Estoc to the breaking point
09 Nov 2015Kaocraft
Outfitted the Estoc for warzones and flew out to CAYUTORME to fight against the syndicate. Place was teeming with high-rank Zach Hudson CMDRs, mostly in wings, mostly flying Pythons or Fer-De-Lances, with a handful piloting Imperial Clippers in flagrant mockery of the Empire.I was consistently shot down as soon as I arrived in a combat zone. In many cases I was interdicted en route by groups of large powerful ships. At one point I was interdicted by an FDL and a Python, and rather than fleeing or attacking I decided to just sit there and let them decide whether this was really an interesting enough fight to even be bothering with. A few beats later and they're opening up on me with all their firepower. Well, this is one area where the Imperial Eagle excels - escape. I punch the throttle, pop a shield cell battery, and accelerate towards and then immediately past them. There is no way in hell they will be able to catch up to me so I just need to outlast their laser fire long enough, and with their slower turn speed I've already bought a little time. I pull some corkscrew maneuvers and keep on boosting. By the time my shields are down, my FSD is charged and I jump out of there.
Eagle is cheap enough that I can afford to lose a few, but after being pounded from all sides by ships many times more powerful than me, and dieing instantly for the fifth or sixth time, I feel like I've done enough and I switch to solo.
Manage to rack up a few kills in the Estoc, taking down Vipers and Cobras, and overall it's a pretty fun time and it's a pretty decent ship especially given the cost. The speed of the ship is just wonderful.
I shot down enough to put me in the top 70% of participants. . . for now. Three days to go, but if the position holds, I'll have another 5 million in the bank soon.
Also decided to be an asshole and shoot down a single one of my own side, just so I could turn in a single kill to the Syndicate and hedge my bets a little. That single kill put me in the top 70% also. No rewards have actually been unlocked for that one yet, though I have to imagine all those Hudson people must be steadily contributing to it.