Cat vs Bird

Wash: "I'm a leaf on the wind...watch how I soar."

Mal: (watching battle around them in grim satisfaction) "Chickens come home to roost."

Wash: (flying debris glances off ship's hull, rattling everyone) "It's okay...I-I'm a leaf on the wind."

I bank sharply, the hull of my Jaguar twisting as it fights the turn, afterburners glowing in the night sky over Gusandall, the gauge is going red as I'm squeezing every last drop of speed from them, my HUD is glowing red, not much left before the afterburners literally burn out.
I bank sharply again as a salvo of missiles lashes my shield systems, they are glowing red too.

"Hold together baby, hold together"

Adrenaline is coursing through my veins, my senses heightened to dizzying levels, every second an eternity as I once again bank, my shields deep in the red, My afterburners about to die, web and scrambler set to overload for the extra range. Just a few more metres.

"Come on baby, you can do it"

He's getting cocky now. My HUD shows he's now 14km away and it's shortly to be over, web and scrambler kick in simultaneously, you're mine now. High tech Barrage rounds and Javelin rockets start to tear into his shields, my afterburners are shot, no use now but it doesn't matter as the web is doing its job holding him in place as his armour fails, the weak hull not lasting long at all. My systems recalibrate quickly as the sleek interceptor explodes and locks the pod, warp scrambler already primed in anticipation, my autocannons spit out a salvo and the corpse is liberated, a sacrifice to the gods of Gusandall

Name: Crow
Hull: Condor Class
Role: Interceptor

Interceptors utilize a combination of advanced alloys and electronics to reduce their effective signature radius. This, along with superior maneuverability and speed, makes them very hard to target and track, particularly for high caliber turrets.

Developer: Kaalakiota

As befits one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the known world, Kaalakiota's ships are very combat focused. Favoring the traditional Caldari combat strategy, they are designed around a substantial number of weapons systems, especially missile launchers. However, they have rather weak armor and structure, relying more on shields for protection.

VS

Name: Jaguar
Hull: Rifter Class
Role: Assault Ship

The Jaguar is a versatile ship capable of reaching speeds unmatched by any other assault-class vessel. While comparatively weak on the defensive front it sports great flexibility, allowing pilots considerable latitude in configuring their loadouts for whatever circumstances they find themselves in.

Developer: Thukker Mix

Being the brain-child of the nomadic Thukkers, it is no surprise the Jaguar is as fast as it is. Initially conceived as a way for the tribe to pack some added punch to their organized detachments, they've found it to be equally useful as messenger, scout and escort, and it is likely to become one of the most commonly-seen ships in the Thukkers' stomping grounds.

Fighting an interceptor in an assault frigate is not that easy as it is more maneuverable and quicker but with clever piloting it can be done, it pays to know your surroundings and the capabilities of your ship and especially yourself. The above dogfight took place in the 2/10 plex in Gusandall, quite possibly one of my favourite hunting spots and a place where microwarp drives are useless, hence the afterburners. I love the Jaguar as it's quick, has a good shield system and can pack a nasty punch with it's mix of tech 2 autocannons and tech 2 rocket launcher. It's especially good for taking out quick interceptors because with an overloaded afterburner I can nearly match their speed which makes intercepting orbits easier.

This particular pilot I've caught on three previous occasions running the plex, twice his Rifters exploded and he changed to the Crow, one of my favourite interceptors to fly. I caught one of his Crows on the entrance gate before as he warped in, right on top of me so there was no chase but this time he managed to warp into the plex before my lock resolved, naturally I followed. Once I got in he was already out of range of my web and he locked and engaged me, I of course returned the favour and a 5 minute dogfight ensued. Sometimes it pays to play with your prey, make them believe they have the upperhand so it was that I set my afterburner to 75% of it's normal speed as I tried to close the distance. Caldari Navy Bloodclaw missiles were streaking across the black and slamming into my shields but I was in no hurry, one gun active to make him think I mean business. My shields hit 50% and it was time to play my hand, I set a straight trajectory away from him, afterburner at 100%, his orbit changed as he tried to compensate, he was a good 400m/s faster than me but patience as always is key. Every now and again I would Crazy Ivan and bank sharply, in an intercept pattern, his orbit would change accordingly, every bank brought me to within 16km, too far but getting closer and I still had the Ace up my sleeve.

