Many Long Hunts and a Few Short Fights

Starwalker looked back over his flight logs and was frustrated over the amount of time out flying and looking for a fight versus the actual time fighting. This was not the immediacy and availability of combat that he wanted but equally the universe and the possibilities pulled him in and kept him in New Eden.

It was both very frustrating and oddly compelling to search for targets, to not know what was out there and how things would end, hopefully badly for someone else. Long hunts tended to be like prospecting for gold – lots of work for the chance of a big reward. The reward was hopefully a good fight and a kill, with the fights being short, addictive, adrenalin rushes and like any addiction there is a strong compulsion to find the next rush.

Current reality was that it was many long hunts to a few short fights, not counting gate camps or ganks. But the rush… So whilst at times, that rush is hard to find the odds can be increased, by hunting with others. Starwalker knew that he was a lone wolf at heart but sometimes coming together with other lone wolves to form a wolf pack was fun. A wolf pack opens more opportunities for finding targets because the range of targets that can be engaged becomes greater.

Many long hunts and a few short fights – when stated so clearly, did Starwalker have the patience and perseverance? Starwalker sat back from the neocom console and looking over his shoulder saw the Thrasher floating in the space dock. He felt the pull - the need for the next rush, it was time to hunt.

Rifter Artillery Kills Rifter in Auner

Starwalker was simply moving stuff around in Auner when he noticed a Rifter sitting on a station. The pilot was Amun Khonsu and a quick check in Battleclinic revealed a top ranked pilot (4,859) with 2,083 kills to 245 losses.

The current ship was a Rifter fit for a brawl but this pilot was from 2006 and lots of kills, so a straight up fight was likely a losing proposition. Consequently, Starwalker re-shipped to an artillery-fit Rifter that would hopefully have the element of surprise.

Next, warp into a random belt at 100km and then burn away, waiting for the enemy Rifter to arrive. Within a few minutes it did, along with a Rupture, but 150km was a safe distance. The Rupture (Kmelx) then offered to leave the “1v1” and Amun Khonsu burnt towards the Rifter at around 940m/s. So afterburner fit, unless he was being clever and probably armour tanked based on the speed.

Starwalker patiently waited for the Rifter to catch up and at around 60km turned to engage. His heart was pounding and his pulse was racing Target locked, pointed and orbit set to 15km the artillery cannons opened up and started dealing damage. There was very little return fire but the distance seemed to reduce to 12km so Starwalker set “Keep at Distance” 13.5km.

The artillery was overheated and the enemy Rifter started to bleed into armour. It was incredibly slow progress and then suddenly Amun Khonshu got a good hit that took the shields down to 40%. Quickly checking the range it was still around 12km – must have been a lucky hit.

Using ROTA (Range, Overheat, Tank, Attack) Starwalker kept checking the key events and noticed what he thought was an enemy point but later realized it must have been the tracking disruptor. Things were going well and the artillery finally destroyed (http://r1fta.griefwatch.net/?p=details&kill=2917) Amnu Khonsu’s Rifter.

The exceptionally pleasing aspect was the idea of establishing relative superiority – range. Waiting at the asteroid belt, at a safe distance from it to see what ship arrived. Continuously checking ROTA, especially range and noticing the “attack” icon.

The other aspect that also became clear for Starwalker was that the tournament fights did not have the same adrenalin rush as these random fights like the Vengeance and this kill. It was simply not the same and perhaps related to the fact that maybe Starwalker did not like killing other Rebels.

T1 – Another Rifter Bites the Dust

Kooba Kaundur came to Auner for a T1 tournament fight and Starwalker obliged with his trusty Rifter, waiting at a safe spot. The d-scan revealed that this would be a Rifter on Rifter duel and Starwalker spun up the engines and headed off in a random direction.

The enemy Rifter arrived on the scene and this time Starwalker quickly went through the lock, orbit, scramble, fire and overheat guns routine. It was immediately obvious that there was very little incoming damage but that the outgoing damage was seriously ripping apart the target’s shield and armour.

Kooba Kaundur’s Rifter tore apart (http://r1fta.griefwatch.net/?p=details&kill=2691) and the flames were quickly quelled by the cold dark of space. It was over and another Rifter bites the dust.

