Near-collision

25th September 2008 – 7.59 am

Coiled Snake, my Drake battlecruiser, has been cleared for launch. Safely ensconced in the goo of my pod I wait as my ship is guided out of the hangar and thrust in to the cold of space. Safely out of dock I run through some system checks to make sure everything is functioning normally before I engage the warp drive. After all, it ain't like dusting crops. Without precise calculations I could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that would end my trip real quick, wouldn’t it?

I clearly take this seriously and I certainly wouldn't have been distracted by browsing the internet on my ship's computer whilst exiting dock, only to have my attention caught by the sight of an approaching cruiser dominating my display. It looks like we're on a collision course! This cannot be entirely my fault. Maybe I had been entering 'night elf on ram' in to a search engine for some special research, but what kind of crazy pilot slams on the retro boosters immediately after leaving dock, stopping in a shipping lane?

If I try to change course now the inertia will just swing the long body of my Drake in to the other ship, I can only hope that we will pass without contact. It looks awfully close and... oops. I didn't hear any screeching of metal-on-metal, but as the other ship is now spinning about an axis or two it certainly looks like our shields interfered with each other. With any luck the pilot didn't notice the violent change in direction and I can warp out of here quickly.

Hey, wait a minute, his main engines are flaring. And he's gone. Maybe I didn't hit him and he coincidentally was aligning to warp just as I passed within a couple of metres beneath him. Either way, he's now several AU away from me. I can quickly pop back in to the station, buff out the scratches, and no one will ever know. Phew, I can also keep my no-claims discount on my ship's insurance. Next time I may not be so lucky, so perhaps I should be more careful when exiting dock.

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