I shall take a short detour from my usually philosophical posts and post the record of a specific engagement. Then I'll of course proceed to make a philosophical point about it, but that is hardly something I can resist.
It was a fine Saturday morning and I undocked for a short belt and DED complex roam. It did not take long to spot a Worm frigate in the Enden plex surrounded by its Warrior II combat drones on my d-scan, so I decided to re-ship to my Hawk and see if I can goad him into a fight. I grabbed a spare key to the complex and set forth.
[07:32:22] EVE System > Channel changed to Local : Enden
Local has two people I know well, plus the Worm pilot. The known locals are nowhere to be found, so they don't worry me much, for now. I spool up my warp drive and break the light-speed barrier, speeding towards the Angel Creo-Corp installation.
The d-scan reports a Worm still in the complex, and nothing else on the scanner. I arrive at the first acceleration gate, and my Hawk interfaces with it to warp deeper into the deadspace.
I arrive at the first base, accelerate towards the next gate and enter warp, ignoring the swarm of Angel pirates around me. I exit warp in the second installation, blow it up, collect the code to the final acceleration gate and enter warp again.
I warp to the third base. The Worm is indeed there, 44km away from me, orbiting some random structure in the complex.
I set an intercept course against the worm, cutting manually through his orbit so I can close the range despite being slower than he is. I approach the Worm to about 24km and the yellow box on my overview lets me know he is aware of my presence. I am pretty sure I can win regardless of what that Worm is packing, so I welcome the interest.
Then the Warrior IIs attack as the Worm pulls range. I am not pointed, but he just went GCC on me. Okay, I'll play.
I clear 4 of the 5 Warrior IIs, and he recalls the sole survivor. My shields are in great shape, he is now missing about half his drones, so far so good.
Another flight of drones heads my way. More warriors. While clearing them I reverse direction and the Worm follows suit. I flip around and he does me a favor by flying right into scram range. I web him for added measure. I am not webbed, nor pointed. Did he really just GCC on me in a PvE fit, or is he conserving cap for an active tank?
Well, time to find out.
I blast most of his remaining drones, leaving two to buzz about (they can't do much harm, and I could definitely use extra loot) and concentrate on the Worm. He goes down relatively quickly and explodes into a debris cloud, his paltry active tank no real contest to the rain of rockets.
I decide to reward the pilot's aggression in the local comms channel:
[07:48:07] Angelus Ryan > gf
I guess he has hard feelings, instead:
[07:48:23] Halthoris > go fuck yourself
Well, then, allow me to retort:
[07:48:34] Angelus Ryan > Said the man who fired first.
[07:48:50] Local Pilot 1 > :)
[07:48:57] Local Pilot 2 > lol
[07:48:57] Local Pilot 2 > lol
The final Angel base rewards my efforts with a Gistii B-Type 1MN Afterburner. Not bad for breakfast.
Now, lets disregard the fail fit on that Worm, and consider the whole situation. I won't lie: I would've fired the first shot and killed him anyway, given the chance.
I am a pirate, that's what I do: I blow innocent people up.
If he had any sense (given his PvE fit), he would have warped off immediately as I landed on grid. There was no reason for him to engage me, and there was no reason for him to let me catch him even if he did decide to waste his drones in a futile attempt to kill me. His ship was faster, and he had no point to keep on me anyway.
But, bad pilots are common, and they are a pleasant, even if not rare, surprise. It is his reaction to the loss that I find outright strange.
Was he somehow enraged at the outcome after firing the first shots of the engagement? That is sheer folly. Every time you open fire on another ship, you are beyond redemption. You've pushed another pilot into a fight of kill or be killed, and if you fail to destroy his ship or drive him away, he will shoot you down, and he will be damn right to do so.
There are only two expected outcomes for such an engagement: One side disengages or one side perishes. If you are not ready for it, then crawl back into high-sec (where you obviously belong), or avoid other pilots in low-sec like the plague. You have a d-scan and eyes for a reason: If you see someone land on the same grid as you, then run like hell, but don't expect a quarter to be given if you start a fight you can't finish.
-Ang.
[P.S: The post title is stolen from Code Geass, which is a totally amazing Anime series, and you really gotta watch it, if you haven't yet!]
