Diplomacy At Work

The previous week I had seen more action around Molden Heath, both solo and in a small gang, then I was accustomed to. Action was plentiful. This new life I had jumped into, that of piracy, was quickly being validated from the enjoyment I was getting out of my new activities. I honestly wish I had made the jump much sooner then I had. I had finally found my calling as a capsuleer in the sea of stars we call "New Eden".

Late Friday night, I had just taken in a fresh group of Rifters from a former colleague, a good friend, who I've kept in contact with since leaving my former corporation. Overnight, he had moved some new frigates, fresh off the assembly line, into my home station. Knowing I had a healthy supply of Rifters to play with, I was emboldened. Ready to take on whatever the night would yield, not caring if my current Rifter ever saw the insides of a station again, I undocked.

Sard was on corp comms, and I eagerly hailed him to see what he was up to. No doubt something fun, something dangerous, something exceedingly fun, and something that would more then likely cost me my ship. He was, naturally, out roaming about looking for prey not far from my current location. He quickly fleeted me and I eagerly made the first jump in route to meet up with him.

As I was one jump away from him he came across fleet comms announcing he had located a Huginn on directional. "I'm just a jump out from your system now, coming down the warp tunnel to the jumpgate", I replied. By the time I made it to the jumpgate, and jumped through to the system Sard was in, he was engaged with Huginn. To make things more interesting, a neutral Cyclone had joined in on the fun as well. I quickly warped to the belt. I had made a bet with Sard after he initially said he had the Hugin on directional. "20:1 says I don't make it out of this in my Rifter, Sard", I predicted. "I got 1 million that says otherwise", he replied. I grinned.

I burst out of the warp tunnel into the belt, the battle already raging. "Hit those drones!", Sard commanded when he saw me scream into the belt. There were drones all over the place. My overview readout - a long list of annoying drones. I quickly started targeting those that were engaging Sard. Afterburner lit, first drone webbed, autocannons roared to life. Just as soon as I had taken a few of them down Sard told me to primary the Hugin so I could be reported on the CONCORD killmail. My targeting computer quickly resolved the lock, but I was too far out to do anything. As I made my way towards the Huginn to get within range, she blew sending shards of what used to be a ship all over the belt.

Sard, without hesitation, commanded me to get my tackling gear on the Cyclone. I jerked my little Rifter around, and quickly locked on to the Cyclone. Luckily, she was within range of my tackling gear, and tackled she was. This time, I made sure to get my autocannons on the target. We made short work of the Cylcone, and she too popped. We scooped up the drones, floating aimlessly about in space without a master.

Sard came up on fleet comms, "So, that'd be 20 million then right?" It took a moment for it to dawn on me what Sard was referring to. "Hahaha, shit. I guess so", I replied. A bet is a bet, and integrity, even amongst pirates, is important. I had the iskies transfered to Sard immediately. By his reply, I could tell he was surprised I followed through. I know he'll inevitably spend it on Corp supplies though so I'll get some benefit out of the iskies still. On the other hand, now that I've publicly announced that, he'll probably go out and blow it on those exotic dancers he likes to keep around the corp hanger.

It was very late, and I was exhausted from my day. I set destination for home, thanked Sard for the fun, and bid him a happy hunt. When I arrived at my base of operations, having docked up, I met with my hanger chief and requested that maintenance be performed over night, and the cargo hold loaded with a fresh, full compliment of ammunition. The next day's hunt would start early, and I didn't want to waste anytime with preparations. Just wake up, suit up, pod-up, and undock.

I rose Saturday morning early, although little behind schedule. The hanger crew had done a splendid job of getting my little Rifter ready for the day's hunt. I got situated in the pod, and brought my Rifter back to life. Undocking, I set destination for Bosena. It was quickly becoming one of my more favored solo grounds. Have to be careful though, it's a pretty heavily pirated system.

I scanned around Odde and Bos for about a half an hour when I decided to move on, not finding anything to attack. I set course for a new destination. Evati, I had been there once previously shortly after joining Gunpoint. I knew it was a pretty active system, and there were quite a few systems between my present location and Evati - ample opportunities to hunt. I pointed my frigate's nose towards the first jumpgate. I punched the warp drive and launched forward towards my new destination.

The pipe was pretty clean along the way, but eventually I found myself in Offikatlin. It was quiet in the system, only one other capsuleer was being reported in the local communication system. I started the process of scanning the celestial clusters to see if the other pilot was out and about. It didn't take long, I immediately picked up another Rifter on directional. I set about narrowing down the scan radius to try and pinpoint the othe Rifter's location. "Please don't be a mission runner, please don't be a mission runner," I kept thinking. I didn't have the advanced scanning equipment needed to probe out other ships in hidden parts of space.

Much to my delight, the other pilot was not a mission runner. From the way it looked, sitting from my scan spot, he appeared to be ratting. I warped to the single asteroid belt present at the celestial cluster I had narrowed him down to. There he was, fighting a crusier sized rat in the belt. I pounced. He was only 15k away from my warp-in point. It was now just a matterclosing the gap and getting within scrammer range before he noticed me and warped out of the belt.

I hit 10k out and engaged my targeting computer, my tackling equipment already primed. The Rifter was pinned quickly and the fight was on. I tore through his shields and turned his armor into swiss cheese. His structure quickly gave way. I tried for his pod, but the pilot got it out of the belt before I could get it tackled. I approached his wreck, and managed to scoop an armor plate, and a webber that would be useful for my Rifters one day. I waited out my GCC in a safespot, watching the local comms system for new arrivals into the system. When a new pilot entered the system, I worked the scanner hoping that it'd be something that I could attack, and that the pilot would stay in the system long enough for me to engage.

Disappointingly, it was all just traffic moving through the system on the way to some other destination. With my criminal flag expired, I pressed on towards Evati. I moved through the pipe, scanning the systems along the way. I made it all the way to Evati without finding any more targets. I docked up at one of the local stations to grab a quick drink and a smoke before heading for home. Evati was pretty busy, but most pilots were docked up, or running missions in parts of space I couldn't access. Having satisfied my thirst, I undocked and set destination for home.

I moved back through the long pipe I had just come through. There were no targets to be found along the way, that is until I landed in Illamur. I picked up an Incurus Gallante frigate on directional. I have a fondness for popping them. I'm not really sure why. It probably has to do with the fact it's a make of a different race. Being that I hunt mainly in Minmatar controlled space, I see mainly Minmatar ships. So, it's a change of pace more then anything I suppose. Something unique as opposed to the Rifter kills that have quickly become common on my Killboard.

I narrowed the scanner's radius down and pinpointed the Incurus in a belt not far away. I warped into the belt and found the pilot engaged with one of the local pirate rats. From the readouts I was getting, this poor capsuleer was being warp scrambled by the rat it was fighting. Pleased at this discovery, I hit the afterburner and started to close the gap. The Incurus was over 20k away from my warp-in point, and the rat had done what would have been the most difficult take of the engagement - pinning my prey preventing it's escape as I closed to rip it apart. If the Incurus hadn't been scrammed for me, the pilot could have very easily warped out before I could have engaged.

Having closed range, I applied my scrammer and webber. I knew the Incurus would soon destroy the rat it had been engaged with, and at that point would have been able to warp out. I didn't want that to happen, so I applied my scrammer as insurance that my prey wouldn't get away. I span up my autocannons, and launched my barrage of rockets. The Incurus, had launched one drone, but I chose to ignore it. I knew the Incurus wouldn't last long enough for 1 drone to be of concern. Predicitably, the Incurus crumbled under my guns. I quickly warped out of the belt to safespot to wait out my GCC.

