Goudiyah system, Khanid region. On the 29th of November at 11:50 EVE Standard Time, a Revenant super carrier belonging to scorpikoshka, a member of Amok. corporation of the Goonswarm Federation [CONDI], was destroyed in the system, bringing to culmination months of planning.
The Revenant in question belonged to 3Better, formerly of LowSechnaya Sholupen [-LSH-]. If the name strikes you as familiar, it is no coincidence. 3Better had been one of the most renowned super capital hunters in New Eden, responsible for the destruction of countless super carriers and titans in and around the Aridia region.
However, leaving his alliance for Goonswarm Federation, 3Better had started turning on the residents of Aridia, hunting them with the same passion he did super capitals. Using his experience and operation, many capitals fell prey to his Revenant, their losses piling up on the Revenant’s killboard. This blatant disregard for old allies would latter prove to be the undoing of the Revenant.
As 3Better continued to haunt the Aridia region and drop on every capital with impunity, he drew unwanted attention. One of the pilots who started following the Revenant’s exploits was Techstrategyremake of What Could Go Wrong, Escalating Entropy [CHAOS]. A former resident of the area, Techstrategyremake was also a super capital hunter by his own right. Techstrategyremake had been looking for a challenge and seeing the Revenant, chose to make it his target.
It wasn’t going to be easy. 3Better had a good intelligence network and reportedly spies within most of the local alliances. What’s more, 3Better was an experienced super capital hunter who operated only in certain systems. To bait such a pilot would require a lot of planning, resources and most importantly – patience.
Techstrategyremake had a few advantages however. The Revenant had been operating outside the range of both Goonswarm Federation and LowSechnaya Sholupen staging systems. If it got tackled, help would take too long to form and arrive, specifically capitals and super capitals. Another advantage was the fact Techstrategyremake still maintained contacts in the area, specifically with such alliances as Darwinism. [DRWIN]. This alliance was one of the recent victims of 3Better’s activity and was looking for revenge.
The first step was to map 3Better’s activity. Techstrategyremake quickly worked out where 3Better kept scouts and preferred to hunt. After examining all the star systems which 3Better frequented, Techstrategyremake settled on the Goudiyah system as it contained a station with a short docking range. It was a perfect place to bait the Revenant, as it would not easily suspect a badly placed cynosural beacon.
The next step in the plan was to find a staging system. The staging system had to have a station to dock in and still be in range of Goudiyah. Whats more, it had to be clear of local residents and outside the main traffic of the region so as not to alert anyone to the operation. Locating such a system took some time but finally Techstrategyremake found what he was looking for. After making sure his new staging system was sufficiently deserted, he posted a character in it armed with a probe launcher and core scanner probes.
Then came the tricky part: Assembling 15 dreadnoughts. The dreadnoughts had to be produced locally and smuggled into the staging system without anyone finding out. This required some cooperation with local residents. Darwinism.’s leadership was contacted for the order and its executor was more than happy to fulfill it. In a short time, 15 Naglfar dreadnoughts were assembled and brought to the staging system. With the hulls acquired, Techstrategyremake purchased all the needed modules and ammunition and freighted them to the station. All that was needed was to fit the ships.
This is where Techstrategyremake met his first hurdle. Most if not all his dreadnought pilots could be traced to him. To move them to the staging system could possibly alert 3Better of his intentions. Thus a friend was contacted to come down to the area and fit the ships. The pilot, a member of Circle-Of-Two [CO2] flew down to the Khanid region and fitted the 15 dreadnoughts per specifications. Once done, the entire dreadnought cache was transferred back to Techstrategyremake’s hands.
The large number of dreadnoughts was not unusual, as super carriers are able to chew through capital ships quite easily with their fighter bomber squadrons. With recent changes to capital modules, the super carriers had also come to enjoy a robust tank which enabled them to soak up much more damage than before. Yet the real reason for assembling such a large number of dreadnoughts was to take care of any force auxiliaries 3Better might have on hand.
Force auxiliaries are dedicated logistics capital ships, able to repair great amounts of damage. They serve as a replacement for the triage carriers of old, combining an immense tank with remote repair ability and immunity to most forms of electronic warfare. Very few fleets can take down these ships without the aid of capitals. Most super capital pilots often have secondary characters in force auxiliaries to bail them out in case of a trap or a drop gone bad. Techstrategyremake was not taking any chances.
