Escorts/Scouts

[Hielor]

Trader gets blowed up and QQs. Pirates say "lol n00b get an escort."

Well okay, let's step back for a bit.

First off, by "escort" I assume you mean "scout," because it's a rather well-known fact that a transport will die to a pirate before the pirate dies to the escort, so let's go with that, and to avoid ambiguity I'll use the term "scout" henceforth.

So, you've got yourself a scout. He's a lane or two ahead of you and tells you the lane's clear and you proceed through.

You're passing through a system with only one tradelane route through, say (completely hypothetically and randomly chosen) Frankfurt. The scout calls out that he's just run into a pirate sitting in the next lane, so you as a smart trader wait for the all-clear.

What does the scout do? He's just come out of the lane on top of a pirate. I really don't see this going well.

Pirate: "Bah, move along, snub."
Scout: "Well, I'd love to, but see, there's a problem. I'm scouting for a trader back a ways, and so I need to ask you to move, please."
Pirate: "Oh really? Scout this." *pewpew* (Scout dies because the pirate was in a gunboat, of course)
Trader: "Sigh." *docks and logs off*

So...is the scout supposed to distract the pirate for ten minutes while the trader goes way off-plane to get around them? Or what, exactly?

Help me out here, please, because I really feel like I must be missing something. If I were to offer to escort someone, what should I be doing (starting from the basics, like, what ship should I be flying)? If I look for an escort, what should I look for?

[Torch Rose]

If your scout finds a pirate alone a 1-lane'd system, then the scout should continue to the next trade junction, or turn back to the trader. What the trader should do, is move ~10K to the side of the tradelane and fly.

For example: Scout finds a pirate in Cali on the Mojave lane. The scout continues to riverside/turns back. The trader heads north to the northern ice field, and flies along that to riverside beyond the pirate's range. (If there is a nebulae or asteroid field next to the lane, just skirt the edge of that till the lane drops off and continue from there. Doesn't take that long.)

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[Akura]

Swim ahead and make sure there are no sharks.

[Korny]

Wow, I wouldn't hire that scout.

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[Hielor]

If your scout finds a pirate alone a 1-lane'd system, then the scout should continue to the next trade junction, or turn back to the trader. What the trader should do, is move ~10K to the side of the tradelane and fly.

So the scout doesn't engage the pirate? Makes sense, thanks, although that seems to cut down on RP (sadness).

Swim ahead and make sure there are no sharks.

This sounds a lot like my strategy when I was goalkeeper in soccer. Blocking it with your face is still a block even if it knocks you out!

Wow, I wouldn't hire that scout.

Constructive and informational, thanks!

[Scribbley]

I think the scout goes on as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and the transport takes a large detour around, possibly even to a different system to system route. The scout can easily intercept the transport's new agreed upon course and continue to lead.

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For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else.
-Sir Winston Churchill

[Veygaar]

Fly over 14k above plane, or below, or beside. 10k and a pirate might catch you.

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Veygaar for Admin Moderator 2013!!!

[Hone]

What the scout should do: Whatever it takes to get the trader safely to his destination.

Theres a reason you hire people with working brains, cos every situation will need a different approach, wether its blowing up the pirate, distracting him while the trader flies down the side, or calling the police,

Adapt or die.

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[DarthBindo]

Time to divulge some tips from the Interspace Commerce Handbook on Lane Hacker Avoidance Techniques, or How I Learned to Stop Being Such A Wuss and Love the Countermeasure Button.
The escort has two duties.
One, to aid his trusts with the location and avoidance of potential obstacles. (i.e, hackers, rogues, mollies, pirates, Rheinlanders, mercenaries, and on the rare occasion, police and navy.)
Two, to help his escortees escape into cruise should he fail in his first duty.
To locate potential obstacles, the escort should fly at least one but no more than two tradelanes/Jumpgates ahead of his charge at all times. Should an obstacle be found, the escort will immediately sound the alarm.
The trader will continue on to the next junction while the escort continues on.
There are multiple ways to avoid the located obstacle, and the path you chose depends on the estimated intelligence and/or cleverness of your opponent.
The easiest strategy is to simply fly along side the tradelane in question, maintaining the recommended distance of at least 20k to the nearest lane; however, if your opponent gets antsy or recognizes your escort, he may very well anticipate this and catch you at the end point. This most basic strategy is only recommended for obstacles with either A)prior experience telling you he's a complete tool, or B) a clearly misspelled or otherwise lolwut name.
During this manouvere, by no means should the escort be actively locating the obstacle, as a constant presence will arouse suspescion. It is recommended that the escort double back once after the trader establishes the recommended distance and then takes up a position forward of the obstacle and out of scanner range, to provide due warning should the obstacle change position.
The second strategy is to simply take the unexpected route, bypassing the obstacles altogether. Most traders stick to the tradelanes and/or established trade routes, usually the fastest and most profitable. As such, obstacles tend to think along these lines and prepare accordingly. Therefore, switching up not only ruins their carefully planned ambush, but can also put you well ahead of any pursuit simply by rendering the obstacle's inital reactions useless, buying you that much time.
The third and final recommended strategy is to force the obstacle's hand. Making system wide announcements, "mistakenly" sending transmissions meant for law enforcement to the obstacle, having a third party mercenary provide false intelligence to the obstacle, and of course, calling in the big guns are all valid pre-emptive strategies to make the obstacle remove itself.
Should all your attempts at avoidance fail, Interspace has five words to help you cope: Remember, your cargo is insured! Your life and ship are simply not worth an unsuccessful escape attempt. Your first goal should not be fleeing, but rather a full estimation of the situation. Some handy questions to ask are:
Does my ship have a hard to hit engine?
Does my ship have countermeasures, and if so, what kind(s)?
Is my escort nearby?
is there more than one bomber/gunboat in the obstacle's forces?
Are the obstacle's ships capable of destroying my hull in one hit?
Does my escort have countermeasures, and if so, what kind(s)?
If the answer to more than one of the above questions is no, unless you have the good fortune to be close the a station, paying up is most likely the best option.
However, should you chose to go for it, your survival will depend not on running on thrusters, but rather managing to escape to cruise.
You should wait until your escort has joined up with you. At the same time, you should both engage cruise and spam off as many countermeasures as possible. For most attempts, the combined decoy power of two launchers in tandem should be enough to thwart any cruise disruptors.
And remember, the last step should always be to taunt them as much as possible once you escape.

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gone four years, first day back: Zoners still getting shot in Theta :|

[Osilon]

Use missiles on their cruise disruptor and then tell the trader its all good. Its worked for me.
Heres what you do. Get a scout in a gunboat, or a bomber. The way you put it, a gunboat is a rolling wave of destruction that will no questions asked destroy their ship.
Or you could join a faction.

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A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.