COME AT ME BRO!

"You're not one of us."
"I don't think I'm one of them, either," said Brutha. "I'm one of mine."
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)

Jumpcloning isn't a very pleasant experience, having your consciousness ripped out and sent light years away to another clone isn't for the faint of heart but I'm starting to get used to it as I now spend more time at my vacation station in Bosena. Tonight was an operation of particular brilliance dreamt up by the Mighty Warlord Dirty Protagonist.



Our fleet departed from Bosena to defend a POCO in Unertek and we pulled out all the stops on this one, a mighty fleet of Ospreys and Scythes made the perilous journey but we encountered no opposition on the way and we then encountered no opposition as we safely nursed the POCO to full health, no entity brave enough to stand against us, that is until the red mist descended upon the fleet, backs were stabbed and ships were shot, my Osprey defiled in the most hideous of manners as I attacked a Skiff, the massive fleet obliterated itself, THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!

With no signs of opposition we reshipped after the shenanigans at the friendly POCO and set the system on fire, with marshmallows toasted and hot cocoa after.



Feeling rather frisky we headed back to Bosena where suicide fleet mode was engaged, numerous Thrashers sacrificed in the nearby high security space of Teonusude where a rather expensive Tengu and pod were laid to waste along with some miners who were ravaging the local asteroid fields, and then we went further into high security space to save some more asteroids. What made these incursions worth it, wasn't the ISK, but the reaction of the Tengu pilots CEO/friend/whatever after the fact and on the Gunpoint Diplomacy killboard.

A good night out in the paradise that is Molden Heath.

The Mighty

"Yes, bugger all that." said Nanny. "Let's curse somebody."
-- Even Nanny Ogg gets upset occasionally
(Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters)

Two Drakes, Hurricane, Rupture, Rifter, Vagabond and a Probe are reportedly milling about the Emolgranlan gate in Eifer, the intel channel abuzz with chatter about engaging.

I'm not one for debating tactics in a committee, so I grabbed the biggest, meanest ship I own (Mainly because I would need massive buffer because I still had GCC from killing a Hurricane only moments earlier) and made my way over.

Intel was a bit dodgy so an associate was sent ahead to ascertain just how much of a pickle I was about to get myself into.

The bulk of the hostile force were made up of The Hatchery, a good bunch of souls up for a fight. One of the Drakes was from a different corp, the same for the Hurricane and the Vagabond but they were all on the gate and I'm pretty sure they were all up to no good.

I jump in and make warp to Emo gate, saying something in the Intel channel that I'm going in.

Nanny Ogg, my trusted Abaddon class battleship lands at zero and I lock up everything. Primary is a Drake, I'm not too fussy as to name and just start shooting, I put tackle on the rifter and send a flight of warrior IIs after him, he gets out in structure as he was smart enough to move out of tackle range.

Ships jump out or warp off, eventually I snag the Rupture, a Drake jumps back in and I start shooting it once again. Orias V has joined me in his Myrmidon and a Drake and Hurricane primary him. I'm taking sentry fire and deep into armour. Drake jumps out and I change to the Hurricane, it's just about to go down as Nanny Ogg, the Mighty Nanny Ogg says her last goodbye to the universe.

I hurried back to Gusandall and grabbed Daft Wullie, an Armageddon class battleship, I went back and I engaged the hostiles for a bit but the heart had gone out of the fight. They all went their separate ways leaving me alone at the gate rather unsatisfied.

A rather unsatisfying day all round really, need something epic to keep my spirits up :)

Zing

You never ever volunteered. Not even if a sergant stood there and said, "We need someone to drink alcohol, bottles of, and make love, passionate, to women, for the use of." There was *always* a snag. If a choir of angels asked for volunteers for Paradise to step forward, Nobby knew enough to take one smart pace to the rear.

-- (Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay)

Sometimes you just get lucky and targets come to you.

I entered my hangar and spotted an intel channel lit up like a xmas tree. The locals were mustering for a fight as a large fleet of Electus Matari were in the area but as soon as we got our shit together the fight had left for highsec.

So we sulked a bit and then things started to kick off.

The majority of our gang were in battleships due to the nature of the Electus Matari fleet but once they had departed we were left with nought to do but wait for targets. They eventually came in the shape of Drakes, Harbingers and Hurricanes, two of each, coming from different directions.

