2009-05-16 10:27:00, After Action Report

I was patroling theHeimatar boarder lands in my Harbinger battlecruiser, the EVO Pike, when a war target jumped from Auga into Dal, where I was sitting on the gate scanning. I waited. As the seconds ticked by, I knew that the hostile was communicating with a larger group. Single targets generally run or engage quickly when confronted with a battlecruiser.

My suspicion was confirmed when the target decloaked, revealing a Caracal cruiser, and burned back toward the gate slowly. I watched for a spike in local. A few war targets entered system. But was it the vanguard for an assault force or just normal system flux?

By now the Caracal was nearing the gate. The scenarios played out in my mind. If the local spike were the reinforcements, then it would be 4-1 in their favor. I can handle those odds. But if there were more in Auga waiting to jump into Dal, then things would get harry. Without enough tactical information, the situation reduced to a simple evaluation: are you willing to die for the Empire?

Fuck it.

A carronade of 7 T2 heavy pulse lasers focused by Amarr Navy crystals burned into the Caracal. The first volley collapsed the pitiful shield defenses. A second volley melted into Caldari Armor, a poor joke by Amarrian standards. It was the pilot's mad dash to activate the stargate that saved him from certain destruction. As he disappeared from local, the fleeing Caracal left only flames in space. But he had served his purpose.

Zinto Risingsun and Enos Delekore were the first to arrive on the scene, just as the Caracal fled. Now I understood my folly. Interceptors and nano-frigs, they were the front of a larger hunting party coming for me. I rolled the dice, betting the enemy was in Auga and that I could escape after I drove Caracal through the gate. Now my only hope was to destroy or dive off the vanguard before their fleet arrived.

Had it been a single target, I could have done it. Zinto learned the danger of straying too close to the EVO Pike when a web/scram/tracking computer combination nearly cost him his ship. If it hadn't been for his inertia that carred outside scram range, he would have fallen. But in the end, I would push one frigate out of warp disruptor range and the other would hold me down. Both frigs were deep in armor damage when 8 additional ships arrived, a mix of cruisers and battlecruisers, supported by logistics.

It was over, but Amarrian warriors don't fall easily. I chose the most expensive ship on field and opened fire. I poured holy wrath upon Yoshikawa Eveangelicon, who was piloting an Oneiros logistics cruiser. The aroma of burning pod fluid filled my nostrils, in part from the fleet hammering on my hull and in part from my weapons critically overheating. As my pod ejected from the EVO Pike's razed hull, I had the satisfaction of seeing Yoshi's destoryed Oneirose burning in space as I escaped with my clone intact.

Glory to the Empress!

swatyy
[EV-O] CEO