tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22629283280950100702024-02-19T10:01:31.730+00:00The SpacerSpace is my playground,
Bullets are my toys,
Please come out and play!Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-83833440850112581722013-05-08T12:12:00.001+00:002013-05-08T12:12:18.405+00:00Time to Take a BreakSo far in my career as a capsuleer I've come across a familiar feeling from time to time. It's a feeling that I've learned to accept as part of my life in space. I sit in my lounge and glance at my waiting pod and just...don't feel like getting inside. This happens without warning and I always try to fight it. I get in the pod, activate a ship and roam around rather uninspired.<br />
<br />
As you might have guessed from the title of this post, I am once again fighting with myself. Instead of fighting it, I decided it better to take a little vaycay from space. While I can't give you the details, I can say that there will be a lot of cocktails and hot beaches/bitches. I do enjoy time spent planetside.Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-60981982964619884912013-04-02T07:18:00.000+00:002013-04-02T07:18:35.540+00:00Trial by FireOne thing I love about Min0r Threat is the fresh recruits we take on. These eager young pilots aren't afraid to learn, and learning this trade is done through practice. One of our young bloods, Monnty, landed on grid as I was finishing up a ratter in Hulmate. This was before he joined the Black Sheep and I was soon trying to target him. He escaped, and I left it at that. Soon after I received a mail from him, asking whether Hulmate was a good place to look for fights. That was my queue to invite him to our public channel where Duke convinced him to join our ranks. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieEZNH2Jl_0zPG9rmUOiSMpsE48v6R71ac1O-2UBL2wrRvDNdM4HuT_JS6LUDEOIIlRRufDRaAnIl1LK17f0hd1ZxruoPlBeDYxAwgZKVFGNxwfK2HJX5AZWxjBBqrz2yhZvOxenFdzKI/s1600/Monnty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieEZNH2Jl_0zPG9rmUOiSMpsE48v6R71ac1O-2UBL2wrRvDNdM4HuT_JS6LUDEOIIlRRufDRaAnIl1LK17f0hd1ZxruoPlBeDYxAwgZKVFGNxwfK2HJX5AZWxjBBqrz2yhZvOxenFdzKI/s1600/Monnty.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rookie pilot that can!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Even before he contacted me, he managed to kill a <a href="http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16789066" target="_blank">Retriever</a> along with its <a href="http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16789065" target="_blank">pod</a>. This made him hungry for more, and more he got. By the end of March he scored 21 kills, a lot of them solo, for only 7 losses, giving him an efficiency rating of 86.89%. This guy might look young and innocent, but he'll dish out punishment like the best of them. With his skills still low I can only imagine what this guy will achieve one day when he gets his support skills up high!<br />
<br />
Great job Monnty! <br />
<br />
Monnty is but one of our fresh recruits in Min0r Threat, and our arms are wide open should more wish to join. Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-13419206581352850542013-03-25T07:27:00.000+00:002013-03-25T15:48:31.836+00:00Maller Mauling and a Lucky EscapeI was on my usual roaming route from Maut to Hevrice when I spotted a Maller on dscan towards a medium FW (don't know why I keep defining it as FW plexes anymore) plex. Mmm, I thought, if he went through all the trouble of bringing a Cruiser to a plex, maybe he went through the trouble of fitting it too, instead of just fitting a low stack of stabs. Remembering what I hated about Mallers, their lack of utility highs, I figured that my Tristan was up for the challenge.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>This wasn't my usual Tristan fit, this one was given to me by Meatbix when we were out roaming a week ago, and it was fitted with an armor repairer and a nosferatu. This made me even more confident that I could do this, the few shots that he might get through could be repaired quite easily, not leaving me exposed as a buffer would most certainly do.<br />
<br />
I warped in, I landed close and immediately got point. Now to start pounding this beast's armor. My initial orbit of 4km didn't allow for my hybrids to fight at it's full potential, doing about the same damage as my drones did. I adjusted my orbit a little tighter, allowing the Maller to get a few hits on me, which was easily repaired. My main concern now was the Atron that also came into the plex, hovering 20km away. I braced myself for his rails to pound into my Tristan, but that didn't happen, instead, he joined in taking down the Maller. I was thankful for the help, but I knew my Tristan would fall to the kiter soon after the fight.<br />
<br />
It felt like an hour passed before I broke down the Maller's tank, but I finally started hitting his structure. This is when I noticed that one of my drones were gone, was the Atron pilot now picking them off from a distance? The Maller's structure didn't last long and it <a href="https://zkillboard.com/detail/29362272/" target="_blank">exploded</a>, the pilot making a quick escape in his pod. Before I could even think about leaving myself, the Atron had me disrupted and started pecking at my armor.<br />
<br />
I recalled my remaining four drones, deciding to try a slingshot, and grabbed the loot from the Maller wreck. If I wasn't going to get the fruit of my hard work, he might as well lose some of it when he destroys me, I thought. I didn't even attempt a slingshot as he came in for a tighter orbit, still beyond my reach. My reppers were handling the damage quite well but my capacitor wouldn't last forever. I decided to go out fighting, I launched my drones and sent them towards the Atron. The Atron now switched his guns to the drones and opened the 16km orbit he had around me. I flung my ship around and aligned towards the sun, overheating my afterburners. Another drone went down, leaving only three to harass the Atron. Then I noticed my distance to the Atron grow further and further, he was manual piloting to deal with the drones and must have lost sight of me. I was now furiously pounding the warp button as I our distance reached 24km. My warp drives engaged and I let out a sigh of relief. It was only then that I noticed the tremors in my hands, a nice helping of the shakes, that drug we all crave for, was had. I landed at the sun and started my warp drive again, the Atron landing on top of me a few seconds after I landed. I couldn't get out of my warp fast enough, as I would have loved to take him on up close and personal, though with my drones now lost, it might have been for the best.<br />
