Logged in, killed a raven, then logged out.

Logged in, killed a raven, then logged out. More or less. I logged in to change a skill when Viper Sam told me a raven was chasing his hurricane and that combat was imminent. Okay, I said and docked up and changed into a 'cane just as Viper told me that he was now being engaged by the Raven at the gate. He initiated hostile action against Viper Sam, so no sentry fire for my piratical brother.

My battlecruiser screamed into the fight landing about 12km from the gate and about 4km from the mighty Raven-class battleship. I hesitated for a split second before I fired on the ship: I would be drawing automated sentry gun fire as the raven, while fighting against Viper was NOT firing on me. Therefore, under the CONCORD engagement rules, I would be flagged as the aggressor and deal with appropriately.

0.5 seconds later, I opened up fire and drew the fury of the sentry guns. My drones screamed out of the bay and I engaged the raven.

Viper Sam had EMP rounds that blasted off the shields off the Raven while my HAIL-class shells tore into the thin armour with gusto. It melted off the armour in a very satisfying fashion. A thing of beauty.

I was tanking the sentry gun fire but with my drones out, the automated guns switched between them as well as me so it reduced the DPS. God bless the drones! The raven exploded the pilot warped away, dejected.

Here's the killmail.

2007.10.30 23:10

Victim: Frisbie
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Outlaw-Star
Destroyed: Raven
System: Gusandall
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:
Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: Sabretooth Light Missile

Name: Viper Sam
Security: -9.8
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Sissy Boys
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: Hurricane

Destroyed items:
Invulnerability Field I, Qty: 1
Ballistic Deflection Field I, Qty: 1
Heat Dissipation Field I, Qty: 1
Siege Missile Launcher II, Qty: 2
Inferno Rage Torpedo, Qty: 344 (Cargo)
Inferno Rage Torpedo, Qty: 23
Medium Tapered Capacitor Infusion I, Qty: 1
Type-D Power Core Modification: Diagnostic System, Qty: 1
'Anointed' I EM Ward Reinforcement, Qty: 1
Cap Booster 800, Qty: 12 (Cargo)
Ballistic Control System I, Qty: 3

Got podded

A relatively slow night, popped a stabber piloted by a 4 year vet but it was later on, when I was out in the rupture in yet another mixed gang; I jumped in and then so did others and well, it was fun while it lasted!

Got killed well and truly, I was slow getting pod out too - didn't realise I was down to structure until I popped.

Good job by the UFA and AMC pilots who appear to be making some inroads into Eifer and Gusandall. This is good for all concerned. Means more targets and loot and that is always good!

Concord confirmed my death.

2007.10.29 23:15

Victim: flashfresh
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Destroyed: Capsule
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: Captin hero (laid the final blow)
Security: 0.3
Alliance: United Freemen Alliance
Corp: Mobile Alcohol Processing Units
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: 425mm Medium Prototype I Automatic Cannon

Name: sue AGPlant
Security: -1.1
Alliance: Apoapsis Multiversal Consortium
Corp: Divine Assembly of Forgotten Travelers
Ship: Jaguar
Weapon: Jaguar

Name: Ephetian
Security: -1.9
Alliance: Apoapsis Multiversal Consortium
Corp: Fabulous Soulcatchers
Ship: Manticore
Weapon: 'Arbalest' Cruise Launcher I

Skigannon came back.

Jubes and I tackled Skigannon, once again in his ishtar. Jubes went in first and tackled then called me in. Mid-way through warp I saw 'gf' from Skigannon.

I mean, WTF? I thought to myself.

On arrival, Jubes' hurricane-class battlecruiser (a dual rep active tank setup) was not there, just a smoking wreck. Drones were buzzing around and I was a tad worried, I locked and webbed Skigannon and was disappointed to see that the majority of the shields were still there and his armour was untouched.

Oh dear i thought.

