Poetic Justice

4th Jan YC117

Last sunday I celebrated my 27th birthday. Normally, I don't do anything aside from enjoy a good drinking session, but this year I decided to try something new.

Booking a week out from the wormhole for a combination of sight seeing and profitable combat with pirates, I hired what has turned out to be an exquisitely designed room at the Elysion. Not content with merely taking a week off from my normal duties, I managed to strong arm some of the lads in 13. to join me in a bit of poetic justice. Battle Barges.

A graduate of the School of Applied Knowledge with a major in practical astrogeology (Mining for non-industrial minded capsuleers) I am quite proficient at piloting Ore vessels. Of course, having joined a small hisec based mercenary corporation early in to my capsuleer life,  I quickly trained into combat orientated vessels. Rusty doesn't even describe my abilities with a mining laser these days. With that in mind, I decided to break the mold a little. Could a mining barge be made to be something feared?

Following a recent improvement to the defensive systems by ORE, the procuror seemed to be my answer. With a little discussion between myself and my engineers, we settled on the idea of a highly resistant 'bait' ship, coupled by a modest remote shield transfer capability. Alone, it wasn't much of a threat, but in a small pack it could stand a chance. With the redesigned fittings in hand, I approached a number of capsuleers in 13. who fitted up and tagged along. On his insistance however, our CEO Jay brough along a Redeemer class Battleship for extra firepower. Just in case.

With the bait prepared, we needed a target, ideally small time pirates who wouldn't think twice about dropping on a small group of 'hapless' miners. After a short time roaming around various lowsec pockets, we got a catch. Noting combat probes on our ship scanners, our small fleet of barges awaited what would come. To our suprise, a lone Vexor Navy Issue cruiser landed right on top of us. Hook, Line and Sinker.

Not content with just the one punished miscreant, we went hunting further afield. Once again, it didn't take long for our particular brand of fleet to get noticed. Sitting in a mining belt, we were visited by a Hurrican. At some considerable range, we wondered if he would move in. 50km, 40km, 30km, he was indeed burning in despite the fact we weren't firing any mining lasers. Most fortunate none of the Hurrican pilot's crew were looking out of the windows, that or he just didn't see an obvious trap for what it was. Once engaged, it swiftly became clear why he felt so reckles. He had friends, and plenty of them. With a Caracal landing on grid, followed by a Proteus strategic Cruiser, we quickly finished off the battlecruiser that started this engagement. With battleship signatures on scan and a logistics cruiser on field, we knew time was running out and Jay extracted his Redeemer. Priming the Caracal with our drones, we managed to wear him down before extracting. All in all, not bad for a group of toothless miners. All in all, even with some ship losses on our side while attempting to extract, it was a successful event. Isk can't buy you a present quite like embarrasing pirate capsuleers with ships that shouldn't 'win'.