Zen and the Art of Running away.. {spoilers guaranteed}

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TBV
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Post by TBV » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 18:01

A_Sebastian wrote:Actually this tactic was a great idea. I don't know how long they will remain chasing you, but as long as they are, another Bounty Hunter pack won't spawn.
I was bitten by this one as well. Safe in the knowledge that the wounded M4
would never catch up with me, I started to take it for granted.

A while later I had to fly through X347, an absolute breeze compared with some of the Split sectors, and promptly got jumped by a large group of Bounty-Hunters when I emerged in Scale Plate Green. Really took me by surprise and I only made it by the skin of my teeth.

Of course it occurred to me later that yes, an M4 with 3% hull and a maximum speed of 24m/s was going to find it hard getting through that Xenon sector!

They wont catch me napping again. [kicks self hard for about the 20th time in this game-start] :evil:

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NUKLEAR-SLUG
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Post by NUKLEAR-SLUG » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 22:47

masterthis wrote:Nuklear, you do know you can man the turret yourself while the ship heads toward the gate, right?
I could, but my record when not watching where I'm going has a few blemishes..



05 - Sanctuary

15km out from the gate and yet more trouble crops up. Turns out I was right to be cautious and there was indeed a sector-patrol just out of gravidar range. A three-ship wing of Scorpion M4's. Currently they seem to be just going about their business and I'm hoping they'll carry on that way so I keep a careful eye on what they're up to but it's not to be and it soon becomes apparent they're drifting my direction.

The Scorpion is quite an effective little M4 and I'm not about to try and take on three at once at present. I'm far too far away from the west gate to consider trying for it, especially since they're twice as fast as me, so before I get any deeper in-sector and get caught out in the open I turn back and make for the north gate. The moment I do they make a sharp course adjustment and start accelerating towards so it seems they were on to me.

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut/tb2.gif

Dodging the two bounty-hunter M4's on the way back and enduring another hail of frag-bombs I make it back to the gate with a couple km to spare on the Scorpion wing and loop around to engage. Being a little larger than an M5 and consequently slower they're much easier to ambush and destroy and with that done that probably accounts for most of the sector patrols for a border sector so a quick dodge of the bounty-hunters and avoiding yet another hail of frag-bombs and I'm heading for the west gate once more. This time tho, just for safety, I take a fairly wide loop around the edge of the sector to avoid any other patrols that may be out there. Managing to reach the west gate without further incident I pass thru into Company Pride and make for the pirate base at the north end of the sector and sanctuary.

Docked at the pirate base I'm safe for the time being and can conduct some repairs. Damage is very light, just a few dings here and there, so not a huge concern. Unfortunately my funds are currently limited to what I could grab when making good my escape and pirates aren't particularly known for extending credit, less so pirates in Teladi space I'ld imagine, which means I need to use what I've got wisely. Getting my combat computer functional is a primary concern. While it's better to avoid a fight others may not share that view and if I have to fight I'ld appreciate being able to hit what I aim at. After that, speed is always a useful trait to have. Deciding on a Fight MK1 and maxing my speed out leaves me with a few thousand credits left so I go for a cargo life-support unit to round things out as that has application both legal and otherwise..

Exiting the base it seems that while I've been busy fixing my ship others have been busy picking fights..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut/cp1.jpg

.. That's not going to end well for somebody particularly as it appears the pirates are packing some fairly heavy firepower of their own..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut/cp2.gif

.. and it also appears my annoying little bounty-hunter shadow is slowly catching up too. Either way tho this can only benefit me so parking up nearby out of range of any stray fire I sit back and wait to see what happens..


Assets
1x Medusa Prototype 'Burn Notice'
1x 5Mj shield
6x PBE, 2x PAC

Credits: 546

shdwdrgn
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Post by shdwdrgn » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 23:04

I don't know how you do it. You have a knack for staying alive. i've tried this start multiple times and keep dying....

