Burn Baby Burn

Quote #336.
Sham Harga had run a succesful eatery for many years by always smiling, never extending credit, and realizing that most of his customers wanted meals properly balanced between the four food groups: sugar, starch, grease and burnt crunchy bits.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)


A very good fight








An Epic fight  










Both fights actually occurred separately from each other, with the Hurricane pilot losing another Hurricane to the Cyclone pilot a few minutes later, I tried to crash the party but the Cyclone pilot warped out to go get more drones and rep whatever armour damage and get new boosters whatever.
He came back and we had an epic battle, me down to one cap booster, his guns burnt out.

I must pay closer attention to my overheating :D

Active

The consensus seemed to be that if really large numbers of men were sent to storm the mountain, then enough might survive the rocks to take the citadel. This is essentially the basis of all military thinking.

-- (Terry Pratchett, Eric)

A Hurricane is a mighty test for the ship I was flying, but it was a test I was going to take, or as the case was to be, let the test take me.

Cyclone

The Cyclone was created in order to meet the increasing demand for a vessel capable of providing muscle for frigate detachments while remaining more mobile than a battleship. To this end, the Cyclone's eight high-power slots and powerful thrusters have proved ideal.

Battlecruiser Skill Bonus: 5% bonus to Medium Projectile Turret rate of fire and 7.5% bonus to shield boosting per level

99% reduction in the CPU need of Warfare Link modules.

I had been hunting a Tengu running a drone complex in Eifer, but headed back to Gusandall. As I jump through a Hurricane pilot that was reported earlier appears in Gus local, so I warp straight to belt 1-1 and wait...

... Didn't have to wait long as the Hurricane warps in at range. His MWD pulse clearly showing he was quicker than me, getting into range of my scram was paramount, as I started the approach under full MWD speed, I needed to get under 12km for my scram's overloaded range and it wasn't easy as the Hurricane easily outran and out ranged me, pulsing my shield booster as the Hurricane's 425s tore into me.

I pop a strong blue pill, the universe takes on a blue hue, an immediate headache a side effect, reducing my ability to keep my shield capacity at full strength but the massive boost to my neural pathways allowing me to maximize the shield boost from the shield booster.

Massive chunks of my shield being ripped away, massive chunks of my shield being repaired, timing of my cap boosts becomes critical as dual neuts from the Hurricane putting pressure on my capacitor, the time has come, I overload my MWD, a cap boost charge fires, I force the engagement into scram range as I get within 12km, my overloaded scram bites hard and the MWD of the Hurricane is nullified, I close to point blank, second cap booster fires, shields bouncing like crazy, I'm starting to miss timings on cap boosts, the dual neut pressure hurting, the 425s hurting, my shields dipping further, armour hitting red, my drones seemingly off on their own mission to kill an Angel cruiser, double you tea eff guys?
It doesn't take long for me to get my timings right, overloaded shield boosts and cap boosts allowing me to stay ahead of the damage and neut cycles... Just.
My drones, having killed the cruiser, decide to come back and help me.

At this point though, I have broken the shields of the Hurricane and am biting into the soft underbelly of the passive shield, its weak armour being ripped apart by my rockets and 220s, and in no time his structure starts to vaporize under the assault, my weapons near melting point as the Hurricane explodes.

A rather good fight, sentiments shared in local comms.

I'm having fun in active tanked ships of both shield and armour variants and for the first time in a very long time I suffered side effects of the drugs that help boost them to insane levels. Some of the fits might not be conventional but damn if they don't keep you interested :)

Active tanks fell out of favour as of late, replaced by logistics and remote repair chains, but for solo they can be really effective in my not so humble opinion, whilst still vulnerable against neuts and large amounts of deeps, choose your targets and have fun.

Edit: To include the ship I was flying, thanks Trony for pointing that out :)

The Tank

Many an ancient lord's last words had been, "You can't kill me because I've got magic aaargh."
-- Magic armour is not all it's cracked up to be.
(Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times)

Not much about today, a good 1v1 vs Ava Starfire earlier in the day, letting a Harpy escape not once, but twice, but still managing to kill his Dramiel corp mate.

So things weren't looking up but late evening, one of my associates reported combat probes on scan as she was running an anomaly. A Cyclone is spotted on scan, shortly followed by a Tengu. Tengu moves off scan but is still in system, a boosting T3 no doubt but I was up for a fight regardless. My associate had cloaked in the anomaly and reported the Cyclone had warped in.

I undock Mort, a Hurricane class battlecruiser, something I haven't flown in a while in a configuration I haven't flown in even longer, a shield buffer fit.

I warp in on top of the Cyclone and engage immediately, he lights me up, scrammed I can't gain range as my MWD stares at me blankly, but I fight tooth and nail, his tank impressive, boosting... A lot. My shields are done for as we both enter armour except he boosts some shields back even under staggered dual neuts.

Mort collapses under the onslaught, the Cyclone at about 10% structure as I warp my pod to safety.

I decide to go back for seconds, grabbing Sgt Detritus, a Harbinger :)

The Cyclone had docked to repair the damage from the first fight and went back to the anomaly as he exited the station, I followed immediately, almost catching him on the gate but he waited for me inside.

Knowing I would struggle breaking his tank, my associate decloaked and engaged with her Ishtar, a flight of Ogre IIs spewing forth from her drone bay as I kept the Cyclone pinned down. The Cyclone still tanked like a champ but the combined firepower eventually breaking him.

A good fight for me in the end as I got revenge, even though it was a team effort, the Cyclone Pilot not saying anything after his loss, I don't think he was happy, the Tengu leaving system shortly after he did. Impressive tank mate, something I'm definitely interested in for the future.
I don't think I would have broken the tank on that thing without the Ishtar's help and would have lost another ship in the search for vengeance.

New shirt?

The Threeway

On nights such as these the gods, as has already been pointed out, play games other than chess with the fates of mortals and the thrones of kings. It is important to remember that they always cheat, right up to the end...
-- (Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters)

Harrassing an ISK farmer by making it difficult for him to run the 2/10 plex is a favourite past time of mine, his frustration, my jollies. He doesn't like, me, he doesn't like Keira and her uber links, in fact, I don't think he likes the EVE universe much as he chooses a poor way to venture through it, all cloaks, very little dagger, means I care little for his opinion, or his anonymous comments on my blog.

Anyways, whilst waiting for him to come back and try his hand at running the plex, my associate in Eifer reports a Myrmidon ratting. I recognize the name, the corp and the alliance, not ones to fly alone so I ask about to see if anyone has spotted his corp or alliance mates. Eventually it seems like this fellow is ratting solo, in Eifer... I know right?

I undock the Fifth Elephant™ once again, I'm liking this again, a white knuckle ride of a ship. I enter warp to the Eifer gate just after spotting an Electus Matari pilot warp the same direction in a Hurricane, he jumps through to Eifer, followed by me. The Myrmidon is in the belt closest to the Gusandall gate and as I enter system I see the Hurricane warp to said belt.

I warp at range and land as the Myrmidon goes red, engaging the Electus Matari pilot. Deciding it's a nice day, I light the Myrmidon up, he goes down faster than a choir boy at an Amarr church service. Then it's just me and Karum... He engages me...

Say what? Here I am, being a pillar of society, helping this man out of the goodness of my heart and he shoots at me.

Well, I can't stand for this, stand idly by whilst my good intentions are spat upon, so I lock him up and start shooting.

The shooting is going good, I'm easily able to tank his damage whilst obliterating his shields and armour, things are going well until...












BLACKBIRD! piloted by Ekkeko, for those keeping track












Karum's friend warps in at 100 clicks, lights me up and negates any use of my targeting systems what so ever.

I pop a blue pill, a strong one as I'm going to need it.
First jam cycle is a given, a cap booster charge is consumed, my shield booster repping massive chunks of shield, but it is hungry.

Second jam cycle, another cap 800, I'm smashing the targeting console, hoping, for even the slightest chance. Karums Hurricane is humping The Fifth Elephant™ like a rabid poodle, his warp scrambler and web meaning I'm dead in space, unless I get lucky.

Third jam cycle, this is getting tiresome, there's no chance I can fight back, my drones start taking damage as Karum's Hurricane is in hull and his only chance is to kill off my autonomous damage.

Fourth Jam cycle, another cap 800, more shield reps, more damage being applied by Karum, strangely no energy neutraliser, I'm being hit by... what the fuck are those... Rockets?

Fifth Jam cycle, cap booster 800, shield rep, smashing target button

Sixth jam, cap booster, recall drones, down to three of my brave friends.

Seventh, booster, repping like a Boss, deploy drones.

Eight...

Nine...

Ten...

TARGETING!!!

The Blackbird misses a cycle, lock resolves, Karum has two thirds structure left, guns overloaded, drones aggressed... GOGOGOGOGO!!!

It's a race, despite it's name being associated with a lumbering animal, this was one The Fifth Elephant was destined to win, Karum's hull not able to withstand the ferocious onslaught of sheer ECM hating destruction unleashed upon it.

