Right tools for the job

After flying around in an Assault Frigate for a while looking for something to plunder, I come across a low security system with 4 of the same corp members in local. On checking the corp description I discovered they were a fairly new mining corp.

Chances that they were mining were good then. I decide to scan the belts with the onboard ship scanner. Luckily for me, out of the 7 or 8 belts in system, most were scattered around one planet. Making it easier to track them down.

Result, Planet VI, Asteroid Belt 1. Their squad consisted of 1 Thorax Cruiser, 1 Maller Cruiser, 1 Tristan Frigate and 1 Badger MkII Industrial. Easy targets? Not really. This small group could be a problem. After all I had no idea if they were all set up with mining configurations or if one of those cruisers was kitted out for assault and being a guard for the others.

Experience and knowledge of ships instantly tells me that a Thorax Cruiser, even if set up for mining, could still have a belly full of combat drones which would make things extremly difficult. After considering my options, I decided to go back a few systems to where my Prophecy Battlecruiser was docked as an Assault Frigate against all of that was no good solo unless I decided to hit and run the Industrial ship.

On returning with a ship more suited for the job, I head back to the planet from where I was scouting. I find they are no longer in the belt. They have moved. They were still in system though so they had probably just moved to another belt at another planet. I was right, on jumping to another planet and scanning, I pick them up again.

By this time 30mins had passed and a few of my corp members had logged in. I asked some of them if they wanted to join in and of course they did, I decided now would be a good time to test a small assault force. I asked them to bring a Covert Ops ship, an Assault Frigate and an Interceptor. This selection, alongside a Battlecrusier makes a formable strike force as it has stealth, speed, tackling, damage and heavy support mixed together.

Once they arrived, we ganged up and set our plan in motion. The Covert Ops was to fly from the Planet to the Belt, scout there set ups and locations and report back, then, to line up so we could warp directly in on top of them. Battlecruiser and Assault Frigate would go in first to stir up trouble and take out the main threats, mainly the Thorax, with the Interceptor warping in at 40-60km as to avoid any drones, even at this distance, it has the speed to be able to get in and tackle in seconds.

He reports they are all together in a group except the Tristan Frigate which was further away. We are all set...but then the covert ops accidentally de-cloaks...he re-cloaks and we are convinced our element of surprise is gone. It isnt, they either didnt notice him or didnt think he was a threat, they should have really noticed the local population was filled with a few pirates.

We line up to the belt for instant warp, then another problem, we are lined up to the wrong one, so we manouver toward the correct one. However, our Interceptor accidentally warps into the belt. That is it, GO GO GO!

We jump in, perfect landing distance, right into optimal weapons range. The Interceptor takes the chance and warp scrambles the Thorax, he isnt going anywhere. I lock onto what I thought was the Thorax and warp scramble and web it. It wasnt, it was the Industrial ship. It had moved in the Overview. Mistake aside, it didnt last very long from Battlecruiser close ranged fire. The Assault Frigate was already making a mess of the Thorax when I finally got it locked and helped destroy it.

The Tristan frigate comes over to try and help out, we target it and it is destroyed in seconds. Amongst the chaos, the Maller had managed to warp out and escape, nevermind, we had completed most of our objective. We looted the ship remains and checked the Ore cans they had been busy with.

We decide to leave the Ore behind as we had no Industrial of our own to salvage it. We are about to leave when the Maller warps back into the Belt and lands 15km away from us. In seconds it is tackled by the Interceptor and we all focus fire on it, destroying in within about 30seconds.

Mission completed. We then safe spot and wait for the criminal flag to wear off. This had been an interesting operation. We communicated proply, planned and executed with successful results but a few minor mistakes which were corrected. Its not always about using the biggest ship to take everything out, we prepared, brought along a mix of smaller ships with the right capabilities and still completed our objective.

The Squad:
Benarz
Goughie
Kerm
Toffee