Always a Bigger Fish

“Begin recording…”

*Long pause followed by an audible sigh*

“Log file 07.21.111.

“Sometimes I just don’t know when to consider something a victory or a loss…..*the sound of something banging can be heard repeatedly* “…stupid!…stupid!…stupid!….”

*finally silence can be heard again for a long moment before being followed by another sigh*

“I made a critical mistake today. Perhaps it would have resulted in the same end result…but upon further investigation, I don’t think it would have... Either way, no matter what the end result would have been, I made the unwise choice…

“I was sitting in Orfrold, a 0.2 system in the Metropolis region. I had just barely missed catching a pilot with a bad security standing and had instead ended up being engaged in a rather interesting conversation with him. His name was Gorkus Dante and it seems he was giving up his pirating ways, having decided to join the Minimatar militias in their fight against the Amarr scum, like his father before him.

“I feel for him. His passion to join his fellow brethren in their fight was strong and I wish him all the best. As I told him, I can’t deny having considered doing it myself from time to time. Seems the Gallante militias are seriously lacking given the cataclysmic loss a short time back. But as I also told him, my eyes right now are set on nullsec. Maybe if and when that flame is squelched, maybe then I’ll return to help my own people. With me…ya never know…

*a small laugh*

“Anyways, I’m getting sidetracked…

“As I was sitting there chatting with him and browsing through some of the local gossip on the Scope network, I noticed two ships appear on the scanner. Both were Punisher class frigates, Amarr frigates. I watched them for a bit, checking and seeing that both their pilots’ license being quite new. In short order, I found them ratting in a belt and warped in at 100km out just to see what they were up to. It became clear immediately they were ratting… together. After having warped in, I turned the ship about, heading the exact opposite direction and switched on the afterburner. I watched local for a bit, first thoughts being this to be a trap. Finally, after much consideration, and once my ship was far enough out, I gauged the distance they were to the belts central beacon and turned the ship once more and immediately put it into warp. I figured, two pilots with that little experience, surely I could take them quick enough even if they were bait. If they weren’t bait, maybe they just didn’t consider me a threat given my positive sec status. Either way, given my lack of targets in the 50 or so jumps I’d made over the past few days, I figured why not.

“Suprisingly, when I’d warped back to the belt, I’d hit it just perfect. It easily put me well within scram and blaster range. Unleashing the drones, I set to work on the first Punisher…

*Long pause*

“Something felt…. odd…. about the whole occurrence but my focus was on killing em quickly and getting the hell out. I knew without question that whatever didn’t get destroyed when they went down would be worthless to me, so I wasn’t concerned about hanging out too long. I was there for blood and blood alone.

“The first ship went down quite fast and I quickly turned my attention to the second. It too went down rather fast. And that’s when I made my very critical mistake….

“Still basking in my revelry over having down my first two ships solo, I hadn’t even noticed the Vexor class cruiser, flown by Zeasier of The Bastards pirate corp, warp in. Didn’t even notice him closing on me. I was so lost in my excitement, I failed to realize I was still being targeted and even worse, failed to realize I was taking damage. So that was stupidity number one…

“By the time it did dawn on me, the Vexor was well within range, his drones already ripping away at my armor. Here was where I made mistake number two…

“I was scrammed of course. And of course there was no way I was going to get enough distance to escape it before my ship collapsed under the combined fire of his turrets and drones. But stupid me continued in my attempt to flee when instead I should have turned and engaged. A Vexor is a deadly foe against any frigate, even an Ishkur like the one I flew, but not impossible. If I had turned to engage, I might have won. I’m not experienced enough in one on one combat to say with absolute surety, but I believe I could have. I’d barely taken any damage from the two frigs and had nearly 2 full fleets of T2 hobgoblins and T2 warrior drones still at my disposal. As it was though, I’d panicked. I’d made a horrible decision of recalling the drones and attempting to burn away in order to leave…. And as a result, I lost the ship….

“Do I feel bad about it? Frankly, no. I don’t.

“After doing a bit of research, I’m pretty confident in my belief that at least one of those Punishers was bait for the Vexor. I can’t say that for sure, but gut feeling, and a few clues, points in that direction. Is that an excuse for losing the ship? No. I should not have lost the Ishkur. Complete lack of combat experience is what cost me the ship. I certainly have a good skill set imprinted in my brain to pilot the assault frigate well. Sure, there’s always more training that will make me even better but as I stand now, skill wise, I’m a very competent pilot. Where I lack is in experience, in my actual combat experience.

“If I’d been paying more attention. If I’d not got so caught up in the moment of having made my first solo kills. If I’d turned to fight instead of turning to run…. Lots of ‘ifs’. Point is, I’d let my excitement get the better of me and having lost my cool, I’d made irrational, and slow decisions.

“But again, do I feel bad about it? Still the answer is no.

“I learned a number of lessons with this engagement. All of which I know will help me grow. I made mistakes that next time I swear will not happen again. But of course….I’m sure I’ll be awakened to even more lessons in the future.

"Either way, as they say in the local comms chatter…. ‘GF’ and ‘fly sa…. Wait…..never mind that crap…..

“YARR!!!!”