The Skies of Fire

Well, maybe not fire. After all, we are in space. No oxygen = no fires.

'nough Science. Unless you have been under a rock, you'd be aware that the wonderful excitement of the EVE Alliance Tournament starts this weekend. This 3 weekend romp-fest of pew-pew and boom-booms begins this Saturday. First two weekends being qualifying weekends, the third and final (read finale) weekend culminating in some exciting battles between alliances.

I followed last years tournament through Eve Radio while I got my EVE playtime in. EVE radio, along with Splint Infinity Radio, and New Eden Radio will all have live commentary streaming over the Internet during the showdowns starting with this weekends qualifying matches all the way through to the last battle of the finals. This year's alliance tournament finals (9/19 & 9/20) will also be streaming live over the Internet in HD - a new feature for this year's tournament.

If you've followed my blog at all, you'll know that as a member of Gunpoint Diplomacy I'm also apart of Rote Kapelle Alliance. Rote Kapelle is going to get in on this year's tournament. While I wont be battling it out (not sure my Rifters would be of that much use :) ) I'll be cheering on our capsuleers as they hurl virtual booms and pews in our first match-up this Sunday (9/6) @ 16:00 GMT. Best of luck to our tournament pilots! Be sure to check out the Alliance Tournament VII schedule for a heads-up on the upcoming pew-fests. Also, here's a fun trailer for the tournament. Perhaps we'll have another assassination in this years festivities!

In Gunpoint Diplomacy news, things have been relatively quite lately actually. Sard is taking a break from New Eden as RL has gotten pretty busy for him recently. Raxip as well has been pretty busy himself lately and his online pew-pew time has been cut down alittle as well. I myself, have been spending a great amount of time making some iskies for Vasavia with my alts.

Vasavia is getting close to being proficient at flying Gallente cruisers, having spent a great deal of time working on her crappy Drone skills, and medium hybrid gunnery skills. Being that cruisers take more iskies to purchase, and more iskies to fit correctly then my beloved frigates I needed to spend some time earning some cash for her personal coffers.

Oh yeah, Vasavia finally pulled off a ransom a few weeks back. Quick little 10 million. She's not had any luck pulling one off since then, though there have been a few attempts. She's either been laughed at (which naturally brings about the obligatory podding of the victim), and in one instance the victim was AFK (while his ship was sitting at zero at a planet). Face-palm.

Oh yeah, and Nursultan, thanks for the follow man. Bet you thought I wouldn't notice you, you sneaky pirate.

Shore Leave Successful!

Hello readers! First, I apologize for such a long period of time between my last update and now. It's really quite ridiculous isn't it? At the end of June, about the time of my last update, I took my wife and out young son (turns 1 today!) on vacation to Hilton Head Island. If you've never been, and you have the opportunity and means to go, I highly recommend this location. Hilton Head has got to be the most beautiful place I've seen. It's humid and hotter then hell during the summer months though - so be prepared. It's well worth it.

Another thing is, well I just haven't had much to write about. I've begun to feel like all my tails of combat are beginning to sound all too much alike, and I've just not experienced any action that I'd say was unique enough to write about. I mean, really. How many accounts of Vasavia pew-pewed this or that is really going to keep readers interested? My updates will probably be farther between then they have been, although I'm hoping not as far apart as this one has been from the last update.

As I said, not much unique things have happened over the last month. I've acquired some nice solo kills against other frigs over the last month. I've been with Gunpoint now for a few weeks as well and I'm really starting to get comfortable with the little gang of villainy-pirates. Right before I joined with Sard and the gang, Gunpoint rejoined a former alliance. Rote Kapelle. I'm also getting more comfortable with the alliance. I've been on a couple alliance roams and everyone I've flown with seems to be light years ahead of me in regards to combat. That's to be expected though. Suffice it to say, I'm very happy with my change in employ in New Eden.

