A furball for the books!
Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 12:29 am
It was a simple run from planet to planet. I've made so many in the last few days that it's tough to keep track of where I am and where I've been. All I knew was, I had jumped into the wrong planet. Less than five seconds out of the hole I had a ship in my aft blindspot, origin unspecified. As a rule, I don't take much notice too much of 'clean' ships unless I'm given reason not to.
His first shot across my bow tipped me off that he was ready for some rough stuff. Fortunately I, for lack of a better phrase, was open for business. I had a partial load of cargo, and I was feeling like a bad hombre, not having fired my lasers in several days. So, I turned on the vessel and discovered that it was a big problem;
As a python operator myself I realized that this was not going to be too simple. My ship is a tough bird to handle, and his may be just as tough. Notice the Missile Bays? Empty! I'd already locked and fired on two of his buddies, to no avail. That made the inevitable fight worse; I'm lousy with the laser, and I'm out of my good stuff. A laser gunfight? Not my idea of a good day at work.
Because my shield grid is top dollar, I felt the best strategy would be to try and just duck and dive, take shots when I could, and be hard to hit. The IFF killed that idea; with friendlies around, that's an ideal way to have a friendly fire situation. I wouldn't like to fire on a bird not marked as hostile. With that in mind, I realized my best tactic would be to get a hold of the hind end of one ship, and ride him hard, shootin' 'im in the back every chance I got, with one eye looking forwards at him, and one watching my 6 o'clock for his pals looking to get a clean shot on me from behind. I've got Milspec lasers all around, so a bird on my 6 is still a bird worth trying for, short of losing the forward craft.
I locked on the ship I nicknamed Python One and went to work. I was close, so close that occasionally I had to chop throttle to keep from colliding with his as he evaded my laser fire. The Military lasers were making good contact, but their effect was less than superb. Python One had taken my best stuff at point blank range, and kept on going. Finally, I noticed he was giving on little bursts of burnt off plasma out the back, a fine sign not a moment too late; I might not be taking care of business in a hurry, but he's feeling my capability. Finally, he straightened out for a moment and allowed me three short bursts right up the drives. Furball? Fireball!
Another enemy vessel, Python Two, had been making himself a pest the whole time. One kept us in a wide looping left hand sweep, and ol' Two had been strafing across my stern every chance he got, hanging well inside our circle of rotation, taking potshots. As soon as One went down in a fiery-explosion, I rolled hard to left and cut right back on him. My forward laser set was hot, but if I could goad him into a swirling fight, it'd work just like the last, leaving me some time to let the laser cool off.
This guy seemed a lot more skilled than the first, and he didn't seem bothered by my handling of his pal. He ran straight at me, firing his forward, trying his best to spook me. I'm not much for false bravado, but his insane maneuver game me a dead on clean shot at him head on. I lit him up and kept at it until he broke away. As he veered above, I rolled up and stayed on him offering intermittent fire to his belly and finally his rear quadrant.
My comm lit up with a Gecko taking some heat of his own, but unfortunately for him, he'd have to figure out his own solutions, as I was not going to break off and let this big dog get off the chain. A 6 o'clock lock on a Python fugitive? IF I let the dog off the chain, I'd lever get him back. The Gecko would have to make his own luck.
The forward laser set was getting too hot again. I love the milspec laser for its capability, but it's not ideal for long-term war, it heats quick, and takes time to cool. Time wasn't on my side. I rolled back on the speed and let him have a little slack, letting the laser cool off. Just as I allowed a gap between us, a streak of laser fired from starboard to port between us and a small ship darted through the gap followed by a second burst of laser fire. I chopped throttle and got off a single hit on his pursuer. This fight was heavily involved, with too many friendlies around to do anything rash like flinging an Energy Bomb or Q Mine over the side. Like it or not I was in it for the high stakes.
"Incoming Missile!" screamed across my scanner and instinctively I put the ECM on it. Three seconds later, another missile. I hit the ECM and saw a bright white flash and three words I hate, dread, and despise;
Press Space Commander.
Oh well, it wasn't a great battle, but it was a good little spat for a pilot who still gets queasy in Witchdrive. I wish I'd fared better, but I managed to kill one, and log hits on another while sustaining no long term damage to my own ship aside from being scattered across half the galaxy in small pieces.