Myself and Uma bear were at the Emol gate in Eifer, the rest of the gang were at the Gus gate, Drake jumps into them from Gusandall. Drake, Harbinger, Harbinger, Hurricane and Hurricane jump into myself and Uma bear. I get tackle on Drake and we engage, whilst the rest of the hostiles warp down to the the Gus gate. Uma and I kill the Drake as a fight kicks off down Gus gate. I warp at zero in Nanny Ogg, my Abbadon, the fight is about 70 clicks away but no matter, scorch gets loaded and boom. Drake and two Harbingers down, two Hurricanes run away. We did lose a friend in a Rifter... Good fight.

Whilst waiting out my GCC, an associate spots an Abbadon, three Stabbers and a Rifter loitering at planet 4 in Gus. I grab the Ghetto Bhaalgorn and warp myself in between them. I lock the Baddon, Stabbers and Rifter up, primary the Baddon and start pew pewing.

I mention on vent that I have a little fight going and before realising I could probably solo the lot, I asked if any of the locals would like a bite. I recognise one of the Stabber pilots as an unlucky fellow whose Scorpion ran afoul of the Ghetto Bhaal last night. They didn't last very long as the sharks went into a feeding frenzy.

Once the dust settled another small gang blew through Gus but only a Dramiel swung by to see what was up and got promptly tackled and webbed from about 50 km and got popped by battleships and a battlecruiser.

Then what seemed like a rematch from earlier was on the cards, but escalated in size. the small battlecruiser gang had turned into a small battleship gang and we hastily reshipped from mainly recons and heavy assault ships to battleships.

I got the Ghetto Bhaalgorn ready for some hot action and I would bait as I volunteered to get the ball rolling.

As I undocked it seemed the hostiles jumped into Eifer but scouts reported them re-approaching the gate. I land at zero, hostiles start to jump in, Kane is Primary...

THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!

The kitchen sink was well and truly thrown out the door, two Typhoons, two Dominix, two Armageddons, a Hurrican, Brutix and stealth bomber of some sort start engaging little ole me, a Scorpion warps in at range and starts jammin.

Our now rather large fleet warps in with Kurtz calling primaries, secondaries, neut targets & tackle targets. I'm having a ball, the versatility of the Bhaal been shown to full effect as I shoot the primary, web the secondaries, neut the geddons and just generally go mad.

At 50% armour there's a moment when I'm asked if I can de aggress, as the Scorp is making remote repping of my Bhaal a bit difficult, but their DPS is dropping as they encounter what is know in these parts as the Gusandall Initiation. At 32% armour I'm starting to think about de agressing but I just say I'm fine and we deal with the rest of the ships that lie before us, one domi managing to de agress and jump out, the Scorp, Brutix, Hurricane and stealth bomber able to stay out of range of tackle and bug out..

I love MEAN, calm throughout the fight and boy what a fight.

Thanks for coming to Gus, please call again.

RIP Nanny Ogg

I'm slightly gutted to be honest, I really loved her. She went down to the now fast becoming tiring Titan jump bridge.

Fair play to the Legion of xXDEATHXx pilots.

:(

Long live Nanny Ogg

:)

Gusandall 1-1

The gods of the Disc have never bothered much about judging the souls of the dead, and so people only go to hell if that's where they believe, in their deepest heart, that they deserve to go. Which they won't do if they don't know about it. This explains why it is so important to shoot missionaries on sight.

-- (Terry Pratchett, Eric)

Gusandall... A small system in Heimatar low security space, one station, 5 stargates, 8 planets, 8 asteroid belts and home to a bunch of delinquents.

A small Cult of War gang was spotted in Ingunn: Megathron, Typhoon and two Guardians. A nice compact gang. A few of the locals were spoiling for a fight, unsure of our numbers it was decided that we didn't want to fight on a gate or the station.

So what was the plan? The plan was to drop some bait in belt 1-1.

Who would be the bait?

Moi :D

Nanny Ogg drops out of warp in belt 1-1 and starts to align back to the station. The Megathron warps to the station to see what's stirring but warps to the Ingunn gate as it seems the locals are seemingly asleep.

Kashmyta > 1-1 for fightz

Well, if that doesn't get their attention, nothing will :)

Nanny Ogg is slow boating in the direction of the station when the Megathron bursts out of warp at zero in the belt, 23 km away. I make sure I have the right bits of glass loaded and lock the Mega up, he starts to close as his friends jump in, my friends start their warp in.

