The Prey in Poinen had given a good fight and the Rebels chatted in local still warm from the glow of victory. Tomba came on in chat very disappointed that he had missed the fun through real life commitments, especially as he was one of the first to see Pain in Poinen. He was eager to rejoin the fleet just in case there was any more action. He got lucky - it wasn’t over. A Maller cruiser suddenly appeared at the stargate and Starwalker was so surprised that he accidently hit the jumped through the gate rather than approaching the Maller. That mistake was quickly rectified and the battle was on as lock, scramble and guns were applied. The call went to other rebels that the Maller, piloted by Doktor Farlig, was pointed. Surely Doktor Farlig was running out of ships lose?
As Rebels arrived on the scene so did two Ravens piloted by Imperial Damnation and uneX86. These same guys were back again for round two – they really were gluttons for punishment! It wasn’t long before the Maller exploded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10045425). Starwalker was 50km from the two Ravens and started to burn towards them, quickly closing the distance. Lock, fire and scramble.
The Rebels focused fire on uneX86 and before long his Raven was history (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10045424). (The sweet detail on that was Starwalker’s Rifter got the killing blow – a frigate downs a battleship!) Rebel attention turned to the second Raven piloted by Imperial Damnation and it was clear that it would not have much longer in this life. It sent out a desperate distress signal and... it was answered. Doktor Farlig was back in the fight again in yet another ship, this time a harbinger. Some people just don’t know when to give up! J
Despite the arrival of the Harbinger the end of the Raven was inevitable and it duly obliged with another set of fireworks (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10045423) lighting up the sky. The harbinger couldn’t possibly survive the onslaught alone and it too succumbed (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10045422).
It was finally over and much respect to Space Jumpers who brought the fight to the Rebels and kept coming back for more, although it was not the most intelligent decision! J
Starwalker and Zodiac Black were joined by Miura Bull, Drago Issier and ArkReaper in Nomaa. The only contact so far had been with a Ferox but it was suspected that the pilots of Space Jumpers would elect for battlecruisers or similar sized ships. So Miura Bull transferred to a Myrmidon, Drago came in a Megathron and ArkReaper in a Hurricane.
Starwalker and Drago entered Poinen to look around and Starwalker found two pilots (uneX86 and Imperial Damnation) in dock. Suddenly as Starwalker undocked there was a call that a fight was breaking out on the gate to Nomaa and he raced to the scene. It was chaos with Rebels and Space Jumpers firing at each other furiously.
The nearest target was a Prophecy battlecruiser piloted by Doktor Farlig and the Rifter sped into action with autocannons blazing away and scramble applied. Imperial Damnation had also undocked and was flying in a Raven battleship, which targeted Starwalker with his HammerHead II drones. The drones were not very effective but the Prophecy was going down very slowly and the Rifter’s shields started to drop as the drones continued to attack. Eventually, after what seemed an age the prophecy exploded (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10045283) and Starwalker wasted no time - locking and scrambling uneX86’s Ferox battlecruiser.
Starwalker’s Rifter was now taking serious damage as Hornet II and Valkrie drones also tried to apply some hurt. The Ferox had already taken a lot of damage so the Rifter carried on firing away as the shields dropped further waiting to see the Ferox go down. But it was starting to get close, the shields had nearly gone. The Ferox gave a last gasp and then burst into flames (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10045269) and Starwalker warped away with just a sliver of shield remaining, to let the shields regenerate before re-engaging. Starwalker waited for what seemed an age as the fight continued and the shields slowly, very slowly regenerated. When the shields were up to 75% he could wait no longer and warped back in to the battle. Space Jumpers still had two Ravens and a Drake battlecruiser engaging the rebels. Starwalker moved in for the kill, locking, scrambling and firing on the Drake, piloted by... uneX86. He had lost the Ferox and had now come back in another ship! He must be a glutton for punishment.
Starwalker’s Rifter was soon taking damage again from the drones and but he wanted to see the kill, to see the Drake become a fireball. The shields soon dropped again to 5% and the Rifter’s armour and structure would offer no real resistance, he had to leave now. But the Drake was also getting close, maybe just a little longer, just another few seconds. No, the Rifter had to go the armour was already 25% gone so warp was engaged. But, just as the Rifter started to warp away, the Drake lit up the heavens like a firework (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10045272) and a nearby Raven joined the Drake in providing the light show for the locals. The last Raven decided it was time to bug out and the Rebels had emerged victorious.
Starwalker had been stalking the heavens rather unsuccessfully with the Rifter, finding few targets but many heavy assault cruisers and battlecruisers out hunting. Taking on a cruiser would be far too ambitious in lowsec and very dicey in hisec. Whilst out and about another Rebel noted that some war targets were giving him some smack talk in Poinen – time to bring the pain!
Starwalker collected more ammunition and started the trek to Poinen. Intelligence was showing that five targets had gathered in Poinen and so the discussion turned to how to divide and conquer. It was at that moment that Starwalker noticed a single target in Nomaa, just outside Poinen - the101ace was flying a Ferox (Battlecruiser) but he docked up. By now three Rebels were on location all in Rifters and it was agreed to go for the Ferox and to watch each of the three gates: Geras, Saisio and Poinen.
Suddenly Tomba called point and that the101ace had jumped into Poinen. Starwalker and Zodiac Black quickly arrived on scene but Tomba was close to done and was soon destroyed (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10044683). The Ferox then turned its 250mm guns on to Starwalker and with the flight of Hobgoblins I the shields were being decimated by all of the fire. So Starwalker decided it was time to leave as soon he would have no ship. Zodiac also disengaged as not only was he outgunned but now only two rebels were sharing a system with six war targets. There was prey in Poinen and they would fight. It was time to call for reinforcements... and the call was answered.