I've yet to pull off any ransoms. "What!?! A pirate without ransoms in no pirate at all!", you say? Well, you're probably right I suppose. It's not so much that I wouldn't like to ransom some poor capsuleer that I just separated from their ship. The right opportunity just hasn't presented itself. Most of the time, in the systems I've achieved my kills in, there just isn't enough time to deal with the negotiation of ransoming. It may only take 30-60 seconds to strike a ransom agreement, but as any experienced capsuleer will tell you sitting in a belt for that amount of time is a huge window of opportunity for another pirate or capsuleer to come in and ruin everything for you. So, I've popped a shipped, and I'll warp out because there's just too much activity in the system to loiter and make myself an easy, already damaged target.

In other developments, I finally finished training up for Assault Ships. It's nice to fly something that handles and looks just like my beloved Rifters, but packs more punch and tank then the fragile frig. The downside, of course, is cost. Jags and Wolfs are considerably more expensive then Rifters. Especially after buying and fitting the modules. Since getting into the Assault Ships I've lost a few wolfs, and have a single Jag in my hanger now. I don't take the Assault Ship out as much as I do the Rifters though - my attempt to minimize the chance of loosing an expensive ship.

Yesterday, I took the Jag out for a stroll though. I undocked from the station, and the first thing I see is silly Raxip's frozen corpse floating right outside our home station. How embarrassing (facepalm). I approached Raxips frozen corpse and scooped it up into my cargo bay, and immediately turned back towards our station to dock up and put his corpse in my Frozen Corpse Storage collection (the official Piratey Trophy Room). Seems his former clone had had a rough day.

After docking back up in the station and having the hanger crews unload Raxip's frozen corpse from the cargo hold of my Jaguar, I set out for a short quick roam around Molden Heath. I went through the typical hunting grounds: Aedald, Heild, Bosena, Odde, into Istodard, through Half and even as far as Sakulda. Nothing. Not a single thing worth pew-pewing. Disgruntled, I set destination for home. It was getting late and I needed to hit the ruck-sack.

I quickly traversed back through Half, Istodard, Odde and landed in Bosena. I hit the scan button on my directional scanner - this was Bosena after all, and the traffic is always changing in this system. Since I'd been in Bos last there could be new potential victi...err targets. The scanner swept the space in front my Jag. I sat idly in front a jump gate still under the jump cloak from when I entered the system. The scanner returned a hit on a Rifter, not far from my location. Much to my pleasure, the Rifter was in an asteroid belt. I commanded my Jag to leap to the asteroid belt. She sprang into action, quickly reaching optimum velocity for the warp drive to engage. I hurled through space towards the asteroid belt, watching the scanner to see if the Rifter dropped off - a que that he had moved out of the belt on to some other location.

My Jaguar burst out of its warp tunnel into the asteroid belt. The Rifter, my prey, appeared on my hud's overview readouts. I exited warp and landed under 2,000 meters away from the frigate. Perfect range. I activated my warp scrambler and webber, followed immediately by my Auto cannons and rocket launcher. I set my orbiting range and activated my afterburner to get my speed up. I sat back and watched as my auto cannons span and my rocket launcher hurled their projectiles of death towards the fragile frigate I had pounced on. The Rifter immediately took heavy shield damage, and I could tell from the readouts I was getting from the targeting computer that the Rifter pilot was desperately trying to heal his frigate's shields with a shield booster.

He must have realized quickly, that it was all in vane though. I was astonished to see the capsuleer eject his pod manually, rather then waiting for it to eject automatically as all ships do once the final bit of hull integrity succumbs to an onslaught. I hesitated for a brief moment. Amazed at this occurrence. I'd not encountered a capsuleer who would do this. All my foes had fought bravely to the end. This capsuleer didn't even fight back. He didn't even try and lock my Jaguar. I brought my mind back into focus and tried to lock the pod. However, the brief pause in my consciousness allowed the former Rifter pilot to get his pod into warp and out of the belt to the safety of...anywhere else.

I shrugged. I allowed my Assault Frigate to continue it's death-dealing on the now pilot-less Rifter. It quickly caved with no one to run it's defensive modules. The hull gave out and I immediately was greeted by a "free" killmail. Just as the Rifter exploded, my scanners screamed about the presence of a new ship in the belt. Another Jaguar. I didn't waste anytime investigating the wreckage of the former Rifter. Immediately, I set course for a safe spot. Then I realized, the other Jaguar that had entered the belt was sitting a far 230K away from my location in the belt.

