Tales from the spacelanes...

[pagroove]

Ah ok in the next version of FP Zaquesso is present:

[Cody]

Cool... I'd forgotten about those custom planet descriptions. If you need a few more, PAG, let me know (did I already do Arzaquar?).
Unfortunately, The Final Eight is currently closed for repairs! This is due to Oofic... heh!

[Blecha]

Howdy folks, been adrift for the last few days so its been good to get some grub and listen to your tales. I can't claim to be an Elite pilot or even above average, but over the past week I've survived. Should you care to listen to my story, know that I knew nothing of the lanes but the limited view from Laenin before my uncle passed.

I was raised in a dirt poor and extremely large family on Laenin. My grandfather had passed along his small trade business to his sons. This was enough to keep our extended family(mostly based around my father and his older brothers) afloat. We had a single Cobra III kept running on salvage and the occasional hard hit with a wrench. I learned to pilot (illegally of course, as lessons and licensing come second to food) and of the stars I thought I would never see in person.

It all happened so quickly you see, my uncle was a strong old man but a ton of frozen goat soup crushes indiscriminately. Unfortunately we had fewer permits and insurance papers than people and the entire business was going to be seized due to "Workplace hazards and defiling the great leader's name". My father was furious to say the least as he was left to catch the shit storm left by one dead uncle and another who vanished sooner than you could say "GalCop". With 14 mouths to feed and not a match stick to our name my father set about the legal battle with passion. He was no scholar and the battle was a long one, by the the time the dust settled most the family was gone, dead, or in jail for petty crimes on Laenin's surface.

My mother was a caring and refined woman, for the poverty stricken area at least, who kept many a chin upturned in these hard times. When the ship was finally returned only the three of us remained, we radioed out to the family but they either didn't care or couldn't respond. This left me to fill the role of trader with my father and mother both aged so greatly by these stressful times. It was rough going at first but we soon started to pay back the lawyers.

Accounting is not my strong suit but I knew something had been keeping us afloat during this extended legal mess. It was too late by the time I saw the black monk gunship leaving station. I remember thinking "Ha, some poor fool has let his time run out" when I flew in to dock next to its dark hull. My parents had been renting a small hole of an apartment on a scrappers rig, making a few extra credits sorting what could be found. The money grubbing bastards even took the sink before I showed up. Luckily as part of the legal maneuvers the ship had been "sold" to me over a year ago.

With everything I once knew lost, and only a fools hope of ever finding it again I had some hard decisions to make. The life I knew was fairly safe, we had shot a couple pirates in the ass to keep them at bay but nothing serious. I also knew life here was doomed to be that of a poor man. I continued trading out of instinct for some time but eventually found myself at a salvage yard just the other side of my usual casino stop. I was still wet behind the ears and a slick salesman approached me at the commodities market. He told me he could tell by the damage on my ship it could use some upgrades to keep the growing pirate threat at bay. He was pleasant enough and I listened to his offer. A few drinks later and we shook hands to trade off my family's Cobra III for some extra cash and the title to a "slightly less advanced option at nearly half the price". When I finally saw the dumpy little Mk 1 he was already through the portal.

It didn't have any features worth noting outside its slight leg up in maneuverability. The deal had netted me more credits than I had dreamed of but it only left me wondering if this ship would even leave dock. I paid a tech to give it a work over and install some of the old nav hardware I had grown used to in the family Cobby. With some extra cash burning a hole in my naive pockets we upgraded the forward weapons and was left with enough to fill the ships tiny hold. It was time to leave Laenin.

Swindled by a shady ship dealer and even worse off than I started, I left for the first portal I saw out of dock and hoped for the best... and thats when the real trouble began.

[Smivs]

Welcome Blecha, a great tale! Looking forward to hearing more.

[Disembodied]

Hi Blecha, welcome to the boards! Winners and losers, rich and poor, Elite or Jameson, all are welcome here! We don't discriminate. It sounds like you got turned over by that sharp, but don't feel too downhearted: a Cobra I is nothing to be ashamed of! And when you work your way back up to the giddy heights of Cobra III ownership - when you get to make your own fresh dent in a brand-new command couch, and your console has all the trimmings and then some - you'll know that you've earned it, in blood and tears and sweat and snotters!