Arcturas
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Post by Arcturas » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 23:53

I'm actually on this start and I've managed to get myself quite a fleet of ships and some pretty good money. Character's name is D'ed Me't. :lol:
The Gobs of Bog will consume you all.

amtie
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Post by amtie » Wed, 21. Jan 09, 17:25

No posts in nearly 24 hours? :S

A_Sebastian
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Post by A_Sebastian » Wed, 21. Jan 09, 18:33

Being this is the "second" instalment of N-S's adventures, there seems to be a lot less commentary to keep the thread bumpin this time around. No worries though, N-S is good for regular updates. We just have to make sure he knows we're still interested!

Bring on more of the Mak!
Veni
Vidi
Vici

Durkan
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Post by Durkan » Wed, 21. Jan 09, 18:44

YAY

The title is a Robert Pirsig reference.
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Excellent book on Philosophy

Looking forward to another riveting thread

rnada
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Post by rnada » Wed, 21. Jan 09, 18:53

amtie wrote:No posts in nearly 24 hours? :S
Well, leave the man time to do the essentials of life:

playing X3 so he has something to tell a story about!

Anyway, I hope that he starts soon using missiles, i need more lessons on the argument...
--
"no sir, we cannot put the laser generator of that Eclipse into your Kestrel.
...
No, not even if we remove the toilet!"

Apollo303
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Post by Apollo303 » Wed, 21. Jan 09, 19:08

You go N-S, if your last thread was anything to go by then this is truly going to be a GREAT !! read :D
Who am i ? I am but the sum of my experiences....
And today i am more than i was yesterday and less than i will be tomorrow.

Imagination is a part of Reality we all agree on !!

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NUKLEAR-SLUG
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Post by NUKLEAR-SLUG » Wed, 21. Jan 09, 20:11

shdwdrgn wrote:I don't know how you do it. You have a knack for staying alive. i've tried this start multiple times and keep dying....
Luck mostly. Had that Dragon been a little quicker off the mark that could have been a problem.
rnada wrote:Anyway, I hope that he starts soon using missiles, i need more lessons on the argument...
I'm sure I will do, just a little preoccupied staying in one piece at the moment.



06 - Contacts

Don't mess with a Teladi Heavy Osprey seems to be the lesson of the day. Despite taking nearly 50% shield damage from the Laser towers the moment the Pirate Nemesis comes into range and starts landing shots on it the Osprey promptly turns its guns on the Nemesis and slags it in a few seconds. Ouch. Apparently satisified with its show of force and with the remaining mobile pirate units chased down and destroyed the Osprey heads off eastwards leaving me to sift thru the debris and see what I can scavenge up. Altogether not too bad a haul..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut/cp3.jpg

.. Some useful missiles there which gives me a much greater reach than I've currently got. A few less useful ones, but given that I can't sell them it seems I'm just going to have to find a use for them. Since I'm nearby I think it's time to pay a visit to Ceos Sprite in the next sector where I've a contact of old by the name of Gobanis Yahinussos Yahondras VI, (or 'Gob' as I always call her for reasons that should be fairly obvious). Gob runs one of the Orbital Weapons Platforms stationed in the sector but typical of most Teladi has her fingers in many things. In particular, and of interest to me, is her access to the shipyard there which may prove useful for my future plans. I've a business proposition for Gob and I'm fairly sure she'll go for it.

Gob isn't particularly pleased to see me (but then who is these days?) however, being a good Teladi, she's more than willing to pretend to in return for a good profit. Getting her to middleman for any ships I can offload to the shipyard allows her to cream off a profit for herself and anything I require repaired means she can gouge me on that transaction too which doubles her take. An offer garunteed to make any Teladi smile, not a particularly pleasant sight sadly but there you go. With business concluded and arrangements in place I stop by the Trading station where I'm able to offload some of the e-cells I picked up earlier on the black-market which nets me a few hundred credits. It's not much, but it's the best I can do at present. Job done I head north to see if I can pickup any deals there.