What was strange though was that the damage pattern echoed the one with Joe Struck:

The mystery remained as to why the damage was highest in the first 20 seconds or so of the fight. Perhaps the initial approach had a very low traversal but once the orbit settles in the traversal becomes higher and reduces the damage. One way to test this theory would be to use keep at range instead.

T1 - Kestrel Kite Strikes Again

Duke Thunderhorse was in system looking for a T1 tournament victim. Starwalker answered the call and emerged in a new Kestrel after the last one got its comeuppance from Overnauta.

The Kestrel swooped into the fray and engaged from 18km. The missiles smashed into the Rifter and it was unable to respond. The Rifter shields disappeared and the red march through armour continued uninterrupted. The Duke was about to be demoted to a corpse when the capacitor ran out and the point dropped.

Duke Thunderhorse needed no second invitation to leave the dance and warped away. Starwalker waited, guessing that the Duke was bouncing between planets and trying to repair. Starwalker waited for the capacitor to recharge rather than waste a booster and then warped to the Duke for the last dance.

Duke’s Rifter hung limply in space near a huge planet. The Kestrel circled its prey, which was in bad shape with around 25% armour remaining but the shields had recharged back up to 90%. The Duke was bloodied but ready and went for one last throw of the dice with a do or die run at the Kestrel.

It was no good – he was too slow and too weak to put up much more of a fight and a few more shots laid the Duke to rest (http://r1fta.griefwatch.net/?p=details&kill=2695). The Kestrel kite had struck again.

Laid Low in Ladistier

The Rifter banked smoothly between the asteroid belts as Starwalker tested the agility of this 400mm armour fit. It was not as fast or agile as the shield fit Rifter but it had been successful recently. Whilst a full bank balance meant that any of the frigates in the market place were potential new purchases it needed careful consideration. No point in buying ships and equipment and finding that the wrong choice had been made.

So Starwalker was currently roaming in the ever-faithful Rifter with few targets and even fewer engagements recently. That was a strong reason why the challenge from Tawa Suyo in his Rifter was accepted. An opportunity to fight Tawa Suyo had presented itself a few weeks ago in Heimatar but Starwalker had moved on. The main reason had been because Tawa Suyo had a much better killboard and so Starwalker had looked elsewhere.

So what was different this time? Starwalker had decided that it was time to take more risks. If he was serious about becoming a better pilot then he had to engage more targets – even if that meant losing more often. No guts no glory.

The challenge was accepted and Starwalker arrived at Moon 2 about 50km away from Tawa Suyo. Very quickly the Rifters were locked in combat with death being spat from the guns. It was clear very quickly that the opponent had an armour fit and a good repair cycle going as all the damage was quickly repaired. Meanwhile Starwalker’s armour was slowly being torn away, with the 400mm buffer providing some extra time and the small armour repair fighting a losing battle against the incoming damage.

Tawa Suyo applied the neutralisers and Starwalker responded with the capacitor boosters. Suddenly, the enemy Rifter went into structure and Starwalker thought he was about to win, assuming that Tawa Suyo was capped out. It was not to be, the repair cycle kicked back in and nearly repaired all the armour damage. Starwalker’s armour was finally torn away and then the structure. Starwalker’s Rifter exploded (http://www.r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10611340) and before the light show finished his pod was warping away to safety.

Good fights were exchanged and then for the first time outside of the R1FTA corporation a post mortem was held about the fight and fit. It was a really interesting discussion and Starwalker felt that he had learnt some more and whilst his Rifter had been laid low in Ladistier his spirits were high.

Rifter Kill in Egghelende

It was generally quiet with few other lights in space apart from the stars. Starwalker moved from system to system looking for prey and found none. The punisher kill was still vivid and it drove Starwalker on – to seek the next adrenalin rush.

A Probe came up on d-scan at a customs office and Starwalker initiated warp to zero. It was gone. Starwalker aligned out and as had become customary more recently simply burnt away, as who knew what opportunity might present itself.

Indeed opportunity did present itself in the form of a Rifter that had arrived 45km away at the customs office. Starwalker hesitated for just a moment – he knew nothing about this pilot (Cable Udan) but then the desire to engage in mortal combat took over and Starwalker turned around and moved towards the Rifter. It was kill or be killed.