I eventually made my way back home to dock for the evening. Having docked, I again requested the hanger crew to prepare my Rifter for the next day of operations. I hit the station bar for a quick drink and a smoke. I submitted my CONCORD killmails and headed off for my quarters. I laid in bed, reflecting on my day's hunt. While the day's kills weren't anything large like the previous days, they were all satisfying. I drifted off easily into a nice, quiet sleep.

Sunday morning, I set out planning to stay in the closely neighboring systems. I would find the day to be much more quiet then the previous two days had been. I made my way for Odde, not finding much activity along the way. I eventually picked up a Claw interceptor on my directional scanner. I have read accounts from other pirates who favor Rifter combat, that interceptors are not out of the capablities of the Rifter to successfully engage. I had been eager to attempt to solo one, but had been apprehensive about it in the past. Like I said previously though, I knew I had an ample supply of Rifters and replacement modules in my station hanger. My current Rifter had had a good run. If I lost it (which I knew I inevitably would), I was fine with it.

I pointed my Rifter to the belt I expected the Claw to be at. As soon as I landed in the belt I had expected to see the claw come up on my overview, but there was nothing. I quickly set about trying to pick him back on the scanner. Working my directional scanner, I quickly picked him back up and narrowed his position down to the neighboring planet. Not what I had expected, but whatever. I hit the warp drive and launched towards the planet. I landed about several kilometers away. The Claw pilot was not overconfident in his T2 frigate. He warped away evidently not wanting to risk his expensive ship.

This turned out to be a bit of a cat and mouse game. I continued to stalk him as he jumped around the system. Eventually though, he would make a mistake. He returned to the planet I had originally found him orbiting. I quickly made my way back to the planet, hoping I'd land close enough to get my tackling gear on him. Sure enough, I landed 11k away. A quick punch of the afterburner and I was within tackling range. My tackling gear engaged and the Claw was pinned. One of us was going to burn.

My autocannons began doing their work, overloaded they began to weaken the interceptor's shields. The interceptor returned fire, and I saw my shields start to take heavy damage. "Shit, gotta be using artillery", I thought to myself. I quickly turned my frigate into the interceptor to close range, and tried to get under his guns as much as possible. Once I was within 1200 meters, the game shifted back in my favor. His shields gone, his armor gave way revealing the interceptor's hull. My guns made short work of the last little bit of structural integrity holding the Claw together. She burst, and I was more satisfied then I had been since my first solo kill.

I scoped up a couple T2 Artillery cannons from the Claw's wreckage. I had been correct about my prey's weapons loadout. I set destination for home and waited out my GCC in a safe spot. Once my criminal flag dropped off, I pressed on for home. I docked up and had the hanger crew unloaded the new T2 weapons from the cargo hold. I had them inspected for damage and when they were proven to be in excellent condition, I placed them on the marketplace. Hopefully they'll sell quickly. I made my way for my quarters to review the CONCORD killmail. Having sat down at my desk, I began to review it. "What the fuck is this shit?!?!", I thought to myself. This fitting, on an interceptor? Why would anyone risk an interceptor like this? If your going to fit your ship like that, at least use a disposable T1 frigate. NOT a T2 frigate like an interceptor.

What a waste. And yes, I do feel slightly "robbed" of the interceptor Kill. On the bright side, I can still gloat to Rax that I have a solo Claw kill that he hasn't been able to obtain yet. :)
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Note: Seems to be something wrong with killboard, it's not displaying the fittings right now. Sorry, hopefully it will be running like normal soon.

Hoisting My Colors

Last night I set out around Molden Heath to conduct business, for the first time, under the corporate flag of Gunpoint Diplomacy. After checking in with Corp comms and seeing that my colleagues were docked up and not around, I knew I'd be conducting business on my own. Something I was not unaccustomed to, as you'd know if you have been following this log any amount of time.

I caught up on some corp and alliance mails, checked in with my hanger crew, and made sure I had the appropriate loadout and propper ammo stored in the cargohold of my trusty Rifter. Everything looked to be in order. I checked the exterior of the Rifter. Gliding around its perimeter looking for any visible signs of structural damage that, God forbid, the maintenance crews missed. If there's one thing I've learned, when it comes to the health of your ship, it doesn't matter how good your crews are. The health and maintenance of your ship are your responsbility to check on. Seeing that everything was inorder I walked across the catwalk to board my ship and set out on my first roam for Gunpoint.

All systems were fired up and in working order. Everything was green-lighted by my crew. I received clearance to taxi and depart from our new home station's control tower, and we ferried our way through the departure tunnel of the station. As I peered out, down the long stretch of the departure tunnel at the blackness of space, the traffic pattern was clear and I slammed the throttle of the ship forward, stopping just short of engaging the afterburner. She responded with the familar sound of her engines roaring as she threw herself towards the exit.

Chills ran through me as I anticipated what the day would yeild. The hunt was about to begin, and my Rifter burst through the departure tunnel at breakneck speeds. After quickly throwing my Rifter into alignment for the first jumpgate of the roam, I punched the warp drive, and left the station behind in an instant. Almost just as fast, I hit the first gate, and jumped on contact.

I jumped through a couple systems not seeing much on local comms or on scanner that was either of interest, or that I was confident in being able to solo. So, it went for the first hour. Jumping back and forth between Illamur and Heild, running the course of that pipe, I couldn't find anything to tackle and dispose of. Finally, in Odde (trusty Odde), my scanners finally returned something of interest. A Hoarder was reported on scanner, and I quickly set about narrowing the search area to pinpoint it's location. It didn't take long.

The industrial ship appeared to be at a small cluster not far from the gate that leads into High-Sec space. I knew there was a good chance the indy would be sitting on the gate and I wouldn't be able to engage, but being that this was the first potential target I'd found in an hour I decided it warranted further investigation. I set course for the cluster, and warped towards the planet.

As I was running down the warp tunnel towards the planet I kept my eyes on the scanner. I expected the Hoarder to fall off scan at any moment. However, much to my delight, as my Rifter started to slow and come out of the warp tunnel the Hoarder was still showing up where I was pointing my scanner - right at the planet I had warped to!

Quickly, I primed my modules. Double checked my targeting computer (gotta make sure it's on if you're going to pew-pew). My Rifter burst through the warp tunnel at the planet and there was the Hoarder. Just sitting there, practically screaming at me, "Please kill me!". I obliged. The scrammer and webber I had primed came to life quickly as my targeting computer resolved lock in very short order - typical of frigates.

I set my orbiting range, span up my Autocannons, sat back to enjoy the fireworks all the while pulsing my scanner to keep a look out for anyone who looked like they might jump me. The Barrage S ammo I had loaded before undocking were doing their job splendidly. The industrials shield tank couldn't keep up with the damage from my turrets. Soon enough, I had the industrial into it's armor, which quickly peeled away and showed that sexy structure of the ship. Like normal, without inherent resistances to damage, the structure quickly buckled.

I tried to nab the pilots pod (I'll admit, I'm very eager to scoop my first frozen corpse), but he was able to get his pod out of the battle zone immediately after being ejected. I approached the wreckage curious to see what goods had survived the explosion. Only a shield booster and extender were left, all T1 variants. Nothing spectacular, but I'll take it. This industrial hauler must have just delivered his goods because there was nothing in the cargo.