No matter, I had Hail M loaded, not the best choice against shields but Jubes did cause enough damage that my drones managed to strip off the remaining shields quickly enough. My 425mm ACs (refitted from the usual dual-180mm ACs) opened up with a furious barrage. Hail M is a real motherfucker of an ammo, specialised yes, but it was perfect for this engagement: short and sweet. No tracking issues (due to both of us being webbed) and no running either.

However, Skigannon's drones (ogre IIs) ripped my shield to pieces and I was toggling first one and then both MAR IIs to keep my hull safe. However, his armour was being blasted off too - and from memory, he had only one MAR II and a Med Capacitor Booster in place. I was hoping that I would be on top. His armour disappeared before his MAR could cycle and his was in hull. The Hail ammo absolutely ate into him while I was tanking with about 55% armour and holding.

Skigannon's Ishtar went down to 50% and yes, it seemed to be just sitting there, I had this horrible feeling once more but the Gods of wars were with me and his hull popped. I snapped the scrambler towards the pod but he insta-warped out of there.

I grabbed all the surviving mods from Jubes' wreck and what was left from Skigannon. Once more, I congratulated Skigannon on what I think is the best Ishtar fit I have seen. Over the last two engagements, I have managed to get an idea on what his low-slot fit might be.

Killed some goons

Was hoping to jump to Molden Heath for some action when an impromptu gang was formed with Jubes, Viper Sam, Rhyko and ImYourNightmare. There appeared to be some Goons in local and while I respect them and wish them the best against GBC down South, a target is a target. So am in wolf and join the gang, eager for the kill. It would be an uneven fight in terms of numbers, as MDK187 only had one more gang mate (Dynamic Man in local) - we had four but what fights are equal? This wasn't a duel but an ambush / gank and we wanted to guarantee a kill. However, this Goon corp (Battlestars) had been in Eifer earlier and had scored hits. See this link. So they were out and about and all power to them.

The gang, having formed took some time to locate the target as MDK187 was moving in and out of low-sec. Us pirates couldn't move out after him due to the unpleasant gate guns, so we waited.

ImYourNightmare called us in however once he managed to engage MDK187. Nightmare was in his hurricane-class battlecruiser and man, can that baby tank. I have no idea what he has on that puppy but I want to know! We engaged the myrmidon and blasted it to scrap. Dynamic Man can roaring into the fight to help his fellow Goon and his Pilgrim clamped it's neutralisers onto the slab-shaped hurricane. Jubes (rupture), Viper Same (stabber) and I (wolf) kept on the primary target of the myrmidon but I switched my warp scrambler onto the newly arrived pilgrim. Can't be having that tasty looking ship escape now can we?

The myrmidon, mighty as it was, held on bravely but ultimately - it popped under the furious onslaught. I was in two-minds whether to snag and pod the capsule but I didn't want to lose the point on the pilgrim. I had no indication that anyone else had a point so did not want to risk it. MDK187 warped away.

The pilgrim, feared as it was, stood no chance against the four remaining ships and it was dismantled in short order, blowing up in a glorious burst of light and sound. I snagged and podded Dynamic Man since no fight would be complete without the lovely squishy sound of a pod being ripped open and it's organic contents flash-freezing in the vacuum. The gang did not agree, prior to the fight on whether we should ransom the Goons so the default option was to kill them.

'GF' was exchanged but MDK187 was a little sore complaining about the 4 v 2 they had. No fights are fair and to be honest, ImYourNightmare could have probably taken both the myrmidon and the pilgrim solo, such was his tank.

MDK187 promised to come back. I can't wait.

The loot was decent but it's about the thrill of the fight for me.

Logging Maller and Fun In A Complex

Jubes was back online and was delighted we had finally killed Skigannon and his ishtar but to the antics of today: only fun was me tracking down a maller and killing it. The pilot in panic logged out but made the mistake of logging back in 1 minute later. I was still where I was and snagged him again and killed his cruiser stone dead. Missed the pod though.


Notice that the pilot was not in local yet his ship was? Of course, he probably wasn't expecting to get ambushed today.