And let's not forget: a Cobra I may be slower than her big sister, but she's a damn sight harder to hit, too. Keep her spinning and most pirates will be too cross-eyed to lay a beam on you. Which is just as well, given your shields and energy reserves ...

[Blecha]

I came out the free portal into Usle, the python who I'd followed was chugging in system solo and for once I figured I would follow it. Normally I jump around the traffic nice and high, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to have some company this time. It was calm most the way in and we even came across another python to join the convoy. With those two falling in line behind me I decided to use the fuel I'd saved to get a look ahead, and boy are those python pilots happy I did.

It started as a single red blip high off at about 8 O'clock, when I throttled down and turned to look I could make out a few ships and laser fire. Having enough fuel to play a bit I decide to jet in and see whats what. By the time I got in range of the scene some poor trader was already a cloud of cargo pods and the thugs were just catching on to my presence in a big way.

The few ships turned out to be just over 10 pirates gunning down a loan trader, this wasn't looking so good for me but it was already too late. The python convoy I rolled in with had already closed most the gap from my scouting and the pirates were a buzz. I still had my shields and I didn't want to leave these poor guys to such a rough fate, so I set about the most intense dog fight I've had.

My usual ideas of singling out or out running were shot so I began looping madly to avoid the hell storm of laser fire. The vastly improved laser and tiny size of the ship made me feel I had a fighting chance, with a few quick bursts I was able to drop a few ships and send an asp trailing plasma. In this insanity a storm of missiles came in from everywhere but a pop of the E.C.M. dropped the cloud and drained my very limited banks. An intense duel with a tough Ferddie had me all over the place but he ate bats soon enough. I dropped a few mambas next and lined up a run for an exposed python hoping to do some damage before evading.

He quickly dropped but the lag compared to the lighter crafts was enough to get me shot to hell by everyone still flying. With alarms ringing in my ears I start dipping out on my injectors and popped the asp that tried trailing me with my aft weapons. The cloud was looking much less menacing now with only 2 mambas, a sidewinder, and a python among the wreckage. I jumped back into the fray quickly taking out the sidewinder and one of the mambas, they shot me up a bit more and my already failing systems had me worried, but it was almost done. I blasted the final mamba but he ran off streaking plasma so I knocked out the Python to add to the cargo cloud.

With them all fleeing or getting personal with the vacuum, I start scooping the cargo. It has been floating for a bit so its dispersed around but the Python convoy is still in range so no rush. I spot one of the last bits of cargo far off on my radar and swoop in with my scanner shot to pieces. Once I get up close I realize its no cargo container, but an escape capsule! I slipped in to grab it just as I hear my alert go off again.

With the convoy clear of the mess and on its way in system I boost on over to them hoping to lose whatever was at the edge of my scanner. We get in to the safety of the station and I breath a sigh of relief a bit too soon. That damn mamba I let flee had been following us in this whole time, and the ballsy fool was going to attack right next to the station! With the last of my fuel I swing out to confront him and we quickly locked into a spiral. Shots were bounced back and forth a bit but I finally got him with a big loop around before cutting the throttle to get on his 6.

When I finally docked I could hardly believe the mess I just made it through. It was only made more surreal when I was greeted by the insurance for that pirate, 450 credits! Some GalCop sucker wanted a cut too and I was in no mood to argue. Between the bounties, the insurance, and all the cargo I netted enough to repair my ship and be set for months! Now I realize we were in the wrong business, picked up my bounty scanner at the shipyard later that day and haven't looked back.

[Bothkill]