I hit a safe spot to wait out my GCC and planned out where I'd go from Odde. I checked the local intelligence maps to gather the latest intel for the region. Everywhere around the area I planned to operate for the evening was relatively quite. It was appearant there'd been some small skirmishes throughout the area, but no hotzones were being reported. So, in the end, I just decided to keep roaming between Illamur and Heild.

It wouldn't be too much longer before I'd find a fight worthy of my Rifter. Another Rifter was reported on Scanner at the Planet 8 cluster in Odde (busy night for Odde afterall). I quickly narrowed the other Rifter down to a belt that orbits P8. Engaging the warp drive my Rifter threw itself into the warp tunnel, hurtling towards the asteroid belt.

As I came out of warp the other Rifter appeared on my navigational overview, my combat modules were primed and ready to engage. The target was farther away from my warp in point then I'd hoped, but was only about 24k away from me. I engaged my afterburners and started screaming towards my mark in a slow arch, to try to keep my transveral high on approach. Once I was within scrammer and webber range I commanded the targeting computer to lock on to the other Frigate. Lock Resolved, dance #2 commenced.

I overloaded everything. I realized just as my autocannons span up that the other Rifter pilot was one who'd bested me not too long ago. I wanted this kill more then anything. The fight continued on and I poured forth damage, shredding apart the other Rifter's armor. Right towards the end of the fight, I'd neglected to pay enough attention to the heat readouts of my scrammer and webber modules. I'd overheated both and they gave out. "Shit!" I had just fried all my tackling gear. The other Rifter's structure was well exposed by now, and I just prayed the other pilot didn't notice he wasn't tackled anymore. If he did, he didn't react and his Rifter's structure gave out. Delightfully, the little frigate imploded on itself. I tried to nab the pod, but...oh yes, I'd burnt out my tackling equipment. "Shit again!". He warped off and I grabbed some nice T2 modules out of the wreckage.

Sard Caid had come across Corp Comms literally right as I was beginning this fight. Now that it was over, it was time to get back to him. I told him the good news, and he was eager for me to get it posted up on the corp's killboard. So was I. I posted the kill and he invited me to roam with him up towards Evati. "Of course!" I replied. I just needed to wait out the new criminal flag I had, and then dock up for repairs. We planned out where to meet and I sat in a safe rummaging through the spoils from my latest engagement.

Having waited out my GCC and acquired the repairs I desperately needed from overheating my modules, I set out to meet Sard in Ennur. I formed up on his wing and we set out together for a roam up the pipe to Evati. We wouldn't find anything to engage along the way. We made it into Evati and jumped to a nearby station. Sard had us join in on the Hellcats' voice communication systems and we chatted with Mynxee and Shae.

As we sat outside the station Sard was working on sweet talking both Mynxee and Shae into roaming with us through a few more systems. Being the "sweet little bad girls" they are, they couldn't resist. I don't know if it had more to do with the pleasure they get from seeing ships go BOOM and pods go squish, or if it had more to do with Mynxee's fancy for Sard's ass. Either way, they both obliged and x'ed up to join Sard and me. The Bastards also had a representative present for our mixed gang - Zeasier had joined us as well. We quickly formed up and set out to poke around some neighboring systems.

We moved quickly through the systems as they were just simply dead. Not much activity at all. We passed through Dal, and Mynxee seemed alittle disheartened. I think she really wanted to moon Roc as our little gang moved through. No luck with that though. We pressed on, eventually finding ourselves in Kurniainen. Sard had sent me through the gate first to clear it for gate camps, and to recon the immediate area for potential targets.

The gate was clear, and there was only one other capsuleer present in the local comm system. I started sweeping space with my Scanner and it didn't take long for it to return a hit. A Sleipnir was somewhere out in space. I reported it's precense in the system and Sard requested I try to pinpoint his location with my scanner. I was already fast at work trying to pinpoint his location. Within a matter of moments my scanning work was done, and I pinpointed the Sleipnir's possible position at a small cluster of a planet and the single neighboring asteroid belt.

I reported it's possible location so the rest of the gang could start proceeding towards the belt. I was already warping to it to try and get the high valued ship tackled. I came out of the warp tunnel just a few thousand meters away from the Sleipnir. I quickly locked him and applied my tackling modules. This ship was going nowhere. I hit the afterburner and burned towards him to try and get under the big ship's guns. I wouldn't last long if his weapon systems were able to track my tiny frigate. I span up the autocannons and bore down for what was sure to be bumpy, painful ride.

The first of the gang warped into the belt and joined the fray. The Sleipnir had already let loose his drones which were now attacking me. I wasn't able to get under the guns of the mighty Sleipnir, and was soon dispatched. My pod ejected and I warped out of the battlefield to a safe spot. I listened in on comms as the battle raged and the gang of pirates I was with began putting the hurt on the Sleipnir. Luckily, someone else was able to get a point on the target before I was popped. The Sleipnir was still pinned. He was ours.

I could tell from Sard's voice, the joy that battle brought, that the Sleipnir's structure was about to give way. Moments later, the Sleipnir exploded in grand fashion. The gang quickly scooped up what valuable goods had survived the explosion. They were also kind enough to retrieve my belongings from my Rifter wreck. The life of a tackler, it can be a short lived one. It was worth it though. One Sleipnir for the cost of a Rifter is a good day.

I was now over 30 jumps out from my home system. The system I had departed a few hours before hand. Anxious for my first night of pillaging and yarr. Knowing I didn't have the energy for the long pod cruise home, I bid my fellow pirates a good night and wished them luck. I pressed on for a few more jumps until I landed in a system that had a station I could dock up in for the evening. Today, I'll have to purchase and fit a new Rifter. I wish my little frigate could have made it through the evening, but as I said its lose was worth it for the gang. Luckily, I still have the sec status appropriate to enter .6 systems. That will not last long though, so I better stock up.

Roaming with Sard, the Hellcats, and Zaesier of The Bastards had been a better experience then I had even hoped it would be. An absolute blast. Thanks to all members of the roam last night for an excellent first experience in the world of New Eden Piracy. I'm looking forward to many more. "Yarr!", mateys.

I've Been Baited!!

Directional scanner was sweeping Klingt for potential targets. I'd been hoping around the system for only a short time when I obtained a return that peaked my interest. Another Rifter in the system. I began to narrow my scan radius down. 180 degrees, 90 degrees, 60, 30, 15, and finally 5 degrees sweep. The Rifter was at a cluster of celestial objects less then 3AU from the safe spot I was quietly scanning from. I set the coordinates into the navi-computer, and checked local to see if there were any known pirates in system. All pilots in system were either friendlies to my alliance, or neutrals. I felt good about proceeding to engage this pilot.

The Rifter on my scanner was either orbiting a planet, at the station next to the planet, or in the single asteroid belt next to that planet. I decided to check out the planet first, and scan from that vantage point. I reset the navi-com to exit warp 20k away from the zero point of the planet and engaged the warp drive.

As I warped in, I double check my weapons systems and tageting computer to make sure they were in good order (something I should have done prior to initiating the warp to the planet - I know). My Rifter started slowing down, coming out of warp, space began to come back into focus. The planet grew larger and larger as I closed in on it. Just as I'd suspect, there sat a lone Rifter, orbiting the planet. I quickly engaged my afterburners, I needed to close distance between me and the other Rifter fast before he had the opportunity to align and warp away.

As I closed the distance I primed my tackling gear and my weapons. My scrammer, and webbifier were ready to pounce on my target the moment my targeting computer resolved the lock. My auto cannons and rocket launcher were ready to spool up and start throwing pain towards the other Rifter. I closed to just under 9,000m and commanded the targeting computer to lock on to the other frigate.

