Purge the Heretic, Chapter 2: Operation Burn Sintax

Day 1. Invasion. Some days you run into someone who can change your game forever. For the lovely members of the Sintax Err0r alliance, that person was me. I am a DAMN PATRIOT, CEO and supreme God-King of Dropbears Anonymous, the premier wormhole corporation of BRAVE. It all started during a simple move operation, as we prepared to seed capitals into a new wormhole - designated the Lake House - for some corporate rest and relaxation time, burning sleepers in the name of BOB to replenish our PvP stockpiles. After a few quiet hours of rolling statics, scanning, rinsing and repeating, we found a solid kspace to bring in the second set. Thandion, beloved Euro FC, and recently returned to the fold after a holiday vacation, spoke up on comms as we were moving cynos into place. He had some interesting observations about the POSes in a C6 that was randomly connected to the C5 we planned to move through. Multiple caps floating unpiloted, but no online defensive modules - no hardeners, EWAR, or guns. Was he seeing it right? He suggested I get a scout in to double check. It was true - brazenly, a Caldari Control Tower sat with caps on display, and no defenses online to speak of. Upon further exploration, we found 5 total POSes in the system, all belonging to SiNTaX err0r, the local alliance. They were lightly defended; two sported no shield hardeners whatsoever. With the DPS from even a single dreadnaught on field, it would take less than four hours to reinforce both of them. A bit of research into their killboards, as well as information gathered from fellow disciples of BOB, suggested that they had been measured before, and found wanting. Even worse, this was a C6-C1 static hole, meaning that no capitals could move in or out unless a random connection spawned into the hole from outside. We decided that it would be fun to poke a dread in and RF an undefended tower. A bit risky and foolish, but probably fun, and certainly BRAVE. I convo’d Pell Helix, alliance executor of Surely You’re Joking alliance, longtime friends of BRAVE, to bounce ideas. Go balls deep, or don’t go at all, was his advice, with a full invasion compliment of 1 archon and 2 dreadnaughts (the most that can fit through a C6-C5 connection. Doing that meant all other corporate activities would cease, and we would be committed to JXXXXXX until we had either welped into, ransomed, or burned down the Sintax Err0r alliance. I talked it over with my online leadership, and the consensus was clear: let’s do this. I opened up our shared corporate mapping tool and renamed JXXXXXX to “TARGET.” It would be our first solo C6 invasion. A C6 invasion/eviction is one of the most intensive operations in all of EVE, generally requiring constant scanning, scouting, and fighting over a 72 hour period. Our last C6 eviction, where we supported our friend Dmitry Wizard and the Ragnarok. alliance in evicting Reaper’s Grin, was a grueling exercise that reminded me of my time in the Marine Corps infantry: staying vigilant through the long hours of the night, maintaining control of strategic chokepoints, and watching for enemy activity. The Patriot army of alts began trips to various parts of space, and I pinged the corporation - if we were going to do this, we had to go all in. With the caps all ready to cyno in to our planned vacation home, and easily diverted to the target hole, we began to move subcaps and logistics into place. Black Bart Pirate, my second in command, moved in to get his own eyes on the situation, and about two hours after the “go” decision was made, we lucked upon our first kill: Jarvin Spoo, who turns out to be a key player in this the second chapter of the Purge the Heretic saga, jumped through his C1 static in a scanning loki, at the wrong moment. My phobos was in position. We were worried that the jig was up, but the residents showed no signs of realizing that this was anything other than a random gank. I told everyone to be ready. The invasion would officially commence when our temporary attack POS went up, and everything we needed had been pulled from the Lake House - once the final cap came in, that connection would be severed forever. Already Thandion’s Moros and BBP’s Archon were seeded into the Target system and logged off safely, and Seth Goa’Uld’s Naglfar was waiting for the signal to crash the hole. The subcaps were staged in a hisec system connected through the opposite end of