Once I checked within the week earlier than final about null sec, the Imperium had simply efficiently dropped a Keepstar within the system U-QVWD, on grid with Pandemic Horde’s Keepstar, resulting in an unprecedented scenario, and one with solely a single doable conclusion: A type of Keepstars wanted to go. Story about that right here.
There goes the neighborhood!
The led to a dramatic name from Pandemic Horde’s chief Gobbins, who declared they had been going to… combat? No. He referred to as for a normal evacuation to the Keepstar in 1P-WGB, ceding the sphere to the Imperium.
The Imperium Keepstar onlined efficiently with minimal Pandemic Horde or Fraternity interference and the Imperium moved into it, making it our staging station in Catch. The story as much as that time right here.
However we nonetheless needed to blow up the Keepstar in U-Q. The battle over the armor timer occurred through the work week, throughout working hours for me, so I missed out. We gained the target whereas our foes patted themselves on the again for truly placing up a protection and inflicting some losses. That set the ultimate timer, after which their Keepstar may very well be destroyed. This timer, as is their behavior, was set within the Chinese language time zone the place PH and Frat are strongest. That meant an early morning occasion. However it was on s Saturday. I may handle that proper? It was simply going to kick off at… 5:00am?
My alarm went off at 4:45am for this combat. My spouse had been teasing me the night time earlier than about this, asking, “You’re getting up earlier than the solar to do what tomorrow? Clarify this to me once more? There’s going to be an enormous combat? No?”
The sacrifices one makes to dwell in California. However that was 12:00 UTC and the remainder of the coalition to the east of me was capable of rise at a extra cheap time. Additionally, the joke is on my spouse, as a result of I get up between 5:30am and 6:00am by myself anyway, so it wasn’t a lot of a battle. She remembers me after we first met, when getting up earlier than 10:00am on a Saturday was one thing of a chore for me.
It most likely additionally says one thing that I do know which alarm to make use of on the iPad to maintain from waking her up.
Hillside is a mild trill
I believe I final used that alarm… set for two:45am… when we beat PH and Frat at X47L-Q in a battle that needed to straddle downtime a couple of yr and a half again. That occasion ended the identical method this one was anticipated to, without a combat. For the construction, the battle is all the time over the armor timer, as a result of the defenders can nonetheless evac at their very own tempo if they should. The hull timer, which ends with the destruction of the station leaves you hanging in house with the would possibly of your foes already massed towards you.
I obtained up when the alarm went off and began up my pc and logged in. The forming up of fleets had already begun, the primary being referred to as at 4:09am my time. By the point I logged within the Raven Navy Situation fleet was full. I used to be planning to try to get into that, since you would possibly as effectively shoot the most important weapon system you’ll be able to. There was a Rokh fleet as effectively, however I didn’t convey a Rokh as a result of you’ll be able to solely match a lot in a fax SMA. There have been two Ferox Navy Situation fleets, one was full and the opposite was struggling to seek out any logi. I didn’t need to fly logi. I must get on a kill mail each month earlier than I swap over to logi… and I wished to be on the Keepstar kill mail.
Then I seen there, in the course of the pings, a fleet on Asher Elias utilizing our Flycatcher doctrine. That doctrine is an experiment to seek out out what occurs while you give everyone an opportunity to bubble the fleet. However I’ll all the time choose Asher if I’ve a alternative of FCs, and it turned out to be a very good choose.
Most individuals had been simply going to be sitting round ready for the timer to down to some extent the place they might warp over and get on the kill mail. There’s a harm cap, so something past that’s wasted effort except there’s a combat. Nonetheless, no opposition was anticipated, and none was supplied. However being a weekend individuals had been piling in to get on the kill. There have been about 3K individuals in system once I logged in, and that quantity climbed previous 3.7K over the course of the morning.
A mass of capitals ready for his or her second
I did a dscan at one level and counted 641 capital ships on grid.
Whereas so many individuals had been hanging round, our fleet had a job to do. We flew on out to the gate that led into the system from the far aspect of Catch the place our foes had been staged and camped the gate… which, in a fleet stuffed with interdictors meant deploying ALL the bubbles.
That gate isn’t going wherever!
So we obtained to goof round and attempt to put bubbles in useless spots… and we even caught a couple of individuals coming and going. There was an Arazu that was useless set to get into the system.
No extra Arazu
There was additionally any person in a Jackdaw… who confirmed up twice. So it saved us busy whereas we waited.
When the Keepstar obtained down to fifteen% we warped again over to that and joined in with everyone making an attempt to get on the kill. There have been ships throughout.
Titans capturing the PH Keepstar
With everyone capturing the tidi floor proper right down to the ten% mark after which some, however the finish consequence was preordained.
One other Keepstar explosion… with ours bearing witness
To date the kill mail hasn’t confirmed up on zkillboard. I’ll hyperlink to it when it does, however typically when that many individuals get on a kill… and the server additionally has to course of all of the asset security modifications… and a staging Keepstar may have plenty of leftover stuff… it takes time and typically the kill mail doesn’t generate in any respect. This gained’t be the primary Keepstar kill mail of mine that was swallowed up by the server, by no means to be seen once more.
There was some cleanup to do after, some bads to chase down, however for probably the most half it was simply a normal construction shoot… the place 3.7K individuals need to get on the kill whereas the hostiles stayed away.
Additionally, I have already got a lime inexperienced Flycatcher SKIN
There have been another issues happening whereas we had been targeted on that. Fanatic Legion ran round whereas all eyes had been on the Keepstar and completed off three Astrahus, an Athanor, and a Fortizar on their very own.
However we weren’t carried out for the day. Shortly after the Keepstar shoot was carried out our Flycatcher fleet, now beneath an alternate FC and Asher needed to get on and ship a particular early Hearth deal with, was bridged over to the EM-L4K constellation the place there was a sovereignty contest kicking off for the sov hub in 1P-WGB.
I discussed that system above as a result of that’s the place the following hostile Keepstar is anchored. We went and lined these operations because the coalition turned the system.
Sov change in three pictures
On the market we had been much less of a blocking power and extra within the conventional position of interdictors, which is warping into the center of hostiles to pin them down so some massive weapons can present up and end them off.
Becoming a member of in on the capturing half
I obtained on a couple of extra kills there. However, should you’re flying an interdictor you might be exposing your self to the enemy who fairly often would really like you to cease bubble and takes it personally that you simply’re doing that, so you progress method up the precedence checklist of issues to shoot. As such, I ended up getting popped after a pair engagements. It occurs.
That was the tip of issues for me. By the point I used to be again in our staging… as a result of I forgot to maneuver my loss of life clone… the sov battle was over and fleets had been simply masking the sov hub deployment. Op success.
The following goal is the Keepstar in 1P-WGB, which already had a timer counting down after we handed by it, stopping on the Fortizar anchored on the identical grid.
Clock is ticking
That can be one other armor timer, so might find yourself truly being a combat. We will see. Nonetheless, that combat, which may have kicked off earlier than this submit goes dwell, would require me to rise up at 3am… and even I’ve limits. Nonetheless, if it does flip right into a contested armor timer, the combat will drag out so I will be part of a reinforcement fleet whether it is nonetheless going once I do rise up.
Our foes have already set their plan in movement… which was the identical because the final plan… retreat. This time they’re falling again to the Utopia system in Curse.
Gobbins publicizes the advance to Curse
No Keepstar to kill there and no sovereignty to lose. I suppose that may be a plus.
Anyway, we will see what the following operation brings.
Replace: Pandemic Horde and Fraternity opted to not contest the Keepstar armor timer in 1P-WGB. No combat at present, so I used to be good to sleep in.