<br />
I repaired my burning battle-worn Tristan and hopped into hisec for replacement drones. This was an encounter that was saved by a repper, maybe it is time for me to stop going for the buffer and start active tanking more often.Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-39861628988180705032013-03-21T13:03:00.000+00:002013-03-21T13:03:39.499+00:00A ComPlex SituationLow sec now belongs to factional warfare.<br />
<br />
The transition hasn't been a gentle one either. The influx of fw pilots to low sec is causing a lot of complaints about risk aversion from quite a few pirates. The removal of 2/10 plexes has caused many regions to become silent graveyards, leaving only memories of the great times it once hosted. All the focus has moved to the regions that factions war over so diligently, and with the rewards they give out to those willing to claim territory, it's no wonder capsuleers flock to have a share of the wealth. This wealth comes at minimal risk, ruining the age old saying of high risk for high rewards.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Everywhere you roam you see less than a month old pilots with only enough skills to fly a frigate with stabs and maybe a cloak. The one rat inside the plex isn't a problem, tech 1 guns will do just fine. With the only requirement to earn loyalty points being to stand in one place and wait, they have plenty of tools to avoid any threat that they might encounter. They have all the time in the world to d-scan, a fixed warp in location so they can open range far enough to reduce any chance of being caught and stabs for when they do manage to get caught. This is enough for even the most unskilled pilot to become a pro at avoiding any fights. If any of these pilots actually manages to fail a getaway, the ships they lose are but a fraction of the lp they make while farming these plexes, and the person who managed to kill said ship, is left with a very unsatisfying killmail. I don't blame them, why risk fighting hoards of rats in missions, or risk getting ganked in a mining ship or go through all the trouble of finding sites to explore. If making money is your goal, then there is no equal, and the skill requirements are so low that a one day old pilot can start making big bucks.<br />
<br />
The pirates, desperately chasing these plex farmers around, foaming at the mouth for any kill they might find, has become but an irritation. I have come across quite a few of these plex farmers that started mocking me after their casual escapes. Two such pilots even went as far as to say they would NEVER get caught. Challenge accepted! I ordered a Nemesis from Jita, fitted it with blasters and dual scrams and headed over to their last location. Before going further I'd just like to mention that I realize this was a high risk for almost zero rewards, as the Nemesis costs about 50mil fully fitted and the kills I was hoping to get might be worth maybe one or two million at most, depending if they had a cloak or not. I also realized that I screwed up when planning my fit and brought the wrong shield tank module, at the time I decided to go with an afterburner and leave the tank completely. This was a mistake as you will soon see.<br />
<br />
I headed over to their last location where Buck Assblaster (charming name) was still busy doing...nothing to reap his rewards. To my dismay I couldn't use the warp gate without uncloaking, but luckily mr. Assblaster was either asleep or just didn't care when he saw the Nemesis on dscan. Either way I slowly made my way towards him and <a href="https://zkillboard.com/detail/29261125/" target="_blank">gave him some love</a> after decloaking. One down one to go. The second pilot, Gorakhal the Relentless, wasn't too far away. As soon as I entered system he proclaimed "Don't even bother, you'll never get me!" (or something along those lines) in local. Again I decloaked at the warp gate, but again he didn't care. I started closing the gap between us while cloaked. I was getting anxious, this kill now meant something to me. 15km, does he know I'm here? I did decloak at the warp in...10km, screw it, uncloak and let loose the fury! The problem here was that I was 10km off, and while I successfully had him pointed, my blasters weren't in range to do their magic. The initial surprise was gone when I actually started doing damage, and now he started shooting back. I was webbed but not scrambled, I could still get out! The Nemesis was much slower than your average frigate and it was taking forever to reach warp speed. Meanwhile both our tanks were wearing thin fairly fast, I might still be able to pull this off! But alas, the Merlin claimed a quite <a href="https://zkillboard.com/detail/29261190/" target="_blank">expensive kill</a>. I was grinding my teeth, bracing myself for the slaughter that was to follow in local. Luckily this pilot didn't gloat, and admitted to having had quite a shock when I decloaked. If not for the mistakes made on my side, the Nemesis would have easily removed the Merlin from space, and if I fitted a tank, it would've gone better even with the mistakes. I didn't buy another Nemesis though. As I said, the rewards for such a risk just didn't add up. (and I was too lazy to go back to Jita)<br />
<br />
Not all the fw pilots run away at the sight of danger though. Jadenar125 was one of the few who actually fought back. Once I landed on him and started pointing, fully expecting him to warp away due to the 3 stabs he had equipped, I almost fell out of my chair when he did the the same. He was in an Incursus, I hated fighting these as you never know how well you're doing until the fight is over. This was again the case as I started breaking his armor just so he could almost fully repair it back up. I did manage to nick his structure now and then, bringing him closer and closer to his demise as my Merlin's shields started to wear thin. We circled each other up close, spewing death on each other until finally, his repairer gave way and the Incursus exploded. This was a good fight, even if he was a much younger pilot than I, he did quite well. It turned out he was sporting a Ancillary Armor Repair module and after his ship exploded, the AAR survived, something I've been hoping to loot for a while now. We exchanged good fights in local and had a brief discussion after that. This pilot really impressed me in more ways than one, and on the off chance that you're actually reading this: I salute you Jadenar125!<br />