Being a starter in Oolite career, I hunger for kills.
For that matter I try to find a hunter's heaven (in my view, that's comprised of three systems, all very close to each other: 2 anarchies + one high TL corporate; keep jumping between the anarchies to raise the kills no. and go to the corporate when need repairs).
But enough intro!
So, I am in this system, looking for trouble (Offenders and Fugitives) but always being a Law abiding (spacey)zen.
Out of the hyperspace, locate the Navigational beacon and hit the Torus drive!
Hunger for kills!
After a few secs, Torus switches off and a yellow pinpoint lays on my scanner plate. Sniff it to see if it's edible and .. nah .. it's clean, so am I, consequently not gonna bite from that one.
Just as I was wondering if to hit injectors go get past it, the mass-locking ship is acting like a lady in distress.
She claims she's attacked and needs may help, ofc.
Stressing my eyes, I try to see the wrong-doer before the scanner smells it. In a few secs, I got the Offender on my crosshairs. I hit him once just to make him change the duel partner. As expected, the lady in distress thanks me. I hit him, I approach him, I hit him and, as expected, he starts bleeding. He's agonizing. After a few manouvers, I'm right behind him. And carefully, not to destroy the loot with my last blow, I shoot fire-with-fire.
When I was just reckoning that after two more blows his carcass were to open, the unexpected happened!
The lady, being no longer in distress, gathers some courage, approaches my crosshairs and starts taking shots at the Offender.
Panicked that I'll lose my kill, I try to finish him. But I rush it foolishly, and miss it about 4-5 shots until I cannot shoot anymore!
(And no, not because of LT. I managed that thoughtfully and had plenty of shots left till red comes up.)
The lady got between me and the pray, showing me her rear and trying to have my dinner.
For half a second I tried to grasp this new concept I was facing.
My clean conscienc.. uhm... status, prevented me to touch her. I tried to throw some curved shots (something like in the Wanted 2008 movie) but I neither touched the target nor scared the brave lady in front of me.
After two shots the lady had him. All for herself.
So much for rescuing dames!
After 3 seconds of looking intently at the lady, I decidedly call the injectors to help me forget this betraying experience...

[Smivs]

Ha, all's fair in love and bounty-hunting!

[Cody]

After a very successful, and highly profitable, patrol around the Maraus hub, I launched from Celaqula main with another holdful of furs, bound for Maraus. Running dirty, I was expecting a little hassle from the local cops, but the one solitary Viper on duty ignored me. I was tempted to tweak his tail for that, I must admit - but I refrained. As I was boosting away from the station, a Boa plus four escorts launched, so I decided to hitch a lift - it didn't matter where to. The Boa, Soreseatan’s Immortal Jarabe, was an offender trader, and I like them - they are my compadres, my fellow contrabandistas, if you like. Anyway, Soreseatan’s Immortal Jarabe had just got itself one of the best escorts in the business - and for free! I followed them through their wormhole, and emerged at Dizaen, which was a handy little jump along my route to Maraus. But I was on escort duty so I dropped onto the Boa’s six at 3km and matched speed, expecting it to head either for the planet or the sun. It did neither - it pulled away at a tangent and headed out-system, away from the spacelanes. It must be making for a rock hermit, thinks I, and the ASC confirmed the presence of just one rock hermit in-system - and we were headed straight for it.

It was a long haul, running at about 30% speed, but eventually Thairsen’s Contract hove into view. There, they proceeded to dock - two escorts first, then Soreseatan’s Immortal Jarabe, then the remaining two escorts. There was no miner in the vicinity - there weren’t even any rocks or boulders, just the rock hermit. So I hung about outside for ages in the vain hope that they might launch (yeah, I know - deep immersion) and lead me somewhere else. After some time an offender Krait, Cecilia’s Scale, appeared on the scanner and proceeded to dock. At that point, I was drifting mentally into the realm of Oofic - wondering what clandestine meeting was going-on, what cargo was being off-loaded, what deals were being struck. But I knew that more waiting was futile, so I too docked at Thairsen’s Contract - to find that my furs were worth 99c/t there. Damn good business, seeing as I’d bought them for 48c/t - and I cleared-out the ‘stones and metal too!

Then it was time to launch and jump to Maraus. I shot-up the rock hermit as I left, and eventually a Cobra III launched and had at me. I teased it a little, then hyperspaced out – next stop, the Torus station at Maraus. Still running dirty, I barrel-rolled through its spokes on injectors to confuse the local cops, came-about sharpish, and docked - PDQ!

[Rese249er]

Couple of great tales just after my neighbor's WiFi is back up; quite a pleasant surprise!

[Jake]

Welcome to the madhouse, Blecha. And don't let that shady used spaceship dealer's routine fool you, the Cobbie 1's a sweet ship; like Disembodied said, they're not as fast as the Mk3 but a little more agile. You won't really miss the second hardpoint either: Someone must be giving ECM units away with a new sound system to go by the furballs I've been in, and hardheads are a pricey way to kill someone. I usually keep a drop tank in mine for emergencies.

[Ranthe]

Had a rather disturbing encounter the other day coming into Isusle.

