Feeling Rusty (part 1)

The hunt:

Sometimes it takes a specific event (or series of events) to really crystallise a thought that's been lurking at the back of your mind.

I had just logged back on after a long absence, and I was keen to pew-pew. I undocked in an AB fit Malediction (plate, no neut) and went looking for trouble.

Trouble was easy to find. A Bellicose was bouncing around the celestials in Hev, and I decided to give it a go. He was looking for a fight too, and we missed each other a couple of times before I finally landed right on top of him.

I immediately webbed and pointed him, and set myself into a wide orbit to avoid neuts. After doing so, I concentrated on destroying his drones, which were the main threat.

Unfortunately, although I had activated my afterburner, the client had dropped the command somewhere, and I was so focused on destroying his drones that I did not notice. To be sure, I knew what the range was, and I could also see that he was neuting me, but I assumed that he had two webs or the like, and so I did not think I could do much about it. Instead, I moved into the tightest orbit I could, hoping that I could still get under his guns with my reduced speed. It didn't work.

2011.11.06 08:18:00

Victim: Taurean Eltanin
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: None
Faction: None
Destroyed: Malediction
System: Hevrice
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 2400

Involved parties:

Name: Siva Surya Kshatriya (laid the final blow)
Security: -3.2
Corp: Buccaneers of New Eden
Alliance: The Forsaken.
Faction: None
Ship: Bellicose
Weapon: Hobgoblin I
Damage Done: 2316

Name: Serpentis Defender / Serpentis Corporation
Damage Done: 84

Destroyed items:

Small Bay Loading Accelerator I
Warp Scrambler II
Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket, Qty: 129
1MN Afterburner II
Small Warhead Calefaction Catalyst I
Phalanx Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Foxfire Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)

Dropped items:

Rocket Launcher II, Qty: 3
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
Small Armor Repairer II
Thorn Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Phalanx Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket, Qty: 414 (Cargo)
Gremlin Rage Rocket, Qty: 450 (Cargo)

Warping my pod out, I dropped a "gf" in local and went back for my Vengeance.


Afterthoughts:

As I warped away from this fight, the idea that I had lost my edge really began to take root, building on the events of the past month or so. I had pursued a target well outside the engagement envelope of my own ship, and then made a stupid rookie mistake that had ended the fight before it was even really begun.

Time away from the game has a performance cost. Equally, my life in Hevrice has been something of a soft one; corp mates find targets and help take down larger ships, small gangs do battle under expert leadership providing an endless parade of easy kills, and generally I can rely on other pilots to mitigate my own weaknesses.

How different from my solo days in Amarr space or Molden Heath. But one fight can be a fluke, right? Going back with my maxed out Vengeance was sure to produce a different result...