The Moustache is Back

Well, I've had a long break due to some worn out hardware in my camera drones. Now they have been replaced with shiny new ones and New Eden is as magnificent as ever!

What is more beautiful than a dead miner?

And I’ve already served several happy customers, so the demand for pirate scumbags like yours truly seems as high as ever.

One honorable mention goes to this Enyo pilot who was rather flabbergasted by the impossible fight he met when he chose to lock horns with my Kestrel:

Thank you for the honourable combat
From: Boloskarl Hekard
Sent: 2013.11.28 16:33
To: Saftsuze 

Sir/Ma'am, 

Per our recent engagement, I cannot help but express my impressions of the encounter that we shared. I have no choice but to tip my hat in admiration at your flying prowess. I was certain that if I could get in range I would destroy you, but you proved otherwise with your range control and rockets.  

I commend you and congratulate you on the latest victory (albeit, at my expense).
Until our next encounter, 

V/R,
Boloskarl Hekard

And my reply:

Re: Thank you for the honourable combat
From: Saftsuze
Sent: 2013.11.28 18:03
To: Boloskarl Hekard 

Dear sir, 

Thank you very much for your honorable response to our encounter. I am deeply sorry for the lack of a good fight greeting in the local communications channel. I have just recently returned to the space lanes after a forced break due to some old hardware in my camera drones. Thus, being rusty, my hands were shaking too much from the threat of the watching Taranis (sick dude!) and the whole situation, that I did not manage to type in the correct commands before your capsule exploded. I was about to write such an evemail as this myself, but got interrupted be communication from my home planet. So, I was very pleased to find this in my inbox as I returned to my quarters. I will now regard you as an honorable space combatant whenever I should happen to see you around. 

If I may be so bold to point out an area of improvement for your Enyo, I would suggest bringing a long range ammunition such as Null S for situations like this. 

As we say in Black Rebel Rifter Club when our Rifters crash and burn: "At least I had Barrage in my hold". 

o7 Saftsuze

Yes, there was actually a Taranis pilot watching us from 137 km. That warped off and left system. Sick!

Well. I am back. And I will be back with more log entries.

The Voyeur

Five registered capsuleers in the local communications channel. Not including myself. Only three ships found by a directional scan around the main clusters of celestials. No stations. Two Drake-class battlecruisers hunting the local belt pirates on CONCORD salary. One Jaguar-class assault ship somewhere unknown. And me. In an Enyo. With active tanking, an energy vampire installed and a cargo hold full of the Federation’s finest antimatter charges. It is time to save the local belt inhabitants from the CONCORD-sponsored Drakes. My Enyo – will it handle two Drakes? And is that Jaguar a mate of them? And finally: That last pilot that has not been accounted for. 

I'm gonna poke you in the eye with this, OK?

The known unknown.

As I land among the asteroids, the two Drakes align out, but only one is allowed to turn his warp drive, the other one is swiftly scrambled. My neutron blasters start the elaborate task of overcoming the battlecruisers shields.

Will the other Drake return?

I am settling for a tight orbit and send a warm “thank you” to the Drake pilot for either forgetting the drones in his hanger or just forgetting to launch them.

“Planet X, Asteroid Belt 1. I could need a hand!”

The other Drake pilot leaves system. So they were not buddies then. Or at least not anymore, I guess. Friendship – such a fragile concept among capsuleers. But when will the Jaguar poke it’s nose into this belt? Will someone come to his aid?

The Drake’s shields are struggling under my relentless neutron blasters. We are getting closer to the point of no recharge. Time to fire up some heat. The shields crumbles. It will soon be over.

Smelling a dying ship, the Jaguar finally makes an appearance. Crouching at 50 kilometers off, he is ready to attack. The Drake is in deep structure as the big cat leaps towards my Enyo. It all happens very fast now, and yet it seems like slow motion. I finish off the Drake and make a hard left at maximum overheated afterburner speed straight towards the newly arrived predator. Targeting systems going wild. Warning sounds ringing in my ears, the scrambler has been enabled, the turrets turn and fire, webifier applied, vampire sucking from his capacitor, repair systems ready and preheated. The battle is violent. Big chunks of twisted metal litters the field.

Rapier uncloaks. The known unknown is now very much known.

I overheat my brain and hurl my Enyo into alignment towards the first celestial object I can get a navigational lock on. My guns are still working on the Jaguar that is going down fast. No targeting from the Rapier still. Jaguar explode. And I am screaming “WARP!” even though no-one can hear me through the pod fluids.

The warp tunnel has never been so beautiful. So quiet. So perfect.

Then silence was broken by a message coming through the system wide communications channel. The pilot of the wreck formerly known as a Jaguar address me:

“Kill the rapier and i will be impressed”
I grin and reply:
“I ran”

Then a sparkling sound and the Rapier-pilot joins the conversation.

“I was just there to help incase he wouldn’t get his one versus one fight. I was already watching the fight. I could have ruined the party”

I guess some like to watch.

Epilogue: The official kill report from the incident shows that the Rapier actually helped me with the Jaguar that arrived. I also got the loot later on as the Rapier pilot left the wrecks untouched.

(This log entry has previously been published at The Fighter at the Gates of Hell.)