As the distance closed to 10km Starwalker engaged the afterburner, set orbit to 500m, turned on the warp scrambler and starting the guns blazing away. Range settled in at around 1500m – it was going to be a slugfest with the last man standing collecting the spoils of war.

Starwalker’s shields evaporated but that was to be expected in this active armour tank fit but the other Rifter was clearly sporting a shield Rifter as the little red bar had hardly made any progress around the dial. It was time to overheat the guns spewing phased plasma. Now, to check defence, the armour was being blown away so time to start the repair cycle.

Now the inflicted damage on Cable Udan's Rifter was going much better, the red damage bar was moving along the dial. Looking to defence and the armour repair cycle had slowed the rate of damage to the armour. Good. Aura chimed in with “the capacitor is empty” and Starwalker hit the capacitor booster. It was a new fit, one that had done well against the punisher and was doing fine now.

Everything was holding, the armour was now down to 25% left but the enemy Rifter was quickly moving through armour. Another capacitor boost was needed, and another. Udan Cable was fighting for his life but the end was inevitable and his Rifter exploded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10556749).

Starwalker’s hands were shaking, his heart was pumping and he was elated. He tried for the pod but it got away. No matter. Starwalker quickly collected the meager loot and warped away. It was another kill and Starwalker was happy with that and basking in the afterglow of victory.

Punished a Punisher in Lulm

Starwalker had been roaming around again with what seemed like little opportunity to find a victim. The closest to getting into a fight had been with a Tristan than was on grid but not interested in engaging and after maintaining a safe distance of 150km for a while it then simply warped away.

Making one last attempt for action Starwalker loitered around Lulm and scanned for targets. A Rifter appeared at one of a number of possible asteroid belts and Starwalker warped in to one at random at 20km but found empty space and a few wrecks left behind.

Starwalker aligned out but was in no hurry to leave and continued to scan when a Punisher warped into the belt. A quick check on employment history showed that this pilot was much older but taking the tip from Zodiac Black, Starwalker checked the killboard. The pilot, Reyner Ve’chroneus, was also inexperienced – game on.

Starwalker cruised in trying to conserve capacitor and the Punisher engaged. It was locked, webbed, scrambled and the autocannons started blazing away. Damage control was started and then the energy neutraliser was started. It would undoubtedly be armour tanked and killing the Punisher capacitor would make the ship helpless. Guns were overheated and it was looking good.

The Punisher was entering deep armour just as the Rifter capacitor hit zero. If the Punisher pilot was paying attention, then he could simply warp away from what was a lost fight. Either he did not know he could leave or he was living in a dreamland of victory – he stayed and died. The Punisher destruction (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10518486) was closely followed by the pilot’s pod (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10518510) being blown up too. Starwalker considered doing the piracy ransom thing but he wanted the kill more.

The fight was over and Starwalker collected the loot and corpse. After waiting out the GCC Starwalker returned to base to repair and enjoy the spoils of the kill.

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. 

Rifter Duel in Ardar

Starwalker received a challenge to a Rifter duel and decided to head over to Ardar to accept it. The challenger was from Moira and was a younger pilot. On the surface it seemed like a straightforward brawl and Starwalker should win.

Starwalker had decided to use an armour fit rather than the usual shield tank and would watch the capacitor closely. Given the discussion with Zodiac after the practice duel in Lantorn Starwalker was also going to fight at around 4km.

The Rifters burnt towards each other at a safe location in space and Starwalker started taking damage at around 12km away. That was a surprise! Starwalker settled into range at 4km and opened fire with the default phased plasma and started the NOS. The enemy Rifter shields seemed to be holding nicely as Starwalker entered armour. The armour repair was started and was soon being overheated as the damage continued to come in. 

Finally Valla Vuld entered armour but this fight was not looking good. Starwalker was surprised that so little damage was being done but so much damage was being taken and before long the armour was nearly gone. It was time to leave and Starwalker aligned out and warped away to the nearest gate with flames from the burning Rifter leaving a spluttering trail. That had not gone to plan at all.

