Following the Crews: Victory and Death | EVE Online

Following the Crews: Victory and Death

2008-03-05 - By Svarthol

Victory and defeat. Life and death. For the crews of spaceships, these things are forever intertwined. And on this weekend of the alliance tournament, Shin Anko sadly came face to face with the later two.

The stealth bomber Shin Anko manned was destroyed during the first day of the alliance tournament. He did not survive the explosion. The ship's black box, recovered by tournament organizers following the match, reveals his final moments.

As the ship he manned came under fire, Shin furiously attempted to manage the overloaded missile launchers on the ship, keeping them from burning out even as the ship's shields and armor were stripped. The ship's warning to evacuate went out, but Shin had time to only pull on a protective helmet before the ship exploded. He was caught by exploding debris and killed instantly.

Shin spent the last moments of his life doing what he did best: keeping his stealth bomber firing. His body is being returned to Khanid Prime for a traditional burial.

Axel Adell came close to death as well. The logistics ship he manned was also destroyed, though on the second day of the tournament. He managed to escape without injury, however.

"It was a close one," Axel said. "We were looking good for a while there. But finally, the other side decided to make our ship primary. We held up pretty good for a while there, but after a bit, I knew things were going down."

When the warning call went out for evacuation procedures, Axel was already in his survival suit. "I can tell when things are going south," he said. "I've got enough experience to know when me pushing a few buttons to keep us 800 meters away instead of drifting to 801 doesn't matter any more. So I started to suit up. It probably saved my life."

The explosions that ripped the ship didn't penetrate to the section Axel was on. However, they did expose a nearby section to vacuum, causing Axel's section to lose all its oxygen. "One of the other guys didn't make it," Axel said. "Luckily, most of us did."

Axel was picked up by tournament rescue crews shortly after the match ended. He is expected to participate in the final rounds of the event.

Rozalin Fuma tasted victory, as her ship made it through the entire battle without being destroyed. "My crew did good," she said. "We didn't have any issues with our turret the entire fight. Honestly, I have no idea how the fight even went aside from us winning. I probably won't ever know. I can't watch replays of fights I'm in... It feels too weird."

Rozalin is looking forward to continuing in on the tournament. "The more fights I'm in, the higher the bonus. I hope we get through every round."