Oolite Bulletins

You gotta know when to run - and sometimes the luck goes your way. Which branch is that you're playing, cim?

Cody wrote:

You gotta know when to run - and sometimes the luck goes your way. Which branch is that you're playing, cim?

This was on steady-state-ecosystem. It's the sort of set of events I'd been hoping could be theoretically possible by combining all the little bits, but it was still a surprise when it actually happened with basically perfect timing.

Yes, definitely about knowing when to run. I'm just glad I met them in Envebe with a mostly full tank, rather than in Laatre when I was down to fumes. Long jumps into Anarchy systems are definitely living dangerously...

Beautiful tale, cim, and exciting new possibilities to look forward to.

cim wrote:

Then, the scanner lights up, as six new blips drop out of witchspace in rapid succession, lock on to the Python, and open fire. Some bounty-hunting party returning from its own raid on Laatre or Errara, no doubt, but I'm not sticking around to ask.

This is the only part that I have a question about. If I understood correctly before, you're on the planet-sun route, fairly close to the sun, and nowhere near the witchpoint. So, how do the hunters drop out of witchspace inside your scanner range?

Commander McLane wrote:

This is the only part that I have a question about. If I understood correctly before, you're on the planet-sun route, fairly close to the sun, and nowhere near the witchpoint. So, how do the hunters drop out of witchspace inside your scanner range?

No, nothing so strange. I finished sunskimming at Laatre, jumped into Envebe, and the pirate pack was hanging around not far from the buoy.

cim,

what type of ships were those hunters, please? I was wondering whether one of my OXPs was responsible for adding them.

UK_Eliter wrote:

what type of ships were those hunters, please?

Not sure exactly - I was about 10km away and accelerating when they showed up! Some heavy hyperspace-capable fighter like a Cobra III or Asp, and I think five mixed light fighters.

UK_Eliter wrote:

I was wondering whether one of my OXPs was responsible for adding them.

Not this time - just normal intersystem traffic from the experimental system populator.

cim wrote:

This was on steady-state-ecosystem. It's the sort of set of events I'd been hoping could be theoretically possible by combining all the little bits, but it was still a surprise when it actually happened with basically perfect timing.

This sounds superb! It's always been possible to find little stories in Oolite, of course, but there's a depth and richness to this that is just great, from the lurking but non-hostile Moray to the pirate demands to the just-in-time hunting pack ... fantastic!

cim wrote:

The pirates break off from shooting at me to look at this new threat, and there's the blue shimmer of an exit wormhole as at least one of them decides it's time to cut their losses.

I presume that the bounty-hunters wouldn't follow through that wormhole, yes?

Cody wrote:

cim wrote:

The pirates break off from shooting at me to look at this new threat, and there's the blue shimmer of an exit wormhole as at least one of them decides it's time to cut their losses.

I presume that the bounty-hunters wouldn't follow through that wormhole, yes?

Correct. Pirates probably wouldn't either, were the situation reversed.

Ever since I had to dart halfway across Galaxy 5 with damaged military shields (a little after this encounter) I've been operating out of Xevera, a rich little corporate state with, importantly, tech level 15. Their grease monkeys did an amazing job fixing up the Shifted Paradigm and I'm happy rewarding them with repeat custom.

Xevera is in close proximity to a number of pretty lawless systems, and so makes a decent base for my lifestyle. I like to keep my nose clean and my lasers hot, and I'm sure the cops in those Anarchies have grown to recognize my paintwork. But sometimes one needs a little variety, that isn't always, strictly speaking, completely legal.

One night I'm running back into Xevera to sell off a pile of platinum and gems, and just outside the Aegis I spy a Boa and her three Manta escort. I decide to have a little fun and buzz them on injectors. Then, when I'm about 10 km beyond (and still out of Aegis range) I fire a single, short burst from my mil laser at the Boa. The Boa, of course, yells for help and peels away. The three escorts light the fires and come after me.

I frob the injectors to keep the Mantas at about 18 klicks distance (Mantas are faster than Boa Class Cruisers, it appears. Who knew?) until I enter the Aegis. Then I drop back a little, letting them get within weapons range. Sure enough, laser fire is soon flashing past my viewports, but these guys have lousy aim and I don't need to worry just yet. One of them gets a hit in, but I hardly notice it. I do note that his legal status is now 'Offender', though, as I'd hoped.

