PVP: Meeting a Tusker

So last night I log in and hang around in the dead end system I call home at the moment. It has a 2/10 complex so there is usually always someone in local that might be a target. After a while I notice local spiking by 1 and there is a new “target” in local. This one was a Tusker by the name of Maksim Cammeren. Now I’ve never met a Tusker in combat before, yes I’ve read the blogs and know a few players who are members but one thing I know for sure is that if there’s a Tusker in local they are looking for a fight.

I warp to the sun to see if I can find my new friend. I’m flying a Wolf assault ship something that my skills make for a good tank with plenty of gank. D-scan reveals that my target in is a Harpy and quick ship info check shows me that the best ammo is Explosive types.. damn I only have Barrage and Plasma..

My friend warps to the Sun just as I warp off to a belt, I quickly turn around and head back to the sun and although he’s not there I’m sure he will return.. Minutes later he appears and makes his way towards me I let me lock me up and get closer before returning the lock and starting my orbit. I’m preloaded with Barrage so I set my orbit slightly wider than normal and the fight is on, my shields disappear with a couple of salvos from his blasters and I start my armor repairer I already know at this point I’m going to lose the damage I’m inflicting is not making a big enough dent on his shields. Sure enough moments later my Wolf goes pop.

“GF’s” are exchanged and I get my pod out and head of to the Rebels base to reship. I decide to try an Enyo and configure it for lots of tank. I then notice that my friend is in local and I head out to see if I can find him. Again we dance around the sun and the fight starts again, this time he sets a wider orbit and due to the bonuses with range the Harpy gets I’m hardly hitting him at all. In the end we both burn out our guns and we warp off.

Back I base I reship to a Jaguar, it’s a ship I’ve never flown before but I need to get use to shield tanked ships. At this point I start a convo with Maksim and ask him about his fit (this is where I learn about the range bonus on a Harpy). Maksim is still new to the Tuskers but it seems he will make a good pirate (when I first encountered him his sec status was 2.2 by the end of the evening it was 0.3)..

I head back to my dead end system and test my Jag fit out against some of the local belt rats, a short time later Maskim appears again in local and it’s time for a rematch. This time I have RF Fusion ammo with me so I preload it and warp to the sun, not much later the Harpy reappears and we make our way towards each other. This time the fight is much closer, my Jag gets webbed but due to it’s faster overall speed I maintain some speed to try and keep the damage down and this time my Jag is fitted with a tracking disruptor (my skills suck for those at the moment). We both chew through each others shields and it’s a race to finish, I overheat my guns for the last few seconds of the fight (I started with them overheated but switched them off so I didn’t burn them out). The Harpy explodeswith my Jag at 50% structure, I catch the pod (something I’m not bad at) and although I could easily pod my opponent I let the pod go and we head off in different directions.

I could have podded him, and to be honest I would have podded him if it wasn’t for the fact that I enjoyed the fights and he was a good opponent, he never backed down from the fight and although he’s still new to the Tuskers I’m sure he will be a great pirate. Maksim Cammeren I salute you..

Durz