Eifer, a system I call my haunt, no stations and the entry system to a lowsec pocket in Heimatar.
It's like a home to me, I feel very comfortable here, more so than in any station system. It can also be very dangerous for the unsuspecting as it's neighboring highsec system of Emolgranlan can hide nasty suprises. The past eight months have brought me many good memories in Eifer and qite a few losses too but it's the first stop on any hunt I start. Tonight was such a night and as I sat above belt 1-1 I was at peace. I had undocked “The Lost Continent”, a Republic Fleet Firetail and decided to do some frigate hunting.
Now Eifer can either be feast or famine and tonight it was quiet to begin with, just the usual mindless zombie haulers moving back and forth appearing on my on board scanner. Eventually the monotony was broken by a Sacrilege Heavy Assault Cruiser. Now this particular ship is dangerous but the Firetail is quick and nimble, the Sacrilege would struggle to hit me, but by the same token it would be nigh impossible for me to do any significant damage to it. I did decide to have some fun with the HAC though as I was bored and there was nothing more enticing in system.
I warped in above 1-1 at 400km, the HAC was in the belt and I noticed he had increased speed and was closing on me, ok, let's see what you've got. By the time he got within 100km of me I changed course to intercept, spiraling in I got within 25km and settled into an easy orbit, my velocity at 4km/s meant his weapons systems would struggle to hit me. He locked me and I returned the favour, he launched a flight of tech 2 Warrior drones, inty killers but experience kept me calm and I started to target them and fire on them. He recalled them and redeployed as is standard tactic in that situation, all the while me orbiting him, this went on for a few minutes with me destroying a few drones and him seemingly oblivious to my presence. Bored of this I broke orbit and disengaged, he left without uttering a word.
I went back to HQ, I was bored and was looking for something a bit more challenging. It's not often I have the time to hunt on a weekend so I was looking to make the most of it.
I boarded “The Fifth Elephant” a Sleipnir class Command Battle cruiser and undocked, there were some friends out front the station, doing some testing, I joined in some tank testing which was good for me as this was the first time I had undocked the Sleipnir, I have never used an active shield tank before and this was a good way to find out how it fared, I took fire from two Megathron Battleships and was quite happy with the results.
After the Megas went there way I undocked once again to be greeted by a Scythe cruiser, it just sat there saying “Shoot me” so naturally I did, first blood for the Sleip, not the most glamorous of kills but sometimes a kill is a kill.
A short while later a call came over an intel channel of a Drake and Vagabond in Eifer, finally, a little action, I undocked and made best speed to the system, Jaxx Blackfox in a Megathron and general dogzbody in a Vagabond were engaging in belt 1-1, I set the nav coordinates into the ships computer and entered warp, in mere moments I burst out of warp right on top of the Drake, the target Vaga was nowhere to be seen, I initiated lock and primed all weapons systems, lock resolves and my 425s go to work. The fight didn't last long.
2008.01.27 01:16:00
Victim: Minoti Clor
Alliance: Brotherhood Of Steel
Corp: Net 7
Destroyed: Drake
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 28199
Involved parties:
Name: Kane Rizzel (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: Derek Knows Us
Corp: NovaKane Incorporated
Ship: Sleipnir
Weapon: 425mm AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 17939
Name: Jaxx Blackfox
Security: -9.6
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Mean Corp
Ship: Megathron
Weapon: Ogre I
Damage Done: 7786
Name: general dogzbody
Security: -9.9
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Mean Corp
Ship: Vagabond
Weapon: Warrior II
Damage Done: 1828
Name: Angel Defacer / Archangels
Damage Done: 646
Destroyed items:
Shield Power Relay I
Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 3
Fleeting Warp Scrambler I (Cargo)
Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 21
Invulnerability Field I
Stasis Webifier I
Ballistic Control System II
Large Shield Extender II, Qty: 2
Dropped items:
Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 2961 (Cargo)
Reactor Control Unit I
Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 4
Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 28
Invulnerability Field I
Ballistic Control System II
Large Shield Extender II
Short and sweet, the target Vagabond warped in one more time but left in a hurry when he saw he was outmatched.
