It's a trap! It's a trap! Yes, we know. Let's go in!

"It's probably a trap but let's go in and spring it. I want to kill something more."

I looked up at RedBad, his killboard was heaving with kills this morning. It was obvious he wanted more. "Sounds fun but any idea what they'll be bringing?"

Redbad shook his head and grinned. "Best way to find out is to go and see." Pirates. I love them and Redbad is one of the better ones that I know. He is with Tempered Steel Legion and despite the ups and downs between all the pirate organisations in Gusandall, Redbad and I have kept in touch throughout this period. He frequents the Independence bar and likes to drink a 'Jovian Headache' - a concoction of his own that appears to includes quafe, milk and rocket-fuel. It is foul but seems to power up Redbad to no end.

The docking booms retracted as our ships moved out of the station. Intelligence had informed us of a single myrmidon on Katugumur. The pilot was not immediately familiar to me but we had tangled with his alliance before. Jumping through into Katugumur, Redbad and I were distracted as WayCharles (another TSL pilot) called out to us:

"OriasV is aggressed and hitting me outside Kat station."

"He'll probably dock but worth a try for giggles eh Flash?" Redbad's maelstrom was already aligning towards the station.

"What the hell, why not?" Mentally, I wandered how quickly we could get OriasV down to hull before he managed to dock up. A quick scan revealed that our lone myrmidon was still in space, towards the V cluster. He will wait. No one else was visible though there was a second pilot from the same alliance in the local communication channel. No doubt cloaked.

"Fire in the hole!" Yelled Redbad as his maelstrom unleashed a mighty strike towards OriasV's drake. The drake was rocked back, it's shields shimmering.

"He's de-aggressed already," said WayCharles.

"Then we better hurry," replied Redbad, his ship pausing to reload ammunition.

"Flashfresh engaging." My auto canons spun up and emp ammunitions screamed out towards the Drake. His shields were gone. Then the drake docked.

"Damn."

"Another second and we would have had him." Complained WayCharles. Redbad was already aligning his maelstrom towards the V cluster.

"Myrmidon is still here. Let's go." His maelstrom's engines flared up and then he was gone. I quickly aligned my hurricane, the frame groaning as it fought against the artificial gravity well of the station.

"Flashfresh en route."

"Hurry, myrmidon is still there. I need you to tackle Flash. Redbad engaging."

"Incoming in three seconds." My webber and disruptor snapped on and sank their teeth into the lonely myrmidon. "Flashfresh engaging. Myrmidon pointed and webbed."

"Roger. Let's see if this is a trap." Surely it was and within seconds, my overview had a second flashing target.

"Red, arazu 14km. This myrmidon is tanked. Will take a while to break it. Arazu is primary."

WayCharles having docked up and changed ships joined. "WayCharles incoming in manticore. Will engage Arazu." Was half-hoping to see Way in his scorpion-class battleship but a manticore will do.

I sent my ecm drones towards the Arazu as the myrmidon was relying on it's drones for attack. Redbad was holding steady and the arazu was quickly destroyed.

"Local just jumped. We have incoming." Intelligence reports from a previous engagement was a bit sketchy but we were expecting these guys to be bringing some more dps. Then there were three flashes close to the myrmidon and we were facing an armageddon-class battleship, a munnin-class HAC and a deimos-class HAC. The fight had turned and their trap was sprung. We had a maelstrom, a manticore and a hurricane facing this group. There was also an ares-interceptor with us (piloted by Serenator) but in terms of DPS it wasn't enough. We weren't expecting any more help either. My gui flashed red as I was being warp scrambled. I maintained fire on the myrmidon but it's shields would not shift. I could not shield repair Redbad either as I had foolishly moved to far away from his maelstrom, chasing the myrmidon too far into the belt.

"Redbad to all ships: Break. Break. Break."

The order to disengage rang through our fleet channel, decision made WayCharles whipped his manticore out, while the ares hit it's micro warp drive. I was warp scrambled but turned on the micro warp drive and powered my way out of warp disruptor range.

Redbad stayed behind covering the retreat, trading fearsome broadsides with the armageddon, the deimos and the munnin. The maelstrom, as a solo ships is deadly but it still needs some support and we didn't have enough.

Should we have stayed and tried to fight our way out? Sometimes, split decisions are made and need to be acted upon immediately and in hindsight, if we had time - we could have chosen differently. I was too far from the main part of the fight due to the pursuit of the myrmidon but the deimos should have been made primary after the arazu was knocked out.

Redbad was brave and stayed put until his maelstorm was shot to pieces underneath him. He saved his pod.

Concord killmail:

2008.03.06 23:37

Victim: Redbad
Alliance: None
Corp: Tempered Steel Legion
Destroyed: Maelstrom
System: Katugumur
Security: 0.2
Damage Taken: 59027

Involved parties:

Name: Eos Vagaldi
Security: -1.4
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Pandora Requiem
Ship: Deimos
Weapon: Deimos
Damage Done: 20286

Name: Tonkaar
Security: 4.4
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Smoke and Fly Academy
Ship: Armageddon
Weapon: Armageddon
Damage Done: 17667

Name: Al KholiK
Security: 4.6
Alliance: None
Corp: Confrerie des ombres
Ship: Myrmidon
Weapon: Valkyrie II
Damage Done: 12072

Name: Minok F (laid the final blow)
Security: 0.8
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Pandora Requiem
Ship: Muninn
Weapon: 720mm Howitzer Artillery II
Damage Done: 7454

Name: Ra Khaii
Security: 1.5
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Pandora Requiem
Ship: Unknown
Weapon: Hammerhead II
Damage Done: 1548


Destroyed items:

Republic Fleet EMP L, Qty: 98
Cap Booster 800
Cap Booster 800
Dual 650mm 'Scout' Repeating Artillery I
Dual 650mm 'Scout' Repeating Artillery I
Dual 650mm 'Scout' Repeating Artillery I
Dual 650mm 'Scout' Repeating Artillery I
Dual 650mm 'Scout' Repeating Artillery I
Dual 650mm 'Scout' Repeating Artillery I
Invulnerability Field II
X-Large Shield Booster II
Gyrostabilizer II
Power Diagnostic System II
Cap Booster 800, Qty: 11 (Cargo)
Core Defence Capacitor Safeguard I
Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Core Defence Field Extender I
Warrior I, Qty: 4 (Drone Bay)
Vespa I, Qty: 3 (Drone Bay)
Warrior II (Drone Bay)

Dropped items:

Republic Fleet EMP L, Qty: 290
Dual 650mm 'Scout' Repeating Artillery I
Dual 650mm 'Scout' Repeating Artillery I
Heavy Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I
Additional Thermal Barrier Emitter I
Shield Boost Amplifier I
Invulnerability Field II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Damage Control II
Republic Fleet EMP L, Qty: 1336 (Cargo)
Hammerhead I (Drone Bay)
Vespa I (Drone Bay)