Overloading of modules is one of the greatest advances in the universe, able to change the tide of a dogfight just as it was about to do. My web and scrambler were set to overload, waiting for that magic number to appear on my overview. My afterburners were active, set to overload now and I was almost matching him for speed but it was burning quick, I banked once, twice, third time I came within range and I hit the tackling gear, the satisfying green glow of active modules, a quick glance at my HUD proved the web and scrambler had him pinned down just as my afterburner winked out of life, the stricken Crow had no chance at this point as it's only defence is its speed and that was now forfeit, it's feeble shields, armour and structure winking out of existence in a few salvoes.

I popped the pod and added the corpse to "The Morgue"

I docked up, absolutely pumped up with adrenaline, my mouth as dry as a nuked from orbit planet, I light a cigarette and take a deep draw.

"It's good to be the king"

Bubbles

Mal: "Well, you were right about this being a bad idea."
Zoe: "Thanks for sayin', sir."

The dark of space and the night sky over Gusandall gave me an itch, an itch that needed to be scratched. Recent events in the universe have brought about War and the various factions are intent on killing each other. What does this mean for me, well, it means more targets but Evannater was quiet, except for a Merlin I caught in Eifer. With the recent turmoil amongst the factions have come new stargates, opening up new routes into previously difficult to reach places and it was this that had piqued my interest.

I had docked up in Gusandall to fit a new Rifter after foolishly engaging a Hound stealth bomber which didn't end well for me and took a look around my hangar. Choices, choices... I decided on a Taranis and undocked into the darkness. Destination was set and I headed for Geminate but after about a half hour I moved on to Vale of the Silent, again not much for me to engage besides harrasing a Raven in a belt who eventually warped out. Well let's see, Tribute, there must be something in Tribute, loads of players in space in the station systems as indicated by my onboard navigational charts.

I finally get to see some action as I warp to a gate, there's a large anchored bubble and inside is a pod, slowly crawling to the gate. Damn, this was going to be tough, I close the distance, my pulse racing, I start the lock and the seconds pass by like molasses on a cold day, lock goes live and it's all systems go... and just like that the pod is squished. The life of a solo Pirate is all action, never a dull moment. I move on and not two jumps go by when it's action stations again as a Reaper is locked down on a gate, the fearsome Minmatar rookie frigate no match for my Taranis as my blasters tear it to shreds. A close fight and one I shall long remember.

I wander about Tribute for a bit and decide to head back home, making some detours along the way when I jump into a system and as my systems resolve I'm greeted by a bubble camp. A large bubble is anchored on the gate and a few ships are scattered about: Huginn, Wolf, Onyx and Zealot. I'm still pumped up by the epic fight from earlier so go balls to the wall to try and burn out of the bubble... welp... that was a mistake, should have headed back to the gate but nooooo, I'm elite, I can win anything, even a race where I'm dual webbed by a Huginn. The Taranis is a great little ship but it exploded with such force I think I may have concussion but I don't need to worry about that as my pod is still in the middle of the bubble and I'm going nowhere... NOWHERE. Well technically that's a lie as the hostiles who violenced my inty decided to violence my pod too.

Mmm, Gusandall, this seems familiar, what's my name again? Everything is fuzzy.
The wonders of cloning, it hurts like hell though but this new body is great, of course I'll have the headaches again, oh god the headaches but that's life. I could use a drink, being violently introduced to a new body is thirsty work, ooh and a cigarette, got to blacken these new lungs.

Dizzy, think I'll lie down now

Update

Just thought I'd let everyone know I'm still about, not done much hunting recently, well in fact haven't done any but Keira is busy in highsec with a little project which is taking much of the corps attention but I hope to be able to get some violencing done imminently.

Huh?

Jayne: "We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode."

Mal: "Jayne, how many weapons you plannin' on takin'? You only got the two arms."

Jayne: "Well I just get excitable as to choice, like to have my options open."

Mal: "I don't plan on any shooting taking place during this job."

Jayne: "Yeah well, what you plan and what takes place ain't ever exactly been similar."