Target lock was resolved quickly and my target was pinned. The fight was on. My auto cannons and rocket launcher blazed to life. Lead and warheads screamed through space to their mark. The other Rifter pilot returned in kind. We both started to take damage. I was out pacing his damage though and felt confident, from the outset, this would not end well for him. Just as my fire had reduced his Rifter to half it's armor, in warped a Stabber.

"Shit! I've been Baited!"

Enraged by this, I decided to ignore the Stabber. I had the other Rifter pinned, he had me pinned as well. Neither of us was going anywhere. My only hope (despite knowing how slim the chances were) was that the Stabber pilot would honor the 1v1 going between me and the other Rifter - wasn't going to happen though. As soon as I was alerted that I was now being targeted by the Stabber also my rage at this other Rifter pilot reached new levels I'd not experienced before.

I turned all my attention to the Rifter pilot that had baited me, his armor was now almost completely gone. I pushed my Rifter as I started taking heavy fire from the cruiser and the Rifter. I pressed hard. I had accepted that my Rifter would never see a station dock again, but I'd be damned if I was going to let this chicken shit get out of here with his Rifter. Hell bent on destroying his ship before mine gave way to the heavy onslaught, and hell bent on trying to pod-kill the pilot inside I refused to go quietly.

It didn't take long to chisel away the little bit of the armor he had left. The other Rifter was into armor, and it didn't take long for me to melt away what little bit of structural integrity remained of his limping frigate. He soon exploded, and his pod ejected. I attempted to lock him up. I wanted this pilot dead. Absolutely dead. To hell with the security status hit I'd incur. It wouldn't be though as he managed to warp his pod away before my targeting computer could resolve the lock.

My own Rifter, despite enduring the heavy fire from other Rifter and this new Stabber that joined the scene, was down to a 1/4 of it's own armor. I prepared myself for the pod cruise I knew I was about to be forced to take as well. The Stabber had me pinned, and I couldn't warp away to save my Rifter. My frigate eventually blew, and up my pod ejected. Prepared for this, I quickly warped away, and set about fitting a new Rifter.

Despite the loss of my Rifter, I was proud of the fact I destroyed the frigate that baited me.

The next day, I set out. I had a new shiny Rifter. No blood and no wreckage to it's credit. I set out to hunt again. I jumped through several systems and had trouble finding anything to fight. Eventually, I found another Rifter. We both seemed to have located each other on our scanners. We jumped between two different planets back and forth for what seemed like 15 minutes. Finally, I found the frigate in a belt. A fight quickly ensued. 1v1 for this time. We traded blows back and forth. At times it seemed I had the upper hand, and then all of the sudden he would get in a sizable blow on my Rifter and I'd take some pretty heavy fire. So the fight went, both of us change lead in who was doing more damage.

Before long, I had him well into his armor, and then into his structure. I had just a sliver of armor left protecting my structure. Soon, the other Rifter's structure gave up and collapsed. The rewarding sight of an explosion in space. Legs of smoke arching out from the point in space the other Rifter used to occupy. This was a very satisfying kill against an opponent that deserved respect.

I hailed him over private comms and he obliged my invitation. We had a very pleasant conversation, and actually discussed the fight and over all tactics that we'd learned through our separate experiences. I honestly would love the opportunity to roam with this pilot some day.

The rest of the weekend proved to be pretty quiet from here on out. I went on a roam with a couple fellas in my corp. Unfortunately, the one target we found on our roam warped off before we could close in on him to get him pinned. He had gone off into safe spot so we didn't spend much time tracking him down. Despite not getting any kills with my corp mates, it was an enjoyable roam as it was the first time I'd gone out with Ochura and Hoarde. I look forward to the next roam with the guys.

Low-Sec Stroll

This weekend was a fairly quite one for me in New Eden. Friday evening I sat down to get sometime in with my Rifter. I did some quick salvaging runs through high-sec to get some quick isk as I fully expected to be loosing my Rifter at some point this weekend, and I wanted to have some cash on hand for new modules when it happened. I'd had several successful engagements with my Rifter through the week, so I knew Lady Luck was about to piss all over me and end this Rifter's reign. There is only one guarantee I've found in the world of New Eden: Your ship will be reduced to a pile of scrap metal.

After finishing with the "garbage cleanup" around high-sec, I refitted my Rifter for PvP. I set for the first system of my evening solo roam. Navicomputer set for Illamur, and off I went to start my Friday evening hunt. Illamur, in true Illamur tradition, was dead. No one in system. For being a border system, I've always been surprised at how dead this system is. Anyway, I headed on to Atlar. Atlar was quiet as well. I pressed on into several other systems and it was dead everywhere. I began to question whether it was really Friday evening. Where was everyone? Suffice it to say, after roaming a couple hours, I docked up for the evening, disappointed that there was no pew-pew to be had.

I wouldn't be strapped back into my pod until Sunday morning. Family affairs kept me busy all day Saturday and Saturday evening. I set Sunday morning and mainly just stuck to some pve "care-bearing". My wallet was still feeling too light. After I'd had all the "care-bearing" I could stand, I docked up. More family affairs to attend to for the afternoon. Once those had been attended to, I planned for my Sunday evening roam.

I had finished training Hull Upgrades 4, so there were some new fittings I wanted to pick up for my Rifter. Items I hope will aid in it's longevity. I picked up a new armor repper, and new dmg control module. I refitted my Rifter with my new mods and set out for the evening. I hopped around low-sec. It was the typical roam path for me. Low-sec was much busier then it had been Friday evening, and I got a lot more practice at using the directional scanner - it really does start to become second nature rather quickly.

Most of what I was finding was too much for my Rifter to try to chew up solo. So, I continued on with the roam searching for other frigate pilots roaming about - hoping I'd scan down some poor frigate pilot foolish enough to by ratting in a belt, or sitting idle at a planet.

I completed my entire solo-roaming "circuit" without any potential targets popping up on the scanners. Disgruntled at how slow things had gone for me this weekend, I decided to turn in for the night. On my way back to my home station, I decided to give things some more time to heat up.

I found myself sitting in Atlar, sitting in a safe spot, I scanned down a couple other rifters in the system. Elated by their presence, I quickly tried pinpointing the location of the first rifter. I had his potential location narrowed down. This Rifter pilot was just passing through the system however, and I would not get to him before he jumped out of the system completely. I returned to my original Safespot, and started scanning down the other Rifter.

I scanned him down to an astroid belt that was very close to my safe spot. I set my navicomputer to warp me into the middle of the belt, in the hopes I'd find this pilot ratting in the middle of the belt. My Rifter threw itself into warp, and just as quickly as I'd entered warp I began to exit as the belt started to come into view.

My weapons, and tackling gear primed, I landed in the middle of the belt as planned. However, the other Rifter was fighting some rats off at the perimeter of the belt. I turned my frigate towards my prey, and hit the Afterburner. Just as I reached the full power of the afterburner the other Rifter warped out of the belt. My eyes followed him as he warped away. I had a pretty good idea of where he went - a station just a few AU from this belt we were in. I followed in pursuit (fully knowing I wouldn't be able to engage due to the sentry guns at the station).

I warped in to the station, and there he was, sitting right outside the station. I decided to orbit him just to see what he'd do. He very quickly docked up at the station though as soon he noticed my Rifter closing in on him - I expected nothing short of this.