My ship leaped into warp and I waited out my GCC in Bosena in a safe spot. After my criminal flag dropped I set destination for home. I arrived without any further incidents. Having docked up, I asked the maintenance crew to prep the vessel for the next day's action.

While shore leave is nice, it's always great to strap back into the pod and head out for the unknown pew-pew.

CONCORD SEC Clearance Revoked

I flew around Bosena, sweeping space with my directional scanner. It'd been a couple days since I really had a good solo kill. The scanner's sweep revealed plenty of ships in the system, but all were ships I knew I had no business trying to take on solo. Assault Frigates and Battle-Cruisers filled my scanners screen. I continued to hunt, jumping between Bosena, Odde, and Atlar. Eventually, my patience would pay off.

I had gone through Odde and Atlar, not finding anything to attack in either system, and so I returned to Bosena. I thought surely by now there would be a fresh population in the system, and thus, some new potential targets. I jumped back into Bosena and immediately commanded my Rifter to warp a safe spot I have stored in my flight computer, a safe spot on the "busier" side of the system.

I swept the area with my scanner. As I activated the scanner, it pulsed 360 degrees from my ship. I watched the scanner screen, waiting for it's pings to return yummy frigates to pop. The list of returns from the scanner's ping populated. At the top of the list, a Rifter. I grinned. I set about manipulating the scanner's scan radius. A practice that has become all of instinctual now. Quickly, I minimized the other frigate's position to a cluster of celestials that neighbored the jump gate into Teon. One planet, three Asteroid belts. I commanded my Rifter to warp to the planet. This new location I would then use to scan the individual belts that orbited the planet. My original scan spot was too far away to do so.

I came out of warp, and started scanning the individual belts. First belt, nothing. Second belt, eureka! I engaged my Rifter's warp drives yet again, and my Rifter threw itself towards the asteroid belt I had pin-pointed my prey in. As I warped to the belt, the ritual of combat began. I set about priming my combat modules - weapons, tank, tackling gear. All was ready for the pounce.

I exited warp, the asteroid belt came into focus. Huge rocks of various ore all around me. I'd warped in to the zero-point, hoping I'd land close to the other Rifter. Disappointingly though, he was out about 20k away from me. It wasn't optimal, but not necessarily terrible for my odds of being about to engage the frigate. I engaged my afterburner and started screaming towards the other Rifter. I watched, as the distance between us minimized, expecting the other capsuleer to see me and warp out of the belt.

I closed to within 10k, I engaged my targeting computer and my tackling gear had the other Rifter pinned within mere seconds. I engaged my autos and rocket launcher, set a more appropriate orbit range for my T2 ammo, and started to monitor my foe's ship vitals as well as my own. It took him a little while to engage me despite the fact I'd lost the element of surprise when I warped in to the belt so far away from him. He'd had ample time to either run, or be prepared to engage me.

His Shields melted, and his armor caved. About the time I had him into structure, I started getting warnings that other ships were coming out of warp into the belt. Sure enough, there sat a Battlecruiser about 30k out from me. Sure enough, it was a member of the same corp as the Rifter pilot I was currently engaged. I had to laugh. I overheated my auto cannons in an effort to pop the other frigate as quickly as possible. My escape from his corp mate wasn't impossible yet. As his ship was about to give up the last bit of structure it had left I received more bad news. Two more ships, larger then me, had just jumped into the belt. More corp mates of the Rifter pilot. The other Rifter popped, and I quickly set about trying to warp out and save my little Rifter.

My little Rifter had already done more damage in Isk, then it was worth. She had performed well, I wasn't quite ready to loose her just yet. It wasn't to be though. The 3 Battlecruisers had me pinned. My warp drive would not activate. My Rifter's life would very quickly end. I set about programming my pod for the warp out of the belt. I knew it would be a matter of moments now. My Rifter quickly succumbed under the onslaught of the Battlecruiser and their drones. My pod ejected as she blew, and entered warp almost instantaneously. I set destination for home. Time to go pick up a new Rifter.