<br />
On the other side of the spectrum you have bait, followed by a blob, followed by a frantic mashing of the warp button to get your pod to safety. You can't help but feel cheated when this happens but before you jump on the hate train, just think back to the times you were in a fleet and waited at a stargate with a scout on the other side looking for a potential target to point. When in a fleet the goals usually shift from having a good fight to get everyone on the killmail.<br />
<br />
I have to catch myself sometimes when I'm the receiver of the above mentioned tactic. Just this morning I found a Merlin sitting more or less 100km off a station and being in Merlin myself, thought this to be a valid target. He was heading straight for me, but not wanting to fight next to a station, I warped to the sun. A quick check revealed that he had buddies in the system, I expected backup. Once at the sun I noticed a Condor has appeared on dscan, I assumed that was the backup, but checking the short scan I saw the Merlin has almost arrived. I might have enough time, I thought. Our Merlin's gave a dashing display of frigate combat, but after some time in the fight I was looking better of than he was. His shields was just about to give when the Condor arrived, landing right on top of me. I made a quick decision, I pointed the Condor leaving my blasters on the Merlin, hoping to take him down. I knew once the Condor got range on me I'd be a watching him kite me to death 20km away. This plan failed miserably when the Merlin quickly got out of range leaving me at low shields to deal with the Condor. Before I could apply some damage to the Condor I saw a third combatant land on the grid. In a Tornado! Needless to say it took two volleys for the fight to end<a href="http://min0rthreat.eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16887598" target="_blank"> right then</a> and there and the frantic mashing of the warp button began, managing to save my clone to die another day.<br />
<br />
Good fights were exchanged but I didn't mean it, I was angry. How could they spoil such a action packed fight by bringing a Tornado along? That wasn't very sportsman like! I did manage, as I said, to catch myself before losing my cool. I realized that I've been part of such unfair engagements in the past, and that I expected them to bring backup in the first place. I left the system to reship, pondering about the events that just transpired. This, at least, was a fight worth remembering. I could have gone down with a Merlin kill for myself if I kept shooting it I'm sure, and might have reacted differently had I been keeping an eye on dscan. This was the kind of fight that a better pilot would have escaped from while managing to get a kill himself. I decided that this was a much better encounter than managing to kill a plex farmer now and then. I could actually learn from it.<br />
<br />
Am I against faction warfare taking a big part of the low sec action? No, I just feel that it can be better implemented. Go read the jaw dropping accounts on <a href="http://www.gamerchick.net/" target="_blank">Gamerchick's blogs</a>, faction warfare can be pretty epic. Making a few tweaks could stop unskilled plex farmers to bring home large sums of cash with almost zero risk or skill. By simply increasing the number of rats or even respawning them a few times could force plexers to bring at least a semi-capable ship along, maybe even making them sacrifice those warp stabs for a little more tank. You won't see t1 frigates doing medium plexes when the rats are too much for a t1 frig to handle either. This will be a problem when faction warfare works as it should though, as the attacking faction might have the rats and an opposing faction to deal with. Then again, no one said it should be easy to claim a plex.<br />
<br />
I'm just putting my thoughts into words and those words on this blog, maybe I got it all wrong. All I know is that I'd be hanging up my missioning or mining hat and jumping on the Plex Farming Express to riches if I was in it for the money. Then again, sitting in one spot doing nothing for fifteen minutes isn't what I'd call engaging. At least when mining you get to activate some modules. To each his own I guess. In the mean time I'll keep annoying plexers, hoping to find that one diamond in the rough, there must be more Jadenar125's out there somewhere, and I sure as hell am gonna try and find 'em. Faction Warfare certainly has brought more people to low sec, for good or for bad, and while the plex farmers might be irritating, finding fights might have become a little easier.Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-73027607395500176292013-03-20T08:29:00.000+00:002013-03-20T08:30:21.746+00:00Black Sheep Have You Any Wool?The elevator music was making me nauseous, or it might have been the way the whole elevator was rocking every so often. The light overhead flickered constantly and the high pitched squeal from metal friction was starting to make my ears hurt. Maybe it's not the elevator music, now that I think about it.<br />
<br />
Ding. I arrive on floor 249, the elevator doors open slowly, the one side struggling more than the other. When the doors came to a halt, the one door was only half open. The elevator rocked again, ever so slightly, but enough to inspire me to get the hell out. I mustered all my courage and leaped out of the elevator, I've seen too many movies where elevators become instruments of dismemberment. With a glance back at the deathtrap, a gave a sigh of relief as I started taking in my surroundings, what the hell did I get myself into?<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>A few weeks ago I started frequenting a dodgy bar in the lower levels of Maut's only station. I came here not for the drink, because that tasted like piss, or the dancers, cause they're either fat or old enough to be your mother. I came here for the company. The gang of miscreants nicknamed the Black Sheep spent most of their time out of ship here, being the only bar they've not gotten thrown out of. It started when I met with the leader of this gang, Duke Thunderhorse, a fellow ex-Rifta member for a drink here one night to talk of old times and current affairs. The night ended with us drunk and in ships, chasing FW pilots from plexes. Needless to say I came back for more and soon I was there so much, I was starting to wonder why I wasn't part of this merry gang.<br />
