Always outnumbered, quite often outgunned

The class was learning about some revolt in which some peasants had wanted to stop being peasants and, since the nobles had won, had stopped being peasants *really quickly*.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Soul Music)

I've been toying with something old, but kind of new and took it out for a test last night, however it didn't quite work out the way I had hoped, it did show that I can sometimes bite off more than I can chew, I did manage to kill two of the gang with the help of an old friend who has been on-world for far too long, Welcome back to Gusandall CPT NESSAJA


It tanks like a beast, no links, only drugs and a little grit, I probably would have made it out had I not derped and burnt one of the repairers. Matter not, this is the replacement, awaiting a similar situation to be hurled against.

Fighting outnumbered is something I'm used to, more apparent in recent months as the dwindling force that once was M34N not having my confidence to drop everything and help a friend in need. It will be something I will have to rely on even more after the choices I have made. C'est la vie.

This evening there was a Rifter and an Enyo loitering far too long at a safespot in Gusandall and as Kane does, I requested my associate provide me with the co-ordinates of the pair so that I may officially welcome them to Gus in my own special way.

A dangerous pairing, the recent modifications done to the base Enyo hull making it a DPS monster and we all know the Rifter in the right hands to be a dangerous adversary.

With the warp-in set I undocked in a Hawk assault frigate, itself recently modified and better than its previous incarnation, I made warp to the location and had my associate move off.
I land about 20clicks away, not the best warp-in but in my associates defense they were moving. I would have to rely on my charm and good looks to get the pair to hang about, but I didn't need any of that as the two of them must have looked at each other and said "Yeah, we can take him" and took me they did. Both engaged and moved to point blank range, I had primaried the Rifter as it would have the weaker tank of the two, it was going down but the Enyo had closed to within range of its blasters and started to rip my shields apart, Rifter goes down and I can switch tackle to Enyo, being able to gain some range and start to kite.

His tank is strong, my kinetic rockets a poor choice so I reload to thermal but something jams and kinetic are reloaded. I'm spamming scan as local rise and falls a few times, always wary of backup warping in and killing me dead. Slowly his tank breaks, a Crow warps in and engages, but Enyo is going down, my shields easily dealing with the Crow's missiles and the Hob II from the Enyo, its blasters not able to touch me at 9km.

Enyo explodes, the Crow casually saunters into scram range and it's all over except for the crunch of an escape pod.

A good fight, never outclassed :)

Had a few good fights the past week, a Vigilant kill using something a little different again, a lot of fun to fly and taking the old Rupture out for a spin in the black. I do however fail at flying Drakes, I had to warp out of an engagement against a brick tanked Drake as I derped once more, burning out some of my launchers and not being able to break his shields before mine failed.

I will get better however :)

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?

I bet he mad

"Bonsai!"
-- (Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man)

Ahrieman > does anyone in this low sec posket ever undock?
Kane Rizzel > we do, but pnly when we feel like it
Ahrieman > so no, got it
Kane Rizzel > tbh, if there's a gang about, I don't fancy taking the bait
Ahrieman > i'm soloing
Ahrieman > you should know that i don't have a gang with me
Kane Rizzel > you're corp history means you won't get much on just words
Ahrieman > what's wrong with my corp history? and do you even have scouts? You shouldn;t need to take my word on anything if this is your home system
Kane Rizzel > heretics aren't known to fly alone and wormholes make even the most poignant of scouts kind of redundant
Ahrieman > you're kidding right?
Kane Rizzel > just saying mate
Kane Rizzel > you want a fight, bring the dram to the 2/10
Ahrieman > do you realize how many good solo pilots Heretics have?
Ahrieman > the only people that think they don't fly alone are the same people that spend more time on the forums than actually playing the game
Kane Rizzel > cause I spend a lot of time on forums
Ahrieman > well then, don't listen to the people that do

At this point he warps into the 2/10

And dies

Kane Rizzel > gf
Ahrieman > gf?
Ahrieman > i was stupid to give you the fight oyu wanted
Ahrieman > but this area is boring

And then he left

Kane Rizzel > he mad

Edit: Just been chatting to Ahrieman in private chat, he not mad, just disappointed, good people :)

Credit where credit is due

- "Have you any last words?"
- YES. I DON'T WANT TO GO.
- "Well. Succinct, anyway."
-- Death at the other end of the scythe, for once
(Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man)

Very early this morning, at a time I really should have been asleep at, I tangled with a Dramiel.
Ordinarily a Dramiel doesn't present me with too many problems, but this one was different. It had a long point, artillery and as I would find out later, an ace up it's sleeve.