Jubes (first words to me were: 'gang me and let's kill that ferox') and I also tracked down a ferox that was afk in a complex. We landed about 69KM and tried to close the distance before the pilot noticed. I got in close and opened up. Jubes was in his rupture (another one) but it was slow with no mwd. Once I started to open fire on the ferox, the pilot woke up, spat out x5 drones and threw out missiles towards me and Jubes. I killed the drones quickly and tanked the damage but the pilot was smart enough to direct all his missile fire to me and strip my shields down. I was relying on a 400mm RT plate and small signature to protect me but I couldn't also break the ferox tank solo, even in a wolf. The drones had done their damage when the last one was finally dispatched. Jubes was still over 50km away. Now, I thought he would warp out and then back to me but in the heat of the combat, there was a communication break down. I have no active armour tanking on the wolf, as I have a small offlined SAR II. Can't fit it alongside a 400mm RT plate so I was losing chunks of armour with each missile blow.

Jubes was still too far when I had to warp out.

I whipped the wolf around once I got to the nearest planet and came back in. Jubes finally had engaged but he was tanking missile fire from 50km all the way into his optimal at the 3km range.

Even with a double-repper/double-booster setup it was a big ask and eventually Jubes popped. I think Jubes ship knocked the ferox down to armour but couldn't sustain.

Pity - it would have been an excellent kill.

Fun in Eifer

Had an interesting day, on logging Jubes called me in. Jubes is one of the residents of Eifer / Gusandall and we've struck up a rapport. He was on the end of my guns a while back but the world turned for him and he became a vicious and respected pirate. Certainly, I can learn from him now - especially since he has been with M34N for a while.

He was piloting a claw and had spotted a stiletto and needed some help to kill it. I had my rupture with me , nano'ed for speed with no tank and gank. It took over 15 minutes before we managed to track down the interceptor but even with my mwd; there was no way in hell I could catch the enemy interceptor. Jubes closed the distance in his equally fast claw, leaving me in the slow boat rupture, floundering.

I did manage to send the drones after him however.

My cap had finally been exhausted and I slowed. I suddenly realised that I was horribly exposed. Like most run of bad events, things go from bad to worse. A hurricane-class battlecruiser dropped out of warp more or less alongside me. Eh?

I tried to get into optimal but he had me webbed and scrambled. I fired back as luckily, us Minmatar don't need cap to fire. We do need cap to repair or to run away - both things that I couldn't do. However, my DPS was too low compared to that of the cane but I managed to get it down to armour. My 1600mm plate saved me from an insta-pop but with no cap whatsoever, I could not run anything else. My end was inevitable.

2007.10.24 16:57

Victim: flashfresh
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Destroyed: Rupture
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:
Name: Arkady Sadik
Security: -0.7
Alliance: Electus Matari
Corp: Gradient
Ship: Stiletto
Weapon: Warp Disruptor II

Name: Robert Kauliford (laid the final blow)
Security: 2.0
Alliance: Electus Matari
Corp: Re-Awakened Technologies Inc
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: Hobgoblin I

Destroyed items:
Proton M, Qty: 2000 (Cargo)
Damage Control I, Qty: 1
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Qty: 2
Cross-Lateral Gyrostabilizer I, Qty: 1
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I, Qty: 1
10MN MicroWarpdrive I, Qty: 1
Barrage M, Qty: 47

It was a good fight, no smack but once my GCC had gone I came back in my rifter for revenge but there was no one around. Later on, in my wolf I got a few satisfying kills but it was much later in the evening that Jubes and Sai Kon requested help from me. There was an ishtar in local, it had already popped Jubes before and he was eager for revenge. We needed a lot of firepower to kill it and from what Jubes told me, it had T2 gear throughout. A challenge and worthy of us pirates. Who cares if it could turn out to be a 3 v 1? No fights in EVE are fair. So I decided to bring out my nanocane. A hurricane with large shield extenders and nano-fibers in the lows. No armour tank but with a meaty shield HP buffer and T2 ACs with barrage / hail / emp. It should be enough right?

