So close, yet so far

I've been stalking some guys in a c2 with a high-sec static. Once I set my eyes on something, I can be very persistent. Of course the more effort I put into stalking, the more bitter I feel when the gank fails. Yes, Bex, I still curse you to this day for escaping me with your Night Fever Proteus. But taking a shot at a target and having him escape is arguably better than waiting for that opportunity, only to have it never arrive. I have a quite few resources at my disposal. Besides piloting 4 pvp characters, I also got many traders in the main hubs who sometimes act as my eyes. One of them is watching Dominik and his Iteron.

That ship that suddenly is yelloboxing and cargo scanning you on Jita undock? Might not be a potential suicide ganker, but a cloaky bastard waiting for you to return to your wormhole with a nice loot. This time Iteron was just dropping off PI goods and not bringing back anything of value.

Once logistics were done, my target was finally up to something. I watch him roll the wormholes in his Raven.

Grabbing a wormhole rolling battleship is a tricky business. Unless you have a dictor at your disposal, it may be fruitless endeavor due to risk of wcs in lows. Besides, ambushing a rolling battleship will always net you a very predictable kill, where as getting someone at the anomaly site, can hold unexpected shiny loot. I decide to wait and give Mr. Dominik time to make the system safe.

Once wormhole is crashed, Dominik swaps for an Astero. Ok, I guess he wants to scan the new signature before starting his farming activities. I patiently wait and let him map the newly spawned c3 static. Astero returns. Well, what ship will it be? Granted, c2 does not need a powerful ship, but some carebears like to overdo it. Domink TheMiner swaps to a Raven. Judging from him disappearing and appearing on d-scan, I guess he is also rolling the new connection.

I'm getting a bit annoyed. Is he actually looking for a suitable c3 to farm? What other reason can there be for him to roll these wormholes? It wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't a late evening and it didn't take forever for that Raven to roll those wormholes. Once done, Dominik swaps for an Astero, scans the wormhole and swaps to the Raven again. Ah, to hell with this. Rolling three wormholes is one too many that I'm willing to wait.

The signature is off d-scan range. I patiently wait for him to do the round trip and scan the wormhole once he is at the tower waiting out his 5 minute polarization timer. Once he warps back to the wormhole, I follow. The plan is to tackle him on the way back, kill him and go to sleep. It soon became clear that Raven was doomed. And no, not because of me. To my surprise, there was already a welcoming party at the wormhole.

What the... where did these guys come from? Looks like local residents of that c3. Talk about coincidence. I must admit I was caught off guard. I quickly scramble to assess the corporation. The fleet that was waiting for the Raven is not big, but I have no idea who I am up against. It was a Useless Idea corp, 70 members big, with somewhat active killboard. I felt quite confident about engaging them, but these guys do not waste any time. The Raven is quickly dealt with, loot scooped and before I get a chance to make my move, everyone jumps out. God damn it. I got the kill snatched right in front of my eyes. I fantasize for a second how the fight would have played out if I joined the party. Three-way engagement is always the most exciting. Not that I would know, but it is always fun to imagine. Wait, what am I talking about?