the Target, it’s c1 static. I put out a call to our sister corp and fellow wormholers The Desolate Order, who jumped at the chance to be involved in a C6 invasion, and formed up a small cruiser fleet to get in on the fun. All the pieces went into place, the first invasion tower was up, and I pulled a final hauler through the C5-C6 wandering connection. I gave the order for caps to log on. The armor t3 fleet waiting in the hisec connected system flooded in through the c1 static, and Seth’s Naglfar crashed the C5-C6. We warped to the first undefended POS at XIII-20, and sieged green. We had hoped to RF both unhardened POS within the first two hours of invasion, before the residents even noticed us or formed a response fleet, but as the heavy siege guns of our dreads echoed in the quiet of space, a lone SiNTaX pilot logged on in the POS. Notifications popped up on the screens of the locals, and the siege was on. I opened a conversation with Jarvin Spoo, the loki pilot we had podded earlier, and CEO of the Clandestine Management Group, a SiNTaX corporation. > 2014.02.04 04:14:59 Jarvin Spoo > hello > 2014.02.04 04:15:25 a DAMN PATRIOT > we seem to have capital ships in your hole > 2014.02.04 04:16:44 Jarvin Spoo > yes. you do. > 2014.02.04 04:17:43 Jarvin Spoo > so....you have caps....so do we. how do you want this to play out? > 2014.02.04 04:17:53 a DAMN PATRIOT > well > 2014.02.04 04:18:15 a DAMN PATRIOT > we noticed that your POS were relatively undefended, and we couldn't resist ... > 2014.02.04 04:23:07 a DAMN PATRIOT > price for us to leave is a sacrificial chimera and 10b ISK > 2014.02.04 04:23:10 a DAMN PATRIOT > relatively cheap if you ask me He chose not to respond further. This would ultimately prove to be a mistake. More SiNTaX pilots began to log on, including chimera and thanatos pilots,http://imgur.com/CqIAUe1 and as they milled nervously about the POS, we prepared for resistance. A few attempts were made by the besieged to escape the POS or offer some resistance, including one foolhardy attempt that ended in disaster for the pilot. Our subcap fleet maintained hole control on the c1 static, and caught some enemy scouts, podding them out of their beloved home. The pos went RF, and I ordered the dreads to retreat to the assault POS to wait out their combat timers and then log off in safe spots to prepare for further action. We deployed Large Mobile Warp Disruptor IIs at top, bottom, front, back, left and right positions on the POS, preventing any hostiles from warping in or out. Just before the last bubble went online, three carriers and a bhaalgorn managed to warp off to the POS X-8. As the expected resistance grew, we put out the call for some of the BRAVE alliance to get in on the fun. Bombers and damps, I asked for in Barleguet Defense Fleet comms, and I asked a few of the gents present to be in charge of forming up the fleet. The hostile fleet now matched the number of Baers in the hole, but sported a total of 6 capital ships, as well as the dreaded capacitor-draining Bhaalgorn battleship. We regrouped at our staging POS, and the residents impressed us by warping on field with their fleet, dropping sentry drones, and beginning to work on the unhardened small tower. By this time the first small wave of BRAVE bombers, led by beloved propagandist BAER Markonius Porkbutte, had entered the hole and begun to get organized. The second group was a few jumps out, with several more bombers and a small swarm of frigates. As we positioned our fleet to emerge from the POS shields to move to the attack, the Sintax fleet began to align out. We hit our MWDs and burned out to tackle them, but they disappeared from grid before we could land point. We hadn’t expected them to run. As the Syntax carriers were pinging our assault tower, I was picking up the batphone and ringing up other wormholers who might be interested in a good fight. I sent this picture to Dmitry Wizard, longtime friend of Dropbears, asking if he was interested in some capital kills, but the Ragnarok. fleet had disbanded for the night, and he promised to form a fleet on the next day. Surely You’re Joking was my next call, but by this time the hostile capitals had already left field and POSed up. The BRAVE frigate fleet left for home, and I ordered the fleet to log off in safes for the night. SYJ suggested that due to the timing of the RFed tower, and the imminent log on of the EU TZ that SYJ’s EU wing could possibly roll the C6-C6 