Some backwater system on the rim of civilization. Lousy trades, and the people aren't much different. Most offenders have bounties in the lower three digits on them. It was probably them acting in self-defense before their scanners granted them the permission to engage and their ships' computers blared their offense all over the area. Normally I'd just let them go, but this isn't like any other place. Everything is on the low-end, everybody is scraping by best he can, and unfortunate fools end up being collected on. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. Even more so if he's looking to get a return of investment for the purchase of a new FSD interdirctor. Eat or get eaten.
I was on patrol in a system that's best left nameless. Scanner was showing the usual three-digit-bounty spacejocks. As I was about to pick a target close-by, my scanners showed one new contact. An Eagle with quite a nice price tag on its pilot's head. 10k is nothing to sneeze at and 2/3 of what that bloody FSD interdictor had cost me. Time to see what that thing was capable of. Moved into range fired off the interdictor, and after some twisting and turning we ended up in normal space.
Fresh out of supercruise that I exited a bit too abruptly, I was getting my bucking Sidewinder under control while putting all power into shields. You never know if you just met a rich guy's offspring who just happened to decide to fill his ship up with the latest high-tech toys and start a thrill-seeking career in piracy out where nobody gives a damn. While I was still busy getting my ship under control, he unloaded a couple of missile salvos on me. Shield gone, hull down to 50%, and the canopy breached with 10 minutes of oxygen left. That was not behavior my clientele usually shows, so I took a glimpse at my opponent's combat rating. Elite. I'll be damned...
With his ship being considerably faster than mine, escape was not an option. But with a central piece of the canopy of my own ship gone and the HUD along with it, combat wouldn't have been that much better a choice if I wasn't carrying two gimbaled burst lasers. Both our ships were locked in a ballet of death as each of us was trying to gain the upper hand over his respective enemy. Sometimes he'd simply fly off, giving me a couple of seconds to recharge my shields and the shield capacitor, usually barely enough to withstand the barrage of weapons fire that I had incoming when he turned to face me again. I never did a better job at energy management in my whole life.
We were locked in combat for several quite intense minutes. After his initial missile barrage, the bite he had left in him was almost too much for my ship to handle. The only thing I could do was to wear him down, almost always leaving at least one of my ship's systems without power. I never had a combat versus another fighter that took so long, and that was only his shields. And the timer counting down on my remaining oxygen didn't exactly help either. It took quite some time, but eventually I managed to gain the upper hand. I didn't exactly fly circles around him, but I got to badgering him good. Eventually I managed to kill him, with 4:30 left on the oxygen clock.
The nearest station was some 1500Ls away. A stone's throw given the fact that no celestial body mass hindered my acceleration. I made it out alive, with a fat paycheck to turn in and enough time on the oxygen clock to get my ship repaired before time runs out. All in all, just another day in this forsaken hell hole. With a nice outcome, for once.
I was on patrol in a system that's best left nameless. Scanner was showing the usual three-digit-bounty spacejocks. As I was about to pick a target close-by, my scanners showed one new contact. An Eagle with quite a nice price tag on its pilot's head. 10k is nothing to sneeze at and 2/3 of what that bloody FSD interdictor had cost me. Time to see what that thing was capable of. Moved into range fired off the interdictor, and after some twisting and turning we ended up in normal space.
Fresh out of supercruise that I exited a bit too abruptly, I was getting my bucking Sidewinder under control while putting all power into shields. You never know if you just met a rich guy's offspring who just happened to decide to fill his ship up with the latest high-tech toys and start a thrill-seeking career in piracy out where nobody gives a damn. While I was still busy getting my ship under control, he unloaded a couple of missile salvos on me. Shield gone, hull down to 50%, and the canopy breached with 10 minutes of oxygen left. That was not behavior my clientele usually shows, so I took a glimpse at my opponent's combat rating. Elite. I'll be damned...
With his ship being considerably faster than mine, escape was not an option. But with a central piece of the canopy of my own ship gone and the HUD along with it, combat wouldn't have been that much better a choice if I wasn't carrying two gimbaled burst lasers. Both our ships were locked in a ballet of death as each of us was trying to gain the upper hand over his respective enemy. Sometimes he'd simply fly off, giving me a couple of seconds to recharge my shields and the shield capacitor, usually barely enough to withstand the barrage of weapons fire that I had incoming when he turned to face me again. I never did a better job at energy management in my whole life.
We were locked in combat for several quite intense minutes. After his initial missile barrage, the bite he had left in him was almost too much for my ship to handle. The only thing I could do was to wear him down, almost always leaving at least one of my ship's systems without power. I never had a combat versus another fighter that took so long, and that was only his shields. And the timer counting down on my remaining oxygen didn't exactly help either. It took quite some time, but eventually I managed to gain the upper hand. I didn't exactly fly circles around him, but I got to badgering him good. Eventually I managed to kill him, with 4:30 left on the oxygen clock.
The nearest station was some 1500Ls away. A stone's throw given the fact that no celestial body mass hindered my acceleration. I made it out alive, with a fat paycheck to turn in and enough time on the oxygen clock to get my ship repaired before time runs out. All in all, just another day in this forsaken hell hole. With a nice outcome, for once.
