AAR: OUR FIRST COALITION ARMOR IHUB TIMER, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Drop the Dread

It was 2:45AM Pacific, just before downtime. After a successful coalition op planned by beloved BAERS FCs BBP and Thandion, with outstanding capital FCing from Arik Alabel and subcap FCing by (I believe) Nancy Crow, Malphas Innius (sp?), and Mattisen Arkeneh (sp???), I was tired. We had just reacted 3 new timers for ourselves by RFing 2 ihubs and a STATION (FUCK YEAH), using a small group of <OPSEC> (lol) dreads and carriers, with hundreds of HERO subcaps in support.

The STRATOP had ended hours ago, but I was stuck running logistics out of a wormhole for several hours. I was ready to sleep. But sleep and me, we don’t get along so well. I hadn’t quit mumble yet, and so as DT rolled in, I heard the sultry sounds of Malenek Askelus in command channel, urgently inquiring if anyone had any information about an IHUB timer that was coming out in the area where we had just been operating. Nobody knew shit. Intel/strategic information distribution throughout the coalition is still experiencing growing pains. Some of our coalition bros (SORRY DUDES I FORGOT YOUR NAMES PLZ COMMENT SO I CAN ADD U BBs) hopped in command to help organize their alliances’ contributions to the subcap wing, as well as providing crucial intel in theatre, and attempting to rally cap support (Thanks heroz).

Malenek astutely observed that there was no fucking way we could grind down the IHUB in subcaps, and I promised to try to rally a small band of dreads to help do the deed – NEXUS FC <your name here bro> had offered up 2 dreads, which in addition to my Moros, would be able to grind down the IHUB in about 30 minutes (as opposed to the hours it would take in subcaps). With everything “in place” or as in place as it was going to get, Malenek set out with about 120 in fleet IIRC to make the 18 or something jumps from Sendaya (sadly none of our 25 titans were available nor our CCP dev bros who teleport our fleets occasionally).

CFC first blops bridged into system with about 30-36 bombers. Due to excellent positioning, the bombers proved virtually ineffective, with each run popping one or two frigs only, and CFC bleeding bombers each time. They left system after several failed attempts, and we decided to greenlight the dreads. Unfortunately, no coalition dread support ended up being available, so myself and two other BRAVE HEROs put their caps on the line to begin the grind.

We sieged green for one or two cycles (I forget), and then CFC showed up in the neighbouring system in a harpy fleet. Note for future op FCs: instalockers, interdictors, and most of the subcap fleet should be on standby to occupy any in-gate on this kind of operation. In this instance, the harpy fleet made it into system without trouble, and warped on grid at range. Fortunately, we were near the end of our cycle, so as the CFC fleet looked on, we sieged red and moonwalked out before they could land on top of us.

The harpies with their 80km (WHAT THE FUCK CCP) engagement envelope, insanely small sig with MWD on, and excellent response to reps, began alpha’ing our cruisers off field, and Malenek struggled to adapt the Pocket Rocket doctrine to dealing with these fast moving assault frigates. After doing an amazing job of warping and engaging repeatedly, he decided they had bled enough of the fleet off and called for a tactical withdrawal.

Harpies are something we have struggled with and new doctrines are being developed to deal with them.

After bailing out several systems towards Sendaya, we realized the harpy fleet was nowhere to be found, and that they had bridged forward to intercept us. We looked around and decided to ninja the fucking IHUB under their noses. #yoloswag.

I desperately called for more dreads in all channels I had available, as ideally we would be able to “one cycle” the remaining armor on the IHUB down to 50% and into the next RF timer. For those of you who don’t know, dreadnoughts operate by “sieging” for a FIVE MINUTE cycle, during which they cannot move, warp, or jump. In siege mode, their DPS is increased by roughly 10x, and without sieging they do about as much DPS as a pimped out battleship.