<br />
The hallway I stood in now looked in even worse condition than the elevator. A terrible stench hung in the air, the kind of stench that had me fighting off gag reflexes. Most of the lights were broken or only pulsed now and then. Graffiti, bullet prints and blood littered the walls and the inhabitants of this shit hole now looked upon me with smirks, though I couldn't figure out whether from amusement after my leap frog maneuver out of the elevator or from the thoughts of what they might do to me.<br />
<br />
I quickly regained my composure and started striding down the hallway, looking for door number 24914. The few threatening looks I got were stifled when I unclipped my holster and put my hand casually on the pistol's grip. Before I found the door I heard the unmistakable chuckles that could only come from one man, Judge Sarn. I arrived at the door of Min0r Threat's offices and flung open the door.<br />
<br />
Four pistols were aimed at my face, the closest one, held by Meatbix, I brushed aside, "Careful where you point that thing Meat, you might hurt someone."<br />
<br />
"YUZUKI!!!" screamed the Judge as he lowered his pistol and downed a dirty tumbler glass full of whiskey.<br />
<br />
A smile crept over Meatbix's face, "Ever heard of knocking mate?" he holstered his weapon, "Heard you were coming, Duke's waiting for you in his office," he pointed to a door that was spray painted to read "All H4IL the Duke!"<br />
<br />
Duke sat behind a desk with his head resting on one hand while casually playing with the fitting hologram in front of him. It was no surprise to see a Wolf displayed on the hologram. I grabbed a seat in front of the desk, glancing over the fitting he had set up.<br />
<br />
"Ever get tired of flying those?" I asked, lounging back and putting my feet on the desk.<br />
<br />
"Nope," he replied, he opened a drawer and produced a neocom from it, "You got everything in order?" he asked, sliding the neocom over the desk.<br />
<br />
I glanced over the contract, everything seemed fine as far as I could tell. "Yes," I replied, "Do I sign here?"<br />
<br />
"Yup," he replied as he got off his chair and walked over to a cabinet. When I finished signing he had two tumblers and a bottle of whiskey in his hand which he put on the desk. I couldn't help but notice that the whiskey had "Property of Judge Sarn, don't touch my whiskey!" scribbled on the side with a pen. After pouring he grabbed a glass and lifted it in the air.<br />
<br />
"Welcome to the family Yuzuki."Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-905304577324437432013-03-06T16:39:00.000+00:002013-03-06T16:40:23.889+00:00Farewell Old Friend!I was lounging in my quarters watching some holo-vids of an old-world sea pirate named Guybrush while periodically taking short glances at local and the convo with Creed, should potential targets appear. On the table next to me was the market orders Jax wanted me to look at, but I tried to put it out of my mind as I wasn't in the mood to look over market histories and other boring figures. I knew it's what I needed to do with my wallet growing thinner with every ship I lost, but making money was work, something I try to avoid at all costs.<br />
<br />
A loud knock came from the door, probably Jax I thought, and I decided to ignore him. Again a knock destroys the serenity of my quarters. I grabbed my pistol and got up, the head rush almost sending me to the floor. I stumbled towards the door while cocking the pistol, this was the last straw, Jax Spade has to know his damn place! Flinging open the door I aimed the pistol at his face, "I said I'll look at it when I get to it!" I screamed, but looking over the iron sights of my pistol, I noticed that it wasn't Jax Spade, but instead the beautiful Virtouse Grimm. As I lowered the pistol I notice the box she's carrying, marked "Sorn's Stuff." She glared annoyed at me and walked past into my quarters.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
"Geez, if you let me know you were coming I might have cleaned up the place," I said, trying to ease the tension.<br />
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"Bullshit!" she replied and dropped the box to the floor, the contents rattling furiously as it fell, "Everyone knows your one step away from being a bum."<br />
<br />
"What's with the box?" I asked, eying it for more clues, "Any word of him yet?"<br />
<br />
"Concord has declared him dead, and he left all his affects to you. How is it that you never do a day's worth of work but always end up getting stuff? You're either out losing ships or rotting in a station."<br />
<br />
<br />
Sorn Nordvind has gone missing some time ago when he announced that he would make a pilgrimage to the old Eve Gate. When his communication dropped off I assumed he got shot at, and he was trying his luck with one of the clone vat nurses, damn some of those girls are smoking, but when a day passed without any word of him I started investigating. I sent Creed over to the closest Concord offices to see if there was any log of his ship being destroyed, but that turned out fruitless. When they heard where he was last seen they took over the investigation and I've been waiting since.<br />
<br />
"Did they find anything? Why wasn't he cloned?" I asked as I prodded the box with my foot, making the contents jingle.<br />
<br />
"A kill log and an accident report from the clone vats suddenly materialized, an obvious cover up. They're keeping to their story so no clue as to what really happened."<br />
<br />
"You think that the gate..." I stopped, the mere thought of the old Eve Gate suddenly working is preposterous. I opened the box, a few personal items, a pistol and a broken bottle of booze was inside, "Is this it?" I asked, somewhat disappointed.<br />
<br />
