With various other responsibilities keeping me docked up and away from the violent blackness of low-sec, things have been pretty slow lately. I’ve been alternating between flying my Harpy and Wolf when I do have time for the odd roam, but I haven’t had much luck finding targets. Sometimes this is the way it goes for pirates – long stretches of nothingness punctuated by frenetic periods of action. I’ve been here before and I don’t like it.
Last night I undocked my Wolf in Aeschee to make the trip back home to Iges. I’d been holed up in this area of Essence since my last roam. Typically Old Man Star and Heydieles have proven reliable places to find a fight, but on my last trip through it was nothing but blobs and gate camps.
Upon being spit out from the station I fire up the d-scanner and immediately pick up another Wolf and a Catalyst somewhere close by. In short order I have them narrowed down to an asteroid belt and I’m in warp — winding up my overheated 200mm AutoCannons, and set to land at 20KM off of their location. Out of the corner of my eye I notice the Catalyst drop off of my scanner readout just before I land, and as my Wolf lurches out of warp speed I’m greeted by the welcome sight of a “flashy red” pilot, hovering above the Catalyst wreck.
Enemy locked, pointed, and under fire – my AutoCannons get to work dismantling the other Wolf as I settle into a comfortable 19KM orbit. My target fights back for a bit but it isn’t long before we both realize that he’s fit for brawling and never going to touch me. At this point I’m simply concentrating on keeping him pinned down and monitoring my d-scanner for possible back-up. My adversary continues to try and shake my point but I simply overheat the Warp Disruptor and close distance each time it looks like he might slip away. Everything is gravy…
As he’s entering structure and attempting to pull range once again I go to overheat my point and…accidentally shut it off? Before I can re-activate the Warp Disruptor he’s rocketing away from the asteroid belt to a nearby safe spot and I’m left cursing shoddy Minmatar craftsmanship and staring at a bunch of rocks — my gut growls.
It’s not every day that you find a delicious target just sitting in your front yard, and considering the recent lull I’ve been having this one stung…a lot.
After a brief conversation with the enemy pilot, who assured me he wouldn’t be returning for a rematch, and performing some mid-flight repairs to my scorched AutoCannons, I leave Aechee behind and start the trek home.
A few systems later I jump into Ouelletta. My onboard computer shows me that there are only four other pilots in system and it’s not long before I’m greeted by a positive scan result on my discretional scanner – a Rupture. I know that Ruptures can be particularly deadly for the type of Wolf I’m flying, but I’ve got the taste for blood and it’s not going to go away without being satiated. I narrow the Rupture down to a belt — my intuition tells me he’s sitting there waiting for me. At this point I’d normally have backed off, as I’m rarely one to dive into a fight where I’m not reasonably sure the odds are in my favor – but starvation will do strange things to a capsuleer and his decision making process.
With a familiar rumble my Wolf is dragged into warp. I go through the methodical process of overheating my systems in preparation for what’s sure to be a challenging fight. When the nauseating lurch of landing in the asteroid belt hits my stomach I can see the target Rupture 40KM off of my position and flashing red against the black backdrop of space…like the most delightful candy you’ve ever tasted, waiting for you just out of your reach.
We close on each other quickly, both landing point at the same time and falling into a death dance. My Wolf is shaking violently at the onslaught of projectile ammunition tearing its armor apart, and then come the Warrior II drones. I maintain lock with my Warp Disruptor on the Rupture pilot and refocus fire on the drones. As the first Warrior II explodes I’m entering low armor – this is going to end badly. Fighting against the curiously unresponsive controls of my Wolf – the same problem that cost me my earlier kill — I try and angle away from the fight, overheating my Microwarpdrive in an attempt to disengage. My cockpit begins to glow a fiery red as alarms about structure failure and imminent destruction scream in my synapses…then everything is calm and my pod is drifting listlessly through space towards a nearby planet.
The Rupture pilot broadcasts a friendly “good fight” and I return the favor. As I continue on to Iges in my pod, hungry and unsatisfied I look forward to docking up and enjoying a glass of scotch and a smoke.
Hopefully I’ll get some dinner tomorrow.