Luckily, I have several Rifters sitting in my hanger, with just enough modules to fit them and be ready to head out almost immediately. I docked up in my pod. Having already sent communications to my hanger crew that I was inbound and in need of a new frigate, it would only be a matter of a few minutes before I had my pod inside a new Rifter. Then I would just need to wait out my GCC inside the station before undocking - lest this new frigate become the victim of CONCORD sentry guns.

Once me criminal flag expired, I set out again to hunt some more. So far today, I was 1 for 1. Not a terrible ratio, but I wanted to try for 1 more kill for the day. I jumped back through the pipe into Bosena. My scanner reported the same ships that had just felled my last Rifter. I continued to press on towards Illamur, hopping I'd find something there. It wouldn't be though, and I soon decided to start making my way back home. I set destination and as I passed through the systems down the pipe towards home I'd scan around attempting to stumble on something worth engaging.

I jumped into Heild, and warped from the gate to a safe spot. My scanner reported a Rupture not far away. I checked the local comms system to see who was in system with me. The only other pilot was a lone Minmatar. A recent graduate from the Republic Military academy. She was just under a month old. I knew that she would not have the skill, or equipment to really fly her Cruiser sized ship effectively. I set about narrowing down her position. It wouldn't take long.

I warped to the asteroid belt I suspected her to be in based on my scanner readouts. I landed at the zero-point in the middle of the belt. The Rupture was sitting just 6,000 meters away. I had her tackled almost immediately after exiting warp. She was engaged already with a small gang of the local Angels pirates. I had switched to hail ammunition and set me orbit range nice and tight to my foe. Round after round from my T2 Autos as well as the Angels pounded hard against the Rupture's hull. It eventually gave way to the assault. I saw her pod eject from the wreckage. I immediately set about locking it. Lock Resolved, warp scrambler active. I had the pod pinned. I didn't feel like negotiating - I engaged my auto cannons. Her pod evaporated under my guns, but by this time the Angels pirates had turned their attention towards me and I was taking heavy fire myself. Not interested in loosing my ship to them, I warped out without scooping the corpse or investigating the wreckage. The kill was really all I was interested in anyway. Hopefully, she had an updated clone.

As I sat in a safe spot and waited out my global criminal countdown, I received a message. It was from CONCORD. My activities over the last several weeks had cost me small bits of my security status with CONCORD - they don't like it when you just go around randomly blowing up ships, especially capsuleer pods. It seemed my latest stunt had cost my security status a healthy chunk. I had dipped to just below -5.00, and I was now exiled from High-Security space. Exiled from the safety of CONCORD. I was now, in the eyes of CONCORD and every state in New Eden, an Outlaw.

I grinned as I planned my route home. I didn't give a shit about the negative sec status. Hell, that'd been the goal all along.

~ Yarr.

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.

In the company of Ape-Shit Throwing Monkeys

Title - Read Raxip and Sard. Inside joke. I'm sure it grabbed your attention though. I swear, you can hear the command console of Sard's ships writhing in agony as he violently flips switches, and viciously smashes buttons as he engages his prey. And Raxip. LOL. Raxip, not only does he have the same tendancies as Sard for phyically assualting his ship's command consoles, but one can actually feel the saliva come through comms as Rax foams and froths at the mouth like a rabid primate, hungry for his next kill. I love it.

Monday evening I set myself to try to quinch the unquinable. I needed pew-pew. I needed my fix of Yarr. First thing is first though. I needed a new supply of Rifters and appropriate modules. I had lost my last one in an engagement Sunday night. I made contact with a dealer in Teon who had yet another contact in Gelf specializing in the supply of arms and other equipment I would need. Despite being "upstanding" businessmen, they had no qualms about dealing with the shadier side of New Eden. Gotta love New Eden - it's always about the iskies. I quickly placed my orders and set about picking them up personally. Thankfully, despite my new career, I can still enter .6 security space.

After moving my new ships and modules to their new home in low-sec, where they're sure to have a short life, I set about having my hanger crew fit them out. We ran through the motions, motions that were becoming all too familiar. Install, Calibrate, Test, Recalibrate, Test some more, Recalibrate, tell a dirt joke, Test. Done and now for the fun. I thanked my hanger crew for their efforts, tossed them a supply of isk to burn down at the station bar, and I bid them a pleasant evening. Hopefully, they wouldn't be needed until the following evening, if not even later then that.

