outfitted that he was doing damage so much faster than I had been. He informed me that he used only high-tech guns, and we discussed the merits of other fitting options. It’s strange, this universe where another pirate will try to kill you, and yet offer you advice later on.. and I like it here.

Loss #5: A false start

After failing to find prey while hunting, I was sitting outside a station in Old Man Star, thinking I might keep an eye on any passing traffic. After a little while, an Incursus-class frigate warped in, and sat outside the station as well. After a moment, he approached my Rifter and jettisoned a piece of ammunition from his hold. I knew the drill - he wanted to fight, and taking the ammo he dropped trick the sentry guns into thinking I had stolen from him so that we could fight without intervention.

I targeted him, grabbed the piece of ammo, and waited. My ship flashed a notice on my HUD, and I punched all my weapon systems into action. Apparently, that notice had not been about incoming fire, as the sentry guns spun up and tore through my Rifter in seconds. The other pilot was good-natured, and let me know over the local comms channel that he wished the sentries had not intervened, he'd been looking for a fair fight. Looks like I'll have to give him a rain check..

Loss #2: Don't fly angry

Infuriated by some issues station-side, I stormed into my hangar and jumped into the Rust Two, intent on blowing off some steam. I hadn't gone hunting again since I lost the Rust One, and I was ready for more action. I made my way back to Ouelletta, which was becoming one of my favorite systems.

Once in the system, I scanned down an Incursus-class frigate, which seemed to be moving alone. I warped around, trying to pinpoint his location, and eventually warped in right on top of him around a planet. I kicked in all of my systems and everything spun up in the dance that I was starting to get used to, but.. one piece was missing. Something didn't sound right. My guns weren't firing.

In my haste to get out of my hangar, I had forgotten something entirely basic: to load any ammo into my guns. I cursed loudly as I figured out too late what had happened. The Incursus had me scrambled, and its blasters were already working deep into my armor. I laid out a course for my capsule and punched it into warp as the Rust Two exploded behind me.

An entire ship lost because of a stupid mistake. Now I know why they teach you to double check your entire systems list before takeoff in the academy...

Loss #1: Rifter-class 'Rust One'

My reflexes must have been dulled by too much time spent hauling my gear from system to system. At least, telling myself that makes it hurt just a bit less. My confidence had been riding too high after my initial 3-0 record since I began trying to make a living hunting prey..

I was in the Rust One, winding my way back towards the constellations I had found success in before, when I noticed another pilot moving through the same systems I was. More curious than wary, I stopped on my way at a planet in the Evaulon system and tried to scan him down. The signal was hazy, but I knew what it was - another Rifter. Hungry for another fight like my last scrap with a Rifter, I began the process of getting closer and teasing out his position.

I should have realized that this wasn't going to be an easy fight when I found him, only a few klicks away from the warp-in point to another planet in the system. He had me locked and was jamming my propulsion systems almost as soon as I arrived, and my shields were gone in an instant. The rest of the Rust One didn't take much longer. He caught my capsule as well - turns out he was faster on the draw than I was. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor of a cloning bay, gasping for breath.

I suppose I should get used to that.

Kill #3: I hate killing the fat man...

After just two kills, CONCORD has already made some notes on my record. I'm still allowed in 1.0-security space, but not for much longer at this rate. Given that I've got a number of ships and other assets stored in high-security space, I've been making the long, slow trek back to Domain to start moving my things to more accessible stations.

Almost every system in Gallente Federation space was buzzing with pilots as I made the journey, though. Strange for this time of night. Most of them were moving too quickly to pinpoint their locations on the scanner. I managed to track down a Rupture-class cruiser, but he was 20km away when I warped in, and he knew enough to warp away. In the system of Ouelletta, however, I ran across a young pilot bounty-hunting Serpentis ships in the asteroid belts. He was piloting a Tristan-class frigate, which is the favorite of a good Gallente hauler friend of mine. I have to say, I agree with him.. and I was a bit sad when this particular Tristan went down without much of a fight. My Rifter spent some time orbiting the other frigate, its autocannons slowly whittling away at the Tristan's strong armor. In return, I only received a handful of missiles against my shields.

The pilot contacted me later, asking for some advice. I was happy to oblige. Hopefully I'll be making my way through Ouelletta again soon, only to be attacked by a much more fearsome Tristan.

Kill #1: A game of cat and ... cat.

I’ve been roaming around the Placid region lately, far from my home in Domain. On this particular night, I passed through the Mercomesier system several times, only to find two other pilots in local, both idle in a station. On my third pass through the system, as I was leaving, someone else showed up in Local. I quickly warped back towards the core of the system and began hopping through the planets, trying to scan out the new arrival. I imagined that I’d catch a glimpse of him just before he jumped out to another system; all my possible targets had ended up that way for the last few days.

This time was different. I caught a Rifter-class frigate on my scanner and thought I might be in for a fight. I had just insured my ship, and was itching for some action despite my lack of experience, so I threw my own Rifter into warp towards the planet where he was located.

Dropping out of warp I found.. nothing. He was gone. I picked him up on my scanner again and narrowed him down to a different planet. I warped in, again coming up empty handed. I realized he was doing the same thing I was doing – scanning me out and trying to get to me. After another minute of cat-and-mouse, (or maybe cat-and-cat?) I dropped in on him around planet five, and immediately started to orbit and warp-scramble him. He was ready, though, and was already firing back as my guns spun up. My shields and armor melted pretty quickly – faster than his did. I was doomed for sure, and as my structure was shredded down to the last bits, I began hammering the command to warp out so that my capsule would at least get away. As my warp engines kicked on, I saw that I left him behind in his own capsule – had we both been destroyed? I looked around, and to my amazement, I was still inside my Rifter. It was flaming out of every compartment, but it was still in one piece. I had made my first kill on the road to piracy.

Heading back to the scene of the crime, I found his wreck and rummaged through the remains. He had been using Faction-level ammo and rockets, and a tech-2 overdrive injector. No real other tank to speak of. The expensive ammo (and a weapon stabilizer) explained his improved damage output, but my own armor repairer must have made the difference in the last seconds of the fight.

All in all, an excellent fight, and I look forward to more like that one.