Now Grimm was looking pissed, "You're a fucking bum Yuzuki! I've been slaving my ass off for the man and he leaves me nothing!" she throws a neocom at me, which I barely manage to catch, depth perception is a bitch with the one eye. On the neocom display was the words "Press OKAY to complete transaction." I pressed okay and my own neocom suddenly chimed. Two billion ISK was transferred from Sorn Nordvind into my account. I was missing my old mate Sorn, but this would certainly ease the pain. I don't know how long I stared at my neocom but I noticed Grimm turned around and was busy leaving, fuming.<br />
<br />
"What are you going to do now?" I asked Grimm as she walked out the door.<br />
<br />
"Going planetside, my pilot's license has expired and without Sorn, I can't afford a new one." She was gone before I could reply.<br />
<br />
I jumped back into my lounge, a smile creeping on my face. My head was racing with ideas for fittings on ships I couldn't afford just a few minutes ago.<br />
<br />
"Yuzuki! When the hell are you gonna look at the market orders that I gave you a week ago?! You keep complaining about money...oh hi Grimm...but you can't be arsed to try and make some!" It was Jax Spade who just walked into the still open door to my quarters.<br />
<br />
I pointed my pistol at him, "Watch your tone Jax, before you ruin the good mood I'm in," I throw my neocom at Jax who visibly looked shaken from the pistol pointed at him. His eyes grew wider when he looked at the neocom, "Now get your ass to Jita! We've got ships to buy!"Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-91089029429346951782013-03-01T11:09:00.000+00:002013-03-01T11:09:11.635+00:00February Kill SummarySo February has ended and it's time to tally up the scores. My activity was limited the last half of the month, but still a good month.<br />
<br />February, 2013<br />
<br />
Kills - 49 Isk(B) - 1.36<br />
Losses - 19 Isk(B) - 0.28<br />
Efficiency - 82.90%<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
That marks the highest efficiency rating I've had to date, but I have to admit to whoring on a <a href="http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16490511" target="_blank">Raven Navy Issue kill</a>. It was spotted by Creed Corbett, but scanned and shot down by fellow Tuskers. I was allowed to shoot at it as a courtesy for finding the missioning behemoth.<br />
<br />
My favourite kill for the month would have to be the <a href="http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16392463" target="_blank">Firetail </a>I managed to destroy in my Tristan. Sparring with my ex-corpmate Death ToU was also nice and <a href="http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16247177" target="_blank">killing his Slasher</a> was a nice little bonus.<br />
<br />
My worst loss would be the wet behind the ear noob that I managed to loose to...<a href="http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16392284" target="_blank">so embarrassing</a>. If you missed it, <a href="http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16392282" target="_blank">this </a>is what he was flying.<br />
<br />
Here's hoping I find a few good fights in the coming month!Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-57940829619117070262013-02-26T07:01:00.000+00:002013-02-26T07:01:34.458+00:004000 visits!Today I breached the 4000 number of visitors to this page. Its a small number to be proud about compared to some of the Eve Blogs out there (I'm looking at you <a href="http://brutorbullfighter.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Brutor Bullfighter</a> and <a href="http://www.evealtruist.com/" target="_blank">The Altruist</a>!) but it's a number I'm proud of nonetheless. It's good to know that I'm not writing these posts for myself.<br />
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Thank you for everyone that reads my scribblings and thanks to the random pilots who convos me in space to tell me they love my blog (no better feeling). Also thanks to everyone who links my humble little blog on their own, especially Azual Skoll and Miura Bull, your support has boosted my readers considerably!<br />
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I'll do my best to try and keep my posts at least somewhat entertaining!<i> (I hope it is!)</i>Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-19357183775201698472013-02-25T07:26:00.000+00:002013-02-25T09:39:37.486+00:00Tristan vs Faction FrigsI've had little luck finding kills the last week, probably due to lack of the time I spent looking for them. I spent my time looking for radar sites, hoping to bag some ISK so I could expand my arsenal. Creed Corbett did manage to find a juicy Raven Navy Issue which I reported to my fellow Tuskers.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
We soon had a more experienced scanner in system and some Tuskers for DPS on the neighboring gate. I had nothing that could match the DPS in the fleet and it was apparent that I would only tag along for whoring purposes. The other scanner was successful and soon had point on the faction battleship. The rest of us came rushing in, but they stopped pounding the battleship for me to get a shot into it too. After my drones started firing, the fleet continued their assault on the Raven and it quickly <a href="https://zkillboard.com/detail/28699841/" target="_blank">exploded</a>. This encounter did teach me an important lesson though, always have something with DPS at standby should it suddenly become required. It was suggested that I buy a stealth bomber, and I will soon fit up my very first Hound.<br />
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Back to the topic of this post though, I had a few fights against faction frigs with my trusty ol' Tristan, and the results were as follows:<br />
<br />
<b>Tristan vs Slicer:</b><br />
<br />
Even though the TD on the Slicer kept him from harming me, I had no way of creeping up to it. My drones also had no luck catching up and they were starting to get popped one by one until I returned them to my drone bay. This was a stalemate and we both left the fight.<br />
<br />
<b>Tristan vs Comet:</b><br />
<br />
