Every so often something happens in this crazy game of ours that is unusual, weird or just plain stupidly funny that it cannot be ignored. Or go untold. Yesterday such a thing happened. And to the pilot involved, my apologies, but I do write a blog and every word is true.
I entered system hunting with a Merlin. I figured it was about time I gave the nible little frigate a go. Immediately I noticed a Rifter and a Comet on scan, so I landed at one of my many safe spots to do some very quick intel and scanning. They didn't appear to be together, but one can never be sure. I had a pretty good idea who the Comet pilot was and if I was right I also had a pretty good idea how he was fitting his ship. This meant I might be able to take them both, even if they were together. Then another Rifter appeared on scan.
This is where being a pirate comes down to gut instinct and experience. None of the three pilots appeared to be together, but appearances can often get you kilt dead. So I watched the scanner a little longer than usual. Finally, one of the Rifters appeared in-line with a belt alone and I initiated warp as fast as I could. The plan was to get rid of the first one as fast as possible if the others decided to come to his aid. Sadly, the Rifter was about 227km off of me when I landed. I turned towards him and sure enough a station was behind him. I burned until the distance was about 100km then warped to station. You guessed it, quick spin and warp back to belt at 100.
Gone. And now a pod and a Rifter on scan at another belt. So confirmation of the two Rifters not being together. The Comet hadn't moved from his safe, so he probably wasn't with either of them. But again, can't be sure about these things.
I decided to ditch the Merlin for a Thrasher. Maybe they'd be more inclined to attack one of those instead. Sure enough upon undocking, Comet in a belt. I warp in to find him about 87km from me, turn and burn. I get within 30 before he wisely runs off. I know the pilot and he isn't stupid.
Rifter gone, Comet leaving. I align towards station to dock the Thrasher when I catch the Ferox on scan. Warp/Dock and switch to my Sac, because he is most likely hugging a station. Undock and lo and behold he is not at a station, he seems to be at a belt. Oh my lucky stars.
My luck strikes once more, the belt is empty and I mistakingly had my d-scan set to 30 and not 15, so he is at a station after all. I warp there with some haste, hoping this tasty morsel will not escape me again. He isn't there, but an Itereon has just undocked and I can't help myself. Great, so now I have GCC. But wait, all is not lost, the Ferox is at one of the other stations now.
I warp in and land a little more than 22km from him, which is not ideal, especially with the station shooting at me. I'm not worried, but it would be better to fight somewhere else. I turn slowly and warp off to the obvious asteroid belt. Once I land I turn and align back to station. I figure if he doesn't show up in a minute I'll warp back and kill him on station anyway.
He does show up and lands not 4k from me! As I lock him I notice he is talking in local, but I am too busy to pay attention to what he is saying. Later it will become obvious that he was "wanting to ask me a question". But the Sac is a complicated ship and requires some focused attention. At this point I hadn't even noticed that the pilot was young. I know that is probably hard to believe, but it generally doesn't matter to me in situations like this. Young or seasoned veteran, he wasn't going to survive.
The pilot asks to open a convo with me and I accept. I usually do if the situation isn't overly complicated, if it is I tend to wait until after the fight. I said howdy and he did the usual Noob things, like ask me why I was killing him. I told him that's what I do, I kill people. I'm a nasty red type person. He said he only wanted to ask me a question. To which I replied, hang on a second. His ship exploded and we resumed our talk.
Couple of things here. Because he came out to fight me, even unintentionally, I had no interest in podding him. I have my own council on who and who I do not pod. Secondly, I will talk and offer advice to anyone after the fighting is done. If possible, reference the above "if the situation allows it" comment. Also, just to be clear, this guy had no idea who I was.
Oh, the question. The question he was willing to get killed for? It was simple really and elegant in its own unique way.
He was simply curious as to why the Station guns were shooting me.
Eve. It never ceases to amaze.