I'm running the Maorin Pass route in Galaxy 2 towards Tiedis with several hundred kilos of gold and other oddments, having decided that after my last escapade around Zaria that it would be best to lie low in that particular sector for a while. So having picked up a swag of lucrative contracts and a couple of passengers, Atomic Annie set course towards the systems in the Qucedi Bottleneck - an area that I'd never visited but from what I'd head could be a fairly profitable area to trade in. Most of the trip was uneventful, the most exciting thing being when I managed to max out Annies' 740 ton cargo hold for the first time

Anyway, I jump into Isusle, a TL 8 Anarchy system, and immediately get the warning from the system information beacon of "significant pirate activity has been reported". Not really a surprise in an Anarch system of course. I'd already engaged my targeting system to give any potential ship the IFF once-over, so after a quick scanner check I set course and engaged torus drive for the local Seedy Space Bar to sell a few dozen tons of food and liquor to the station management (and see if there were any cheap narcotics that I could flog off at the local station - hey, profit is profit).

For a while it was looking like Atomic Annie was going to get to "Jakes Bar and Grill" undetected - then suddenly the Anaconda's torus drive got mass-locked and two unidentified blips appeared on my scope. I initiated standard procedure of throttling back my engines and bringing my targeting scanner to bear, ID'ing each ship in turn. A Python and a Sidewinder travelling in company, both with "Offender" status, as well as a third ships that I couldn't get an ID on... but all were appearing to be travelling in parallel with Annies' course. Now I have a passenger to drop off at Isusle so I'm not in much mind to pick a fight, so I decide to increase thrust and angle off from them a bit, being fairly hopeful that they'd miss me.

Yeah, right. As if a piñata of the spaceways would be worth ignoring!

The scanner IFF starts squawking red, and both scanner contacts start closing in on an attack pattern. I throttle back again to give myself more long-distance sniping range, and immediately engage the Python with my forward lasers, launching a hard-head missile at him before turning my attention to his little friend. Several bursts of laser fire finish the Sidewinder off, and I resume my attack on the Python who appears to have survived or dodged a missile hit. He gets a few shots in at me, but soon it's all over for him and the two red targets are now small clouds of white contacts. Bingo, scooping time!

I increase thrust towards the remnants of the Python and scoop up a few tons of alloys before deciding to leave the rest and get to the safety of the local station. Space Bar beacon is located, course set - and what do you know, I'm mass-locked. I restore the scanner view to 1:1 and discover no contacts. A visual check confirms I'm nowhere near the planet. Attempt to engage torus drive again - and I'm still mass-locked. What's going on?

I had my answer a minute later as laser fire erupted out of nowhere onto my forward shields, and as I frantically turned about I caught a glimpse of a Vampire coming straight at me, no doubt intending to avenge his comrades. Already the shields were dropping faster than Annies' energy banks could recharge, so I had to take evasive action - promptly losing visual contact with my attacker and discovering to my consternation that the bastard STILL wasn't on my scopes. How is that possible? Could a ship that small have a cloaking device?

No time for speculation! I hit the injectors and ran at full speed towards the Space Bar, jinking from side to side in a desperate attempt to let my shields recover, watching with growing dread as the shield and energy indicators dipped dangerously into the red before the hits on my rear quarter dropped away. Eventually I found that was no longer mass-locked, and with a sigh of relief, I engaged the torus drive. With no further incident I pulled into the Seedy Space Bar "Jakes Bar and Grill". Completed my trading, launched out and delivered my passenger to Isusle main station.

They said that my scanner must have been faulty, that it was a breach of space regs to have a ship with no IFF displayed and not even Fugitives would stoop to such a level... but my Chief Engineer swears that Atomic Annies' scanner is in tip-top condition. I know what I saw - or what I didn't see. And I barely survived to tell the tale.

There's a ghost ship out there, invisible and heavily armed in the north-west sector of Galaxy 2. Be warned.

[Cody]

Out on patrol, and running clean, I pulled-out of Lezaer en-route to Teedus, jumped to Bicein, then immediately jumped on to Enreon. As I approached the station, I saw a lone Python slip into a wormhole. Though low on fuel, I thought 'what the hell' and followed it through to Regeza – and discovered the ship’s name, which guaranteed it a personal escort from the best in the business.

