I isn't dead...

...I is just busy.

"You're dead," he said. Keli waited. She couldn't think of any suitable reply. "I'm not" lacked a certain style, while "Is it serious?" seemed somehow too frivolous.
-- Princess Keli in trouble
(Terry Pratchett, Mort)

Apologies to my readers, life is just a touch hectic at the moment. Three accounts have been given the summer off with just Kane remaining active, in case a scratch needs itching.

Work will be dominating any time and energy I have so updates and playtime will be few and far between :)

Killing kittens isn't easy

"He's muffed it," said Simony. "he could have done *anything* with them. And he just told them the facts. You can't inspire people with facts. They need a cause. They need a symbol."
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)

Have had a bit of a rough patch of late, a few too many losses for my liking but Kane stays strong, Kane never surrenders. With this in mind I did something different tonight and went out on a quick roam with the M34N Coalition guys.

The M34N alliance has grown considerably recently and our small gang was soon quite sizeable for the locals, thirteen assorted battlecruisers and strategic cruisers. no ECM or logistics in sight, me in a Hurricane.

We got our first fight of sorts as we jumped into Ingunn, an equally sized Electus Matari/Dragoons fleet with a Scimitar logistics and Falcon ECM support. We jump in without hesitating, hold cloak, primary is called...

It's the Falcon :D

Primary goes down hard, Scimi is secondary but escapes, Electus Matari jump out. Some of us follow back into Gusandall, with eventually just me on the gate, Electus Matari/Dragoons find their minimals again and start shooting me on the gate whilst one of their Hurricanes dies next door, I jump through with 15% armour left as the roam is moving and gate games don't interest us.

Everytime a Falcon dies, god kills a kitten...



...Do your part.

The rest of the roam consists of us chasing a large Ivy League gang around but never getting within spitting distance and trying to get a fight out of a large Independence Cruiser gang that was waiting for the Gusandall locals to take the bait in Gusandall but nobody was home.

A Falcon died, GREAT SUCCESS.

Zombie Flubber rises and shall feast on the brains of many, watch this space :)

Quit while you're only losing a little

Tourist, Rincewind decided, meant "idiot".
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic)

I've lost Flubber :(

Well it all started out by me fitting up a Navy Hookbill and warping to what seemed like a Navy Comet at the 2/10, turns out it was also an Enyo, Ishkur, Sentinel and Jaguar too.

Navy Comet almost goes down but the Navy Hookbill just couldn't cope with everything being thrown at it.

So Kane does what Kane would do in any situation like this, he goes back for revenge, I board Flubber and warp to the 2/10 but they have moved to the Hrondedir gate, I follow and they jump through, again I follow and they warp to the Hrondmund gate.

Instead of cutting my losses I say:

Kane Rizzel > all of you vs me?
Kane Rizzel > I'll be at the sun

:FACEPALM:

There isn't a facepalm picture big enough, even the famed Picard montage facepalm would just not do. Keira is either going to laugh at this or be extremely angry

I have given up range dictation and in essence I just threw Flubber away like she meant nothing, all these years together and I sacrifice her for no gain.

The gang warps in, Sentinel at 40km, would have been my primary but my genius is not only matched but exceeded by my stupidity.

I take the Ishkur into armour but the tracking disruption from the Sentinel is fatal, for all my skillpoints, for all my experience and bravado, this fight was lost the minute I uttered those fateful words.

I'm sorry Flubber :(

I had been looking for a fight all night, but between the residents of Broadside and Independence channels running through the area in their own gangs, I had seen zero that I could take on my own, my impatience got the better of me.

Not been one of my better weeks but I shall persevere, I shall bounce back, for I am Kane Rizzel.

Today marks nine months since I took my first steps down the Straight Edge, stay strong and never surrender :)

AlphaMeridian 1982-01-19 to 2011-03-28, You will forever be remembered

Just got some tragic news, an old friend and ex corp mate, AlphaMeridian, passed away earlier this evening from a heart attack.

Good Fight James, Good Fight

This fucking sucks.

Friend of a friend

"'E's fighting in there!" he stuttered, grabbing the captain's arm.
"All by himself?" said the captain.
"No, with everyone!" shouted Nobby, hopping from one foot to the other.
-- Making Friends and Hitting People
(Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!)