And to all noob pilots out there, don't give up. I was just like you once. But remember, no matter how hard you try, I'll always be about 65m skill points ahead of you.
I entered system hunting with a Merlin. I figured it was about time I gave the nible little frigate a go. Immediately I noticed a Rifter and a Comet on scan, so I landed at one of my many safe spots to do some very quick intel and scanning. They didn't appear to be together, but one can never be sure. I had a pretty good idea who the Comet pilot was and if I was right I also had a pretty good idea how he was fitting his ship. This meant I might be able to take them both, even if they were together. Then another Rifter appeared on scan.
This is where being a pirate comes down to gut instinct and experience. None of the three pilots appeared to be together, but appearances can often get you kilt dead. So I watched the scanner a little longer than usual. Finally, one of the Rifters appeared in-line with a belt alone and I initiated warp as fast as I could. The plan was to get rid of the first one as fast as possible if the others decided to come to his aid. Sadly, the Rifter was about 227km off of me when I landed. I turned towards him and sure enough a station was behind him. I burned until the distance was about 100km then warped to station. You guessed it, quick spin and warp back to belt at 100.
Gone. And now a pod and a Rifter on scan at another belt. So confirmation of the two Rifters not being together. The Comet hadn't moved from his safe, so he probably wasn't with either of them. But again, can't be sure about these things.
I decided to ditch the Merlin for a Thrasher. Maybe they'd be more inclined to attack one of those instead. Sure enough upon undocking, Comet in a belt. I warp in to find him about 87km from me, turn and burn. I get within 30 before he wisely runs off. I know the pilot and he isn't stupid.
Rifter gone, Comet leaving. I align towards station to dock the Thrasher when I catch the Ferox on scan. Warp/Dock and switch to my Sac, because he is most likely hugging a station. Undock and lo and behold he is not at a station, he seems to be at a belt. Oh my lucky stars.
My luck strikes once more, the belt is empty and I mistakingly had my d-scan set to 30 and not 15, so he is at a station after all. I warp there with some haste, hoping this tasty morsel will not escape me again. He isn't there, but an Itereon has just undocked and I can't help myself. Great, so now I have GCC. But wait, all is not lost, the Ferox is at one of the other stations now.
I warp in and land a little more than 22km from him, which is not ideal, especially with the station shooting at me. I'm not worried, but it would be better to fight somewhere else. I turn slowly and warp off to the obvious asteroid belt. Once I land I turn and align back to station. I figure if he doesn't show up in a minute I'll warp back and kill him on station anyway.
He does show up and lands not 4k from me! As I lock him I notice he is talking in local, but I am too busy to pay attention to what he is saying. Later it will become obvious that he was "wanting to ask me a question". But the Sac is a complicated ship and requires some focused attention. At this point I hadn't even noticed that the pilot was young. I know that is probably hard to believe, but it generally doesn't matter to me in situations like this. Young or seasoned veteran, he wasn't going to survive.
The pilot asks to open a convo with me and I accept. I usually do if the situation isn't overly complicated, if it is I tend to wait until after the fight. I said howdy and he did the usual Noob things, like ask me why I was killing him. I told him that's what I do, I kill people. I'm a nasty red type person. He said he only wanted to ask me a question. To which I replied, hang on a second. His ship exploded and we resumed our talk.
Couple of things here. Because he came out to fight me, even unintentionally, I had no interest in podding him. I have my own council on who and who I do not pod. Secondly, I will talk and offer advice to anyone after the fighting is done. If possible, reference the above "if the situation allows it" comment. Also, just to be clear, this guy had no idea who I was.
Oh, the question. The question he was willing to get killed for? It was simple really and elegant in its own unique way.
He was simply curious as to why the Station guns were shooting me.
Eve. It never ceases to amaze.
And to all noob pilots out there, don't give up. I was just like you once. But remember, no matter how hard you try, I'll always be about 65m skill points ahead of you.