A tale of 2 Rifters / The Day of the Jaguar

I wake up in Auga, grab a quick plate from a rather greasy-spoonish sort of diner, and jump in my Rifter. Preflight run... all systems go, turret 2 still has some heat damage.

Bah. No worry.

I undock and bounce around a while, heading to Eszur and through the Frerstorn pocket, where my good friends from Murie inform me that all is quiet and secure. I head back home, and on my way out, in Bosboger, I see a name I know in my local log;

Miura Bull.

I pick him up on scan quickly and we play tag a bit, warping from belt to planet to belt, before we finally decided that it was time to dance. I saw that insane rep rate, did some quick calculations, and took range; Dual-rep Rifter. No web. 150s. No Rocket.

I went to 7k and smiled as his Rifter crumbled. I managed to catch the pod (Which I have come to regret.. Sorry, Miura!) and off I went, to dock at the Tribal Lib station in Abudban, drop my loot, and rep some heat damage. Good fight, good kill. My rifter never went below 75% armor. For those that do not know him, Miura Bull is the CEO and head honcho of Black Rebel Rifter Club, an all around great guy, and an amazing Rifter jock. Great people, r1fta... always up for a fight!

I decide to roam the Molden Heath loop, and chase some pirates instead of the Amarr for a bit, to let Heimatar calm down. One jump in, I encounter another man, another name... do I know him?

Alex Medvedov?

Bah. We ask each other at almost exactly the same time if we want to fight one another, Jaguar on Jaguar, Pirate on ex-pirate. A celestial is chosen, and the fight is on. I watch in horror as my tank crumbles, my Jaguar disintegrates just as he dips into armor, and warp my pod to safety. We chat some, and he recommends I make some changes to the ship.

I take this man's advice, and do what he says. I swap my fit around some; I stay with the 150s and small neut, my Tech II Afterburner, Tech II Med Shield Extender, web, and scram mids. My lows, however, I purchase a model F85 Damage Control Unit, as it is much easier on the ship's CPU, and fit dual Gyrostabilizers. 2 small shield extender rigs, load Plasma, and off I go.

Back to Heimatar.

I play with a member of PIE in a Slicer, who's ship hit structure in 2 shots once i finally caught him at a gate, but who managed to jump before shot 3.  Bah! Undeterred, I head to Siseide, where I see... another member of Black Rebel Rifter Club.

In a Jaguar.

In a belt.

Its go time! I warp in, land 30k away, and we size one another up, staying at 15-16k from one another and taking fleeting shots. Finally, I decide enough is enough, and burn in, heating my guns, webbing, scramming, neuting, and shutting down my AB, betting that I will not need it, easily maintaining a leisurely 3k orbit and hitting hard, every shot. Perfect distance, perfect transversal.

His ship evaporates to the RF Fusion in my overheated guns, and I scoop the loot and safespot, waiting out my GCC. I then notice my ship never dipped below 40% shields.

He was running my old fit.

Thank you, Alex Medvedov. Best Jaguar loss ever, because it taught me a lot. One often  learns more from losing a ship, than by killing one.

I believe its time for a beer at the SA.