Diplomacy At Work

The previous week I had seen more action around Molden Heath, both solo and in a small gang, then I was accustomed to. Action was plentiful. This new life I had jumped into, that of piracy, was quickly being validated from the enjoyment I was getting out of my new activities. I honestly wish I had made the jump much sooner then I had. I had finally found my calling as a capsuleer in the sea of stars we call "New Eden".

Late Friday night, I had just taken in a fresh group of Rifters from a former colleague, a good friend, who I've kept in contact with since leaving my former corporation. Overnight, he had moved some new frigates, fresh off the assembly line, into my home station. Knowing I had a healthy supply of Rifters to play with, I was emboldened. Ready to take on whatever the night would yield, not caring if my current Rifter ever saw the insides of a station again, I undocked.

Sard was on corp comms, and I eagerly hailed him to see what he was up to. No doubt something fun, something dangerous, something exceedingly fun, and something that would more then likely cost me my ship. He was, naturally, out roaming about looking for prey not far from my current location. He quickly fleeted me and I eagerly made the first jump in route to meet up with him.

As I was one jump away from him he came across fleet comms announcing he had located a Huginn on directional. "I'm just a jump out from your system now, coming down the warp tunnel to the jumpgate", I replied. By the time I made it to the jumpgate, and jumped through to the system Sard was in, he was engaged with Huginn. To make things more interesting, a neutral Cyclone had joined in on the fun as well. I quickly warped to the belt. I had made a bet with Sard after he initially said he had the Hugin on directional. "20:1 says I don't make it out of this in my Rifter, Sard", I predicted. "I got 1 million that says otherwise", he replied. I grinned.

I burst out of the warp tunnel into the belt, the battle already raging. "Hit those drones!", Sard commanded when he saw me scream into the belt. There were drones all over the place. My overview readout - a long list of annoying drones. I quickly started targeting those that were engaging Sard. Afterburner lit, first drone webbed, autocannons roared to life. Just as soon as I had taken a few of them down Sard told me to primary the Hugin so I could be reported on the CONCORD killmail. My targeting computer quickly resolved the lock, but I was too far out to do anything. As I made my way towards the Huginn to get within range, she blew sending shards of what used to be a ship all over the belt.

Sard, without hesitation, commanded me to get my tackling gear on the Cyclone. I jerked my little Rifter around, and quickly locked on to the Cyclone. Luckily, she was within range of my tackling gear, and tackled she was. This time, I made sure to get my autocannons on the target. We made short work of the Cylcone, and she too popped. We scooped up the drones, floating aimlessly about in space without a master.

Sard came up on fleet comms, "So, that'd be 20 million then right?" It took a moment for it to dawn on me what Sard was referring to. "Hahaha, shit. I guess so", I replied. A bet is a bet, and integrity, even amongst pirates, is important. I had the iskies transfered to Sard immediately. By his reply, I could tell he was surprised I followed through. I know he'll inevitably spend it on Corp supplies though so I'll get some benefit out of the iskies still. On the other hand, now that I've publicly announced that, he'll probably go out and blow it on those exotic dancers he likes to keep around the corp hanger.

It was very late, and I was exhausted from my day. I set destination for home, thanked Sard for the fun, and bid him a happy hunt. When I arrived at my base of operations, having docked up, I met with my hanger chief and requested that maintenance be performed over night, and the cargo hold loaded with a fresh, full compliment of ammunition. The next day's hunt would start early, and I didn't want to waste anytime with preparations. Just wake up, suit up, pod-up, and undock.

I rose Saturday morning early, although little behind schedule. The hanger crew had done a splendid job of getting my little Rifter ready for the day's hunt. I got situated in the pod, and brought my Rifter back to life. Undocking, I set destination for Bosena. It was quickly becoming one of my more favored solo grounds. Have to be careful though, it's a pretty heavily pirated system.

I scanned around Odde and Bos for about a half an hour when I decided to move on, not finding anything to attack. I set course for a new destination. Evati, I had been there once previously shortly after joining Gunpoint. I knew it was a pretty active system, and there were quite a few systems between my present location and Evati - ample opportunities to hunt. I pointed my frigate's nose towards the first jumpgate. I punched the warp drive and launched forward towards my new destination.

The pipe was pretty clean along the way, but eventually I found myself in Offikatlin. It was quiet in the system, only one other capsuleer was being reported in the local communication system. I started the process of scanning the celestial clusters to see if the other pilot was out and about. It didn't take long, I immediately picked up another Rifter on directional. I set about narrowing down the scan radius to try and pinpoint the othe Rifter's location. "Please don't be a mission runner, please don't be a mission runner," I kept thinking. I didn't have the advanced scanning equipment needed to probe out other ships in hidden parts of space.

Much to my delight, the other pilot was not a mission runner. From the way it looked, sitting from my scan spot, he appeared to be ratting. I warped to the single asteroid belt present at the celestial cluster I had narrowed him down to. There he was, fighting a crusier sized rat in the belt. I pounced. He was only 15k away from my warp-in point. It was now just a matterclosing the gap and getting within scrammer range before he noticed me and warped out of the belt.

I hit 10k out and engaged my targeting computer, my tackling equipment already primed. The Rifter was pinned quickly and the fight was on. I tore through his shields and turned his armor into swiss cheese. His structure quickly gave way. I tried for his pod, but the pilot got it out of the belt before I could get it tackled. I approached his wreck, and managed to scoop an armor plate, and a webber that would be useful for my Rifters one day. I waited out my GCC in a safespot, watching the local comms system for new arrivals into the system. When a new pilot entered the system, I worked the scanner hoping that it'd be something that I could attack, and that the pilot would stay in the system long enough for me to engage.