There was no real hope for me here. With the webber equipped I was doing the same thing he was, but he was doing it more effectively. Wasn't long before I went <a href="https://zkillboard.com/detail/28703366/" target="_blank">boom</a>, but I can't stop wondering what might have happened should I have had a TD equipped. Though, if it would've helped me, the lack of web would've made it easy for him to just run away. Without the ability to dictate range in the Tristan, most blasterboats will destroy the Tristan if I don't figure out a way to get a bigger tank on this thing.<br />
<br />
<b>Tristan vs Hookbill:</b><br />
<br />
I had high hopes for this one. Especially when I forced the Hookbill to land close to me in a novice plex. I had him webbed, scrammed and neuted and my blasters got a few shots in before the range slowly crept up. My hobgoblins were doing a good job too, but it was very apparent that his tank would outlast mine. I figure he was at about 15% shield when my Tristan <a href="https://zkillboard.com/detail/28719078/" target="_blank">gave in</a>. Again, a bigger tank might help, but with both the Hookbill and the Comet, I'm not that sure if it would've cut it, especially since the bigger tank would mean less DPS from smaller blasters.<br />
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<b>Tristan vs Firetail:</b><br />
<br />
I already posted this fight, but to summarize again: We were fighting up close, a fatal error for the Firetail pilot as my Ions were punching holes in his armor. He realized his mistake and tried to open a gap. Lucky for me I noticed this and approached him directly, allowing me to keep him tackled for longer and my superior DPS <a href="https://zkillboard.com/detail/28549395/" target="_blank">payed off </a>in the end. It was a very close fight though, and I'm sure had he not come in so close the outcome would have been different. I must admit though, the Firetail being the only faction frig I could destroy leaves me a bit down in the dumps about buying myself a few of them.<br />
<br />
While I might try taking on a Firetail again, I'll be a bit more cautious to take on any of the faction frigates in the Tristan. I've also started theorizing about using a rail fitted Tristan, and with Jax Spade on his way to make a Jita run, I might even put that plan into motion.Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-54949800760570596632013-02-20T17:42:00.000+00:002013-02-20T17:42:23.615+00:00Work in ProgressI realized that my blog's banner still proudly sports the R1fta logo and decided it was time for a change. Rather than just opting for a cheap fix by removing the logo and replacing it with the Tusker one, I decided to make a new banner. <br />
<br />
I got cracking today and completed making a cartoonish self portrait again, this time with shading. My first crack at it shading so be gentle when criticize :P<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHm5gIAVhd9bFT5Rop8DuaADCHSlyWs3jDxXkoOg179_u8eB26P7kTo6GE5_jkJgpzjd5f49IBlrV5ndoxLONnreJWy0XOFA202go9M94txTgtifeyhXLjty6qPoQpmMN_a_S1t23D0c/s1600/Yuzuki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHm5gIAVhd9bFT5Rop8DuaADCHSlyWs3jDxXkoOg179_u8eB26P7kTo6GE5_jkJgpzjd5f49IBlrV5ndoxLONnreJWy0XOFA202go9M94txTgtifeyhXLjty6qPoQpmMN_a_S1t23D0c/s1600/Yuzuki.jpg" height="320" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking nasty...or at least that's what I aimed for.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-20997348561364329422013-02-18T08:28:00.000+00:002013-02-18T08:28:40.774+00:00Embarrassment, Milk & Rum and an Awkward MomentI got into space on Friday afternoon and roamed around the Essence area when Creed Corbett, my ever faithful scout, reported an unnamed Catalyst running a mission in Hulmate. I headed over to him in my Tristan as Creed Corbett scanned him down. It was only a noob, but the scanning practice Creed got is invaluable. If only I knew the embarrassment that was to follow...<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Creed pins his location and warps me over to him. I land pretty close and had him tackled in no time. I yawned as I hit the "Keep at Distance" button to avoid the likely blaster assault and sent my drones to work. Half paying attention I noticed the screaming alarms as my armor got dangerously low. What the hell? Rails! I had to make a split second decision, run away or try and take him down as his tank was getting thin as well. I decided to try the latter and attempted to get close while keeping my transversal high enough. It was too little too late though, and soon I my Tristan was <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28548158/" target="_blank">no more</a>. This was terrible flying from me, but I thought I'd exchange a GF to the Catalyst pilot and leave him be. Instead of just exchanging a GF though, he decided to taunt me in local, and this was unacceptable. So I went and collected another Tristan, and headed back to Hulmate. Still hovering at the mission warp in gate I locked him up again, got in really close and personal, and destroyed the Catalyst in about 10 seconds. This worried me, why did it go down this fast? I <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28548503/" target="_blank">popped </a>his pod and checked the kill log.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28548467/" target="_blank">Catalyst</a><br />
<br />
That fit just added insult to injury. I swallowed my pride and went on my merry way again. In Meutralle I found a Firetail, piloted by a someone old enough to know his way about a battle. We started a close orbit and my ion blasters and hobgoblins were doing severe damage. Then I noticed his distance starting to grow. I hit approach, overheated my point and ab and hoped that i could sink him before he ran off. <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28549395/" target="_blank">I did</a>, and immediately felt a little better about my piloting skills again.<br />
<br />
I got into space early the next morning and soon, Duke Thunderhorse from Min0r Threat, announced that Judge Sarn was busy FCing a drunken roam. I quickly downed a glass of milk and rum, as it was still too early to drink, and headed over to their location. <br />
<br />
Judge Sarn's drunken roams usually tend to be one of the most disorganized fleets you could possibly hope to join, for obvious reasons. These fleets usually die pretty horribly too. Why join them then? They are the most fun you could hope to have in the few hours they take place, especially since Judge talks more and more as he consumes more and more whiskey. I always imagine Judge looking like a black leathered drunken version of Santa Claus. Kinda like described <a href="http://reflext.blogspot.com/2011/12/uncle-kelly.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