A very good fight, sentiments shared in local chat.
For all the haters out there, Keira wasn't in system during this fight :P

Took some shots of the Rizzel's in formation, rather shiny if you ask me :)





Edit: It also helps to read this story whilst listening to this song as it was playing during the fight :)

Dun dun dun dun dun dun

The world is made up of four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. This is a fact well known even to Corporal Nobbs. It's also wrong. There's a fifth element, and generally it's called Surprise.
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Truth)

It goes a little something like this:

XXXX > Drake on scan, probes out

Kane Rizzel > I'm warping to Ingunn gate in Hurricane
Keira Rizzel > I'm on my way too for command bonuses with a Claymore

XXXX > Have a hit on the Drake, warping to it now... Landed 15 clicks off, gogogo!

Kane Rizzel > Jumping... In warp, Keira get in here, no time to safe up, just get those command links running.
Keira Rizzel > Roger roger.

XXXX > Moving off warp-in, good hunting o7

Kane Rizzel > Landing... tackled, commencing negotiations.

Crapulo > good show

And so it was, a total of one minute and 30 seconds from the time my rather specialised associate reported the Drake, till it was probed out, violenced and negotiated with for the contents of it's hold and fittings. So very kind of him to get most of the anomolies contents safely secured within the wreck of his ship, a good haul.

Much of my success has been down to these highly skilled associates, whether it was Keira in her Cheetah or this new breed of covert operatives, in ships with equipment and skills that far exceed anything Keira was ever able to achieve. Their knowledge of the area and ability to get into a system and probe out a target and make sure not to spook the target is something that I can not value enough.

Today has been interesting, have been called a noob, by myself, as I jumped a Bhaalgorn into highsec but remained calm enough to get out in one piece (I'm pro at jumping into highsec, enough so that I'm pro at getting out too)

Have been accused of hotdropping. Yes, hotdropping. Two Abaddons disrupting a gang of battleships harassing some POS in the middle of nowhere is now hotdropping. I must be getting old.

It's been a good day.

Stay classy and never surrender

It's a Mean old universe

The world is made up of four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. This is a fact well known even to Corporal Nobbs. It's also wrong. There's a fifth element, and generally it's called Surprise.

-- (Terry Pratchett, The Truth)

Not feeling very creative as I have yet to sleep, 36 hours and counting so I'm kind of waiting for the coma. Part of the insomnia was being part of a fun gang with the Mean Corp crew last night.

Three separate engagements against the Deadspace Society, 17 kills to 5 losses, including a Harbinger and Hurricane of mine in the second fight , I came back in a Zealot to finish off the fight and used it to great effect in the third engagement but spent most of the fight jammed by ECM drones, we decimated the hostiles incurring zero losses.

An engagement against Rote Kapelle in which we killed 3 ships, including a Drake, Curse and Arazu before they legged it for zero losses on our side. We chased and caught a few other bits and bobs about the constellation, me flying my Zealot.

My personal tally for the past few days is 5 battleships, 7 Battlecruiser, 1 Recon ship, 1 Cruiser, 1 Assault frigate, 1 Destroyer, 1 Frigate and 2 pods at the cost of 2 Battlecruisers all with about 6 hours sleep since Sunday evening.

As always the Mean crew provided some good times, with some great laughs on voice comms. Thanks to the guys for a good time and especially Zorn from Triumvirate for some crucial repping in his Guardian, if not for him I would have lost a Zealot while fighting under sentries but he managed to claw my armour back from about 10% in our engagement against Rote Kapelle.

Keira was busy for most of the evening in her Claymore giving us a much needed edge but later went to high security space and undocked the corp Fenrir for its maiden voyage into lowsec. She moved down some more Harbingers and Hurricanes to bolster my fleet along with the mods to make them lethal. The freighter run went off without incident even as a few of us were camping a wormhole but she did have sufficient scouting and the Mean boys offered any assistance if it should be needed.

I docked up early this morning to do some cleaning around the place and then headed out for drinks with friends. Arriving back this evening I got back into the hangar and got the crews about assembling the new ships, I look forward to losing them in epic engagements and will try and take as many pilots down with me as I can.

Stay classy Gusandall

The sun doesn't always shine...

Steal five dollars and you were a petty thief. Steal thousands of dollars and you were either a government or a hero

-- (Terry Pratchett, Going Postal)

Well, it's been a mixed bag as of late.

I was in Eifer doing my thing when I spotted a nasty little gang in a belt, they had a Crow with them and were seemingly engaging an old friend in his Thorax. My train of thought was that the Thorax was dead either way but I would warp in at 30km and see if I could pick off the Crow.
Unfortunately for me they had a Curse which totally sucked for me at that point as my capacitor was alpha'd. A few seconds later I was liberated from my Rifter and warped my escape pod off in the direction of the Gusandall gate. Time for a new Rifter.

A few minutes later, after seeing a few blobs pass on, I spotted a Rifter seemingly alone at a planet, I warped in and he was 100 clicks off, I started to close and he warped off to another planet. I followed and warped in at 50km, in case he changed his warpin distance. I landed 50km away and started to close, he did the same and soon we were engaged in violence. The fight was rather interesting in that he didn't do much damage to me as I kept out past 5km from him. My only conclusion is that he had short range ammo loaded and this was confirmed by the killmail.

Still in Eifer I spot a Rifter in a belt, I narrow it down and go in for the kill, it was a very young pilot but there were some others in system and I wanted them to come on in, only way to do so is put myself in a weakened position. I engaged the Rifter and he exploded in a very short time but my plan worked as a Malediction interceptor warped in and closed very, very quickly. Too quick actually and he was webbed, scrambled and then vaporised.

I scored another two Rifter kills before heading to Gusandall for some shut eye.

I woke up rather early and went out to Eifer to see if I could catch anything. It was probably too early. There was a Brutix, Prophecy and Rifter together in a belt and I used poor judgement in going in and engaging. I engaged the Rifter and he went down very quickly but it was a bit too late for me as the Brutix and Prophecy melted my poor Rifter.

Another Rifter and once more in Eifer and it seems to have come alive. A Malediction and two Rifters at a planet, I warp in and they are engaged 200 odd km away, Malediction warps out and both Rifters warp in on top of me. The two pilots are residents of the Independence channel and it was only after that I recognized this. They came away with a prized kill.

I would later offer the Malediction pilot a 1v1 which he accepted and thus started a ten minute duel which ended in a stalemate as he couldn't break me and I couldn't catch him. A good fight even though there was no outcome.

It was after this that I spotted the Brutix and Prophecy back in Eifer so it was a quick trip to Gus to grab something appropriate, Karma™ would do quite nicely.

I warped to a safespot and quickly scanned them out in a belt, warped in and engaged. Brutix was primary and the fight was on, they both lit me up like bonfire night. My shields were taking immense damage but the Brutix was going down, unfortunately he warped out but I managed to switch tackle very quickly on to the Prophecy who melted with my armour down to 60%.

I think it would have been a lot closer had the Brutix stayed in the fight.

I went out for coffee and people watching only to return this evening to try and kill a Wolf in the local 1/10 angel plex. I warped in and he was 40km away, I quickly closed with him doing the same. The fight kicked off and things were about even as we traded blows but then a system lag and as my sensors recalibrated I had burnt out my guns, with the Jaguar on fire and no hope of winning this fight I started to move out of range. As I was warping out, almost 25km from the Wolf, my Jaguar exploded, unexpected to say the least. Oh well, I warped my escape pod out and shared a "Good fight" in local.

Five Frigates, an Interceptor, a Cruiser and three pods for the loss of two Rifters and a Jaguar. Not one of my better hunts but fun none the less.

Oh my

"Some factual information for you. Have you any idea how much damage that bulldozer would suffer if I just let it roll straight over you?"
"How much?" said Arthur.
"None at all," said Mr Prosser.

My eyes open ever so gently, the low light of the hangar sears my eyes, this is not good.

The constant headaches a legacy of many cloning procedures.

This technological marvel has it's side effects but at least death is not a worry although sometimes I feel it would be a welcome change to the constant pain. I take a handful of painkillers and head for my Rifter, some old school frigate piracy was needed.

First

My friend in her covops was sitting in a spot in Gusandall and she notified me of another Rifter bouncing between the belts so I took that as my cue to get my Piracy hat on and undocked into the black. It wasn't long before I found said Rifter but he warped straight to the station, a place where fighting in my Rifter would mean a short end for me unless I could get him to aggro me first, we danced for a while, both having locked each other and then he warped off... to a belt, so I did what comes naturally to Kane and warped in and killed him.

Second

I headed to Eifer and spotted a pilot who I missed a few days ago due to him flying a stabbed Thrasher, this time he was in a Stabber. I started to track him and was joined in my mission by an accomplice, we tracked him to a belt separately and both warped in, both got points on and he just warped out... HE FUCKING WARPED OUT.

Right, this guy just made my shit list, GCC be damned, I headed back to Gus to get my Broadsword. I sent word to my deck crew to get Monstrous Regiment™ prepped, once docked it took me a short time to get ready and I headed back to Eifer where the stabbed Stabber was still ratting, oblivious to his impending doom.

I narrowed him down to a belt and aligned.

WARP DRIVE ACTIVE

Space folds around my Broadsword as I'm slung into warp, my on-board scanner working overtime making sure the mark is still there. I burst out of warp.

"Well hello there" I say to myself "Let me introduce you to my little friend."

The Broadsword is part of a unique class of ships called Heavy Interdictors, able to fit a Warp Disruption Field Generator, a device that can be scripted to a focussed beam of infinite strength to warp disruption. It was this device that now kicked into action as it bridged the 18km between myself and the stabber, I flick my MWD into life and close the distance, I activate my Stais Webifier, that Stabber is going nowhere... NOWHERE! In a heartbeat I'm right on top of him and my guns spin up and begin to rain sweet destruction upon the Stabber.

