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.