This roam wasn't the typical comical disaster as it usually was though, as we bagged more and more kills as time progressed. You can read about on their <a href="http://thethunderhorsechronicles.blogspot.com/2013/02/midnight-run.html" target="_blank">blog</a>. I was very proud of my how my Tristan performed but before the fleet ended, it got <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28568722/" target="_blank">blown up</a>. Judge replaced my loss with a fitted Jaguar, exactly like the one he was flying. He soon lost his though and I scooped his loot and corpse and continued on the roam. It wasn't long before the Jag I was piloting also got <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28569307/" target="_blank">blown up</a>, along with Judge's loot and more notably...his corpse. I never heard the end of this, and apparently, I owe him one now :D<br />
<br />
I'll suggest Min0r Threat to anyone looking for a pvp corp where every member will become your (drunken) brother. It doesn't matter if your just starting out, or if you've been pvping for ages. They're friendly, some are very experienced and most offer help to whoever is asking.<br />
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Later that day Creed once again reported a pve ship in Hulmate. After some scanning I warped towards him, but was surprised to see Groggolog already engaging. He called for a truce in local which I accepted and we proceeded to kill the <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28579583/" target="_blank">Omen</a>.With him out of the way both me and Grog was in an awkward position. Do we start killing each other or warp away? Then I noticed I was taking heavy fire from him. Seems like in my haste to lock up the escaping pod, I locked up and scrammed Grog instead. My drones saw this as an open invitation to open fire on his Rifter and Grog returned the favor. I was sitting dead still in my Tristan so I've taken a substantial amount of damage when I noticed the misunderstanding. I recalled my drones, and reminded Grog of the truce. When he didn't respond I reengaged him, but then he stopped firing. He reopened fire on me just as I recalled my drones again, and I was a few volleys from death before he stopped shooting me again. We both laughed at the confusion that just transpired and went our merry ways.<br />
<br />
All in all, this was a great weekend of pirating, and I barely even logged in on Sunday. Hopefully I'll have the same luck during this week.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>For a full summary of my kill logs over the weekend, check out my <a href="http://zkillboard.com/character/1465748941/" target="_blank">killboard</a>.</i></span>Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-66088988780246977222013-02-12T05:50:00.001+00:002013-02-12T05:51:25.364+00:00Ignorance is BlissI was flying around in Hevrice when I spotted a Venture on d-scan. Not even bothering to fit dual scrams I headed to his location and quickly <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28418040/" target="_blank">ended him</a>. He opened a private convo and told me that he was only trying to mine. I explained to him that killing was what I did, and pointed him to <a href="http://www.evealtruist.com/2013/01/lowsec-survival-guide.html" target="_blank">Azual's post</a> for new players on how to survive low sec. He responded by putting a 100K ISK bounty on me.<br />
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I continued looking for fights and soon met my match against a Tristan. It was late at night and I performed <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28419262/" target="_blank">horribly</a>. Pretty soon I received a mail:<br />
<br />
<i>It's what I do</i><br />
<i>Paxton Wilson</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Sent: Sun 2013/02/10 01:31:00 AM</i><br />
<i>To: Yuzuki Katayanagi</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Looks like the bounty was taken up. Fly Safe</i><br />
<br />
I couldn't help but laugh, but I let him have his win. Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-52675885513439328502013-02-11T08:46:00.000+00:002013-02-11T09:49:35.107+00:00A New Toy to Play WithOne thing I realized while cleansing my stockpiles of ships laying in hangers all over New Eden, was my love of Rifters was causing me to close my eyes to the other T1 frigates. I've started experimenting with others, having had lots of fun with the Merlin especially. There was one T1 frigate that I just couldn't best with the Merlin however, the ship that caught my eye since I got into my first pod, the Tristan. I fitted one up and went on a roam, and it wasn't long before I found my first fight.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>There was an Incursus on scan towards a novice plex. A worthy foe, I thought, and warped straight to it. Once inside, the battle was on. I fit my Tristan with a tracking disruptor instead of a web, had a short point with a microwarpdrive (hoping to catch a kiter) and boosted my armour resistances and increased the amount of armor with plates and rigs. The Incursus came in close and personal, but with my TD I kept the damage to a minimum while my drones started eating him up. My electron blasters also had a better time hitting him and with the nuets I thought I'd destroy his armor repping capabilities. It didn't. The fight went on longer than T1 frig fights usually do, I started bleeding damage through his armor into his structure before his dual reps kicked in, but now things started turning sour on my side. My armor was destroyed, the bits of damage he got through added up nicely. Knowing this fight was now going one way, I attempted an escape, something that wasn't about to happen without my MWD and a heavy tank. This brought my transversal to a minimum, and <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28187279/" target="_blank">one volley later</a>, I was warping my pod to safety. After the fight I realized that should I have overheated my neut, I might have drained enough energy so his cap boosters couldn't keep up with his power hungry reppers. All in all though, it was a very good fight, and I was impressed with the way the Tristan performed.<br />
