Thrasher - Destrucktor Kirijan

Starwalker was in his novelty fit Merlin and seeing what he could find in the space lanes of New Eden. This was a fit for low security space with the intention of finding close range brawlers or scram range kiters. It would have an exceedingly hard time against point range kiters and MWD fit frigates given the lack of a scrambler.

The directional scan indicated a Thrasher was in space but that was probably a little hard for the Merlin to beat. Thrashers and destroyers generally were designed to kill frigates and a T1 frigate might not last very long in a fight. Despite that, Starwalker waited in his Merlin at a small complex - daring the Thrasher to come in. It came in.

This Merlin was all about brute force and so Starwalker applied the two webs and came in very close to apply the DPS. The Thrasher wasted no time in returning fire and apparent that it was auto-cannon fitted. So both ships were in their optimal range and it was a simple race to destruction, a race to see who would be destroyed first.

However, it wasn't just auto-cannons that Destruktor Kirijan had in his box of Thrasher tricks - he also had an energy neutraliser and that took its toll. The Merlin's capacitor ran out as the Thrasher was in structure and Starwalker had to spam the blasters to keep firing as soon as some capacitor recharge was available. The problem was that the Thrasher was tearing away at last slivers of Merlin armour and starting on structure.

Both ships entered deep structure and trailing flames, Starwalker got the final blow with 12% structure remaining. It was a very good fight and very close. The Thrasher could have warped away at any time but that was an unlikely choice given the general expectation of a destroyer killing a T1 frigate. So the Thrasher stayed until the bitter end and paid for it with its destruction.

The Thrasher fit was very normal emphasising close range guns, with DPS enhanced by a gyrostabiliser, damage rig and close range ammunition. The tank was provided by a medium shield extender and shield rigs, and in short was a perfectly good fit to roam around in:

[Thrasher, Destruktor Kirijan's Thrasher]

Gyrostabilizer II
Damage Control II

Medium Shield Extender II
1MN Microwarpdrive II
Warp Scrambler II

200mm AutoCannon II,Hail S
200mm AutoCannon II,Hail S
200mm AutoCannon II,Hail S
200mm AutoCannon II,Hail S
200mm AutoCannon II,Hail S
200mm AutoCannon II,Hail S
200mm AutoCannon II,Hail SSmall Unstable Power Fluctuator I

Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Projectile Burst Aerator I

Unfortunately for Starwalker his victory was short-lived as Balthar Xerxes' Federation Navy Comet had unusually fit an ECM and that broke the Merlin's target lock after a short while. Without being able to shoot back the Merlin could do nothing else but wait until it was destroyed. Clearly Starwalker had waited in the complex too long, as who would expect an ECM module on a Comet, Balthar must have refit especially to fight the Merlin.