24 hours of darkness

Supplies are laid in, the generator is fuelled and I got some choice holoreels for entertainment. It's always weird when the stations shut down all but critical services for maintenance and refurbishment. Everything is shut down, besides the life support and there's no way to to use the docking services so nothing to do besides hole up in the hangar and relax. The silence is astounding, the continual hum and vibration of the station disappears for 24 hours.

Had a middling few days, had a very good fight against some pilots from The Cooperative, no losses on our side and 5 kills all in all, although I only managed to squeeze onto two killmails.
A few other kills here and there, the loss of a Taranis to bugged sentries and the piece de resistance, a carrier kill under strange circumstances.

Bad boys, bad boys, what ya gonna do? what ya gonna do when they log on you?

"There's a Nidhoggur in Eifer"

Five words uttered into an Intel channel, enough to stir the hornets nest in Gusandall and the station undock got very busy, my Sleipnir nearly colliding with the others in our haste. Seven pilots were racing to get to Eifer, with a few more en route to join. The Carrier was tracked to a planet and tackled by a Vagabond pilot from Pandemic Legion, the rest of us in warp. I burst out of warp as the Nid's pilot decided to log his critical systems to save his ship, of course this wasn't going to help and we went to work. A carrier's tank should have taken the assembled ships a while to chew through but surprisingly his shields disappeared very quickly, his armour the same. I held my fire as he hit half structure to allow the rest of the guys rushing to join the kill a chance to get a shot in. Unfortunately not everyone got the message and the carrier exploded in a brilliant flash, his escape pod warping out instantly as the automated systems had taken over.

Unfortunately for the Nid's pilot there was a very talented covert ops pilot in system and his corpse now resides in "The Morgue"

The killmail revealed why it went down so quickly, it had no modules fitted. It just boggles the mind that someone would jump into a stationless system, with no support and zero tank.

I would have preferred a fight, hell anything but a logoffski. I guess I'm just annoyed that the kill cost us ammo and we have nothing to show for it. Carrier kills tend to pay off well and the ISK could certainly be used but c'est la vie. I returned to Gusandall and docked up, making sure everything was in place for the long dark, Keira too had docked up and had just made some tea. It's the first time in a long time she had disembarked from her Claymore, that girl is seemingly glued to it.

New Artwork & New Alliance

Just thought I'd unveil some new artwork courtesy of CaptSky over at Scrapheap Challenge

Killboard Banner


Blog Header


Forum Signature


Also, some may have noticed NovaKane is flying under a new alliance's colours, Pirate Coalition is back in action and is hoping to follow its independent roots instead of the traditional alliance route. I'd like to see how this works out and left Derek Knows Us after almost a year.
I will still hold tight to my philosophy of being an independent pilot, just doing it under a different flag but also want to try and expand my operations into different areas

Stupid is as stupid does

I'm not best pleased with myself right now, made a stupid mistake and paid the price.

I had spotted a regular plex runner in system, his Hawk sitting on the gate and this should have been my first clue as he never did that, in fact he barely stays in system if he spots me about but I had one thing on my mind and that was a kill. I warped in and there he was, I locked and engaged.
My "Admiral Akbar Sense" should have been tingling off the hook but noooooo, I was under the red mist and it all became clear as an Ishtar warped in and engaged me.

Well executed trap on their part and I desperately tried to at least kill the Hawk before I exploded but to no avail, my trusty Jaguar crumpling under the assault of the Ishtar's Hobgoblin IIs. I spammed warp to get my escape pod out but something weird happened that I can't explain and nothing happened, I just sat there as I was locked by the Ishtar and sent home via the Clone Vat Express™. Not something I'm used to any more and very jarring, I already have a massive headache as it's not a very nice process.

I lost not only the Jaguar but some very nice implants (which have already been replaced) but I also took a bit of a hit to my ego. I was due something like this to be honest, I've had a good run recently and these things are bound to happen. I'm tired, have a headache and will make plans to replace the Jaguar tomorrow, for now I'm going to slump into my bunk and try to forget this whole episode.

You killed a what? With a What?

Early: "You know, with the exception of one deadly and unpredictable midget, this girl is the smallest cargo I've ever had to transport. Yet by far the most troublesome. Does that seem right to you?"

Simon: "What'd he do?"

Early: "Who?"

Simon: "The midget."

