31 Jan 2009

Ouch - GoodFight Cry Havoc

Ouch - we got our balls kicked between our legs. Cry Havoc did the right thing, brought a great setup and had excellent target calling.... and those paladins are obscene. Our plan was to quickly knock out their ishkurs and then concentrate on the paladins but they dropped our support first (Vigil, Griff and Kitsune) very quickly - too quick for us. The drake is a relatively slow damage dealing machine, able to soak up fire and then grind their way through the opposition. Missiles, after all take time to travel towards the opposition. I think the drake swarm had merit but our previous setup with the four abaddons was better. The large lasers able to inflict instant damage across distance - it makes a difference you know?

However, shield systems have a EM hole......and lasers just love to poke in that hole. Our biggest weakness was their biggest strength. Even our heavily shield tanked drakes; the focus of laser firepower from four of these paladin ships - ripped through them with ease. We had planned for them: we were going to throw ECM drones on them; but landing 50km from the paladins meant that our little friends had to fly their way towards the marauders. That was the first problem; we allowed the paladin free shots on any ship for a good half minute until our drones reached them. In that time, our frigate support was taken out and that was it.

Once our ECM drones locked on; we had no more EWAR support so Cry Havoc's own ishkurs then did the number on us. We were dampened and jammed and couldn't get any traction. Eventually the ECM drones were all destroyed by the paladins (smartbombs most likely) and they could once more join in the fight. I switched my resolution script for a range script to break past the dampeners and I managed to kill the last ishkur before I blew up.

What should we have done? Well hindsight is 20-20 but we should have landed closer to the abaddons, warping into the beacon at 0 and went for at least two of the paladins just to get more points instead of burning away from them. Seven drakes would be an awful lot of DPS even for a paladin to tank. Being closer would have partly negated the effect of the dampeners and given us a more of a chance.

Good Fight from Cry Havoc; no complaints apart from one of their number warping into our assembly area! Sneaky I have to say. Hope he had a passive targeteer 'cause that's what I would have done....

Here's the audio: http://audio.eve-news.net/Alliance_Tournament/6/Day3d3_match16.MP3

We now wait for the other results, we think we have a slim chance of progressing to the next round IF there's a number of totalhelldeaths from the teams already above us who are battling those below us. We cling onto the slim chance that we finish 31st or 32nd out of the finalist and get in. We really needed to get more points during this match to add to our 125 from the KIA match. Like I said, slim.

Just wanted to thank all The Bastards and their friends for their unwavering support. Just for them we should have won that game and gave them something to cheer about.

29 Jan 2009

Am alive but we are er, hunting rabbits....

Shhhh - am alive but I am hunting rabbits.....

Actually, my blog posts have been a bit curtailed as of late; with the Alliance Tournament I (and many others) have been busy testing and re-testing setups and tactics as well as engaging in an exercise of internal security. Our recruitment has been postponed since before christmas in order to cut down any potential spy infiltration.

We have completed our examination of our actions against KIA, that match is in the past and no-one in The Bastards has even mentioned that win for days: we have Cry Havoc ahead of us and what focus we have (we're pirates after all) has been on this new opponent.

Thanks to Massively! we were mentioned positively by James Egan and Scrapheap Challenge has started another thread here.

I was called in by my CEO RoninData and was told (once again) to be on stand-by; no-one knows the setups but he did ask me whether my hurricane was rigged and ready to go. Of course it was, I replied - they always are, all five of them! I am a 100% hurricane specialised pilot, all my primary skils related to flying and fighting in this beast are at maximum ability. However, this ship hasn't seen too much action, if any in the any tourney. The flavour of the tourney, still is the ishtar I think.

Meanwhile, piracy continues under The Bastards flag and Hera Darkthorn has been killing people in a most impressive fashion. One of his latest kills is a vagabond with a taranis and such has been his prowess (other kills included an arazu and the arazu pilot with Hera in an ishkur) - that our CEO had awarded any T1 hull from our loot hangar to Hera. We even have the best solo kill awards running again. Best solo kill I ever had was a rifter versus a tempest; though the tempest pilot was a complete nub and didn't even deploy drones on me.

Anyway, the clock continues to count down. I hope we do well against Cry Havoc - they look like a fearsome team with a well-earned reputation and no matter what happens; it will be fun. Roll on Saturday!