I planned to solo for the evening, predictably around Molden Heath. The plan was to head out to Odde, Heild, Bosena and their connecting systems. My new Rifter came to life. Everything was green. Out the departure tunnel I went. Burning fast, eager to get out into the sea of space I've come to love so much. I swung my little Rifter around and orbited the station for a brief moment. I wondered whether that would be the last time this new Rifter would see the station. To hell with concern. I realigned towards the first jump gate for my roam, punched the warp drive, and roared towards the beginning of the evening hunt.

The first couple systems were dead. Absolutely dead. I'm not even sure if the belt Rats were out that night. Eerily quite. It didn't take long before I reached my first system of interest. Oddelulf. I swept my safe spots I had stored in the flight computer. Using my directional scanner I reached out to see if I could pick up anything in the new by celestial clusters. Nothing really of interest was reported. It appeared that most of the pilots in local comms were docked up. Like my hanger crew, most likely at the bar. I proceeded onto Bosena, another of my more favored systems to patrol.

After coming through the gate, I set for my first waypoint from which to scan for prey. I exited the warp tunnel and aligned my Rifter towards the next scan spot. I proceeded to work my scanner and within moments I had another Rifter reported at a belt not far away. I grinned, as the other Rifter's ship name came up. It was still named after it's pilot. A common mistake made by new capsuleers. Checking local comms, I found the pilot's information. Less then a month old. Now I was grinning from ear to ear. Gotta love easy Intel. I quickly initiated my warp drive for the target belt. Screaming through the warp tunnel towards my prey, I primed my tank modules and weapon systems.

I landed in the middle of the belt, and the other Rifter was only a few thousand meters off my nose. "Perfect Landing!", I yelled. Adrenaline pumping all through my body. I always get hyped before the fight. The targeting computer resolved the lock and my tackling gear, already primed, engaged immediately. This "wabbit" was going nowhere. He was mine. I span up my auto cannons. Barrage S started tearing through space. Quickly, his shields gave out under the onslaught, and the ammunition for my cannons pummeled his armor into nothingness.

His structure exposed, I began to close range, preparing for the pod to eject. Explosion! His pod came up on my HUD as expected. I attempted to get the targeting computer to apply a lock onto it. Within milliseconds of resolving the lock my targeting computers processes were halted by the pod's warp drive. I watched as the tiny, squishy pod warped away. I made for his wreck, curious to see what this new capsuleer might have stowed away in his cargo. Nothing really useable was revealed, and I left the belt. Anxious to avoid becoming a target to some other eager Capsuleer.

As I realigned towards my first scan spot to jump out of the belt. I looked out the cockpit in the general direction of the system's sun. As it's glare gave way, and my eyes refocused, there was Rax, sitting 100k outside the belt. He hailed me over corp comms. "Damn it! Beat me to him!", he said. I must admit, it did give me a slight chuckle. I jumped around the system some more as Rax did the same. No more targets to be found. I moved on.

I continued searching targets around my areas of interest for the evening, but I wasn't able to find anything else worth trying to attack. I decided to start making my home for the night. It was quickly getting to be time to dock up and bunk up for the night. As I made my way back towards Egbinger Sard came across corp comms. He stated he had a Rook on scan. I wasn't far out from Egbinger at this point and announced I was inbound. Rax was on his way too.

I jumped through into Egbinger. Sard had already engaged the Rook. Rax beat me into Egbinger and was also already assisting Sard. Just as I entered the system Sard announced the presence of a few other ships. I engaged my warp drive and sped towards the belt my associates were fighting in. The warp tunnel started to collapse as I began my deceleration into the asteroid belt. A number of ships came into my overview. All ships I had no business being around. "To hell with it", I said to myself. Sard called for me to primary the Rook. I engaged my DMC, and threw the throttle forward engaging my Rifter's afterburner. I set my orbiting range, and closed fast on the Rook.