I undocked a Hawk, something I'm rather enjoying, engaged the Dramiel, easily dispatched it's drones and then was never able to get within range, the Hawk died.

Thinking is not my strong suit when deprived of sleep but I thought I'd try get him with a Daredevil, the strong, long web maybe more suited to catching him, would still need to fly smart to negate his damage.

I warped in, he's at range and where he would stay for the remainder of this five odd minute long dogfight. I locked him up, then lost lock, jammed? No, Damped, sweet jesus, what a maneuver, very smart, down to a 14km lock range, I would never get close enough to acquire lock, let alone land a web, no matter what I tried, he was one step ahead, the Daredevil died.

An expensive evening, an expensive lesson but two very good fights.

Nicely played :)

Negative Ten

"Today Is A Good Day For Someone Else To Die!"

-- (Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay)

Some milestones in Eve are greater than others and the journey to them is what defines many of us as pilots, pirates, capsuleers. I have achieved a fair few in my time and I now celebrate re-achieving another.

Many moons ago I had busted a mission in progress in a nearby system, a Raven battleship was downed by my Pilgrim, using drones and energy neutralisers. However once the Caldari Battleship went down my drones, in their infinite wisdom, decided it wise to destroy one of the rats, thus ruining my pristine, perfect negative ten security status.

It has been a long time coming but I once again proud to be true Negative Ten:
Kane Rizzel -10.00000000000000

The Hawk and the Worm... Or how Kane feels dirty

As is the always the case, intel of a ship trying to run the static plexes reaches me, a Hawk assault frigate is in the 1/10 DED rated complex. Sitting on my new couch, I peruse the ships in my hangar and choose something a touch... Unconventional:

Worm

Korako 'The Rabbit' Kosakami, Gurista leader, has a particular love for stealing the Caldari's ship designs, souping them up, and turning them on their creators. With the Worm, he has taken the Merlin design so familiar to Caldari pilots and turned it into a defensive powerhouse with increased electronic warfare capabilities.

Special Ability: 50% bonus to Rocket and Light Missile velocity

Caldari Frigate Skill Bonus: 5% shield resistance per level
Gallente Frigate Skill Bonus: 5m3 Drone Bay Capacity per level

It is... Very different from what I normally fly and is not exactly fit to the most common specifications but all in all I thought it would be ideal for what I intended and as is my habit, I intended to introduce it to someone in a violent fashion. The most peculiar thing about this particular Worm is the tank, the fact it doesn't fit a conventional tank means I would be relying on things out of my control to win this fight, but you never know your luck until you try it :)

I warp to the 1/10, he's just about to activate the gate into the second room, I follow with all haste as there's only a small window for me to activate the gate on his key. We both exit warp about two clicks away from each other and I engage, point blank range, rockets fizzing all around, I deploy my tank... A flight of EC-300 ecm drones...






He's hitting me hard, I have no shield buffer, or armour for that fact, I'm relying on the ecm drones to get a jam and some fancy flying on my part.

He's hitting me very hard up close, at 10% shields I hit my afterburner, to gain range and possibly decrease the damage from his rockets, at ten clicks I set orbit, dual webs and scram holding him in place as my speed mitigates some of the damage from his launchers.

My thermal rockets aren't doing much but the EC-300s are starting to do their job, allowing me to regenerate some of my shields. I change to EM rockets and the damage increases, along with the jams, I'm starting to turn the fight, so I move in close again, but he relocks and starts to pulverises my shields, Once again I move out to ten clicks to mitigate the damage.