Early: "Arson. Little man loved fire."

Mmm, Hawk... tastes like chicken

Sometimes I struggle to sleep, it's a condition I'm so used to but one which nevertheless causes me much anguish. So I undocked and christened yet another ship into my fleet, a Taranis. The Gallente interceptor is quite interesting to me, able to carry two light drones and pack a mean punch with blasters at close range, all the while being nimble and quick. A good all round package which makes for some fun flying. It's maiden hunt would take us to Eifer, my spiritual home.

I warped to my regular scan spot above a belt and was surprised to see a Hawk about 300 clicks below me in a safespot near mine, so I did what comes naturally and started to close the distance. It took me a while as I was just shy of 4km/s in this new ship but the gap was closing.
Within 30km I was lit up by his targeting systems, a flight of missiles streaking across the sky towards me. I finally made into locking range, locked, then tackle range, tackled. My blasters lit up and started to stream hydrid ammo across the void. The Hawk pilot was firing missiles constantly at me, his shields being boosted somehow but soon he was deep into armour. My Taranis was venting atmosphere into space, I had taken an incredible beating from the kinetic missiles. At point blank range the Hawk's structure vanished in the blink of an eye, his escape pod jettisoned into space but locked and tackled in an instant, the corpse joining the many in "The Morgue"

¯\(º_o)/¯

I awoke from a good sleep, that Hawk kill was just what I needed to relax me enough. I had passed out in the Taranis so decided it would suffice for the first hunt of the day, once again I headed to Eifer, one pilot I recognised in system but he's mostly cloaked and doesn't engage anything that might fight back. One pilot did catch my eye, a Maelstrom being piloted by a very young pilot. I decided to go for it, suicide my ship and see what I could do.

I warped in to where my scanner indicated he was only to see the warp trails to another belt, I quickly aligned and jumped there coming out of warp almost at the same time as the massive Minmatar Battleship. I was right on top of him so locked and tackled, my two point warp scrambler lighting up and emitting a soft hum through my ship, stasis web went active, making the bulky ship a huge sitting duck. My blasters went live, Caldari Navy antimatter rounds punching there way into the mighty shield systems. I had called for assistance in a local intel channel, killing the Maelstrom drones while waiting for a response. One pilot responded, saying he was en route with a Megathron, but by this time my small blasters were digging holes into the Maelstrom's armour. With the armour gone and deathstar about to jump in I was in hysterical laughter, the structure was vanishing in front of my eyes, tears rolling off my cheeks as the once mighty Maelstrom exploded. The escape pod made tasty snack as deathstar jumped into system, the fight over and me rolling in a fit of laughter.

The killmail would deliver further laughs as the fitting boggles the mind.
A deeply satisfying kill, an improbable kill, one in which if you asked me before if it would happen I would have said "NEVER!"

Welcome to Heimatar

Sitting in Gusandall station, basking in how awesome I am, I was talking to flashfresh and news of some mission runners came through the grapevine. You could literally hear Pirate ears perking up at the sound. Blood was in the water and the sharks started circling. Covops were dispatched to the system to track them down and soon a small but very deadly gang was formed and made their way to the target system. The Covops were tracking two ships, a Dominix and a Maelstrom, not together but both definitely running missions. First contact was reported as the Domi, the Covops setting up the warpin at the mission acceleration gate. flashfresh gave the order and the gang jumped in, warped to the acceleration gate and waited a moment till everyone landed before activating the gate. The gang was launched as one into the mission deadspace and we were dismayed to see the Domi over 60 clicks away, the distance giving him the opportunity he needed to warp out which he took.

An opportunity lost but the Covops pilot was still probing for the Maelstrom and soon she reported that she had setup the warpin to the acceleration gate, once again the gang formed up and the order was given, we warped in but again the target was not there. Curses I thought but then a curious thing happened as the Maelstrom warped in from the direction of the acceleration gate, right into the middle of the rabid pack assembled.

Muhaar Gemeinian > oh hai thar

The Maelstrom was about to have a very bad day as seven ships simultaneously locked, tackled and opened fire. There was no way he was getting out of this, even when the notion of a ransom was mentioned, the bloodlust was just too strong. The flash from the Maelstrom's exploding hull blinding but the escape pod instawarped as the pilot logged his critical systems to save himself.

