The Forge region – Ruomo constellation
Ahtulaima system
31 January YC 127
The system whither the Blood Raiders were heading was Ahtulaima in The Forge region.
“It’s a long way from Amarr,” I mused while jumping through the gates, “What would Blood Raiders do in a quiet cul-de-sac in the middle of Caldari space? And if it’s a trap, why do they think anyone will be interested in pursuing them while we have our hands full with Guristas?”
“Ask yourself,” snorted Aura, “you are the one chasing them.”
“Ha-ha, that’s right. But I am doing it only because you lured me into this escapade by the promise of another Guristas Scout Outpost. They can hardly expect an average capsuleer ship to be inhabited by such an adventurous navigation AI,” I laughed but then something clicked in my mind, “Wait a moment, why would a Blood Raider gang lead me to a Guristas base?”
Aura looked at me innocently and shrugged her shoulders, “I have no idea why you would think so.”
I glared at her and said accusingly, “Because you mentioned it.”
“I meant it just as a general example of a positive outcome which could be achieved by following unverified leads obtained by forensic examination of pirate communications,” said Aura smoothly.
“Argh,” I growled in frustration, “you led me up a garden path. I bet we won’t see a single Guristas ship at our destination, and I am not equipped to fight Blood Raiders. By the way, is there a Blood Raiders equivalent of Guristas Scout Outpost?”
“Yep, a Raiders’ base with the same DED rating as Gurustas Scout Outpost is called Mul-Zatah Monastery.”
“A monastery? Built by pirates? I knew that pirates were superstitious, but religious?” I shook my head in disbelief.
Aura looked at me with surprise, “But Blood Raiders are followers of Sani Sabik faith, and extreme ones, for that matter. Didn’t you know?”
“All I need to know about pirates is what kind of ammo kills them best,” I grumbled.
At that time we finally arrived to Ahtulaima. I loaded Spike into the railguns, turned on the shield hardener and activated the warp drive.
“Let’s see what awaits us at the end of this tunnel – an Outpost or a Monastery,” I mumbled looking tensely at the overview.
At the end of the tunnel we found… a Newly Constructed Acceleration Gate guarded by… a Guristas fleet.
Aura giggled, “I should have taken you up on your bet.”
I rolled my eyes, “Is it one of those ‘expeditions’ again? Last time we went on one we also found a newly constructed acceleration gate which led nowhere.”
“Huh,” said Aura, freezing momentarily as she processed information from GalNet, “you know, you are right. The pirates play this trick quite regularly with varying results. Sometimes they lead their victims to a well-protected base, and sometimes…” she spread her hands apologetically nodding at the overview.
“Whatever,” I sighed with resignation, “Be that as it may, I am not going to leave this rabble in peace whether they guard a gate to a treasury or to a pristine deadspace pocket.”
The overview showed four Guristas destroyers and four frigates, led by Dread Guristas Invader. I had become quite comfortable with my shield buffer tank and knew that the pirates presented no danger to Merimetso. For that reason I chose the simplest of tactics, orbiting the acceleration gate at 43 km and pulverising any ship which came into my firing range. Dread Guristas Invader turned out to be as crunchy as its Despoiler cousin, but yielded only 52,500 ISK in bounties. Soon the rest of the fleet followed its leader into the afterlife. I looted the wrecks and activated the newly constructed acceleration gate.
When we arrived to the second pocket Aura glanced at the overview and giggled, “You’ve got any cash on you? I’m sure they’ll give you a discount.”
I snorted, “I’ve got seven railguns on me and I’m sure they’ll give me all their stash for free. But thank you very much, life is weird enough without that shit.”
Having said that, I targeted Drug Lab – the only object on the grid.
When the demolition works were over and the structure exploded in a green cloud tinted with pink streaks, I turned to Aura and said, “Any clues? Any trails leading to other bases?”
Aura shook her head, “No. It’s a dead end.”
I sighed, “So much for ‘Guristas Scout Outpost’.”
“Well, your haul is not as spectacular as four Pithum C-Type modules, but you aren’t leaving empty-handed either.”
“Yeah,” I laughed derisively, “I am leaving with 1.5 million ISK worth of stuff in my cargo hold, half of which is ammo that I brought with me.”
“You again forget about blueprints. That Mid-grade Hydra Gamma blueprint is worth about 17 million ISK in the contracts.”
My eyes popped out of my head, “Seventeen million just for the blueprint? How much is the implant then?”
“Around 241 million in Jita.”
“Wow, let’s build it ourselves and sell it!”
“Don’t get too excited, darl,” drawled Aura, “most of that price will go to cover the materials. If you ask your friend Yakub to manufacture and sell it, each of you will get about 20 million ISK on top of the material and blueprint costs.”
I grimaced, “Probably not worth bothering him for a single item. Although, if I pump good old Yakub full of Amarrian Imperial Stout he’ll do everything for a friend.”
“But since he is a better drinker than you, in all likelihood you’ll end up giving him that blueprint for free before managing to lure him into a joint venture,” chuckled Aura.
“I think you are right,” I laughed, “Let’s go home and stash it for now.”
“Warp drive active, Captain,” said Aura, and Merimetso whooshed into the void.
