That Feeling..

Pride, in the right situations, can become the defining quality of a lot people, while persistence and tenacity may be the defining quality for others.  For us, at the time, Pride, Persistence, and Tenacity, were among the top qualities many of us had, but as a united group, I believe it was the bond we had formed with each other in which we were able to accomplish, not only in the past, but in the battles we had defending what many of us declared our home.  

Personal feelings aside it was with those pilots, and at that time, in which I've had among the most fun in New Eden.  It will never be forgotten nor shall it ever be soiled.

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"The day we took that action, we sealed our fates."

It was not long after the start of the year when it happened.  My alliance was rejoiced and seemed to be thriving in our newly acquired space in Providence.  9-F0B2, a system in the northern part of the Providence region, at the time, a region under jurisdiction of CVA and it's allies, know as the Providence Bloc (Provi Bloc).  Life was pretty good...until that one day.

There was a mail out not too long before, and rumors were all about.  When we received orders from the top, preparations were made.  It seemed like such short notice.  Before long we were in the rally system, one of several, in a combined force that would make several sections of  New Eden blush.  It was really something to behold.  The coordination, a task of near impossibility in itself, was remarkably well done considering the numbers we were dealing with.  The first couple of days went very smoothly, surprisingly enough, due to a distracted enemy...however, it was not long before the tides turned.

I'll never forget that day...I was flying one of several Heretic-class Interdictor ships.  I knew that they'd be needed and stocked up previously.  The fleets moved into position and then the order to jump was given.  The Stargate strained as the combined total mass surely seemed impossible to easily move.  Indeed some ships got left behind, but lucky them.  After we found ourselves in the destination system, one couldn't help but be speechless.  Armada of enemy ships surrounded us on nearly all sides of space at nearly any imaginable distance.  The first volleys from both sides were fired and in a flash, space was lit up.

My ship went through several grueling hours of battle that night, surprisingly enough.  Although with each run, it was easy to tell she wouldn't last long.  Nearly every system in the red, sparks and smoke filling the entire interior of the craft.  And then, the next thing I remember is waking up in a new clone.  I got very familiar with that process over the course of the next month or two.

Even though it wasn't exactly a new CTA every day, we were always fighting.  We fought tooth and nail, especially when it came time for them to assault our system.  Our spirits, aside from several defeats and moderate victories, were high when it came to this point.  Sure, the entire war was essentially already lost at that point, but we saw the battle for our system to be not only a challenge we would meet with everything we could muster, but a battle where we could fight it our way and have as much fun as we could doing it.  We had POSes set up at every moon, our valuables were out of danger and in the safety of Concord patrolled space.  My ships were lined up in the hangers, fitted and onlined, ready to go at a moment's notice.

I was thrilled to finally have that moment, where we knew allied support would be scarce, where we were going to be trying our best and using every available tool at our disposal.  As I walked through the station corridors, I could see looks of the eagerness for combat amongst fellow alliance and corp members.  We all knew that our chances of success were nearly zero, but we did not care.  We knew what had to be done, we knew what was on the line.  Most of all, we knew each other.  Many of us had been flying together since the formation of the alliance, some of us, even before that.  It was a brotherhood in most cases, a family in others.  Each and every one of us shared a bit of our lives with everyone else.  Nothing showed it more than the battles we had over 9-F0B2.  Before the battles, war cries were heard, prayers were said, words of encouragement passed around.  We had bar parties the night before, celebration for our friendships and what we had accomplished in such short time.  It was a farewell, but on the best terms we could possibly send off on.

It was time

The initial siege was quick, putting our structures into reinforcement modes, activating their timers.  We were finally glad to see it happen, as we were sick of waiting, and now we had a definite timeline for the events.  The alarms went off throughout the station and hangers, several pilots could be seen running about, getting into their ships or making the final preparations.  I found myself aboard 'Medic!' my Guardian-class logistics ship.  She had served me very well in dozens of skirmishes and battles in the past, yet, I knew that her time was up.  Our time was up, every ship we would fight with, every POS we had put up, the whole system.  We knew it....but we weren't going down without a fight.  We wanted to ensure there would be a bloody nose on our attackers, even if we were filled with holes.

As we undocked to regroup, there was a bit of silence on our comm network.  We all looked around us, the stars, the planets, the moons and the nebula.  It was solemn, like when we first started to occupy it, we were struck by the system's natural beauty.  We all gave a salute, to a home that had been good to us, and we figured we had to repay the favor.

The ships were positioned and we were ready for the real fighting to begin.  With little warning, they poured into the system.  Within moments, fighting erupted everywhere.  Calls for primaries and support and orders were flooding the comm networks, space lit up in a frenzy for fireworks, lasers and guns, missiles and drones.  No ship was safe, especially not mine.  I could hear the hull stress at the volleys, allied repairing ships keeping me afloat as I did likewise for them.  Ships were slowly going down, on both sides, but we were dropping more quickly.  More and more opponents showed up until before I knew it, my ship was in the red, alarms blaring all about me before I woke up in station.  Without waiting, I was back in the cockpit of another ship, ready to fight.