27 Jan 2009

We have Cry Havoc in the next round!

Yes, we have Cry Havoc in the next round!

26 Jan 2009

YouTube Video of The Bastards v KIA Alliance

The AT6 video link for our match is now up--> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=H2-jfjvRTbY&feature=channel

Enjoy!

25 Jan 2009

Am very proud of The Bastards

Today was a great day: we, The Bastards signed up for the Alliance Tournament Number 6 and had drawn KIA ALLIANCE first. A big name and feared in some quarters but as soon as we knew we were in; nearly all of the corp went to SISI and started training and practising. We temporarily stopped our recruitment process and cut back on more, 'ordinary' activities.

We trained hard and tried out dozens of setups.

After each practise, we learnt more and our grin got wider and wider. Right up to the last minute, no-one knew what the team set up would be. Only our FC knew and he was playing things very close to his/her chest.

This afternoon, the team was announced, moved to a staging area and the ventrilo server became a cacophony of mad noise. The rest (including me) cheered ourselves hoarse. There was no worry or fear amongst the Bastards team; no talk about the opposition only on how we were going to do. The entire corp had volunteered time and resources to train and train and train. We were ready.

KIA came with seven Ishtars and a vigil.

We laughed.

The game kicked off....and here you can hear the rest.

Ishtars died horribly and two ran out of bounds too. I think the match was the shortest so far.

Some quality quotes from the audio commentary:

"OMG this is absolute carnage!"
"I don't think jesus is with the ishtars today...."
"A smart bombing scorpion from The Bastards!"
"I was a little but surprised that the KIA Alliance ishtars were fielding hammerheads...."
"Very unfortunate for KIA"

20 Jan 2009

EVE Speedlinking for January 2009

Well, it is the new year and I hope everyone had a restful and fun time. I certainly ate too much, drank too little (!), slept too little and had a good time. I do regret missing out on the Bastards Meet in London on the 20th December as well as not being able to log in much over the christmas period however; piracy - didn't entirely stop in New Eden.

So, while I have not been able to link in; I have been avidly reading the various pirate blogs that are out there. If for some reason, you are not on this eve pirate blogger's list - drop me a line.

Oh, an article penned by yours truly has made it into print for E-ON #14. Read Crazy Kinux's account of this issue.

