The Rifter Renaissance

Came the last night of sadness

And it was clear she couldn't go on

Then the door was open and the wind appeared

The candles blew and then disappeared

The curtains flew and then he appeared

(Saying, "Don't be afraid")

Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper

Ok, so I've been a bit deficient in PvP in these last few months. Maybe even up to a half a year. Not much point in it, no profit in it. No fun in it.

I started to wonder why I wasn't going out to PvP at all, and I realized it was a base fear of losing my ship to lag. As CCP has improved their game, they've curtailed my gaming experience more and more. But fuck it, I want to go shoot something.

I put a Rifter together a while back for my pirate alt, and never used it(the ship or the alt). So I hopped into the ship on Hallan, and set out for the horizon. Alone.

At first I was snaking my way through Tenerifis, then Detorid. I found nothing to shoot and made it out to Insmother. Deeper into DRF space. I spotted what was likely some juicy targets in KD-KPR, and forged ahead.

No one saw me all the way there, so I was able to jump into system without them being warned. Sadly, due to my own mistake(I hit the button too fast) the system scanner refused to work for me. I decided to try my luck at a belt and picked one at random.

I landed on a ratting Drake, and being that I was in a flimsy rifter I pointed him.

After he recovered from the sheer manliness of that move, he launched drones and started hitting me. Sadly the Rifter was MWD fitted, and while I'd already turned it off, the missiles still hurt. So after shooting down a Warrior I for spite, I warped myself out.

After a short rest, I shotgunned another system, landing on a Haven just as it's occupant warped away. After that I decided that Etherium Reach might hold more promise, and after cutting through The Spire, headed straight for LXQ2. Hopefully something there could kill me.

Of course I arrived on the gate to low sec without incident.

Going through was even more boring, and I started to imagine that all of EVE was conspiring to ruin my roam.

So after burning to Akkio, I was about to head into high sec. But then I spied an Ibis, 400 kilometers from the gate. I overshot the pod, as the Ibis died far quicker than I imagined... and missed it as he warped himself away.

It was no one else's fault but my own. Sloppy flying by a rusty pilot. At least it was just an Ibis this time.

So now I had a GCC to wait out, which gave me time to notice how close I was to Evati. I couldn't pass that close to my old home with the Bastards and not stop by, so after a wait, I headed out.

Sadly the system was dead, so I decided to check out the 2/10 that Kane Rizzel patrols regularly in Gusandall.  The entry key had already been taken, so I docked up, quite despondent.

Then with a puff of inspiration, I decided to visit the system where I got my very first piratey kill. Sure enough, there was someone in the system. I warped myself to one of the belts near the center after a scan confirmed he wasn't near the gate. The first belt I landed in was a bust, but I quickly narrowed him down with a directional scan.

I landed 30 kilometers away from him. I moved to close immediately He was still fighting an Angel Defacer, it popped just as my scram landed, and our dance started. His web took hold of my ship, and my guns began to burn through his shields. In mere moments my own shields had disappeared, and I started taking armor damage. I kicked my repper and nos on and watched as the last of his shields evaporated.

Almost as quickly, his armor and then his hull were gone. I did not repeat my previous mistake, and snagged the pod this time. After a closer look at his fit, I realized he'd shield tanked it. An odd choice, but his to make. I scooped the loot, waited out my timer, and docked up in Emogranlan.

Maybe not as much action as I was expecting, but a clean kill comes so rarely to me these days. I'm happy with that.