I could hear the Stabber pilot screaming "WHY I NOT WARPING?" as he frantically aligned but the end came swiftly and without mercy I locked his escape pod and sent him home via the Clone Vat Express™

See kids, fitting stabs makes Uncle Kane angry and you don't want to make him angry do you?

Third

(EDIT:Waiting out my GCC) I waited out my GCC and headed to Gus for my Rifter, once back in Eifer I spot a Punisher idling near a belt, warp in to find him 80 clicks out, I start to close, the red mist descends as another kill beckons. We get in range of each other and fireworks ensue, the Punisher going down hard. I'm laughing like a maniac, the thrill of the kill overtaking my sense. Had I been paying attention I would have noticed local light up as reds poured into Eifer, the Punisher explodes and I lock the pod, a Taranis, then a Jaguar warp in on me... DOH

Welp, here I am, warp scrambled and webbed, but not going down without a fight, I lock both ships and start on the Taranis, his shield melts away in an instant, his armour taking a massive beating. My shields are holding up well but then I lose lock... FUCKING JAMMED.
I overload everything and try Keep distance on the Taranis, reacquire lock and web him, My shields have been stripped away and it's not looking good. Taranis hasn't done any damage to me at this point as I successfully keep range but the artillery on that Jaguar is doing me in. I select a celestial object as I'm three quarters into hull and start spamming the warp button, my escape pod jettisons into space as my Rifter explodes and then... NOTHING, no warp, I get locked by the Taranis...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!

I fall onto the cold floor as I spill out of the cloning VAT, the searing pain behind my eyes dawning the realisation I just got podded. It gets worse every time. I update my clone, it's getting expensive and board a Jaguar, my head still spinning but this new body is strong. I head back to Eifer for some revenge and warp in towards my wreck, my corpse floating next to it. The Jaguar is still there, the Taranis warps out, I start to close on the Jaguar when a Crow, Stiletto and the Taranis warp back in... not good so I warp to a spot high above the belt and watch them. I offer 1v1s to all the pilots but they don't respond. It appears this is the forward group of a larger fleet moving through the area, local lights up as about 20 pilots jump in on there way back to Highsec.
I wasn't going to get any 1v1s or any semblance of revenge. They left system and I warped to my wreck, grab my loot and my corpse, this one has a special place in the Morgue

There was news of a carrier in Bundindus and I raced to grab my Sleipnir and headed over there but it was a wash as the pilot docked up in the safety of the station.

Fourth

I head back to Gus to grab the Rifter, the night is still young and there's killing to be done. Eifer seems to be alive tonight, there's a buzz and the buzz was a Thrasher in a belt. It seems a friend of mine had already scanned him down and was engaging, I warped in to find Kerjin, in his Rupture, just warp scrambling the poor Thrasher and letting the belt rats do the damage. He's a sick puppy that Kerjin. I joined in and added a web to the mix. The Thrasher lit me up and started firing on me, Kerjin informed him that this was a bad idea and as with all bad ideas they end in tears as we finally landed the killing blows after about two minutes. Another pod, another corpse for the Morgue.

Fifth

I was waiting out my GCC when some friends from The Bastards reported a Thanatos carrier at a planet in Gultraten.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me, at a planet?" I asked

The reply was a firm yes

"Tackled?"

"About to be" was the reply

Well I guess I'll just forget about this GCC and go grab something more appropriate.
It was a choice between a Sleipnir and a Hurricane and Karma won, she needed some blood and what better than a carrier. I made all haste to get to Gultraten.

"Where is it?" I asked

"Planet V at zero"

This was too good to be true, a carrier at a planet, on its own and about to have a very, very bad day.

"He's going down a might too fast"

Double you tea eff!

Move Karma, I ain't fucking missing this. I burst out of warp right on top of the mighty carrier, just as the pilot logged his systems. Oh dear, this poor Thanatos left at the mercy of Pirates, whatever was he thinking?

Well the carrier exploded, a massive flash blinding our systems for a second as the escape pod from the carrier warped off with the unconscious pilot inside. z0de probed it out and it was squashed with extreme prejudice. The cowardice of logging one's systems in a fight not tolerated by most Pirates.

Sixes and Sevens

Back in Gusandall my friend notified me of a Thorax, seemingly at the gate of the 1/10 plex, a strange place for a cruiser to be, so I grabbed my Rupture and headed out, warped in, killed him, squashed his pod and warped out.

My friend once again told me of a Nemesis stealth bomber bouncing the belts, I boarded my Jaguar, undocked and warped to the belt where he was reported at, as I came out of warp he was over 90 clicks away and warped to another belt as I started to close, I followed but when I got there he had cloaked... well damn, I hit the scanner and nothing, definitely cloaked then. The belt rats started to swarm around me and then just like that the Nemesis was de cloaked, 3km from me, I locked, scrammed, webbed and popped him in short order, stealth bombers not known for their ability to tank, the pod being squished even quicker.

Added another Rifter to the kills for the night, the pilot was grossly outclassed but a good sport and a reader of these tales.

I did come up against a surprising Rifter just after, over 4km/s and I burnt out my MWD and warp disruptor chasing him down so took my chance to warp out of a fight when he lost point as he wildly orbited me as I stood no chance of winning at that point.

JAM2 > come back when you grow some balls

It's got nothing to do with balls son, no point, no kill and I don't hang about plainly when the fight is beyond me if I don't have to.

I wait out my GCC and head back to Gusandall, it's late, I'm tired, my head is seemingly about to explode and JAM2 will have to wait his turn.

A man and his stabs...

"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - Douglas Adams

Hanging about in my Rifter as is the norm I spotted a Myrmidon on scan... Mmm, Myrmidon.

I wasn't alone in local as a friend was trying to act inconspicuous in his Malediction, the two of us got to talking about introducing the Myrm pilot to the colour of his liver. Between the two of us we would have a hard time breaking the Myrms tank so it was decided Jorge would go in with his Malediction to lay down the Epic tackle, I would head back to Gus and grab Karma™, there was a thought of grabbing the Fifth Elephant™ but I thought the Hurricane could use a spin in the black.

I waited on the Eifer gate until Jorge gave the word

"Word"

I jumped in and warped to the belt in which my prey was currently being orbited by Jorge's Malediction, peppering the Myrm with light missiles. The sleek hull of Karma™ bursting out of warp right on top of the Myrmidon.

Target lock aquired, Warp Disruptor glows on my HUD as my 425s spin up and start raining sweet death, drones are deployed and they race towards him. His shields evaporate, armour goes full red in a few seconds, atmosphere and fuel starts to vent into space.

"Ransom?" I ask Jorge

Before he could respond something incredulous happened.

"What the fuck? Did he just warp off?"

I kick my command console in frustration. I think something broke but that will have to wait for later. We had two points on the fucker and he just warped off. He left local a short while later and I waited out my GCC cursing at the universe. Jorge and myself cheated out of a kill.

I headed back to Gus and grabbed my Jaguar as my sneaky friend in her Covops had tracked down a Caracal in Ingunn, so I headed over but was disappointed once again as the Caracal warped off before I arrived.

It was looking bleak until Jorge reported the Myrm back in Eifer. Jorge was joined by CPT NESSAJA in his Crow so I headed back to Gus and grabbed my Broadsword, I was taking no chances. The Myrm was jumping between belts and planets with the two Interceptors chasing. I scanned the Myrm at a planet and warped in. There he was, bright as day and this time he wasn't getting away.

My targeting systems are quick to lock, my Warp Disruption Field Generator kicks in, I web him for good measure and my 220s go to work. Nes and Jorge join the party and we start to dance. The Myrm's shields are stripped away and then another strange occurrence

"What the fuck? I'm jammed"

He had a jammer on that thing, I was starting to get annoyed. I hit my microwarp drive and rammed my Broadsword into him to knock him off alignment. It was a successful bump, but my head was spinning from the collision. Target once more acquired I continue to rain Barrage into the Gallente battlecruiser. Ransom of the ship is no longer an option, this guy is going down, bits of armour and hull start flying off his ship, massive hull breaches appear and it explodes in a massive fireball, bits of Myrmidon raining against my ship.

"Grab the pod, we ransom that" I say over our shared comms.

Pod is locked and scrambled by the quick locking Interceptors and I open communications with the now Myrmidonless pilot.

"2miilion ISK and your pod goes free. Good fight by the way"

I'm greeted by silence and then he pipes up that he really enjoyed himself. OK, a bit strange.

"15 seconds or your pod is goo"

The replies get stranger, he asks if he can join us hunting, to which I reply "Nope sorry, my wallet still isn't flashing"

"Here's 5million, that was so much fun"

Ooookay, I suspect some alcohol, maybe some narcotics at work but tell the guys to let him go, our work here is done. He lingers a moment and then warps off, I grab the loot and head to a safespot. A True Sansha Energised Adaptive Membrane dropped amongst some generic tech 1 stuff, very surprising but satisfying. Even more surprising is that he only had one warp core stabiliser fitted so not sure how he got away the first time, I suspect he got a jam on me or Jorge and we weren't paying attention.