Now, onto the existing Pirate Bloggers:
  • Kane Rizzel continues to pummel and smash mission runners and their associates in 'Operation Farmer Smash'. There was very little Christmas cheer for these mission runners. Not when Kane has the bit between his teeth and alcohol in his belly. Then there was a break over the new year where Kane recharged his batteries and he came back with single-minded determination. The systems near where Kane lives has many, many raven-class battleships running mission after mission. Many are now getting smarter and using scouts and aligning to stations as soon as they arrive in the mission area. All to make it harder for pirates to get them. However, Kane is a deadly and persistent predator. So sit back and read his account of how he hunts in Your mission should you choose to accept...
  • I spent a fair time with Mynxee under the mistletoe this christmas. She's a great kisser but one needs to avoid her sharp tongue; if you catch my drift. As with many pilots in New Eden (both capsuleers and non-eggers) it was the right period to take time off. Mynxee needed her space to recollect her thoughts and refocus and I hope the travels has blown out any cobwebs. Once she was back, she continued her on and off romance with Roc - a brilliant, ad-lib conversation through the blog posts; with both posters writing about the same events. Goodbye and hello indeed - I do recommend it. Let's not stop here; she's a pioneer is Mynxee and she decided on dragging out people's opinions on ECM and piracy. Some very good comments there - if you have a strong feeling or opinion, drop them here. Then the beauty of small fleet (complete with two Bastards in two) action in her most recent account is retold here and welcome to Venom, The Hellcats latest recruit.
  • Ah, my dearest Shae. How I love her soft, silky purring voice and her sharp nails dancing down my back...er, sorry - wrong entry! Anyway, Shae Tiann once again shows me just why I think she's one of New Eden's most talented writers with a thought-provoking tale of a capsuleer 'becoming' in the God Makers. Her work has been recognised and now she's also part of the EVE Fiction Pack. Come on over and have a look. You will not be disappointed. She continues with her novellea, Thicker Than Blood: Chapter Six. This series is highly recommended. Finally, it was with some surprise that she recounted a change meeting we had last night. I didn't realised that I never took my shades off. For you Shae, I will take them off. Change can be disturbing and yes, The Alliance is moving along - a bit too quick so will need to slow down somewhat. With the Alliance tourney arriving as well so soon; there's an element of paranoia too. Still, if you need to have a quiet chat, you know who to call.
  • Biz Quick has now joined up with Twisted, a pirate corporation and he started his tour of duty with these scurvy sea dogs with a Free Faction Battleship! However, Biz returns to form with a cold beer in hand and targets in front. Actually, I met Biz in the flesh last night - he was with Sard Caid and were hanging around one of the Evati stations. I know both by reputation and associations (being fellow bloggers) but not everyone in The Bastards did. Biz was tackled by one of our number, Sard came to his rescue - mates backing each other up but the The Bastards damage output completely destroyed Biz's sacrilege while Sard got away. I do recall that there was a discussion amongst the pirate bloggers what they would do if they met up in space; with no standings in place; would we all take the opportunity to open fire first? I think the answer was a resounding yes. Hats off to Biz and Sard for a good fight.
  • I love Ka Jolo's style and verve when it comes to writing and his entries include fantastic accounts of piracy with his corp, the Tuskers (check out 100 minutes of Tusker Glory) but it is his examination of excuses made during and after a fight that has the mind juices flowing. Just for your information, his discussions over a 'GF' deserves another mention.
  • Like many pirates, Wensley has been busy and not managed to undock much but his a pirate and they live by many codes, one is 'Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbour's Rock'. A very important one as you can see.
  • Marleus of Ironfleet uses his battle crane to great effect. He even chased off a wolf in it. For those pirates out there who prefer to er, acquire goods and need a ship with a big enough cargo and how it should be done; read Ironfleet.
  • For the love of the profession is the latest entry from one of my favourite pirate corporates, Suddenly Ninjas, run by Tchell Dahhn. Yes, Marleus is in the same alliance as these chaps.Tchell is now a member of the CSM I gather? Excellent!
  • VB Sarge continues to have much happen in his real life but he had time to sit down and pen yet another quality post under the title 'Sometimes you just do' and most pirates will agree with the tone and sentiments of this most complex pirate. Recommended reading.
  • Krendar starts to feel the need for sleep as she juggles a 1000 things at once. Setbacks is her latest blog post and in character too.
  • Sard Caid, is not a solo pirate anymore having signed up with Twisted Inc. Still, he captures perfectly the trials and tribulations of flying solo. He muses on where his path may take him and yes, The Bastards can be quite chaotic - we're pirates after all and not a well-oiled and disciplined alliance. I question whether Faction Warfare would be a suitable avenue - you get low-sec PvP without hits to your security for sure, but from my experience, it does vary and over towards the Gallente and Caldari fisticuffs, they sometimes degenerate into blob fests.
  • You want some smack talk in local? Hallan managed to copy the conversation spewing forth from some gate campers as he was drifting through a system. Great read.

New Pirate Blogs:

No new year's post from the other assembled pirates though:

14 Jan 2009

EON Awards Nominee!!

Flashfresh is an EON Awards Nominee! I am a bit shocked and humbled that I have been nominated in the EON Awards category of Writer of the Year!

I hope that my loyal readers (all of 2 or is that 3?) spend four minutes to cast their votes for your truly.


Additionally, I urge you to check out the other nominees; Mynxee and her blog 'Life in Low-Sec' is in it's own category.

12 Jan 2009

Isk and well, more isk.....

A loss with a silver lining
It was with some surprise and sadness that the first week of January had us Bastards bade a fond farewell to Jedizah and Kulmid. Both whom I count as friends and assets to the pirates. Their reasons for (in my view) an abrupt departure was driven by their need to engage in even more and more pure ship combat; free from the constraints of politics and other baggage. Hopefully, away from anyone using an excessive amount of Falcons too. For that, they've joined up with Club Bear; a corporation with a fearsome reputation for combat prowess. They are mobile and travel extensively, picking up fights are they go along. They also have some impressive videos of them dishing out carnage.

I can see the attraction of this, The Bastards has increasingly been establishing a base in our system and the surrounding areas so we're much more tied to territory. We still roam of course. though we derive a portion of our monthly income from the relatively rich pickings around the system. It is not in our immediate plans to leave our current home.

