Punishing Punisher

My usual haunts were looking a bit quiet so I headed off from Dal into Metropolis to see what I could find. After making my way to Ardar I doubled back to Frerstorn and then saw a Punisher on scan - almost certainly the single Amarr war target in system, but before I can get close he dissapears from scan. Almost immediately though I see a rifter on scan and soon isolate it to a belt. Warp drive active...

With everything primed I come out of warp to find Shockhead a short distance away and I immediately lock and engage. It's over very quickly and the rifter explodes followed shortly after by the pod. I scoop the loot and immediately warp out - I never linger at kills. Scanning again I find that the Punisher has returned and seems to be sitting at a nearby planet. Warp drive active...

I come out of warp to find Cordarouy Pants in his Punisher in disruptor range, my lock resolves and the fight is on. As a result of many fights I've come to respect the Punisher. When flown by a competent pilot it will always give you a tough encounter and it quickly became apparent that this was going to be close. His shields went quickly enough but the armour was really hard work - the repairer seemed to be working overtime. As soon as I made an impact the repairer would work its magic and all the while my precious shield was being ripped away. Meanwhile the damage is building on the overloaded guns, but more than that my cap is draining away - he must be using a neut. Things are looking desperate now and when my shield finally gives way my armour starts to dissapear rapidly. Soon after I finally run out of cap and my disruptor and afterburner shut off. I align to get my pod out but then see he's into structure, my guns still glowing. I'm well into structure myself now and notice the dreaded flames emerging from my rifters wounded hull but then - boom - and the Punisher explodes. He gets his pod out despite my best efforts so I loot the wreck and get the hell out.

Good discussion afterwards with 'gf' sincerely meant.

42% structure left. Fights like that are what it's all about.

Later on that day I get another good fight from Dec Apilatour in his rifter. A good loot drop too, always handy.