My tackling gear activated, and I started firing at the Rook. Those other opposing ships quickly engaged us. I was quickly under the onslaught of our prey's allies. My poor little Rifter quickly began to shake violently as rounds and missiles began to slam into her. My shields gave way, almost like they were never there. Drones tore through my armor plating exposing my frigate's hull. "I'm out guys, Rifter is done-dy", I informed my corp mates. Rax had already had to de-aggress. My Rifter spat out my pod as it's structure gave way. I punched the warp drive for my pod, as I aligned towards the station. My butt cheeks puckered as I began to receive warnings that my pod was taking damage from enemy fire. Luckily, my pod quickly shot off and out off the battlefield towards home.

I docked my pod quickly, listening in on fleet comms. Sard warned Rax to stay away from the fight. The situation was just no good for us now. Rax stayed tight at a safespot, pacing around space like a caged lion. Sard was pinned, and his ship wouldn't see the station again. He eventually took a pod trip himself. We exchanged a quick "gf" in local comms with our adversaries. I announced to Sard and Rax I needed to turn-in for the night.

The next evening, having refit a new Rifter. I set again to hunt down more prey. I met up with Sard, Rax, & Aradaneth in Odde. Sard was working on using combat probes to scan down mission runners when an Arbitrator was reported on Directional. We quickly found him in a belt that orbits P8. The Arbitrator pilot tried to evade us by jumping from the neighboring planet to the other asteroid belt. Eventually though, his luck ran out as he jumped into a belt Sard himself was sitting in. Laying in wait. Sard pounced as the Arbi exited warp. Sard had it pinned in short order, and the rest of us warped into the belt. We made short work of the lonely Arbitrator. We set out looking for more prey.

More prey we found in the form of a missioning Drake. Sard had probed him out utilizing combat probes. We warped in and had the drake pinned. The Drake couldn't withstand our onslaught by any measurable degree. It's structure gave way, wreckage in place of where the Drake used to be. This should have been the end to a good, productive night. However, I'm a dumbass. We'll let this be known as a "Jack Sparrow" moment. You see, I wasn't really thinking about the fact we just jumped in on a mission runner. I had my overview set to ignore Rats and members of my fleet and alliance. For yarring, the rats I could give a shit less about. And I want to ignore my fleet members because I'm not interested in accidentally targeting one of them.

I was approaching the drake's wreck when I started taking heavy fire. "What the fuck is that!?", I exclaimed over comms. Then I realized, "Oh my god, I'm gonna loose my Rifter to a fucking Rat guys." A couple of the mission npcs had aggressed me, and they now had me warp scrambled. I couldn't warp out. I was stuck. Sard and Rax couldn't destroy them fast enough to prevent my frigate from buckling under me. My pod ejected. I had an embarrassing pod-cruise home, but at least I was able to provide a hearty laugh for my colleagues.

Yo-ho.

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.

Diplomacy at the tip of a Gun

As mentioned in previous posts, and foreshadowed in my last post, change has indeed occurred. I have said before, I was not sure what path Vasavia would ultimately walk-down in the volatile world of New Eden. Over the last couple weeks, the fog lifted, the world around her came into focus.

The time has come to break free from the repression of the more, "legitimate" practices that the universe's governing bodies would like its citizens to abide by. The time has come for norms to be violated, and mores cast into the galactic toilet that is Faction Governance. Vasavia has realized, as should you dear reader, that the pirate in Vasavia has been set free.

As of late Wednesday night, I had quietly tendered my resignation from Origin Systems and Shadows of Light Alliance. I waited anxiously for my corporate stasis period to expire - longest 24 hour waiting period EVAgh! I reflected over my time with OS & SoL. There was no question that I had enjoyed my time with my Corporate Colleagues and Alliance business partners. However, it had become blatantly obvious to me that my interests were not in line with that of the Alliance or the Corporation.

I had been in talks with Raxip Elamp for a couple months. Since our chance encounter I wrote about here (Rax loves it when I bring this up), we had had some friendly banter off and on since then. A couple days ago, I announced that I would be pursuing a life of "Yarr!", and had a conversation with Rax that same evening. The short form, he was gracious enough to extend a welcoming offer from Gunpoint Diplomacy if I was interested. And I was highly interested. An opportunity to work with, as well as learn from, Raxip and Sard is a great opportunity. I quickly submitted my mark to join the ranks of Gunpoint. It was now just a matter of waiting out my resignation stasis period.