Captains Log, April 17, 2012. Laser progress is growing slowly. Ship capacity is impressive. Pilot capability? Needs work.
His first shot across my bow tipped me off that he was ready for some rough stuff. Fortunately I, for lack of a better phrase, was open for business. I had a partial load of cargo, and I was feeling like a bad hombre, not having fired my lasers in several days. So, I turned on the vessel and discovered that it was a big problem;
As a python operator myself I realized that this was not going to be too simple. My ship is a tough bird to handle, and his may be just as tough. Notice the Missile Bays? Empty! I'd already locked and fired on two of his buddies, to no avail. That made the inevitable fight worse; I'm lousy with the laser, and I'm out of my good stuff. A laser gunfight? Not my idea of a good day at work.
Because my shield grid is top dollar, I felt the best strategy would be to try and just duck and dive, take shots when I could, and be hard to hit. The IFF killed that idea; with friendlies around, that's an ideal way to have a friendly fire situation. I wouldn't like to fire on a bird not marked as hostile. With that in mind, I realized my best tactic would be to get a hold of the hind end of one ship, and ride him hard, shootin' 'im in the back every chance I got, with one eye looking forwards at him, and one watching my 6 o'clock for his pals looking to get a clean shot on me from behind. I've got Milspec lasers all around, so a bird on my 6 is still a bird worth trying for, short of losing the forward craft.
I locked on the ship I nicknamed Python One and went to work. I was close, so close that occasionally I had to chop throttle to keep from colliding with his as he evaded my laser fire. The Military lasers were making good contact, but their effect was less than superb. Python One had taken my best stuff at point blank range, and kept on going. Finally, I noticed he was giving on little bursts of burnt off plasma out the back, a fine sign not a moment too late; I might not be taking care of business in a hurry, but he's feeling my capability. Finally, he straightened out for a moment and allowed me three short bursts right up the drives. Furball? Fireball!
Another enemy vessel, Python Two, had been making himself a pest the whole time. One kept us in a wide looping left hand sweep, and ol' Two had been strafing across my stern every chance he got, hanging well inside our circle of rotation, taking potshots. As soon as One went down in a fiery-explosion, I rolled hard to left and cut right back on him. My forward laser set was hot, but if I could goad him into a swirling fight, it'd work just like the last, leaving me some time to let the laser cool off.
This guy seemed a lot more skilled than the first, and he didn't seem bothered by my handling of his pal. He ran straight at me, firing his forward, trying his best to spook me. I'm not much for false bravado, but his insane maneuver game me a dead on clean shot at him head on. I lit him up and kept at it until he broke away. As he veered above, I rolled up and stayed on him offering intermittent fire to his belly and finally his rear quadrant.
My comm lit up with a Gecko taking some heat of his own, but unfortunately for him, he'd have to figure out his own solutions, as I was not going to break off and let this big dog get off the chain. A 6 o'clock lock on a Python fugitive? IF I let the dog off the chain, I'd lever get him back. The Gecko would have to make his own luck.
The forward laser set was getting too hot again. I love the milspec laser for its capability, but it's not ideal for long-term war, it heats quick, and takes time to cool. Time wasn't on my side. I rolled back on the speed and let him have a little slack, letting the laser cool off. Just as I allowed a gap between us, a streak of laser fired from starboard to port between us and a small ship darted through the gap followed by a second burst of laser fire. I chopped throttle and got off a single hit on his pursuer. This fight was heavily involved, with too many friendlies around to do anything rash like flinging an Energy Bomb or Q Mine over the side. Like it or not I was in it for the high stakes.
"Incoming Missile!" screamed across my scanner and instinctively I put the ECM on it. Three seconds later, another missile. I hit the ECM and saw a bright white flash and three words I hate, dread, and despise;
Press Space Commander.
Oh well, it wasn't a great battle, but it was a good little spat for a pilot who still gets queasy in Witchdrive. I wish I'd fared better, but I managed to kill one, and log hits on another while sustaining no long term damage to my own ship aside from being scattered across half the galaxy in small pieces.
Captains Log, April 17, 2012. Laser progress is growing slowly. Ship capacity is impressive. Pilot capability? Needs work.
Those multiple-missile strikes can be a bother, can't they? 
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