Therefore, I've come up with my own equation : The Slippers' Equation.
"Crazy people + Stupid Ideas = Successful Ops"
Nah, just shitting you guys. Crazy people is one of the important factor, but there's definitely more than that. Anyway, this time, we are doing a starburst, again.
Really, doing another starburst again?
How it all started
It started of as a casual remark from me to @gs33x4m, to find something ridiculously hard to do. I was scanning through the Intel Map to find some hard to access portal, and I end up with a portal which gave me a headache when I helping him out with intel for one of his fielding Ops : A portal which sits at the middle of the Causeway. To make our life harder, I suggested that we should do a starburst from both shores of the strait.
Coincidentally, @MandoMerc have the same idea, and was suggested even before me. Thus, once both sides linked up, the prep work starts.
Key Farming
To give you an idea how stupidly inaccessible that stupid portal (as I affectionately refer it as once in a while) is, to access that portal, you need:
- A passport in order to touch it.
- A huge fan of the scent of Sea water plus Exhaust gas.
- A lot of reason to cross the causeway for no reason.
- And a lot of free time to camp there.
That thing-y inside that red circle is the Main Character for this ShitRep.
Ok, maybe it isn't THAT inaccessible as I claim it to be. But heck, in order to farm the key, I need to get a passport. That, in my book, is inaccessible. Now this is when our neighbor do their magic. Within 1 month after sounding off this plan, they've already amassed 250 keys. Credits to @Barracuda7 and Comyling, especially to @comyling, who I've heard farmed 100+ keys alone. Because of them, pre-Ops preparation which was projected to last for months was done within such a short time.
Planning
Starburst Ops, one of those Ops which is visually appealing if done correctly. Since we already got through the hardest stage, which is key farming, we agree that we should try to do it as visually appealing as we can. However, in reality, it's impossible to do a well spread out starburst on a half-island scale due to many reasons, mainly because of the uneven spread of portal density.
No matter, the plan is still a go, just that the "visually-appealing" factor is out of the question.
Ops
Once Ops start, which honestly isn't as smooth as it was to be, teams started clearing blocking links all over the place. This is a tedious process because the area we're cutting through is through one of the active region in Singapore, the North. On normal days, it look like spider web colony. The thought of breaking down every single links is a nightmare for us since planning phase.
Yes, everything have to go down.
Halfway through, @Giant02 and @s1216, who already noticed something was going on earlier in the evening, came out to shoot blocking links all over the place. Intel had to dispatch those who're smashing to clear those mini starburst they created. Shoutout to @Giant02, you guys are really annoying, for the right reason. Cheers! :D
Once those are down, Intel gave the call link in whenever they can before they get blocked out by @Giant02. Slowly, links started flying in from Malaysia, West, North-east and Central of Singapore. They are specifically positioned to form, well, THE "visually appealing" factor of the Starburst.
Tadaa~
GIF: Credits to @carsiao
Shall do another shoutout to @Giant02 and @s1216: Oi, your bloody blocking links. :(
After Ops
Once we're done with our stuff, we went for supper at Al-Ameen (basically doing free advertising here).
The early ones.
And ~80% of the gang
Here's @YenneKon's supper :
Cheese Dinosaur(?) Prata.
In the mean time, @Giant02 drove in to the anchor point (with a passport of course), ADA the starburst, went over to have supper with the Malaysian ENL and did their own starburst with whatever key they have.
It's an impromptu one after all!
Round Two!
As usual, there's always more time for more rubbish!
During supper, @gs33x4m told us that he have a bunch of keys we can used to starburst : the couch portal of @Giant02. Since the ball is already rolling, the area is already cleared, the anchor already smashed, why not?
2:30 AM : Those who are still sane and awake for round 2 stay back and get some keys from @gs33x4m. Those who want to participate but don't have the necessary keys went over to hack for some.
3:15 AM : This is the time we all agreed to start shooting out the links. And without fail, the first link touch down once our digital clock strikes 3:15 AM.
The third starburst for the night, hence the Ops name.
Numbers
For the first starburst, we have :
23 outgoing links
276 incoming links
A total of 299 links
AP gain if @Giant02 smashed : ~59k.
longest link thrown from SG : ~14.1 KM.
longest link thrown from MY : ~13.9 KM
Jarvis count : I don't want to know..
Manpower - 60 plus
Time lost - 60 x 3 hours = 180 man hour
For the second starburst, we have :
8 outgoing links
155 incoming links
A total of 163 links
AP gain if smashed : ~31k
After Thoughts
This Ops isn't one of the smoothest Ops for those who are involved because I've decided to bring in new faces to be the Intel role. Not just that, lots of hiccups among us as well. But it's definitely it's us planners' fault, not the participants. Thanks god that the final result is out and it looks good.
@Malaysians : Keys keys keys. Definitely the reason why this Ops even happen in the first places. /Hats off
@Intel : Good job to those fresh faces. And for the Malaysian side, sorry for not giving much info on what's happening over here at SG side and you guys have to dig up info through the chats.
@Everyone : Sorry if I didn't manage to speak to everyone after Ops. Just want to chill around with my bandung. Good work guys, even with the hiccups. Cheers!
Agent list
Planners
@gs33x4m
@GreySm0ke
@SlippersBoy
Intel
@Gargantuarz
@Aerohh
@xThunderbolt
@turtleism
@SoupoftheDay
@GreySm0ke
Ground Team
@LLG2
@heongch
@rolandhii89
@vinosanto
@BudakSGK
@MandoMerc
@Yennekon
@nattieta
@sharkzy
@bespectacledqk
@barleyrice
@EagleChang
@BipolarPanda
@cherryguy
@D3xtinyX
@ClimbHazard
@tingzhb
@t3ddymon
@felicitous
@ShadoWyfm
@reflecto
@smurfling
@maebelle
@760RS
@carsiao
@elkie
@BlueIceAngel
@Evilkenichi
@meeehhhh
@AvaCarter
@msjmine
@Dinmil
@diamana
@shad0wsou1
@Beastify
@casino89
@halette
@emememem
@Profbeez
@Firzenn
@forzajuv
@Rubbishbin
@GundamRX782
@llBarathumll
@Feistycat
@RoughingIT
@TrioMaxwell
@SlippersBoy
@xterain
@nyannelogy
@Kaikai03
@Darkangel52
@GZNavi
@WhiteStallion
PS: If i miss out anything, please do not hesitate to contact me personally.
