Get Stuck In

Goodbye Black ops. corperation. Thank god. Never have I encounetred such a sorry excuse for a pirate corp before. So, with no corp ties, I flew off to do whatever I wanted. However, this turned out to be rather dull, not to mention dangerous. The system I had chosen as my home base also happened to be the home base of several rather nasty pirate corperations, most notably The Bastards. This lead to several losses, a Vexor and an Enyo. Not to mention several very close calls. After these unfortunate incidents I decided friends, and a relocation would be very helpful. So I dropped a line to an old friend and staunch ally of mine; a pilot by the name of Caster Rom.
He was having much more luck than I was and had joined what appeared to be a rather wonderful pirate corp called The Tuskers. I had not encountered this particular bunch before, but had heard they were rather successful. This made me thankful that I had not crossed paths with them. After a few discreet questions, a little research, and some inside info from Caster I was intrigued enough to put in an application. The entry requirements were rigourous though, and required me to really clean up my act and pull myself together on the combat front. Five solo kills with two "above class" kills. Should be intersting.

And so we arrive at my current position. I found a new home base with an abundance of targets. My first day in the system was disapointing and humbling. I narrowly missed a Thrasher that I had tracked to a belt. I warped in too far away and he was able to escape before I could get a warp jam on him. I flung my ship around and shot of to the belt he had run to, but I was caught out by an old trick that I should have anticipated. The Thrasher pilot had warped to the belt at range and in my haste I, being the adrenaline fueled idiot that I am, had not. A clean get away for him.

The second close call was down to my own stupidity and a rookie mistake. After scanning down a likely target, a Stabber sitting at a planet, I warped in and got the tackle in on him. In my Ishkur at this point, I immediatly launched drones and fired all guns. I really thought I had him, and this would be one of those all important "above class" kills. Sheild gone, the major obstacle with Minmitar ships. Armour gone, evaporated in a few volleys by the combined power of my drones and blasters. Structure melting, so close! He had barely done 1/4 of sheild damage to me, nothing was going to stop me now. Famous last words. With horror, I realised I had not managed my capacitor, and it had run dry. That meant...no warp jam! He took the chance and was gone, limping away with barely a 1/5 of his structure left. Robbed by a rookie mistake. In a foul mood I docked back at the nearest station and ordered a very strong drink.

The next day I decided to check up on my friend Caster Rom, and discovered he had been having a worse time of it than me. This, obviously, cheered me up immensly, and I took the oppertunity to ridicule him for it. I was also slightly sympathetic, but this was drowned out somewhat by my laughter. He has actually recorded that particular communication and I recommend a read. I think he captured my character rather well.

The next couple of days were somewhat more successful than my previous attempt. After scanning down another Thrasher to an asteroid belt I warped in all guns blazing and blew the hapless ship to oblivion in a very short space of time. Quickly, locking and jamming the escape pod I attempted to ransom the pilot for his life, he wouldn't have it though so pop he went. I like the idea that his newly awakened clone received a message telling him I had been the one that killed him. One kill under my belt.

The next day was followed by another, much more interesting kill. jumping through various systems looking for a target, I happened upon a lone Punisher clearing out some of the local scum at a belt. I immediatly warped in and got him locked and jammed. This was no rookie pilot ratting at a belt as I had suspected, this was an experienced pilot, with an exspensivly decked out ship. A very tough, very enjoyable fight ensued; the little punisher nearly getting my Ishkur into structure. I prevailed however, thanks mainly to the drone bay full of Warriors more than my own skill. He put up such a good fight and was so gracious a loser, I decided against ransoming him and let him live. Before I could loot his ships wreck for the many exspensive modules it contained, one of his allies showed up in a much bigger ship than mine. A Hurricane battlecruiser. With no wish to tangle with it, especially in my weakened state, I made a tactical withdrawal. Unfortunatly leaving the valuable cargo behind. Examening the killmail later I realised there was also a very rare, very powerful ship called a Paladin associated with the little frigates demise. There was however, hide nor hair of the monster or its pilot in system and it had done no damage to the ship. Hoping this oddity would not invalidate the kill for my Tuskers application I docked back up at the station for some much needed rest. I was heartily enjoying the path I had chosen to take my life. And it was only just beginning.