Nanny Ogg's Mega Pulse lasers start to chew into the Mega as he desperately tries to close the distance, he launches a flight of Ogre IIs, I launch a flight of Warrior IIs to kill them. The Mega inches closer, webbed from about 13km away it's slow going for him trying to catch the slow Nanny Ogg.

Typhoon drops out of warp, as does the rest of the locals, the two logistics ships the last to get to the belt, but it's already too late for the Mega pilot, he's venting gas and fuel into space and is not long for this universe. A massive explosion shakes the Megathron to its very hull and focus shifts to the Typhoon, light attack drones and ecm drones zoom off to deal with the logistics ships.

The Phoon folds and all that is left is to deal with the two Guardians which we are very successful in doing.

By the time the dust settles it seems we had rather more fire power than first anticipated but it was a very well executed fight on our part.

Good fight and respect to the Bovines.

Good times in Gusandall :P

Stirring the hornets nest

Above the hearth was a huge pokerwork sign saying "Mother". No tyrant in the whole history of the world had ever achieved a domination so complete.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters)

Keira lost an Ishtar to Angel Annex, silly girl. Other than that been a lazy day, been busy doing other things.

However when my covops friend reported a Cynabal engaging some of the Gusandall crew outside the station I just had to undock. I grabbed a Harbinger and joined in. Sorry Rai, too juicy a kill to refuse.

The highlight of the night for me was when a Typhoon decided to plant itself on the Gus station and antagonise the locals. Scouts had already reported he had an Armageddon, a Hyperion and a Loki waiting in nearby systems.

Zephirz > cmon you pussies be active!
nominruil > lol failbait?
Zephirz > lol failpirates?
Zephirz > disgrace to the proffesion

So a small fleet was hastily gathered of the local gentry, the affront to our Piratiness not to be forgiven lightly. Nomi undocked a carrier to keep their attention.

nominruil > ok
nominruil > lets rumble?
Zephirz > obviiously the carrier >.>
nominruil > ok send in the fleet
nominruil > we are ready
Zephirz > arent you a tough guy now..
Zephirz > its fucking sad tbh..
Kane Rizzel > get the hyp and loki to jump in
Zephirz > and what? watch you undock anotehr 2 carriers? or watch you dockup?>
nominruil > nah we gonna get the erebus instead
Zephirz > yea really tough..
Zephirz > and than call me out for baiting >.>
nominruil > I know i am
Zephirz > rather dissapointed now
Zephirz > so yea, you gonna keep wasting my time or are you going to dockup again?
Kane Rizzel > depeends on when you call all your buddies
nominruil > hrm.. you don't have a 40 man blob like we expected
Zephirz > no
Zephirz > i dont need that shit
Kane Rizzel > hyp, loki, geddon and one cloaky
Zephirz > i dont have carriers on standby either
Zephirz > lol
Zephirz > wanna see my cloaky?\
Zephirz > there he is

I undocked in Nanny Ogg, the Abaddon, locked up the Phoon and waited to see if he'd engage.

Kane Rizzel > so you want sents on your side too or you want to make this a more interesting fight
Zephirz > id love to make this a more interesting fight
general dogzbody > p1
Zephirz > rgr
Zephirz > so undock than
Zephirz > not waiting for you to warp yout carrier to the planet
general dogzbody > im in pos 1 sec
general dogzbody > lol like were that stupid
cheesyhead > the general stupidity of a low sec persona is pretty infinate

I warped to Planet 1, where the rest of the gang were waiting

nominruil > well we ready?
general dogzbody > pussies : -))
Zephirz > ah yeah our 3 bs vs yout 4 bs, possibly eos and a another guy docked up
Zephirz > fucking sad man
Zephirz > interesting fight my ass
moliboi > u forgot ur loki
Kane Rizzel > well, you wanted us active, no use crying now
nominruil > actualy we are all here...
Zephirz > yea
general dogzbody > there is only 2 of us were both tripple accounting

Unfortunately their bravado, now drained meant they were making a dash for it.

The Hyp, Geddon and Loki jumped in and went towards Sotrenzur, the Typhoon warped to Ingunn, They were trying to outflank us in an area we are infinitely familiar with. So we warped to the Ingunn gate, scouts reporting the Hyp, Geddon and Loki waiting on the other side, one of us engaged the Phoon to force him through, he jumped and we followed.

