Having recently killed a cruiser and a mining barge I’m skulking around the belts looking for someone to ransom. I keep looking, about to give up hope when I see a Brutix mining.

I quickly bookmark his can, and “show info” to see what I’m up against. As I’m doing so the drake is aligning to warp out so I don’t scare him off.

I sit at a nearby planet looking over the info I’ve just collected. He’s about 3 and a half months old, in a Brutix and in a corp. I’m tempted.

I jump back in to the bookmark right on top of his can, and jettison one of my own at the same time looking at his ship very carefully. It seems to be mostly mining lasers. Woooohoooo! Now I’m * really * tempted….. but I’m only 2 and a half weeks old.

Still, with a bit of previous experience under my belt I think I can just about manage. I steal his cargo and get into an optimal position. Nothing yet… wakey wakey… I lock him to get his attention – which it does!

I see him locking me and smile at the impending shot about to strike my shields, which it does a few seconds later. He’s already locked, so I engage the scrammer and the nos along with the 7 light missile slots. His shield creeps down * very * slowly which is a little of a concern. Then, he launches 5 hammerhead drones. Damn.. I hadn’t counted on that – or the fact he had a webber.

Not to worry, with a shield booster (albeit civilian) and an armour repper I know I should be ok. So I can’t move, he can’t warp. His drones peck at my shields, my missiles repeatedly slam into his ship and I start to wonder “have I taken on too much?”.

I decide to rattle his cage and start a convo “3 Million now and you can go”. A brief discussion ensues regarding the ore I’ve stolen and concord.

I look at my cap and a smile breaks from ear to ear.. it’s hardly touched, the nos topping it up nicely. I switch on the shield booster and sit back whilst his vanishes. Worried about backup, I align ready to warp out.

At 50% armour I tell him again “3 million – your time is running out quickly”. My shield is at about 35% – but I know this is the zone when they recharge the most quickly. I sit back and continue to enjoy the fireworks.

The light missiles make slow going of the rest of his armour, and I reload half, then the other half to keep a constant battering. He’s now into about 60% structure as I scream at him “3 MILLION – RIGHT NOW!!”. He offers 1 mil. I reject and continue to fire as my shield fails. I don’t even worry at this point, switching on the repper and knowing he’s too far gone to do anything.

Threats fly my way as his structure beings to burn. A promise to hunt me down, to which I reply “bring something bigger next time :p” only enraging him further. His last words before he pops “ok, destroy me then”.

I warp away, the ransom failed but the Brutix now nothing more than debris. Happy, relived that I’d pulled it off and shaking with adrenaline. I wait a few moments before I can jump, but remember I’ve left the ore. I return, load what I can into the cargo. Locking onto the can I fire a salvo of missiles, it explodes instantly. Once more, I leave the crime scene.

I paste the kill mail into the killboard wondering what the value of the ship and fittings were. I’m stunned to find that the ship itself is 22mil. A single fitting, an advance damage control of some sort was worth 13 mil alone. The total loss is a whopping 44.8 mil – my best ever.

The stubbornness to part with a measly 3 million cost this guy his ship, his equipment, his pride and his wallet. If he’d of paid up, he’d have walked away 41.8 million better off with only a dented ego.

The moral of the story? Don’t fight unless you can win – and if you can’t – pay up and live!

~hugs~

Alia