I warped back to the safe spot I'd been scanning in. I was watching for him to undock. Eventually he reappeared on my scanner, but in a different belt then the one I'd found him in the first time. I warped to the belt, this time planning on exiting 10k from the middle of the belt - hoping this would put me closer to him as I expected him to be fighting the rats around the perimeter of the belt again.

Sure enough, as I came out of warp at this belt, I landed closer to his position, but he was still 15k away. "Damn it!" I shouted. I fully expected him to warp out of the belt before I could get my Rifter in range to tackle him. I had turned my Rifter to close in for the engagement. Again, tackle gear primed. The afterburner cooking behind me. Within a few more seconds he was with in tackle range. I engaged the targeting computer and they resolved the locking solution in short order - as they always do. He wasn't getting away free this time.

I closed to within falloff range of my auto cannons and started pouring lead into the other Rifter. The damage was minimal but I was still pretty far out of falloff range. I settled into orbit, just at my auto cannons falloff range. My targeting computer kept reporting minimal damage inflicted on the Rifter. "What the hell is going on" I thought to myself. I checked out my weapon systems. The other rifter had me webbed, and was firing on me now as well. Where I was once ahead in damage dealt, he was starting to catch up.

I quickly analyzed what my targeting computer was reporting, comparing it to my weapon systems set-up. "Holy F-ing Shit," I said as my face met my palm. I'd accidentally loaded Hail S instead of the Barrage S I'd had my orbiting range set at! "F-ing noob," I thought to myself as I quickly ordered auto reloaded with Barrage S.

By now, the other pilot was quickly gaining the upper hand. Just as I needed it, the auto cannons were finished reloading with Barrage S. I reengaged my turrets and they quickly span back to life. The Barrage S tearing deep into the other Rifters haul. "Now, that is more of what I expected!" I exclaimed.

In very short order the other Rifter was almost completely through it's armor. I still had over half of mine. For good measure, I throttled my repper once and repaired a healthy chunk of damage - that would be the only time for the fight I'd use it.

Within a matter of seconds, my prey was into structure, which quickly melted away under the onslaught of my cannons. The once proud Rifter exploded into that beautiful spider leg explosion us capsuleers love to see.

The other pilots pod quickly warped away and I moved into scoop up what was left behind in his wreck. There were a couple decent defensive modules that dropped so I scooped those into my cargo. Inevitably, I'll have to fit yet another Rifter, and at least I'll save a little isk since I can reuse these parts.

I offered "gf" in local comms to the pilot I'd just sent to shop for a new Rifter. Which, suffice it say, wasn't received well by the other pilot. He'd been ratting right before I jumped in on him, so his shields weren't at 100% integrity when I started to attack (his shields were down by about 25%). So, he didn't really feel it was a fair fight. Meh, whatever, it's what you risk by ratting in low-sec mate.

After this, I docked up for the night, satisfied that weekend had finally yielded at least 1 kill. Next weekend, I hope to rack up a few more.

Trial by T2

Fangs out.

Yesterday I finally received my certification to use Tech 2 Auto Cannons. Finally, the added "umph" to my pew-pew I'd been waiting on. I checked out the market terminal in the station I'd docked in last night. I purchased a set of 3 new T2 Auto Cannons, but they were located in a different system unfortunately. Nonetheless, I was very excited about getting my new toys for my Rifter. I grabbed the bill of sale after acknowledging this order would be picked up personally, rather then waiting on delivery.


I slid into the seat of my Rifter's pod. I was becoming more and more comfortable inside her womb. I started running through my pre-start checklists. Everything was in order, and I powered up the Rifter's systems one by one. Once the navi-computer was fully powered up and aligned I punched in the cords to the station my new Autos were located at. Luckily, it was just a few jumps away.

I undocked my Rifter from where I'd parked her the night before. I moved into the traffic pattern, and slowly taxied out into the coldness of space. I aligned with the first jump gate, engaged the warp and started my journey. I would be passing through a couple low-sec systems in order to reach my destination, but it would be no problem - I wasted no time inside them. I'd jump in and immediately shoot off, warping to the next gate.

Once I'd arrived, picking up my new Auto Cannons was as simple as showing my Bill of Sale and the certification as proof I was "competent enough" with the weapon system to use it properly. The Autos were quickly fitted to my Rifter. Shiny, new 200mm T2 Autos just waiting to be spun to life. They wouldn't wait long. After finalizing all the paper work for the order, I headed back to the hangers. Sliding back into the Rifter, powering her back to life, I set out for the evening eagerly anticipating the new weapons' first test - it wouldn't take long.

I set a course for Illamur, just a few jumps away. I entered the system to find it fairly empty. Only a few pilots using/monitoring local comms channel, and nothing but abandoned drones appearing on the scanners - left overs from previous fighting. I continued on my roam and jumped into Atlar. Things got interesting here (see I told you it wouldn't take long).

I entered Atlar, and the system was slightly more busy then neighboring Illamur had been. I jumped around the system running through my scanning routines. Nothing of interest (read not a good idea to engage) showed up on the scanner. After running around the system a couple laps, evaluating the scanner returns over and over again. I decided it best to move on in my roam. Pointing my Rifter towards the Odde gate, I warped and arrived within a matter of seconds.

As my Rifter came out of warp I approached the jump gate ready to initiate the jump sequence. Once I was in range, I punched the jump sequence commands. The jump gate lit up prematurely. "What is this???" I thought to my self, curious indeed. Then appeared a neutral Rifter - Flashing red in my scanner overview...and then it happened. The jump gate ignited and I jumped into Odde.

"F-ing Shits!", I screamed. Perfect opportunity, probably gone now. I sat there for a few seconds debating about whether to jump back through, back into Atlar on the off-chance that flashy Rifter would still be sitting at the gate. I figured he surely would have moved. Being flashy, surely he wouldn't want to wait around to see if anyone noticed his presence.

I decided to check it out. A flashy Rifter was just too good an opportunity for me to ignore. I realigned with the jump gate I'd just came though and started closing back in on the gate. Just as I was about to get within jump range, that flashy Rifter reappeared on my overview! "Oh my, the luck!" I thought. I quickly spun my Rifter around as the other Rifter had jumped in behind my present position. I hit my Afterburner and start racing to close range, hoping on top of hope, that other Rifter pilot would see me closing and be bold enough to stick around for a fight with another Rifter. Sure enough, he was bold enough. Rax, the other pilot, and I began a deadly Rifter dance.

Once I was within range of my scrammer and web, I commanded the targeting computer to lock on to this rifter. The scrammer and webber, being already primed, came to life immediate once the targeting computer resolved the locking solution. I screamed to within my new T2 Autos' falloff range. Once I had my Rifter where I wanted her, my new toys roared to life.

The other Rifter quickly had my warp scrambled and webbed as well. In the little bit of distance between us, I could clearly see the fires of hate spewing forth from his auto's as well.

As my Auto Cannons did their work I activated my rocket launcher. The launcher responded immediately, hurtling sticks of Boom-Boom at the other Rifter. It wasn't long, and I had the other Rifter into his armor. I still had a little bit of shield left, but this fight was going to be close. At this point, it seemed like it was all about our individual Rifters' tanks and damage control mods doing their work.

My Autos and Rockets tore into the other pilots' armor. I could see he was trying to mitigate the damage by using his armor repper. I too was getting to the point where I needed to do the same. We continued this dance. The lead from both our Autos passing each other's volleys in space as they screamed towards their mark.

