Gone In 30 minutes - A Tale Of Three Battleships

So there we all were, scampering in and around Timudan. Myself and some dear friends, on a nice leisurely safari, when -Good Lord!- we spot a tiger in the rushes. Well, when I say Tiger, I actually mean a Scorpion. A rather large nasty beast, know to roam this particular area. We'd seen the pilot earlier, he'd been tailgating our little band in his Raven, but we'd only given one another adoring smiles and winks from across the system.

Our party consists of a Thorax, a Blackbird, a Celestis, two Rifters and my own Punisher. We thought the Raven was rather scary, but since our dancing partner had decided to leave it in his other trousers, we were very eager to meet his aquaitance. "Search the belts!" Says out dear matriach Mi Lai, so off we all run to beat the rushes, just to see if we can flush him out. Nothing for a while, but hmm...the Scorpion is still in the system.

Suddenly "Warp to me!" yells Dana, so we all come running, and yes! Young Dana has indeed caught a Scorpion by the tail. We open up with EW and scramble, I settle into a nice little orbit, and some of our senior members take the opportunity to photograph this magnificent wild beast. Then, quite unexpectedly, someone starts shooting! Panic! We lose a Rifter in the subsequent confusion, as surely as the Scorpion is gradually torn to shreds under massed fire.

Well, we all needed a good gin and tonic after that one, I can tell you. We float over to a quiet area after we've cleared up the wreckage, and sip our drinks while we wait for that curious blinky red clock to tick down.

"Umm...guys? He's back in local.." Says our friend Jin.

We look on the scanner, and yes, the Scorpion pilot has come back. This time he's brought his Raven with him. We have a short debate about how our safari has been thus far, and everyone agrees that the day just wouldn't be complete without some Raven pictures too. Not that I'm much of an ornathologist, but we do have some friends that are. Dana gives them a call and tells them where we are, and that they should bring a camera. As luck would have it, a pair of them are very close which adds an Absolution and a Raven to our little band. They wait at the gate lest they scare this lovely bird of ours away.

Now it gets interesting - we warp over to a planet and look as helpless as we can. The Raven jumps in on us after a few minutes, and once again, we throw some EW in and scramble him. We call to our chums waiting at the gate, and they get underway.
Just as we all reach the Raven, several more shapes drop out of warp right next to us, and they're definately not a part of our tour. A second hostile Raven, and a Ferox have dropped in, and they look very hungry. Not for long though, because our friends have arrived. The Absolution and our friendly Raven tear into the ambush with an ambush of their own.
The first Raven is into armour, and his Ferox friend decides he's late for a dental appointment, warping out before we can give him a real Legionnaire's greeting. The second Raven stands firm, even when his friend is engulfed in a pretty fireball. Changing targets, we all converge on this second Raven. I'm a little shaky on the details from this point on, as I have my punisher torn out from under me by a bunch of drones. In amongst all of the gunfire, I skip back to a quiet spot, but it turns out that I needn't have bothered. The second Raven goes down even while I warp, leaving us nothing more to do but sweep up the cans, and get another drink.

End total - Three battleships in half an hour for us pirate scallywags, all for the price of two frigates.

Salutes go out first to Damage Cartel Ltd. for a clean fight, with no smacktalk. Secondly to the ornathologists in Under the Wings Of Fury for first class fire support. Finally, to Dana "I'm going to bump him" Barrett for staying on with us through the last battle flying her pod.

Cleared for publication by: Ander