Participants:
Spoiler
Combat:
Danny Algaert
Slyham Ormand
Philos Aideran
Scout:
Rayni Ptarth
Advice:
Talenelat Stonesinew
Danny Algaert
Slyham Ormand
Philos Aideran
Scout:
Rayni Ptarth
Advice:
Talenelat Stonesinew
Things started off like most other afternoons, with Rayni or I scanning down a wormhole and reporting any that looked interesting signature wise and safe killboard and occupant wise. I scanned down a C2, J134006, off Scolluzer, which I'd been in only 4 days ago based on the timestamps of my safe spots, that looked relatively untapped and had no upwell structures present. Rayni had drummed up some interest among other HSC members to join us in clearing sleeper sites and huffing gas. I fully scanned the C2, J134006 and bookmarked the adjoining wormholes for Rayni to assist me with investigating. After a bit of loose disorganized PvE in the C2 and an C3 next door we decided to reship to battlecruisers to begin clearing sleeper sites, the goal of the trip into J-space. Rayni was in charge of the expedition however while he scanning in an adjoining C1 the hole closed behind him so he asked me to take Philos and Slyham into the C2 and begin without him while he scanned his way home.
Rayni went over some j-space basics with them while I took a smoke break, when I returned we jumped into the C2 and begun on a Perimiter Hanger of which there were 9 in the hole. I had explained the triggers to them and tagged the ships to indicate kill order as well. We cleared it quickly and once the MTU had pulled all the wrecks in we scooped and went onto the next one. The second site was a little dicey to begin with, someone had killed the first wave leaving us warped in 70km from a battle and 2 cruisers who were able to apply their full 422 DPS to me. I had to warp off as although is below the peak passive regen of my shield the volley damage prevented me sitting at that peak regen. This allowed the others to reach their engagement range and I warped out and back in to a set piece and we cleared the site without issue, just one more warp off to switch aggro. With the MTU scooped we proceeded to the next site and begun clearing the non triggers together.
The fight:
I noticed a heron on d-scan but did not feel concern. Shortly after a Megathron appeared on d-scan. I called this out on comms and that we needed to get out. I initialised fleet warp to a safe spot but there had been a miscommunication and Philos had warped straight to exit hole. We now had a Sacrilege and Sabre on d-scan with us. He informed us the hole was bubbled and he was not on the hole. Philos' Brutix then his capsule went down just off the exit hole and hostile combat probes went up. I only had 2 safes in this system and it wasn't particularly wide but I wasn't ready to sit still and wait to die so I begun hopping us between celestials and safes making extra safes as I went. The Sacrilege came hurtling onto our overviews just as we aligned out and I begun switching the safe's from my personal folder to the corp bookmarks to allow Slyham to align himself as soon as we landed. We hopped around a little more but were having issues with corp bookmark delay. Slyham couldn't see the newest bookmark I'd created and I couldn't recall which one had burnt earlier and he got caught as I tried to squad-warp us out. Slyham's Myrmidon went down and a minute later his capsule went down too.
The Chase:
I was alone in jspace with multiple unfriendlies and the way home unsafe. An uncomfortable but not unfamiliar situation. But this time I had no cloak. With the way out blocked I opened the mapper to look for other ways out, the only other scanned k-space connection being on the other side of the hole Rayni had got stuck in earlier. As I warped from safe to safe making new ones as I went I checked my hold, knowing I had a mobile depot, and realised my probes and scanner had been left in my other Hurricane when I was switching them over a day or two earlier. The only way out was through the bubbled hole to Scolluzer and if I couldn't make it through there before it closed I'd have to die or self destruct. Rayni had made his way to Scolluzer by this point and jumped into a corvette to peek through the hole every 5 minutes. He called out the bubble was down but almost as soon as it was said the bubble was back up. I called time in chat and frantically checked the item info to find out the exact duration, all the time still bouncing around between safes. Around this time Talenelat dropped down into the comms channel we were in and offered some advice and answered some questions. My plan now was to try initialise warp to the hole if they let bubble drop again but otherwise to keep bouncing between safes. Suddenly the Sacrilege landed on grid with me and a moment later the Sabre had landed and dropped a bubble. I locked the Sabre and begun firing and launched drones, which were soon picked off, as I tried to burn to the edge of the bubble furthest from them. The Megathron landed on grid as my shields, then armour, then hull all screeched away. Stuck in the middle of a bubble in my pod I switched to local and responded to their "good fight" with one of my own as I woke up back home in Amygnon 101.
The Aftermath:
I greatly enjoyed the chase around J134006 and was pleased with myself for making it 29 minutes from the first ship loss to my own. Rayni compensated the value of the Myrmidon and Brutix for Slyham and Brutix out of his own pocket, a very kind act, as well as offering the same to me. I was curious how they'd caught me so I messaged the Sabre pilot who'd thanked me for the great chase in local. I knew combat probing can be done fast with the aid of d-scan but I didn't think I was in one spot long enough. It turned out I'd reused a burnt safe. In my rush to stay in warp or aligning constantly as well as frantically looking up information, wormhole maps and my cargo I had failed to delete my burnt safes and it turned out I'd warped back to one in error. She also made me an offer to come join them in the future, something I'll definitely feel out when I feel like my time in the uni has come to the close. She then sent me 300M isk to share among us to aid us with ship replacement. This more than covered our losses, so I kept enough replace my ship then sent the rest to Rayni. The bulk of it was to cover the isk he'd sent out shortly before and I suggested he hold onto the rest in case we need to do another personal SRP as a result of our little day trips. Later the Sabre pilot mailed to let me know something else and when I mentioned this was a good opportunity to swap to a Drake she shared her corps C2 fit for newer members. I really appreciate older players like this who are hostile in space but friendly in chat turning bad or neutral experiences into enjoyable ones.
For me personally this was a really positive interaction, although very intense while in progress, both the hunt in j-space and the conversation with our killers afterwards. However I understand this probably wouldn't have been as exciting for Philos, dying at the beginning on a bubble that had just been launched or for for Slyham who didn't have as much agency as I did, relying on squad warps due to corp bookmark delay.
For Next Time:
I was over eager to "provide content" as Rayni and I have often had difficulties encouraging others to join us on our day trips. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the safety of this hole due to Rayni's reports on a particular neighbouring hole but didn't want to ask people to wait while I reshipped and scanned again after the C1 we were planning to run got disconnected from us. I also neglected to have everyone created private safes upon entry to J134006 something which could have prevented or delayed both my squad mates deaths or at least allowed them to feel more agency in their deaths. Lastly, after only a Heron on d-scan I didn't want to ask them to leave the wormhole and look for a new wormhole to run as I didn't want to make j-space seem tedious to them. Any one of these things may possibly have prevented one or all of the ship losses and I hope not to have made j-space seem unenjoyable for Slyham or Philos due to my errors.
The Kills:
Philos Aideron's Brutix
Slyham Ormand's Myrmidon
Danny Algaert's Hurricane
