Hoisting My Colors

Last night I set out around Molden Heath to conduct business, for the first time, under the corporate flag of Gunpoint Diplomacy. After checking in with Corp comms and seeing that my colleagues were docked up and not around, I knew I'd be conducting business on my own. Something I was not unaccustomed to, as you'd know if you have been following this log any amount of time.

I caught up on some corp and alliance mails, checked in with my hanger crew, and made sure I had the appropriate loadout and propper ammo stored in the cargohold of my trusty Rifter. Everything looked to be in order. I checked the exterior of the Rifter. Gliding around its perimeter looking for any visible signs of structural damage that, God forbid, the maintenance crews missed. If there's one thing I've learned, when it comes to the health of your ship, it doesn't matter how good your crews are. The health and maintenance of your ship are your responsbility to check on. Seeing that everything was inorder I walked across the catwalk to board my ship and set out on my first roam for Gunpoint.

All systems were fired up and in working order. Everything was green-lighted by my crew. I received clearance to taxi and depart from our new home station's control tower, and we ferried our way through the departure tunnel of the station. As I peered out, down the long stretch of the departure tunnel at the blackness of space, the traffic pattern was clear and I slammed the throttle of the ship forward, stopping just short of engaging the afterburner. She responded with the familar sound of her engines roaring as she threw herself towards the exit.

Chills ran through me as I anticipated what the day would yeild. The hunt was about to begin, and my Rifter burst through the departure tunnel at breakneck speeds. After quickly throwing my Rifter into alignment for the first jumpgate of the roam, I punched the warp drive, and left the station behind in an instant. Almost just as fast, I hit the first gate, and jumped on contact.

I jumped through a couple systems not seeing much on local comms or on scanner that was either of interest, or that I was confident in being able to solo. So, it went for the first hour. Jumping back and forth between Illamur and Heild, running the course of that pipe, I couldn't find anything to tackle and dispose of. Finally, in Odde (trusty Odde), my scanners finally returned something of interest. A Hoarder was reported on scanner, and I quickly set about narrowing the search area to pinpoint it's location. It didn't take long.

The industrial ship appeared to be at a small cluster not far from the gate that leads into High-Sec space. I knew there was a good chance the indy would be sitting on the gate and I wouldn't be able to engage, but being that this was the first potential target I'd found in an hour I decided it warranted further investigation. I set course for the cluster, and warped towards the planet.

As I was running down the warp tunnel towards the planet I kept my eyes on the scanner. I expected the Hoarder to fall off scan at any moment. However, much to my delight, as my Rifter started to slow and come out of the warp tunnel the Hoarder was still showing up where I was pointing my scanner - right at the planet I had warped to!

Quickly, I primed my modules. Double checked my targeting computer (gotta make sure it's on if you're going to pew-pew). My Rifter burst through the warp tunnel at the planet and there was the Hoarder. Just sitting there, practically screaming at me, "Please kill me!". I obliged. The scrammer and webber I had primed came to life quickly as my targeting computer resolved lock in very short order - typical of frigates.

I set my orbiting range, span up my Autocannons, sat back to enjoy the fireworks all the while pulsing my scanner to keep a look out for anyone who looked like they might jump me. The Barrage S ammo I had loaded before undocking were doing their job splendidly. The industrials shield tank couldn't keep up with the damage from my turrets. Soon enough, I had the industrial into it's armor, which quickly peeled away and showed that sexy structure of the ship. Like normal, without inherent resistances to damage, the structure quickly buckled.

I tried to nab the pilots pod (I'll admit, I'm very eager to scoop my first frozen corpse), but he was able to get his pod out of the battle zone immediately after being ejected. I approached the wreckage curious to see what goods had survived the explosion. Only a shield booster and extender were left, all T1 variants. Nothing spectacular, but I'll take it. This industrial hauler must have just delivered his goods because there was nothing in the cargo.

I hit a safe spot to wait out my GCC and planned out where I'd go from Odde. I checked the local intelligence maps to gather the latest intel for the region. Everywhere around the area I planned to operate for the evening was relatively quite. It was appearant there'd been some small skirmishes throughout the area, but no hotzones were being reported. So, in the end, I just decided to keep roaming between Illamur and Heild.

It wouldn't be too much longer before I'd find a fight worthy of my Rifter. Another Rifter was reported on Scanner at the Planet 8 cluster in Odde (busy night for Odde afterall). I quickly narrowed the other Rifter down to a belt that orbits P8. Engaging the warp drive my Rifter threw itself into the warp tunnel, hurtling towards the asteroid belt.

As I came out of warp the other Rifter appeared on my navigational overview, my combat modules were primed and ready to engage. The target was farther away from my warp in point then I'd hoped, but was only about 24k away from me. I engaged my afterburners and started screaming towards my mark in a slow arch, to try to keep my transveral high on approach. Once I was within scrammer and webber range I commanded the targeting computer to lock on to the other Frigate. Lock Resolved, dance #2 commenced.