And It wasn't only I who did this.  No.  Practically every single one of us.  Within a couple of minutes we were back in the fight, our guns getting hotter than a sun's supernova, our hulls filled with more holes than there were stars in the sky.  From battleships to Frigates to eventually capitals and everything in between.  Our clones were being activated right as they came into existence. 

When it was all said and done, we had lost the system and everything along with it.  Many of us, like myself, lost dozens of ships.  However we wouldn't have traded it for the world.  An experience in which we lived and accomplished our best. We have since began other projects, but we will always remember the battles in 9-F0B2 to be our greatest moment, not for victories or anything like that, but because it was where we were ourselves and making the best of the situation.  If any of us had a chance to change any bit of it, I do not think any one of us would change a single aspect of it.

So now I float around in space, keeping an eye on things here and there.  I harbor no hate towards our opponents that forced us out...they fought well, instead, I wish all of the new residents of the area luck.  We will probably meet again later on down the road, but until then, I'm just enjoying the views from space.

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On a real-world relation, it was said that in WWI and WWII, combative pilots, RAF usually, would fly beside or upside down above their opponents largely before the fight (sometimes during or after) and would salute them.  This was done out of respect for their opponents, not just for skill, but acknowledgement that they have offered their lives to their country.  Such a commitment is never an easy thing, nor small.  Especially between soldiers of other countries and sides, it is one common bond that makes us respect each other.  Knowing the sacrifices and risks, how can one not respect another?  It is with this sort of attitude that I look onto my opponents.  Those who fight fairly, with respect, honesty, and in good spirit, I will never hate, nor have grudges against.  I will have the utmost respect for that individual (or individuals if it is not just one person).  Just because we may have not been friends on the field of battle, does not mean we wouldn't be friends in other ways.

The Point

I love the Vengeance, personally.  It's a beautiful ship.  How the black hull with the blue lighting, a distinguishing feature of Khanid made ships, just gives it a dominating presence over the battlefield for all to see.  With that said, it is a bit uncommon, for someone of pure blood to not only fly one, but prefer them over its counterpart, the Retribution.

Regardless, it is still one of the most capable ships I have had the chance to pilot.  You must admit, the Khanid know how to build very defensive ships.  Which is why I find myself in this beautiful ship, to be honest.  Practically nothing in the entire frigate sized world can take it down!  She is a beast!

One day it really surprised me.  I was flying around 9-F0B2, a system in the Providence region.  I was leisurely relaxing, chatting over the nets with members from my corporation and the alliance.  You know, having a good time.  All of a sudden, we got word of a hostile Dramiel spotted a few systems over, heading towards us.  After some preparation, I found myself in a small gang to take on this monster.  Dramiels are very dangerous if you are not careful.  They are quite murderous with the pure damage potential they can achieve.  It's never an easy fight, no matter your ship type is.

At the gate, you're just waiting, anxiety building up as you know he's on the other side, about to jump right to where you are.  It's painful.  Dreadful even. 

Then suddenly the gate chimes to life and his presence is detected in system.  After a brief few moments, he appears and it's a mad dash to him, but he warps out almost instantly.  "Damn, he has nanofibers fitted!"

A few faster ships fly after him, going into warp just as quickly as he did, heading off deeper into the system.  Myself?  I waited.  I had a hunch that he would be flying back to the gate.  Surly enough, he did, and right as he landed, I jumped through, seeing him jump as the same time I did.  My heart started beating insanely, on the other side of the gate it would be just the two of us.  I came out of the jump in the system, saw him uncloak and warp to the Assah stargate.  For some daft reason, I followed.

Being in a ship like the Vengeance does a few things to the pilot.  Most notably, the ability for it to armor tank gives the pilot a general enhanced feeling of invincibility.   I mean, engineering a setup for a ship as hardened as a Vengeance is no small feat, although there are literally hundreds of ways to do it.  Each one more effective than the last, and I finally found the best possible.  Or so I thought.

The enemy pilot was none other than El'tar as I found out upon jumping into the Assah system.  Almost instantly you just get the feeling that you have signed your death warrant.  No matter what ship you are in, upon hearing his name, and the fact that he was flying a Dramiel that day, you just automatically go to check to make sure your clone is updated.

Regardless however, I pressed on, mostly because I figured I had the best fit possible.  Boy I'll never make that mistake again.  I challenged him to a duel, a fight of honor, a challenge of everything that makes us combat pilots.