Disappointingly, it was all just traffic moving through the system on the way to some other destination. With my criminal flag expired, I pressed on towards Evati. I moved through the pipe, scanning the systems along the way. I made it all the way to Evati without finding any more targets. I docked up at one of the local stations to grab a quick drink and a smoke before heading for home. Evati was pretty busy, but most pilots were docked up, or running missions in parts of space I couldn't access. Having satisfied my thirst, I undocked and set destination for home.

I moved back through the long pipe I had just come through. There were no targets to be found along the way, that is until I landed in Illamur. I picked up an Incurus Gallante frigate on directional. I have a fondness for popping them. I'm not really sure why. It probably has to do with the fact it's a make of a different race. Being that I hunt mainly in Minmatar controlled space, I see mainly Minmatar ships. So, it's a change of pace more then anything I suppose. Something unique as opposed to the Rifter kills that have quickly become common on my Killboard.

I narrowed the scanner's radius down and pinpointed the Incurus in a belt not far away. I warped into the belt and found the pilot engaged with one of the local pirate rats. From the readouts I was getting, this poor capsuleer was being warp scrambled by the rat it was fighting. Pleased at this discovery, I hit the afterburner and started to close the gap. The Incurus was over 20k away from my warp-in point, and the rat had done what would have been the most difficult take of the engagement - pinning my prey preventing it's escape as I closed to rip it apart. If the Incurus hadn't been scrammed for me, the pilot could have very easily warped out before I could have engaged.

Having closed range, I applied my scrammer and webber. I knew the Incurus would soon destroy the rat it had been engaged with, and at that point would have been able to warp out. I didn't want that to happen, so I applied my scrammer as insurance that my prey wouldn't get away. I span up my autocannons, and launched my barrage of rockets. The Incurus, had launched one drone, but I chose to ignore it. I knew the Incurus wouldn't last long enough for 1 drone to be of concern. Predicitably, the Incurus crumbled under my guns. I quickly warped out of the belt to safespot to wait out my GCC.

I eventually made my way back home to dock for the evening. Having docked, I again requested the hanger crew to prepare my Rifter for the next day of operations. I hit the station bar for a quick drink and a smoke. I submitted my CONCORD killmails and headed off for my quarters. I laid in bed, reflecting on my day's hunt. While the day's kills weren't anything large like the previous days, they were all satisfying. I drifted off easily into a nice, quiet sleep.

Sunday morning, I set out planning to stay in the closely neighboring systems. I would find the day to be much more quiet then the previous two days had been. I made my way for Odde, not finding much activity along the way. I eventually picked up a Claw interceptor on my directional scanner. I have read accounts from other pirates who favor Rifter combat, that interceptors are not out of the capablities of the Rifter to successfully engage. I had been eager to attempt to solo one, but had been apprehensive about it in the past. Like I said previously though, I knew I had an ample supply of Rifters and replacement modules in my station hanger. My current Rifter had had a good run. If I lost it (which I knew I inevitably would), I was fine with it.

I pointed my Rifter to the belt I expected the Claw to be at. As soon as I landed in the belt I had expected to see the claw come up on my overview, but there was nothing. I quickly set about trying to pick him back on the scanner. Working my directional scanner, I quickly picked him back up and narrowed his position down to the neighboring planet. Not what I had expected, but whatever. I hit the warp drive and launched towards the planet. I landed about several kilometers away. The Claw pilot was not overconfident in his T2 frigate. He warped away evidently not wanting to risk his expensive ship.

This turned out to be a bit of a cat and mouse game. I continued to stalk him as he jumped around the system. Eventually though, he would make a mistake. He returned to the planet I had originally found him orbiting. I quickly made my way back to the planet, hoping I'd land close enough to get my tackling gear on him. Sure enough, I landed 11k away. A quick punch of the afterburner and I was within tackling range. My tackling gear engaged and the Claw was pinned. One of us was going to burn.

My autocannons began doing their work, overloaded they began to weaken the interceptor's shields. The interceptor returned fire, and I saw my shields start to take heavy damage. "Shit, gotta be using artillery", I thought to myself. I quickly turned my frigate into the interceptor to close range, and tried to get under his guns as much as possible. Once I was within 1200 meters, the game shifted back in my favor. His shields gone, his armor gave way revealing the interceptor's hull. My guns made short work of the last little bit of structural integrity holding the Claw together. She burst, and I was more satisfied then I had been since my first solo kill.

I scoped up a couple T2 Artillery cannons from the Claw's wreckage. I had been correct about my prey's weapons loadout. I set destination for home and waited out my GCC in a safe spot. Once my criminal flag dropped off, I pressed on for home. I docked up and had the hanger crew unloaded the new T2 weapons from the cargo hold. I had them inspected for damage and when they were proven to be in excellent condition, I placed them on the marketplace. Hopefully they'll sell quickly. I made my way for my quarters to review the CONCORD killmail. Having sat down at my desk, I began to review it. "What the fuck is this shit?!?!", I thought to myself. This fitting, on an interceptor? Why would anyone risk an interceptor like this? If your going to fit your ship like that, at least use a disposable T1 frigate. NOT a T2 frigate like an interceptor.

What a waste. And yes, I do feel slightly "robbed" of the interceptor Kill. On the bright side, I can still gloat to Rax that I have a solo Claw kill that he hasn't been able to obtain yet. :)
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Note: Seems to be something wrong with killboard, it's not displaying the fittings right now. Sorry, hopefully it will be running like normal soon.