Soon, we were both into structure. Both Rifters leaving trails of smoke behind. His structure was in worse shape then mine and it was soon obvious this duel was about to be "Fin". He exploded, and my Autos and Launcher span down. Silent again. His pod had ejected successfully, and he quickly warped away. I approached his wreckage to look for anything of value to loot. We exchanged "gf" over private comms and I acknowledged to the pilot this was by far my best combat experience. Investigating his wreck I found a repairable T2 150mm Auto Cannon, T2 Afterburner, and a few other T1 parts and pieces. I looted what I could carry and set out for my home station to drop the loot off.

After dropping off the loot, I was about to head out again, but my Corp-mate Sigo stopped me in the hangers. He expressed that he wanted to test out a Wolf he had, but hadn't really been able to use quite yet. We agreed to set out together for a small roam.

We formed up, and set out. We passed through Illamur and Atlar. We pressed on, heading further and further into low-sec.

We had been roaming for about a half hour when Sigo came over comms and said, "Rax is in system". I'd told Sigo about my kill before we'd set out together. Sigo had picked up on Rax in the local comm channels now. I quickly checked out local comms for myself, and started scanning for another Rifter in the system. It didn't take long before one showed up on my scanner, and it didn't take long to pin point his location.

I pointed us to the asteroid belt I'd pin pointed the other Rifter in. We warped together, and landed in the belt not more the 5,000 meters from the Rifter. It was indeed Rax. "Holy shit!", I thought to myself. Rax was, again, flashing on my overview - flagged criminal again. I quickly initiated the targeting sequence in my targeting computer, and the lock was quickly resolved. Again, I'd primed my scrammer and webber so as soon as the targeting computer resolved the lock my target was pinned. Not going anywhere now.

Rax and I danced again. To save you from the long narrative, Rax popped again. After the engagement Sigo and I warped to a safe spot. My armor tank had held much much better throughout the duration of this engagement with Rax. I had changed up my orbiting range for this one though, so perhaps that's what made the difference.

I had to make my way back to home station quickly, as it was getting quite late and I needed to be rested for the following days work. Sigo decided to stay behind with another Corp-mate, Hsan. So, I wished them both luck, and started my journey back to the station.

Once I arrived, and had docked. I asked that the cargo hold be emptied of the modules I'd just scooped up from Rax's second wreck. They were repaired, and placed on the market. Hopefully these spoils sell soon. I wont get rich off of this stuff, but every little bit helps.

Currently, my alliance's killboards appear to be down. Once they're back up, I'll reference the killmails I received from CONCORD regarding these two engagements. Sorry I don't have them to reference at the time of this post.
___________________________________________________________________

Update: Killboards back up and running. I've been able to link to the first kill I posted about, but the second one hasn't been posted by my Corpy who go the final blow. If I see it, I'll update this post again.

The Quiet Subsides

Rifter spooling down after a successful patrol.

Its been very very quite over the last 5 days or so. I've been doing my daily patrols around the low-sec systems in Molden Heath, but there haven't been too many opportunities to score another kill. I've seen plenty of ships I have no business messing with in my Rifter, and there were a couple battles that ended badly because I either bit off more then I could chew, or made some rookie mistakes that ended up costing me my ship. All told, over the last week, I think I've lost 3 Rifters.

It all ended last night. The last couple days, my Rifter's auto-cannons sat on my frigates hull. Silent. Cold. Last night, as I patrolled MH late into the night, I picked up a potential target on my scanners in the Egbinger system. It was a ship I'd yet to tangle with - the Minmatar Scythe. I worked the scanner around, lowering its scan radius until I'd pin-pointed the targets location 3.0AU from my safe spot. He was either at the planet, or at the belt. I decided to check the planet first.

I punched in the coordinates to the planet and my Rifter quickly aligned to the planet. I engaged the warp drive. Almost as quickly as I'd entered warp the planet that had been just a blip on my overview was now, quickly, coming into view. My Rifter exited warp and settled into orbit. The area around the planet was clear. The Scythe was not here.

Reactivating my scanners, I quickly pin pointed the Scythe to the neighboring asteroid belt. "Gotcha!" I thought as punched in the new cords and initiated another warp. Knowing exactly where my prey was, my body quickly filled with the adrenaline that is becoming an all too common high right before the fight. My Rifter screamed into the belt, my auto-cannons that had for so long been sitting silent and cold were about to become very loud, and very very hot.

I came out of warp right in the middle of the belt, I reviewed the scanning system and overview. There he was, about 35k from my warp-in point. He was burning away from my position, being chased by and Angel rat to the perimeter of the belt. I aligned towards him and started my approach. My afterburner cooking. Disappointment started to prematurely come over me. As I watched the distance between me and this Scythe start to dissipate - my intentions had to be obvious. Surely, he wasn't betting on me coming to his aid. I'd followed him through Egbinger, and through a few more systems until we arrived where we are now...Untrek.

Nonetheless, I continued my approach, double checking weapon systems, propulsion, repper systems, and damage control. Everything was in order. It was just a matter of closing the distance. Once I was within 15k of him, I decided to hold off targeting his ship. He hadn't tried to warp away yet, "perhaps he doesn't realize I'm here to turn him into scrap???" I thought.

I continued to close, and once I was within 6,000 meters I activated the targeting computer. I immediately activated my tackle gear - warp scrambler initiated, statis webbifier active. Successfully pinned, settled into a close orbit around the crusier. The Angel rat was still plugging away at the Scythe, and had almost gotten my prey into his armor when I activated my auto-cannons.

They roared to life immediately, spewing hot EMP charges into the last little bit of shields this Scythe had left. Quickly, he was into armor and I continued the onslaught. His armor quickly melted, and I also made short work of structure. I really ship send that Angel pilot a thank you for his added DPS. This deadly dance was almost over.

I watched, with immense pleasure, as his proud Minmatar Scythe exploded in grand fashion. May auto-cannons, having seen their work complete, slow span silent. The pilots pod ejected as the Scythe popped, and anticipating this, I was already waiting to lock-on and apply the warp scrambler to him. My targeting computer achieved a lock very quickly, and I had the scrammer primed so it would immediately activate on the new target. "Gotcha, again!" I screamed in my pod. Now, he was really under my mercy...I could only imagine what he was thinking. My mind had already been made up before his former Scythe popped.

I didn't even bother to open comms with him. My corp has a policy against ransoming. We aren't really pirates - even though some would like to label our actions as such. We operate under Not Blue Shoot It policy, sure. That doesn't make us pirates though. So, there was no reason to converse with this poor-sap, floating helplessly in his pod. I reactivated my turrets, and watched the rounds pummel the shell of his pod. I had to chase him through 4 systems or so (I didn't really keep track) and for this he would pay for running. I also didn't have a pod-kill to my credit as of yet.

His pod exploded, albeit less dramatically so then the Scythe he was just in, and a new sense of combat euphoria came over me. It was a similar sensation as I experienced with my first ship kill. At about this point, a neutral Drake entered the belt over 70k away. Knowing I was flagged criminal, I didn't wait to see what this Drake pilot's intentions were. I quickly threw my Rifter's nose towards a safe spot. Engaging the warp drive, I quickly left the now quiet battlefield behind me. I stayed and waited for the criminal timer to expire before proceeding any further.

Eventually, I made my way back to the station I've been based out of. I docked up the Rifter, shut the systems down, unstrapped myself and lept out in celebratory glee. I made my way for the bar - time to celebrate a long overdue victory. I eventually sat down to review the killmail, and normally this is the exciting part, however, this time...I actually felt a little guilt over my actions.