Noones interested in anything I've got at the Blue Profit trading station so I decide to try one more sector northwards before heading back to Company Pride. Heading north I pass by a Teladi M7 Shrike. Not a particularly impressive looking ship, it certainly can't match the sleek lines and fearsome appearance of a Split warship, but looks aren't everything as that pirate Nemesis discovered recently. Greater Profit turns out to provide no better trade opportunities than before, plenty of demand for space weed and other organics, but noones interested in some second-hand missiles. I'll have to come back when I've got more to offer. Meantime I think I'll return to Company Pride and maybe spend the few hundred credits I've made so far on some rudder tunings.

It occurs to me I haven't seen my bounty-hunter shadow for a while. I'm undecided if that's a good thing..


Assets
1x Medusa Prototype 'Burn Notice'
1x 5Mj shield
6x PBE, 2x PAC

Credits: 1,157

Creston
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Post by Creston » Thu, 22. Jan 09, 04:35

You truly have the Luck of the Irish. (And you're probably not even Irish...)

Whenever pirates and sector forces get into scrapes with me watching, at most the "loot" is like 2 mosquito missiles, or an IRE if I'm REALLLLLLLY lucky. I watched a pirate Destroyer take out a Cerberus, followed by a Colossus 5 minutes later, only to get ganked by a Titan itself, and the total loot was ~ 30K in missiles.

Meanwhile, you watch 2 corvettes slug it out and you get a cool mil in loot...

And you aren't even allowed to sell it.

*walks away grumbling to himself*

:D

Creston

Alec_trev
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Post by Alec_trev » Thu, 22. Jan 09, 09:30

A_Sebastian wrote:We just have to make sure he knows we're still interested!
hopefully the large number of views will do this

WarriorGuild
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Post by WarriorGuild » Thu, 22. Jan 09, 12:13

Hey N-S I am totally loving your stories. Motivated me to buy TC. Keep up the good work :)

insolent1
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Post by insolent1 » Thu, 22. Jan 09, 14:04

Nice bit of narrative N-S, the bounty hunters don't spawn in core sectors so if the wounded ones have been destroyed they won't respawn till you hit a border sector. Seizewell has a EQ dock if you are looking to sell that space swag.

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NUKLEAR-SLUG
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Post by NUKLEAR-SLUG » Thu, 22. Jan 09, 20:36

07 - Back on the run

Arriving back in Company Pride it appears my escape was not as conclusive as I'ld first hoped and those that give shelter to criminals are putting themselves in line for trouble. Normally the Teladi don't concern themselves with pirate activities provided the pirates don't interfere with Teladi trade but it appears the bigger picture of continued good trade relations with the Split and/or Paranid are of more concern to them today as subsequent to my seeking shelter there the Shrike I passed by a while ago has been given orders to terminate the Company Pride pirate base with prejudice..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut/07-1.jpg

.. which unfortunately leaves me with no base of operations and back on the run again. I always intended to hide out in the pirate sectors but I wasn't planning to have to make the move quite so quickly. As it is I'm going to have to make a break for it now. At least my combat capability is much improved. Sifting thru the debris of the pirate base I manage to pickup a few Spaceflies and some Sunflowers which survived the explosion and should net me a little cash at the next pirate base. What I really need is a freight-scanner so I can do some targetted attacks on Hi-tech traders with a view to acquiring some 25mJ shields but that's currently way out of my price range.

Still no sign of my shadow so for now I won't worry about it and make for Thuruks Beard and south to Hatikvahs Faith and pirate space. I pickup a Tiger battlegroup on the edge of my scanner as I'm halfway across Thuruks Beard but they seem fully occupied attmpting to chase down a small pirate patrol and are having a little trouble hitting the pirate Discoverer which suits me fine. Into Hatikvahs and heading west for Nopileos Memorial I'm passing plenty of Weapon dealers and Hi-tech traders but with no means to scan their cargo it would be a very much hit and miss affair just shooting randomly and hoping they drop what I need, and the possibility of bumping into a trader carrying 50 MKII drones is too great a risk to consider at present. Despite the pressing need to resolve my problems patience is required for now.