I moved up close and we began the slow cruise in-system, but were soon hassled by a couple of bandits. Bad mistake, with me riding shotgun, and they were soon spacedust. Further in-system however, we were jumped by a bunch of half a dozen and a right-royal firefight ensued, in which my pal played a goodly part – he took down two of them, while I splashed the other four. They very nearly got me though – a brace of missiles delivered at point blank range as a bandit blew caused some serious damage. But I scooped the bastard's escape pod and gemstones as I crashed through its debris cloud.

After that, we resumed the cruise in, which at a Python’s speed takes quite a while, but that’s what an escort’s job is all about (even an unpaid escort such as I). An iron-assed Cobra III and Python make a good combination, as it happens – as long as the NPC doesn’t try and run when the mierda hits. I knew this Python wouldn’t bottle-out though – you see, he was one of my friends!

[Cody]

Cruising across the fourth octant (a strange place), heading for the most perilous of systems, I dropped into Quonso (oh, those vicious mountain beasts). To my delight, I found two pairs of rock hermits - oodles of 'stones and metal, I'm thinking. Bah! Probably the meanest hermits I've ever seen - platinum was only worth buying in one of the four, and gold and 'stones were marginal. They were perfectly synchronised though - like two teams facing each other across the system.

[Mad Dan Eccles]

Now that my Cobbie is fitted out to my pleasure, I need to find a name for her.

That aside, I've left aside trading as a way of making money while I patiently work my way up to Deadly. It's much more lucrative—in terms of credits and kills—to jump into some of the more happening systems and actively look for pirates.

They hang out in asteroid clouds, where they pretend to be humble miners until some poor shuck wanders past, or just on the edge of the space lane, powered down and inviting avaricious merchants to come and loot what looks like a disabled fleet. If there are more than four of them I'll approach to within abut 16 clicks and then cut my speed and flip over. They usually take the bait, and come at me all guns blazing. I wind up the engine, target each one in turn, and then start popping away with the aft military laser. If I'm lucky I can kill one or two straight off. Another one or two will flee as their shields take a battering. I can then accelerate to ramming speed and go for them one at a time—"into the brown", as they used to say.

This strategy seldom fails. The worst that happens is that one of the scrotes will fire off an ECM-hardened missile, and I'll have to tango with it for a while. In itself that's not so bad—the problem is that this gives time for some of the bastards to escape. I also keep a keen eye out for laser fire against the depths of space. The more the merrier—I love a target-rich environment. I've had pirates so intent on their intended prey they've not noticed me, not until I'm hitting the fire button from less than two clicks away. Fireballs at that range are pretty and you don't have to slow down to scoop the cargo.

Anyway, by hunting for trouble like this, on a good trip you can make upwards of 5k, all of it pure profit. But you don't half see some funny sights.

Like the two clean Sidewinders duking it out just outside the aegis in an Anarchic system. I'd seen the laser fire from a distance, and three ships: the 'winders were fighting and a pirate was turning, turning, turning; almost as if he was trying to get their attention. "Hey what about me?" It would have been rude to disappoint him, so I sent him to meet Davy Jones in double-quick time. I left the two Sidewinders at it.

Then there was a particularly fun fur ball, a couple of Pythons and their escorts, together with a Fer-de-Lance—and that was just the bad guys. There was a Boa with six escorts and a couple of cops, too, all mixing it up just above the planet in a Democracy, would you believe it? So I dispatched the Pythons, scooping as much as I could as I went, but noting that the Lance wasn't really getting into the swing of things. I went after him anyway, soon reducing him to a sparkling wreck. I saw the escape pod launch, checked where it was headed, and waited for my laser to cool down to take the ship apart and see what he was carrying. And that happened to include two more escape pods! I scooped them up like a good citizen—and got 500 credits each on the insurance. Two very lucky guys there—who knows what slave trade they'd have been destined for?

Finally, I was late to another party. I saw the Cobbie's distress signal, but the police got there first. Not before, however, the unlucky sod took a missile strike. The remarkable thing was that the ship just went dead, but didn't explode, and there was no escape pod. Stone cold. Didn't even mass-lock me.



I tried to scoop it; no luck. Couldn't tell if there were any survivors, so when the cop was out of range I tickled him with my laser until he went bang.

Well, it's a wonderful thing to be curious, isn't it?