Color blind

The situation was this: Having destroyed his ship in a 1v1 engagement, an outlaw has decided to even the score by force. Flying a Cyclone battlecruiser, I lead the outlaw, now piloting a Broadsword HIC into a trap that would render his ship into a collection of slag. I had just jumped into Istodard, and was leading the Broadsword to the Oddelulf gate. What the Broadsword pilot didn’t know was that I had recruited Biz Quick as aid, and he was waiting for orders on the Istodard gate in Oddelulf. I was to be the anvil, Biz the hammer, and my outlaw acquaintance the crunchy bit between.

I landed on the Istodard gate, and gunned my MWD, piloting the ship up and away from the massive Matari structure. The Broadsword lands only seconds after I started away from the stargate, and initiates his own MWD after me. Reaching 30km, I kill my speedboost and coast for a few more kilometers until reaching 40km. The Broadsword barrels into Warp Scrambler range, I place tackle, and the trap is sprung.

From personal experience, HICs don’t fit warp scramblers: it’d be asinine to fit any midslot tackling module other than a Webifier due to the powerful Warp Disruption Field Generator. This meant not only would the HIC be limited to normal navigation while engaged with me, I could dictate range with my own MWD which still operated under his tackle. Having chased me 40km away from the gate, the Broadsword found himself committed to a foe that out damaged him, tanked him, and most importantly, had backup.

After calling tackle, Biz jumps into system, calls out for a destination to warp to. Cursing under my breath, I inform him the target is right on the gate he just jumped through. Seconds drag while my battlecruiser and the Broadsword exchange lead, and the little bean called Biz’s brain finally stops rattling to give an answer to the dilemma facing his senses. Biz informs me with a laugh that my target is blue to him, and he can’t engage. I hastily inform Biz that I hate him and concentrate on the task at hand: deciding whether I had a snowflake’s chance in hell in breaking the HIC’s tank.

Seconds grow to minutes, and it seems the moderate DPS the Cyclone was putting out might be able to break the Broadsword’s tank. So enthralled with damage data and watching the HIC’s shield reading fill with red that I didn’t notice a new arrival to the field. I did however notice my tank failing and the trickle of damage bleeding through into my armor plate. Biz stated something in local chat, and my eyes flashed to my overview. An Astarte had joined the fray, was 20km and closing.

The Astarte’s flight of Hammerheads combined with the Broadsword’s chattering Autocannons had been enough to rout my tank, which I promptly began overheating to compensate. What would occur when the Astarte arrived in range to unleash his Hybrid turret arsenal, I didn’t want to know. What I did know was that I was low on capacitor and needed to flee.

Instincts kicked in, and I started to MWD away from both foes and aligned towards a celestial. My Warp Scrambler denied the Broadsword the ability to use his own MWD to keep up, and given a rigged Astarte isn’t the most agile of ships, I was able to make range. . however not enough. The Broadsword pilot started his MWD the moment my Scrambler disengaged, and I couldn’t accumulate enough distance between our two ships before my capacitor hungry modules consumed the last of my energy and I was left waiting for the next 800 charge cycle. I was out of shields, out of cap, and had death’s hand closing as fast as the Astarte could lumber forward. I needed a miracle.

Lady luck shined on me, and my ECM drones managed to break the Broadsword’s lock. I mashed the warp command, and sailed smoothly away from the carnage. I gave a deep sigh, and sounded a triumphant laugh. The Broadsword pilot started smacking me in local, and I played along in mocking salute to his skills. Biz, blue to both outlaws, came to my defense in words where he couldn’t in action and the chat soon drew still. After boosting my shields to an acceptably high level, I warped back to the Oddelulf stargate and jumped through to the other side. Biz had scooped my drones, and after both of us docked, he returned the drones while I repaired my savaged ship.

Later that day I met up with Biz once more, and with a few of his friends we managed a few ganks to round out the day’s experiences. It’s interesting to note that while roaming that night and the following day, a few pilots remarked how powerful the Cyclone is, and used it as an excuse not to engage. Powerful? The Cyclone?! Hearing this leaves me in awe of what the mighty Bellicose could do in capable hands!