Approaching the west gate into Nopileos I notice lights blinking in the distance past the gate. Bringing up the vid-gogs it appears to be a Paranid trading port. A paranid trading port out here? Now that it is interesting and bears further investigation. Accelerating past the gate I head toward the station which shortly comes into scanner range and turns out to be a pirate Anarchy port, a more advanced and better equipped pirate base in essence. Unfortunately my rep within the pirate clans is insufficient to allow me docking rights and in fact there are a couple laser towers in the area which are flagging up as enemy on my IFF. There's also a pirate base next door which has a couple missions I could potentially do to curry some favour with the pirates, a taxi mission to Brennans Triumph pirate base which is a couple sectors over, and somebody wants someone else wasted and are willing to pay me a good price for doing it. However I'm not inclined to get involved in anyone elses arguments just yet but I could take that guy where he wants to go since I'm heading that way anyway.. were it not for those unfriendly laser towers which are altogether too close to the pirate base to make a landing safe. Sadly it seems despite my need for money I'm going to have to look elsewhere so I head back to the west gate and thru into Nopileos.

Arriving in Nopileos the first thing I see is a capital ship not far off busy firing at everything in sight. It's a pirate Galleon and it seems it's currently conducting operations in this sector. They don't seem to have a problem with me so I pull up a little ways away. With the pirates busily laying waste to the trade traffic passing thru the system this is an excellent opportunity for me to possibly salvage some useful equipment so I spend some time trailing behind them as they head west picking over what they leave in their wake. I'm a little over two-thirds across the sector when I notice something large coming thru the west gate. It's obviously an Argon military ship of some type but the distance and angle make it difficult to determine quite what it is even with the vid-gogs. I'm thinking it's a Cerberus tho. A short time later tho it becomes apparent..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut/07-2.jpg

.. and with both battlegroups closing steadily on each other it looks like a confrontation is imminent.


Assets
1x Medusa Prototype 'Burn Notice'
1x 5Mj shield
6x PBE, 2x PAC

Credits: 1,157

shdwdrgn
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Post by shdwdrgn » Thu, 22. Jan 09, 20:57

Gets more and more interesting by the day. Great Job N-S. Keep it up and stay alive!

insolent1
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Post by insolent1 » Thu, 22. Jan 09, 23:25

The Galleon should have that match sown up seems to have a good few of its fighters left aswell. I hope no XL loot drops, it would really be a pain not been able to pick it up....anywayz luck and pofitsss

severin
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Post by severin » Fri, 23. Jan 09, 00:24

WarriorGuild wrote:Hey N-S I am totally loving your stories. Motivated me to buy TC. Keep up the good work :)
Me too (loving the stories and motivated to buy).

Someone in the Squiddy thread suggested that that story should be stickied/used for advertising or marketing, and would probably result in 10,000 new sales. I don't know about that, but Egosoft can at least chalk up a second sale due to this forum and these superb stories. I just hope I have half of N-S's luck when TC arrives and I get it installed.

jimmynuts
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Post by jimmynuts » Fri, 23. Jan 09, 10:40

Good luck - hope no XL cargo gets dropped off after the battle...you could be a millionnaire in a instant if you could pick up PPC and IBLs...i would feel so sucky if i had to abandon the rich pickings

may the God the War always favour you

peace

Gaharay
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Post by Gaharay » Fri, 23. Jan 09, 11:52

blerh, cliffhangers!

great story yet again Squiddy McSlug!

keep it up!

got my fingers crossed this will turn out as long as ur previous story :)

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