Marauder

And, while it was regarded as pretty good evidence of criminality to be living in a slum, for some reason owning a whole street of them merely got you invited to the very best social occasions.

-- (Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay)

21:25 I receive a call from Bosena

Dirty Protagonist > hey kane
Dirty Protagonist > got a jc in bos still?
Kane Rizzel > yep
Kane Rizzel > wassup?
frogstomper > want to come gank a vargur in a catalyst?
Kane Rizzel > yes
frogstomper > get down here and on comms then plz

The RANSM crew have been ganking spendy mission ships in Molden Heath highsec for the past week or so and this evening I got an invite to join in the fun.

The mark had already been identified and the trap was being set up, not too subtle this trap, the mark was being bumped off the gate where he had gone AFK, almost 200 clicks of bumping.

With everything in place, ships were handed out and the gang made ready for departure, a well co-ordinated effort swinging into action.



Undock Bosena...
Warp to Teon gate...
Jump...
Hold cloak...
Fleet warp to covops...
All mods overloaded...

Our location announced in local comms, our intentions doubly so, as I said, not too subtle but then sometimes subtlety gets in the way of giggles.

We land...
Lock target...
And open fire...

The Vargur explodes.

CONCORD warps in and destroys each one of our destroyers, justice dispensed, our escape pods, escaping rather sharpish, the Vargur's escape pod not so lucky. We head back to lowsec, GFGF in local, giggling all the way.

Here are some of the more expensive suicide ganks as of late.

I do love Molden Heath.

Suicide is Painless

Suicide was against the law. Johnny had wondered why. It meant that if you missed, or the gas ran out, or the rope broke, you could get locked up in prison to show you that life was really very jolly and thoroughly worth living.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Johnny and the Dead)

"I want you to set up one of those 'special' Thrashers for me please Monty" said Kane
"Sure thing boss, crew?" asked Monty, hopeful the answer would be 'no' as he knew full well that one of those 'special' Thrashers would never return to Gusandall.
"Won't need one, I'm going to high sec" came the reply from the Pirate
"Oh! Have fun" the look of relief on Monty's face was clear, but working for Kane for as long as he has made every job dangerous, not for himself personally but for the hundreds and thousands of recruits that have crewed space ships for NovaKane Incorporated through the years, those that have survived long enough and served with distinction earning a good salary and a place on one of NOVAK's flagships. Daemon Montrose was once such a raw recruit but now he was the Deck Chief for a notorious Pirate and probably one of the nicest guys he knew. Kane rewarded loyalty and hard work.

The Thrasher slips into the black, heads over to Emolgranlan, the target already identified, the trap already being primed.

Flying any ship without a basic crew takes phenomenal concentration from a pod pilot, immortal they may be, running every system on a ship on their own is the most demanding of tasks.

Not needing a crew for this job would make recruiting new crew down the line a lot easier, folk are happier to sign on if they stand even a small chance of surviving.

Is a suicide gank really suicide if nobody dies?

The Thrasher jumps into Emolgranlan and warps to the associate. The warp in is flawless, five clicks away and the Thrasher opens fire, four volleys are needed but eventually the target explodes, just in time to treat the incoming CONCORD patrol to a nice fireworks display.

The immortal pod pilot warps his escape pod out and heads back to low sec, a smile across his face.

In other news, I'm having an awful lot of folk self destruct on me during ransom negotiations, this fella in the Dramiel stalled during a 50million negotiation long enough for his pod to explode :( Guess I'll console myself with what was for once a decent loot drop :)

Though shall not Covet

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

Been a slow day, so I bring you a lone miner, in his Covetor, safe in his High Security pocket.

This message brought to you by the True Minmatar™ and the Asteroid Freedom Front of Heimatar™

The Anshar

"I'd like to know if I could compare you to a summer's day. Because -- well, June 12th was quite nice, and..."
-- (Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters)

But what is the question?

19:27 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

A small fleet of miscreants assembles outside of the Lai Dai station, battleships the ship of choice and they form a conga line while they wait.

19:45 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

Conga line is in full flow as 29 battleships of mixed shapes blow their vuvuzelas in local.

19:56 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

It's almost go time, The Tempest class battleship that was chosen for this mission eagerly follows an Armageddon in conga.

20:00 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

Order to lign and warp to Sivala gate is given and the fleet bolts, vuvuzelas echoing throughout Uedama.

20:03 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

Order is given to align and warp to Haatamo gate, to look for prey on the Jita <> Rens route.

20:13 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

With a swarm of sentry drones out, an Anshar jump freighter jumps in and aligns to Juunigaishi. It warps off as we're not sure if everyone would get lock in time.

20:15Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

Scout reports that Anshar has landed 15 clicks off gate and is on autopilot.

20:16 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

Order to scoop drones and warp to Juun gate given.

20:18 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

Fleet lands and drops a ton of sentry drones, Anshar is given a small nudge as the pilot seems to have woken up and has queried whether he was prey.

20:20 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

Entire fleet is assembled, Anshar is locked and countdown to destruction over voice comms commences

20:22 Uedama, The Citadel, Security Level 0.5

We get blobbed by customs, navy and CONCORD ships.



But we prevail.

Camera crews were at the ready to capture the gank.

This was Keira's first suicide gank and she handled herself exceptionally well.

Thanks go to Ralara for organising this op and to the rest of the participants for a fucking good laugh.

Oh, did I mention I'm back :P New technology has been installed and I'm good to go, Violence is imminent.