Good fights were exchanged and in the conversation following Valla Vuld revealed the use of a tracking disruptor (optimal range). Starwalker had not even noticed that - yet further proof, if any were needed, of lack of situational awareness. Valla reissued the challenge and it was accepted, after repairing.

This time the fight went very differently. Starwalker came in fast orbited at 600m or so and overheated the guns. The result was very different too as Valla Vuld exploded into a fireball of death. Starwalker had learnt a valuable lesson (again) about watching the fight and reacting to the information. The problem to solve was using that information during a fight and that would require practice.

Tussling with Tuskers in Adirain

Starwalker sat down to look at recent combat history with a whiskey in hand. However, after a few moments he gave up knowing that the concentration was not there to the job justice. It would have to be done later, the siren call of space was too great and another new active armour fit Rifter was in the dock needing a maiden voyage.

So, taking the controls of the Rifter, Starwalker smoothly exited the dock and warped into the dark space. Roaming around Starwalker came across Zodiac Black chilling in Adirain and Zodiac noted that Tuskers were in system. Naturally the hunt was on and soon Zodiac called “x”.

Starwalker arrived to find two Tuskers in Rifters with Zodiac in trouble but also doing well against Jaxley. Starwalker engaged Jaxley with scramble and weapons and targeted Tressin Khiyne. It was not long before Jaxley succumbed (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10366298) to the combined firepower of two Rebel Rifters.

Starwalker turned his attention to Tressin Khiyne as Zodiac bugged out in structure. Starwalker didn’t seem to be doing much damage and within seconds capacitor empty warnings were being relayed by the ship’s computer. Starwalker’s active armour fit Rifter lost all propulsion, scramble and ability to repair. Starwalker aligned out and it was over, another shiny new Rifter exploded into a fireball (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10366297) of burning metal and death. Starwalker spammed the warp button and his pod got away.

Returning to Adirain later, Starwalker found that Tressin Khiyne was still in system and he challenged Starwalker to a duel. Starwalker had no illusions that he would very likely lose as Tressin was a much older pilot, with more experience and many kills. However, he was curious how the shield fit Rifter would do and how close it might be. So, Starwalker engaged and... it was not close. The capacitor was depleted very quickly and the autocannons seemed to barely scratch the opposing Rifter. Soon yet another shiny new Rifter was a burning (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10366667) heap of scrap metal.

Starwalker made a mistake with the pod by aligning out manually and then reselecting a new align-out point in the overview for the warp. The pod was scrambled and Tressin initiated communications to ransom the pod. Before Starwalker had a chance to agree or refuse the pod was destroyed (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10366737). Tressin noted that he had burnt out his scramble and in the panic he fired first and asked questions later. Starwalker was back in the clone vat.

Starwalker was not disappointed with the way the fight had gone but it highlighted that:

1)    Micro-management of modules, checking overview and space for situational changes was a weakness (Starwalker did not even know the capacitor was being drained or later that the scramble had dropped)

2)    Reacting to new information or changes was also a weakness. Within seconds of the duel starting it showed that Starwalker was doing very little damage to the Tusker shields. That information should have triggered a change such as trying to run away

3)    Capacitor is really important and the ship becomes helpless when the capacitor is empty, especially an active amour fit

4)    Getting away in a pod is important and aligning out when losing is a basic start to getting away and then spamming warp. Not doing this has resulted in Starwalker losing another clone and set of implants

Rupture Ruins Rifter

Starwalker joined another couple of Rebels cruising around Onne looking for trouble. It was quiet and the search began to spread to other systems. In Lisbaetanne a Stabber Fleet Issue came up on d-scan and the Rebels decided that three Rifters might just bring it down. That chance was enough to start the hunt.

The Rebels might have been looking for the Stabber but the Stabber pilot seemed to only want to play cat and mouse or perhaps pick off an individual Rifter. After what seemed like a long time of bouncing around celestials the Stabber simply left the system. However, one door closes and another one opens - as a Rupture entered system looking for a fight.

Agreed tactics for the Rupture were to orbit close and kill the drones first. Starwalker arrived at a belt based on d-scan and within seconds the Rupture was engaged. Close orbit was established, along with point and then the call for backup. Starwalker moved to his overview to set it for drones but it was not there! Quickly checking through the other overview settings it became clear that this was a new machine and it had not been setup with the latest configuration. Damn.