Still, the two departures have been viewed by all as an opportunity to step up and fill their considerable shoes - both in terms of acting as new fleet commanders and in the back-office roles they have been engaging. A pirate organisation isn't just all about the yarr but relies on the dedication and hard graft of loot selling and ransom management.

Speaking of which, it was pay day for me and all the other bastards and associates. Just to give you an idea, here is an amended and cut-down payout list from the loot sales listing in our forums of items sold since October/Novemeber 2008. The names have been removed to protect the er, innocent. Also, the number of # are random so plugging in the names of known Bastards will not work. So no risk of any muggings of isk thank you very much. However, I am immensely pleased with my pay out all from the combined loot drops from kills.

#### 259,071,266 isk
##### 13,053,234 isk
######### 191,894,511 isk
######## 85,603,274 isk
# 106,990,146 isk
### # 5,927,862 isk
##### # 144,973,662 isk
## 49,575,916 isk
### 201,897,050 isk
### 66,209,240 isk
###### 255,560,451 isk

Not bad numbers and it doesn't include the income from ransoms and individual kills since we have a 'you-keep-what-you-kill-when-you're-solo' rule. There's still more loot to sell as well.

Once again, the ease and smooth running of this process ensures that all pirates involved in any kill will get a share of the loot that is successfully sold. We have developed an application that takes the kill mails and the loot (from the asset manager) and organises it into a hyperlinked format that can inform the directors who is due what amount from which ever kill, based on kill-id. Just have a look at the screenie on the right. All the useful information is there and makes the loot split per kill as well as a summation, so much easier. With the amount of loot we are dealing with - a more robust and automated system was required.

If only the selling and automatic distribution of the loot can be done automatically too....

Oh, just to show you how much we love this process here's a quote from one of our pirates when he noticed his isk bonaza...
Nice work!!!! Bet that took a while to sort, and explains why you've been a right sour c*nt the last day or two, RoninData.

A happy pirate
You have to laugh. It's not easy being the CEO is it, and worse if you're in charge of a bunch of cussing, grog swilling and cut-throat pirates.

However hats off to Perdy for this application!

There's an obstruction ahead of us.... Lately, The Bastards have been trying to figure out a way of circumventing or pushing aside a rather large corporation now parked about five jumps from our current position. It's already affected two scheduled pirate excursions as these chaps are numerous and has more or less the same TZ coverage as we do. Like us, they have eyes almost everywhere. Unlike us, they are aligned to the Minmatar Militia and are fighting to secure local space from Amarr factions. While I (and most of the Bastards) have stayed away from the increasingly volatile Empire based wars; it's effects are now almost exculsively being felt in low-sec.

Am mildly concerned at the possible reduction in loot and hence isk. Nothing worse than the possibility of not earning isk for a pirate. We love coin too much however, plans are afoot and gathering pace to fix this intolerable attack on our liberties but we've had a lot on lately and with the alliance tourney just round the corner....

Am a director?
Er, yes - it seems that I have been quietly promoted around christmas time to directorhood and I look forward to now raiding the fabled gold-leaf lined toilet paper in the boardroom en-suite bathroom as well as see the famous 'Unemployed Stu's Comfy Soffa' in the corner. Quite funny that no-one told me about both the promotion and the loo roll, but there you go.

Tournament!
Yes, The Bastards are in the alliance tournament. Hooray! We have no plans but to appear in our rag-tag ships and bum rush the opposition and then we will eat their women, board their food and ravish their ships and er, no - wait.

Now, where's my ticket for the event?

5 Jan 2009

0.0 roam and welcome to new recruits


Recruitment
We took a break from active recruitment over the festive period but it did not mean that we were stopping the recruitment process for the existing applicants. Heavens no!

So, in the 'quiet' festive period we (me and z0de) processed another batch and obtained directorship approval and therefore we welcomed the following into The Bastards:
  • Raelyf
  • BravoFox
  • Kalazar
  • Havok Pierce
  • Herdzo
  • Lanissum
  • Jaxxon Voers
I personally thank the above pilots for their patience they have shown us and for their willingness to jump into the fleets when we've ask them to. From the day we've introduced them to our channel, they've been logging in and pulling in some impressive attendance times. In some cases, these chaps have also stepped up and did a bit of FC work too. Very impressive and one reason why they're all in.