A few dedicated pilots stepped up, all BRAVE, but we still didn’t have enough. One of them was a TEST pilot (I think? Sorry if you were NEX or SS bro). One of them had already dropped with me the first time. One of them was me. One of them ejected from his thorax and podded himself to the cap staging system, but he didn’t have a dread, so I gave him one out of our corporation stockpile. So after what seemed like hours (but probably more like 15 minutes) of desperate clawing, I managed to cobble together a fleet of 4 dreads – not enough. AND THEN AT THE CLUTCH MOMENT, BELOVED EU [BAERS] FC THANDION LOGS ON AND I CONVO’D THE FUCK OUT OF HIM. And we had our fleet – still not quite enough, but fuck it, we’re HEROs.

With the subcap fleet back in position guarding the gate, as well as Cagali Cagali’s reinforcement fleet arriving from Sendaya, I lit the cyno and we jumped in. The armor on the IHUB ticked down painfully slowly, and 50% into our siege cycles, I realized we were not going to 1-cycle this bitch. I asked for intel on the hostile fleet, and got none – we had plenty of scouts out (BY THE WAY GOOD JOB LAST NIGHT LEVERETS AND OTHER BRAVE SCOUTS, YOU WERE CRITICAL TO THE MISSION AS ALWAYS), but no eyes on the harpies. I crossed my balls and ordered one more cycle. 3/4 of the way through it, we did it.

WE FUCKIN DID IT BROS, THE VERY FIRST HERO COALITION ARMOR IHUB TIMER M88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

As we approached 30 seconds left on our timers, coms lit up with intel of the hostile fleet jumping into the neighboring system. I yelled for my out cyno to “LIGHT IT LIGHT IT LIGHT IT LIGHT THE CYNO LIGHT THE CYNO CYNO GREEN CYNO GREEN CYNO GREEN” (sorry for your ears cagali and cap wing) and just before our timers ticked down a sabre landed on field. Fuck. As I prepared my butthole for the 10b hit that my corporation was about to collectively receive, as well as 2 other dreads on field, the frigates we had assigned to on-grid guard the cap fleet pounced on the sabre and popped it. Too late, bubble was up. Our siege cycles dropped, and a flycatcher landed on grid and bubbled. Seconds later those dictors popped, but the bubbles were up.

I ordered the dreads to begin slowboating out of the bubbles, then changed my mind and ordered them to halt – if we were going to go down, we were going down fighting, and there was no way we would be able to hit anything the CFC brought in to support their harpies in an anti-cap capacity if we were going any more than 0m/s. The dread pilots collectively clenched their buttholes, but remained impressively calm as we waited for the dictor bubbles to fade.

The harpy fleet landed on grid. If they were able to chase off our subcap support, we would be sitting ducks for them to bring in reinforcements and take us out. They landed on grid, but they landed 300k off at a tactical. They aligned toward us. The bubbles dropped. And once again we moonwalked home to safety.

The subcaps <SOMETHING SOMETHING INSERT WHAT HAPPENED HERE BECAUSE I WAS NOT FUCKING LISTENING AFTER THE CAPS GOT OUT> and began to make their way back to Sendaya.

tl;dr OP SUCCESS. I was up till 8am Pacific, but it was worth it. This is the first time the BRAVE Alliance and the HERO Coalition have put an IHUB into armor reinforced. Timer comes out on Tuesday, bros. If we win this timer and online TCUs, we will have sov. Cultural fucking victory. Mad props to Malenek and our HERO bro FCs, as well as all the dread pilots who but their babies on the line, as well as to all the HERO subcaps who stayed up for 5 fucking hours to make this operation happen.

P.S. Correct me if I get the details wrong, but halfway through the long journey back to Sendaya, Malenek was contacted by the goon titan pilot, and offered a bridge home. Yes, that’s right, the goon titan pilot offered the BRAVE fleet a bridge home. Being understandably sketch, Malenek yoloswagged and took him up on the offer, and there was no treachery: the whole BRAVE fleet got bridged home by the enemy titan. Cultural victory #2.