After wasting precious seconds and realising the mistake Starwalker decided to shoot the Rupture and overheated the guns. Those wasted seconds were costing the Rifter dearly as the drones and Rupture guns tore holes in the shiny new Rifter. It was not looking good either for the Rifter or the chances of survival. The other Rebels were now also engaged and Zodiac Black was shouting for the drones to be killed first. But it was too late for Starwalker the shield fit Rifter was entering armour and then exploded into a ruin (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10352852) of metal and flames.

The Rupture pilot, Dale LoMass claimed another Rifter (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10352952) and the final Rebel retreated to safety. Good fights were exchanged but the Rebels knew that an opportunity had been missed. Starwalker had enjoyed the fight but was disappointed in his pilot skills. The good news was the Rifter was lost in a fight rather than to sentry guns the bad news was Starwalker should have:

·         Checked his overview settings before engaging in combat

·         Tried to manually select the drones rather than rely exclusively on the overview

·         Alerted the gang that he was targeting the Rupture and not the drones

Starwalker headed back to base to review recent losses and to learn some lessons for next time.

Killed by Station Sentry Guns

It was another day and Starwalker was in yet another Rifter. Hopefully this one would last longer than the previous few, which hadn’t even been scratched before being destroyed. The roam started like any other, a few potential opportunities coming up on d-scan but not at a celestial, so in a mission, at a POS or deep safe. Next!
Local popped and a Crusader arrived along with an Inquisitor and it was not long before Starwalker was the hunted. Another Rebel, Kaeda Maxwell, arrived in system in her Merlin and a quick exchange over the channel established the situation. Joining forces, the Merlin was at belt 9-2 and soon called “x” – Starwalker was in bound.

The Crusader was there and alone with the Merlin. Starwalker burnt towards the Crusader and was soon target locked but out of scramble range at around 16km. The Crusader pilot was going into armour but was keeping distance from the Rifter. Starwalker noted that the Crusader was maintaining distance at around 13km and so was still out of scramble range, even if it was overheated. So Starwalker was just about to overheat the afterburner when the Crusader disappeared. Kaeda Maxwell exclaimed that her scramble had burnt out and that had allowed the Crusader a lucky escape.

The Crusader quickly disappeared but not long afterwards a Mammoth came in. We both immediately warped to various custom offices but the search was proving fruitless. Starwalker then had the “bright idea” to check the stations – completely forgetting about the red GCC. Whilst warping to the top station Starwalker noticed that the timer was still going and had less than a minute to run. Maybe it would be OK and the Rifter would dock before taking any real damage?

Over time Starwalker had only lost frigates to a POS and no sentry guns either on a stargate or at a station had ever destroyed a ship. That was about to change. Starwalker dropped out of warp and into the sentry guns that made short work of the shiny, new and unscratched Rifter and it exploded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10332911) into a million pieces.

It was another stupid mistake and another expensive lesson. Starwalker headed back to base to reship and resolved to do better. Losing ships in fights was one thing but throwing them away to sentry guns was ridiculous.

Ganked after Responding to Call For Backup

Amamake was a hotbed of violence and destruction with a particular belt being the focal point for pilots looking for trouble. It might have been Frigate Friday but there was no shortage of cruisers and battlecruisers engaged as well.

Starwalker observed events from a distance as ships whipped in and out of the fight but this battle was really less of a fight and more of an ongoing brawl. Some came in a ship and left and in pod, some danced around the edge looking to pick off targets of opportunity, some left and came back again in a new ship. It was chaotic and destructive and no doubt for some great fun.

Starwalker evaluated the situation and decided that it was simply too easy to be a victim and too hard to pick off individual targets with so many ships milling around. Whilst there were a few Rifters there were many more assault ships, interceptors, cruisers and battlecruisers. No, it was time to move on.

Another Rebel in his cruiser was also looking for a fight but away from the main brawl and found it when a number of ships came in. He called for backup and Starwalker was inbound. Starwalker arrived to what looked like a Mexican standoff with some frigates circling the Rebel cruiser but not really engaging. Starwalker decided that a fight was not in progress and decided to leave but it was already too late. Just as the warp drive started to engage it stopped as a Crow established point.