So the ishtar pilot was playing smart. While he had no idea me, Jubes and Sai were in the same gang, he wasn't taken chances and hugged the Emolgranlen gate closely. Occasionally, he would jump into high sec space and then jump back in and warp to a belt. Maybe in a effort to catch a pirate doing his business. Certainly, that was how he took down Jubes when he was pirating in his rupture the other day.

This went on for about ten minutes before Sai (in his rifter) managed to get a point on the Ishtar. The communications channel burst into life as we all fired up our engines and vectored into Sai. Jubes in his claw had already joined in and both him and Sai were waiting for my hurricane to join in. By the time the warp tunnel had evaporated and vomited me out into real space, the environment I found myself in was buzzing with drones. The Ishtar had locked onto the interceptor and was sending T2 mediums. However, as soon as I landed - the valkyries were withdrawn and ogre IIs screamed out. I hit the scrambler and webber and hit a nice 5KM orbit or so and opened up.

His ogre IIs started to tear into me, my shields start to disappear fast.
'Kill his drones guys. Kill his drones!' I also snapped on my x2 medium smart bombs, a last minute addition based on what Jubes had said. However, the drones were being very persistent and skigannon, the ishtar pilot skilfully scooped them up when their shields were being damaged. Meanwhile, I was also being pelted with T2 hybrid ordnance from the ishtar. My shields held up a little as his DPS slackened but I suddenly realised my folly: I should have fit either a shield recharger or a booster as I had next to no armour and it was doubtful if my damage control unit could do enough. Out came his drones, the ishtar was out of shields and down to 45% armour as my emp smashed into him. I forgot to change to hail and decided that the time it would take to change was too precious. My mistake though as it turned out. His last bit of armour disappeared and I felt we had him. My shields were gone but his rounds were killing my armour in chunks. Throughout this, I must have killed some of his drones but left the detail to my two wingmen. The ishtar dropped to about 50% hull just as I entered hull. He managed to pull back a bit of armour, much to my chagrin, while I was now on fire. I dropped very quickly into 25% hull and Skigannon could smell blood while I could smell something else!

The Ishtar's hull refused to go below 50% (eh?) while mine was finally blasted into oblivion. A little bit shocked, I yelled out to Jubes and Sai to finish off the job as the Ishtar was now at 50% hull, no shield and no armour. I warped out of there.

Jubes and Sai both died very quickly. The Ishtar survived.

What a fight. Skigannon survived a 3 v 1 with a sliver of hull left. What a pilot and what a ship! I congratulated him but did make it a point that I would have to come back for him later!
Take a bow Skigannon.
2007.10.24 17:46
Victim: flashfresh
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Destroyed: Hurricane
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:
Name: skigannon (laid the final blow)
Security: 0.7
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Space Forces of EvE
Ship: Ishtar
Weapon: Ogre II
Destroyed items:
EMP M, Qty: 98
Gyrostabilizer I, Qty: 2
Damage Control II, Qty: 1
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon II, Qty: 2
Medium Proton Smartbomb I, Qty: 1
Local Hull Conversion Nanofiber Structure I, Qty: 1
Beta Hull Mod Nanofiber Structure, Qty: 1
Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction, Qty: 1
Dual 180mm Carbine Repeating Cannon I, Qty: 1
Medium Rudimentary Concussion Bomb I, Qty: 1

Anyway, I docked up and found my second 'cane. Jubes had to log so this left me and Sai who then went afk. Anway, another member of the independence channel was around: JacknFrost who offered help. Skigannon was still around in eifer so I decided it was time to even up the odds a bit. Both Jack and I jumped into Eifer as a gang and went looking. Skigannon could obviously see me in local but no-one else. Jack would be the ace.