I wait out my GCC and then head back to Gus, a good kill, some nice ISK for the guys. I'm tired and decide to call it a night, I distribute the ISK to the guys for what the faction mod is worth, light a cigarette and pour myself a Cherry Coke. My head is pounding, I only realise now that the adrenaline has worn off, that collision was more jarring than I thought. Oh well, nothing a handful of painkillers won't cure. I power down the hangar and slump into my bunk, I could use a good nights rest.

Murder and Mayhem

Jayne: "Testing, testing. Captain, can you hear me?"
Mal: "I'm standing right here."
Jayne: "You're coming through good and loud."
Mal: " 'Cause I'm standing right here."

Been a quiet few days for me, been busy sorting out inventories, supplies and liquidating stagnating assets. Keira's been busy making sure the loot from the past few months has been moved to Rens and sold. All in all the wallet is healthy and so are we.

Undock... Pop, Pop... Redock

Sometimes targets come too easy, especially when they sit right outside the station. Thursday evening was one of those times. I had just walked into the hangar when reports of two Hurricanes sitting outside Gus station came in. The various Pirates who call Gusandall home all raced to their ships. The Undock lane became very crowded in a very short time. To us there is no such thing as overkill, only a kill, it's all that matters. The two Hurricane pilots came face to face with two Vagabonds and three Hurricanes. The fight was short and wholly unremarkable. Two dead Hurricanes, one of their pilots podded for good measure.

Plexing my muscles

Sunday night I was nursing a slight hangover, had a great night on Saturday, had slightly too much Jack but I tried to shake the cobwebs out and undocked my Jaguar to see if anyone was trying to run the 2/10 plex. I had spotted a regular plex runner in the local comms net and more or less knew I would have a target. He normally flies a Rifter and was very suprised to find a Crow class interceptor on my scanner. I warped to the ancient stargate, waited and as expected he warped in. Now a curious thing about deadspace gates is you can't set distance to your warpin, you just warp right on top of it. My web and scram primed, waiting, lock resolves my guns spin into action and the Crow vaporizes in front of me. His pod follows suit.

I later caught some strangely fitted ships in a Rifter with a laser, salvager, miner and autocannon sporting a armor/shield/hull tank and a mining Thrasher, the pilot seemingly asleep at the helm.

Where's the Party

Hanging out in Gusandall tonight I saw the Crow pilot from previous enter system again, I undocked and warped directly to the plex gate, he was 30km off it as he had moved away with afterburner as soon as he landed, would be tricky as he had range and could easily dictate it. I engaged nonetheless and tried to close but he was too nimble for me to intercept his orbit. I had taken too much damage and warped out, he followed suit and left system shortly after. I tried to bait him but he has learnt his lesson and won't warp into me again.

There were various reports of targets in the area with a small gang giving chase, one particular bunch caught our eye, a Hurricane, Zealot, Caracal and Myrmidon were running a mission in a system next door to Gus. I tasked a friend with probing them out as the gang got ready, four of us from four different corps, my good friend flashfresh our FC. Our dual Hurricane, Cerberus and Vagabond gang was strong enough to take them on and we were keen as always.

My covops friend had located them nearing the end of their mission and a warp in was hastily setup, our primary target being the Zealot. Order was given to jump in and warp the covops but as local spiked the targets started to warp out, the telltale trails of warp as I burst onto the scene, only the Caracal left and it became the primary instantly. The rest of our gang landed and the Caracal became a memory. A bit disappointing really but things were about to get better as the Zealot warped back in, right on top of me. All four Pirates almost giggling as the unfortunate Zealot pilot had his Heavy Assault Cruiser demolished, he was fortunate enough to get his escape pod out but the job was done, the Hurricane and Myrmidon pilot leaving the system as soon as they could. We waited out our GCC and went back home, the party over.

Succ this

I would also unveil a new toy this evening, a Succubus Sansha faction frigate, a friend had reported tackling a Hawk in a belt next door in Eifer. His Crow unable to break its tank so he asked in a shared intel channel if anyone wanted to help kill it and I naturally said yes as it's what I do. I undocked from Gusandall and headed over to Eifer, jumped in and set warp to his position in the belt. I burst out of warp and my overview resolved to show the Hawk 60 clicks from my position. I hit the deadspace MWD I have fitted and closed to within range of my tech 2 medium pulse lasers, I closed very quickly, in an instant I was on top of him and the DPS that the Succubus can pump out overwhelmed the Hawk. My friend in his crow easily holding range and tackle making sure he didn't go anywhere but straight back to the cloning vat, his pod vaporised instantly by the Succubus as it was ejected from the exploding Hawk. I grabbed the corpse for "The Morgue" and warped to a safespot to wait out my GCC, I left the loot for my friend in his Crow as he did all the work for the kill.

I docked up for the night, I'm planning something special for next weekend and hopefully some old friends will be joining me for some fun. I sat down on my bunk, reading local comm chatter and checking out some setups.

I light a cigarette and inhale deeply.

This is what I do... This what I do

Epic 1v1

Wash: "Hey, I've been in a firefight before! Well, I was in a fire." (beat) "Actually, I was fired from a fry-cook opportunity."

This evening was one for the books, it started off slowly with me setting up a new killboard, it's going to take me some time to move all my kill and lossmails over so please be patient.
Halfway through some uploading of mails I decided to undock and go check the local 2/10 plex, only to be greeted by flashfresh who was patiently waiting for some prey to return, so I headed to a safespot and watched the local banter between a Myrmidon pilot and some of the residents of Gusandall. I went back to the plex once more to check things out and spotted a Wolf class assault frigate on my scanner when all of a sudden my overview flashed with a target entering the 2/10, it was a Rifter and was very quickly dispatched and podded without much undue fuss. My real target was the Wolf and I warped to the 1/10 and activated the ancient acceleration gate. Bursting out of warp I was greeted by the familiar visage of the Wolf, about 30 clicks away from me. I hit the afterburner and closed the distance, the Wolf locked me and I returned the favour, once within range I activated my disruptor and stasis web and opened fire. I know from flying the Wolf that it's lack of midslots leaves very little options in tackling and he wouldn't have a web but it does pack a punch, more so than my Jaguar. I'm intimately experienced in both ships and have extreme confidence in my abilities and knew from the start the outcome and so it came to pass, the Wolf's armour tank unable to cope with the sustained assault from my guns and rockets, it failed and this resulted in a shiny explosion, the pilots escape pod instawarping out before my lock could resolve.

I returned to station to offload the loot, still watching the local comms with interest, it seemed the Myrmidon pilot was after a 1v1 but was being selective of who he'd fight. I offered a 1v1 against a Hurricane build I've been toying with but he left Gusandall before he could see my offer. It was however relayed to him by some other pilots and he accepted, I quickly boarded the Minmatar battlecruiser and undocked, heading for Eifer.

A gang was formed between us and once in system I warped in at 20 clicks, allowing me to dictate range to some degree. I had received Intel that his Myrmidon had a passive shield regen tank and was very tough, I loaded faction EMP rounds, locked and set myself to an easy 10km orbit, he locked me in return and the fight was on. His tank was very impressive and he launched drones, I in turn launched some ECM drones and set them on him but he recalled his flight to engage them, I recalled my drones and targeted his, trying to pop them. This was going to be a very tactical fight with drones being deployed and recalled. I was easily maintaining range as he had no web and the fight was going nowhere, I had dual NOS set on him to feed my tank, along with cap booster 800s. I overheated my guns and saw his shields dip somewhat but not fast enough and my guns came dangerously close to overheating and going offline so I had to repair them midfight. Repairing half the rack at a time seemed to take forever and it was at this time he asked me if I was cap stable stating "If you are this is pointless" but I'm a firm believer in finishing what you start, no matter the outcome. I had just run out of cap boosters and it was only the two medium NOS that were fuelling my tank, the endless dance of deploying and recalling of drones continuing. I was starting to struggle for cap, my medium armour repairer eating away at it like a fat kid at a candy shop, his cap must have also been low as the NOS had been sucking him dry but he didn't need cap for his tank. Mine started to fail, I was at zero cap trying to repair my NOS from overheating, desperately close to them going offline. My Amour hardeners turning off as my cap vanished, his shields still holding strong. I knew I had lost the fight and could have bailed at any time as he had no tackling gear on me but I don't run, not from a 1v1.

After about 25 minutes the fight ended, my Hurricane no longer able to withstand the battering it had taken, 53k damage and it exploded after having been on fire for what seemed an eternity.
An epic fight, an honourable fight and one I'll remember for a very long time.

Respect to Jax Savage, fucking epic.

I returned home, physically and mentally drained, it's very rare for a fight to go on so long and even rarer that it goes off without a hitch. I docked up and lit a cigarette, made sure to make a note for Keira to move some Hurricane hulls down to HQ for me and slumped into my bunk.
I could really do with a good nights sleep

POS Sieges and Ambushes

Wash: "Yeah well, if she doesn't give us some extra flow from the engine room to offset the burn through, this landing is gonna get pretty interesting."

Mal: "Define interesting."

Wash: "Oh god oh god we're all gonna die?"

Mal: "This is the captain. We have a...little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode."

Funny how things happen, You undock, you scan down a Rifter, warp in, engage and destroy, pod for good measure and then get convoed by the pilot saying what an honour it was to get killed by you.

Last night this happened to me and I had a pleasant convo with Malekar and found out he reads my stories on a regular basis. He also reads flashfresh's blog and due to these has decided to try out the life of Piracy and move out to the Gusandall area. I'm seriously impressed that our stories can move people in such a way.