It's not often a fight, that has no winner can be as fun as one I had this evening against someone who could be best described as a nemesis of sorts.

Crazy Vania has run the 2/10 in a Dramiel on numerous occasions, he has tormented some of the locals, has died at my hands a fair few and has once or twice actually destroyed my marvelous flying machines.

He has recently left the services of Electus Matari, the local anti pirates and joined Pod Liberation Authority. Over the last few days he has been coming to Gusandall in a Cruor.

Cruor

Mottled, dark red, and shaped like a leech, the Cruor presents a fitting metaphor for the Blood Raiders' philosophy. Designed almost solely to engage in their disturbingly effective tactic of energy draining and stasis webbing, this ship is a cornerstone in any effective Blood Raider fleet - and could play an intriguing role in more standard ones.

Special Ability: 100% bonus to Small Energy Turret damage

Amarr Frigate Skill Bonus: 15% bonus to Energy Vampire and Energy Neutralizer drain amount per level
Minmatar Frigate Skill Bonus: 10% bonus to the velocity factor of stasis webifiers per level

The last few fights I've had against the Sentinel have made me weary of energy neutralisers and said Sentinel pilot was back in local, so being the daring type I am, I grabbed Sgt Angua, the most volatile frigate I own.

Volatile because it possesses devastating firepower, but also because it requires capacitor to function, without cap she was dead in the water so to speak.

Vania seems to have tangled with the Sentinel but had docked up for the moment. A fight against both would not be the smartest choice.

I warp to the plex and enter the first room. Sentinel is 300 clicks off, I start to close but soon decide no, he wants to dictate the engagement, so take that away from him and let him come to Kane.

I moved back towards the plex centre, and soon, as predicted he started to close. 19km and no closer, I could not allow him within his neut range. I am easily faster and maintain range without problem, waiting for him to make the first move.

Vania warps in with his Cruor, the dance with the Sentinel has taken us 300 odd km away.

The Sentinel is not the most patient and warps out, not being able to get close enough to get a neut off. I have the option to move towards Vania or warp out but nothing ventured, nothing gained :)

I close, not too close though, again, those neuts have me a touch shy. We dance for a bit, I overload my web and scram, take a deep breathe and hit approach, this was going to have to be quick.

Exile or X-Intinct, I chose X cause a lower sig might help more than extra rep, can't rep with no cap and as I'd definitely be low on that, I chose not to even bother with the rep.

I inject the X, my vision blurs a bit, my armour drops as I can't really focus, damn side effects, but that's drugs for you.

Web goes green and I close quicker, scram and guns glow green, overloaded as I'm now at point blank. Vania webs back, neuts go to work on my cap. His shields are stripped and I work on his armour as his lasers strip my shields.

He hits about 60% armour as my mods turn off, Sgt ANgua is now dead in the plex. Vania starts on my armour, no way of repping, I see a sliver of cap and get off two salvos, cap dry. my armour keeps disappearing, a sliver of cap, another two salvos, Vania now deep in armour.

This fight could go either way but I didn't have the luxury of warping out, I was here till the end.

Another sliver of cap, another two salvos, Vania closer to structure and I think he chose to rather withdraw than risk a loss.

He warps out, an intense fight and one I think I was very lucky to warp away from.

He offers a round two...

Crazy Vania > wanna try again kane ?
Crazy Vania > I think I figured a mistake I did
DeathStar > you warp'd into kane?
Kane Rizzel > stagger your neuts
DeathStar > prob 1 of the bigger mnistakes in eve tbh
Crazy Vania > I wont tell you which mistake it was
DeathStar > mistakes*
Crazy Vania > yes I know
Crazy Vania > dont need to tel me that
DeathStar > lmao
Crazy Vania > I have experienced, let's say, in the flesh

I don't actually fancy my chances and decline but we start talking in local and eventually on voice comms and he's a decent fella, he is a good friend of a recent M34N recruit and is ok in my book, he's also a fan of Terry Pratchett which is always a good thing.

On to something I mentioned earlier, Anti Pirates, what has happened to the Anti Pirate corps and alliances, Electus Matari are still about but a shadow of the past really? It seems to be something of a dying art.

