and he did, but little did he know that’s exactly what I wanted.
I’ve been a bad guy lately, roaming faction warfare space and engaging anyone I see -willing or not. Well, that’s not exactly good for your sec status, so when a wormhole opened to pirate space in our home system, I set up a high DPS, cheap cruiser and hit the stars to kill me some rats.
The evening was boring at best, there was no one in any of the systems I visited. Not a peep, nary a soul -in or out. I got my rat kills, raised my sec status a point or two, and was on my way home -or so I thought.
“One last rat.” I said to myself as I engaged a trio on the gate. Then, ping, like a rock in calm water, A Brutix on long-range scan. It’s not my first rodeo though, so I pulled range on the rat, aligned for the out gate and kept my drones on target.
“Let’s see if this guy is hostile or passing though.”
Spoiler alert: He’s hostile.
As soon as he lands on grid, he locks me up, and just before my engines get disrupted I hit warp and leave him in the dust. I wasn’t looking for, nor prepared for a fight. Although that’s never stopped me in the past.
Due to the nature of the wormhole, and my proximity to it, support is nearby, and if this guy wants to play, let’s play. I put the call out in comms.
“I need back up. Brutix ready to engage, I’m in MB4D-4.”
My colleague in a Curse answers the call. “I’ll be right there.”
Let the games begin.
All the while I’m arranging for support I’ve warped back to the gate at range and recovered my abandoned drones. The Brutix immediately begins to burn to me and I let him get close. I align out to a nearby asteroid belt and hit warp at 100.
The Brutix doesn’t immediately follow.
I align to a nearby cosmic signature and pulse my MWD pinging my scanner. It isn’t long before he’s on my short-range scanner and within moments on-grid 150KM away.
He’s clearly done this before.
He warps away to the celestial signature I’m aligned to and then warps back to what I assume is a bookmark. He lands just shy of 100KM away.
I’m toying with him.
We go back and forth no less than four times, and each time he keeps getting a little closer.
Exactly what I want. I’m deliberately pulsing my MWD and controlling range.
Finally, my colleague is on the in-gate and the Brutix has warped off and is undoubtedly about to warp back.
We time it perfectly. This Brutix is again on short scan, so I make the call. My colleague jumps in and warps to me and wouldn’t you know it… The Britux and the Curse land on field within seconds of one another.
All of us within 20KM.
I don’t have to imagine what his last thoughts must have been as he was quite vocal in local about his disappointment in the whole affair.
That Brutix melted under our combined firepower and soon enough it was over. We looted the wreck and waved goodbye as his capsule warped away.
And this is the story of 'He thought he had me"
Kudos to the pilot for his patience and skill in triangulating and tracking me down, though I’ve learned a lesson or two in my days as a Capsuleer.
1) Always be prepared
2) Never fly alone
3) Fly Deadly
Tale of the tape: Brutix | Matthew Rosenante | Killmail | zKillboard