Within seconds the entire gang of around seven frigates had descended on Starwalker’s Rifter and ganked it. Resistance was futile and Starwalker’s brand new Rifter (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10315693) went up in flames, followed closely by his pod (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10315708). Curiously, they left the cruiser alone and simply left, presumably they were only targeting frigates on Frigate Friday.

Starwalker emerged from his clone vat and paid for the necessary clone upgrade – again. The fourth time within a week and which included yet another loss of a set of implants. Sitting down at the Neocom console Starwalker changed the (graphic) settings to enable his pod to respond faster to his warp out command. It was also time to consider recent events and what had been learned. He poured a whiskey and sat back, yes, what had been learned...

Two Rifters Killed in Two Gate Camps

Starwalker had been roaming around Amamake and surrounding systems looking for targets of opportunity. The roams had extended beyond the immediate systems like Dal and Auga to treks to Gusandall and Old Man Star. For whatever reasons, those roams had simply been fruitless.

Starwalker was returning to base after a long haul and ran into a gate camp at Eszur. There was no chance to escape and the Rifter (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10302116) and pod (http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/killmail.php?id=13952290) disappeared in two successive fireballs. Worse than that, the same thing happened to the same guys with another Rifter (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10308914) and pod (http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/killmail.php?id=13957833) the following night.

Starwalker was not happy as the pods had also lost a set of implants for training. In both cases, the pods had not responded to commands to warp out and seemed to simply wait for the subsequent podding. Starwalker considered how best to address that in future and whether his base of operations was the best location. Losing three ships and pods to gate camps within a week was absolutely no fun and a fast track to soon having no ships or ISK.

There was no problem with the original criteria for a base it was that the relative importance was not clear and that it was missing additional criteria:

·         Few or no gate camps in region, although no gate camps might be too optimistic

·         Away from a main hisec to lowsec pipe, like Hek to Amamake, which includes Eszur

·         Away from arterial routes between lowsec locations, which are also likely to be gate camped

Being close to hisec or a trade hub is relatively meaningless when using a hauler alt to buy and move equipment or paying for the service. Similarly, that need for ships and/or equipment is irregular but roaming is regular and consequently has much more importance when selecting a base.

Starwalker sipped his Quafe and his eyes wandered around the star map shining brightly from the Neocom console in the dimly lit quarters. Maybe move from Metropolis to Heimatar or maybe simply establish another stash of ships in Heimatar?

Crushed Two Cyclones

Amamake was a hotbed of pilots looking for kills. Starwalker had just accidentally soloed a Retriever and was looting the wreck when two Cyclones landed. Starwalker didn’t wait and warped away immediately, calling their presence to the other Rebels.

Within a few moments another Rebel called “xxx” and Starwalker warped in wondering what he would find. It was mayhem and an adrenalin rush! The same two Cyclones were being engaged by Rebel Rifters and the space was seething with drones. Starwalker wasted no time and engaged the nearest Cyclone and started to orbit, scramble and fire.

The other Cyclone was close by and that was targeted too but fortunately it was clear that the first Cyclone was being focused on. The Rebels circled and struck like a school of piranha ripping into the much bigger fish. The action was frenzied with death whirling around and the first Cyclone battlecruiser could not resist the frigate onslaught anymore and it exploded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10279695) in a blaze of glory taking two Rebels with it. Moments later fenistil’s pod appeared but Starwalker ignored that and targeted the second Cyclone.

The second Cyclone knew what was coming and was simply overwhelmed by the remaining frigates. It too burst (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10279722) into a million pieces and managed to take another Rebel with him. This time Starwalker targeted the pilot capsule and before long Parrandin was podded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10279732) and sent back to the clone vat.

The Rebels were elated and picked through the wreckage to claim the loot and to return the stuff of the fallen Rebel pilots. And just like piranha the bones were picked clean and within seconds the area was clear with only the drifting wreckage to mark the site of frenzied killing.

Accidentally Soloed a Retriever

Rebels were out in force in Amamake looking for trouble. Starwalker banked smoothly and shot towards another belt with d-scan running and listing nearby ships. Rebel chatter on the channel was incessant with trivia, spotting ships, groups of ships and speculating on targets.