According to the CONCORD killmail, this poor bastard was only fitted with 3 mining lasers, 3 cargo extenders, and one afterburner. [Insert sad face here]. I've since come to feel not quite so bad about it. What this idiot was doing out in low-sec, by himself, with no weapons, in a belt (did I mention with no back-up??) and not even 1 little light scout drone I have no idea. After waking this morning, I've come to the conclusion he got what he deserved for his foolishness, including being punished by the pod kill. And a little evil part of me sincerely hopes he had implants he lost as well.

While it wasn't a challenging fight, at all. *Shurg* A kill is a kill. Being so fresh to the game, I'll glady take what I can get. If nothing else, it was good practice in getting more experience with my Rifter and it's mods. Plus, I'm less and less jittery during the fight and much more focused then I first was.

So, I sat this morning, drinking my morning brew, reflecting on the recent kill. I caught up on some recent news in the system, and it hit me. I'd achieved something else and not realized it. I now get to fly around with a shiny new skull and cross-bones thanks to that Scythe pilot - he placed a bounty on me. Naturally. So, I feel slightly confirmed, almost like being baptised in the twisted world of New Eden. Now when I appear on someone else's overview, it will be immediately known - Yes, I am a Killer.

Viper01 Down!

Set ResCAP Bosena V....

The last couple days ops have not been as successful as early this week. I lost one frigate Tuesday evening because...well, I jumped into a fight I really had no business being apart of. I wanted to see how my Rifter would handle a, uh, larger target. All was well until some drones popped out from the drone bay of the target ship, and then its Energy Vamp basically one-shotted my capacitor - I took too big a bite, and my Rifter went POP. I knew I'd probably loose, I wish I'd have paid attention to my what my instincts were telling me. Please note, when in New Eden I'm learning I have a really bad habit of ignoring the greater sensibility of my instincts, letting my itchy trigger finger be my guiding compass - really need to stop doing this.

Fast forward to this morning - before heading off to work for the day. I was drinking my morning cup of coffee, and decided that there was enough time that I could log into EVE and do a short roam through Bosena. It was close to server down time, and I thought I might be able to catch something on it's way to docking before the server went down, or perhaps even someone salvaging in the belts - trying to make that last little bit of isk before logging off. So, I undocked and proceed towards the Bosena jump gate.

I jumped into Bosena, checked out the vicinity of the jumpgate before dropping my cloak and warping to my first safe spot. Everything was clear at the gate, so I set the navicomputer to my first waypoint in Bosena. I hopped around the system checking things out, when I finally I stumbled across a ship 60k away that was flashing red on my overview. "Bingo!" I thought. It was obvious from the outset that the capsuleer piloting the other ship was experienced at PvP - the Skull and Bones was a tell-tale sign that this pilot had plenty of blood on his hands. After a quick investigate with my ships scanners it was clear this other pilot was flying a Recon Ship.

I have absolutely no experience with Recon Ships, as a pilot, or flying as wingman with one. I had no idea what their combat capabilities were - in short, I had zero intel on this target. I decided to warp off to another asteroid belt and see if the Recon ship would follow. I expected he would since he was flashing on the overview, it was obvious he was out doing the same thing I was. Looking for last minute targets.

I warped 70k outside the next asteroid belt, shortly thereafter, the Recon pilot did the same, except he must have expected me to warp to zero as he came out of warp smack-dab in the middle of the belt several kilometers away from me. I realigned my Rifter towards another belt, and warped to it. The Recon pilot followed suit and, again, landed smack-dab in the middle of this new belt.

So, it went for a few more warps around the system. Me warping here, and the Recon pilot shadowing me. I thought I was good and safe because I set warp to exit several dozen kilometers outside the belts we were hopping around to, but this Recon pilot kept warping in at zero. Finally, me luck ran out, I'd been enjoying making the Recon pilot hop around the belts shadowing me, but he eventually got the best of me.

I warped into the last belt just I had the others, and the Recon pilot warped in at zero as usual, but this time, he achieved lock on me when we were separated by 60-65k of space. Much to my surprise (and I can't emphasize how much I was surprised) he warp scrammed me???? I didn't even know that was possible at that distance. I couldn't believe it. I tried warping continuously over the next 5 seconds....all that happened during my frantic mashing of the warp button was Aura shouting at me "So and So has you warp scrammed dumbass! Find another way to evade!".

All I could think of was to turn towards my opponent, hit the afterburner to gain some speed, and try to keep my transversal speed as high as possible to make it harder for his guns to hit my Rifter as I closed the distance between us. I needed to get to him within atleast 4000 meters if I was to have any good chance of landing some shots on his hull.

I started roaring towards the Recon ship, then, much to my horror I see 5 drones pop out from under the Recon Ship. I knew at that moment this was going to get ugly, and get ugly real fast. I turned 180 degrees away from my opponent. I made the decision to try and use my afterburner to get out of the range of his scrambler (having no idea still what it's max range actually was). This seemed to me the only chance I had to save my Rifter.

Beams of laser pain shot past my cockpit, the drones where now orbiting my Rifter gouging it's armor to nothingness. I was slowly pulling away from the Recon ship, but he was still able to land a few good hits on my ship. With the drones, and his beam turrets he quickly evaporated my shield. Next, my armor started melting away under the onslaught. My armor-repper couldn't keep up with the damage and I knew the fight was going to be over soon. I was now about 30-32k away from my opponent. Still too close to break the grip of his warp scrambler.

I waited for my Rifter to pop, took one last look at the cockpit. BOOM, escape pod released, selected a jumpgate to warp to, and initiated the warp. I sped away from the fight. Hit the jumpgate, and jumped back through to Teon. Back in high-sec now, I hailed the Recon Pilot over comms, and we had nice little chat for a few minutes.

I docked my pod in the station I had left about 15 minutes before...in my Rifter :(

Searched the marketplace, and placed an order for a new Rifter which should be ready for pick up sometime this evening. I unstrapped myself from the pod, and walked out of the hanger. I set my eyes towards the bar just outside the hangers. It was definitely time for a smoke, and a quick drink.

[Intel Update] After a bit of research, I've learned a little more about the ship that turned my Rifter into scrap metal. It was a Force Recon ship, namely the Arazu. Up to now, I had not read about, nor encountered this ship. I've learned that the Arazu has a bonus to Warp Scrambler range (20% per skill lvl - frickin' sweet for the Force Recon pilot). So, this explains why the pilot was able to scram me from so far away. As I said previously, I wasn't aware any ship had that kind of scram bonus. Lesson learned though, stay the "fudge-nut" away from Force Recon Ships. I want one now :)

Run Wild, Run Free!......or try atleast.

Just after our first jump of the Roam, in Bosena, right after the first engagement. I was, again too focused on what was going on around me and completely forgot to get shots of the action. I'll try to remember next time.

I was hot of the freshness of my first PVP kill from the evening before last. All day as I sat at work I kept thinking about the next opportunity to grab another Killmail. I thirsted for more. One of my corp-mates (Xochitl) and I are good friends from our college years. We've kept in-touch since then via phone, and many many different MMOs. So, naturally, we talked one the phone yesterday about my first Kill, and we both were in the mood to find more for our logbooks. We planned to form up after work and go do a small roam together, our minds set on unknown prey. Our eyes glowy-yellow like a Sith.

After putting my son to bed for the evening I suited up for another evening of New Eden bliss, walked out into the hanger where I had parked my Rifter the night before. After settling into the cockpit, running through all the pre-flight checks, I started powering up my Rifter's systems one by one.