It was game time, Hyperion was our primary, we uncloaked and engaged, I was primaried, We switched to the Phoon and just before it went down they switched target to moliboi in a Geddon as Nanny Ogg's skirt was a bit too much for them. Phoon explodes, moliboi's Geddon exlodes, we drop the Hyp rather sharpish and pick on the Loki as it's scrammed, webbed and about to lose some SP. As it explodes the Geddon jumps out rather wisely and we are left victorious over the field of battle.

nominruil > gf
Kane Rizzel > gf
Kashmyta > gf

Not a word from our antagonizers. Careful what you wish for.

I returned to Gus where Keira repped Nanny Ogg's armour at The Mended Drum and I docked up, glad for the chance to have a nice cup of Earl Grey and a cigarette.

Stay Classy

The long dark

I think that sick people in Ankh-Morpork generally go to a vet. It's generally a better bet. There's more pressure on a vet to get it right. People say "it was god's will" when granny dies, but they get *angry* when they lose a cow.

-- (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)

Upgrades to services cause a black out, when no pod pilot dare venture outside, it's these times when we reflect on what has gone before and live in hope for what is to come.



Much has changed, I've taken to flying the Abaddon a lot recently and I'm really enjoying it, sure it's slow but damn, it packs one helluva punch. I've started to fly with the Gusandall mob a lot more too and it's always a good laugh.

I've lost touch with friends in the Bastards but through no fault of theirs, their home in Evati not on my places to visit regularly. I don't roam as far as I used to, with limited time it is far easier to stay close to home.

It has been too long since I flew Interceptors and I desperately need to get back to them, same goes for the Rupture.

Keira can fly Carriers and Dreadnoughts, can shoot lasers, hybrids and projectiles but really needs to put her skills to use in combat.

Kenny, over a year as a pod pilot has become a devastating Tengu pilot and is responsible for running the Mended Drum, as well as production of rigs for me and vital research projects.

Our Covops friend is still doing her thing but has taken to doing some exploration on the side to fund her activities.

The Rizzel family is still going strong.

There have been times I've considered throwing the towel in but then the universe has so much to offer and there's so much to still do.

Where to from here, I don't know, all I know is, as Tessa Vaako would say, the future is exciting.

A sliver between me and the black

Had a close call in Nanny Ogg earlier this evening, news of a Maelstrom and Hyperion in Ingunn tiring the hornet's nest, the Gusandall locals all a buzz for a kill or two.

A small gang descends upon the Ingunn gate, all eager to engage either ship, Maelstrom had already jumped in and warped to the Eifer gate, Asss and I had landed on the Ingunn gate, a scout reports the Hyperion on the other side, we jump through as the Hyperion warps away to a planet, some follow but Nanny Ogg as I have mentioned is slow, just as I am about to enter warp it is reported the Hyperion has warped back to the gate, I cancel warp and approach the gate.

Hyperion lands, shortly followed by Assassin X in his Armageddon, Asss engages and forces the Hyperion through, I follow, once on the other side the Hyperion uncloaks almost instantly, as do I, engaging the instant the gate cloak wears off. The Maelstrom has entered Gusandall and warps in to help his friend, both decide Nanny Ogg to be the best choice of target.

Hyperion is primary, it goes down rather quickly, my armour creeping deep into the red, we all switch to the Maelstrom and it melts, just in time, only 4% armour between me and the cold embrace of space. Nanny Ogg stood firm as only she can, imperious.

A good if one sided fight, props to both pilots for engaging and especially to the Maelstrom pilot who came back to help his buddy even with the odds stacked against them.

Much thanks to Asssassin X who jumped into a Guardian to repair Nanny Ogg, saving me a whole bunch of ISK in station repair costs.

Stay Classy and catch you when the lights come back on.

My business is violence and business is good

The kraken stirs. And ten billion sushi dinners cry out for vengeance.

-- (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens)


Back in Black

Quite an eventful return from my leave, which is always good.

The Gusandall pocket has been quiet as of late with regards to solo hunting and with this in mind I've spent a bit of time hanging out with the Mean Corp crew. Not to say I'm not trying to solo hunt but I've found hanging out with the delinquents of Gusandall is always a good laugh.

Over the years the friendships I've struck with many of the Mean pilots has grown and whilst it has been rocky at times I enjoy flying with them and it can be extremely rewarding.

