Goodfights at the edge of Placid

A while back, I did a post talking about a few of my fights with the Federal Consensus Outreach, and called it part 1, but the sad state of things is that I let my notes get into this overgrown mass of a .txt file, and I can't really distinguish which fights were theres, and which weren't anymore, so part two isn't really on it's way anymore. 

With that said though, I've had a few good run in's with them, and a few others in that area of Placid.

Having docked up for the night in Kenninck, I undocked my Rupture the next day, scouting around the system I found nothing, and docked up again to take care of a few things. Undocking the cruiser, I found that there was a Cynabal waiting for me. Knowing I didn't really have too much of a chance against a ship like that, I attempted to warp off, but it pointed/scrammed me before I was able to, but the station I was at had a nice large docking radius, so I just docked right away again. Undocking again, I looked for anything that may be a good instant-undock, and there was a moon that was close to straight in front. Hitting warp to that moon, the warp drive kicked in just before the Cynabal's computers managed to get a lock on my ship and disrupt the engines. I was free to go.

Or so I thought, as the Cynabal started chasing me, from gate to gate. Figuring he'd eventually give up as we started down the pipe, I was more and more surprised when he kept coming and coming. Calling out to some of the fellow Repo. agents, darmwand and Maleficas both jumped into Hurricanes and we decided to lay a trap for the Angel cruiser. Getting into Covryn, I warped to the Iges gate, where I held, and the Cynabal followed me. Landing next to me, I locked it up, and waited, to see if he would aggress. The pilot never did, but then it clued in to me, since he had fired upon my ship back in Kenninck, I was still able to shoot him without taking sentry fire from the gate. Locking him up, my Rupture's guns wound up and started firing, as he took shots back at me I told the fellow Repo. members that they were free to come. Under the combined fire of our ships, the Cynabal didn't have any chance, we quickly mopped up and grabbed the loot as he warped his pod out.

Before the end of that day, I wandered back out to Kenninck. That system has a certain appeal to me, after catching miners out there a few times, along with people ratting in belts. The trip out there was rather empty, but getting there, I found an Arbitrator in space, but nothing else. Having no luck scanning it down, I went back to the gate, where it also landed. Locking each other up, nobody decided to open fire first. Eventually he warped off to the nearby planet, and I followed. Landing 50km off him, I started burning for him, getting into range, I started the routine. Lock, point, web, open fire & launch drones. Knowing I would probably be tracking disrupted, I hit approach, and webbed him, hoping that would be enough for my guns to track him. Eating through his shields, I hit a wall with his armor, as his drones kept nibbling through mine (after he had destroyed my own drones). Seeing I would be unable to break his tank before my own broke, I started burning away, though scrammed, I still had a speed advantage due to the web. Hoping that'd be enough. At this point I was also given a glimmer of hope, as my guns were actually landing pretty solid hits on him, but sadly it wasn't enough, as his drones delivered the last hit. Warping the pod out, GFs were exchanged in local. I've gotta figure out a better way to deal with those. They're also definitely on my list of ships I want to fly. I'll probably be training all the racial cruisers to III after I train up BCV, but I'll probably spend the extra time to get Amarr Cruiser to IV just for the Arbitrator, since I've invested in my drone skills fairly well now.

Days later, back in this recurring system, I came in and popped  & podded a Retriever while flying a Wolf. This time though, it woke the hornet's nest. All kinds of ships started undocking, many of them heading for the gate, trying to camp me into this dead-end system. Warping around to various safe spots, I soon spotted a Rifter by itself in a belt. Warping in, it didn't take me long to drop the T1 fit Frigate, but as I was finishing it, an Enyo came in. Thinking that I was flying the half-kiting wolf (Ava Starfire's fit) I started aligning out, but letting him get closer to me as I opened fire, though my damage was far less at range then I was expecting.  Getting it into low structure, while dropping to around half armor myself, it managed to run out of point range and warp off before I could get it, too bad. 

