Mischief, Gold and Piracy

This ones for the mighty sea
Mischief, gold and piracy
This ones for the man that raised me
Taught me sacrifice and bravery
This ones for our favorite game
Black and gold, we wave the flag
This ones for my family name
With pride I wear it to the grave


A lot has changed in this universe. A hell of a lot, I feel like a rookie on my first day, a lot to take in. A lot of cleaning to do, the hangar is a mess, ships in disarray, need to get a solid hangar crew together to sort this out.

Close call

"And Howondaland Smith, Balrog Hunter, practic'ly eats the dark for his tea."
-- Gaspode the wonder dog
(Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures) 

A lone buzzard appears on scan in Eifer, in the direction of a relic site.

A cloaked hunter enters system, a new class of ship, designed for a specific purpose but this one refitted for something entirely different, something more malevolent

The cloaked hunter warps into the relic site, the Buzzard appears to be having issues as a scatter container explodes, the hunter approaches under cloak, tackle systems primed as it he uncloaks in range and engages with a full compliment of drones. The Buzzard experiences more issues as it explodes in a brilliant flash just as a Hurricane warps in.

The hunter quickly draws range but has a change of mind and corkscrews in to engage the Hurricane at point blank range. After dispatching the Hurricane's drones, the hunter concentrates all fire-power on the battlecruisers shields, the medium guns of the massive in comparison ship not able to track the small frigate as it zipped around the stricken vessel, it would only be a matter of time before it exploded.

At half shields another ship joined the fray, a Wolf class assault frigate.

The Hunter had to make a choice, an epic kill lost but now it became a fight for survival. Choice made, afterburner shut off and microwarp drive engaged, quickly out ranging the Wolf, but not before the assault frigate put the hunter deep into hull, fuel and atmosphere venting into space, in flames.

The hunter cloaks, a close call.

You've met me at a very strange time in my life...

When you wake up in a different place at a different time, can you wake up as a different person?

This week I celebrated 3000 kills, Pengo1998's Ferox being the lucky recipient of a particular brand of violence that is few and far between in low security space, good old fashioned belt piracy. That which started me on this age old journey through space.



This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time.

I've been chatting with Sard Caid about my place in the EVE verse and I've come to the decision that things will change...






But not with Kane.

The Rizzel's will remain in our spiritual home and I'll continue to hunt as and when it pleases me.

It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything 

In an earlier blog, I mentioned a new character I started. After a few unsuccessful attempts in noob friendly corps, he moved to Rens, where he was running some low level missions for some Sisters.

Every evening I died and every evening I was born again. Resurrected.

Using the new Duel System he quickly learnt that tracking disruptors are overpowered, but ever the optimist he engaged in Frigate on Frigate action with no concern for his own safety.
There are a fair few frigate pilots congregating outside the Brutor Tribe Treasury, many way more skilled than he, but he was still giving it his best.

This all got him thinking...

After fighting, everything else in your life has the volume turned down. You could deal with anything.

A quick trip for a skill book and a couple minutes of learning, he created his corp, an idea which will need a little help, and this is where y'all come in.

The first rule of Rens Fight Club is: you do not talk about Rens Fight Club. 
The second rule of Rens Fight Club is: you do NOT talk about Rens Fight Club. 
Third rule of Rens Fight Club: someone explodes, the fight is over. 
Fourth rule: only two guys to a fight. 
Fifth rule: one Duel at a time, fellas. 
Sixth rule: no Logistics, no Links. 
Seventh rule: fights will go on as long as they have to. 
And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first night at Rens Fight Club, you have to fight

Rens Fight Club is open to all new characters and/or players. Frigates & Destroyers on the undock of the Brutor Tribe Treasury at Rens VI Moon 8.
Characters should ideally be made self sufficient, loss after all needs to be felt and a little mining for ISK never hurt anyone, but if you want to endow your new frigate hot shot with a fat wallet, so be it.
I was gonna say something about no podding of corp members, but people need to learn and clone costs on new characters are cheap.
Experienced players with new characters, help the new guys, like with suggested fits, EFT warriors welcome, slagging off precious newbies is not
This is purely for fun, there are no corp hangars to loot, or a fat wallet to steal, but hopefully a little corp could achieve some fun without too much hassle.
I fully expect a wardec or twenty, but frigates and destroyers don't cost much and fights are what we are after.
We have a cool corp logo. 