Just as the station itself is coming up on the scanner, I start jockeying so that their overshoots will hit the station. But looking behind, I notice two of the escorts have peeled off, and are apparently shooting at each other. I cycle through my targets and see they're both offenders. I suspect there was a blue-on-blue there (field of fire, guys. Field of fire) and they probably didn't like each other anyway. The third guy, still on my tail, still hasn't got a shot in and is still clean. Heh.

So I break and lock up one of the duelling Mantas at random, noting that the Boa itself has caught up and is hell-for-leather towards the nav beacon. I fire at the Manta, and the second one--an offender, recall--thanks me for the assistance. I find this quite amusing, and go ahead and splash the other guy for an offender bounty. But I don't bother with number two because Galcop are already lining up on him.

Number three, however, has managed to land a couple of hits on me and is now an offender. I head back towards the station, and wait until he hits that unmissable target a couple of times before engaging--after all, a fugitive in the Aegis is fair game, right?

Yeah. That was a nice bounty.

Finally, I buzz the Boa again as he's on approach, making him peel off and try again while I zip into the dock as cool as you please--with my legal status as clean as Windowlene, of course.

Heartless... but a good tale! The Xevera hub is a pretty good place to loiter.

I look on it as enriching the gene pool.

After having tired somewhat of the Ramazan civil war I'm now on a passenger and cargo contract run from Soreisbe in G2 down towards Eszara and Maenso, to deliver 173 tons of radioactives as well as to drop off a Enbi Jonlyng at Ercetidi. I'm passing through the Anenat system and decide to refuel by sunskimming (as a Feudal system, Anenat has no friendly Fuel Satellite to top up Atomic Annie's tanks from), so I set course for Anenat Stellar, engage the sun-skimming autopilot, and put on the Hyperrradio to while away the time. While the witchspace beacon update did indicate some heightened pirate activity in-system, I figured it would be mostly on the beacon to station lane so I wasn't too concerned...

Anyway, I'm coming up on Anenat Stellar and the star is starting to fill a good chunk of my viewscreen, then suddenly I'm masslocked by an unidentified solo ship. Initially I thought that it was just another trader looking to score some free sun-juice - until the 'stard comes about and opens fire! I immediately yank on the control column to bring Annie about... only to find that the Anaconda's controls aren't responding. Shit! The autopilot's still engaged, locking out manual control!

Concentrated laser fire is pummelling Annie's forward shields, so I have to find the autopilot override damn quick! I frantically cycle through the (rather large) list of installed primeable equipment, desperately looking for the "Sun-Skimmer Autopilot" so I can switch the damn thing off... the option comes up and I immediately hit the activation toggle.

What? Nothing's happening, controls are still locked... wait, what's that bubbling noise?

"The kettle is on... The water is boiling..."

TEA?!?!? I don't need tea at a time like this, I need the damn autopilot cut-off!

Cycle through again, watching the energy levels in the forward shields falling, waiting for damage reports to come in, hit the selector again -

"The water is boiling... The tea is brewing..."

Oh, for Giles' sake - not again! I DO NOT WANT ANOTHER BLOODY CUP OF TEA! What am I supposed to do with cups of tea when I'm under attack, chuck them out the airlock as an improvised missile? I NEED THE BLOODY AUTOPILOT OFF SWITCH!

Finally I manage to disengage the autopilot and regain manual control, so I immediately bring Annies forward lasers to bear on my attacker. Within a minute the Corsair is a rapidly expanding cloud of metal fragments, so after checking the scope I re-engage autopilot and proceed to Anenat Stellar, scooping up fuel in the stellar corona and filling the tanks before witching out to Isbeus.

Thankfully the run into Isbeus station isn't quite so fraught with issues. Managed to bag a 'Fugitive' Taniwha NG as an assist to a GalCop Viper Dominatrix, and had to spend an inordinate amount of time waiting for docking clearance as what appears to be a bunch of Navy types hitting up the station for R&R go in before me. They'd better not empty the bars out before I get there - because I don't want tea!

<Smivs puts the kettle on...>

<... makes coffee>