There are at least 12 more in recruitment stage 1/2 of our recruitment process but many have not linked into our semi-public chat channel as directed. For those that do, they're almost like ghosts sitting there and waiting for a request for fleets. A bit like waiting in the militia channel and waiting for a fleet invite! If any of the current applications feel that there is an issue, I urge them to contact us at the first opportunity but there is a push by the directors to withdraw an application that has been 'stuck' for more than four weeks.

So we're building up a strong and broad base of competent and experienced pirates now and will continue to take on such pilots if they think they can fly with us. At anyone time, when I link into the corporation chat; I usually see between 3-9 pirates and most of the time, they're ready to rock and roll. Even over the festive period numbers were steady.

0.0 roam!
Lately, we have gangs of about 20+ but it does get a bit unwieldy with these numbers unless there is strict discipline. Something that we're striving to improve with the swift and frequent use of the cat 'o' nine tails!

An example of this was a roam into 0.0 with a fleet of about 24-26 ships. A right rabble to be sure but plenty of firepower nonetheless. We included Mynxee in our midst as well as some chaps from Filthy Scum, another bunch of scabby pirates from yonder. The roam was through null-sec where we encountered and destroyed a small number of ships who fell into our trap. We ended the roam around Konora where out FC decided to break up the fleet after trying to engage some of the locals. All we ended up doing was popping a taranis.

However, the night did not end well - VB Sarge had set his ship to dock and left his ship drifting towards the station. It actually did not dock for some reason and taranis pilot took revenge by coming back out in his carrier with friends to destroy his ship and to pod Sarge.

Some pirates decided to rest up here and enjoy the pleasures of Konora, despite the unfortunate loss of Sarge's tempest. I can vouch for the decent beer and women of all types resident in Konora. However other pirates were eager to get going and continue the roam. The small matter of a carrier and her attendant support ships outside prevented an immediate getaway. Mynxee urged patience as she was sure these chaps would get bored and five minutes later, sure enough - the exit was clear and the pirates made a dash for it. The options included a dash through empire space, a return through null sec or a dash through empire then null-sec. All options were taken as there were no FCs and the pirates, scattered.

All got back home (I think) safe and sound; including myself. I went through empire high-sec space; scaring the locals until I landed in Offikatlin with a sigh of relief.

Slaughtered by the Minmatar Militia
Well had to happen, I had spied two rifters in local and narrowed it down to a command bunker in the system, so in my jaguar (fit to be like a rifter - an experiment and bad idea); I warped to the acceleration and was followed by a slasher. I locked it but he managed to activate the gate and escaped.

I gave chase and was eager to kill the slasher and the rifters when I hit scan again and froze. There were more than three ships there. I landed in the middle of a 'plexing fleet of two destroyers and numerous frigates. I died so quickly I didn't even get a screenshot. Well done to the militia gang; nice to see a frigate / destroyer fleet. I grabbed as many Bastards as I could and returned but they had finished what they were doing and flipped us the bird and left! I do like these minmatar militia types; they're pretty cool. I hope they come back for more.

2 Jan 2009

Yoink....and a happy new year!


After a crushing defeat where The Bastards lost almost an entire battle ship fleet to a mix of The Final Stand and their friends, it was time to recoup our losses and lick our wounds. From what I can gather, the fight was a good ol' fashioned toe-to-toe smash mouth type of engagement with no falcons on either side. TFS gave us a good spanking, smashing apart our fleet with 11-to-1 kill to loss ratio. Of course, we could not even pick up our loot or wrecks so it was a big isk loss too. Still, congratulations need to go to TFS for showing how effective a BS fleet can be.

The New Year started off with myself, Kalazar and Maltrox jumping into Rorsins to assist another pirate in tracking down a rokh-class battle ship. The pilot in question is normally red to us but pirates tend to put aside such small matters when there is a definite prize and in this case, a battle ship pilot, ratting in the belts was worthy enough to turn a blind eye to a fellow fleet member blinking an angry red. With a complete cruiser fleet we jumped through the high-sec pocket of Anher and the rendezvous point was to be Thelan.

Unfortunately, we were too slow to move as we had to wait for a criminal countdown to expire and by the time we were ready to move, the Rokh had docked up. After wandering around, with no targets in sight we returned to Evati for a refit, reload and break. The plan was to take one of the set roaming routes we have and travel the circuit.

