EVE-Mag.com

Log Entry: 7.3.2008

Published on 03. Jul, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss, Tags: Diary of a Caldari Rookie

The universe is full of uniquely ugly people. For example the Ore thief I ran into awhile back. Today, I took out a little Merlin, Tech I Frigate with some simple tackle gear (read tech I) and took on some pirates. Doing well in .5 space, I hop over to .4 space and head for an asteroid belt, where I quickly find that I’m up to my elbows trying to stay alive with shield tanking a Frigate with two Angel Cartel Nomads and an Ambusher on my tail. For the record, I was rather proud of myself, as while it did last awhile, I finally had gained the upper edge. My armor was gone, my structure had taken some damage but I had shields back to full defensively. On the offense I had the Ambusher that had hurt me so bad, on the run with little or no power supply, his targeting system jammed and a steady stream of missiles heading his way. It was just a matter of time.

Then, I see the flashing red box on my overview as another pirate from a different corporation; later identification would place him from the (name withheld due to privacy concerns) Pirate Gang. He’s 104km out when I notice him and within seconds I’m being hit and losing shields – fast. I go ahead and warp to a nearby gate that I only make halfway due to loss of power and I contemplate while I let my ship rest and regain its precious power supply. Do I go home, call it a day and count my blessings I survived two pirate gangs?

No, I decide, I have to identify this other pirate and his corporation and see what he was flying that targeted me from so far away. So, I make the jump. At first I don’t see him, so I head over to one of the wrecks I had blow up earlier to salvage what I could out of it’s cargo hold and enroute I see him. He’s got me locked. I head back out to warp and my shields – even with the booster on is suddenly gone as I’m rocked with explosions. It’s moments and I hit the warp drive. No good. I’m stuck, unable to warp due to this pirate.

Long story short I make it home in my pod, out a few thousand ISK on my ship and all I could wonder is what the frak would someone in Tech II Interceptor possibly get of ANY worth from a lowbie Tech I frig? And to do so not even on even terms but after which he had to have witnessed the battle he had been fighting and then on the second engagement to do so outside my own targeting range (well, ok perhaps smart if I had been in a ship even remotely capable of harming a Crow). I have determined that such people really aren’t pirates but frauds. Cowards. Not that I can do anything now about it. I don’t have the skills or the ships to adventure out and start cleaning up pirates, but I tell you what I am seriously thinking that this is something that my future holds for me.

In the meantime, I placed a 1 Million ISK bounty on this foe in the Hemitar region. I hope he gets podded and loses his ship to something as big to him as his Interceptor was to me. I am all about fair play. Of, course if he is anything like me he can afford to lose it – I do follow that rule always and never fly a ship I can’t afford to lose. Then, the worst that I lose is some dignity, and perhaps a popped vein in my forehead.

To vent off the steam I had built up, I took my EW Cruiser out in .5 and found some other Angel rats, which I promptly jammed and preceded to blow up with my missiles. All the while considering if this was as fair as that pilot who got me was? I’ve concluded it’s not a fair comparison. I was out doing honest work and testing against a foe that had an equal chance against me. He chose to be a coward and engage me after I had already been severely damaged and on the second go-around (which I do admit was my own folly) from beyond my own targeting range. As, if my I could of done anything anyway. What was it all worth to him I wonder? To me only a few thousand ISK, which with my income isn’t much at all, but to someone who can afford tech II ships? I can only imagine that it had to be worth to him a lot less than it was to me. Makes me wonder about lower sec space, is it all just a big pirate tank where the bigger sharks eat the smaller ones before they can grow? What keeps the biggest sharks in line? The universe needs more pirate hunters.

In all fairness though, I did go looking for trouble. In the Eve Universe, trouble will definitely find you – even more so if you’re looking for it.

Yes, I see a future in Bounty Hunting one day. Wonder if Dog is available? Hmm Gustav Malori, Pirate Hunter at-large. It’s got a ring to it don’t you think?

- Gustav Malori