My first entry
05 Feb 2016Declaredsomnium
It might seem a bit late, to do my first log after spending so long in the black, but back in the days I flew Sid, my Sidewinder. I wasn't the most legal of pilots. I have my stories to share, but I still maintain that you never hear about the best smugglers. Still, my days of flying drugs, slaves, weapons or anything you wanted taking to a station without anyone knowing are long gone. I'm almost entirely legit. I fly under a banner now. The Imperial banner of PRincess Aisling Duval, and I actually lead a fairly dull life, flying media materials to systems under her flag. The most fun I get is from the odd pirate interdiction. Keyes Legacy, my current ship, rarely has any issue with these pilots. Often leaving pirates in debris fields.
Today however, I broke my biggest instinct that lingers from my smuggling days. I went head long in to a low intensity combat zone.
Whilst sat there looking over who were fighting. I took my side, and targeted the closest ship to me.
You can imagine my horror when I realise I've opened my pulse laser cannons on an Imperial Cutter. I'm fully expecting to get spaced in a matter of seconds. Still, I think, I can jump out the second it drops my shields, and I keep on with my lasers.
A minute later, and my HUD is showing that I've made nary a dent in those shields. If it weren't for the fact that I was managing to stay in the poor bastards blind spot most of the time, I'd have called it quits right there. Instead I let rips with all the guns. Two large multi cannons and two medium burst lasers, all gimballed.
It still takes me a while, but I take my time to target the power plant, just to be sure.
I'm not the only ship firing. I see an Imperial Fighter buzz right over me, opening up with it's own lasers, and an Asp fires in from two kilometres out. I'm still in the sights of this Cutter though, and we continue or dance of death.
All in all, I must have expended more rounds in that one ship than half of the interdictions I usually face, but my HUD reads true, and the Cutter was ripping itself apart.
Keyes LEgacy had barely taken a scratch. So, flush with success (and 80k in combat bonds) I took aim on a little Cobra Mk4. That fight is hardly of note, it ended in a short while. Now however, this part of space had but one enemy ship. A Cubeo Jet Council aligned Python, about four kilometres out and taking substantial fire. I think to myself.
What the hell, I can bug out if needed. So I divert all power to my thrusters,, and boost in as fast as I can. The second I'm in range, I open up on the Python, and start to slow down to join this fight.
However, whilst most of the ships firing at them were Asps, my Clipper was a fair bit bigger and thus more powerful, and I become the main target for mostly pulse lasers and a frag cannon. It took two good passes of the Python to take my shields down, all the while I've been firing wild lit at the hull, it's shields long since gone. Seeing the damage wrought to my hull, I boost out and let my shields recharge, waiting for the right time to strike.
Whilst my ship was at 40% hull, but the Python at 12, I race back in, and open up. These last few rounds were enough, and the ship blooms in to a bright fireball.
Six Kilometres out, I see the tall tale lances of laser fire, and I realise that this fight is far from over. So begins another lot of boosting in, my targets set on another Cobra Mk3.
Whilst, however, my pulse lasers were taking a good chunk of the shields for this poor cobra. Another ship was firing on me, and I only realised when my shields went down. It was that moment I knew it was something big.
40%, best to bug out and dock in Chelomey Orbital to cash in and rearm, and repair.
20%, all power to the engine, I need to de-ass the area as soon as I bloody well can. My canopy is starting to make that sphincter tightening creaking sound as spider webs of cracks grow in the corner of my eye. Seven and a half minutes if it breaches, FSD is almost fully charged.
19%, a missile alert. Oh hell, with no shields and barely any hull integrity left, if my point defence gun fails to get it before I jump out, I am dead.
18% The drive is almost spooled up, but my chest is heaving, fully expecting to get thrown in to the vacuum.
17%. I can see Cherenkov radiation light up around my canopy. I've got a few hundred light seconds between myself and safety. If I can make it back home.
Docking in Chelomey Orbital, and when the familiar UI pops up, I finally relax. As I signal over to the dock workers to get started of fixing my ship, and cash in almost one hundred and eighty thousand credits of combat bonds.
It was tense as hell. I might have another foray in to actual combat, rather than deal with fighting hostile troops or pirates.