Power, Fuel Control, Displays, NavComp, Targeting Comp, Communications, Weapon Systems, & Lighting all check good. I hailed Xochitl over comms as he was already loaded and running a couple errands before our little excursion into Low-Sec. At this point, he informed me he had lined us up with an Alliance fleet that was forming up to go on a roam through neighboring low-sec looking for targets of opportunity. Splendid!

I joined the Alliance fleet channel, and called for the rally point. Teon was where I needed to head, so I quickly loaded up my ammo, made a slight adjustment to my highpoints loadout, checked for clearance from the Station Control Tower, and undocked to set out for the unknown.

I was still in Josekorn where I've been based for mining operations lately, so I had little bit of a jaunt to Teon. Nothing too bad, about 13 jumps if I remember correctly.

Once I arrived in Teon, I quickly joined up on the wing of our Fleet Commander. And then it was time to just sit and wait for the rest of the fleet to finish preparations and form up. After about 20 minutes or so, everyone was fitted out and either formed up or well on their way to Teon to meet the rest of us. Within another 10 minutes our Fleet Commander came over comms and ran through the flight plan for the evening, and the general strategies we would employ.

Once he was finished running through this briefing, he came back on comms, announced the fleets alignment target, and within another couple minutes he announced fleet warp. We were hurled through the system to our first gate in unison. Definitely one of the coolest things I had ever seen in EVE. Our fleet had grown at about 10 ships - 2 Rifters (me and Xochitl), and a bunch of various BCs.

We jumped through the first gate, anticipation and itchy trigger fingers throughout our small fleet. As the fleet members came through the other side of the jump gate our Fleet Commander immediately started calling primaries. There was a small gate camp of a few other BCs waiting for prey. Me and Xo (being in Rifters) were told, prior to the jump, not to fire on anything that was not flashy red because the sentry guns would make short work of our fragile Rifters.

So I sat, and I sat, waiting for the flashy to happen. Explosions and Missles lit up the blackness of space. Utterly amazed at the firepower that was being poured into the small little gate camp we found. Then, as the target ships started to fall I hear Xo over fleet comms (screaming like a little girl mind you): "Oh shit, Oh shit I'm taking hella damage!" "Oh shit Oh shit".

I turned to look towards where I last had seen Xo's Rifter and just as my eyes came about to his vicinity I see nothing but the grey spider legs - the tell tale sign of an explosion. Xo, in his anxiousness (it was his first roam too), had forgotten the instructions to not fire or engage anything that wasn't flashy red to us. First jump, and one Rifter down. Luckily Xo managed to get his pod out. He wouldn't be able to catch up with the fleet for the rest of the Op though. I was now the lone scout for the fleet.

We made several more jumps, but the first jump into Bosena was the only engagement we were to have last night. The rest of the roam was uneventful. We saw a couple lone frigates, some Industrials, and some mining ships passing through, but nothing worth the 15 minute criminal countdown.

It was probably one of the most fun (despite somewhat uneventful) things I've done in New Eden since I became a capsuleer in January. I'm really looking forward to the next roam with the Alliance members. Big thank you to the pilots of Dark Star for getting the Alliance fleet together last night, and for being patient with a couple Rookies in the fleet.

Viper01, Cleared Hot!

Last night, me and a corp-mate were out in Josekorn doing some mining. We had been out in the belts for about and hour or so. I filled up my jetcan about halfway, and decided to go grab my Industrial from the dock and haul in the ore I had mined. I typically don't like to make alot of trips in the Badger so I normally don't fill my jetcan all the way before hauling my ore back to station. I reprocessed my haul and sold the Trit and netted approximately 1.3 million. I had mined off and on throughout the day so I decided to bring out my Rifter to play in the belts while my corp-mate continued to mine.

We were fleeted up, and as he is relatively new in the world of New Eden he doesn't really have the luxury of being able to mine, and provide himself protection against the rats in Josekorn. So, the plan was simple, I'd meander around the belts picking off the rats I came across and salvage the wrecks. When needed, my corp-mate would come across fleet comms and call me back in for support - I'd take out the rats pestering him so he could continue to mine without worry.

Things went very smoothly for about 45 minutes or so, I'd warped around through the belts slaying rats like the little bugs they are. I'd left several cargo containers floating in the belts after I salvaged the wrecks. I wasn't really interested in the loot dropped by the deceased rats, just the salvaged materials. Since I had watched over my corpy in the belt he was mining in, there was a high concentration of left-over cargo containers floating about. One capsuleer found the left-overs too enticing for their own good.

I was off in a belt several AU away from my Corpy when he came across fleet comms:

2lost: "uh, dude, there's someone here flashing red to me???" (As I said above, he is new and had never encountered this.)

Vasavia: "No prob, on my way!" (I knew exactly what it meant, someone was going through and "stealing" the loot I had left behind).

I quickly jerked my Rifter in alignment with the belt my corp-mate was in, flicked the warp drive active, and my little Rifter threw itself into warp.

I reloaded my turrets and rocket launcher so I'd be ready to engage for the duration of the fight.

I saw the belt come into view and my Rifter exited warp, and there she was in the over-view. The target was 13k away when I warped in, and within a couple seconds of me warping in she started flashing red to me.

The target was at my 2 o'clock low, and I threw the Rifter into a hard turn, pulled hard and started barrelling towards my mark. I flicked the AB and was Roaring towards her - I figured my intent was clear, and expected her to warp out.

I quickly checked info on the target - A Gallente Catalyst, a destroyer. I knew then I had to get extremely close and get under her to avoid heavy damage.

As I closed, I engaged the targeting computers and achieved lock in very short order. I engaged my warp scrambler, engaged my little battery of turrets and rocket launcher. The fight was on!

Adrenaline started racing through me to my arms. I didn't have much experience at pvp, and what little I did have had left me warping in my pod. So, I was nervous, and excited. I didn't really know what tricks to expect from the destroyer.

The first little sliver of white fell from her shield, and I thought there was no way I was going to be able to damage her enough to outpace her tank. It was early in the fight though, so I kept the pressure on. My shield was holding better then I thought it would under the guns of the destroyer, and before I knew it my target was down to half her shield. I still had well over half of mine at this point.

I got the destroyer a quarter into her armor tank, and I started to take damage to mine as well. I throttled my repper once and received a nice boost from it. My tank was holding well, the warp scrambler had her pinned, and my AB was doing it's job of making me harder to hit. My guns blazed, my rockets blew into her armor further. Before I knew it, the Gallente Destroyer was into her hull, and I still had 90% of my armor tank, and 80% cap left. I threw my arms into the air, knowing I had this destroyer - that this fight was mine.

Before long, the destroyer blew and I was blinded for a second from the explosion. The capsuleer's pod warped off. The fight was over, and it was finally my day to be the victor.

I came back over fleet comms - weapons on target, the area was clear.

I was so nervous, and so preoccupied with the fight I forgot to grab any screens. Very disappointed with myself for this - my first pvp victory and no screenies to remember it with. I'm sure there will be more opportunities.

The pilot of the destroyer eventually hailed me over private chat, and I obliged, half expecting to get bitched at. Much to my surprise, the pilot was very gracious about her lose and we had a very pleasant conversation about the fight, and EVE in general. We chatted about 25 minutes or so and I had to dock, and hit the sack for the evening. Never-the-less, this pvp encounter was an absolute pleasure because I finally came out on top, and because of the graciousness of my opponent. I enjoyed the conversation so much with this pilot I decided to help her with the remaining cost of after her insurance payout. I also did this because she was my first Kill.

Niamh, you have my respect, and hope to fly with you soon.