Jonah's Take On Ronan's Report

Hello everyone, here's my take on some events that fellow Tusker, Ronan Jacques, mentions in a recent post on the Tuskers' Public Relations blog.

I've put my first Stabber on a test run in a recent fleet roam with the Tuskers. The roam was an extension of the one Wensley writes about below, though I joined late and did no participate in any of the fine kills he posted in his report.

So back to the report... I joined a Tusker fleet consisting of Ronan Jacques, Toady11, Avan Sercedos, Grohalmatar, Ka Jolo, and Robert Mason. Immediately upon undocking at Hevrice V I joined in on a fight with a Rook and Manticore. The Rook was called as primary, points were established, and the Rook was easily destroyed. The Manticore was called next and I managed to close the distance before the other Tuskers and establish a point with my Warp Disruptor. Ronan Jacques joined in and the two of us destroyed the stealth bomber under the eyes of the station's sentry guns. My participation in those two kills managed to place me as #4 on Nex Gero's killboard where I remain at the time of this writing.

My Stabber was setup with Tech 1 fittings while I train up for Tech 2 Autocannons, so my turret damage was far from ideal in both fights. Once I can use Tech 2 Autocannons I will be able to switch to Barrage M rounds, which will offer better accuracy at the distances I plan to fight at. My previous missile training while running missions for the Caldari Navy paid off, however, and I managed to get some good missile volleys in and contribute to both fights.

The fleet planned a quick roam outside of Hevrice and I decided to bring the Stabber along despite the inefficient fitting. The roam was going to be a great opportunity to get comfortable in the cruiser class vessel. A Drake was spotted on scan before we could leave the system. Toady11 used his excellent probe skills to track the battlecruiser down in a mission area. Toady11 regrouped with the fleet and we warped in as a group. Points were established quickly and the Drake was quickly lost it's shields. We ceased fire at half armor and a ransom request was offered, though the pilot rejected the conversation invite. The call was made to destroy the ship and we opened fire once more, causing it to quickly fell to our combined arms much as the two ships before. I managed to contribute almost 10% of the damage, which I was happy with considering there were 9 of us in the fleet at this point and I was still only using Tech 1 fittings.

The fleet moved out of Hevrice and ran into no targets until reaching Old Man Star. A Rupture was scanned down and the fleet moved in to engage, though the Minmatar cruiser was fit for extreme speed. The pilot was acting as bait... first one Hurricane and then another warped in to our location and the call was made to escape. The fleet warped out and regrouped in a distant safe spot without losing a ship.

We moved on again and didn't come across any targets until reaching Lisbaetane. A Typhoon appeared on our Scanners and Toady11's scanning skills were put to use again. The battleship was in a mission! Toady11 warped the fleet as a while to the ship's location and we quickly scrambled it's warp drive before engaging. As with the Drake before, the Typhoon pilot ignored the ransom conversation request and the order was given to destroy it. The pod was caught before it could escape and the pilot logged off before we could initiate another ransom request. We made short work of it.

Overall the roam was a great one. 4 great kills and 0 losses! My share of the loot came to around 10 million Isk, my largest from any fleet operation so far. My Tech 1 Stabber was already profitable, which was good considering that I lost it shortly after when undocking at a station in the same system where we killed the Typhoon pilot! The lesson learned is to always check local for hostiles before undocking. :)