The Range

Outside the Bar

Guns? Check. Ammo? Check. Paste? Got that too. Liquor, smokes and Quafe? Check, check AND check! After a quick prayer to Saint Wensley and Mother Adirain, I undocked from Brink's Bar and set off on a roam through the Citadel and Black Rise.

As I drifted off the undock my d-scan detected a Vexor in system. I began scanning possible locations where it could be. Not at a large plex, or a medium. No FW mission sites up either. Hmm maybe an agent mission? I did a 360 scan for any NPC wrecks but nothing turned up. I narrowed down the search and he was towards a cluster of belts with a station near it as well. I scanned that area and a 5 degree hit confirmed he was certainly there. As I warped I checked to see who was in local. Besides myself, three others were in system.

I landed at the station and the Vexor was motionless near the undock. I eyeballed the ship and saw he was fitted with blasters, but no drones out and still he was not moving. I hit scan again and saw there was a Garmur out in space now. I checked local again and saw one had entered system, and it was a pilot from Se7en Sins.

A while back the heavy hitters in Isho and the nearby systems was DUTY; they had the numbers, the ISK and the ships to fight off any force their size. There is no tactic they won't use to kill you. At some point another alliance arrived to the area and DUTY joined with Se7en. After multiple skirmishes and gun fights with them, we became familiar with their ways. We employ guerrilla tactics with 'em, rarely do they fly solo; let alone in a frig! If you see one, then expect many more nearby. 

The memory of foolishly expecting a fair, honorbru fight from these folks was fresh, but given the hour and the type of ship the Sins pilot was in, I figured he was flying solo. Why not? With this in mind I warped to a novice and waited. I set my d-scan to the range of 1 AU and every couple seconds hit scan. After a few hits and no sign of the Garmur on short, I extended the range to check if he was still in system. He was, and after some quick scan work saw he was at a large. Well I'm not going to you! I aligned towards the large, killed the engine, and waited some more. I loaded EMP and Mjolnir rockets and planned my course of action. If he lands more than 10km away, I'm warping to large. I lowered my range to 5 AU (since the large plex was 10 AU) and scanned. Garmur. I lowered the range to 1 AU. Garmur. I pre-heated everything as the Sins pilot landed. 20km. Warp! I spammed warp as the Garmur yellow boxed me. I landed at the large and immediately aligned back towards the novice to warp at 20km and hopefully get the Garmur right on top of me. A couple seconds before warping, the Garmur landed at the large right at zero! Damn! I didn't want to play these warp games long and lose his interest in the fight, so when I landed at the nov it was now or never. I re-aligned towards the large in case he landed at a distance again, and waited. A flash of light brought the Garmur on grid. Immediately I spammed approach and activated the afterburner. He exited warp 15km away which meant he landed at the gate at zero. He was eager to catch me >:]

I locked up the Garmur at 14km as my speed increased. I had a lock and landed my heated web just as his MWD activated. 13, 12, 11, 10 .. I scrammed him, effectively removing his one advantage over me. I left the scram, web and AB heated for one more cycle just to ensure I was sitting pretty. I kept a nervous eye on local, waiting for his comrades to save him. My autocannons were steadily working through his shields as he returned fire. With three volley's the Garmur broke my shields as his was on the last bit of health. Fight wasn't over yet! The 200mm's broke through the last sliver of shields and tore a nice chunk from his armor. A couple more rapid volleys put him in deep armor. Seconds later the Se7en Sins Garmur exploded in a wonderful flash of orange. No gf for this pilot as I spammed target lock on his pod. Lock, scram, autocannons. The Shakes flowed through my body as I finally relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. Great start to a roam! Still no spike in local or third parties on short, so I scooped the loot from the wreckage (the Loot Fairy favored me this fight), docked up to rep and reload and set back out.

I jumped into Ishomilken ready for more, but sadly it was only myself in system. No matter, there will be more down the pipe! From Uuna to Asakai, and the systems in that triangle of sorts, there was no targets. Still riding the high from the Garmur fight, I headed to Okkamon to roam the surrounding systems.

Okkamon was fairly active with at least ten people in local. A quick scan showed another Garmur out, along with a Keres (ew) and other ships. Another Garmur, let's do it! I warped to a nov with the intent of waiting inside the plex instead of on the gate, in case a Keres and other stuff showed up. Mid warp I scanned the nov and saw there was a Breacher in that direction. Shit. I had no intention of fighting on the gate. As soon as I landed I aligned to the nearest celestial in front of me and spammed warp. The Breacher was targeting me but I was able to warp off. Paranoia V.

The Trek Home

The rest of Black Rise turned up nothing. Once I hit Pynekastoh I began to circle back to Okkamon through Hirri -> Nisuwa -> Kedama and then Reitsato. I skipped the outlying systems connected to Asakai and headed straight for Nikki to return to the Bar. I entered Mushi and d-scan showed a Merlin in space. The Merlin was at a novice plex, so I warped to it. Guns, web, scram and afterburner heated. Correct ammo loaded. Let's finish strong! The Merlin was right on the warp in waiting for me. As I exited warp I locked up the Merlin and set my orbit to 5,000m to get outside his blaster optimal. The advantage was with the Merlin as his blasters tore through my shields. My Rifter had the speed advantage but struggled to match the Merlin's dps. Nevertheless the speed of the Rifter put me outside the Merlin's range. One last volley landed which damaged my armor. I used one nanite rep and turned it off but kept it preheated ready to go just in case. I was no in the sweet spot, the Merlin couldn't hit me but I could definitely hit him. The Merlin's blasters missed, with a couple grazing hits sprinkled in. Once the shields fell, the Merlin crumbled. The pilot got his pod off grid and short scan revealed no third parties so I proceeded to loot 'n scoot and continue on home. 

I entered Nikkishina and docked up at Brink's Bar. Sexy pirate frig kill, even better pod kill, finished with a Merlin. Not bad!