Alone in the dark

Mal: "Which one do you figured tracked us?"

Zoe: "The ugly one, sir."

Mal: (beat) "Could you be more specific?"

It cuts through the night sky, elegant in its invisibility, sophisticated scanning and probing systems it's key weapon and in this respect it is deadly, the scanner sweeping the system. A target is narrowed down to a 15 degree arc, probe is launched and the aching wait starts, the seconds tick by, the probe finishes it's first cycle and finds nothing... damn it... second sweep is under way, 21 nerve shattering seconds, cycle ends and again the target is not amongst the results, just the usual space junk of haulers & shuttles. Third cycle starts, nerves are on edge... it's as if everybody is holding their breathe. Cycle ends and the results show a drone, a single drone in the entire system, the scanner is narrowed down and tuned to show drones, the target has drones deployed and the probe result is amongst them. The invisible ship initiates warp to the position of the probe hit. A Sleipnir undocks from the station and waits for the invisible ship to report back that she's in position. Deep in the system at a safespot outside of scan range a Claymore Command ship uncloaks and activates its Skirmish Warfare links. The word is given and the Sleipnir slips into warp, the seconds ticking by like a glacier on an age old journey to the sea. It feels as if time is standing still as the Sleipnir bursts out of warp and sees an acceleration gate, which is activated as soon as the Command ships systems return to normal space.
Tackling modules are primed and set to overload in case the target is not where it's expected to be and the extra range is needed. The gate launches the Sleipnir into a deadspace complex where MWDs are useless but the pilot is smart enough to fit an Afterburner, he's done this before.
A flash of light greets the Raven calmly killing Amarr faction ships inside the plex, the Sleipnir a mere 17km from it and closing rapidly a warp disruptor reaches out and touches the Raven, it's own drones streaming out towards the Sleipnir. The night sky is lit up as Autocannons and Cruise missile launchers bridge the gap between the two ships, the EMP rounds of the Sleipnir tearing massive holes in the strong shield systems of the Raven and soon its armour is being ripped to shreds. In an instant a bright flash eclipses everything in the system, the Raven explodes in a violent spasm and the system falls silent as the escape pod warps out. The Sleipnir pilot is grinning and acknowledges his two accomplices as he warps back to the station

Deep in the system the Claymore cloaks.

The Cheetah covert operations frigate is a marvel of Minmatar engineering, favouring electronics and sneakiness to the traditional speed and in your face approach of so many of our ships. The Cheetah is a key component in many of my hunts, specifically for fat, juicy Mission running battleships. Keira used to be my go to girl for this but recently she has taken to flying her Claymore and it's difficult to get her out of it. So it was with much trouble I recruited someone to replace her and oh boy what a pilot, way more probing skills than Keira and without the holier than thou attitude that makes her seem like a bitch at times. The new Cheetah pilot is however a private contractor and has chosen to remain anonymous but has become a vital part of our little team.

I'm a solo Pirate but the machinations behind the scenes make it less lonely in the dark and at times very, very rewarding.

A devil is born

Unveiled another new ship tonight for it's first trial run and it surprised me. The Daredevil Guardian Angel frigate. It has a split weapons system like so many faction frigates, favouring Hybrid Blasters and Rocket Launchers for a close range brawler. I undocked it as there appeared to be a few Rifter pilots in system and they would make good test subjects. I missed two of them as I had a warp scrambler fitted with less range than the disruptor and they both managed to warpout before I got into range but I spotted another Rifter warp into a belt as I was leaving, he was hunting me so I warped to a belt and waited. Soon enough he warped in and I closed to within range, scram and web active. He returned tackle and the fight was on, Daredevil vs Rifter and it was a close fight with me in deep armour when he finally popped, I had overloaded my weapons to squeeze out every last bit of DPS and was relieved to see the Rifter explode. The escape pod warped out near instantly so was unable to add to "The Morgue"

But a successful test nonetheless.

I docked up and dropped the loot in the corp hangar and made myself a cup of Earl Grey, lit a cigarette and put some music on, time to relax. I have a busy weekend planned, it's my Birthday on Sunday and I plan on much carnage.