Patrol

Massive shadows loomed violently ahead as the Crow class interceptor tore our of it’s warp tunnel, it’s main thrusters kicking in and rocketing the ship across the asteroid belt, contrails streaming behind it. The harsh light from the system’s sun blanketed the belt in a myriad of blues, while the asteroids themselves danced in their own shadows, rotating in their own gravity fields.

The one soul aboard the interceptor, Kitochi Oritsu, Major of the Caldari Navy continued in a basic patrol scan grid throughout the massive belt, disappearing and reappearing between asteroids as he cruised silently in the vacuum of space. Camera drones and ship scanners showed nothing amiss in the belt, but instincts told Oritsu otherwise; years of deep space patrols, mostly alone, had honed his skills and sense to a razor’s edge.

A small spark thirty degrees starboard attracted his attention and that of the ship scanners as they poured out information of what was going on. Camera drones whizzed silently ahead to get a visual on the sight while the ship scanners figured out what was out in the belt.

A few short seconds later, alarm signals blared across Oritsu’s vision as visual contact and scanners showed a small group of Sansha patrol craft sneaking around through the belt. Recalling camera drones, Kitochi kicked in his microwarp drive and sped tightly through the belt towards the unsuspecting Sansha patrol, double checking systems on the fly, his implants turning everything into a slideshow.

Twenty kilometers away, he banked sharply above a monster asteroid, spinning lazily, and pulled around above the patrol and let loose a salvo of missiles. Three bright contrails blazed their way through the space in seconds and detonated against the hull of the ship tearing pieces of armor and hull away, causing heavy damage.

The Sansha wasted no time in regrouping and started flying straight at Kitochi in a phalanx pattern, lasers blazing red and yellow through the belt, burning into asteroids and off into space.

Cursing to himself, Kitochi pulled away sharply and flew back towards the navigation beacon of the asteroid belt, weaving tightly between the asteroids. Once he got twenty kilometers out, he banked again facing the Sansha patrol and let loose another two salvos, the missiles streaking brightly through the belt towards their targets. The Sansha ships dived between asteroids frantically to avoid the deadly missiles, only two managed, the third taking both salvos full on, the ship detonating violently, spewing debris and stored reactor energy into space.

The two remaining ships tore out of the small cluster of asteroids barreling straight towards the Crow, lasers leading the way as they slammed into the shields. Warning signs flashed violently on readouts as Kitochi pulled hard and fast to get away from the Sansha ships, missiles firing as fast as they were loading, contrails and explosions going off all over the belt as they missed their targets and impacted asteroids.

In a desperate move Kitochi brought his Crow to a full stop just behind a large five kilometer wide asteroid and then pulled straight up, his shield flaring brightly as they struggled to absorb the impacts of the asteroid as the interceptor careened wildly off it and nearby asteroids. A few seconds later a camera drone caught the edge of a blast wave from an exploding craft as it missed the turn and crashed headlong into a massive asteroid, its systems failing to save the vessel.

One down, one left Kitochi thought to himself coldly as he continued to burn through the belt as fast as his Crow could take him. The systems slowly came back into green levels as the shields regenerated and fully covered the ship once more. A second of distraction almost ended the life of the Crow as a massive laser blast tore into the rear section of the ship, draining the shields to five percent and scorching the hull beneath.

Cursing yet again, Kitochi banked hard to port and launched a salvo of missiles not four kilometers from the last Sansha ship. The resounding explosions shook the Crow as it flew past going over five kilometers as second. Pieces of the ship blew off wildly as the Sansha ship began to vent atmosphere and inner hull sections into space. Kitochi waited patiently as his launchers reloaded and fired another salvo at the craft. The missiles streaked across the short distance and tore into the main thruster section of the Sansha vessel causing a massive chain reaction of explosions through the ship. A blinding flash erupted from the failing ship as it collapsed upon itself, hurtling debris throughout the belt. Small flares of the Crow’s shields telling of debris impacts as Kitochi flew by the remaining pieces of the hull.

Kitochi then turned back and flew for the first of the craft he’d attacked and found it trying to crawl out of the belt and into open space for a warp out. Getting a lock confirmation, he fired his last salvos into the ship and watched it buckle and eventually explode in a shower of hull sections.

Doing a last pass over the belt for more threats, Kitochi entered his next navigation waypoint and slid into warp away from the belt, leaving the empty wrecks and debris of Sansha ships as a warning to other pirates.