Celestis Cruiser Kill

The Rifter banked smoothly around the asteroid belt and shot forward as the warp drive kicked in. A strange rattling noise emanated from the right side and Starwalker looked at the control panel for any sign of fault. Nothing showed but then again it seemed like only half the controls were working at all. A mental note was made to actually pay for real repairs and replace some of the duct tape with real nano welded plates.

The Rifter dropped out of warp to find a Celestis cruiser dealing with some pirates and Starwalker decided to help... himself to the loot. After all, the pilot – Kevin Bois – was too busy shooting pirates and collecting the loot would save him the trouble. The first two wrecks gave up some trinkets and Starwalker decided to say “Hello” by targeting and orbiting the Celestis at 600m. The Celestis targeted the Rifter – hello! So Starwalker waited expectantly for the Celestis to open fire. Nothing happened. Starwalker waited longer but still nothing, perhaps the Rifter was too close?

The last wreck was some 20km away so Starwalker decided to tempt the Celestis by getting further away and so headed to the wreck to collect the remaining loot. The Celestis opened fire just as the loot was taken and so it turned red – the fight was on. Starwalker checked the damage report and noticed that the excellent hit had done virtually nothing to the shields, so it was time to move in for the kill. The Rifter sped back towards the Celestis, manually piloted to just one side, to have at least some traversal velocity. Quickly the distance closed and Starwalker applied the lock, guns and scramble as the Rifter settled into orbit with the afterburner going.

It was clear very quickly that the Celestis really wasn’t doing any damage and was going to go down. The Rifter circled its victim with guns blazing away and rockets slamming into the cruiser and the little red bars went through shield, armour and structure. The Celestis exploded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10057191). Starwalker looked through the cruiser wreckage and noted the slim pickings, perhaps the repairs would have to be done later.

It was also obvious why the cruiser had done so little damage – the high slots had a railgun, miner, salvager and missile launcher. This ship fit was a classic case of trying to create a general purpose fit that is consequently no good at anything. Starwalker made a mental note to not repeat that mistake and always to fit for a specific purpose.