There comes a time in the lifetime and indeed career of every Commander where he has to decide if his destiny is to fish. Or cut bait.
I hate cutting bait. Nasty smelly stuff. Gets under your finger nails and stinks to high heaven.
So are you a fisherman? Or a bait cutter?
Want to be able to bask in the reflected glory that accrues to those who DO STUFF?
Be able to tell all who ask (and a fair few that don't),'I was there'?
BE one of those.
Come one, come all. In fact forget come one. Let's make sure it's 'Come all'.
So here is the situation: We know frankly naff-all about UPs. Unknown Probes. Well that's not strictly true. We know they exist, and we know that nefarious forces are shipping them about the place in heavily guarded convoys.
But we would rather like to know a heap more. A whole heap more. Already a number of intrepid Commanders have 'liberated' a few.
Unfortunately for the wider community this isn't nearly enough. Oh no.
In the finest traditions of the Canonn I therefore propose the 'heist of the century'. Heists, in fact. I propose that we engage the services of every like minded Commander with the sole intention of liberating a sufficiency of Unknown Probes that we will then be able to disseminate them to those Commanders best able to perform such tests as will avail us of the information we seek. I have already suggested that Rizal should be at least one of the beneficiaries of such an operation. Bungalo has been suggested to me as another. All Commanders who believe themselves to be in a position to perform 'appropriate' testing should consider themselves likely candidates to recieve at least one UP upon which to perform their tests should my proposal bear fruit. I will defer to majority opinion in such matters as and when.
General Plan:
Commanders should make themselves available in the first instance at Ross 47. From here, wings will be formed.
Ships should be equipped with as much hull reinforcement as possible, A class shields, along with cargo scanners and hatch breaker limpets. Note that for this operation we aren't interested in chasing conveys. Wake scanners, whilst not forbidden are unnecessary within the constraints of the operation. Otherwise, when considering a load-out, think survivability not combat capability.
Within each wing (which will be maintained for ease of operation), one ship will be designated 'the scooper'. It has been noted that collector limpets may be bugged, so we will eschew the luxury and do things 'old school' and scoop manually. Commanders intending to come along with the intention of being 'scoopers', make damn sure you are familiar and competent with the mechanics of scooping.
If/when contact is made with a T4 CDP and upon confirmation that the convoy is indeed a UP carrier it will be necessary for the 'finder' to anchor his wing-mates into the same instance using wing-beacons. Once everybody's safely into the same instance with the convoy, the 'scooper' will leave the wing and play no further part in the operation until such time as the cargo is released.
Tactic:
Once the designated scooper has left the wing and readied himself for the next phase:
The remaining wing members will then proceed to ram the Python. Yes. Ram. This is not about combat skills. Commanders of bigger ships, especially if they have A class thrusters will be of particular use here. With co-ordinated effort the Python can be moved a considerable distance from its escorts. Once the Python's shields are down, one again probably pre-designated shooter will fire a hatch-breaker at the Python. Once the cargo is released, the 'scooper' will move in, scoop the UP and retire IMMEDIATELY to another system. Everybody else will bug-out as opportunity presents, re-grouping in the scoopers' system. Ideally at least one commander should be equipped with CRCRs. I unfortunately do not have these, but I will be on hand with lots of big AFMUs.
Round Robin:
Currently Ross 47, Wolf 294, and G99-49 are the only systems in which there have been UP convoy sightings. I propose that we patrol these three systems.
Plan:
Enter system and proceed along shipping lane as if heading to nearest station. Probably hang around no more than 15 minutes, although I suspect 5 minutes is enough if we can get LOTS of commanders on hand. If no suitable USS is found in within that window, jump to the next system and proceed as before. Over and over.
We can do this commanders.
Remember that the entire object of this operation is NOT to be that guy (or gal) with a UP (which might be cool), but to be ONE OF THOSE GUYS (or gals) that HELPED to get ALL the UPs (which will be coolest). We will then promptly hand over, or arrange to hand over, the UPs to those commanders considered best able to make meaningful use of them.
Kudos will be available to everybody that turns up. From Sidewinder newbies to Corvette vets. Much virtual back-slapping and rep for all
Music for convoy heisting by Kyp Shard
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