Wensley - Rifter Drifter author and pirate extraordinaire (13th july 2009)
I logged on for some space adventure but ended up being a docked for about 2 hours, unable to leave due to mixed war target and star-fraction fleets camping the station I was docked in.
Having added Wensley the pirate to my address book the previous week and spotting him online I hesitated for a moment but then convo’d him, uncertain if he would be as welcoming and friendly as the hellcat had been last week, nervously clicked through and almost instantly the convo screen came up; ‘hi’. I complemented him on his blogs briefly but didn’t waste his time longer than necessary and requested the duel I wanted.
Wensley explained he has had a slow day and fancied a break and agreed to meet me for a 1vs 1 fight. He had no ships in the area and was not keen on spending large amounts of isk for a Battle Cruiser duel I requested, because of my late good fortune I had no second thought about buying him a ship knowing full well that that very ship would be likely be my own death.
After making his way to Kamela he fitted his Hurricane as best he could with the modules available in the system and spend a mere 50 mil which I gladly transferred to him.
I made my way back with one of the Drake Battle Cruisers I have parked in the local vicinity and set off to meet him. On route (slightly worried about war targets killing me on the way) the rules were briefly discussed; no warping off, no pod-killing. No problem.
Wensley was parked at his safe spot and fleeted me, on arrival in system I initiated warp to him at 20 k… ready steady … As soon as the warp bubble collapsed around me I started targeting his ship (noticing my overview was not setup right and had to find him in space) and let rip, my T2 short-range-high-damage-missiles pounding into his shields not long after. Ok; set orbit at 20 and release drones… his shields melted quicker than expected and he hadn’t got close to his optimal yet. Wensley mentioned in the fleet-channel he should have fitted a microwarpdrive instead of afterburner, kicking himself… I tried to keep him at some distance but this barn door did not have any propulsion assist at all, as I went for full shield setup only. His T1 ammo tickled my shields just a little while his shield had now vanished. I started to feel some comfort in that and had some hope that I may even win this fight when;…crap, ECM-drones? I did think of them myself but didn’t bring them in the end…o man, half shields, still 10 seconds for this ECM disruption to end…ok ok, stay calm it’ll be ok, relock, fire, check drones, ok its back on. His armour now half gone, my shield about a quarter of their initial strength and his drones get another lock wiping out my targeting system…’o dear’… I spill into fleet chat, ‘I thought I was winning this’... my shield now exhausted I wont stand a chance surely... 10 seconds later; re-lock, fire, check drones, trying desperately to get some distance between us but his speed is much higher and I have no chance of getting away...my armour half gone but Wensley is now deep in hull and requests a rematch before the fight was even over. I think about it for a split second but decline, ‘I’d rather have the Wensley mail’ I say, feeling like an asshole when I read it back... his hull collapses on itself in a rather small inverted explosion... I can’t believe I won!
I quickly check the kill-mail and my heart sinks a little, for he clearly didn’t fit what he is able to fit and I have been handed this victory on a silver platter…
I presumed he insured the ship and clearly hasn’t lost any isk, as the ship had been paid for by me… and before I can ask he offers to fight again in Cruiser Class hulls, I immediately accept, park up the Drake (in haste leaving my drones behind) and pod my way home to pick up a Caracal. On route I remember my encounter with Shae Tian and how I lost that fight with a similar setup, I consider changing to a passive tank but my impatience got the better of me and I fly straight back in an active-tanked caracal.
Again on arrival in system I warp straight to him at 20k and as the warp bubble slowly fades I switch on the T2 invulnerability fields, shield hardeners and damage control. As soon as my onboard targeting system lets me, I lock and commence fire, launch drones and orbit. His Rupture, fitted with a microwarpdrive, speeds towards me and opens fire, shields go down for both of us rather fast and I switch on the T2 shield booster. Knowing my capacitor will only hold for 1 minute 48 seconds I was hoping his armour would break quickly. My shields start to regenerate slowly as his armour slowly dissolves. ‘Lock drones! lock’ he angrily mutters in our fleet-channel, me finding some confidence in his frustration... then as my shield finally give way and don’t recharge as quick as he takes them away from me his ECM-drones finally get a lock on me... ‘he is already in hull, come on!’ I tell myself… but I do no damage for twenty seconds and receive several well placed bursts from his Republic Fleet EMP ammo loaded autocannons pulling me deep into my structure, ‘o crap this is over’ I say over the communications channel… As my lock resolves and my launchers have just reactivated... he lets me know with some frustration he has run out of ammo... BOOM! His hull buckles and shrieks as it gets torn apart in a bright, swift flash of light, leaving little but debris. I quickly check my hull, 16% left. Close, very close.
He offers kindly to trade me back the gear he bought with my isk but I offer for him to keep it, as a ‘thank you’ for making my day and slip him an extra 10 million for his time.
I still have mixed emotions about the 2 fights, I think I may still have won the first even if he would have fitted a microwarpdrive and T2 guns, however the second I would have lost big time if he would have had a little more ammo and T2 guns. Maybe we can do this again some day. ..
Later that day I was camping a gate in a Manticore Stealth Bomber and Wensley jumped through! He uncloaked one of his famous Rifter Frigates and paused for a good few seconds…I considered uncloaking and taking a shot but knew, Wensley in one of his 50 Rifters, would certainly rip me apart. Before I could make the decision myself, Wensley warped to his next gate of destination. Half kicking myself for not trying just for a laugh, half glad as the outcome would have been in his favour. I should just take the two Wensley kill-mails and be satisfied….
Related links/posts;
(I havent figured HTML out yet)
Wensleys version of events; http://www.rifterdrifter.com/2009/07/day-one-in-the-project-rifter-house/
Tusker Kill board #1; http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=3733432
Tusker Kill board #2; http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=3733434
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