A game of Pick Up

My day was pretty slow, Keira spent most of it moving some Tech 2 mods down to Gusandall for the market, an untapped resource and something that might supply some much needed income for our operation, the suppliers being some old friends of mine from one of my previous corps. This is something I'm keen to make take off and might be contrary to what Piracy is all about but different aspects of the universe need to be explored and Pirates tend to lose ships and replacing the mods is difficult at best for a lot of them due to being outlaws and not being able to go into highsec to shop.

Whilst sorting it all out and making sure the trader set the correct prices I was contacted by flashfresh asking if I wanted to come out and play. I asked what he would like me to fly and the reply was "Bring Karma"

Boarding my Hurricane class battlecruiser I got everything ready, checked my ammo stores and made ready to undock, flash had assembled a small gang to engage some hostiles in Eifer, however this fight was never to materialise as the hostiles went back to highsec after receiving intel on our movements.

We were however to get a fight tonight, it was reported that a battleship heavy gang was sieging a POS in a system next to Gus. A quick check of our resources showed we could take them on and the assembled pilots were all very keen to engage even though we were technically outmatched.

With intel being gathered it was ascertained that the POS belonged to Outlaw Star, a newish corp to the area and one I have set negative standings to as a result of them hunting in packs, something which a solo pilot like myself needs to be aware of as not to be ganked. Flash was called away due to some urgent business and FC of the gang was handed to me, still gathering intel. I opened up comms with one of Outlaw Star's pilots and asked what kind of defense they could muster and was told minimal at best, we hastily organised standings as we wanted to go in but didn't want to take fire from the POS guns. With most of the details ironed out we were told the POS had just entered reinforced mode and we would need to move quick, flash had returned and I handed FC back.

Order was given to jump in and warp to our recon pilot, as we entered we spotted a Rokh battleship on the gate and it was primaried. We didn't know if he was with the hostiles but weren't going to take any chances and he was introduced to his escape pod. That's when all hell broke loose, the hostiles warped in and the fight was on, the Rokh actually being part of the hostile fleet. Abbadon was primaried with Megathron as secondary and we went to work but the tide of battleships entering the fray pretty much washed us away. We managed to drop the Abbadon and the Megathron but sustained heavy losses and the order to disengage was given, it was however too late for Karma as she exploded under heavy fire, my escape pod instawarping to safety. It's difficult to determine what we lost due to the mixed nature of the gang but it was clear we got spanked. Still was a great fight and all the pilots in our pick up gang agreed it was worth it to go in.

I returned to Gusandall and docked up, adrenaline still flowing, I lit a cigarette and made a cup of Earl Grey. The pilots from Outlaw Star grateful for our help and impressed that a bunch of Pirates would be up for a fight such as that. But such is the nature of the universe that they may yet find themselves in the firing line of the very same Pirates.

My deck crew finish up putting together another Hurricane, Karma once again takes shape. As they leave I turn off the hangar lights, a mixed day but a satisfying one. The adrenaline of the fight now wearing off and sleep imminent, I slump into my bunk.

Hangovers and explosions

"The real trouble with reality is that there's no background music"

My head spins, last night was a heavy session, Slivowitz will do that to you but I make myself a cup of Earl Grey and try to wake up. The intel channels are silent, in fact there's no-one about but soon the station comes to life and the locals start to wake up. The eerie silence is broken by ships systems onlining and work crews starting the daily grind.

The tea is having an effect and I get about getting some work done, I'm trying a new Rupture setup and I got my deck crew to get everything loaded. I also made sure they loaded the small ECM drones instead of the usual DPS that I carry. This setup would require a new way of thinking and engaging but I was keen to learn.

I went to Eifer to see if anything was about and soon tracked a Stabber to a belt, I warped in and he bugged out, a young pilot but one who wanted to learn, I offered a 1v1 but he was hesistant but wanted to see how he'd fare against an older and more experienced pilot. He offered terms of 10ml to the victor as long as we stopped in structure and I agreed. He warped back in at 100 clicks and I closed the distance, locked and waited for him to be comfortable and engage, he did and it was go, I acticated my guns, knowing full well the outcome of the fight as he had allowed me to get within web range. My shields barely dented when I deactivated my guns with him in half structure. My account flickered as the 10mil was deposited and I let him go, we chatted for a bit and I gave him some advice on fitting as I learnt he had too small calibre guns fitted. He went to highsec to refit and come back and try again, I agreed the terms of that with stopping in structure but no isk was needed thistime.
He came back and the result was the same, no kill but two fights with a keen pilot.

A while later reports filtered down of a Maelstrom entering system so I proceeded to try and track it down, there was a friend in a Vagabond in system with another a few jumps out but I decided to engage as soo as I found him, my cruiser against a battleship. I tracked him down to the first belt and engaged, deployed my ECM drones, webbed, scrammed and opened fire. He returned the favour and it was go, my shileds vapourising as his 800mm guns tore into them but I had started to crack his supposed shield tank, the most common for this class. I broke through his shields, much to my suprise, his armour taking significant damage too. All the while my precious armour was being eaten, unable to get speed up due to being webbed and his guns were tearing great chunks off, the structure took even less time and my escape pod jettisoned into space but I was already in contact with my deck crew to prep another Rupture ASAP, I returned as quick as I could to rejoin the fight but was informed as I undocked that the Malstrom had expired at the hands of my friends Vagabond and a Megathron. A fun fight in the end even though I lost a ship.

I later returned to Gusandall when Keira reported a Rifter class frigate in the Angel complex, I quickly boarded a Jaguar and warped in only to find it empty, I scanned the Rifter down to a belt, warped in and found it killing Angel frigates, I engaged in a short, unremarkable fight, snapping up the escape pod for good measure.

Next up was an Ishtar and Hurricane duo running Cosmic Anomolies in Gusandall, a small gang formed and we eventually found them in a 5/10 complex, i had boarded a Sleipnir and made my way there, having the deck crew fit an afterburner was a good idea due to the interference in complexes. Myself and deathstar warped in first and found the first room empty, we made our way to the second gate over 50 clicks away and warped in, the marks 50km off the warpin point and with our entrance they took it as there cue to leave. A missed opportunity and the gang disbanded and docked up.

Hanging around I got news of a Typhoon sitting still on a gate into highsec, another pilot had bumped him out of jump range but couldn;t engage, I boarded Karma and made all haste there, I warped in to see the battleship sitting still and engaged, in doing so criminally flagging myself to the gate sentries, I had broken through the shields of the Typhoon but had to warp out as my shield systems had failed under the sentry fire, my friends were in warp to the mark but my attack had woken the Typhoon pilot up and he approached the gate and jumped out, my haste causing us to lose a kill, c'est la vie. I can't help it others are sooooo slow :P

There was a bit of bait and blob going on in Eifer but no fight materialised and slowly but surely pilots were going off to do other things, I got busy in station having my deck crew set up a few more Ruptures to the new configuration when Keira reported a lone Hurricane moving between belts, I quickly boarded Karma and undocked. Coming out of warp where he was last spotted I saw him bug out and I left in the same direction, only to see him warp back to where I was. I decided to wait as this indicated he was hunting me. Sure enough he warped in right on top of me and I engaed instantly, warp disruptor kicking in as soon as my lock resolved, my 425s spitting out Barrage ammo. His shields melted and I was into the meat of the mighty battlecruiser, My energy neutralisers making sure any tank would be ineffective. It was only as he entered structure I realised I never deployed drones, and cursed myself but it didn't matter as his structure gave in, his escape pod being jettisoned amidst the flash of the explosion. My targetting systems locked it and the warp disruptor mae sure it was going nowhere, I opened comms with the pilot, exchanged pleasntries of "good fight" and then gave my ransom demand, which he accepted and paid, I deactivated the disruptor and he warped out, I docked up shortly afterwards, the loot of a good fight and kill in my hold. To the victor... the spoils.

A decent day, not epic in any way but a good time nonetheless, the last fight making it all worth it. I dock up for the night, Keira going through the loot from the Angel plex that she had been in.
I get the deck crew to unload the loot from my ships and dismiss them for the night, I power down the hangar and go to my corner of the world where a desklamp illuminates my bunk and desk. I light a cigarette and slump into my bunk, lying back and watching the shadows from the small light create sharp edges on the ceiling. I exhale a plume of smoke into the light and it drifts slowly across the hangar.

I love being a Pirate.

Boom... DOH... Boom

Wash: "Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction."

Zoe: "We live in a space ship, dear."

Strange evening for me, I was hanging out in station when reports filtered down that there was a Drake outside criminally flagged. A friend undocked in his Drake and was engaged, I boarded my Sleipnir and undocked, the fight very short and unremarkable, sentries doing the bulk of the damage to the unfortunate pilot. He was very verbose about the fact we were outdamaged by sentries but then he died to them with our help so his smack was weak.

Another Drake caught our attention in a system next door and a small gang was assembled to engage but he kept moving and our prober couldn't get a good position. While waiting on the gate to the system a Brutix and Curse had warped to the gate, Curse jumping through but Brutix engaged me. No biggie I thought, but a Rapier uncloaked and webbed me, I was going nowhere, my gangmates unsure of what was going on. My Hurricane went down in flames and I warped my escape pod out. I got on comms with my hangar crew and told them to prep another Hurricane ASAP, I was going back in and this time my gang mates had entered the fray. A quick dock and I was back and this time someone was going down, the Brutix bearing the wrath of my autocannons. With the tide turning the Rapier and Curse disengaged, a wise choice but a very good fight and respect to them.