His tank is failing and I'm at about 50% shields, I decide it's time to finish, the EC-300 drones have another jam cycle and I recall the little beauties... Only to deploy a flight of Warrior IIs to help finish off the last of his shields.

He explodes violently, bits of Hawk littering the plex.

A good fight shared in local and an apology from me for using ECM drones.

Sure I felt dirty, but it was a good fight, a fight in which luck, more so than any other fight, played a very big role and for once I was on the other end of EC-300s :D

Stupid is as stupid does

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

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

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

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

I'm in your plex killing your dudes

It's almost a year now since I moved to Gusandall, a year that has seen me grow as a pilot both in skill and determination. I have made many friends and many more enemies and through it all I'm still learning.

Something that always bothered me about our local 2/10 plex was that when I scanned out targets there and warped in they were nowhere to be found, meaning they were deeper inside than I was able to go, with this in mind I started collecting the keys for the various gates for a chance to introduce a plex runner to my autocannons. I have tagged a few pilots in my time here and have done research on them adding them to my friend finder so that I would be notified whenever they entered system.

Tonight was such a night, I opened my friend finder and saw that an old adversary was in system, a pilot who has been known to run dual warp core stabilisers on his Hawk class Assault Frigate, I have only managed to catch him once before and I wasn't going to let him slip by me. He had managed to escape me a few nights ago as I only had a 2 point warp scrambler fitted so with this in mind I had my deck crew fit another 2 point scrambler to "Crop Duster™" my Jaguar class Assault Frigate. I watched the local intel channel and made sure my mark was still in system, he was and I undocked into the black. Gusandall's station undock allows an insta warp towards some stargates and to the Angel Creo Crop plex and I used this to sling myself directly into warp towards the plex. Once there I activated the ancient stargate and was flung deep into deadspace. Coming out of warp my systems resolved and the mark was nowhere to be seen but I expected this and hit the afterburner towards the second acceleration gate ignoring the Gistii deadspace frigates targetting me. I reached the gate and narrowed my onboard scanner to scan in its intended direction, the result was positive, the Hawk was in the second room.

I activated the gate using one of the key cards designated for it and was launched into warp towards the second room and my prize, I had a key card for the third gate were I to need it but as I came out of warp I was greeted by the sight of the Hawk killing Gistii frigates and assaulting a deadspace structure. I activated my afterburners and closed the distance as he was slightly too far for my scramblers which were eagerly pulsing as they were primed awaiting lock to resolve.
Once I was close enough I started the lock and as it resolved the scramblers kicked in "Let's see you run now" I said to myself with a wry smile, I activated my weapons systems and my autocannons and rocket launcher started their merry song. From past engagements I knew the Hawk's shield systems were very strong and it was only then I noticed I had the wrong ammo loaded as he was repping easily sitting at 10% shields, I deactivated my weapons and started the reload procedure which would take 10 seconds, the Republic Fleet EMP rounds and Caldari Navy Gremlin rockets would make short work of the shields and it would need to as in that 10 seconds he had repped to 100% shields. Reload complete I hit fire and the guns and launcher responded with eagerness, the Hawk's shields taking a battering and his complex shield booster straining under the relentless barrage. Shields failed and I was into the meat of the Hawk, its fragile armour melting and within a fraction of a second so did his structure, his escape pod jettisoned into space amidst the shiny explosion.

Stabs won't save you

Unfortunately he was very quick to get his pod out before my lock resolved and I was denied his corpse as a trophy. I scooped the loot and warped to a safespot in system to allow my systems to recover from the assault, I had taken some damage and some of my systems were damaged from overloading but I had some nanite paste on board and set to repairing whilst allowing my Global Criminal Countdown to expire.

I docked up, a short, succesful and satisfying hunt, I finished up the evening paying bills for office and hangar rent that needed attention and caught up on the days news.
It's been a long day, I need some sleep and my bunk looks very inviting, I put some music on, light a cigarette and take a sip of my Earl Grey tea, all's well with the universe.