We warp to a planet and commence a duel there, instantly I am webbed and shields going down.  I ran my hands over the controls, activating the repair systems in staggered cycles, launching my rockets at full speed at his ship.  His drones deploy and begin their assault while my autocannons fire rounds after rounds at his hull.  All is well at first.  He tries different ranges, different tactics to get around and break my tank.  I counter with my own maneuvers, breaking his orbits, keeping out of his projected optimal ranges.  I attack him, then stop and concentrate on his drones, I force him to pull them back, firing upon his hull yet again.

"I want to see that ship dead."

We go on and on, reload cycles after reload cycles, slowly but surely, we're both losing our tanks.  I can obviously tell he is overheating his guns to put any sort of impact on to my tank as it slowly goes down.  I overheat to get his drone off me some more.  I start to panic a tad as I manage my modules, injecting the capacitor boosters, running the tracking disruptor. 

Needless to say, when it was all said and done, we both sat there, our ships unable to keep going.  Or at least mine was in no condition.  I had burnt out my guns, my rocket launcher, which only had 3 rockets left.  My capacitor was all but shot and my repair systems were overworked to the part where I could swear they were doing more damage to the ship than fixing.  Regardless though, for some reason, he had shown mercy and let me warp off.  We had a short discussion afterwards about the point of it.

I see dueling as an honorable way to test your very best of what you're able to bring, or the best way to test fits for any ship.  It is a courageous battle to the death, at least of the ship, as honor dictates the pod does not get shot.  I do not concern myself with modules such as Warp Disruptors into my fits, as I hope that my opponent stays and fights, even if they see that they are losing.  I mean, I do so, and I only hope that my opponent is as honorable.

While he was quite honorable disengaging, I still don't believe he sees the point and the true honor of it.  Oh well, next time it will be different, when we duel.  He will lose his ship, or I will lose mine trying.  So I swear it.

The Raven That Could

"Dew, Jump through the gate!"

"Like Hell!  Not until the Raven jumps first!"

So went my first battle  inside my Guardian.  I had been training non stop to pilot one, and pilot it well.  Luckily most of the secondary and support skills were already nearly there, so it wasn't too long before I found myself in the warm embrace of "Medic!" as I aptly call her.  It was a decent sized fleet, the full compliment, and quite a few of us Logistics ships.  I was following the lead of one of my corp mates, one of our corp's directors in fact, so I really did not want to screw this up.  However, at the same time, I couldn't just play stupid.

As an Interceptor pilot, primarily, I typically kept one or two tackle ships locked at all times, because we always need at least two or so, or so I believe.  However, at this particular moment in the battle, the most intense skirmish, I should say, had us against a nasty fleet from the obnoxious Goonswarm alliance.  We were flying with CVA and other holders in the Providence region, determined to drive the swarm out of our lands.  The skirmish became a stalemate, so the order to jump through the stargate was given.  When all but a few had jumped, I noticed a lone Raven, some 40 kilometers away, slow boating back.  I immediately scurried my fingers over the controls faster than a Matari goes after free duct tape!  By the time I had him locked and my remote repairs activated, he was in half armour, down to structure as my second cycle started.  My corpmate told me to jump before I practically gave him the finger.  And with just two of us, we kept a Raven in Armor, topped off, the entire time he slow boated back to the gate and jumped.

It's one of those things that goes with the duty of being a logistics pilot, to be sure, and it's a great one.  We single-handedly kept an entire fleet alive, the few of us who were there.  At the end of it, when I docked her up and stepped out of the ship, I could see the battle damage all over her hull, and to this day I don't want her completely fixed up.  No, I see every burn mark, every patched plating as a sign that, no matter how hard they try, that they will never take down us or our fleet as long as we're on the field.  That Raven we saved was a testament to that.  I never got a chance to talk to him, so I don't even know if he was completely thankful, but when you can keep a single shield tanking ship afloat with armor against a 40+ ship fleet of mostly Battlecruisers, that's is saying something.

Either way, I'm just glad I could help out, one rep at a time.

They call me 'Seacow'

Hello, I'm Dewgong.  No last name, no middle name.  Just a lot of spunk, spirit, and tenacity to get the job done, and enjoy life as it happens.

From day one, I wasn't exactly the stand out of the class.  I started out in the Imperial Academy, graduating with just the basic degrees every capsuleer has, starting out.  I didn't really have much of a direction to go with, so I joined up with some friends I met, flying what seemed to be clear on the other side of the universe into Caldari space.  Before I knew it, I was in a Corporation, a Caldari corporation.

At the time, I was more than excited, feeling like I made the first big step in my career.  Looking back on it, oh boy was I foolish!  Needless to say, I eventually found myself and came back to the Golden Light of the Amarr, joining another Corporation, making new friends, forging new alliances with others players.

Before long, we were thrusted into the depths of Null Security warfare and life.  To be sure, it was a tough transition, but here we are, nearly a full year later, proudly waving a banner over a single system.  It was a long road, a tough road, but it's glorious nonetheless.

Perhaps the only real thing I have myself, to show for it, besides wrecks and kills all over the place, is just the name a lot of people call me, 'Seacow'