Mathias Sinistar
Minmatar
Suddenly Ninjas
Tear Extraction And Reclamation Service
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Posted - 2009.01.22 07:52:00 -
[1]
Kali Levar shifted in her seat. The Minmatar Hoarder was never a very comfortable ride, but her sparse income had only afforded her the most basic of amenities. After all, she had sold most of her nonessential operating cargo in Rens about a week ago, and hadn't been in any decent isk since. For this run, the ammo for the wars she so despised was essential. Sleeping was not.
"Computer, how many more jumps?"
"23."
Kali groaned, hating her position even more. 23 more jumps... she was already getting jump strain.
"Computer, engage autopilot for Jita. I need to take a load off..."
Kali flopped back into her chair, staring at the stars until the thoughts of the road ahead, any thoughts, faded away...
And then she saw blackness. Not unusual for space. As she came to though, she felt encased. Looking about, she felt the sudden feeling of the orange goo around her, the familiar organic compound surrounded her, letting her live in this hostile environment. She was in a pod. She then noticed the many flickering lights. Overviews, chat windows, a holovid on the basics of gang fighting.
"Have you gotten the hang of it yet Kali?"
Kali blinked as she heard the clear voice of a man, her fleet commander.
"Yeah, it really isn't that difficult. Point, lock, orbit and scram. I'm the tackler after all."
"Good girl, you learn well, and just in time as well. We've got what looks like a caravan moving in. Couple of frigates and some indy's. Careful though, we can't stay here long, or those gate guns will rip you a new one. They're only offline for 10 more minutes."
As her FC finished talking, the first signs of the convoy warped in. Wolves, three of them at about 100km off gate. They were scouting out the gate for potential threats, and had found one.
"They've locked me!"
"Don't worry, they don't know those guns are offline, it's a precaution on their part. They've got the wrong target locked anyway!"
Kali then heard laughter as she saw her FC and three other ships uncloak. It was only a matter of time before she saw the heat exhaust from her FC's guns, and the blue crackle of the wolf's shield being pierced by his massive round.
"Johann, lock them down. Pietri and Francis, go after these carebears, we have larger ships to-..."
As he spoke, the real targets finally warped in.
"Sweet sweet and sweeter!" Is all Kali heard as her FC excitedly turned his Tempest towards their true targets, the overconfident caravan. "Kali! Lock them down before they hit the gate!"
Kali engaged her throttle and head in at a 1km orbit before flipping on her scrambler right as one of her FC's newly retargeted artillery shells smashed the crew cabin of the Hoarder...
Kali suddenly shook violently, her head banging against something hard. Warning lights were flashing as she noticed her shields and armor had evaporated. She looked around her pod, looking for damages. It seemed to be bigger, but she shook that off as a side effect of the banged head.
Kali looked to her overview for an answer to this attack, only to see the familiar comm channel blink back on, the laughter of her FC still echoing through it. He must have shot her by mistake!
"Hey carebear, decide to take a shortcut?"
"Commander, you shot me you dunce, and now your gloating at me? Did you just ignore your targeting computer?"
"... Right. Your tackling for me in that. Shut up and pay."
"No you don't understand! The Caravan! You must have hit me by mistake!" Kali could feel the liquids drip around her. She sensed a crack in her pod.
"Uh... I think you hit your head a little hard against the ground..."
"No I'm fine! Fire again! The hoarder is getting away!"
The comm channel ended. Kali saw a bright white light wizzing towards her, getting larger. She couldn't see the hoarder, but she was confident this shot would be on the money. Why else would her FC have ended the comm so abruptly? Damn I'm going to be rich. She thought, as the artillery shell slammed into her Hoarder's cabin.
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