Rebel Yell in Auner

Auner was starting to fill up with pilots looking for a fight and the Rebels were always ready for a fight. Zodiac Black, Miura Bull and Starwalker formed a small gang and set about finding the trouble spots.

It wasn’t long before a Vengeance was tracked down to an acceleration gate but as Zodiac and Starwalker went into the deadspace complex the pilot decided that two Rifters would be too much and quickly warped away.

Zodiac gave chase and then lured the Vengeance back to the Rebels. The Vengeance arrived and was met by the rebel yell to “Get Him”.  Action swiftly followed with the target locked up, neuted and sprayed liberally with projectile ammunition. The Vengeance melted (http://r1fta.griefwatch.net/?p=details&kill=3084) before the onslaught but luckily tanju1982 saved his pod.

A short while later, with the scent of blood still thick in the air, the rebels saw a Jaguar (Bengal Bob) and Dramiel (Amun Khonsu) waiting in the same complex. It was an invitation that would not be refused.

With two more Rebels now part of the pack – Tavisturus and Overnauta – the Rebels went in. The Jaguar and Dramiel engaged, looking to bring down the Rebel pack. The Rebels went for the Jaguar and it started to soak up the punishment as well as dishing out its own telling blows. The Dramiel darted back forth dancing between the Rebels and jabbing away all the time.

Miura’s Sentinel fell just before the Jaguar was finally destroyed (http://r1fta.griefwatch.net/?p=details&kill=3086). The killmail revealed why the Jaguar had been able to take so much punishment because it had two medium shield extenders. However, within seconds of the Jaguar going down the Dramiel was able to give the final jab (http://r1fta.griefwatch.net/?p=details&kill=3097) to Starwalker’s Rifter.

The remaining Rebels tried to catch the Dramiel but instead it managed to deliver the final blow to Overnauta’s Rifter. But Bengal Bob was not finished yet and he returned in a Stabber Fleet Issue. This melted Zodiac’s Rifter and did the same for Miura when he returned in his Thrasher. Tavisturus managed to warp away in structure as Starwalker arrived on the scene too late in another Rifter. It was over and Starwalker could do nothing other than warp away again.

Good fights were exchanged as the Stabber Fleet Issue and Dramiel declared victory on the field of battle with their Jaguar loss to the Rebel loss of 3 Rifters, 1 Sentinel and a Thrasher.

Rifter Rematch in Auner

Starwalker had enjoyed the Rifter duel with Valla Vuld and it seemed that Valla had enjoyed being destroyed too as he asked for a rematch. Starwalker was happy to oblige and looked forward to another kill!

Valla disappeared to Hek to reship and Starwalker considered his options, whether to wait and fight in the same ship or reship to a shield Rifter for the element of surprise. Starwalker liked the idea of surprising his opponent and so went to Auner where he had some fitted ships. No shield Rifter - so much for that master plan. As Starwalker waited in space he changed the name of his ship to at least pretend he was in a different ship.

Whether the little trick worked or not didn't seem to matter as Starwalker went for the very same tactics again and it resulted in the same end for Valla Vuld as his Rifter exploded into a million fiery pieces. Good fights were exchanged and Starwalker departed thinking about what had gone wrong.

He had noticed that (again) he had not:

• Checked the overview for information on the fight and what modules Valla was using
• Had not pulsed the repair module, although to be fair it was not needed
• Had not checked the range of the fight and relative speed
• Was not really paying attention to the damage information beyond seeing the red bars advance

Trying to remember to do everything was difficult. Starwalker considered the problem and wondered if he could define and use a routine to simply help remember to do everything. The alternative was to simply let experience become opportunities for practice. Something to think about. Starwalker hit the warp button and headed back to base.