When I was a contractor for the Federation Navy I met a veteran of the Federal Marines in a bar while my ship was undergoing repairs. He spoke about how the State Peacekeepers sometimes grew complacent when they'd held a system or planet in the warzone for too long. Something about a long period of relative peace drives men to start getting careless; they lose vigilance. So when the Federal Marines moved into the system after months of State occupation, the Peacekeepers were not so much caught off guard as they had forgotten how critical it was to be on guard.
Gate camps aren't as common as they used to be in my experience. There are a few systems where the camps are frequently seen (see: Rancer pipe) but the nature of gate camps has evolved to some degree. Gone are the combat battleships and battlecruisers of old who would await in a system with nary concern over sentry guns. Replacing them are Strategic Cruisers and Battleships fit with smart-bombs looking to score an easy kill on traveling capsuleers and their lightly armored frigates, shuttles, and the like. This in mind, my interest immediately piqued when Commander Sparre called out that there was one of the older style gate camps in the Resbroko system situated on the Hror gate.
The nature of the gate camp isn't as interesting as its choice of location. Pirates are clever. They know that those entering low-sec systems from their hi-sec entryways are often not expecting to be caught except in highly trafficked areas such as the Rancer pipe. This camp was located in the Tiat constellation, which is intriguing because Resbroko has two hi-sec entryways through Hror and Amo. Both of the gates to these systems are close to one another and make for an easy transition if one but knows where the prey is coming. Though Amo does have another entryway into low-sec through Auner, one must still transition into the greater whole of the warzone through Resbroko despite.The composition of the camp was fairly simple, but peculiar in that it was mixed in effect: A Tempest which was fit for shield tank and its associated Scythe to provide remote shield boosting. Joining the pair was a Prophecy battlecruiser, Ashimmu cap-warfare cruiser, two Exequrors for remote armor repair, and a Maulus Navy Issue for tackle. Presumably the camp was composed of what was available on hand rather than any particular doctrine. The Scythe and Tempest did not compliment the rest of the gang, so stood out on their own with little in the way of support. This benefited us as it meant that we could focus on the main group without much concern for the other two.
To combat the gang we brought our own mix of ships that on the surface looks unorthodox, but largely made sense in its effect: A Leshak battleship and Drekavac battlecruiser armed with heavy damage capability, a Vigilant for tackle, a Curse and neutralizer-fit Algos for counter cap-warfare, and a Cerberus armed with Rapid Lights and a Cormorant to handle small craft. The combination covered all ranges of what we were dealing with without the need for additional logistics support. All of our ships were well capable on their own, but together made for a fierce fighting force.
We decided to make our approach from Amo as it was quite close to the Hror gate which the camp was situated on. They did not know the entirety of our composition. Early on we had split the force to approach from multiple directions as to not outright scare them off with a fight they knew they couldn't take, only to come back after we had turned in for the night. We learned upon our transit to the system - either by coincidence or because the camp had a scout in Hror - that the group had moved to catch us on the Amo gate. In this, they had every opportunity to leave, but chose to stay, but more on that later.
Commander Sparre announced that the fight was on and told us to jump through the gate. We entered and discovered that Sparre's Leshak had already removed both Exequrors - they were stationary and as such provided easy targets for the intense weaponry of the Triglavian battleship. With the main group's logistics support taken out of the picture, we set our list of priorities: The Ashimmu first, to negate its ability to provide cap warfare, followed by the damage dealing Tempest and its sibling Scythe. The Prophecy was reserved for last and the Maulus Navy Issue was considered a non-issue as it was not fitted with weaponry.
My initial target was actually this Maulus as my Cerberus was specifically designed for these light craft. In addition, removing the additional tackle from the field would allow the rest of our fleet to evacuate if hostile reinforcements or other pirates decided to join the fray. As it already had damage from the Leshak, it was a quick kill. The rest of the pieces fell into place and we did not take any losses due to both the co-ordination and... perhaps a little bit of luck. As we would later discover, several of the pilots were closely linked and experienced mechanical failures upon our arrival. In essence: Their luck finally caught up with them.
The moral of the story is that this particular group had forgotten that there are always going to be those who will come to destroy them. They grew complacent. They expected easy kills and in exchange became easy kills themselves. Pirates should take heed of these words, as the moment you begin to feel that certain smugness - that certain air that you are invincible... You will quickly be reminded that you are just as human as anyone else.
