Has been awhile since I reported in. Got picked off in my Greyhound by some Hunter with a Mini Razor. Lucky shot, I tell ya'. So I've been recuperating on Padua. Finally was cleared for active duty yesterday. Been holed up in bed for way too long, it's nice to be back behind the wheel.
Galileo and Colorado were dead, so I made off for New York. The Naval activity was... lacking, but still clearly apparant. I shadowed Fort Bush for a few minutes, waiting for something to come along. Unfortunately, something I wasn't expecting did just that.
Vigilante.Spike.Siegal popped up on scanners. I've been catching word of these so-called "vigilantes" lately. Haven't seen one for real until now, but they're gonna' be a problem for us. At least they'll try to be a problem.
I initiated some small talk with the fella', and surprisingly he wasn't only interested in gunning me down as fast as he could. He said something 'bout "Someone needing to clean up the scum around Liberty.", so I told 'im "I'm dirty, clean me!". After a little hesitation on his part, he broke course and attacked.
He was in a shiny new Liberator with rapid firing Liberty guns. Looks like this bloke's got some connections with the Liberty Police, as his IFF showed as well. He wasn't the greatest pilot, and had to hide behind the tiny ship's small size by dodging around when I iced his shields. Soon enough, he went down in flames.
Some Navy ships started loitering around nearby, so I headed off to make a pit stop on Buffalo. The battle hadn't given me any damage, but I figured I'd take a breather anyways.
Once I launched back into the Badlands, I started picking up someone's comms chatter about selling the Navy some Rogue pilot's escape pods. The nerve! Thankfully, the lawfuls were too busy with blowing up some researcher without permits than taking in wanted criminals. I hailed the pilot and told him I'd buy them back. We met on the outskirts of the Badlands. He was a freelancer flying an Explorer Gunboat. Interesting ship, I must say. We quickly agreed on a price and made the trade.
I took the unlucky chaps back to Buffalo. Only one was dead, the rest were fine or had minor injuries, as well a little oxygen deprivation. A little memorial service for the perished Rogue is being held tomorrow I think. Poor guy.
I've been sitting under the radar for awhile now... Been doing some serious thinking and I've needed some space and time off.
Anyways, I've gone and thought enough! I'm still a Rogue, and I outta' get back out there acting like one.
I started off from Alcatraz. I'm just a Cali girl, that's my haven. Hitting the tradelanes, I came across some guy named Joel_Solomom in a Beetle hauling boron. Yeah, Solomom. I was busy checking the systems and he passed me in the tradelane, so I set off after him and got as far as the tradelane to the Magellan gate when a rookie Hacker wing hit the lane in front of us. I gave him his chance, and he decided to completely shaft me, then open fire without a word. He got his.
The rest of the day in Cali went by pretty slowly, then some trader in an Armored Transport popped up. He fled into NY, and I jumped in after, right on his heels. We made it to WP, but he just had too much of a lead on me. Just as I was about to leave, an LPI named Officer.Hartney showed up, ordering me to leave. I was going to do it anyways, but now that Hartney asked me, I felt like being difficult. I idled around, waiting for him to make me leave, and he finally opened fire. He was in a lightly armed Liberator, but was awfully hard to hit. Neither of us were really doing much damage, then Ashes popped up on long range scanners and I invited him to come along.
About the same time Yotaka made it, another LPI fella' showed up too in an Avenger loaded with missiles. The battle then escalated from a simple dogfight to a downright free for all. Another independant pirate flying a Werewolf showed up, then a Bounty Hunter in a bomber, and more I'm sure, I just couldn't arse myself to look.
The battle was insane, with a [Maf] vessel jumping into the fray as well. I was focused on the SWAT LPI, since he was attacking me in the first place. I kept draining his shields, and Ashes would whittle away at his hull, but somehow he just kept staying in the game. A few of his missiles found my hull, and my Sammaels, CD, and CMs got blown to bits. Regardless, I stuck to him and didn't let up. My efforts paid off as I laid a pleasantly aimed SN into his nose.
Moments after I vaped down the LPI, a credit transfer came through to my account. Ended up being a smuggler who was having trouble fencing his goods into NY. Ironically, that ended up being all the cash I made all day.
