White Star #25

White Star 25 started a bit late, actually beginning one day after White Star 26. It was a special match because we had a guest from the Warriorlords, Stryker, while we sent Darrow to the Warriorlords. From the beginning, we knew this would be a challenging match. Our Russian opponents ranged in level from 199 to 476, most closer to 476. Their corporation description was in Russian except for the words “We don’t lose a game.” Their flagship was level 8, which was quite intimidating. However, the Titans are accustomed to facing difficult opponents and still coming out on top.

The enemy emerged very organized and strong, equipped with chain rays and few weaknesses. They seemed to stay in groups, heading for the central level 10. Nine miners and one transport all stayed together. On our side of the map, we didn’t have the greatest start. Tricky raced off to establish dominance on the level 10, with Stryker and Falkio behind him to lend support. OP2 handled a nearby bomber and then joined in. Jim went off to the side with his miner, looking for a quiet place to relax and fish. Arto joined in a few hours late and headed to the level 10. By this point, Tricky had used impulse to rush to the level 10 and waited for the opponent to make their move.

Eight hours into the White Star, Talon decided to move his battleship on a 13.5-hour trip into a death pit he would not survive. A few hours later, Q joined him on a similar trajectory and met the same fate. Q was battling a real-life hurricane, and Stu was facing his own real-life horrors of moving. Stu was never seen in the White Star. It was not the start the Titans were hoping for, but Tricky was at the level 10, and the enemy would have to take it from him.

The Zvezdec team attacked. Tricky quickly used barriers to keep them at bay and waited for reinforcements. In response, they used bonds to try and carry Tricky away, but he quickly countered with destiny. This kept him free from bonds, and his barrier remained for 2 more hours. It also allowed Tricky to teleport behind their front line, meaning the other Titans would have to fight the main battle without him. Tricky’s rocket drone quickly killed a couple of miners, but he also had a few enemy battleships in close pursuit. These battleships drew the fire of the rocket drone, saving the other miners. These miners also quickly devoured the asteroids near them, leaving Tricky’s battleship without any waypoints to target. Tricky was forced to retreat a bit to find another opportunity.

Without Tricky and his barrier holding off the enemy team on the level 10 planet, they swiftly took over. Space Titan arrived first but was caught in an enemy barrier. Falkio rushed in while Stryker and Arto waited just out of range. Space Titan tried to escape the barrier by teleporting back, which kept him in place for 8 hours, within range of their ships with his vengeance ability active and unable to be bonded. Space Titan’s vengeance triggers when his health drops below 2000 HP. At 2528 HP, the Russians used a level 6 rocket drone (1000 damage) with a level 9 weapon amplifier (2.6x damage) to kill Space Titan just before his vengeance could trigger. Space Titan was sent to his yellow star in disgrace. The Titans needed that vengeance to weaken the opponent.

Falkio entered the fray but was quickly outmanned and outgunned, perishing swiftly. The enemy, not content with just the level 10 planet, continued their advance towards Arto and Stryker. Backup from Talon and Q appeared to be arriving to help. Arto used a barrier to hold them off, while Stryker used level 11 destiny in hopes of catching a couple of enemies in an explosion. The enemies managed to avoid it at the last minute with a teleport mod. Stryker’s destiny teleported him away, but he was now racing to eliminate a very dangerous flagship using recoil to get to our support ships. The flagship, equipped with recoil drones and a floating shield, proved too strong for Stryker alone, and he was slain in a valiant effort.

Arto, Talon, and Q were all caught in a barrier, struggling to stay alive. After Q and Talon fell, Arto was the last man standing, no match for the enemy team charging him. He used destiny to catch two enemy battleships, killing one and leaving the other with just 20 HP. This was the only battleship kill of the game for the Titans, and the second battleship was forced to return to their jump gate to heal. Arto’s destiny jump landed him right in the belly of the beast, where he was swarmed and destroyed in moments.

This left Tricky, OP2, and Jim as the only survivors. Most supports gathered around Jim as a bastion of safety. While retreating, Tricky noticed an opportunity to attack the enemy and hastily did a 180, racing toward the enemy with impulse shields. However, he was caught by his teammate’s barrier, which immediately reacted and trapped Tricky, leading to his death.

Now, all that remained were OP2 and Jim. The opponent had complete control of the board. Jim and the supports huddled in a corner, trying to secure any relics they could. OP2 decided to die an honorable death and chose to go down fighting. He attacked and perished in battle. With OP2 gone, the enemy fleet set its sights on the last surviving battleship, Jim, and began heading towards him.

Around this time, Falkio and Space Titan respawned. Falkio moved to intercept the fleet and stop them from advancing on Jim and the supports. Space Titan saw an opportunity to reach the enemy’s support ships and cause significant damage. One enemy ship stood in his way, but with suspend and barrier on cooldown, it seemed unable to stop him—or so he thought. Miners used blast drones to attack Space Titan’s battleship, and two enemy battleships teleported to the planet he was traveling to, ambushing and killing him upon arrival.

Other ships, including Talon, Arto, Stryker, and Tricky, also respawned and headed to the same area. This forced the enemy to switch from attacking to defending. They had to turn back from fighting our supports to deal with the battleships coming after their own supports, all but one enemy ship.

A battle raged in the middle of the map. Tricky was caught in a barrier and died to save another battleship, avoiding setting off his vengeance ability to protect his teammate. Talon and Stryker fought bravely but were ultimately overwhelmed and decimated by the formidable enemy.

The one enemy ship that continued pursuing our supports tried to intercept Space Titan’s transport on its long journey home with relics. OP2 respawned and intercepted the enemy battleship, but was killed, and the transport was destroyed as well. The enemy battleship then targeted the remaining supports, but they were guarded by our strongest and toughest battleship, Jim. Jim, our level 653 battleship, was ready to run over the level 362 enemy ship blocking the supports’ route home. Just kidding—the enemy killed Jim too, along with all the supports he was guarding, ending the match in a devastating 0-26 loss and leaving us to do the walk of shame.