This evening I was just hanging about the hangar, checking up on some stuff, taking care of business and looking at prices for a new addition to the NovaKane fleet, which Keira will pilot. More news on that in coming weeks. Laneth was about in the black and mentioned there was a Maelstrom class battleship docked up. Fortunately I was all set to jump into a Pod and get plugged into a ship, Nanny Ogg would do nicely and when Laneth spotted the Maelstrom undock it was time.

Nanny Ogg slid effortlessly out into space, just in time to see the Maelstrom warp towards the Eifer gate, At speed from the undock I entered warp immediately, hot in pursuit. Bursting out of warp on the Eifer gate my Abaddon joined Laneth in a Megathron and Colonel Kurtz in a Tempest. Not wanting to engage and watch the Maelstrom jump through to Eifer, we locked and waited, he warped back to the station. We followed, of course we followed.

The Maelstrom pilot now made a mistake, he warped back to the Eifer Gate where Kurtz was waiting, his Tempest ready to engage and force the pilot through to Eifer, which he did but as Laneth and I landed we jumped through immediately, the trap sprung. Laneth and I engaged, Kurtz waiting out his timer so he could jump in and join, pvp god in an Ishtar joining the merriment. The Maelstrom's strong tank gave in, explosions rocking it from bow to stern as it expired.

Nicely executed.

Minutes later it all kicked off, a small gang had been spotted. Laneth, Kurtz, pvp god and myself were ready, myself waiting at the Mended Drum whilst Intel was gathered. They were all waiting on the Gus gate in Eifer, plan was to send bait in and get them to engage. It didn't quite work out as we had planned. Bait went in just as they jumped into Gus, me in warp to the gate where the incoming hostiles were coming from. I landed as the first few started uncloaking, Nanny Ogg now the bait. My overview lit up like the eyes of a fat kid at an all you can eat buffet. Primaries called by Laneth as they all joined, my armour now dipping into the red. Nanny Ogg stood firm as the hostiles decided to change tactics and primary. GOD's Ishtar now taking the bulk of the fire. My drones were chewing through whatever too their fancy as the Blackbird successfully jammed my locking systems for a good four cycles. Meanwhile god was going down, we could not stand for this as one by one the primaries fell, other ships exploding due to drone aggro. With the fight firmly in our favour the remaining hostiles fled, leaving wrecks and abandoned drones in their wake. All in alll a good fight, one loss in the Shape of god's Ishtar but we had inflicted on them two battlecruiser, three cruiser, one frigate and one destroyer in losses.

Good fight.

We would later catch a Drake and Harbinger in two seperate engagements in Gusandall and Eifer, the second with me in a Zealot heavy assault cruiser.

Still in the Zealot we decided to take a trip through a wormhole which dropped us in Kor-Azor lowsec, 85 lowsec jumps through conventional travel away from home. we tried in vain to get an engagement out of the locals before heading home. Luckily for us the wormhole was stable enough to let us get back, saving us a very long trip.

As we trickled through a small gang of assault frigates jumped into Gus, they headed straight for the Angel 2/10 complex, we followed hoping to catch them before they entered, only managing to get the Ishkur as the other two were launched deep into the dead-space complex. Not detered by this, Zonk and I docked up to grab ships that could enter the complex. We gave chase and were rewarded with two further kills as the Hawk and Wolf both hung around too long. Some nice loot off the Wolf.

It was getting late as only god and I were up, we chased a Maller into Eifer, god in an Eos and me in a Rupture, the Maller obvious bait but what the hell, you only live once (As a Capsuleer this can be quite annoying as it's a bloody long time being immortal) Trap srpung, Setries doing heavy damage t god and myself when a Drake joined in. I managed to get out, but god was far off the gate, tackled and losing drones and armour to the combined fire of sentries, the Drake and Maller. I decided to go back in, see if we could at least drop the Maller, with 25% hull left this was going to be a short trip, it was, my Rupture not lasting much longer, god was going down and I hurried back to Gus to grab Nanny Ogg, but it was too late, god's Eos expiring just as I undocked from the station. I hurried back to Eifer as quickly as possible but as I jumoed in the Drake had scampered back to the safety of highsec.

A Typhoon presented quite a nice snack before god in a Phobos and me in Nanny Ogg called it a night. I headed back home, rather drained from a good evening.

Thanks guys, really enjoyed myself.

I slump into a couch just off the main hangar, a nice cup of Earl Grey and a cigarette my reward.