You had to give it to him, he had a plan. And it started to make sense, in a Tyler sort of way. No fear, no distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter... truly slide.

So what now? Create a new character in a free slot, train up some skills and fly to Rens, Midnight Freeman is waiting for your application, learning skills for this corp to grow at a furious rate.
Join Kane's ingame public channel NovaKane and have a chat.

A mighty fine shindig

A number of religions in Ankh-Morpork still practiced human sacrifice, except that they didn't really need to practice any more because they had got so good at it.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!)















Piracy can sometimes be profitable, and then sometimes, it can just be a whole lot of fun. Today was such a day.

First off, a great test for the mighty Battle Probe, a threesome of consisting of two combat frigates and a high damage destroyer.

I had to do some work for this fight, an astrometrics frigate might be a daunting target so I undocked from Gus station and warped to the 1st belt, hoping one of the two that were outside would follow...

Eventually, follow they did, first the Catalyst lands, I engage, tackled and webbed, holding range, deploying a small fight of drones, my electronic warfare is doing a number on the tracking and range of his guns as the merlin lands, and range dictation becomes a game of cat and mouse as the Merlin closes rather quickly, I switch tackle to the Merlin as I try to get out of range, the Catalyst starts killing my drones.

My small armour repairer catches up as I'm now handily out of range of both ships guns, I deploy some more drones and take care of the Merlin, it explodes violently as the Rifter finally warps in but all attention is now given to the Catalyst as he continues to murder my drones... I shall not stand for this. All weapons overheated as his shields vapourise, his armour melts and his structure buckles, a satisfying explosion rocks the system before I zero in on the Rifter, my last two drones take care of the errant combat frigate.

Kane Rizzel > gf guys
Eva Alleile > yeah gf
The Monopoly Guy > gf

Later on, a Republic Fleet Firetail enters Gusandall, seemingly hunting, but you never know. I start hopping belts, hoping to narrow him down and eventually get a bead on him, he's engaging Angel Cartel frigates some one hundred clicks above the belt, my comrades in imminent danger, I strat to close, under impulse thrust, he starts to close at a quicker pace, his microwarp drive roaring it into battle. Once in range, scrambler and web glow green as I claw range, once settled comfortably I tear him apart, the mighty Battle Probe too much for the Republic Fleet's finest.

Kane Rizzel > gf
Dante Darkly > yeah not really
Kane Rizzel > you lost to a probe
K0rel > ^^
Kane Rizzel > take it like a man
K0rel > lol
Dante Darkly > shoulda expected as much from an older toon
Dante Darkly > i'm three months old i really don't care
Kane Rizzel > I ain't no toon, I'm a Pirate
Dante Darkly > You look like a clown at any rate. gf nice to have maxed drones skills
Kane Rizzel > hail is totally the wrong ammo to be using btw

He leaves Gusandall in his pod, tail between his legs.

Kane Rizzel > He mad he lost to a probe
K0rel > oh he mad

Then the two cruisers, cruising Gusandall with intent. I undock something a little more tempting, a Caracal attack cruiser, to take on another Caracal, and his Stabber attack cruiser friend.

I hop belts for a few minutes, trying to pinpoint them, but they aren't at any celestial, so I carry on hopping before pinpointing the Caracal in belt 1, I warp in at range, the Caracal thirty clicks below me, I close within long point range and engage with all launchers. The Stabber joins the fray and I'm deep into shields as the other Caracal hits armour, which is two volleyed, before a single volley strips his structure and he explodes, but I'm into armour as my cap runs dry, my microwarp drive's thirst too great, the Stabber right on top of me as it is now a dance to the death, him or me.

My Launchers near melting point as my heavy assault missiles strip the shields of the Stabber, his armour and structure vapourise as I hit half armour.

Yet another great little fight, two in one evening, a rare thing as of late but always appreciated.

I leave you with these two kills from yesterday, courtesy of CCP Bettik, who continues to ignore us on the forums. I have taken the tools CCP has given me, twisted them to my own imagination to reap this and this.

23 pages and not even a fuck you.

The Fifth Elephant

Eifer, a system I call my haunt, no stations and the entry system to a lowsec pocket in Heimatar.

It's like a home to me, I feel very comfortable here, more so than in any station system. It can also be very dangerous for the unsuspecting as it's neighboring highsec system of Emolgranlan can hide nasty suprises. The past eight months have brought me many good memories in Eifer and qite a few losses too but it's the first stop on any hunt I start. Tonight was such a night and as I sat above belt 1-1 I was at peace. I had undocked “The Lost Continent”, a Republic Fleet Firetail and decided to do some frigate hunting.

