Punisher 19.5

The hunt:

After being accepted into the Tuskers, I immediately packed my bags and returned to Molden Heath, where the Tuskers were campaigning. I swiftly settled into the campaign headquarters and went out for a roam.

Along the way I ran into fellow Tusker nalathil, who, flying a Rupture, asked if I wanted to roam together. This was a new experience for me, but I was keen to get to know my corp mates, so I happily agreed. We wandered around the Molden Heath loop, looking for trouble.

At some point we noticed a Tristran following me. In fact, he had challenged me to 1v1 a few systems back, but as I was chatting with my new corp mate it took me a while to notice.

We quickly agreed that I would wait at a belt for the Tristran to find me, while nalathil waited in the next system. It did not take long for the Tristran to jump in, and the fight was on.

Now, because I was expecting a Rupture to jump into the fight at any minute, I simply pointed the Tristran and turned on my repper. Opening fire was almost an afterthought. However, I soon learned that, compared to frigates, cruisers are SLOW. In fact, there was a real risk that the Tristran would kill me before the Rupture landed. I turned my full attention to the fight, overheating my repper and guns.

The Tristran and I entered structure together, just as nalathil landed. As a result, his opening salvo finished the Tristran, and we both wished him a "gf". He returned the comment, but noted that the fight would have been better without the Rupture.

2011.04.30 21:05:00

Victim: HalbaradKenafin
Corp: Janitors For Hire
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Destroyed: Tristan
System: Illamur
Security: 0.3
Damage Taken: 1724

Involved parties:

Name: nalanthii (laid the final blow)
Security: -0.2
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Rupture
Weapon: 220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 475

Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -1.2
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Punisher
Weapon: Punisher
Damage Done: 1249

Destroyed items:

Rocket Launcher II, Qty: 2
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Federation Navy Antimatter Charge S, Qty: 106
Small Hybrid Burst Aerator I
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Light Neutron Blaster II
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Phalanx Rage Rocket, Qty: 24
Small Armor Repairer II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Dropped items:

Damage Control II
Light Neutron Blaster II
Phalanx Rage Rocket, Qty: 24
Nanite Repair Paste, Qty: 20 (Cargo)
Federation Navy Antimatter Charge S, Qty: 320 (Cargo)
Phalanx Rage Rocket, Qty: 80 (Cargo)


Post battle review:

The Tristran's last comment stung. After all, had I not had similar feelings from time to time? Should I have offered him the 1v1 he wanted?

Time, though, has given me a different perspective. First, he was a 2009 character looking for a 1v1 against a 2011 character. Any sense of an "equal fight" goes out the window right there. And second, he jumped in on me. You take your victims as you find them. In this case, his victim had a friend nearby. It's a risk we all take when we solo.


Lessons for the future:

I must not get into the habit of fighting carelessly just because I have help on the way. I was very close to going under in a fight that I probably could have won fairly handily 1v1 simply because I got complacent. I need to bring my "A game" to each fight.