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

Dungeoncrawler · Post by **Dungeoncrawler** » Mon, 19. Jan 09, 04:16

Nice to see you back in action captain-sir! Nice shot of the Beluga missile...your a photographer as well

.

Dc

FourFingers · Post by **FourFingers** » Mon, 19. Jan 09, 09:06

good going!

surviving through those sectors is a hair raising experience.

shooting up paranid and split transports can net you 25MW shields if your lucky along with some upgrades. It becomes a whole new universe when your packing over 75MW of shielding

and a few missiles.

Good luck mate.

fours

Al · Post by Al » Mon, 19. Jan 09, 11:06

Yay another good story. Lets hope he has the same luck as ol' Squiddy so it turns into an epic

TBV · Post by **TBV** » Mon, 19. Jan 09, 19:05

It's nice to see you've started another story. I loved the last one, and as an added bonus, I chose to restart as Unholy Traitor about 10 days ago.

I must say though, I got a lot luckier than you with the starting sector. I didn't have to contend with anything bigger than Police, Customs and Bounty-Hunter fighters.

The gifted writer wrote:With no combat computer my turrets are inactive

Not entirely true, you have "Attack-my-Target", which for me was something of a mixed blessing.

I chose to put the PACs in the turrets and remove 2 of the PBEs from the main guns, to avoid burning energy too fast. I also re-mapped "Target-Nearest-Enemy" to the space-bar so that I could get a lock on the missiles quickly.
This worked brilliantly to get me clear of Tkr's Deprivation. I thought I was sorted. Nothing but a limping M4 bounty hunter that was never going to catch me, and a nice safe Pirate Base in neighbouring Ghinn's Escape for me to dock at.
However, and I'm still kicking myself for this, upon entering Ghinn's I hit the space-bar, to see if there's anything dangerous nearby, target a conveniently waiting Pirate Energy-Transporter and you've guessed it, the turrets open up and I get the dreaded warning about all Pirates will hunt me down or somesuch.

Great! no docking at the Pirate-Base, no PBG's and to cap it off the Pirates have now joined the long queue of people who want me dead.
Oh well, live and learn.

NUKLEAR-SLUG · Post by **NUKLEAR-SLUG** » Mon, 19. Jan 09, 20:44

Ravenholme wrote:N_S, did you happen to watch the series Burn Notice? I thought you might have from your opening chapter, as it's a lot like some of Michael Westen's speeches about being burned.

Nope, saw some ads tho.

TBV wrote:Great! no docking at the Pirate-Base, no PBG's and to cap it off the Pirates have now joined the long queue of people who want me dead.
Oh well, live and learn.

Such is life.

04 - Unexpected Guests

Safely the other side of the gate in Thuruks Beard I park up near the gate nacelle to avoid being run over and see what's what. Thuruks beard is only a border sector so consequently any security forces I may have to contend with should be substantially less of a problem, tho in my current situation even a single M5 poses a threat. Gravidar shows nothing in duplex range but a Teladi food transporter, but Thuruks Beard is a large sector so there could easily be patrols out there just out of sight.

I have to choose now whether to make a run across the sector and out into the pirate sectors where I can hole up and decide what I'm doing next or seek sanctuary in Teladi space. Currently tho this ship isn't equipped to get into a fight and there's no guarantees that the pirates are going to welcome me just because the Paranid and Split want me dead so pirate space is probably not a good choice, at least until I can get some upgrades. Fortunately Company Pride is just thru the west gate and while I dare not risk trading on the open market there is a Pirate base operating in that sector with the tacit approval of the Teladi. Typical Teladi, so long as nothing affects their profits they've little concern who they deal with.

I've just settled on Company Pride as my destination and am about to engage engines when my proximity alert squeals a warning and five or six light fighters go blazing past me out of the jumpgate. Bounty Hunters! It appears I'm less popular than I'ld originally thought. Not content with designating me KOS someone has gone to the trouble of hiring these guys to ensure it happens. They're tagged as Paranid so that would suggest Paranid backing but I wouldn't put it past my own government to have hired them. The source of my troubles is not currently a major concern, dealing with them is. I have a wing of six mixed M4/M5 here and every one of them faster than I am. No chance of outrunning this lot so it appears that I'm going to have to fight my way out of this one. Fortunately I'm hugging the gate superstructure which severely limits their ability to make attack runs.

The good thing about PBE is they're a practically instant-hit weapon like the Khaak Kyons. Nowhere near the range of a Kyon unfortunately and they do tend to consume a worrying amount of power, but a PBE makes for an exceptionally efficient shield-stripping weapon, and I've got six of them up front. Sadly with no combat computer to provide targetting prediction I'm going to have to shoot point blank, although given the sub-1km range of the PBE that's not actually quite the disadvantage it sounds. Looping around the gate ring I wait for the bounty-hunters to get too close and then pop out and hose them with PBE fire. It doesn't all hit home as a moving M5 is a difficult target at the best of times but the amount of damage I'm putting out I don't need to connect for long.