Starwalker noticed a Retriever on d-scan and narrowed it down to a small area with only one asteroid belt in that area. Starwalker decided to warp to zero and wondered if this would be the first non-combat ship kill. The vast majority of times it seemed that industrial ships were at a POS and not a celestial and consequently untouchable.

To his surprise, the Retriever was in belt and very quickly Starwalker was in orbit and the scramble engaged. Starwalker called for the other Rebels and started to apply damage but the Retriever had already lost more than 50% of his shields. The Retriever went down fast, the kill much faster than expected and so Starwalker accidentally soloed (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10279650) the Retriever. The capsule appeared and was immediately targeted and locked. Starwalker started to shoot the pod but noticed that he was drifting further from Shakauran’s pod and was now 10km away.

Starwalker hit approach but the pod simply disappeared and his first reaction was that the pilot had escaped being podded. However, Shakauran didn’t get away, another Rebel had arrived in time to get the kill on the pod (http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/killmail.php?id=13931517) too.

Hit in Hadozeko

Starwalker got lucky. Urs Falo arrived in Hadozeko in a Rifter just after Starwalker warped to a random asteroid belt at 50km. The lucky part was that Urs Falo warped into the same belt at zero and started to rat. Could Starwalker close the distance and kill Urs Falo before he saw the danger and warped away? Align and afterburner on.

Starwalker’s heart was pounding as the distance closed... but so very slowly. It was around 28km and within target range but Starwalker held not wishing to alert the Rifter. 20km and Starwalker’s Rifter Lick and a Promise bounced off an asteroid and stopped making progress. Aligning again Starwalker hoped that Urs Falo was too busy with the rats to notice approaching death.

Only 18km away and Urs Falo seemed to be fully absorbed with the two rats, was it time to start the lock? No, wait. 15km away, now it was time to start. Lock started, less than 10km, away – locked and then scrambled. It was on. Autocannons started blazing away and Starwalker’s heart was still pounding. The target shields and armour melted away very quickly and then structure.

It was over. Urs Falo stood no chance and his Rifter exploded into a fireball of death (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10211241). The pod appeared in the aftermath of the explosion and Starwalker targeted it but too late, it got away.

Executed in Egghelende

The call had come to head down to Amamake and see what trouble could be found. It would be rude not to answer, so Starwalker headed over there in the trusty Rifter “Lick and a Promise”. Unfortunately, Lick and a Promise had seemed to be developing a few rattles after the encounter with rats in Ladistier but the additional duct tape seemed to be working fine.

Jumping into Egghelende Starwalker saw Red Unit, piloting a Tristan warp away. It was time to hunt. Miura Bull came into system too as the search began and then by chance, Red Unit landed near Miura. Immediately the Tristan was pointed and an easy kill (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10209655). As the Tristan evaporated from existence the pod appeared and Starwalker decided to execute the pod too (http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/killmail.php?id=13872430). Nice easy kill, good start.

Interestingly, there was a capsule only 25km away just floating in space and Starwalker decided to head over to it, assuming it would leave. After all, if the capsuleer was watching events then Aelita Rotsuda had just seen Red Unit podded. However, she didn’t leave and was also podded (http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/killmail.php?id=138724).

After warping back to a safe, the hunt for the next victim started and an Imperial Navy Slicer came onto the d-scan. The scan resolved to a belt and Starwalker called the belt and warped in but the Slicer was micro warp drive fitted and just out of range. A couple of other Rebels came in to try and catch the Slicer but it was too fast. However, the Slicer was looking to play as it kited around just outside of range. This quickly grew tiresome for the Rebels as it was clear that the Slicer would not engage.

It was a different story with a Drake that was ratting. It was pointed and the Rebels converged onto it in their Rifters. The Drake was fighting for its life and the missiles were hitting targets and lots of Warrior II drones filled the area. Starwalker engaged the drones but was quickly taking lots of damage from the drones and not killing them anywhere near fast enough. Shields dropped to zero and quickly the armour started giving way and was down to 25%. This was not good, time for Starwalker to leave and he warped to a station to dock and repair.