[OOC] Killboard still dead and other news

I've been away for the past few weeks in South Africa on some well deserved R&R, depending on how I feel this week before I go back to work on Friday I'll be setting up a new personal killboard. I'll be starting from scratch and hope to fill it with many, many explosions. Apologies to Mean Corp and Hellequin for linking their boards in this post but it gives the best information with regards to this evenings happenings.

The silly season is almost upon us and with that my schedule at work goes mental, December will be quiet on the EVE front as Real Life™ once again take over every aspect of my life.

January however promises to be very interesting as various NovaKane and Rizzel projects take off with me hopefully being able to dedicate more time to this wonderful game.

Stay Classy

The four horseman

Nanny could get a statue to cry on her shoulder and say what it really thought about pigeons.

-- (Terry Pratchett, Maskerade)

"Battlecruiser heavy gang in Eifer"

"I see them, looks like the Brutix is baiting in belt 1-1"

With these words was sprung in motion a very fun fight. Sarvic was in Eifer in his Myrmidon, I was in a Rifter, I had warped above belt 1-1 for a little looksie and got on voice comms with the Mean crew.

"I'm heading back to Gus for something more robust" I said as I whipped the Rifter around towards the Gus gate. Sarvic had decided to do the same.

Back in Eifer in Nanny Ogg, it looked like we had missed the opportunity for a fight as we lost track of the gang when they jumped out. xastrosrulex in his Pilgrim went first to Ingunn and then to Sotrenzur trying to get eyes on them.

"They're in Sot"

"Everyone get on the Sot gate" said Sarvic.

Everyone included me in Nanny Ogg, Sarvic in a Typhoon, Emil Obi in a Dominix and Evil's Fink in a Harbinger.

The hostiles were ten strong, two Brutix, two Drake, a Hurricane, a Harbinger, two Tristan, a Punisher and a Manticore.

Astros had eyes on them waiting on the Gus gate in Sot, his Pilgrim would not be able to withstand a fight under sentry fire and we needed to decide if we would take the chance. Sarvic just grinned and said "Fuckit, jump and engage"

Primary was a Brutix, it dropped rather quickly, secondary Brutix started getting eaten as I set my Warrior IIs to work on the frigates.

"Sarvic going down"

Not exactly what you want to hear when outnumbered.

"Sarvic down, I'll be right back"

Emil, Fink and me carried on regardless, I took over target calling, this was a fight to the death, no retreat, no surrender.

Second Brutix down, I call the Hurricane primary, Harbinger secondary, we needed to clear the DPS. Hurricane down, I switch to the Harbinger, Mega Pulse II lasers sending hot laser love into its armor, it warps out. I change to short range crystals and focus fire on the closest Drake, Its shields hardly bothered by me, Harbinger comes back in, Fink goes down. The first Drake takes a while to go down and it pops as Sarvic rejoins us in a Maelstrom. Second Drake goes from Primary to secondary as I switch target to the Harbinger, not much left of the Harbinger when it warped back in. Second Drake is now Primary, it goes down hard, much quicker than the first. The Punisher and two Tristans were downed by drones and it was only the Manticore who managed to survive by staying out of disruptor range and warping out when drones were set on him.

I'm out of cap boosters, my Mega Pulse IIs are hungry beasts, overheated almost to the point of melting but Nanny Ogg stands imperiously over the battlefield, littered with wrecks.

An intense 9 minute fight, 4 against 10, 2 losses, 9 kills. Great fight.

Nanny Ogg's armour is deep in the red, 33% left, 12 of my 15 drones fell to sentry fire, but damn what a rush.

I head back to Gus to inspect the damage as the loot is collected.

"That'll be 15million ISK for repairs"

"HOW MUCH?"

My guns are damaged, almost beyond repair, the armour is almost stripped away but luckily Sarvic and Emil offer to repair my ship for no charge, the station prices too criminal to even think about paying. Thanks guys.

Props to our opponents for a stand up fight. Props to Sarv, Emil and Fink for going along with this seemingly suicidal engagement and props to Nanny Ogg for topping all the killmails.

The POS, The Punsher and the Fail-fit Maesltrom

It was a puzzle why things were always dragged kicking and screaming. No one ever seemed to want to, for example, lead them gently by the hand.

-- (Terry Pratchett, The Truth)

It's been very quiet, too quiet. Gusandall and Eifer, normally a buzz with traffic is silent, so much so that the locals spent a lot of time drinking and chatting down the local.

