Like any noble corporation in New Eden, Consolidated Holdings is well known for widespread corruption, extortion, and severe mistreatment of overworked and confused members. In order to to watch the pathetic maggots kill each other off and remind them of their mortality, CEO Entjudner Richter decided to hold another corporation-wide frigate bash in Amygnon, with a navy frigate of choice or a cash payout as a prize.
"The last one was a big success," Ent said. "I'm really hoping we have another great turn out."
And there was. Pilots from all walks of life gathered for the tournament, ranging from professional miners to seasoned combat veterans. Even Leafy Kille, who for days had declared the competition was 'stupid, and I could make millions in that time' was convinced to join in about an hour before the competition.
"I slapped my ship together in like five minutes," Leafy stated. "I didn't expect to last one fight."
The publicly-accepted 'most feared pilot' went to Jade, and her mind-linked counterpart Tanya. ConHo members had discussed in great detail the plans they had for running, escaping, or outright destroying their own ships in an attempt to escape her wrath.
"She told me she'd be gentle," Lord Mandelor shivered before the match. "I don't believe her."
Surprisingly, only one Rifter took part in the frigate bash, flown by Eacus. The Minmatar vessel was seen flying at dangerously fast speeds before the match, and pilots who had packed weaponry with slower tracking speeds were visibly discouraged. Luckily, a Punisher named SHOOT ME!!!! flown by Althin reassured the combatants that there would be some slower ships. Unfortunately for them, the lasers Althin was packing were considerably long ranged, making it no less dangerous than the speed of the Rifter. The fact Jade was flying a Punisher as well only seemed to reinforce this fact.
Merlins were flown by Tanya and Xeddiphan, and both took very unique approaches to their starship designs. Xed had armed his frigate with autocannons, along with an energy vampire in order to be sure that his capacitor would remain solid. This tactic proved effective, as he was able to score several wins in the tournament. The ship flown by Tanya proved to have an absolutely massive shield tank, and she later revealed that she had somehow fitted a medium shield extender to the vessel without the capacitor exploding. Some attribute this miracle to a particularly dedicated helper midget.
Olli Racoon (after being told that the Ollicannon was not acceptable as a meta level 0 weapon) flew into the competition with an Incursus frigate named Daffy Duck, one of the most popular T1 frigates in Gallente space and New Eden at large. Olli also employed a hysterical tactic at the end of some fights, as instead of simply surrendering when an opponent had withered him down, he would simply warp out, leaving the other pilot very confused.
The Tristan was flown by Mandelor, Leafy, and HARMON Alabel, and proved to be one of the more successful ship types of the match. Lord Mandelor's ship, SURPRISE INSIDE, raised many eyebrows, as Mandelor had occasionally been heard bragging about how he was going to be a Merlin. Leafy's ship was easily the largest upset of the competition, as he won several matches after he actually began to deploy his hobgoblin into battle.
"I can't believe I won two matches already! It's absurd, I shouldn't of lasted one!" Leafy shouted.
"It was the drone," the corporation told him in unison.
"It couldn't of been the drone! My drone operation skills are terrible!" he argued.
"It's still a powerful weapon," the corporation told him.
"LIES!"
In perhaps the closest match of the tournament, Leafy took on Tanya's Merlin, finally accepting the fact that his drone could be "somewhat useful" in direct combat. The two ships engaged at extreme close range, with Leafy firing off two energy vampires and running two armor repairers to make his ship nearly impenetrable. However, Tanya's missiles and point defense proved tough enough to crack through.
As Leafy's Nosferatus drained Tanya's ship of precious capacitor power, she began to inject boosters into her core. It soon became apparent that the match would become a war of attrition, with the outcome hinging on who would be able to actually have a functional capacitor.
As the battle raged on, both ships were reduced to structure, and the frigates could visibly be seen orbiting each other at close range in flames. Leafy then launched his hobgoblin (which he had been strategically deploying throughout the fight) and Tanya's structure was reduced to around 2%. There was then a massive explosion, and the debris cleared to reveal a flaming, crumbling Merlin along with Leafy's pod.
"BLOODY HELL!" Leafy yelled, echoing the thoughts of the spectators.
Finally, only two competitors were left, Tanya and Mandelor. As bets were cast and the match began, Mandelor refused to move his ship from the other side of the tournament boundaries, claiming he was "managing colonies", a tactic he had employed several times in the tournament. As Tanya's ship locked onto his Gallente ship, he finally turned around firing afterburners. The ships engaged at around 10km, with Tanya nearly instantly being webbed and Mandelor's systems being disrupted by electronic warfare modules. Both ships appeared evenly matched, with Mandelor suddenly falling behind Tanya in armor integrity, as he was not nearly as skilled in armor systems as her. Weapons flared as the Tristan's blaster rounds and gremlin rockets impacted the Merlin, which was tanked beyond what his weapons could dish out.
Then, the SURPRISE INSIDE deployed the surprise.
The Hornet EC-300 electronic warfare drone had proved problematic for Eacus' Rifter earlier in the competition, but now it was a game changer. As Tanya's ship barely held on to armor and Mandelor's structure fell to critical levels, the drone jammed the Caldari frigate. There was an explosion, and Lord Mandelor stood victor. Barely.
His ship was reduced to 5% structure, and what appeared to be vital components were falling off his ship. It was safe to say that the drone had turned the tide of the battle, as Tanya easily would have destroyed his crippled Tristan hadn't the weapons been disabled at that moment.
"I can't believe I won," Mandelor stuttered. "I didn't even have to use performance-enhancing boosters! I was sure that Jade was going to tear me a new one."
Jade's comment on the matter immediately after the fight, "Damn that drone!", was one echoed by Mandelor's previous opponents, with one going so far as to kill his original one.
Mandelor requested a Caldari Navy Hookbill as a prize, and there was a 3v3 frigate match immediately following the tournament. All participants agreed that the match had been incredibly enjoyable, and the ConHo CEO was reported to be 'very glad that the pilots got to experience some pod pilot combat'. This fact is especially true for those who run missions for the established corporations, as most of the target ships are staffed by large crews compared to the quicker responding, and much deadlier pod pilots.
Our publicist should have many high quality photos of the event soon!
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