Sai came back online hungry for revenge in another rifter having had his last one shot out from underneath him. It was Sai who tackled and called me and Jack in. Jack was in his ishkur while Sai was in his second rifter. I came in my second (or is it third) hurricane.

Battle was joined and once again, Skigannon scooped up his medium drones and spat out x5 ogre IIs drones. The graticule flashed red and he started to engage me. With an active armour tank, I felt that this contest would go my way and as my hail ammunition ripped into the Ishtar, I had this tickle at the base of my spine that I would prevail.

Sai and Jack managed to knock out the Ishtar's drone and cause damage but, to my consternation - the ishtar was down to 50% hull and the then damage was stopped. How odd. By this time, I had redirected my light drones and had them chewing on the ishtar's very tough exterior. After a few more minutes of pew-pew, his hull disappeared very quickly. Wonder if it was a graphics bug? Skigannon popped out amidst his wreckage and drones and I cried out to the two wing men to get a point on Skigannon - surely we would not let a ransom opportunity slip by? However, he managed to get away: both Jack and Sai had been flung too far away during the combat to effectively get a point on the pod.

Pity.

The loot was very good and included a hatful of T2 drones (Jack and Sai grabbed them all) some tech 2 light neutron blasters, T2 ammo and a few other choice T2 bits. I grabbed a T2 adaptive membrane and gave it to Sai. He didn't get onto the kill mail as he was knocking out the drones but he deserved as much as anyone. Concord pinged me an evemail and it was a joyous occasion.

2007.10.24 18:36
Victim: skigannon
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Space Forces of EvE
Destroyed: Ishtar
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:
Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: 425mm AutoCannon II

Name: Jack'Frost
Security: -1.7
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Waste Management Inc
Ship: Ishkur
Weapon: Hobgoblin II

Destroyed items:
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Qty: 1
Light Neutron Blaster II, Qty: 1
Co-Processor II, Qty: 1
Energized Reflective Membrane II, Qty: 1
Null S, Qty: 44
Small Nosferatu II, Qty: 1
Valkyrie II, Qty: 2

That was a good kill. We fired off an evemail to Jubes telling him we had avenged him.

Long road and to no avail

I went on a bit of a tour today and I must have covered over 200 jumps in total, and not not one kill, not even a hint of a kill. I managed to get into one belt belt where there was one prospective mark (a destroyer) but he was too far away and he managed to 'gtfo' before I could snap on the scrambler. The wolf is slow and the tech2 afterburner didn't have enough juice. Might consider an mwd instead. So 200 jumps later and nothing, most pilots either docked or were already inside mission complexes. I really need to have a scan probe partner to increase my range of targets! The power of two indeed.

Anyway, about 45 minutes into the journey, I was stuck in a dead-end system for over 30 minutes as some mad Hungarians camped the only exit point. I just jumped from one safe spot to another and this kept me safe; until they got bored and departed.

There was some success albeit late in the game and when I was on my way home. A destroyer or two.

So, during the long journey I was thinking on what was not quite right in low-sec. Quite clearly, one still had to track down other ships to get a decent kill but this was part of the fun of hunting. While I am a patient man, the lack of worthwhile targets is numbing at times. System after system are empty. I would assume that 0.0 would be vast areas of nothingness but low-sec too? Some targets in the belts are noobs who know nothing better so they present little challenge to me, but a kill is a kill nonetheless. Other targets are usually other pirates in T2 BS or force recons, worth challenge certainly but a reach for a solo rifter pilot like me. OK can bring the 'cane out to play.

Overall there is definite a reduction in pilots in low-sec with a subsequent increase in farming haulers.

There must be a way in which one can entice more pilots of all types and persuasion to low-sec. A sprinkling of rare ores would do it as well as greater reward for low-sec missions and agents. Also, I need to adapt to the temporary reduction of target richness. I need to play smarter now and use intelligence to get information on mining operations or ratting locations or I move to some other area. Fighting solo however, does have it's disadvantages. One positive step would be to get a scan probing alt so I better started on it.

