When in an Interceptor, do not mess about with Stealth Bombers in the confusion of a fleet flight. I learned this the hard way a couple nights ago. A moderately sized group of Amarr loyalists had set out looking for a fight, shipped mostly in expendable T1 cruisers and frigates. Given Amarr have been consistently and massively outnumbered – and outgunned, what with the Minnie’s becoming more comfortable of late flying expensive T2 ships – this was a known suicide op.
Furious however had only a Crusader (Amarr interceptor) anywhere within 10 jumps, so I signed on with the fleet wincing a bit inside, knowing I was about to take a 15 million+ ISK loss.
Crusaders are a blast to fly – in FW of late I’ve been shipping in both Crusaders and Maledictions, and marveling at the feeling of ripping through space at 6 km/s – unrigged, no implants, so not horrifically expensive. With that speed though comes an entirely new style of play I’m still adjusting to. With speed being your sole defense, you must do everything possible to preserve it – staying out of web range, managing your cap to keep your microwarpdrive functioning, and avoiding at all cost flying straight at or away from anything that had decently ranged guns.
Add to that list – always pay close attention to stealth bombers in the enemy fleet. We had gathered in the Auga system and hugged a gate, daring the vastly superior Minnie fleet to jump in and make for some fun PVP all around. While the slow T1 ships clustered around, I took to joyriding in a 10km orbit around the gate at just shy of max speed. A few Minnie’s in system starting showing up at 100km+ range, poking about and we assumed gathering intel. Nothing much to bother…until the Hound showed up. When it locked me up I at first though nothing of it – then I noticed the distant but rapidly closing exhaust plumes of several cruise missile inbound on my position.
In my other life (my alt – Daniella) I have plenty of experience taking out frigate-sized targets with cruise missiles, at all ranges and speeds. So when I saw their fiery trails inbound, I started stabbing at warp out to any random celestial I could find. My shipped accelerated into warp just in time for the mammoth missiles to pass harmlessly behind.
Mr. Hound, however, came back to haunt me a few minutes later when the battle was joined.
Over voice comms I heard reports of the enemy jumping in. Local saw a massive 50+ red spike, lag blew away my ships responsively (another major enemy for the speed tanker), and the FC started calmly calling targets – most expensive ship on scans first. Theory being popping one good T2 + rigged cruiser or above would more than offset the ISK lost if our entire fleet went pop. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, and having already prepped my accountants for the expected ship loss, I set warp to zero on the gate and charged on it.
Somewhere in the deep of space, a distant yet distinct “Leeeeerooooy Jenkiiiinnnnnns!” cry could be heard.
Arriving on gate my overview exploded in red. I locked up the designated targets, set MWD to max and 10km orbit (at speed this translated to an effective 13-15km orbit – just out of reach of most Webifiers), and set my disruptor and 4x Dual Light Pulse lasers to auto cycle. A Rifter died to our combined fire, then a battlecruiser, a cruiser, and more. However…the Hound. I forgot about the Hound.
No one managed to Web my up in the melee – lucky, given my varying orbits even at speed took me well within Web range of any number of targets. Another important lesson for this new Interceptor pilot. But the Hound didn’t need a Web, he had cruise missiles. In the excitement I missed seeing his targeting sensors lock on, and didn’t realize I was in danger until after the first missile impacted on the Crusader’s fragile hull. 100% of shields gone, and 20% of armor – in one blast. The 2nd missile impacted moments later, and there may have been a third for all I know, not that it mattered. They shattered what remained of my armor and ripped my hull to shreds. After a brief flash my pod ejected me into space, and training born of time in null-sec space kicked in and helped me warp immediately out to a distant planet.
So my first set of lessons, hard won, on flying an Interceptor in PVP. The Duck’s Stinger was a fine ship, though short lived. She’s already been replaced with The Duck’s Stinger II, fitted out and ready to burn.
Thanks for coming back for another visit!
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