I'm also training some interesting skills at the moment, just recently finished tech 2 small lasers and busy skilling up for tech 2 small blasters, going to add the Gallente Tech 2 Frigates to my repertoire of Minmatar, Caldari and Amarr small ships. Just a detour from my long skills that have been boring me senseless, looking forward to having some fun getting used to new and different styles of fighting.

A fool and his Carrier...

I walked into the hangar to see the comms flashing, something about a Thanatos in Eifer. My first thought was "What kind of idiot cynos into a stationless system?"

Kane Rizzel > what's going down?

My answer was a fleet invite and a request to bring DPS to the Eifer gate so I boarded "Karma™" and made my way there. I was paying attention to fleet comms and waiting for the cue to jump in. It came as a covops had probed the mark out and the order to engage was given. Upon bursting out of warp I locked the Gallente carrier and deployed my drones, I had my 425s loaded with EMP rounds to break through the massive shields, the rest of the small gang had landed and all hell broke loose. The carrier had locked me and set his fighters on me, only 5 deployed but I was used to this and used the same old tactic of stringing the fighters out so they didn't damage me, by the time I had gotten 120clicks away the carrier pilot had cottoned on and recalled the fighters so I closed in once again, relocked, loaded Barrage and opened up as he was in armor.

The armor melted and it was curious as I saw no repping, soon he hit structure and the question of ransom was asked with the majority of the eight man gang wanting the kill. By the time we all agreed he had exploded as his structure melted, his escape pod jettisoned into space and warping out as soon as he did. The wreck was looted and to our suprise the fitting was exceptionally poor.

Thanatos down

It's amazing that a pilot would jump into a system with no station and with known pirates about. A lone carrier is like blood in the water and the sharks will zone in on a kill in next to no time.

The carrier pilot stated in a mail to one of our gang that he only had the carrier for thirty minutes and was on his way to fit it, wrong fucking system to make a pitstop

I returned to HQ to have a smoke and a drink, capital kills always make me thirsty

Things that make you go BOOOM

I unveiled a new ship today, a Dramiel class Angel faction frigate, a truly beautiful piece of design but somewhat lacking in the firepower department with a split 3 missile/2 autocannon setup with bonuses just to the guns. It flies more like a Crow Interceptor than a normal frigate and needs to utilise its speed. I used it againts a Thrasher that was peacefully accosting some Angel frigates in an asteroid belt. The ship performed well but is lacking IMO, as beautiful as it is, it just doesn't do it for me. The thrasher was dispatched and the pilots corpse added to "The Morgue" I will of course use it again, no use letting it gather dust in the hangar.

I then boarded something a bit more familiar, a Jaguar assault frigate named "Crop Duster™", specifically setup for hunting in my local Angel complex. Keira had spotted a Vengeance assault frigate in system and I decided to use the plex as the baiting ground, I warped there and waited and was not disappointed as the Vengeance scanned me down and warped in. The fight kicked off around the ancient acceleration gate and due to spacial anomolies it means that MWDs are useless, this of course suited me as I have an afterburner fitted and I would use this to my advantage. The Venageance's tech 2 rockets were hitting me but my shields were holding, my guns and rockets loaded with ammo with high thermal damage were playing havoc with the armour of the Ammar frigate, thermal damage being a big weakness for them and the Vengeance crumbled in a shiny explosion, the blinding flash confusing the pilot long enough for me to lock on and scramble the pod, my guns splitting it like a pinata.

ANother Rifter was added to my tally for the day before reports of a ISK farmer Raven warping to Gusandall gate in Ingunn came over intel channels, I rapidly boarded "Guards Guards" a Broadsword heavy interdiction cruiser, a solid ship with the ability to lock down any ship no matter how many warp core stabilisers it has fitted, this ability would be key as I waited on the other side of the gate. The Raven uncloaked 26km from me, my tackling systems primed and hot, lock resolving and in an instant the Raven was going nowhere, I closed the distance an applied a Stasis Webifier to stop him trying to make his way back to the gate, my guns spitting out EMP shells at a rapid rate, the shields of the mighty Caldari Battleship starting to break, I was joined by some accomplices and the Raven flashed into nothingness, the escape pod rapidly being locked down and destroyed.

I returned to my Jaguar and scanned out two Rifters in the direction of the plex, I warped in to find one on the gate, it was locked and destroyed with no fuss, the corpse joining "The Morgue"
I hit the scanner in the direction of the deadspace and saw the other Rifter still in the plex, as I activated the gate another Rifter warped in, a speedbump. I deactivated my warp and downed the Rifter, quickly scanning in the direction of the deadspace to see if the second was still there, it was and I once again activated the gate, I burst out of warp to see the Rifter over 60km away and I started to close the distance but the Rifter decided to get out of dodge, leaving me with only the two kills.

Later on the intel channels were buzzing again as two battlecruisers were spotted in Eifer, a gang was hastily formed and we headed to the gate to the system whilst our prober scanned them out, whilst waiting a Dominix Battleship jumped into system and was greeted by 3 very tetchy pilots, the combined firepower of two Hurricanes and an Astarte vapourising the Gallente Battleship. In this time our prober had some technical issues and Keira made her way to Eifer, she had dropped a probe and got a hit on her first scan, she made her way to the safspot to set up a warpin for us, however both battlecruisers were aligned at speed, Keira made the decision to sacrifice her Cheetah Covert Ops frigate to make the intial tackle until our Recon could get in for the prime tackle. She uncloaked and locked the Hurricane, our primary target and started the tackle, the Hurricane instantly returned the lock and the Cheetah was ripped to shreds but allowed anough time for the rest of the gang to get in and lay down points. By the time I burst out of warp she had managed to get her escape pod out. The fight however was only just starting, the Ferox had warped out and the Hurricane was using its MWD to try and get out of warp disruption range. I started to give chase as did the rest of the gang, the fight spanned 370km from initial tackle to the Hurricane exploding and to top it all off the Ferox came back only to be locked and popped in short order. Loot was scooped and the gang returned to Gus to share the spoils. I'd like to thank the guys who donated loot and mods to get Keira back into a Cheetah as soon as possible, much appreciated.

A little later on, once again targets had appeared in Eifer, two Drake class battlecruisers, myself and deathstarbeing the most eager and getting to the gate to Eifer first. The gang formed in drips and drabs as blood in the water attracts the predators and there's no shortage of them. Tim Burton was our prober on this one and did a stellar job as we were struggling to track the two marks down. He had setup a perfect warpin and the signal was given to warp in and engage, tackle was to be shared between the two targets to make sure none made it out alive. Both Drakes exploded in short order, the legendary tanks of these Caldari battlecruisers not standing up to the combined firepower of an Astarte, Brutix, dual Hurricanes, Manticore, Pilgrim and after looking at the killmails it looks like they were weapons testing against each other, not the smartest thing to do in Pirate infested space.

On my way home I encountered a Stilleto on the gate in Gusandall, I engaged the Goonfleet pilot and he popped almost instantly under the fire from my mighty 425mm autocannons.

I docked up for the night, a long days hunting and some great kills, I make myself a cup of Earl Grey, light a cigarette and reflect on a good day, 18kills including 6 pods to the one loss of Keira but she's still giggling and has a new Cheetah. Some good loot and good memories.

I love my job

Aces high

I walked into the hangar to see the vidphone flashing "targets in Eifer, bring DPS" so I boarded Karma™ and primed her systems, she hadn't been used in a while as I've been doing a lot of solo work in Frigates and Cruisers.
I joined the hastily assembled gang as they were preparing to send a baitship in to get the hostiles to engage, I'm not a big fan of this tactic but it's one that has proven results. Blobs don't like to get outblobbed.

Our marks consisted of:
1 Megathron
2 Hurricanes
1 Myrmidon
1 Harbinger
1 Phobos
1 Vagabond

A decent high DPS setup but light on electronic warfare which has become all the rage these days.

Our gang consisted of:

1 Maelstrom (Baitship)
1 Dominix
1 Raven
1 Astarte
1 Vulture
1 Falcon
1 Pilgrim
2 Hurricane

Very balanced and a good turnout for such short notice. As pirates we have our differences but anti pirates and blobs are a common problem for us. Five different corps in one gang and sometimes with this comes the problem of communication, this time we had very little issue.

Our bait went in with the Falcon cloaked above him, he was very shortly engaged by the Vagabond which was joined by his friends and the order to jump in was given, once in system all haste was made to warp to him and engage, targets being called as we were in hyperspace.
Burtsing out of warp my systems resolved to show our Maelstrom swarmed by drones, our Falcon going to work on the bulk of their DPS, removing their ability to lock.
I locked onto the first 4 targets and our gang went to work, knocking off the targets one by one. Hurricane, Hurricane, Myrmidon, Megathron, Phobos and Harbinger, very soon all that was left were 6 wrecks and a corpse as we podded the Phobos pilot, his corpse making a nice addition to "The Morgue", swarms of drones abbandoned in space by the downed pilots littered the asteroid belt, we took a look around to see where we stood with regards to losses and found we were all intact, not a single loss. A quick survey of the wrecks showed we had killed everything but the Vagabond, we were however left on a field of victory and looting and scooping of drones commenced

I don't often run in gangs lately as I lost a lot of my solo edge but this felt damn good, bringing the pain in such a manner is invigorating even though our communication is always lacking, however, the pirates of the Evannater constelation are exceptional in their efficiency and ruthlesness, this allows even ad hoc gangs to cause havoc.

