Plus one.
Bob is a good soldier. He’s flying around in null sec and jumps into a system with 10 neutrals in it, all in the same corp. The last few systems have been relatively clear. Null sec systems are pretty safe that way. He warps straight to the out gate.
Bob knows that the neutrals are on the other gate camping a drag bubble. They always are. He’s ready for it. He’s in a dual ASB fit Cyclone and his scout is already in system, in a Rapier. He knows something the campers do not know: He’s cyno fit and there’s a pack of covert ops pilots sitting a short bridge away to come in and save him.
Bob and his friends have a plan, all they have to do is execute it.
Bob lands in the bubble and five ships are waiting for him. Frigs and assault frigs, a dessie and a cruiser. He’s quickly scrammed and webbed and four more ships decloak around him. Torpedos rain in. He turns on his first ASB. He’s jammed.
That’s expected: these fellows always jam.
The rapier decloaks ready to provide tackle, but it’s locked, tracked, and jammed faster than he can imagine. Things are not going as planned.
Bob lights the cyno. Local pops. Plus one.
When the cyno lights, the campers all go to warp. By the time Local has increased by three, the campers are all gone, the cloakies all back in hiding.
Bob looks at local. Only three? There were a dozen or more guys and… oh… three blackops battleships on the field. Panther, Widow and Redeemer.
That’s doesn’t seem right to me, Bob.
There’s a heated discussion going on in Mumble. Bob’s not paying much attention, but looks like the black ops jumped when he should have bridged. Now they need a cyno to get back.
They’re working on it, Bob.
The fleet takes up positions near the Cyclone. Bob sits, willing the cyno to cycle faster. The neutral frigates come back to tacticals on the gate. Nah, they can’t be serious, thinks Bob.
Guess again, Bob.
The frigates warp to the cyno and immediately burn for the Widow and the Panther. Covert ops ships decloak again and torpedoes home in on the Widow, who calls out that he is scrammed, webbed and jammed. He doesn’t last long at all. Boom.
The Panther is also scrammed and webbed, and now, he’s primary. Frigates burn out for the Redeemer and the Rapier, but they’re already aligned. They GTFO. The Panther explodes. Boom.
Bob watches it all happen, the cyno holding him in place, ECM keeping him from engaging. The frigates all turn on him, torpedo salvos start to work on his shields. 2 XL Ancilliary Shield Boosters shrug off much of the damage, but not all of it. Boom.
Bob gets his pod out. He and his two remaining fleet mates leave system.
When our guys looked at the Panther mail, we talked about it for a while. We are convinced that the Panther pilot jumped when he should have bridged. From what I understand, that happens all the time. Mistakes happen. The Eve user interface is not always easy to work with.
But the real mistake was using a 3 billion isk fleet to protect one 70 million isk cyno.
Minus one.