I did a few roams far and wide in the Rifter but there was nothing around worthy of a fight. My friend in her Cheetah also did a few trips looking for potential violence. All for nought.

There was a brief glimmer of some hot action as a mixed fleet of battlecruiser and cruiser hulls entered Eifer but by the time we got a mixed fleet of blood thirsty Pirates together they had bugged back to highsec, apparently the sight of so many flashing red ships on the overview of their scout was enough to send the fleet packing. Amusing thing is they all hail from a corp that claims to be "Anti Pirate"

I had been doing some paperwork when news of an undefended POS in a neighbouring system appeared to interest the locals, shortly after a mixed fleet went to cause some damage, we were that bored. After an hour or so the small POS was put into reinforced, I lost 5 million ISK on a bet whether the POS had Strontium :(

It had a three hour timer and we went back home till the appropriate time came around.

Thanks to DeathStar for the loaner of a Cap stable Apocolypse for the POS Shot.

Whilst shooting the POS, Mandaro and myself were chatting about frigates, he really rates his Punisher, and while talking setups and crunching numbers he suggested a 1v1, now, you know me, I would so be up for that.

Once our Global Criminal Countdowns were up we made ready for the fight. Now I'll admit right now I cheated, well, not really cheated but knowing frigates inside out and knowing full well that Mandaro runs a version of the infamous Bleeder Punisher and that he would be using Barrage ammo, I had already won the fight. I was already at a safespot when Mandaro warped in, a few others came to watch the fight and there was some betting on the outcome, those who have known me for a long time favouring me heavily. A countdown was given in the fleet channel and it was on.

My afterburner flares into life, launching my Rifter forward, the first few seconds were key. I got in close, 1000 metres between us and settled into a tight orbit, my web and scram active, afterburner keeping my momentum going. Guns and Rockets spilled forth. Mandaro had locked and opened fire, but the larger calibre guns and high-tech Barrage ammo struggled to track my Rifter in such a tight orbit and this allowed me to chew through the absolute epic tank of Mandaro's Punisher. And it was epic, 6,141 points of damage when he finally popped.

A good fight, if a little one sided, he never broke through my shields. I'm sure a rematch is in the works and he'll be better prepared next time.

A lot of Frigate combat comes down to knowing every variable of a given engagement, what potential damage and tank a target has, what kinds of ammo to use, what kinds of ammo your opponent is likely to use, engagement ranges, transverse and tracking and being able to dictate range. Being able to adjust on the fly as it were to any changes is also key. All this I have learnt over years of flying frigates and is not something easily taught. Basically you have to go out and learn through trial and error, learn from mistakes and expand on success.

There was a little action on the gates as a lone Dominix jumped into Gusandall and was quickly dispatched and his pod ransomed, he took it all very well, followed almost two hours later by a lone Drake who managed to make it all the way to Gusandall before returning home via Clone Vat Express™.

As the time ticked down to when the POS came out of reinforced, Keira had moved an Armageddon battleship down for me for the shot, half an hour to go and RedBad came in and asked why we were shooting his POS... Holy shit, you have got to be kidding me :D

Lucky for him and for us he came in when he did.

Anyway, there was much laughter amongst us, however I was aching to shoot something and without the POS to unleash hellish lasers upon I was kind of down. Luckily there was news of a Maelstrom in Ingunn, a very old pod pilot in a very big ship. Scouts were tracking his movements as a small fleet moved into place to engage on the Gusandall side.

Serenetor jumped his Megathron in to push the Maelstrom into us, which went exactly to plan. It was very suspicious that such an experienced pilot would be solo on a gate and the Admiral Akbar senses were tingling, if it were a trap we were going to spring it regardless, we were itchy for a fight.

Maelstrom jumped in and broke gate cloak trying to align out but was very quickly tackled and webbed. Lasers spat hot death at the Maelstrom and the famous shield tank of the massive Minmatar ship was non existent, his armour melted and so did his structure even as Serenetor tried to get back to join in the merriment. I hastily shut the mega Pulse lasers of my Abaddon down but one last salvo and the Maelstrom was no more.

Sorry Seren, I just don't know the power of this Abby yet :P

The stricken pilots pod was tackled and ransom offered, no response and when he logged his critical systems all that was left was to pop the egg.

The fit is curious to say the least, not something you expect from a pilot who has been in the same corp for over 5 years.

Oh well.

Too damn quiet, I need more action but was fun to fly with the Mean crew again, always a good laugh on voice comms.

