Pages: [1] :: one page |
|
Author |
Thread Statistics | Show CCP posts - 0 post(s) |
GulletSplitter
Minmatar Colonial Fleet Services
|
Posted - 2007.07.19 23:37:00 -
[1]
Space has always been described as a cold desolate place. Space was a place where when given the chance, life would be sucked out and frozen into a ball of humanity. One doomed to float through the not so gentle caress of space for as long as a millennium or as short as an hour. The fear of this deep dark coldness was pounded into the skull of the current pilot just a few short months ago by his instructors at the Republic Military Academy. Oh they had warned him about the monotony. They had warned him and taught him fear of space itself. But they had not warned Gustavus Lascivious Sphinx (aka Gulletsplitter) that space could be hot as well. And hot is a mild way to describe this day.
Gulletsplitter, a recent graduate from the Academy, had decided very early in his career as a pod pilot to chance the profits of low sec. And what better place to do it then in the Amamake Pocket? A region know for a bit of lawlessness. A region known for having all kids of piratical lowlifes looking to depredate the untrained, unwilling, and unknowing that came through the system looking for a quick isk. Gullet had heard the rumors and tales of terror spread by such organizations as the Killer Bees. HeÆd heard of the pillaging, and what not that was the story of the Pocket but still he had come. The clarion call of isk sounded and heÆd come running.
It was a call that had landed him in a whole lot of heat. The relatively broke neophyte had begun making runs inside the Pocket in an un-modded Wreathe. Brazenly hauling goods through the Osoggur to Amamake gate instead of taking a safer route, the money had started to roll in for him. But each run into and out of the system was increasing his chances for disaster. Like the proverbial frog in the pot, he did not sense the water beginning to boil around until today.
Today was a different story. Today heÆd made his round of pickups through Heimatar before headed through Abudban towards Osoggur. Starting to learn the ropes heÆs asked politely over the local communication frequencies if there was a gate camp waiting on the other side of the Osoggur to Amamake gate. Nobody responded. Maybe it was lack of caring? Maybe it was lack of time as the locals were hungrily devouring the omber fields? Either way Gullet was stepping out of the frying pan and right on the other side of the gate was the fire.
A few quick bursts of information requests got the old gate up and running. Suddenly his Wreathe was tossed forward through space by the gate to find a screen filled with threat warnings and the flashes/pulses of combat. A countdown to the cold embrace of space had started for Gullet and for the first time in his pod pilot life he knew it. Was it time to kiss the ultimate freedom in death? Or would fate or an instinctual desire to live help him survive what was his first taste of combat in low sec?
Gullet had picked a day to use the Amamake gate while it was being camped by Vale Heavy Industries. He hadnÆt know that to be the case but here before him was said camp. And the camp was currently brutalizing a Typhoon that had happened into the maws of VHI. 5 seconds while still in cloak, the heat and fear of combat reached out and touched Gullet to the tune of his entire shield structure when someone set of a series of smartbombs that shredded through his meager defenses. If one can truly sweat while encased in a pod filled with a temperature controlled fluid, then now was the time. 10 seconds into the encounter, Gullet still state stock still in a kind of glazed shock that one often sees in children prior to them receiving corporal punishment out of the blue. Those 5 seconds would end up being key. For in those 5 seconds the damaged Typhoon turned on some type of microwarp drive that started to carry the Typhoon and itÆs attackers away from the gate. Not far mind youàbut just far enough to leave the slightest glimmering of hope.
|
GulletSplitter
Minmatar Colonial Fleet Services
|
Posted - 2007.07.19 23:38:00 -
[2]
Gullet saw it. He saw the opening and for lack of better termsàhe floored it. Wellàflooring a Wreathe is not exactly like taking an Interceptor out for nice jaunt but you get the picture. Picking the first station that he could find, Gullet immediately started turning towards the station while the Wreathe picked up speed. Someone in the VHI blob must have seen him make a break for the station for immediately his pod started to warn him of attempted targeting attempts on the ship. 12 seconds or so since the gate jump and already he noted 6 different ships with target locks on him. The first volley of fire from these locks decimated his armor and a whopping 50% of his hull. Projectile ammunition was bouncing around inside his ship like grasshoppers in a can.
In the back of his mind, Gullet recalled various teachers telling him that there was no sound in space. They lied. The sound of space is the dull roar you get behind your ears from the blood pulsing through you in the heat of battle. ItÆs the feelinàno soundà.of projectile ammunition slamming into your ship as you make a mad dash for safety. While you might only be able to see the missles comingàGullet would swear that you can actually hear them coming in space.
15 seconds from gate entry and alignment was met. All the conditions were right and the ship lurched forward towards the stations. ThatÆs when it struck Gullet. Somewhere between the gate and the station, he was going to run out of capacitor and therefore stop before reaching safety. Immediately he started making plans for anyone who might be following him. A common technique taught in school was to make a jump to a ôsafeö spot in the middle of nowhere and then to jump to your ôtrueö destination. Gullet didnÆt know if heÆd been followed or not. He just knew that he couldnÆt take any more hits.
His ship came out of warp and he decided that making a run for the Gulmorogod gate. Sure it wasnÆt the safety of a station but he was hoping that by changing directions he could throw any possible pursuit. His ship turned to alignment and was off towards itÆs new vector. Reaching the Amamake to Gulmorogod gate, he quickly lumbered close to the gate for activation. A smile played across his lips as the gate accepted his request and threw his badly damaged ship forward.
Gullet had often heard Matari ships described as ôthrown together pieces of trashö. When one sees a Tempest or a Typhoon at distance, they are a thing of beauty. Sure their lines are not necessarily symmetrical. They are not the ôI feel small so I have to make up for it with colors showyö of an Amarr ships. But a Tempest at 35 km with a full lock on a damaged Wreathe in low sec is a thing of pure beauty. VHI was smart enough that day to place out lying forces for ôescapeesö much like Gullet. When he came through the gate, a VHI battleship simply ate through the remnants of his Wreathe. His pod ejected and then Gullet came to an understanding.
Space might be a cold lonely place. But at certain times and in certain places, humanity has brought quite a bit of heat to space. Watching the cruise missile arc towards his pod and knowing what it stood for did not cause a sensation of coldessàmore of pure heat.
|
Kirex
Gallente Vale Heavy Industries Molotov Coalition
|
Posted - 2007.07.22 15:33:00 -
[3]
Good story.
|
Tablaren
Kingdom of Kador Dark Taboo
|
Posted - 2007.07.23 06:40:00 -
[4]
Yeay awsome story GS \o/
I rather don't like the ending but it is a well written one XD
*pokes the jelly-like clone* Ewwwww, you're still spongy.
|
|
|
|
Pages: [1] :: one page |
First page | Previous page | Next page | Last page |