Props to Ace Secunda for some brilliant gang bonus, Redbad playing bait to perfection, Serenetor for keeping Redbad alive with some great repping, Prediction Pain for some great Raspberry Jams and the rest of the guys for a good gang and fight.

I finished the night with a quick solo kill of a Thrasher in my favourite Plex.
I docked up, a few restless nights with little sleep has me feeling rather drained, I hope I can get some more hunting done this week

Memories...

CARRIER DOWN

The hangar at home is cold, it's always cold, but I like it that way, keeps you keen, sharpens the senses. I'm sitting on a stack of Republic Fleet EMP shells watching Keira make fun of the deck hands as they load Karma. I should be more specific and say Karma IV . The first Karma had served me well and thinking back on her I'm reminded of her finest moment.

About 3 months ago, a fine Saturday evening, I was hanging around in station talking to some friends when someone got a call, Anti Pirates had been spotted in a system nearby and a fleet was being assembled to go have some fun.

I had a long day at that point checking inventory and making sure Keira didn't get into trouble but the chance for some explosions always makes me happy and woke me up sufficiently to join the party.

I boarded Karma and did a systems check, made sure the deck hands had loaded the correct ammo and undocked. Heading to the gate I was trying to gather as much intel as possible. The anti pirate gang was sizeable, with battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, with an interceptor thrown in for good measure.

Our fleet consisted of two battleships and seven battlecruisers, six of those the mighty Hurricane class.


With some intial trouble trying to connect to voice comms I eventually found the gang next door trying to bait the anti pies into action. From memory the Anti Pies had:
1xTempest
1xMaelstrom
1xMegathron
1xMyrmidon
1xHurricane
1xCyclone
1x Ares

We initially had:
6xHurricanes
1xTyphoon
1xAbbadon
1xBrutix

At this point we had our Abbadon on the station trying to bait their fleet into aggroing, a bit of cat and mouse later and they dropped a Thanatos carrier on us, a quick decision was made and our two Battleship pilots happened to have Archon Carriers in System, a quick dock later they were ready and the decision to engage the enemy carrier came down from the FC.
All hurricanes were ordered to bump the Thanatos , with the carrier now 6km off the station, all guns focused fire, I was duel neuting and shooting with all my drones out, continuosly making bumping runs. The Anti Pie fleet undocked and watched helplessly as we tore the Thanatos apart. We had a decision to make at this point as it entered hull, would we ransom?

FUCK NO, SHINY EXPLOSION

My first lowsec carrier kill

While hanging about popping the vultures around the wreck, a Sleipnir undocks and died quicker than you can say "Who's your daddy" under the firepower amassed.

General revelry ensued and amazement that the Anti Pies never even tried to help their carrier.

Going back home and just chilling we get a call from a Vagabond pilot tackling a Munnin in a system one jump out, off we go and engage, Munnin almost down, Myrmidon warps in and starts neuting and NOSsing our Hurricanes , Munnin goes down and then Myrm dies to some epic firepower.

EPIC DAYS ARE MADE OF THIS

Another of my better days is as follows:

Today was a beautiful day, for the first time in a very long time I had Friday off, so I decided to do a spot of hunting. I undocked a Rifter and immediately saw a Thrasher on scan, appeared to be in a plex. Now plexes don't play nice with MWDs but I needed to move fast, warped to the gate and activated it, warped in and the thrasher was 30km, from me, totally oblivious to my presence I sneaked up on him and activated Disruptor, web and all guns, he died quite quickly and I snapped up his pod for good measure.

Good start I thought as I sat in the plex waiting for my GCC to expire (Rifters don't do well against sentries, don't ask how I know)

Once GCC was up I went next door to Eifer and scanned down a Rifter pilot using the on board scanner, within seconds I was on top of him and made his ship all shiny like and sent him back to the clone vats.

Another GCC wait later and I headed back home to drop off loot and corpses, Sitting in station I receive a report that there is a Megathron camping the station and was asked to join two other pilots in taking him out, I boarded a Gank Hurricane and waited for the signal to undock. It came as the Astarte and Typhoon engaged, I undocked and joined the battle, it was quite intense as the Mega pilot was very experienced, 03 player in a good setup. The Typhoon died mere seconds before the Mega exploded. Unfortunately I missed the pod.

Once more next door I'm in a Rifter and scan out a Thrasher, I warp in and the ship and pod is dispatched without being targeted back o_0 AFK in lowsec, GCC expires and I'm back home

Hanging out in station Keira undocked in her Cheetah covops and warped to a scan spot high above the station, from there she could use the on board scanner to see the whole system, she spied an Enyo and Manticore on the HUD, mmm, in the plex. Knowing they had some good firepower I boarded a Wolf class Assault Frigate and loaded an Afterburner for the Plex, undocked and headed out. I got to the gate and using the on board scanner determined they were still there.
Now or never I said to myself and activated the gate, the Enyo is a good challenge for the Wolf but if the Manticore had range on me it would be over very quickly.
Fortune favors the brave and I had come out of warp right on top of the Manti with Enyo 40km away. Manti was locked and disintegrated under fire, I snapped up the pod for god measure and activated my afterburner towards the Enyo, he had put one Hobgoblin drone on me but I destroyed it without even blinking. Once on top of the Enyo the fight was over in seconds. Missed his pod but you can't have everything. I grabbed the loot, which was very nice and headed home.

Docked up and chatting in over various channels I received intel on a bait ship sitting on a high sec entrance point, said bait ship had been used before by a CVA pilot and the Intel was confirmed that once the bait was taken he would jump in with a Battleship. A hastily assembled gang of myself in a Broadsword, 2 x Hurricanes, a Tempest, an Astarte and a Megathron headed to a gate in the adjacent system, one of our Hurricanes would warp in and spring the trap. Call came over comms and we jumped in and warped in, the trap consisted of a Thorax as bait and a Megathron. We all engaged and the Megathron went down very, very quickly, I had tackled the Thorax too and he went down even quicker with his pod being quickly snagged and popped. Slavers in Heimatar? not on our watch :P

Loot was grabbed as we held the field and those of us with GCC headed to safe spots, the call came in that our Mega pilot had just been engaged on the gate by a Tempest, he was in serious trouble and the gang had separated, urgent “HOLD ON, WE'RE EN ROUTE” went over comm channels as the gang tried to hastily go in and help, all the while I was thinking “This has to be another trap”
most of the gang had come out of warp just as our Megathron popped but revenge was quick and ruthless, the Tempest went down, he was using ECM drones and had our Mega jammed for the entire engagement, I was then next to get the ECM drone loving but they only got one cycle off on me. This time loot was grabbed again and pilots warped to safe spots but unlike last time all stayed in system. Holds were full and the Mega pilot had gone back to his base to grab a Dominix.
Now the hunt peaks, the Domi is grabbing loot and we hear “Guys, Navy Raven on gate, engaging”
Holy shit Faction Battleship, our ships can't enter warp fast enough and the warp to the gate seems to take for fucking ever, finally I come out of warp, 40km away, hit the MWD and headed straight for the Faction ship hoping to get a good bump off, the Domi is doing it's best to bump it from the gate.
I hit the Raven like a fluffy pillow but we are 7km from the gate, I hit the Stasis Web II and open up with all my guns, the rest of the gang joins in and the Raven starts to melt. All this time our gang is under sentry fire but the red mist has descended and nothing but the death of the Faction Raven is on our minds. It pops and a “FUCK YEAH” is heard over comms.
I snap up the pod for good measure and warp out. The gang grabs the loot and decision is made to dock up as we would be getting more attention now that the system is glowing on the map.

Sitting in station Keira shouts out over comms that there's an Incursus and two Kestrels in the plex, so into a Wolf again and off I go, warping in there's a Malediction engaging them, a Pirate I've known for a while and get on well with but he had to warp out as he wasn't able to use his MWD, I targeted the Incursus first and dispatched him quickly, followed by one of the in range Kestrels, while burning towards the last kestrel the pods of the other two hadn't warped out so I locked them and sent them home via clone express. Kestrel flashed into nothingness shortly after followed by his pod.

Later on caught another Rifter in a belt, missed his pod though


I was sitting docked up and watching movies, kinda drained from much carnage when Keira spotted a Claymore sitting 60km off station. I reported this in an Intel channel but there was very little awake. Two other pilots woke up enough to express interest in taking it on, I undocked in my Shield Gank Hurricane and MWD'd towards it, it woke up and started to move at over 2km/s, damn I thought, not going to catch it, just then an Ishtar decloaked just off my port side and started in on me, so I kindly returned the favour and it died oh so quick and even allowed me to pop his pod, I started chasing after the Claymore again and was joined by a Sleipnir and another Hurricane by the time I got him webbed down I was already deep in hull from sentry fire, I had to warp out just as the Claymore popped.

I had docked up to repair when the other Hurricane reported being engaged by a Vagabond, I undocked and saw them on station, MWD goes active and I burn towards the Vaga to bump it off the station, guns go live and dual neuts till I'm in web range, Vaga goes pop.

