Grimsterise
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Posted - 2006.12.01 16:41:00 -
[1]
Edited by: Grimsterise on 01/12/2006 17:11:17
The miner relaxed as the Covetor Ace of Spades sucked up omber ore by the megacube. Droselory systemÆs sun sparked distantly off slowly tumbling asteroids and the interstellar cloud formations were in full display. Three plasma beams drilled and disintegrated and five medium drones circled the large mining barge; sensors alert for any more idiot serp younglings.
Suspended in his pod, the miner idly calculated the sessions haul, figuring only a few days left till he could afford the insurance on the spanking new Dominix battleship currently docked in the vast hangers of his residential space station. HeÆd only piloted her once, skipping home through low security space like, well, like a fool with an uninsured ship in low sec space.
His mind turned to loadouts, and he speculated idly on modules and balancing, power and available skill. He knew he was avoiding the main issue, the center around which everything revolved, the whole point of having a brutally powerful (if slightly old in design) battleship strapped to his back; he needed to find her a cool name.
He shifted uneasily in the ballistic goo that filled his pod, protecting him from everything but the most catastrophic structural failure; he liked The Impressive Adjective but doubted many people would get it. HeÆd end up with æ???Æ messages and such, and it was important to the miner that people got his jokes. Anyway, it was too long.
Movement caught his eye as something warped into the belt. Most likely it was a young Serpentis ranker in a pathetically rickety frigate, which was just about all that could get through CONCORD in such a high security system. Young bloods with nearly infinite access to clones and crap ships, rising in the ranks by dying and being resurrected endlessly, believing themselves elite and not realizing how tragic their lives were, because they had nothing to compare to. The miner watched but did nothing, the drones would respond if anyone attacked them or the barge.
But it was a Gallante cruiser, tagged yellow to indicated that the pilot had a criminal record, but wasnÆt considered psychotic. Just another Gallante Thorax in Gallante space. Then it all happened. The cruiser flipped over and down towards the barge, targeting telltales lit up in the miners perception and just as quickly turned to lock on as the first badly out of range blaster shots bracketed him.
The miner had time to lift a mental eyebrow as his orbiting drones turned and flashed towards the cruiser, which was closing range with fantastic speed. The drones were already firing, every shot hitting home precisely and suddenly the cruiser was missing a third of its shield charge. æIdiot!Æ The miner transmitted on the open system channel. æYour micro warp drive is making you as big as a moon to my drones, they canÆt miss!Æ The cruisers mad dash had brought it within effective blaster range and several hit home on the ORE barge. The miner activated his shield booster and noticed another vessel entering the belt. He nearly hit the emergency warp, fearing another loony, friend of loony.
It was a CONCORD police vessel, already focusing on the insane cruiser, which, after nearly colliding with the barge, had released a load of its own drones. The nutterÆs shield was all but gone, however the advice concerning the micro warp drive seemed to have hit home, along with a barrage courtesy of CONCORD, and it was noticeably slowing. The policeman seemed to think the cruiserÆs drones the more obvious threat and started to pound them.
The miner watched all this with amazement, pity and contempt. æRun you moron! CONCORD will be all over you in half a minute! Try get to a station or youÆll loose your ship!Æ But the cruiser was already turning, its engines pulsing as its pilot activated the warp bubble, then it flashed away, leaving its drones to deactivate in consternation. The policeman followed and it was all over. |