Quick lesson... Empire is saf_er_ , not _safe_...

Had one of my Hulks out last night in Korsiki, ganged with Kaye (Ity V) and a student (Osprey) to pass bonuses.

Typically, when you think of passing bonuses as a miner, you are looking at mining yield, but every now and then, those combat related bonuses come in handy, too....

Reports in Corp chat indicated a couple of suspicious characters skulking around the belts, acting like can flippers. No worries for my little group as our can only held 100 rounds of small iron ammo as a popper-stopper. As ore was deposited in the can, Kaye immediately transferred it. When Kaye was out of the belt, the student & I held our take in our own holds until Kaye returned. Almost zero risk to can flippers.

The two ne'er-do-wells hit our belt and approached our can (one in Caracal, the other in a cruiser of indeterminate make/model). As I typed a warning in fleet chat, they opened fire on my Hulk!

Crap! What a time to not be aligned to anything! Crap! Shields down & armor melting, I'm aligning & preparing to bail when Concord arrives.... 2 secs later it's all over. Battered, but still space-worthy (thank you shield & armor bonuses!), I head to the POS & Kaye brings reppers. In fleet chat, the student says "By the time I figured out what was going on, they were both dead!"

So, dear student, remember, Empire is not safe... Just safer... Those who are willing to sacrifice their ship can cost you yours, even if they don't gain anything in the process.