In defense of the Freeport

Today I jumped into the largest Spectre fleet I've ever seen - at least 230 pilots. We headed towards CT8K-0 to help the Phoebe Freeport Republic defend their station against the Russians. The Freeport is a collection of pilots who banded together after the Phoebe update in November and started taking sov. One of the most significant changes to EVE with Phoebe was the nerfing of jump distances. This was done by reducing base range and adding a new mechanic called fatigue that hinders cap ships that want to make successive jumps. After these changes, the nascent Freeport community wagered that some systems on the edge of space would be easy to conquer and occupy, as their owners wouldn't be interested in the hassle of defending them.

They were more or less correct, and have been able to hold onto four systems as of the time of this writing. One of those contains the Freeport itself, open to all pilots regardless of affiliation, with no docking fees currently. This makes it similar to an NPC station, but with the distinction of being in sov null. Considering the way most alliances work, that may make it unique in New Eden.

Prior to today's events, some Russians had come in to make trouble. These may have been the same Russians who actually owned the Freeport system before Phoebe, but I couldn't be bothered to catch up on current events. I was more interested in asploding anyone who came to try to take the Freeport. Not necessarily for philosophical reasons, although the anarchist in me loves the idea of a free port. I just wanted asplosions.

The Spectre fleet ran the firebug doctrine, which is a huge ball of zealots, nomens, and omens. Basically lazarz of all kinds. In the back are guardians and asshole EWAR pilots like me, in a Celestis. My medium laser skills need a lot of work, and even with logi V I just am not interested in being a space priest. So I fitted up some damps and huddled in the back with the other griefers. Truth be told, EWAR is really only useful when you don't have 100+ laser boats alphaing targets off the field before you can lock.

After a seemingly endless formup, the FC/pied piper Koz Katral took us into null. One of the main issues with pubfleets is the problem of the disconnect. During a corp/alliance/huge nullblob fleet, everyone in the gang has standings, so in the event of a disconnect, the rest of the fleet manages to avoid shooting the hapless disconectee. In a pubfleet, where we are more like a circus or mobile insane asylum, disconnectees are usually destroyed before the FC can declare that pilot a friendly. This is a tragic but all too common occurrence with pubfleets. It is difficult to avoid, especially in Spectre where many pilots are so new and excited that they cannot control themselves. I do love Spectre, and I understand the discipline issue before I x up (another reason to fly a Celestis instead of something more expensive - almost 100% of our losses in today's fight were from friendly fire).

We got to the Freeport and began taking down one of the three Russian SBUs that had cropped up like weeds. We took down the first SBU and then another, with the only resistance being some opportunistic bombers, many of whom welped because there were just too many interceptors on grid. They did kill some drones though, so good job random bomber guys. After the second SBU, we caught wind of a t3 gang in the next system over. We clustered on the gate to await our weapons timers after we snagged one proteus who had lemminged over. Sadly, the t3 gang was scared off by our huge blob. So, we started on the third SBU. More bombers threw themselves at us with little success.

During the grind of the third SBU, Koz decided that the Russians were not likely to finish up the job they'd started, so he and the Freeport FC agreed to let our fleets go at it. We didn't want to get all dressed up just to grind some structures, after all. So we met at a planet and began our little skirmish with the Freeport. They were completely outnumbered and outclassed, having brought only t1 cruisers. Good on them though for bringing the fight anyways. They had a few dozen ships that were completely obliterated, and everything was done in less than two minutes. A small price to pay to have a blob scare off your would-be evicters. Freeport was successful in its defense, and local sovereignty remains in their hands.

Afterwards, Koz stood down the fleet, although I believe some of the pilots took off in the direction of HED-GP, where another large battle was supposed to be brewing. I bailed, but managed to grab one derpy ishtar on the way home. +1, would defend the Freeport again.