Crossing Zebras Community FFA

I jumped into the system of Asakai in the Black Rise region in a (t)rusty old Rifter. On comms I heard that a gate camp was about to be busted, so I x'd up and quickly made my way over to the fleet. Landing in the melee that was in front of me I locked up what I could and set my autocannons to maximum.


The camp scattered, but the stuff that was tackled met a grizzly end to the power of the kitchen sink. I showed up on the killmails for an Augoror, Exequror Navy Issue, Vexor and a Stabber Fleet Issue. I think some other stuff did die in the bust, just I didn't manage to whore onto any of the killmails in time.

The event hadn't even started yet and we had found some action and kills. A fine start to the evening! And as the clock ticked to 20:00 just as the gate camp fell, it was announced that the FFA was active and everybody was drawn to the sun like moths to a light bulb.

Hosted and organised by Xander Phoena of the Crossing Zebras podcast, the plan was to assemble a cast of writers, political sorts, bloggers, radio hosts, podcasters, CSMers and everybody else and then let them all loose in the same system.

Familiar names began to fill up in local and the craziness started.

For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled. I have no shame in admitting that I ungrouped my guns and went to work locking up whatever was close to me, targeting everything I could, shooting hot bullets in every direction, swatting stuff away like a madman with a fear of flies. It was the hour of the dead and I was alive! Then I died. My Rifter was turned to dust. A yellow icon grave marker on a battlefield that would claim many over the coming hours.

I jumped into a Velator, headed back into the frenzied circus and something magical happened. I danced my way around the field, still alive, not dead yet. The little Velator took some hits, its feeble armor falling away with ease as I fired up the armor repairer to try and buy some more seconds. I aligned out and hit warp and I had made my escape! I did this three more times, in between docking for repairs. Finally I met my maker when an artillery-clad Thrasher pointed his guns at me, the Velator exploding from the fear factor alone.

click

Next up I purchased a Merlin from a contract and then spent the next 25 minutes or so skirting around the field with microwarpdrive buzzing away. This was great fun and a cool way to practice just flying around things that want you dead, playing on the edge so to speak. I finally lost the Merlin when I decided to go and actually brawl something, already with considerable heat and armor damage I picked out House2twists's Merlin and headed straight for it, a glorious end for the plucky Merlin.

In between all the action there was the inevitable arrival of the local heroes, you all know the sort, they turn up in their doctrine fits, boosted up to the eyeballs with a master plan of a green killboard. They think they're the cool kids on the block in their fleets of many, but really we all think they're boring and we laugh at them and don't give them the fight they crave. Free For All ... there's a clue in the name. But, like they say, you can't educate pork.

I spent 3 hours flying around on my own with reckless abandon, and I had an absolute blast. I lost some Reapers, a bunch of Velators, the Rifter at the start, the Merlin, a Hawk, and a Taranis. I think the event went on for another hour or so after I left and before the guns finally fell silent and the wrecks were looted (okay maybe people were scavenging in between the chaos, but you know what I mean). In total Dotlan reported nearly 1500 kills for the evening. I'd like to thank the guys who put the leg work in and I sure hope to be at the next one!

gf


MB.