The battle waged on, the pirate in the Werewolf got destroyed, then the Bounty Hunter, then a Bounty Hunter gunship popped up out of nowhere. I blew its shields to nothing, but it's weaponry just was too much for the Heart, and I had to pull off with serious damage. I took refuge in the Badlands while I crossed my fingers for my friends still in battle. The gunship got wiped out by Nexx, the [Maf] pilot, and the remaining Liberator met its demise soon after.
Score one for the good guys! (Yes, we're good.)
I met up with Ashes and set down for some repairs. Unfortunately my power distribution systems were totally out of whack, and I had to call it a day.
Ashes summed yesterday up pretty well, I won't go there. But as she said, I've been doomed to the infirmary from that bastard Talon's dirty trick. Doc says I've got some second degree burns from a late ejection and a ruptured spleen from the impact. Fun fun...
So, it's just little old me laid up and and bored to tears in this cruddy infirmary. Ashes was keeping me company before, but now it's just me and the creepy doctor. (Seriously, where do you find these guys?)
So! In my ever growing boredom, I've decided to dig through some of my combat records and pull out the exciting ones. Yeah yeah, I'm depressed, I'm only talking about the ones where I win. So what?
Here we go.
1: Myrista
This guy was funny. Found him coming out of the NY gate in Cali, but he seemed to be completely ignoring me. Ended up he wasn't even interested in me, the nerve...
Unfortunately, I was shafted, so I was interested in him. I chased him down all the way to the Mojave to LA tradelane, where he dropped out abruptly. Seems he finally decided to fight like a man, or die like one.
One less hunter to worry about for awhile. Those wankers think they can attack us on a whim, then ignore us when they so please? Right, that'll show them.
2: Vice Admiral Hale
Uh-huh, Hale himself. A few Outcasts and Rogues were duking it out with the LN near old Ithica station, and they called for backup. How could I refuse?
There were three of them. David, some Anderson guy, and Talon. The brass seems to be handling the petty stuff now, who knew? Seeing that Hale had a setup not unlike my own, I figured I would take him out of the equation. The battle was fairly short, with my Paralyzers working brilliantly. One well aimed Sunslayer and it was game over for Mr. VA.
...I'd rather leave the rest of the encounter to your wonderful imaginations.
3: Raven
This wasn't long ago at all. I stumbled across a Hacker in a Slipstream in Cali. He was having some problems with a large transport that he was trying to pirate. I sat back and watched as the little fella' did his best, but a badly dropped Nuke ended up ripping the tiny fighter apart.
A little pissed off, I rushed in on the transport and put him in space. No one messes with the little guys and gets away with it.
I picked up the unfortunate Hacker, who was thankfully okay, and dropped him off on Alcatraz. Hopefully he'll take the encounter to heart.
4: Skynxnex
Eh, I'm scraping now, not to mention the morphine is kicking in.
This idiot thought it was cool to totally ignore me and continue his little mining. To think, I was going to play Robina Hood that day and give the guy some credits. He shafted me, he got blown up.
Oh yeah, this was in the Doomsday.
Alright... I'm about to fall asleep on this data-pad.
Hope to see you all in space soon, Draya.
P.S. I turned 18 yesterday, woot! ...Wait, I nearly got killed on my birthday... Not so woot.
Just a few nasty scars to attest to my injuries now. I'll tell you now, I've learned a key lesson in all this. Don't lose.
Brought the Hopeless Romantic out to stretch my arms and make sure I still knew how to fly the thing. I wasn't expecting a war, but that's exactly what I got. Eddie Cassidy, a Rogue piloting a gunboat had been dodging massive Navy and LSF patrols all morning, he said. I could clearly see that we had company, but once I got to the lane with Eddie, they were gone. Odd, very odd.
Soon enough though, an LSF Avenger, Cartman, came around the tradelane, ordering us to "leave or be destroyed". Right. I was disrespectful and chiding, naturally, but he didn't attack. I think we all know why. A few moments later, another LSF Raven's Claw, Richard Knight, came right behind him, and immediately stated "engaging". Looks like we had a battle on our hands after all.
I targeted the Avenger, and easily out-piloted him. My shields never failed, I used no regeneration facilities, and turned him into a cloud of dust within a few minutes.
Next was the Claw, who was naturally dodging like hell under Eddie's fire.