In one of our many semi-public channels, filled with information brokers and their ilk, someone volunteered some juicy information.

"A raven and drake in Ofstold." Said our contact. I instantly perked up.

"Confirmation please? Pilot ID and general location?"

"Er, I left system now but caught them on scan."

"This is Kalazar. Am ready to roll. Let me have a look." With that, Kalazar zipped out of our station and performed a one-jump trip into Ofstold. I waited, scanning my sell and buy orders but keeping an ear open for anything solid from my fellow corp mate.

"Confirmed: there's a raven and drake here. About seven in local. I can see some pods too."

I grabbed Robert Peston, my rupture class cruiser and arriving in Ofstold, I also had a look. There was also a few other pilots around, moving between Ofstold and Evati. The chatter trickled through the various channels and slowly the fleet of four grew as a few more pirates linked in.

"This is Flash, confirmed raven and drake. I think they're at a pos. I also see a second drake and one wolf here."

A new voice joined the chatter.

"Need a prober?" It was Havoc, another new pilot with The Bastards. Probers are always so useful and a decent pilot with experience and skills is worth his weight in gold. I replied that we indeed, need one and soon Havoc was joined by another newcomer, BravoFox who was probing for targets but in Evati instead.

"This is Kalazar." He said, loud enough to cut through the chatter. "The Raven and Drake are currently at a POS. The POS is being taken down. It will be off-lined soon am sure....."

Interesting.

"Link pilot names please, we'll check them out to see if they have paid for protection." Kalazar efficient as ever, popped the pilot names and I soon had the corporation details and the employment history of each pilot. They had no passes or any standings with us. They are fair game.

"Let's nick their POS." Interjected Jedizah, linking in to the chat.

"Jed! - where are you?" I said, glad to see one of our best pilots back online. She must have been listening in and had not said anything until now.

"Urm, am docked up and nursing a slight hangover....but you said there's a POS being unanchored? In Ofstold?"

"Affirmative. Kalazar has eyes on it."

"We're going to nick it. Let me get a cloaked ship and I can get better intel. Wait one." With that, Jedizah raced off to make the necessary arrangements.

Meanwhile, the two probers were sifting through results but were having little luck. Probing is a tricky business and success is down to luck as much as skill and experience.

Jedizah, now with the prospect of a POS steal adding a bit of fire to her day confirmed what Kalazar had initially reported back.

"We have a medium POS being offlined. Guarded by a raven and now two drakes, two more pilots are in pods hanging around." There was a laugh from both Kalazar and Jedizah. "It's being unanchored now. Right, we are definitely going to nick it; right from under their noses!"

It was at this time that I discovered that The Bastards had a history of POS stealing, so many of these towers are being thrown up by corporations and then (apparently) forgotten or poorly defended has resulted in rich pickings. It looked very likely that we would add more within the hour.

"Okay, briefing time in two minutes!"

All the pilots in the fleet, available for this operation docked up and left their pods. We all met at the back of the smokey Independence bar in Evati (yes, I still own it) and pulled up chairs in front of Jedizah. We all had drinks and snacks and amidst good natured joshing, we settled in. The fleet now included three non-corp members, but pirates nonetheless. Jedizah outlined the plan on a white board:

"Right everyone. Listen up."

The chatter stopped.

"This medium tower in Ofstold will be unanchored in 57 minutes. I am going to get a cloaked hauler to slide up alongside it, ready for the grab." A hand shot up.

"You're kidding me? You're putting your hand up?" Said Jedizah. The embarrassed pirate pulled his hand back down sheepishly.

"Won't they have a hauler ready? And won't our hauler be decloaked and shot by them?"

"They do have a hauler but with two minutes to go before the POS tower is unanchored, we rush in with combat ships and blow up their hauler and every other ship guarding it." Stated Jedizah. This was greeted with murmurs of approval. "The unanchoring of the tower will continue and once we drop the enemy ships, we take the POS."

"What ships are we likely to face?" Asked Havoc.

"I'll answer that." Kalazar stood up beside Jedizah and tapped on white board and linking into his own tactical computer. The images of two ships appeared. "From what I can see, there's a raven-class battle ship and two drake-class battle cruisers. Two other pod pilots were in the their capsules so we're hoping that they'll come back in something else when the tower goes off-line."