The next phase of the plan required manning the ships. Using his scout, Techstrategyremake probed his staging system for wormholes connecting to friendly space. Each time he found one, he brought spare dreadnought characters into the system, bypassing scouts who might have raised the alarm. Some of the characters belonged to friends and members of his alliance which Techstrategyremake trusted. Slowly the ships were handed out.
At the same time, the bait had to be prepared. The ship chosen was a Rorqual industrial capital ship. The Rorqual had recently been buffed, making it a choice mining vessel. Whats more, its new excavator drones were quite expensive, making it a juicy target. From Techstrategyremake’s perspective, the Rorqual had a decent tank and enough slots to fit heavy warp scramblers. This allowed the Rorqual to survive long enough to tackle the Revenant and wait for reinforcements to arrive and land secondary tackle.
The preparations continued. A heavy interdictor was also brought to the station, as well as a cynosural beacon character. At the same time, Techstrategyremake started roaming the area on a spy character he had in Darwinism.. The character was put in a Vexor Navy Issue cruiser and used mostly to run sites in and around Goudiyah. This was mostly done in order to check 3Better’s activity, as he often chased the ship on his other characters. Darwinism. leadership knew of the character but chose to turn a blind eye for the sake of the operation.
Time passed, but Techstrategyremake kept waiting. Every super capital hunter would tell you that though research, planning, and preparations are all important in their line of work, the most important thing is patience. The ability to wait and execute a flawless trap can be the difference between a successful kill and utter disaster. Thus Techstrategyremake kept watch, looking for a wormhole to pop near Escalating Entropy’s staging and for his friends in dreadnoughts to have free time that coincided with his.
After a few weeks, the stars aligned and on the 29th of November, all the conditions were met. Escalating Entropy secretly assembled a small Proteus strategic cruiser fleet and moved it to the wormhole unseen. At the same time, the dreadnought force assembled, the pilots boarding their ships and waiting for the go ahead signal. Darwinism.’s leadership was notified and put on alert. Finally Techstrategyremake tested the waters, taking out his Vexor Navy Issue out for a spin. Per usual, 3Better chased the cruiser, which promptly docked in Goudiyah, switching to a heavy interdictor.
With all perquisites met, Techstrategyremake logged in his Rorqual and cynosural beacon characters. His cynosural beacon character left the Goudiyah station, purposefully drifting a few kilometers outside docking range before lighting its beacon and allowing the Rorqual to jump into system. The Rorqual materalized outside the station, unable to dock. 3Better quickly siezed on the opportunity and started bumping the Rorqual away from the docking range. Once sufficiently far, he lit his own cynosural beacon and brought the Revenant in.
The super carrier unleashed its squadrons of fighter bombers, preparing to make short work of the industrial capital ship. Yet at that moment alarm bells started ringing. The Rorqual didn’t seem like it was panicking and trying to get away. Instead, it calmly targeted the super carrier and activated its heavy warp scramblers. It was quickly joined by the heavy interdictor which undocked and used its focused interdiction field generator to tackle the Revenant. Effectively, the super carrier was stranded on the Goudiyah station undock, unable to get away.
The heavy interdictor lit a cynosural beacon and the dreadnoughts jumped in, joined by Darwinism. capitals which came to exact their revenge on the super carrier which had terrorized them for many months. They were joined by the Escalating Entropy Proteus fleet which swarmed the super carrier, applying more warp scramblers, thus ensuring that the behemoth could not break free.
For the Revenant, it was game over. There was no surviving this. The dreadnoughts landed close by it, entered their siege cycles and blasted away at it. Carriers unleashed scores of fighter squadrons to aid them in the task while more and more sub capitals poured in, donating their meager firepower. Within moments, the terror of Aridia was overwhelmed, brought down by Techstrategyremake. The hunter had become the prey.
The Revenant caved in quickly to the relentless firepower and exploded in a brilliant flash. The modules that survived its demise were quickly looted from the wreck along with anything else worth salvaging. The loot was given to Techstrategyremake, who had earned it. Darwinism. got its revenge while Escalating Entropy put another notch in its killboard.
The Demise of the Revenant as Seen from the Escalating Entropy’s Proteus Fleet Perspective
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Though the Revenant was destroyed, its not so certain that the terror of Aridia had been brought down for good. No one can say if in a few months a new monster will stalk the star lanes of Aridia and its surroundings, wearing an old name like a mask. After all, in New Eden, even death is only a momentary discomfort.