I thought we had it under control until a few more contacts popped up on scanners. Another LSF Avenger, Christian Deus, another light craft I can't put my finger on, and last but not least, the LNS Samantha, a cruiser. Great.
I wasn't going to leave Eddie at the enemy's mercy, so I opened up on the new LSF. He wasn't the greatest pilot ever, and would have fell to his comrade's fate, if it wasn't for the dirty tactics he continuously used. Every single time I would drop or cripple his shields, he would simply thrust away in a spiral, then come back once he was comfortable with his shield strength. Pathetic. I kept up fire on him, and brought his regens to nearly nothing, then things got even more ridiculous. Yes, more ridiculous than a Naval cruiser taking potshots at me.
A freelancer named Snag showed up, and started attacking us as well. What next? He attacked me the whole time, but his aim was utterly pathetic, with no damage to shields ever being visible. I still had full nanobots and shield batteries at this point... It was an idiotic battle with the LSF, as he continued running away from me every few seconds. But when a Hacker gunship showed up, it looked like we might have had a chance.
Oh, they weren't done yet. Three Mandalorian vessels then showed up on scanners, asking if the lawfuls needed assistance. The nerve! 4 fighters and a cruiser weren't enough for a Sabre and a gunboat? Well, now a gunship showed up, I suppose, but still. After my target screamed "yes, get them!" under my fire, we had even more flak. Eddie stated over group comms that he was breaking off, so that was my cue. I took off into the field, and shook them soon enough.
A load of ****, yes, but at least we suffered no losses, and put down one LSF. A win? Maybe. Definitely in my books. We took on a mountain and survived. Score one for the Rogues!
Every time I fly lately, seems like I get sucked into some sort of a war. Fun fun... Anyways, everything started off pleasant in Cali. A few traders, one dead one, and a few lawfuls who showed up. I went back to the Alcatraz and jumped in the Romantic, but by the time I got back out in space they had fled the system. Scared? Probably. <evil laugh>
I was about to fire up the Doomsday again, but then I got a hail from an LH, Schiavona. He asked if I could scout out the area around the Cali jumpgate from the New York side. Seems the Hackers lost a freighter not long earlier, and he wanted to know if it was safe for his men. I reluctantly agreed, making it to the destroyer within a few minutes. I would've headed back, but I caught sights of three lawfuls engaging a lone Mafia ship, Cross Country I think. The lawfuls were Ashley Everette, an LSF Avenger, Why485, a Naval Guardian, and some gunboat by the name of Peppermint something. Letting the Hacker know that it clearly wasn't a good time for his business, I held back for a moment, a little leery of jumping into the stacked odds, then Ashes hailed me. She was on the Destroyer! I blabbered the situation as best I could over comms, she jumped out into space, and we engaged.
Amazingly, the gunboat erupted in flames before we even made it to the battlefield. That Cross Country guy is some pilot! I set my sights on Everette, but the Guardian started sending fire my way. I shifted my targeting to him and unleashed everything the Romantic had got. After only a few passes, and no damage, I turned him into a pretty little explosion. A little easier than I expected.
With full regenerative supplies, I turned to my original target. Here I noticed that before I got tangled with the Guardian, Jack Malrone in his Havoc had shown up, whom Ashes, and a newly arrived Hacker, Phosphate, were fighting. I knew Everette was going to be a better pilot than the last, so I took aim, rechecked my systems, and jumped into combat.
She was, as I expected, a much more skilled opponent. There was fairly heavy damage on both sides, but after a handful of well placed missiles, the Avenger couldn't take anymore.
Two down? I was on a roll! With two kills under by belt, I took a breather, eying the scene around me. Things weren't looking good. Phosphate had gotten blown away by Malrone, Cross Country was nowhere to be found, and now Ashes and another pirate I couldn't get the name of were tussling with a freaking fleet! Ashes questioned whether we should bail, and I agreed. Looking at the battlefield, it was the obvious course of action.
I made it to Cali without incident, but Ashes was pursued by a Liberator, plotting a course into the Badlands to shake him. Ironically, the brave pilot followed her deep into field, so she turned to take him on. We were tied up on group comms, so I can assure you that she wasn't in danger, it was just taking awhile to knock off the little ship.
With a nasty scrape on my forearm, I headed to the infirmary.