So, I am in this MMO game Eve online, all spaceships and a future vision ala Alastair Reynolds or Peter F. Hamilton.
Yes, I have got a wonky eye.
I fly around in variety of spaceships, kitting out my craft with a creative selection of weapons, killing anything from NPC pirates to honest-to-God real live players. Anyway, it’s been a few months, and I have the gist of the game, I am progressing well, so the next step is to join a corporation, which is a loosely affiliated bunch of people with similar goals in the game, be it mining, manufacturing, salvage or player versus player killing… you share equipment, a base station, sometimes go on missions with live voice using ventrilo or teamspeak VOIP servers, it’s about belonging really.
I found my way into a corp by bumping into a lone pilot somewhere in deep space. His bio showed a corp membership for over 3 years which is a rarity with 10-a-penny corps springing up and burning out in mere weeks. I commented on it and began a conversation, and he seemed a well rounded and long term player, so I asked if I could join his corp. He approved my application and I had found a new home! A few days later, and I’ve been acquainting myself with my new corp on the chat channels. They are a nice bunch, all very well established, there aren’t many conversations where I don’t have to ask about an acronym being bandied about.
One evening, I’m cruising low sec space (low security, where pirates dwell, an area of general lawlessness) on a mission - couriering some tourists actually, and as I’m leaving the station I dropped them off at.. BLAM! My ship is rocked by a heavy hit, and BLAM! another! The control panel is flashing red, my shields and armour have been destroyed… one more hit and my ship is space dust, leaving me floating as vunlnerable as a delicate hors d’oeuvre in my escape pod. A tasty snack for a passing pirate. I fumble for the controls to get to warp speed before the last hit strikes. Seconds count, and it seems a lifetime for the ship to spin up to speed and confirm “warping”, but I make it! I check the local channel (think CB radio) to see who is in my system, and I see my agressor pipe up.
\[names have been changed to protect the innocent and downright evil\]ppq123 > damn lol
Slaem Kona > blimey
ppq123 > i love ur picture
Slaem Kona > I wouldn’t be so pretty if you’d finished what you started! :P]
ppq123 > lol
So I am out of immediate danger, the adrenaline rush is cooling and I check in with my corp mates
OE > So how are you doing Slaem?
Slaem Kona > hey OE
OE > How are you?
Slaem Kona > just ran away from a battleship who took all my shields and armour in two shots
Slaem Kona > haha!
OE > Wow, a prat or NPC?
\[prat is a pirate of the player kind\]LC > ?
Slaem Kona > prat
OE > Where at?
LC > where?
XB > where at?
Slaem Kona > placid somewhere
XB > system name pls
Slaem Kona > near avaux
LC > we’re ready to hunt prats :)
Screenshot: That red bar on the top right is
the evil pirate on my tail
And from that moment, the cavalry came to my rescue, all piling in to get the pirate, in some serious heavy duty ships. I was instructed to hang around as bait, and then they taunted the pirate into engaging… only to relieve him of his Tempest battleship (a very expensive vessel), his escape pod and his life! Yay!