A while ago I’ve learned that happily hacking cans in null with someone else in system is a “Mash D-Scan” situation at best. And cloaky explorer killer waiting for a sucker at worst. It was the latter. And ended with a boom. Few weeks of inty zipping through gatecamps , bubbles and ambushes forward.

Now I’ve got the feel for this little ship. Due to fast align time , I wasn’t worried about other interceptors. Bah, they have damage mods in lows for sure. I’ve laughed at the chatter in local about “get him on the gate” and seemingly explored with impunity. But still got a sore spot about my aborted expedition to the Outer Ring. What is to see there ? Any beautiful space vistas to rest my eyes upon ? Epiphany ? Relic cans that have some actual loot in them ? It’s time to check it out.

Unload loot , oil Inertial Stabs and get ready for another uneventful journey. Right ? Wrong.

I’ve picked the most remote system in the Outer Ring and let the onboard AI plot the route. Shortest path, of course. I’m in an align-fitted interceptor after all. From where I was starting out , the shortest path was through Syndicate. Specifically the choke point of TXW-EI -> 5-FGQI -> 8V-SJJ. First jump through null, second jump … oh, people on the gate. What do I care , another gatecamp, bah. Pick next system on route , initiate jump. Oh, why I’m not warping … bleep bleep bleep … scrammed, webbed , dead.

Mittelwerk , meet Competent Gatecamp with an instalocker. Competent Gatecamp , meet Mittelwerk’s corpse.

Maybe, If I wouldn’t be a cocky idiot and tried to burn back to the gate instead, this post would be about “something completely different” (TM).

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