Bounty Hunting Experience in an Imperial Courier
27 Nov 2017DR Platus
<START LOGBOOK ENTRY - SUBMITTED: 27-11-3303>Well, the last few days have been an interesting experience, what with moving to my new home in Kamadhenu, and acquiring an Imperial Courier.
I purchased the iCourier prior to my move, then had to fly all the way back to my origin station, as it has some of the components I required. Once I arrived at Shajn Market, my new home, I arranged to have my other ships that were parked at various stations sent to Kamadhenu. Must say I was quite impressed there, they arrived quickly and at a reasonable price.
In any case, once I arrived at my new home base, I checked in with the local Empire-aligned factions to see if they wanted me to do anything for them. But, with them not knowing me that well, regardless of my Empire rank, there were some low-paying data delivery missions, so I did those. However, my primary reason for purchasing the iCourier was for Bounty Hunting. I saw quickly that there was not much opportunity for that in Kamadhenu, so hit the local joints where BH types hang out, to find out where the pickings were. A rather grizzly looking veteran said that there is a Civil War going on in HIP 20277, and that along with the local Res sites, make for some lucrative hunting. Of course, I had to buy him a few bottles of Achenar Blue before he was lubricated enough to release that data. I am no whiskey drinker, prefer a bottle or two of Kamadhenu Red myself, but the Blue isn't bad at all.
Anyway, I headed off to HIP 20277, and as soon as I arrived, my ship computer detected multiple CZs and Res sites. Now, as I am in this for business, I have no interest in the CZs, I decided to check out the Res sites after checking in at Fabian City, and Flight Operations warning me about the local war situation. Said grizzly veteran had said that as a rookie, I could check out the "LowRes" sites, but pickings are slim and bounties a mere few thousand credits. He recommended that I should rather hang around "HiRes" areas, as there are more miners due to the minerals available, and as a result, more bad guys, usually with higher and more widespread bounties.
I decided to take his advice, and locked a "HiRes" site into the ship's computer, and off I went. Initially not much was going on, bar a few miners and their escorts, but they were clean. Then Internal Security arrived, and starting scanning people, so I followed on of them around (triggering a scan on myself in the process), THEN I got scanned by some random pilot. So I returned the favour and he turns up "WANTED". I can't remember what his Combat rank was, but way higher than mine as "Harmless". So, I fired off a shot, turning his icon red, and making some rude comment too. Well, he had my shields down in a few seconds, but luckily for me, System Security was nearby, and joined in the fray while I made a getaway to lick my wounds.
To cut a long story short, 3 or 4 rebuys later (the local insurance agent even had the papers waiting for me eventually), and a couple of million in lost bounty vouchers, I had worked out how to approach this whole Bounty Hunting thing. If I detected a wanted pilot that generally has a higher combat rating than me, and bigger ship, I follow him around until System Security engages him, or rarely, high wakes it out of the Res site. Then, while they're engaging him, I can get off a few, or more, shots, and get the bounty. I also cash in my vouchers every hour or so, just in case I am forced to visit the local insurance office.
I did eventually end off my Bounty Hunting with a profit, not counting lost vouchers, and a ton of experience, and a Pilots Federation Combat ranking of Novice. All in all, I did enjoy it and will be back, between gaining rep with the local factions in Kamadhenu and trading.
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