Now Eifer can either be feast or famine and tonight it was quiet to begin with, just the usual mindless zombie haulers moving back and forth appearing on my on board scanner. Eventually the monotony was broken by a Sacrilege Heavy Assault Cruiser. Now this particular ship is dangerous but the Firetail is quick and nimble, the Sacrilege would struggle to hit me, but by the same token it would be nigh impossible for me to do any significant damage to it. I did decide to have some fun with the HAC though as I was bored and there was nothing more enticing in system.

I warped in above 1-1 at 400km, the HAC was in the belt and I noticed he had increased speed and was closing on me, ok, let's see what you've got. By the time he got within 100km of me I changed course to intercept, spiraling in I got within 25km and settled into an easy orbit, my velocity at 4km/s meant his weapons systems would struggle to hit me. He locked me and I returned the favour, he launched a flight of tech 2 Warrior drones, inty killers but experience kept me calm and I started to target them and fire on them. He recalled them and redeployed as is standard tactic in that situation, all the while me orbiting him, this went on for a few minutes with me destroying a few drones and him seemingly oblivious to my presence. Bored of this I broke orbit and disengaged, he left without uttering a word.

I went back to HQ, I was bored and was looking for something a bit more challenging. It's not often I have the time to hunt on a weekend so I was looking to make the most of it.

I boarded “The Fifth Elephant” a Sleipnir class Command Battle cruiser and undocked, there were some friends out front the station, doing some testing, I joined in some tank testing which was good for me as this was the first time I had undocked the Sleipnir, I have never used an active shield tank before and this was a good way to find out how it fared, I took fire from two Megathron Battleships and was quite happy with the results.

After the Megas went there way I undocked once again to be greeted by a Scythe cruiser, it just sat there saying “Shoot me” so naturally I did, first blood for the Sleip, not the most glamorous of kills but sometimes a kill is a kill.

A short while later a call came over an intel channel of a Drake and Vagabond in Eifer, finally, a little action, I undocked and made best speed to the system, Jaxx Blackfox in a Megathron and general dogzbody in a Vagabond were engaging in belt 1-1, I set the nav coordinates into the ships computer and entered warp, in mere moments I burst out of warp right on top of the Drake, the target Vaga was nowhere to be seen, I initiated lock and primed all weapons systems, lock resolves and my 425s go to work. The fight didn't last long.

2008.01.27 01:16:00

Victim: Minoti Clor

Alliance: Brotherhood Of Steel

Corp: Net 7

Destroyed: Drake

System: Eifer

Security: 0.4

Damage Taken: 28199

Involved parties:

Name: Kane Rizzel (laid the final blow)

Security: -10.0

Alliance: Derek Knows Us

Corp: NovaKane Incorporated

Ship: Sleipnir

Weapon: 425mm AutoCannon II

Damage Done: 17939

Name: Jaxx Blackfox

Security: -9.6

Alliance: NONE

Corp: Mean Corp

Ship: Megathron

Weapon: Ogre I

Damage Done: 7786

Name: general dogzbody

Security: -9.9

Alliance: NONE

Corp: Mean Corp

Ship: Vagabond

Weapon: Warrior II

Damage Done: 1828

Name: Angel Defacer / Archangels

Damage Done: 646

Destroyed items:

Shield Power Relay I

Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 3

Fleeting Warp Scrambler I (Cargo)

Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 21

Invulnerability Field I

Stasis Webifier I

Ballistic Control System II

Large Shield Extender II, Qty: 2

Dropped items:

Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 2961 (Cargo)

Reactor Control Unit I

Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 4

Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 28

Invulnerability Field I

Ballistic Control System II

Large Shield Extender II

Short and sweet, the target Vagabond warped in one more time but left in a hurry when he saw he was outmatched.

Minutes later I received intel of two Ruptures, a Thrasher and a Rifter sitting on the Eifer gate in Gusandall, I was docked at the time and decided to take Karma for a spin, the Hurricane quickly becoming my favourite ship, mixing tremendous firepower with a tank that can deal with most situations. I warped in on the gate and the marks were still there, I engaged, instantly drawing sentry fire along with the attentions of all four pilots, both Ruptures went down to Karma's guns all the while taking a tremendous pounding from the gate sentries. Deciding that the Thrasher and Rifter weren't worth losing a ship to I warped out with 50% hull integrity, a close call but well worth two kills. Soon afterwards I docked up to have my hangar crew inspect and repair the damage, it would take them a while to get the dents knocked out so I boarded the Sleip once more.