Repping up my armor, I kept an eye on d-scan, and soon I found another Rifter, with a similar name to the one I dropped, along with the Enyo in a belt again. Warping in on it, I landed near the Enyo and started to do the same thing, it too had repped it's armor back, but still had the hull damage. Getting in close this time, everything heated it was a race through the armor, with my rep holding out just enough to get the edge. I was able to pull range a few times through the course of our deadly dance, which was just enough to mitigate some of the damage he was able to dish out, while laying the hurt on him (I found out after the fact he stopped using his web to conserve some cap for his rep, not sure it was the best of ideas). With most of his structure already gone from the first engagement, once I got through the armor, the Gallente Assault Ship vented atmosphere, and I turned my attention to the Rifter. Opening fire and getting as close as I could, the Rifter was taking really heavy damage, but with the help of his web started to pull range. Once again, I was perplexed at the damage I was doing at range, but I thought I got him as he wapred out, and I turned my attention once more to another new ship landing here, an Ishkur that landed 40km off. 

Starting to burn towards this new hostile, he warped off before I got too close, so my thought then went to grabbing loot, but that only lasted so long when a Demios entered the belt. That was a little more then I was prepared to try and take on, so I got out of there as fast as my Wolf's warp drive could take me. Waiting out the GCC I had, I jumped the gate camp, and made it un-eventfully back to Iges, no loot, but feeling great after that fight, with getting the ship out. It was when I got back, I noticed what had been bothering me the entire time there, this wasn't the fit that Ava wrote about, but I had put a 200mm plate in there rather then the TE, which had been my standard fit before. 

Fast forward to today. Flying a Stabber Fleet, I made my way out to that side of Placid, and while there was nothing in Kennick, but getting into Espigoure there were a bunch of the Federal Consensus guys out. Seeing a Thorax in a belt, I warped in and burned towards it. Getting in range I turned off the Microwarp and hit the Afterburner, and settled into an orbit around it. Before too long though, I noticed d-scan filling up, and a Drake and Taranis landed on us. Burning down the Thorax, figuring that my tank may be able to hold up to the Taranis and HML Drake, but it seems like I was putting a little too much faith in the DMAR SFI's tank without drugs. It wasn't too long before they had it reduced to scrap metal. 

Talking with Mal on mumble, we decided to grab our Hurricanes and head back down there for round 2. Aaron Stark, a new Repo. recruit joined us with a Rifter as our scout/tackle. Getting back to Espigoure , we decide that if Aaron and I go into system, it may work best as Mal has a shield-cane and could get to us fairly well, and it wouldn't scare them too much. Hitting my directional scanner right away, I noticed something I didn't quite expect, they had some Retrievers out, along with a Moa. Scanning the belt right near the gate, they were there, and I warped right away, not waiting for anyone else, while I called it out on comms.

Landing 20km off the closest mining barge, the Moa warped off, and  I heated prop and tackle to get to the barge, which seemed to be stuck on rocks trying to warp. Landing tackle, it melted under the fire from my Battlecruiser. The other Retriever still hadn't warped off, and was 20km off of me at this point so I started heading over to that one, as a Brutix warped in for Defence... and proceeded to warp out again. Able to get tackle on the other barge, it too didn't last long. I thought about holding it to let the other guys on the mail, but that's when a Drake from their alliance landed. Getting a point on that before it too could warp off, the combined fire of the two Hurricanes dropped it rather quickly, along with grabbing the pod, which he didn't want to pay to keep.

With Aaron scouting us back, we decided to check if there was any action in Kenninck before heading home. Telling him to scan from the gate, and then warp to one of the 9 cluster belts, as the residents seem to dock up rather quickly when Repo. enters system, he ends up in belt 9-1, with a Myrmidon. Getting tackle on it, both Mal and I jump into system and enter warp, as he calls out that he was down already. Sending up prayers that his hero-tackle wasn't in vain, we both land on top of the Myrm and open up. Neuts on it, it didn't seem to have too great of an active tank, and was overwhelmed quickly (our killboard didn't like that, and neither did eve-kill apparently, there were no low-slots, if I remember I'll link the Repo. killboard link when darm works his magic on the killboard and makes those items show).

All in all, even though it's a slow end of the Universe (until you hit Syndicate, but I try to avoid that most of the time, I prefer to keep the impants in my head, I want to get my skillpoints up asap.

This'll probably be my last post for two or three weeks, something like that, but I definitely will be posting when I'm able to again.

Fly dangerous
'Chord