With the last of the M4s dispatched without damage I set about collecting up the e-cells left behind, well you never know. Job done and course set for Company Pride I'm less than 2km from the gate before the proximity warning kicks off again and spinning around there's another wing of bounty-hunters after me. These guys are persistent! Unfortunately they've caught me a little out in the open this time and despite dodging most of their fire even a little IRE fire will wear down a 5Mj shield and I take a couple points of hull damage as I make a break for the safety of the gate. Back under cover and with my shields recharged I repeat my ambushing tactics until there's just the two M4 left. This time tho I hammer them until they're down to the last scraps of hull and then leave them. I don't necessarily have to kill them, if they can't catch me that's good enough for my requirements.

With the two smoking M4's trying their best to catch me with half my speed I turn for the west gate and make for Teladi space with frag bombs exploding all around me.

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ut/tb1.jpg

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

Credits: 22,609

Ormac · Post by **Ormac** » Mon, 19. Jan 09, 22:31

Oh Your as deadly and devious as a Squid.

Look forward to the rest of the story.

Alec_trev · Post by **Alec_trev** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 02:25

Creston wrote:
Fragile Ego wrote: (To add injury to insult, Egosoft calls it "pretty hard" or something to that effect. )
thats all because of what sector it lands you in, and how inclined you are to run...i personally fly straight up the Y-axis for a good 50k before anyone notices me.

can't wait to see how this story plays out now ur reasonably safe!

insolent1 · Post by **insolent1** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 02:27

Good thing FBL is useless otherwise you would be a splattered split. Good luck anyhowz

masterthis · Post by **masterthis** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 03:05

Nuklear, you do know you can man the turret yourself while the ship heads toward the gate, right?

A_Sebastian · Post by **A_Sebastian** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 03:42

NUKLEAR-SLUG wrote:
With the two smoking M4's trying their best to catch me with half my speed I turn for the west gate and make for Teladi space with frag bombs exploding all around me.

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.

Not absolutely certain if this is hardcoded or if I got lucky, but it has been an experience of mine.

Beyond that...

I followed your enitre McSquid thread and throughly enjoyed it. I did several "spit takes" while reading it. If not for the humor you yourself added, but also for the endless commentary regarding your adventures really helped to bring it even more to life. Thanks again, and here's hoping your newest character enjoys a long and fruitful career.

Creston · Post by **Creston** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 04:34

Alec_Trev wrote:
Creston wrote: (To add injury to insult, Egosoft calls it "pretty hard" or something to that effect. )
thats all because of what sector it lands you in, and how inclined you are to run...i personally fly straight up the Y-axis for a good 50k before anyone notices me.

can't wait to see how this story plays out now ur reasonably safe!

I tried that once, and it keeps you safe from the normal forces in the sector, but at some point you're going to have to get through that gate, and the game simply spawns bounty hunters when you get within 10km of it. (or, apparently in some people's cases, when you're 10km out of it. For me they always show up beforehand. Also, in Squiddy's case the Split Dragon completely ignores him, when I ran into that thing it came right after me with its damned PBGs.... Good luck fighting a Dragon with 5MJ of shields and PBEs

)

Smart tactic though, Slug, hiding near the gate superstructure. Again something I never thought of!

Creston

RJV · Post by **RJV** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 10:26

Creston wrote:... Also, in Squiddy's case the Split Dragon completely ignores him, when I ran into that thing it came right after me with its damned PBGs.... Good luck fighting a Dragon with 5MJ of shields and PBEs )
...

I hear you. Tried this start again last night. Dodged my way to the south gate, having to take on only a couple of police. Survived but with a bit of hull damage. Then in pops the Dragon through the gate, faster than me, and while twisting and dodging laser fire took a Hornet where it hurts and that was that.

Cheers,

Rob.

3D_Master · Post by **3D_Master** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 12:07

masterthis wrote:Nuklear, you do know you can man the turret yourself while the ship heads toward the gate, right?

Last time he tried something like this, he flew his HCP straight into an asteroid

lastebil · Post by **lastebil** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 17:07

Btw mr. Slug, you can now barter at any base.

Creston · Post by **Creston** » Tue, 20. Jan 09, 17:40

3D_Master wrote:
masterthis wrote:Nuklear, you do know you can man the turret yourself while the ship heads toward the gate, right?
Last time he tried something like this, he flew his HCP straight into an asteroid

Good times!

Creston

TBV · 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]

NUKLEAR-SLUG · 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 · 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 · 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.

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

No posts in nearly 24 hours?

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

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