There was a ghoulish glow to the green gas clouds in Dal last week.
A flickering aurora of reds and yellows rippled across their luminous bulk, punctuated by brilliant flashes of white. But this wasn't lightning.
There was a massive fire fight over the solar horizon. Puppets of the Amarr Empire had invaded Dal, the hub system of the Heimatar constellation of Hed, and home of The Deadbeats. The wretched slavers were again attempting to contest the system, and had amassed a heavy fleet of over 30 warships in a military complex 7.5 au from the Dal star. And the sons and daughters of the Matar were fighting back.
It all started when the Minmatar Militia - led by FC Nasty - made easy work of the first wave of about a dozen Amarr lackeys, who fled the field, whining in local about 'blobs' and 'overkill.' When, if fact, the home fleet had swept the insects aside while still forming up.
Then the religious fanatics returned with a vengeance. They were flying heavy with Abaddons, Apocalypse, Armageddons and Typhoons, and over two dozen support ships. And the Minmatar responded in kind, in equal numbers, and a massive explosive encounter ensued.
The Minmatar prevailed early thanks to good target calling and unusual discipline by pilots often known to fight while in the throes of deep intoxication. At one point, Nasty started to shout, "We need more ECM, people!" And Deadbeat pilot Spike Diesel flew his Raptor back to headquarters and yanked the tarp off his old Blackbird - a ship he had not flown in over a year.
Minutes after Spike returned to the battle, the slavers hot dropped a Chimera class carrier right into the plex. And jaws dropped like bombs. "Get a point on that carrier!" called Nasty, and Deadbeat pilot Hustle Fighter was the first to tackle the mammoth ship in his tiny Crow - which was in structure and spewing an embarrassing trail of flames.
When the home fleet had finally destroyed all remaining enemy support ships, Nasty turned his attention to the carrier - which was still being pinned down by Hustle Fighter. Word went forth throughout the constellation that the Minmatar had engaged an Amarr capital, and reinforcements streamed into the plex, with a final total of 66 ships throwing everything they had at the carrier. Spike, unable to jam the carrier with his Blackbird, sent an unending volley of heavy missiles at the enemy behemoth.
The fireworks display was magnificent and when the carrier finally exploded, a purple shock wave emanated from the wreckage, signaling certain death.
A great cheer went up over fleet audio. Followed by a moment of silence for any slaves or virgins that may have been aboard the enemy ship when it died.
Spike Diesel struck the final blow to the carrier, and Hustle Fighter destroyed the pod of enemy carrier pilot Jay Deah.
Killboards estimate the carrier loss at 1.171 billion isk. Total enemy ships destroyed in the engagement was 31 with an estimated total Amarr loss of over 2.1 billion isk. Minmatar lost 8 ships in the battle.
For the discerning reader, an accurate report of the battle by Tribal Front Correspondent Lebaneur can be found in the Intergalactic Summit forum, posted 2009.05.29.
For Freedom \o/
The ghoulish glow of the green gas clouds of Dal...
