Black Halo & Crimson Reaver: A Pilot's Survival Guide
By Jorek Vail, Freelance Pilot
Black Halo & Crimson Reaver
A Pilot's Survival Guide
First Print Run
By Jorek Vail Freelance pilot, fourteen years in the Drift
Self-published, ES 88
Why You Should Read This
Because you don't know what you don't know yet, and the only way to learn is to either survive long enough or read what survivors wrote. I survived. I wrote this. Read it.
— J.V.
- The Basics
There are two kinds of pirates you'll meet in the Drift. Black Halo wants your cargo. Crimson Reavers want your dignity, then your cargo, then sometimes your life. They are not the same problem.
The big mistake new pilots make: treating both factions the same way. You can negotiate with Halo. You cannot negotiate with Reavers. If you try the wrong tactic on the wrong faction, you die.
What follows is what fourteen years of getting jumped, robbed, and occasionally rescued by the Stargate Watch has taught me. Take it as advice, not gospel. Out here, anyone who claims certainty is selling something.
Continued.
- Black Halo
They want your cargo. That's it. Black Halo recruits anyone with a ship and a willingness to work for shares. The Brokerage runs the faction. They have no ideology. They have a fee schedule.
If a Halo patrol pulls you over and demands a transit fee, this is what's happening: they're charging you a tax to let you keep moving. If you pay it and don't argue, you live. If you fight, they take what they wanted plus your hull.
The going rate on most corridors is around ten to fifteen percent of cargo value. They know what you're carrying because they're not stupid. Pay the fee. Move on. File no complaint. The IPU bounty board does not care.
When NOT to pay: if your cargo is irreplaceable (custom modules, faction-restricted goods, anything Brace can't replace), the math changes.
Then your option is to outrun them. Halo will give up if the chase costs them more than the cargo's worth.
Important: do not lie about your cargo. Halo searches. If they find you hid premium goods and tried to pay a lowball fee, the entire transaction collapses.
They take everything. They remember your transponder ID. Next time you see them, they remember.
Continued.
- Crimson Reavers
Different animal. The Reavers are not in this for money. They came out of the Helix refugee fleet and they have, in their own words, a grievance against the Compact and against the post-Silence order generally. You are part of that order.
A Reaver patrol that catches you doesn't want a transit fee. They want to make a statement. The statement is: humiliation, broadcast on Compact frequencies, often with the patrol captain unmasked.
Do not try to negotiate. You cannot pay them off. If they have the drop on you, your options are limited. Surrender is sometimes survivable; the Reavers occasionally release captives for propaganda reasons. Do not count on this.
Important: do not engage Reaver ships unless you outgun them by a significant margin and have backup en route.
Reaver pilots are committed. They will not break off. They will not surrender. They will hit your fold-core if you try to flee.
What works against Reavers, in order of priority: not being where they are. The Stargate Watch publishes engagement zones; respect them. Most Reaver encounters happen because some pilot ignored a posted advisory. Don't be that pilot.
Continued.
- General Rules
(1) Keep your insurance current. Brace will rebuild your hull. They cannot rebuild your cargo or your time.
(2) Do not haul cargo you cannot afford to lose. If the math says this run loses money if I'm jumped, reconsider the run.
(3) The Stargate Watch posts engagement zones. Read them before every long jump.
(4) Talk to the locals at every dock. Halo activity moves. Reaver patrols move. What was safe last month may not be safe this week.
(5) Do not assume your ship is faster than a Halo patrol. Most Halo pilots fly tuned frigates. If you're in a hauler, you are not winning a chase.
(6) If you must run, run through the nearest backbone gate, not away from it. The Stargate Watch is at gates. Halo and Reavers will not follow into a Watch engagement.
(7) Learn the difference between a Halo patrol and a Reaver patrol at a distance.
Halo silhouettes are clean — most fly frigate hulls. Reaver silhouettes are scarred — red paint, ceremonial damage on the hull. If you see red, leave.
Continued.
- Last Word
Most pilots who die in the Drift die because they made a small mistake at the wrong moment. You can do everything right and still die. But you can also do most things wrong and still live, if you're lucky and the patrol you ran into was tired.
This trade is dangerous. It is also one of the few honest ones left. If you do this work for ten years and you do it carefully, you can retire well. If you do it badly, you die or you go pirate yourself. There is no third option.
Stay sharp. Stay paid. Stay alive.
— J.V.
Black Halo & Crimson Reaver: A Pilot's Survival Guide. Self-published ES 88 by Jorek Vail. Printed at Outpost Alpha. Sold via independent vendors throughout the Ashfall Drift.