don’t trust raxip

If he has an idea, question it. If he has a plan, take it apart. If he suggests you jump two battleships into a blob roughly 15 minutes after you’ve woken up from bed while you’re riding in your Crystal clone, just self destruct the ship and pod yourself. It’s more efficient that way.

Roughly 30 minutes before I logged in, Raxip had jumped a Brutix unscouted into nullsec, inspired by Club Bear videos that this would lead to enjoyable PvP against small gangs or solo targets. Unfortunately for him, the Polish alliance Yarr and Co have been active in the B-VIP pipe Raxip had decided to try first, and he didn’t make it far from the pull bubble the polacks snagged him with. So, thirty minutes later as I log in with bleary eyes to adjust skills and market orders, all I knew from what Raxip was telling me was that dudes killed his spaceship and needed to die. My morning addled brain decided to not question much and I headed over with a Rokh.

While I did have the presence of mind to log an alt scout on in B-VIP, Raxip’s constant prodding over voice comms meant I shouldn’t give a lengthy look at local numbers, ship types, so on of the camping force. So we jumped in hoping for the best. A force three times the size as the one that ganked Raxip before greeted us, as well as two carriers. I didn’t even have the presence of mind to swallow my blue pill booster before losing the ship, and hastily sent my pod towards the gate where I knew they had a pull bubble.

As I alluded to earlier, the same pod housing my 600mil crystal clone. Nothing quite like 750mil down the tubes twenty minutes after waking up to set the mood for the day.

Regardless, after our poddings we quickly reshipped, myself in a Rifter and Raxip in another active tanked Brutix, and set out to give the lowsec loop a try. Six jumps away in Skarkon I happened upon a Dramiel who after seeing me on a gate decided to warp to a nearby belt. Two can play this game; I warp my Rifter to the belt in pursuit, only to meet a Dramiel who doesn’t even bother to lock the Rifter before activating his afterburner and scoot away at 2km/s.

For the record, my 200mm plate fit Rifter flies at 1.1km/s. Dramiels are broken.

Anyway, I move on, jumping into Ennur to happen upon a Rifter on a gate. From the previous day’s fun I’ve become an outlaw, which allowed the opposing Rifter to engage at will. 150mm autocannons stitched lines of carnage across my frigate’s shields before I could even lock back: the day’s first decent fight! I return lock, set a wide 5km orbit path and return the favor, opting for barrage to bleed the enemy Rifter down.

It quickly becomes apparent that the opposing Rifter didn’t anticipate this response, and after a minute of orbiting at range my foe explodes, leaving me to discover a complete lack of barrage in his wreck, despite T2 autocannons. Two armor explosive resistance rigs meant I still had some trouble breaking his tank. A good fight overall.

Quickly moving on to sate the impatient Brutix flying behind me, I jump into Meildolf. An uncharacteristic number of pilots were in local, and I set to discovering their location. I eventually locate them on our outbound gate: a Myrmidon, Hurricane and Wolf camping the Illamur gate. In good humor from the previous engagement, I warp to the gate and begin orbiting, showing plenty of leg for the enemy gang to appreciate. They appreciate my outlaw status so much that both BCs engage, leaving the Wolf to catch me on the other side.

I jump through with the Wolf following, requesting Raxip to meet me in Illamur to deal with the Wolf. Raxip, two jumps out complies, leaving me with a rather mean looking assault ship to deal with. I opt to burn away, mindful that the battlecruisers next door have less than a minute before they’re able to jump through and join their comrade. I want enough range where the two battlecruisers will be some time in aiding the Wolf, however that’s a two edged proposition as it also means Raxip has the burn that far to aid me. Roughly 30km from the gate, the Wolf turns around to return to the gate, likely hearing from his friends that a Brutix is inbound. Raxip jumps through, followed immediately by the two enemy battlecruisers.

The enemy Cane decides to engage Raxip, who isn’t outlaw and incurs sentry aggression for his efforts. Uncertain that the Myrmidon would do so as well, and with an additional Harpy landing on the gate, Raxip continues to burn away as we’re both left guessing what the enemy gang’s true size is. The Harpy doesn’t give me much time to think, as it MWDs right into scrambler range and begins pounding me with 75mm railguns. I trade tackle and engage, holding the frigate down long enough for Raxip to burn into range and aid me. Evidently the Harpy had shot at Raxip as well, as roughly the same instant that Raxip burned into blaster range the Harpy lost its shields and exploded. The mail confirms that sentries saved my ass; I never knew a 75mm railgun fit could be so vicious against frigates!

With the Hurricane mauled by sentries itself and the Harpy down, the enemy gang burned back to gate and jumped into Meildolf. Sensing blood, we set to pursuit, following them through the gate and to what looked like a planet. Mid warp we caught a glimpse of their ships on overview, which meant they were in a mid safe rather than the planet itself. Hoping for the best, we decided to wait at the planet.

Our patience paid off, as after roughly half a minute of waiting the Wolf landed at the planet! We set to work, scrambling and webbing the frigate, while I tried my best to stay on the outer edge of scramble range. Even at eight to nine kilometers, the Wolf still stripped my shields in two volleys and was barely held off by an overheated SAR. Raxip and I had the assault ship in low armor before his two friends arrived, succumbing about the same time the Myrm and Cane resolved lock.

At this point it was a Brutix and a Rifter versus a Myrm and a Cane. Fortunately the Cane still had low armor from previous sentry aggro, however half a minute into hostilities Raxip called out he was being neuted heavily by both battlecruisers. This meant he didn’t even have enough cap to fire his blasters, which meant my little Rifter had to take down an armor tanked buffer Cane sitting at 20% armor and full hull. It wasn’t going to happen before Raxip exploded.

It was only a dozen seconds more after Raxip related his capacitor problems that he exploded, leaving me five kilometers away from both battlecruisers. I aligned to a celestial and began burning away, somehow avoiding the neuts Raxip had experienced while failing to overheat my afterburner. Regardless, I somehow managed to create enough distance to range the disruptors and warp out in half hull.

Raxip reships to a Raven he had nearby, and returns, however the two pilots decide to wait down GCC and leave for an adjacent highsec system. We manage to catch a Rupture from the same corporation in Illamur, though the full meta 0 fit and lack of two lowslots meant I could have soloed the cruiser with a full rack of civilian autocannons. We decide to call it a day shortly afterwards.