While waiting for my stasis period to end, and in the final hours of my employ under OS, I ventured out into Molden Heath in search of my last official acts as a member of OS. It was time to go hunt.

I wondered around for about half an hour when my directional scanner revealed a Gallante frigate close to me. I worked my sensors, carefully manipulating both the direction of the scan and the radius my sensors were sweeping. I eventually pinpointed an Incurus at a mining complex not far from my current location. The complex appeared in my navigational overview, so I activated my warp drives and warped to it's reported location.

I landed next to the acceleration gate into the complex. There she was, a very shiny Incurus sitting right on top of the acceleration gate, not more then 3500 meters of my Rifter's nose. I half expected the Incurus to use the acceleration gate to, literally, throw itself away from me. However, once it became clear who the pilot was I knew she wouldn't shy away from the fight - a pirate, in one of the local pirate corps. I locked, pinned, and span up my autocannons. I set my orbit range preference, and activated my afterburner. I began to overload my high slots to give my autos that little bit of extra "umph" as they spewwed forth their ammunition. As with most frigate fights, the little skirmish didn't last long. The Incurus' structure gave way. Just as I was about to approach the wreckage to scrape for loot another pilot jumped in on the acceleration gate in a cruiser.

My weapons were overheated from the previous engagement, and my armor and shields still were recharging. I was in no shape to take on the cruiser so I quickly set destination for a safe spot and got out of there to wait out my criminal flag. Once it expired, I docked up, paid for some quick repairs for my modules that had taken heat damage from being overloaded. I set course for a neighboring system to continue my little hunt.

It didn't take long before I pinpointed another Rifter at a cluster of 2 planets and a station. I warped from planet to planet looking for the Rifter. However, he was not at either one. He still was showing up on scanner though, so I began to search the neighboring moons. As I was working my scanner, Aura started screaming at me about a frigate sized vessel that was exiting a warp tunnel at our current position. Within seconds, the catalyst of Aura's bitch fest was there.

The Rifter I had been searching for landed out of warp about 100k away from me. It was flag criminal. The pilot? -8.something sec status. Very "red flashy". I threw my Rifter towards the other frigate and began burning towards it. Damage control activated. I just needed to get within targeting range. The other Rifter burned towards me as well. Two deadly birds about to partake in a deadly dance. We were screaming towards each other and it didn't take long to reach targeting range.

I commanded the targeting computer to lock onto the other frigate, and the lock was resolved quickly. I wanted to make it abundantly clear to the other pilot I was here to party. He was locked as soon as I was within the range my targeting computers are capable of locking. He had yet to lock me. I quickly closed to within 10,000 meters.

I activated my scrammer and webber. Autocannons blazed to life, afterburner lighting up the blackness of space behind me. The two frigates screamed past each other in very close range, and we maneuvered into orbiting range. Heavy damage being inflicted, and taken by, the both of us. As far as who was in the lead in this fight - it wasn't clear. All my racks were overloaded. We both eventually began to loose our armor plating, and then we were both into structure.

I squinted my eyes and began to plan my exit in a pod. Much to my surprise all of the sudden, he was well into his structure, his Rifter smoking much more so then mine. I watched eagerly.
The opposing Rifter exploded. I tried to nab his pod, but he must have known his pod trip was coming because just as soon as he exploded his pod shot off to safety. We exchanged "gf" in local, and had a short convo about fittings and Rifter combat. Cool capsuleer to be honest.

My two last offical acts as an employee of OS. I was pleased they were victories. I'm sure I'll miss some of the fellas in OS, but I have to be honest with myself. My interests are in Piracy. Pure and simple. It's not that I think I'll get lots of iskies out of it. It's not even for the sake of causing grief to newbies, miners, and industrialists. It's because the fine line I've been walking between legitimate combatant and flat out piracy has been fun. It's very clear to me, crossing that fine line into the world of Piracy would be that much more fun. Let's face it folks. Piracy. It's just damn fun.

o7 @ Gunpoint Diplomacy

Oh yeah, and new blog title. Much more suitable. Will be updating banner image as well.