The pilot ID flashed across the board. "Corporation is called 'Commonwealth' and their members of Nebula Crusade Alliance."

"Who are they?" Asked someone.

Kalazar shrugged.

"Thanks Kal." Said Jedizah as Kalazar sat back down. The images of the pilots and the ships disappeared and was replaced by the constellation map of Ofstold. With a swagger stick, Jedizah pointed out the system.

"We will rendevous on the Ofstold gate in Lasleinuer. Am sure they'll be watching the Ofstold gate in Evati." The map rotated a quarter turn and zoomed in.

"I want Flash and Kalazar to bring your HICs. Point and lock down the drakes. Flash you will have 'Kab Ikarus'. Kal, you get 'Infamewolf'." Both Kal and I exchanged looks and nodded. Nice to be bring out the HICs to this party, we both thought.

"Everyone else with a point, get the raven locked down tight and proper. Primary will be the hauler. Then the raven, then the drakes."

I nodded to myself, it was a simple smash and grab plan. Effective with not much to go wrong.

"Questions?"

There were none.

"Okay, be ready in Las on the Ofstold gate in exactly 17 minutes. Let's go!"

Amidst the sounds of screeching chair and table legs, the briefing was over and the pirates went back to their ships and crew. With three minutes to go, all the ships were in position and ready to go in. We had the cloaked hauler already in the same system and the pilot was feeding us up to date intelligence. One of the floating pod pilots had returned in a shuttle.

I glanced at my tactical watch list and scrolled through the fleet pilots:

The Bastards
  • Jedziah, Apocalypse
  • BravoFox, Dominix
  • Randgris, Ishtar
  • Kalazar, Devoter
  • Flashfresh, Broadsword
  • Ard UnjiiGo, Rapier
  • Havok Pierce, Harbinger
Filthy Scum Associates:
  • Lea Shyavase, Thorax
  • Yukkiro Amumishi, Drake
  • Lumari, Eagle
A total of ten ships. A bit much too be honest but one can't keep honest pirates from a score can we? I prevented more from joining up as the pay out would prove to be too low as well as being just down right silly. We're Bastards but we do like to do things in style.

"Okay, the drake targets are starting to orbit around the tower. It's going to be tricky with me cloaked up so close to them. Hope they don't decloak me! The raven is still stationary. Four minutes until POS tower is un-anchored."

"All pilots: final systems check and give me a status report." Ordered Jedizah.

"Flash here. Ready."

"Ard, Ready." So it continued with all fleet pilots reporting back their readiness. The clock read three minutes and I made ready. The timer trickled down to the two minute mark with what felt like glacial-like slowness but finally the order was given.

"Jump, jump, jump and warp to hauler at 10!" Said Jedizah. There was a single gate activation as all the ships jump simultaneously. Once we all materialised in Ofstold, I quickly re-oriented myself and warped to our cloaked hauler at the prescribed 10km range. My broadsword crew and I were eager for blood and as soon as I landed near the POS, I located and locked my designated target: Kab Ikarus in his drake-class battle cruiser. My warp disruption launcher, specially modified by some hacking scripts enabled me to push out a nigh-unstoppable disruption beam that would induce enough instability in my target's warp engines that they could not jump.

"Kab pointed." I said and I knew that the drake was doomed. There was a flash however as the raven managed to align and warp out. No one managed to get a point on it!

"Infamewolf pointed." That was Kalazar in his devoter. With us deprived of our primary target, we locked and pummelled the lumbering hauler. The pilot was no doubt expecting to scoop up the previous tower and was not expecting this. His ship was peeled back to the inner super-structure and destroyed. Our attention then switched to Infamewolf's drake; even with it's massive energy shielding, the firepower we had was overwhelming and it melted and died as did Kab's drake. We even managed to pod one of the shocked pilots.

As soon as the pretty explosion of the last destroyed ship evaporated, the POS tower unanchored. Excellent timing and on cue our industrial pilot decloaked and in one swift, well practised move - scooped the tower, burned away and cloaked. A clean get away.

We scored a tower, some okay loot from the drakes and with no risk and had a laugh doing it. A fast tackler would have been useful to get a point on the raven but meh.

Piracy. Love it.

In the words of Jedizah: "Yoink!"