I was on the third day of pirating, experimenting with my new Talwar build (for details, click here). I'd had a successful few days - more than a dozen kills and had barely scratched the paint on my destroyer.
I was finishing up for the night, clearing the anomalies in one last system - Miroitem - before logging off. As I came into the fifth anomaly, I see two ships at the top of my window: a Xian-Yue Prototype destroyer and a Caracal trainer, taking on 5 rats.
I should go ahead and mention that, as a solo PvPer, I have a strong (and well-earned) aversion to taking on multiple enemies. While they are good for the occasional story, the math is simply against the lone pilot. Not only do you have two sets of guns blazing at you, but it is also more difficult to avoid coming into web range of two different pilots. When fighting groups, you can't simply "orbit to glory" - you have to manually pilot your ship, keeping careful track of both ships to ensure that you stay at optimal range of the primary target while avoiding getting too close to the other.
Under most circumstances, I would probably give a 2-on-1 a pass. But fortune had been smiling on me all day, and I thought I might just be able to pick off the destroyer before the Caracal could bring himself into the fight, so I powered up the microwarp drive, locked on the Xian-Yue and plotted a course that would bring me within 15km.
The Xian-Yue posed relatively little difficulty. Poorly-fitted and caught off guard, it barely managed to switch targets to me before it ended its existence in a brief-but-brilliant fireball. Less than 50 seconds since entering the anomaly and the encounter had claimed its first victim.
Typically, this is where the fight would end. The second ship, seeing its friend go down in flames, ought to have taken the opportunity to turn and run. Instead, once the glare from the Xian-Yue's demise clears, I turn to realize that the Caracal is bearing straight down on me. Locking its weapons and launching a salvo of missiles, its pilot seems intent on avenging its comrade (perhaps thinking that I'm just a destroyer - what danger could I pose to a ship with twice my armament?)
Turning my attention to the Caracal, I once again fire up the microwarpdrive. This time, I settle into a 14km orbit - close enough to use my webifier, but out of range of any nos or webs he might have ready for me. At 1.5km/s, his missiles posed little danger to me, provided that I could keep at speed.
As it turns out I needn't have worried. My quarry sported the most eclectic assortment of modules I had ever seen. A medium missile battery, small missile, medium torpedo and a medium beam laser (?!) fired haphazardly at me as my missiles bored through his shield. Attempting to run both a shield booster and armor rep (?!??!), in moments the Caracal's cap was dry and seconds later he was sitting in his pod next to the charred remains of his ill-fit ship.
Ultimately, this proved an excellent capstone for my now-trusted Talwar. While my opponents were... marginal at best, the fact that the Talwar had the stamina for two consecutive fights was proof that this ship is as persistent as it is lethal. This little pile of scrap will definitely have a place in my hanger for the foreseeable future.