Header art by Empanada
The call came in just as I was returning home from a ratting run a few systems over. The timing was perfect, so I parked my Algos, hopped into my tackle Atron (thank you, GSF Free Frigates Program!) and joined the fleet.
The op was a strategic one focused on entosis – not typically the most exciting excursion. But I’m still new, and still trying to learn everything I can. I’d joined a fleet the night before under the same FC, but screwed up on one of the jumps, got badly separated from the fleet deep in enemy territory, and ended up dropping fleet and skulking home alone. I wanted the opportunity to prove – even if only to myself – that I could manage to follow instructions, stick with the fleet, and play my part properly.
Beyond making sure my ship was pointed in the right direction at the right time, what I expected was a fairly routine milk run. What I got was a window into Goonswarm’s philosophy that “every ship counts.”
As the fleet waited for the entosis ships to do their thing, the FC got word of an enemy ship trying to interfere, and dispatched a group of tackle frigates who weren’t currently scouting (which included me) a few systems over to intercept. I’d been tackled a few times while out ratting (and died quickly each time), but had never intentionally engaged in combat with another capsuleer up until this point. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I navigated as quickly as I could to the coordinates provided.
The Entosis-fitted Prophecy that had been trying to interrupt our mission was still at almost full health, but wasn’t going anywhere – having been tackled by no less than nine of the fleet’s small frigates (including myself) as well as one Confessor. Her drones were gone, and she had no guns, so it was just a matter of time. I added my web, warp disruptor, and nos to the mix, and together we orbited at close range and wore her down.
It was a slow process for a gaggle of frigates without much in the way of DPS. The Confessor, of course, got in most of the damage at 39%. With my weak railguns I managed a respectable 6.9% myself, and it was my KarmaFleet corpmate, Versace Mooch, who delivered the final coup de grace from his Condor with a scourge rocket, while Confessor pilot Tablot Manzari dispatched the pod.
Of the ten of us involved, half were in KarmaFleet, and all but Manzari were in the T1 tackle and e-war frigates on offer from the GSF Free Frigates Program. Together, we relieved the Northern Coalition of a 98 million ISK battlecruiser and had the most exciting action of what was otherwise a routine (albeit strategically necessary) operation, all without losing a single ship.
