"EVERYONE WANTS A CAPITAL SHIP KILL MAIL. Remember that, EVERYONE wants one. FREAKIN EVERYONE! If your grandmother that doesn’t play Eve heard about their awesomeness, she’d want one too."
Logging in around 01:15, it's quiet. No fleets up, no serious reports in Intel or Alliance chat. I say Hi to Illauron and Jack, both of whom are online. Within minutes, there is spam in alliance chat from Chad VanGaalen requesting DPS for a carrier kill. Everyone wants a carrier kill in their logs, right? I hop in the best BC I have (actually, the only BC I have in 4C at the moment), a Neutron Brutix, and undock, join fleet and get the destination from Chad's current location. 18 jumps out... ugh, OK fleet is forming up but we are short an FC. I warp to the LGUZ gate, and as I land there is a neut frigate there. I spin up the tracking boosters, start targeting, get set to release my drones...oops. I've undocked without any drones. I still target him, and unload a couple rounds (missing as I am fit with T2 Heavy Neutron blasters and am still 8k away from a frigate) as he jumps back out of the gate. I head back to the station to correct my drone mistake as the fleet continues to build.
Undock again, and head back to the gate, and finally an FC calls and we are to hold on LGUZ until the fleet is ready. At this point Chad is getting a little nervous about how long it will take us, the Thanatos is doing a plex and is almost done. Chad tells us to "burn burn burn" best speed to 00GD-D. There are about 10 of us on gate, as we jump into LGUZ (still without a scout) and we start running for Fountain. The fleet continues to grow as we make our way down the Sword pipe in Outer Ring, and after 3 jumps we've got a scout moving +1 then 2 systems ahead. As all pilots are burning best speed, the fleet is staggered across multiple systems, which (in retrospect) may have helped us. Just as we are approaching Fountain Chad informs us that the Thanatos is aligning out, and has finished the plex. The FC calls for him to tackle and the fleet to move as fast as possible. The actual destination is posted, with directions to avoid the IT station system next door, we are headed for CHA2-Q. Chad is holding the carrier in his Tengu, steady at 90% shields, we are burning as fast as our Battlecruisers will take us ignoring everything (including neutrals on gates) in an effort to get to Chad.
"There is a Paladin on the field" Chad reports "I'm being targeted."
Fo Shizz (FC) tells him to hold on as best he can, and our logistics and interdictor to burn ahead and get support as soon as possible. We are still 8 jumps out.
"1/3 shields" Chad's voice is a little nervous - he's in a Tech 3 cruiser and will lose a ton of skill points if he gets popped. "I have to warp out - and the carrier is warping out too."
The fleet continues to move, forming up on the C1XD-X gate in 00GD-D. Scout goes +1 again, as we now sit on gate, 17 Battlecruisers deep in IT/BLAST territory, waiting as Chad smacks in local with the carrier pilot.
"I've got him convinced I'm alone. He's headed to another complex" Chad reports. "I'm scanning him down now. I've got him - warping in."
We jump into C1XD-X, now two jumps out and aligning to B32-14 as Chad comes back up "Crap. He's warping back to his POS." The fleet stops two jumps out, on the B32-14 gate in C1XD-X, as Shizz comes up on comms.
"Everyone log out now. Log out, log back in to the character screen and stare at your pretty picture. DO NOT click any further. Log out NOW."
A tense few minutes follow as we sit blind, on vent, waiting for instruction. Shizz begins instructing us on the procedure to follow. "Ok - when we log in, jump, warp, jump, then join fleet. Do NOT join fleet until you are in system with Chad, then warp to him."
There's a lot of chatter on Vent now.
"Fleet comms guys. I'm going to mute people if you don't shut up!" barks Shizz.
"Ok" Chad speaks up "I've got him pointed again"
"Everyone log in and jump jump jump!" commands Shizz.
"The Paladin is back on the field" reports Chad.
We are auto-warping back to the gate. A fleet invite pops up on my screen. I click at it to make it go away.
"I'm at 50% shields" reports Chad.
As I land on the B32 gate, I start spamming the jump button. You cannot complete this action due to fleet smacktalk Crap. I clicked the join button on the fleet. 30 seconds of waiting before I can jump. I kick myself for explicitly doing what Shizz warned us not to, but since I'm stuck I go ahead and add Chad to my watch list. Smacktalk ends (the longest 30 seconds of my day) and I'm able to jump - warp - jump into CHA2-Q. Chad is now getting reps as the logistics and dictor have landed on the field. We target the fighters and drones first, Chad has to warp off to break target locks and repair up, everyone lays damage on the Paladin, which pops fairly quickly, then we start in on the carrier, which has entered Triage. Armor tanked carrier takes no real time to go through shields, but he's got a good tank and great repping, as we can't break his tank. Everyone is unloading everything we've got on this Thanatos, and we can't get him below 50% armor. There is some discussion of overheating, but we are waiting. Local starts to climb, and our scout goes to G95F-H to make sure an IT fleet does not drop on us and ruin our day.
The carrier goes into another triage cycle as we continue to unload our ammo into it, still not breaking the tank. Now our fleet has grown to 26 as we continue to unload into the carrier, now in it's third triage cycle. Suddenly an Iteron is on the field, headed for the carrier.
"Target the hauler. Target the hauler. They are attempting to re-stront the carrier!"
4 guys pop the Itty, and the can, and the wreck, before the carrier can re-stront. I check my hold. I have 4 rounds left in the hold and 23 rounds in my guns. I cycle down the guns, unload to the hold, and ungroup my weapons. I'm going to run out of ammo before we finish this, and there's a fight brewing on the way out! I get the guns reloaded and start them firing again, just as we break the tank a support gang finally arrives. We start targeting the support gang under orders until the FC realizes we have broken the carrier tank.
"All DPS on the carrier - All DPS on the carrier - overload your weapons - DO NOT burn them out" orders Fo Shizz, as we continue to unload on the carrier, his support fleet (which has been jammed beautifully by King Voodoo) warps off, realizing we have won the carrier and they will be cannon fodder in moments. My guns are cycling empty. I have one blaster with 23 rounds left as space fills with a bright blue explosion and the carrier ceases to be.
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