static of Bastion, their home hole, to quietly seed more capitals over the night and set a log off trap for Sintax. I had been impressed by the fact that Sintax formed a fleet to fight us initially, and I decided that we would probably not end up evicting them. After a good fight, an invading force of wormholers will be satisfied with the sacrifice to BOB and disappear back into the void. If only Sintax could muster the courage to fully engage, BOB would be satisfied and so would we. With the plan set in motion, I set up a secondary small invasion POS and logged off for the night. Day 2. Fight or Die. After a late night, I logged on for the day at around 2000 EVE/Noon US Pacific, and checked on the progress of the SYJ Euros. Cheung Fu, one of SYJ’s EU FCs informed me that they hadn’t rolled into us, but that they could burn a t3 squad for the c1-kspace connection. They set out at around 3PM PST and logged off or cloaked up in the hole, unseen by the residents, who foolishly failed to ever attempt to control their own static, and often failed to even observe it. Over the night, the US heavy Sintax fleet had alarm clocked and RFed both of our small invasion towers and destroyed the bubbles which wrapped their RFed POS. It was time to set up a larger base. I took a cloaky legion to the c1 static and investigated it for hostiles, before importing a large Amarr tower and onlining it. A Sintax scouting interceptor burned around the anchoring tower helplessly as BBP and I watched from cloaked t3s. The tower went up without a contest. SYJ’s US wing began to log on, and Pell offered subcap support. I planned to log on dreads in US evening and begin to RF the remaining POS, hoping to provoke a fight. Pell formed a small fleet and burned toward a hisec connected by C2 to the C1 static of the Target. They arrived and held in the C2 while Pell came in in a cloaked t3 to get his own eyes on the situation. We had rebuilt the rapecage that held down the hapless defenders of VIII-20, and our subcap fleet was prowling its edges, looking to burn down any foolesh enough to attempt escape. As I formed the dropbears to begin the second assault, our scouts in the C1 reported an unknown fleet on dscan. I ordered the subcaps to burn out of the bubbles on VII-20 and warp immediately to the c1 static, at the same time as SYJ jumped in from the C2>C1 and followed. During this time, Pell informed us that one of the CEOs of SintaX had contacted him for help, as SYJ is a merc corp and had actually done work for Sintax once before. We joked that Pell should accept the contract and then help us burn Sintax anyway, but as a merc corp, SYJ had to maintain its reputation. He informed them that they were blue to us and could not help them with the operation. He did not, however, inform them that there was currently an EU SYJ fleet logged in their hole, and another fleet waiting outside their static. We found this hilarious. My phobos landed first on the hole, and I immediately bubbled the hostile fleet: a Senex Legio zealot gang with guardian and oneiros support. They burned out without firing a shot, and as the rest of the fleet landed on the hictor bubble, we only managed to tackle a slow devoter, (pod) and unlucky zealot. Sadly, the easily disrupted C1 static collapsed before the whole SYJ fleet could enter, leaving several pilots trapped outside. At this point SYJ had actively engaged the enemy, and we had shown our hand. It was time to fight. Their alliance leader had already messaged Pell seeking his help, and now that it was known that SYJ was in the hole on our side, Pell explained to him that if they fought, we would leave. They agreed to fight. We formed up to drop on their POS, and at 9PM US Pacific, we dropped on 10-10 and began to RF it. For Sintax, it was fight or die. We waited, siege cannons blasting away at the POS shields, for the enemy fleet to land. They never did. Therefore we proceeded to local spam gif links and various demands to fight, or be evicted. Pell managed to get on their coms, and hilarity ensued. We RFed their POS without a fight, and fleet stood down for the night. I messaged several members of CMG, which seemed to be the corp most willing to fight or negotiate, and received hope that resistance would be encountered at the timer tomorrow. They would have to fight, or their first POS would be levelled. My message to them was simple: fight at the timer, or be purged from wspace. Day 3. Sintax Burns