I'm drained atm but absolutely stoked

So, revised list for the day so far:
2xRifter (Solo)
2xThrasher (Solo)
2xMegathron
1xEnyo (Solo)
1xManticore (Solo)
1xTempest
1xNavy Raven
1xIncursus (Solo)
2xKestrel (Solo)
1xIshtar (Solo)
1xClaymore
1xVagabond
10xPods

Using Rifter, Wolf, Hurricane and Broadsword

The Ishtar left me a nice Domination Warp Disruptor and loads of t2 drones and mods

Things that go bump in the Dark

I take a long deep draw on the cigarette and breathe in, exhaling I sigh, a sigh of contentment. It's been a fun day.

Started off by setting up a Jaguar class assualt frigate, a ship I've never flown before but always meant to. It is based on the Rifter hull, my favourite and one I'm intimiately familiar with.
Thing is the Jaguar is a shield tank, a skill set I only recently became comfortable with so this would be interesting.

I undocked into the black and headed to my favourite haunt, a bit quiet with one or two aquaintances hanging about but very little in the way of targets.
After a few minutes one did enter system, a Slasher class frigate and I quickly narrowed it down to a belt and went in, engines roaring. The fight itself was unremarkable, the young pilot being no match for the firepower brought to bare.

Another Slasher was dancing around the belts and I gave chase but he was smart, warping in at different ranges and always managing to elude me. Oh well, I thought I'd go check out some other systems. I arrived at the gate out and was greeted by a Drake and Hurricane, both battlecruisers locked me and opened fire but I merely activated the jumpgate and was thrown into the next system.
Excellent, I thought to myself as I hastily headed to HQ to grab something a bit beefier than the Jag. A new Hurricane class battlecruiser awaitied me and I quickly switched ships and headed back to the gate, I was going to have me a fight, win or lose.

My systems resolved the system I had just jumped into and whilst under gate cloak I saw the marks were still there and flashing red, a sign that they aggressed me first and I would be able to fight without having to tank the Republic gate sentries. I broke cloak and decided to go for the hurricane first, the Drake has a legendary tank and would take me too long to break under the combined firepower of the two hostiles.
It proved to be a wrong choice and engaging more so but you know I just had to give it a go. The combined firepower of the Drake and Hurricane tore Karma to pieces, I warped my escape pod out and quickly returned home to grab another Hurricane, I had called ahead to my hangar crew to have one prepped and ready to roll.

I boarded the new ship quickly and made all haste back, fuzzy intel had come through that the Hurricane had left system, possibly a trap but I wanted a fight again and the Drake was a tasty target. Once again I jumped in, the Hurricane nowhere to be seen and I headed straight for the Drake, my mighty 425s spitting out EMP rounds. The Drakes tank was solid and his DPS impressive, I started overloading my autocannons to get the most out of them and his tank started to break. His friend in the Hurricane had returned and soon I was under fire from him too, my shields and armour had failed and I was venting atmosphere and fuel into the dark.
A last overload of my guns and the Drakes fragile hull gave way.
My guns had overheated and had all offlined leaving me no response to the Hurricane, his drones and guns working on my hull, I overloaded my MWD to get out of range of his web and warp disruptor and with one final burst made it into warp, 10% structure flashing on my overview. Damn that was close.

I immediately set destination to base to repair and as soon as I did I returned but the Hurricane now on it's own decided that discretion was the better form of valour and left the scene, jumping into another system and safespotting.
A good fight by my opponents and well played.

Two versus One is always tricky but are sometimes the best fights out there.

I headed home and joined a small group of locals chasing a pair of destroyers out of the local Angel Complex, they got out but I had gone back to HQ and boarded a Broadsword, I caught both pilots outside the station and dispatched them under sentry fire, popped another Destroyer whilst it was trying to loot the wrecks.

Intel filtered through that the Drake and Hurricane had returned and some locals had given chase, no news on whether they were caught.

A good day, I exhale another plume of smoke, the flickering lights of the ships systems make it dance in the dark of the hangar

Bang, Bang, Duck

I was sitting in my hangar watching recordings from the big Alliance tournament going on in Jove space when the vid phone started buzzing, pausing the feed I walked over to where it was flashing and pushed button, Viper Sam's face appeared on the small monitor:

Viper Sam > kane you around
Kane Rizzel > sort of, what's up?
Viper Sam > well we have hostiles in gus
Kane Rizzel > engaging?
Viper Sam > possibly
Viper Sam > trying to coordinate that now

I boarded a Hurricane class battlecruiser named "Keira says DON'T" it should also say "Try and solo a Moros" but I ran out of paint.

A small gang was hastily being assembled when these words were broadcast over fleet channel:

Viper Sam > warp to 50free
Kane Rizzel > omw

I warped into a small melee and spotted a Blackbird, the small ewar cruiser could be a pain and I was close enough to set some drones on it, lock resolved and my little friends made there way over, I started to move towards him activating my microwarp drive to make the trip quicker.
My overview started to light up as more ships from the hostile gang joined the fray.
Hostile ships included:
Keres
Blackbird
Basilisk
Nighthawk
Hurricane
2 x Megathron
Armageddon
Thorax

As far as I could tell we had myself in a Hurricane plus:

Hurricane
Myrmidon
Arazu
Maelstrom

It's all a bit fuzzy but I wasn't going down without a fight, I popped the Blackbird and made my way towards the Keres, an Electronic Attack frigate that can pack a good ewar punch, I started to dent it but the remote repping abilities of the Basilisk kept it alive. I switched targets to the Basilisk but got too close to the rest of the hostiles and was webbed, my engines straining to get speed but failing, I was trapped with nowhere to go, the DPS of the hostiles overwhelmed my shields and I overloaded everything to allow me to live long enough to pop the Basilisk, I didn't but warped out in my escape pod as my Hurricane exploded.

2008.03.03 23:24:00

Victim: Kane Rizzel
Alliance: Derek Knows Us
Corp: NovaKane Incorporated
Destroyed: Hurricane
System: Gusandall
Security: 0.4
Damage Taken: 24024

Involved parties:

Name: Aquae
Security: 4.9
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Smoke and Fly Academy
Ship: Megathron
Weapon: Megathron
Damage Done: 9104

Name: Mudachong Gu
Security: 4.0
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Pandora Requiem
Ship: Nighthawk
Weapon: Hobgoblin II
Damage Done: 4969

Name: fleau one
Security: 0.8
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Antiloncker
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: Caldari Navy Havoc Heavy Missile
Damage Done: 4188

Name: Tonkaar
Security: 4.4
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Smoke and Fly Academy
Ship: Armageddon
Weapon: Armageddon
Damage Done: 3631

Name: Eos Vagaldi (laid the final blow)
Security: -1.4
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Pandora Requiem
Ship: Megathron
Weapon: Ion Blaster Cannon II
Damage Done: 1784

Name: Calligann01
Security: 1.3
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Smoke and Fly Academy
Ship: Capsule
Weapon: Induced Multispectral ECM I
Damage Done: 348

Name: Frodon
Security: -1.5
Alliance: Roids'Are'Us
Corp: Antiloncker
Ship: Keres
Weapon: Indirect Scanning Dampening Unit I
Damage Done: 0

Destroyed items:

Nanite Repair Paste, Qty: 400 (Cargo)
Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II
Warp Disruptor II
Core Defence Field Extender I, Qty: 2
Overdrive Injector System II, Qty: 2
Barrage M, Qty: 240
Hobgoblin II, Qty: 2 (Drone Bay)
425mm AutoCannon II
Hammerhead II (Drone Bay)
Republic Fleet EMP M, Qty: 3174 (Cargo)
Large Shield Extender II
Projectile Ambit Extension I

Dropped items:

Gyrostabilizer II, Qty: 2
Barrage M, Qty: 2395 (Cargo)
10MN MicroWarpdrive II
Barrage M, Qty: 48
Medium Unstable Power Fluctuator I, Qty: 2
Hobgoblin II, Qty: 2 (Drone Bay)
425mm AutoCannon II, Qty: 5
Large Shield Extender II


We had managed to kill a Blackbird (Which I soloed) and the Basilisk which popped just after I did for the loss of my Hurricane, Sam's Maelstrom and Blade3D's Myrmidon. Not a good outcome for us but the gang was hastily assembled and communication was non existant until after the fight. Probably would have helped had I been able to use voice comms but my systems were working overtime and little time was available to get it all sorted.

Our intel was also very poor, the hostile force was very strong and we should not have engaged with what we had at such short notice but then I wasn't privy to the buildup and had no idea what was truly available. The politics in Gus are all topsy turvy again as some grievances seem to have been ironed out between some of the residents, I of course as a solo operator just do my own thing and try and help out my friends in Black Flag as I can and when Viper and co ask if I want to fight I will go in with everything I have.

Kane Rizzel > oh well, suppose I should have waited for more intel before jumping in like that
flashfresh > ...but, but - your KANE RIZZEL!!!

Respect to the Roids guys for a well executed trap, a good fight and no smack.

I returned to base and got my hangar crew to prep the systems on a new Hurricane, "Karma" is back and hopefully she lives up to the name.
I light a cigarette and make a cup of Earl Grey, tea soothes me and I'm on edge a bit, don't know why, been a very relaxing day for me, I press play to resume the feed from the tournament, pretty explosions are pretty.