Serpentis Watch and the EVE Player Blogroll

Got a note from the reputed "Blogfather" Crazy Kinux today, the third iteration of my EVE blog has made the basic EVE Players Blogroll. Crazy Kinux has been blogging about EVE for quite sometime, and if you don't know about his blog (or the rest of the blogroll) you should check them out.

Yesterday I took out my all-purpose complex Myrmidon to wander around the edges of hisec empire and probe out any interesting complexes in the less trafficked systems. Got lucky in my destination system with a hit on the unknown Complex "Serpentis Watch." A quick check of the Neocom database did not reveal anything about this complex beyond an error where it appears on the scanner but is vacant. Warping to the signal, I encountered a single acceleration gate, unguarded but for a beacon warning that the Serpentis do not take kindly to visitors. Ignoring the warning, I activated the gate, warping deeper into the complex.

Arrving in the second area, I was almost immediately targeted by a group of Serpentis pilots - mostly flying Destroyer-class ship, some in Cruisers. Examining all data on my overview, I realized there were 5 such groups, two included more advanced cruisers, likely the squadron leaders. As I returned fire and deployed drones, I intercepted communications revealing that the two command cruisers had requested backup - and that included a commander in a Bruitx-class Battlecruiser. My overview was literally full of hostile ships, pounding on my armor and wearing down my defenses - it must have been almost 20 cruisers, 20+ destroyers, the commander and his 5 lieutenants. They pounded on my ship, taxing my armor repair systems to their utmost, as my railguns and drones slowly worked through the enemy ships. At one point, they had managed to get through my armor, damaging my probe launcher and other core components directly, before they were all destroyed. As I destroyed the commander's ship, Aura informed me that an acceleration gate had just activated. Preparing for more reinforcements, I reloaded my guns and continued cycling my armor repair systems. When none arrived, I cautiously approached the gate, then, once my armor was fully repaired and my shields had partially recharged, I activated the second gate.

Coming out of warp, my overview was filled with structures, but only a handful of Catalyst-class destroyers - perhaps 4 or 5. I made short work of them as I examined the other items on my overview. Far above the main structure, there was a Smuggler's Gate, much like the ones I'd seen in Cloud Ring. Although similar, this gate looked less sturdy than it's fellows in the reaches of nullsec, so I targeted it with my heavy drones and rails, deciding to end the Serpentis secret entry to this system. As the gate began to take damage, my combat alerts went wild. Almost a duplicate squadron of vessels to the previous area were arriving through the Smuggler's Gate, hoping to defend it before I could destroy it. Knowing how close the previous battle had been, I immediately aligned to a nearby planet, activated my afterburner, and began targeting the nearest ships. Molten charges from my guns (and theirs) tore across the reaches of space, but I was better prepared for this group of pirates, and destroyed them one by one, when suddenly the gate activated again. Cursing that I had forgotten to destroy it completely, I saw another dozen ships arrive on scene, mixed cruisers and advanced frigates. Assigning my drones to finish off the gate, I continued to burn away from my enemies, peppering them with railgun charges. It was then that my chief gunner informed me that I was out of antimatter ammunition, and had only one full rack of Uranium charges I had looted from a ship in the previous area. I would have to depend on my drones to finish off this threat.
Slowly my drones worked through the ships, I would occasionally have to recall and recharge their shields as my opponents targeted them, but eventually nothing remained but the 30-40 odd wrecks. Knowing I was extrememly low on ammunition, I immediately examined the cruiser and battlecruiser wrecks looking for unused rounds to refill my empty guns, as I let my armor repair and capacitor recharge, knowing that this pirate den was closed...for now.

Serpentis Watch (Unknown Combat Site)
Room 1: Acceleration Gate, no NPCs
Room 2: 4 groups of 3 Destroyers/3 Cruisers. Destroying each Corelium Scout spawns another wave of Cruisers and Destroyers. The final wave includes a Corelium Militant Commander (gate trigger). Destroy this ship to activate the Acceleration Gate.
Room 3: 4/5 Destroyers. Multiple Structures. Attack the Smuggler's Gate to activate the final combat spawn - there are at least two of these including the Overseer.