I overloaded everything. I realized just as my autocannons span up that the other Rifter pilot was one who'd bested me not too long ago. I wanted this kill more then anything. The fight continued on and I poured forth damage, shredding apart the other Rifter's armor. Right towards the end of the fight, I'd neglected to pay enough attention to the heat readouts of my scrammer and webber modules. I'd overheated both and they gave out. "Shit!" I had just fried all my tackling gear. The other Rifter's structure was well exposed by now, and I just prayed the other pilot didn't notice he wasn't tackled anymore. If he did, he didn't react and his Rifter's structure gave out. Delightfully, the little frigate imploded on itself. I tried to nab the pod, but...oh yes, I'd burnt out my tackling equipment. "Shit again!". He warped off and I grabbed some nice T2 modules out of the wreckage.

Sard Caid had come across Corp Comms literally right as I was beginning this fight. Now that it was over, it was time to get back to him. I told him the good news, and he was eager for me to get it posted up on the corp's killboard. So was I. I posted the kill and he invited me to roam with him up towards Evati. "Of course!" I replied. I just needed to wait out the new criminal flag I had, and then dock up for repairs. We planned out where to meet and I sat in a safe rummaging through the spoils from my latest engagement.

Having waited out my GCC and acquired the repairs I desperately needed from overheating my modules, I set out to meet Sard in Ennur. I formed up on his wing and we set out together for a roam up the pipe to Evati. We wouldn't find anything to engage along the way. We made it into Evati and jumped to a nearby station. Sard had us join in on the Hellcats' voice communication systems and we chatted with Mynxee and Shae.

As we sat outside the station Sard was working on sweet talking both Mynxee and Shae into roaming with us through a few more systems. Being the "sweet little bad girls" they are, they couldn't resist. I don't know if it had more to do with the pleasure they get from seeing ships go BOOM and pods go squish, or if it had more to do with Mynxee's fancy for Sard's ass. Either way, they both obliged and x'ed up to join Sard and me. The Bastards also had a representative present for our mixed gang - Zeasier had joined us as well. We quickly formed up and set out to poke around some neighboring systems.

We moved quickly through the systems as they were just simply dead. Not much activity at all. We passed through Dal, and Mynxee seemed alittle disheartened. I think she really wanted to moon Roc as our little gang moved through. No luck with that though. We pressed on, eventually finding ourselves in Kurniainen. Sard had sent me through the gate first to clear it for gate camps, and to recon the immediate area for potential targets.

The gate was clear, and there was only one other capsuleer present in the local comm system. I started sweeping space with my Scanner and it didn't take long for it to return a hit. A Sleipnir was somewhere out in space. I reported it's precense in the system and Sard requested I try to pinpoint his location with my scanner. I was already fast at work trying to pinpoint his location. Within a matter of moments my scanning work was done, and I pinpointed the Sleipnir's possible position at a small cluster of a planet and the single neighboring asteroid belt.

I reported it's possible location so the rest of the gang could start proceeding towards the belt. I was already warping to it to try and get the high valued ship tackled. I came out of the warp tunnel just a few thousand meters away from the Sleipnir. I quickly locked him and applied my tackling modules. This ship was going nowhere. I hit the afterburner and burned towards him to try and get under the big ship's guns. I wouldn't last long if his weapon systems were able to track my tiny frigate. I span up the autocannons and bore down for what was sure to be bumpy, painful ride.

The first of the gang warped into the belt and joined the fray. The Sleipnir had already let loose his drones which were now attacking me. I wasn't able to get under the guns of the mighty Sleipnir, and was soon dispatched. My pod ejected and I warped out of the battlefield to a safe spot. I listened in on comms as the battle raged and the gang of pirates I was with began putting the hurt on the Sleipnir. Luckily, someone else was able to get a point on the target before I was popped. The Sleipnir was still pinned. He was ours.

I could tell from Sard's voice, the joy that battle brought, that the Sleipnir's structure was about to give way. Moments later, the Sleipnir exploded in grand fashion. The gang quickly scooped up what valuable goods had survived the explosion. They were also kind enough to retrieve my belongings from my Rifter wreck. The life of a tackler, it can be a short lived one. It was worth it though. One Sleipnir for the cost of a Rifter is a good day.

I was now over 30 jumps out from my home system. The system I had departed a few hours before hand. Anxious for my first night of pillaging and yarr. Knowing I didn't have the energy for the long pod cruise home, I bid my fellow pirates a good night and wished them luck. I pressed on for a few more jumps until I landed in a system that had a station I could dock up in for the evening. Today, I'll have to purchase and fit a new Rifter. I wish my little frigate could have made it through the evening, but as I said its lose was worth it for the gang. Luckily, I still have the sec status appropriate to enter .6 systems. That will not last long though, so I better stock up.

Roaming with Sard, the Hellcats, and Zaesier of The Bastards had been a better experience then I had even hoped it would be. An absolute blast. Thanks to all members of the roam last night for an excellent first experience in the world of New Eden Piracy. I'm looking forward to many more. "Yarr!", mateys.