AAR - EVE Online: Spectator Edition

FC: Cartboard Box

Scout: Letrange

Fleet: Command Loki, 3x Thrasher, 2x Cormorant (Helios scout at the start I believe - correct me if I'm wrong Let!)

Kills: 1 awesomely fit Shadow Cartel Jaguar

Losses: none

Yesterday was the closest encounter I've had with EVE Online for the past month. As you know I left the game on March 15th and even then I wasn't really playing anymore due to massive loss of interest. But recently a few of my Montreal partners-in-crime have resubbed and at our bi-weekly meet last Saturday the guys decided to do a small Wolf Pack roam of destroyers only, with command Loki support boosting a few stats. I decided to go to my buddy Cartboard Box's place to spectate with beer in hand, and boy was it worth it!

Because Cartboard doesn't use a headset I was able to talks to the other guys in fleet on comms once in a while, but I didn't do any back seat driving. I did help at the start by pointing Letrange to various possible hot spots to look into, but that was pretty much it. The gang was starting from the old AMC HQ in Everyshore so my scouting advice was pretty easy: check Mya and Gerper, stop by Alachene, and then check the Elarel-Groothese pipe. The first three systems were completely dead so when all was ready the gang formed up in Altanins and got ready to jump into Low-sec.

The first few systems were quiet but Letrange had spotted a yellow Jaguar heading deeper into the pipe; this got Cartboard's mouth watering (I know cuz I was there beside him!) but instead of rushing after it the gang advanced methodically down the pipe. At about this point Letrange called that he had enough of dual-boxing and parked his Cov-ops alt so he could concentrate on flying his main's Thrasher. He would scout anyway as he had a decent tank which would only get beefed up once the Loki powered up in the same system.

The pipe splits up at the Mannar system; Let had previously checked the Mormelot-Schoorasana side but it was full of C0ven members. Best not tangle with 'em right away. So the gang went the Angatalie-Lermireve way, and in Lermireve two ships were waiting: two Jaguars, one being the yellow previously seen, and the second solid red. Everybody jumped into the Raeghoscon system and this is where the fun began.

Normally a destroyer gang like this one would make mince-meat of two assault frigs, but these two were unbelievably fast and had no problems getting out of dodge. Their tactic was clear: try to split up the gang and kill it by attrition. The dessies' tactic was to have two Thrashers and a Cormorant parked with the Loki at the Lermireve gate to use the gate guns' protection, and Cartboard and Letrange playing cat and mouse to try to land simultaneously on one of the Jags, who were both red by now. Let's just say that the space traffic control over planets VII and X must have gone nuts! It took a lot of work but finally Letrange landed close to the Jags and was able to lay some pain on one, but he was taking a lot of heat himself. But Cartboard's Cormorant and Ricky Hand's Thrasher (flown by my buddy Keemin) were able to get close enough and after about 20 minutes of space aerobatics, one of the Jaguars finally popped. Letrange had been able to escape death somehow and Cartboard, sporting no tank except the bonuses provided by the Loki, was extremely banged up and came very close to popping.

It was only after the battle that we noticed what kind of pirate we were dealing with: Shadow Cartel. And looking at the character's stats it was clear that this guy wasn't used to dying! The second Jag's pilot tried to break a deal with Cartboard for the sweet afterburner that was dropped but Cartboard was having none of it. Anyway for a couple guys it was time to park ships so the gang made its way back to Hi-sec Everyshore and the roam was called a success!

Some congratulations are in order: first to the Shadow Cartel guys for having the guts to field such experimental fits, and the guts to fight outnumbered. Second to Montreal pilot Ilinane who is usually more carebearish for joining the op; the excitement in his voice was showing every time the Jags would come into shooting range :) And finally to my buddy Keemin who gave a shot at dual-boxing in PvP, and successfully getting one of two Thrashers on the killmail. Hey, even I can't do this XD

And as for me, did all this make me want to resub? Well, as I said over the comms as I congratulated everyone, almost. Yes fights like these are what I played for, but I still don't want to have to deal with pretty much everything else in EVE. But yes, at some points in the fight I wanted to be in there, either in a crazy Taranis or in a sniping Thrasher. But oh well, spectating this was actually really fun. I don't know... there's so much of EVE that gets on my nerves that I feel like a subscription is a waste of money. As Letrange said, I still need a much longer break!

But for those who still play, fly dangerous!

o7