Am sure that moving to 0.0 would present it's own challenges but there is some movement on this. Might have to get into a vagabond for this particular trip or my 'gankaruppaofdoom'.

Caracal kill

Had to roam around as I needed to explore and kill someone. I did both. The trip down the pipe was very quiet and not many peeps out in the belts or around complexes. I swear, there should be more high grade ore in low-sec, not as much as 0.0 but enough to entice peeps to mine there and settle in low-sec full time.

I for one, welcome more settlers in low-sec; a bit like what Omega alliance are trying to do. All power to them, means more targets for me. Anyway, I tracked through the systems and spotted a caracal. With nothing else on, I checked the ammo hoppers for the right ammo (EMP) and then scanned down the cruiser. Hitting warp, I landed 2km away and snapped on the disruptor and weapons. They scored excellent hits:

2007.10.22 18:43:07 Combat Your 150mm Light AutoCannon II perfectly strikes KIsei Karamitsu [VVP], wrecking for 108.5 damage.

However, the caracal had a decent shield tank and managed to hold on. Once his shields evaporated it was easy. I podded the pilot and had a chat with him after the kill. Looks like he is in a pirate corp too. I suppose when pirates hunt pirates, it shows you how little there are in the way of viable targets. Christ, does this mean that I have to camp gates and kill those farming haulers in Ingunn?

2007.10.22 18:43

Victim: KIsei Karamitsu
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Vindicta Pirata
Destroyed: Caracal
System: Resbroko
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:
Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Wolf
Weapon: 150mm Light AutoCannon II

Name: Angel Nomad / Archangels


Destroyed items:
Heavy Missile Launcher I
Heavy Missile Launcher I
Heavy Missile Launcher I
Medium C5-L Emergency Shield Overload I
Small Armor Repairer I
Magnetic Scattering Amplifier I
Flameburst Light Missile, Qty: 200 (Cargo)
Punk ID Slice (Cargo)
Sabretooth Light Missile, Qty: 100 (Cargo)
Small Armor Repairer I (Cargo)
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Inhibitor I
Stasis Webifier I (Cargo)
Dual 180mm AutoCannon I (Cargo)
Scourge Heavy Missile, Qty: 10

Making a bid to be a News Clones for EVE-TV

Am making a bid to be a news clone for EVE-TV.

"Law-abiding citizens have continued to push into previous well-known pirate haunts causing much consternation to the local eye-patching wearing populace. Omega alliance have been moving pilots and ships into Eifer and the surrounding low-sec regions and bravely establishing a presence by blasting outlaws of all hues. They have scored numerous successes against the many independent pirates in the area and the largest local pirate corporation, MeanCorp (ticker: M34N) are, for some unknown reason, been set to friendly to Omega Alliance.

In related news, MeanCorp made a decision to join the infamous pirate alliance called 'The Church' that includes many a well-known pirate organisations including Infinitus Odium (INFOD) and Beer and Kebabs (BNK). The decision to move came as a surprise to many of the local residents as it means a relocation from Heimatar to Molden Heath for Colonel Kurtz, Tiggertime and Feral Karkassia and their friends. Surely there's no relationship between the emergence of Omega and the freeing up of Eifer?"

Hungarians?

I see that Omega Alliance has been making a home in and around Eifer. Looks like no one is prepared to shift them. M3AN are BLUE to them for crying out loud. Strange, so strange.

Back after a break

Between RL issues and my ISP giving my crap. Am back. Am angry and want to kill someone. So on the day I come back there is a long patch day. Fuck.

However, this devblog article gave me a reason to cheer. Long have I wanted a means in which I can view the kill mails ingame. While I use Battleclinic a lot, something ingame would be cool too. Also, no more killmails going to NPCS and the full value of the kill is recorded with rigs included. Are implants included too?

YAAARRR. I want more. I need to kill someone. I lost the Jag and Wolf but am getting two more right now. God bless New Eden.