Solo Sard 2

Complex PvP

Since taking up the skull and crossbones in Molden Heath, Heild has seen the majority of my victories. It houses a goodly amount of belts, and seems to draw consistent traffic through the system. There's also a 2/10 complex in the system, though as my pirating doctrine dictates cruiser hulls or greater, targets within the complex were always off limits.

To rectify this calamity of missed opportunities, I recently flew a QR style AB Jaguar into Heild in the event there are pilots working the complex. On December 22nd, this foresight payed off. While on a patrol through MH, I picked up a Rifter working the complex. Just before initiating warp to the station housing my Jaguar, I pick up an additional Wolf and Griffin arriving at the complex.

As I reshipped, local chatter suggested the Rifter pilot had just lost his ship to the Wolf and Griffin combo. As fast as I could manage, I undocked, and warped to the acceleration gate leading into the complex. The Rifter was off scan, and only the Wolf and Griffin remained, which was enough to confirm my assumption. I took a deep breath, and activated the acceleration gate.

I landed in a sea of NPC frigate wrecks, among which lurked the Wolf assault ship and Griffin frigate. The Wolf was a mere 7km away from me, and immediately engaged me. We exchanged tackle, and I found that not only is my Jaguar several hundred meters per second faster than my AS opponent, but the Wolf neglected a Webifier in his fittings. I navigated around the Wolf, and barreled in on the Griffin frigate.

The Griffin was my primary concern entering the fight: their ECM bonus made them a valued addition to any small gang. Versus the low signal strength of my Jaguar AS, I knew I had to knock him out of the fight as soon as possible if any victory was to be achieved. Fortunately for me, the pilot was slow on his EWAR, and I was able to put his ship into low armor before his ECM finally broke my lock.

It was a tense 10 seconds before I could regain lock on my foes; I was extremely lucky I wasn't locked down any longer. The Griffin exploded after a further two volleys from my autocannons, and the battlefield was down to the two assault ships. The Wolf only had minor shield damage, while my Jaguar was maintaining roughly 80% shields, having eluded the Wolf's ravages through agility and use of my Webifier. This was to be a close matchup, and I closed in to meet my fate.

Tackle was exchanged, and with Barrage S loaded in my autocannons, I decided to play things safe and maintain 7km from my opponent. The Wolf was quickly stripped of its shields, and my autocannons started chipping away at armor. My shields were holding well under the caress of the Wolf's greater projectile arsenal, and I felt victory was more than possible. I drifted closer to my foe, overloading my weapons as we discussed our differences up close and personal.

Moving closer to the Wolf magnified damage on my ship, and my Jaguar was reaching critically low shields. The Wolf began to enter hull as my shields finally failed, and my unresisted plate soon collapsed under the desperate fury of the Wolf's arsenal. It was too late for the Wolf however, and it evaporated in a blue fireball just as my Jaguar touched hull.

I scooped loot, and headed back to station for major repairs. Both pirates exchanged their congratulations to me, and soon afterwards I have gifted the Wolf pilot with my Jaguar fitting, and saw him off with a smile. You know it's a good day to fly when after all is done there's a little fire to keep warm by. . even if it's from fuel fires spouting from of hull breaches along your ship.