Second Hand Kill

While performing missions for the Amarr navy, I happened to notice a Hurricane flying under the control of it's ships auto-pilot. This is ordinarily a common enough practice, but the surprise was that he was piloting his ship into Gyerzen.

Gyerzen, my stomping ground, is outside of Concord's umbrella of protection. It's also a destination system, so the Hurricane's auto-pilot would turn off and leave him sitting right by the gate. If the pilot didn't return his attention to the controls, his vessel would be easy pickings.

I was in the Maller II. I could certainly destroy an essentially unpiloted Hurricane. Even with the gate guns striving to defend him I was confident that I could pull it off.

Should I? The pilot was in service to the Minmatar academy. I regard myself as the enemy of all Minmatar who have not joined the 24th crusade, so it was a tempting target. If he'd been a member of the Tribal Liberation force (our evil opposite number) I would have destroyed him without compunction. Alas, he was officially a neutral in the conflict. (Which is nonsense, anyone who is not on our side is our enemy in the conflict between good and evil).

If I engaged him, Concord would flag my actions, and hold them against me. Further, the very gate guns, loyal servants of the Amarr Empire though they were, would be compelled to fire upon me. As mentioned, I doubted they would accomplish much, but seen from another perspective it would be blasphemy to initiate a battle with the forces of God's Empire.

Ultimately I split the difference. I used the local channel to relay his coordinates to a few of Gyerzen's ever present outlaws, and he was detonated in short order. Concorde overlooked this action, and I've retained my blemishless (not a word but you get my meaning) standing. It lacks the satisfaction of a personal kill, but the end was accomplished.