In other news I have been approached on more than one occasion to be a mentor to hopeful Pirates, while extremely flattering I always tend to decline, due to time and mostly due to me being rather selfish with the knowledge I have acquired over the years. This is not to say I'm not open to questions via evemail or convo but I do prefer to keep to myself and if I do fly with others, it is people I know and trust.

My lecture for the Black Rabbits Academy fell through, mostly my fault due to my extended absence and it's a real shame, not sure what kind of learning I could have provided though. Apologies to everyone who was involved with the project.

I'm also in the process of acquiring a rather special item, more for nostalgia and the novelty of it than anything else but if I get it y'all will be the first to know.

Stay Classy

There was a FIREFIGHT!

Chain-mail isn't much defence against an arrow. It certainly isn't when the arrow is being aimed between your eyes.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)

Five Rifters and a Kestrel prowling around Eifer, this can not stand, this is my home, my hunting ground and interlopers are not tolerated. Well this may be a bit of an exaggeration as I rather like visitors but you know me, delusions of grandeur et al.

I started tracking the raiding party and soon I got a bead on them, warping in I was greeted by all five of them, Asssassin X bowling in with his Thorax, they bailed like skittles but one got stuck on the end of Asss' and my guns, I quickly started tracking the survivors of the initial attack, soon to find them at a planet, in I went, heavily outnumbered but up for a fight. I landed right on top of them and proceeded to lock them all up, one , two , three Rifters exploded and it was only the Kestrel left as the most experienced Rifter pilot threw valour into the wind and bolted. The Kestrel explodes, the grin on my face expands. Good fight lads.

...

There is a new shiny in my hangar and she was unveiled much to the chagrin of a Hurricane pilot who had the misfortune of being spotted travelling towards Ingunn, he was caught and roasted on the Gultraten gate. In all honesty he deserved to die for the sacrilege he carried out on that poor Hurricane.

So without further adue, I give you "Nanny Ogg"




Nanny Ogg would later see action in the BBQing of a Raven who was spotted by Mean Corp pilots on its way through Eifer, caught on the Eifer gate in Gusandall it melted under the fire of Nanny's Mega Pulse IIs. Props to Sarvic for the tackle and Jorge for the assist.

An old friend of mine was brought out of the corp hangar for a rather tasty treat, Keira was doing some business runs between Gusandall and highsec when she spotted a Hulk exhumer on it's way to Gus, my Broadsword would be ideal for this task as it's beastly tank and infinite interdiction point meaning the prey would not be long for this universe. HULK SMASHED.

...

Then it was back to some hot Rifter action. My covops friend spotted a Rifter in Gus, in the direction of the 2/10 plex, I quickly boarded the latest iteration of my favourite ship, new and improved, even deadlier than before and made my way over. As I burst out of warp the other Rifter was over 100 clicks away and I started to try and close the massive gulf. He did me the favour of warping to the 1/10 plex. Knowing how these things work is key to successful hunting, I knew he would land right on the gate and launched my Rifter after him. As I landed he had started to try and make some distance between us, I started to close and he swung around to engage, soon we were locked in deadly battle. My shields were stripped rather too quickly, impressive damage from my opponent, my armour started taking the brunt of the fire but I had caught up and soon overtook in the deadly race. His armour repairer was working overtime, I didn't even bother to activate mine, such was my confidence in how this dance would end.
Bits of Rifter rain against mine as he violently explodes, he warps his pod out too quickly for my targeting systems. Good fight L Kahn, good fight.

...

There's been a Dramiel pilot trying to farm the 2/10 plex recently, it seems my absence from Gus has been taken advantage of. I decided on something different for this pilot, my Taranis interceptor, absolutely beastly damage but rather like a paper bag when it comes to defence.
Never mind, nothing ventured nothing gained. I knew he came around more or less when the complex re spawned and added him to my buddy list, as soon as he logged into the comms net I was alerted and made my way over to the gate to wait for him. Sure enough in he came and the fight was on. The damage of the Taranis is scary and soon I had broken through his impressive tank but he managed to pull range on me and had started working on my drones. His tank recovered but I was deep into structure, ship on fire and in no way capable of breaking his tank before I expired. I warped out and shared "good fight" in local comms. This is not over by a long shot.

It's 0615 as I write this, Insomnia has gotten the better of me, I have a splitting migraine and it's rather fresh in the hangar but all in all I've really enjoyed myself.

Stay Classy