With recent events on our minds, Viin and I were musing over our exploits, or lack of action, over some foul tasting drinks. He had complained that he wasn’t sure he wanted to keep hassling other people. We weren’t making much money from it, and people seemed to be a lot more cautious lately. Clearly, gone are the days of jumping into Eifer and having small squads chase you down and tear you up, and gone are the days of having foolish pilots stick their noses where it doesn’t belong, thus making them easy targets. Maybe we’re just getting old…
But we decided to go for one last crawl around Saidusairos and the surrounding systems. It seemed quiet everywhere we went, and Local Comms suggested our presence was making a few people nervous.
“Don’t go out yet. I’ve scanned down a Rifter and a Stabber. I’d say they’re flying together; it’s not worth the risk,” one pilot said. I smirked, wishing Viin could see my face.
“Are we going to try and track them down?” I asked him over voice comm, already thirsting. I kept an eye on Local, as they continued their wary conversation.
“Nah, not now. Who knows where they’re headed. At least we know they have something planned. Let them have their fun, we’ll catch up with them later,” he said, laughing a little at my enthusiasm. I knew he was right, but I was itching to play with them. We jumped to Gratesier, and Local Comms suggested the system was quiet, but not empty. Viin took on the duty of scanning, and over the next short while we found a Thorax and lost him again repeatedly. We tracked him down to a cluster of asteroid belts, and both took a belt each, warping in. The Thorax jumped in on top of Viin shortly after he arrived.
Viin locked him down in seconds and they tumbled around each other. I jumped in to back him up should he need it, but by the looks of things he wasn’t going to need my help. I didn’t want to sit back and watch the fireworks, so I locked and engaged. I didn’t regret it. Viin’s Stabber took some damage, but the Thorax was taking the full brunt of my Autocannons and Rockets, and Viin was ripping his hull to pieces. Each salvo brought him closer to the crucial point, and as his ship exploded before us I targeted his capsule. I wasn’t willing to let this one get away so easily. Viin had no real taste for popping the pod, but I scrambled him and took my first shot. Again that adrenaline rush kicked in like an unnatural drug, my heart pounding my head pulsing. This wasn’t fear, it was exhileration. This was the first time I’d chosen to kill a capsuleer. I knew he’d be somewhere across the universe, waking up in his new body, and felt no pity.