Minutes later I received intel of two Ruptures, a Thrasher and a Rifter sitting on the Eifer gate in Gusandall, I was docked at the time and decided to take Karma for a spin, the Hurricane quickly becoming my favourite ship, mixing tremendous firepower with a tank that can deal with most situations. I warped in on the gate and the marks were still there, I engaged, instantly drawing sentry fire along with the attentions of all four pilots, both Ruptures went down to Karma's guns all the while taking a tremendous pounding from the gate sentries. Deciding that the Thrasher and Rifter weren't worth losing a ship to I warped out with 50% hull integrity, a close call but well worth two kills. Soon afterwards I docked up to have my hangar crew inspect and repair the damage, it would take them a while to get the dents knocked out so I boarded the Sleip once more.
Keira during all this had positioned herself in Eifer, she reported that the Drake pilot from earlier was back in system, in a new Drake, accompanied by his Vagabond friend. I forwarded this information to an intel channel to see if anyone wanted to join the hunt, the lack of response unusual I decided to chance my luck. Keira had been using recon probes to try and vector in on there position and was getting good hits but they kept moving.
I had by this time jumped into system, perhaps showing my hand but nonetheless I was going to see this through. I got a call from Prediction Pain, an acquaintance I met in Independence, he notified me of his presence in system piloting a Falcon Recon Cruiser, a rather nasty ECM boat, one I personally have no love for but would probably need the assistance of in this engagement.
Keira's tenacity payed off as she had managed to probe out the marks safespot, moving into a position to allow me to warp right on top of the duo. I engaged my warp engines and the massive bulk of the commandship was flung though space. I burst out of warp right on top of them, initiating lock on both the Drake and Vagabond. I primaried the Drake and engaged all systems on it. I was taking an amazing amount of damage from the pair and lucky for me Prediction had got the go signal in the fleet channel and had joined the party, the Falcon locking both targets and jamming them to Jita and back. It was fortunate for me that he did as my tank was taking strain, the extra large shield repairer chewing through cap like a fat kid at a buffet, the cap booster struggling to keep up. The drakes shields were failing under the assualt of my guns and when they did it was over in the blink of an eye. The Vagabond took this as his cue to leave but left us with the spoils of a good fight.
2008.01.27 02:33:00
Victim: Minoti Clor
Alliance: Brotherhood Of Steel
Corp: Net 7
Destroyed: Drake
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 32978
Involved parties:
Name: Kane Rizzel (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: Derek Knows Us
Corp: NovaKane Incorporated
Ship: Sleipnir
Weapon: 425mm AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 32947
Name: Angel Ambusher / Archangels
Damage Done: 31
Name: Prediction Pain
Security: -2.3
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Falcon
Weapon: ECM - Ion Field Projector II
Damage Done: 0
Destroyed items:
Shield Power Relay I
Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 3
Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 57
Stasis Webifier I
Ballistic Control System II
Large Shield Extender II, Qty: 2
Dropped items:
Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 1751 (Cargo)
Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 4
Power Diagnostic System I
Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 76
Invulnerability Field I, Qty: 2
Hammerhead I, Qty: 3 (Cargo)
Ballistic Control System II
Large Shield Extender II
Thanks to Prediction for the assistance, much appreciated.
Later on I decided on some good old fashioned Rifter Violence and managed to pop a Thrasher who was hunting Angel Cartel ships in the belts.
I then spotted something very curious on my scanner, an Exquror class cruiser and Rifter in a belt, I was intrigued and set my sights on the pair, bursting out of warp I was greeted by the sight of the Exquror mining... yes... I said mining, with the Rifter as a sort of security, oh well, I primed my tackling equipment, locked the cruiser and closed in, the Rifter locked me and started firing, so I returned the favour, keeping the warp disruptor on the cruiser as that was my prize, the Rifter started venting gas into space as it's hull was breached and it decided that it was time to leave, leaving me all alone with the now defenseless mining cruiser. It was a bloodbath as it's hull split in two and exploded, my targeting systems quickly locking the escape pod and my guns liberating the body inside.
I was later convoed by the Rifter pilot and we had quite an amicable chat on Rifter fittings and tactics for lowsec survival. He expressed an interest in Piracy which is always good, it's always good to have new faces trying to make a name for themselves.
Heading home I reflect on a quiet night but one where getting back the sharpness of solo hunting felt great. I docked at HQ and the Hangar chief notified me that Karma was back to fully operational status, I dismissed the crew for the night and headed to the corner of the hangar where my bunk welcomed me, my eyes barely open as exhaustion overwhelms me.
The world fades into darkness
As always my work can be seen here