REVENGE... Two sugars please

Asking someone to repeat a phrase you'd not only heard very clearly but were also exceedingly angry about was around Defcon II in the lexicon of squabble.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad)

Kane angry, Kane want revenge.

I'd been chasing a Thrasher that had tried to take up residence in our local 2/10, The fella had cloaked when I entered the third room so I hung about and made a general nuisance of myself in a Succubus frigate until he resigned to his fate and warped out.

Then there was a Sentinel

Sentinel

Hull: Crucifier Class
Role: Electronic Attack Ship

Electronic attack ships are mobile, resilient electronic warfare platforms. Although well suited to a variety of situations, they really come into their own in skirmish and fleet encounters, particularly against larger ships. For anyone wanting to decentralize their fleet’s electronic countermeasure capabilities and make them immeasurably harder to counter, few things will serve better than a squadron or two of these little vessels.

Developer: Viziam

Viziam ships are quite possibly the most durable ships money can buy. Their armor is second to none and that, combined with superior shields, makes them hard nuts to crack. Of course this does mean they are rather slow and possess somewhat more limited weapons and electronics options.

Amarr Frigate Skill Bonus: 20% bonus to energy vampire and energy neutralizer transfer amount per level and 5% bonus to effectiveness of tracking disruptors per level

Electronic Attack Ships Skill Bonus: 40% bonus to energy vampire and energy neutralizer range and 5% reduction in capacitor recharge time per level

I have never in all my years fought against a Sentinel and I was well up for this.

The Cunning Man, a Rifter class frigate is chosen to be the blunt instrument to bludgeon the Sentinel into just another wreck.

The first engagement would take place in the 1/10 complex, a strange place for a frigate duel but I made my way there. Entering the plex he was 112 clicks away so I started to close the long distance at full thrust.

I get closer and once within overloaded scram range I lock and engage. Sentinel, casual as you like, engages back.

He dips deep into shields before my cap disappears, tackle mods off, he easily gains range, light tech 2 drones swarm around my Rifter as I try valiantly to swat them away, popping one before The Cunning Man is no more.

I warp my escape pod out sharpish, this will not stand, I fucking loved that Rifter. I dock and requisition a new Rifter assembled immediately, grab some ammo and head on out, this fight is very far from over.

Some of the locals are out to get the Sentinel pilot but I take The Cunning Man to the 1/10 plex gate and wait. It doesn't take the sentinel long to warp to me, I engage immediately, ignoring drones, guns overheated.

My cap is gone but he's deep into armour, he activates the gate, trying to run away...

A single rocket, zig zags its way across the void, slamming into the Sentinel hull as it enters warp.

With nothing to warp, the escape pod sits idle, even as I lock it, tackle it and offer it the terms of its release.

It silently declines.

A good fight and a test for sure, the Sentinel intrigues me and is something I'm going to look into.

I would later lose The Cunning Man to the same Sentinel in the 2/10, not being able to kill off his seemingly endless supply of drones quick enough, but, I think I'm still ahead :P

Just had a great little fight against Raptor and Rifter combo, they warped right on top of me at the gate to the 2/10 complex and needless to say it led to a sticky end, for them at least.

Two Rifters lost but there are always more Rifters.

Shout out to my homeboy Darthimus, without whom I would not be able to achieve the victories I do, his inspiration and guidance over the years have helped me become the Pirate I am today :P

Destruction and Democracy

I must confess the the activities of the UK governments for the past couple of years have been watched with frank admiration and amazement by Lord Vetinari. Outright theft as a policy had never occured to him.

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

Seems I was able to kill a Dramiel and a Daredevil last night in quick succession, don't remember much about it except I was hunting a Claw I think. It was late, I was tired but the killmails are here and the loot was in my cargo this afternoon when I got in. I apologise to my opponents, I really wish I could remember more about the fight, it looks like it was epic. (I wasn't drunk or high by the by, I've been Straight Edge for almost nine months now \o/)

In other news, voting has opened for the CSM and I cast my vote and got my associates and family to do the same. The votes were split between Prometheus Exenthal and Seleene.

Edit: Dragon Age II is out, I may be missing for a few days ;)