The loot was scooped and we waited out our GCC when reports of another Maelstrom running missions a few systems away reached us. The Covops was dispatched and soon she had probed out his mission and was setting up the warpin as the rest of the gang made their way. The pilot was identified as being from Band of Brothers, a tasty victim and one we were keen to kill. Once we had assembled on the acceleration gate the word was given and we warped in. Damn, 70km away but we had a Vagabond and Rapier setup just right to close the distance quickly enough. Once tackled it was just a matter of time as the rest of us got into range and soon the Maelstrom evaporated under the sustained assault. The words of flashfresh certainly ringing in his ears "Welcome to Heimatar" as he logged his critical systems to save his pod.

Oh poo... terhead

I headed back to Gusandall, some modules offline from overheating and in desperate need of repair but as I was en route the rest of the gang destroyed a Tempest battleship on the Gus station undock. I had entered system and spotted an Enyo in the direction of the 2/10 plex, I docked, repaired the Sleipnir and boarded my Jaguar, undocked and set warp for the plex, I was pleased to see that the mark was still there, I activated the ancient acceleration gate and warped in, the mark 40km from me but I closed the distance very quickly and the Enyo didn't last long.

Whilst this was going on the gang had gone to Eifer and engaged a Deimos, I made all haste to join them but only managed to warp in as the exploding Deimos lit the night sky.

The rest of my day was spent in a Succubus, got a few kills in Eifer with it, nothing of significance but did engage a Rapier and Hound duo, who thought they had a tasty faction treat but were surprised when a friend of mine in system uncloaked in a Falcon which jammed the Rapeir, I had gotten right on top of him but ran out of capacitor and my tackling systems shut down. The Rapier took this as his cue to leave which he did, the Hound long having left the fight.
I was kinda upset about losing that kill but you can't always kill em all.

The Maelstrom solo kill from earlier made my day, everything else pale in significance compared to that but a good day in the end. I have a headache again, really annoying so I'm going to take some paikillers and try get some sleep.

Scrapheap Challenge Ganknight 10.5

Mal: "Oh! That was bracing. They don't like it when you shoot at them. I worked that out myself."

Saturday was some great fun, I had initially planned to go out drinking but a migraine cut that plan short so I took some painkillers and settled in for the night, of course by settling in I mean I grabbed a Sabre interdictor and headed for Bosboger where I would be meeting up with about 60 mental patients in destroyers.

Scrapheap Challenge was initially a Minmatar community but now caters for all races but on occasion plan events like Ganknight and Frigates of Fury. Saturday just happened to be destroyer night and so it was I decided on the Sabre as we would be heading into nullsec space for shits and giggles.

The Ganknights work on a simple principle, NPSI (Not Purple Shoot It) so woe betide any who falls out of gang as they'll end up being a statistic. There were members from many different corps and alliances, many of which who are red to each other but for a few hours were all on the same side, that of the gank.

After some initial trouble in finding an FC, Dinique stepped up to the plate then the decision on where we would go was next on the agenda. After much deliberation, Syndicate was the target region and navigation coordinates were programmed into the nav systems of the assembled fleet and off we went. For us -10 Pirates we would have to take a slightly longer route before meeting up with the rest of the fleet in Haroulle.

There were some casualties early on as members dropped from gang only to warp in and be vapourised, there was even some fun as Sarmaul was booted from gang and exterminated as he appeared on our overviews. This was of course after a Huzzah carrier piloted by Jags undocked and redocked ASAP as he saw his overview filled with ships. Kill of the night had to be a Scrapheap members Sacrilege that exploded in under two seconds and he was podded with a full set of High Grade Snake implants, he wasn't part of Ganknight so was a target, simple as.

All in alll the night was a massive success, 20 odd kills and a fair few losses, mostly at the hand of The Monkeysphere who just happened to be in gang with us but made a fitting end to the night.

Yours truly made it onto 15 killmails and only barely made it out with 33% armour after landing right on top of Monkey's Discophoon. I also got to fly with an old corp mate again, was good to be in fleet with you Steve Dave.

It's quite amazing what 60 destroyers can accomplish when in the hands of mentally retarded monkeys frothing at the mouth :D