The time for reckoning had arrived. With the clock ticking down to the first RF timer, Sintax’s tower was about to go vulnerable, and with the valuable SMAs and industrial modules that populated it. They had made noises about wanting to fight, and if they did, it would mean that BOB was satiated and we could all go home happy. I hopped on BDF coms again and asked for anyone who wanted to be on some carrier and tower killmails, and Piri Conrad and Altrue stepped up to lead it in. They formed up about 30 bombers and mauluses - I asked for bombers and damps, to fight sentry carriers - and burned towards our entrance. We warped our fleet to the POS as it began to come out of RF and sieged green. There were few Sintax pilots online, and it looked like they would once again fail to step up. Carriers began warping out from the POS, and Pell grabbed a pro warpin for my Phobos. 45 seconds after I landed and bubbled, a Chimera appeared in my bubble, and we called in the Euros and BRAVE bomber fleet to whore on it. The fit made our eyes bleed. The pilot attempted to escape by boarding an Ares in his hold, but our instalockers were too swift. As our subcaps were laying into the Chimera, the dreads finished levelling the tower. The BRAVE bomber fleet headed home and we proceeded to RF and rapecage the rest of the tower in system. Most of Sintax’s carriers had escaped to the POS at 10-8, the next one coming out of RF. As we rapecaged and RFed the final POS at 9-18, a hero named Emilio Deckard #yoloswagged his proteus into us, and then challenged us to a 1v1 at the sun, for the honor of which we let his pod go. Over the next 4 hours we circled the POS at 10-8, patrolling like sharks in the water, bumping out and killing anyone foolish enough to try an escape, including two carriers who tried to use fighters to down a bubble and warp off. Also Kael accidentally a jaguar in the c1 static. As the timer ticked down, the desperate defenders made a final push to escape, pushing towards the top of the tower and primarying the single bubble blocking their escape. The small fleet of last survivors went down one after another, Archon, Chimera, Zealot, Raven, and Guardian. As all this excitement was going on, I took the perfect opportunity to set up a little bonus content for the troops. Neon Torpiliko had joined BNI and immediately applied to Dropbears, but the circumstances were never quite right to let him in. He had mailed me a few hours prior, and I excitedly offered to get him in immediately. You see, he was a known AWOXer and spai, well reviled in the wormhole community, with his name on the list of all dirty traitors banned from wspace which is maintained by wormholers. We had plans for him, as we do all AWOXers who attempt to infiltrate the corp. They involved requesting him to bring in his most pimped out legion and help us with the fight. He arrived too late to whore on all the killmails, but just in time to burn into the bubble with us and receive his just deserts. Shortly after, the second Sintax POS came out of RF and fell our guns. With their capital fleet in ruins, it didn’t look good for Sintax, and all that was left was to burn the system to the ground. Day 4 & 5. The Heretic is Purged Over the night, the vigilant heros of the EU tz spied an orca trying to escape with all the spacely possessions he could log off with. Later, one of the final remaining zealots of Senex Legio took some foolish potshots at my phobos sitting on the C1 static. We knocked down the final POSes during the final days; 10-10 in the afternoon, and finally on the morning of the fifth day, the two final towers. The last of the Senex zealots decided to heroically burn out 2 sets of crystals trying to kill the TCU we anchored at the sun before we finally decided it was time. So ended Sintax’s 19 month foray into C6 space. What amazed me most and my favorite thing about the operation, is that something as random as a wandering C5-C6 connection and an impulse decision could results in the destruction of an entire alliance’s collected assets in less than a week. I can only imagine that Jarvin Spoo wishes now that he had accepted my ransom offer of 10b and a sacrifice, or had rallied his alliance to a fight and proven themselves worthy. With their last tower levelled, their alliance driven off, and their last ships burned, Sintax was purged from wspace in BOB’s holy name. Some days you run into someone who will change your game forever.