Going to the station was not the brightest idea as the station opened fire and Starwalker took even more damage but it was only one hit and the repairs were done. Other Rebels called that they could not hold much longer and to get back fast. Starwalker headed back to the fight and arrived almost at the same time as another Rebel but just too late. The Drake was no longer scrambled and was able to warp away in structure. Close but no kill.

Rebels decided it was time for a break and dock up. Starwalker docked in a random station and Miura Bull demonstrated a bit more experience by selecting the quieter Aliette system to dock. Live and learn.

Solo Thrasher Kill

Starwalker knew that he had messed up with the Punisher that got away but was pleased to have found a fight after what had seemed like ages. After some nanite repairs and a quick jaunt away, Starwalker returned to Adirain. Just as he jumped in WirtuEks Deninard was there with a Thrasher and just warping away. Just like buses none come for ages and then two come close together. The Thrasher was a dangerous frigate killer but given a young pilot it was a chance worth taking. Target acquired, hunt on.

After warping around and looking for the Thrasher with d-scan it seemed to be back at a Stargate. May be it was hunting too? Starwalker warped in at 100km and saw on grid that the Thrasher was 254km away. Just as he started to burn towards it the Thrasher warped to the gate. Maybe the Thrasher was looking for a fight? On a hunch Starwalker started to burn away from the stargate to get 150km away from it and checking for the Thrasher. The Thrasher was closing the distance, the fight was on.

Once the range had been gained from the stargate Starwalker turned and burnt towards the Thrasher. Lock, orbit, scramble, fire - check scramble, just in case. The Thrasher had not fired as the distance closed so this was going to be a brawl and Starwalker hit overheat to maximise damage. It was close, very close.

The Thrasher was into deep armour but the Rifter shields were nearly gone. The Thrasher entered structure but now the Rifter armour was disappearing in great chunks and suddenly no capacitor, the Thrasher had drained it and could now get away but it would be suicide to try now. This was do or die and given how close it was to killing the Rifter it decided to stay to try and finish the job.

It didn’t, it exploded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10174318) just as Starwalker entered structure. This was a long awaited and very satisfying kill. However, checking the killmail Starwalker realised how lucky he was as if the pilot had used faction ammunition or fitted a damage control II it would have been a different story.

Celestis Cruiser Kill

The Rifter banked smoothly around the asteroid belt and shot forward as the warp drive kicked in. A strange rattling noise emanated from the right side and Starwalker looked at the control panel for any sign of fault. Nothing showed but then again it seemed like only half the controls were working at all. A mental note was made to actually pay for real repairs and replace some of the duct tape with real nano welded plates.

The Rifter dropped out of warp to find a Celestis cruiser dealing with some pirates and Starwalker decided to help... himself to the loot. After all, the pilot – Kevin Bois – was too busy shooting pirates and collecting the loot would save him the trouble. The first two wrecks gave up some trinkets and Starwalker decided to say “Hello” by targeting and orbiting the Celestis at 600m. The Celestis targeted the Rifter – hello! So Starwalker waited expectantly for the Celestis to open fire. Nothing happened. Starwalker waited longer but still nothing, perhaps the Rifter was too close?

The last wreck was some 20km away so Starwalker decided to tempt the Celestis by getting further away and so headed to the wreck to collect the remaining loot. The Celestis opened fire just as the loot was taken and so it turned red – the fight was on. Starwalker checked the damage report and noticed that the excellent hit had done virtually nothing to the shields, so it was time to move in for the kill. The Rifter sped back towards the Celestis, manually piloted to just one side, to have at least some traversal velocity. Quickly the distance closed and Starwalker applied the lock, guns and scramble as the Rifter settled into orbit with the afterburner going.

It was clear very quickly that the Celestis really wasn’t doing any damage and was going to go down. The Rifter circled its victim with guns blazing away and rockets slamming into the cruiser and the little red bars went through shield, armour and structure. The Celestis exploded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10057191). Starwalker looked through the cruiser wreckage and noted the slim pickings, perhaps the repairs would have to be done later.

It was also obvious why the cruiser had done so little damage – the high slots had a railgun, miner, salvager and missile launcher. This ship fit was a classic case of trying to create a general purpose fit that is consequently no good at anything. Starwalker made a mental note to not repeat that mistake and always to fit for a specific purpose.