Keira during all this had positioned herself in Eifer, she reported that the Drake pilot from earlier was back in system, in a new Drake, accompanied by his Vagabond friend. I forwarded this information to an intel channel to see if anyone wanted to join the hunt, the lack of response unusual I decided to chance my luck. Keira had been using recon probes to try and vector in on there position and was getting good hits but they kept moving.

I had by this time jumped into system, perhaps showing my hand but nonetheless I was going to see this through. I got a call from Prediction Pain, an acquaintance I met in Independence, he notified me of his presence in system piloting a Falcon Recon Cruiser, a rather nasty ECM boat, one I personally have no love for but would probably need the assistance of in this engagement.

Keira's tenacity payed off as she had managed to probe out the marks safespot, moving into a position to allow me to warp right on top of the duo. I engaged my warp engines and the massive bulk of the commandship was flung though space. I burst out of warp right on top of them, initiating lock on both the Drake and Vagabond. I primaried the Drake and engaged all systems on it. I was taking an amazing amount of damage from the pair and lucky for me Prediction had got the go signal in the fleet channel and had joined the party, the Falcon locking both targets and jamming them to Jita and back. It was fortunate for me that he did as my tank was taking strain, the extra large shield repairer chewing through cap like a fat kid at a buffet, the cap booster struggling to keep up. The drakes shields were failing under the assualt of my guns and when they did it was over in the blink of an eye. The Vagabond took this as his cue to leave but left us with the spoils of a good fight.

2008.01.27 02:33:00

Victim: Minoti Clor

Alliance: Brotherhood Of Steel

Corp: Net 7

Destroyed: Drake

System: Eifer

Security: 0.4

Damage Taken: 32978

Involved parties:

Name: Kane Rizzel (laid the final blow)

Security: -10.0

Alliance: Derek Knows Us

Corp: NovaKane Incorporated

Ship: Sleipnir

Weapon: 425mm AutoCannon II

Damage Done: 32947

Name: Angel Ambusher / Archangels

Damage Done: 31

Name: Prediction Pain

Security: -2.3

Alliance: NONE

Corp: Independent Pilots

Ship: Falcon

Weapon: ECM - Ion Field Projector II

Damage Done: 0

Destroyed items:

Shield Power Relay I

Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 3

Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 57

Stasis Webifier I

Ballistic Control System II

Large Shield Extender II, Qty: 2

Dropped items:

Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 1751 (Cargo)

Heavy Missile Launcher I, Qty: 4

Power Diagnostic System I

Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 76

Invulnerability Field I, Qty: 2

Hammerhead I, Qty: 3 (Cargo)

Ballistic Control System II

Large Shield Extender II

Thanks to Prediction for the assistance, much appreciated.

Later on I decided on some good old fashioned Rifter Violence and managed to pop a Thrasher who was hunting Angel Cartel ships in the belts.

I then spotted something very curious on my scanner, an Exquror class cruiser and Rifter in a belt, I was intrigued and set my sights on the pair, bursting out of warp I was greeted by the sight of the Exquror mining... yes... I said mining, with the Rifter as a sort of security, oh well, I primed my tackling equipment, locked the cruiser and closed in, the Rifter locked me and started firing, so I returned the favour, keeping the warp disruptor on the cruiser as that was my prize, the Rifter started venting gas into space as it's hull was breached and it decided that it was time to leave, leaving me all alone with the now defenseless mining cruiser. It was a bloodbath as it's hull split in two and exploded, my targeting systems quickly locking the escape pod and my guns liberating the body inside.

I was later convoed by the Rifter pilot and we had quite an amicable chat on Rifter fittings and tactics for lowsec survival. He expressed an interest in Piracy which is always good, it's always good to have new faces trying to make a name for themselves.

Heading home I reflect on a quiet night but one where getting back the sharpness of solo hunting felt great. I docked at HQ and the Hangar chief notified me that Karma was back to fully operational status, I dismissed the crew for the night and headed to the corner of the hangar where my bunk welcomed me, my eyes barely open as exhaustion overwhelms me.

The world fades into darkness

As always my work can be seen here