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I headed to the closest market hub and got myself another one, trading the MWD with an afterburner this time, also allowing me to upgrade my blasters to Ion Blasters. Ready to take on the next challenger, I headed back into low sec, but one jump in, I was greeted by a <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28189482/" target="_blank">gate camp</a>.<br />
<br />
One trip to the market hub later I was back in a Tristan and reached my roaming grounds successfully. My first opponent, Kabuh Wai in a Merlin, didn't put up much of a fight and his Merlin was soon a <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28304456/" target="_blank">wreck</a>. I noticed Elder Amarrian in a Punisher at a novice plex next. I warped in and burned towards him, but after pointing him he warped away. I hate stabbed ships, but I noticed Death ToU, ex-R1FTA, in a Slasher and I forgot all about the stabbed Punisher. I stayed in the novice plex and hoped he'd show up for a fight. He did and we didn't waste any time to start shooting. We were up close and personal, this time I had an afterburner myself, and with his TD and my TD, we weren't doing much damage to one another. I, on the other hand, had drones, and they did get to do some damage. He was soon in armor, but I noticed him repping up. Then the effects of my neut kicked in and pretty soon my drones <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28311926/" target="_blank">finished off</a> the Slasher. Good fight with a pilot I looked up to when I first joined R1FTA. Elder Amarrian returned just then, as I was scooping up my loot, and he locked me up and started shooting. I returned the favour, but only got two volleys from my blasters into him before he warped away again. The nerve! I headed to Evati, my temporary base, and fitted another scram instead of the TD.<br />
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When I went back, Elder Amarrian was still in the plex with another Slasher. They were in the same militia, but I figured Elder Amarrian wasn't about to lend too much of a hand to his brother in arms. It was risky, but I warped in and immediatly got to work on the Slasher. It was fitted with a medium auxiliary shield booster, which proved to be difficult to beat. Also, I had two scrams installed, leaving me without a TD or web to help me in this fight. Elder Amarrian did nothing to help, as expected, just hovering out of my reach. The Slasher <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28312253/" target="_blank">went down </a>after a very close fight and Elder Amarrian warped off. Anaxanamaximus Dimaloun exchanged a gf in local, as well as some words to his yellow bellied comrade. I threw the loot into the closest station, repaired the damaged Tristan and warped to the plex where Elder was idling once again. Once again I approached him, he didn't bother to try and run, so sure that his stabs would save him. <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28313659/" target="_blank">This time it didn't</a>, and his pod was also <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28313678/" target="_blank">lost </a>in the process. Next on the hit list was Johra Coll in a Republic Fleet Firetail. I mustered some courage and engaged it, if only to see how the Tristan would fare. Johra didn't sport the best fitted Firetail however, and he soon <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28314139/" target="_blank">exploded</a>. <br />
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It was a new day and an incursion arrived in the constellation. I knew the dangers but continued to roam. In Arnher, Roi Hurutara was flying an Incursus, his dual reps was proving to be a challenge. My nuets caught up with his cap booster though, and soon I had him <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/28327347/" target="_blank">warping his pod to safety</a>. Then calamity befell my Tristan. Incursion rats had my Tristan pointed, nueted scrammed and webbed at a gate. There was nothing I could do to save it. Deciding that playing with Sansha slaves wasn't for me, I hopped to a clone in Essence, and grabbed my Merlin for the rest of the night.<br />
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I spent most of the weekend shopping in Jita, included in the shopping list was a few Tristans. I do enjoy the flexibility of this ship. I might even try and make this my first ever kiter. As a brawler though, these little beasts can take on anything its size as long as it's not kiting. All in all, I'm just happy to fly one of the prettiest T1 frigates out there.<br />
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Till next time! If ya see me in space, come out and play!Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-50788731583004888762013-02-06T10:02:00.000+00:002013-02-06T14:28:31.207+00:00Being a Pirate is Alright With MeI've payed my dues for a week, sec repping for hi-sec entry. Almost all the way up to above -2.0 I lost my ratting Hurricane. With the loss came acceptance of the sec status I had at that point, albeit not perfect, and I spent some time doing my part in faction warfare. It wasn't long after when Kaeda Maxwell announced the impending closure of Crimson Reach due to numerous reasons, all of which I understand completely. There were no hard feelings but some disappointment, especially since I spent a week repairing my security status. I had some conversations with my good friend Sorn Nordvind, discussing possibilities we could pursue, but after a while it became apparent that we were going to head into different directions.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Even though I spent a week grinding back sec status, I hated letting targets slip by me. I started shooting ships, leaving the pod so the sec hit wasn't too bad, but even that was hard to do. During this time of wandering around without a corp made me realize something about myself:<br />
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<i><b>I AM A PIRATE!</b></i><br />
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Don't get me wrong, it's not due to a love of inflicting pain. I just like fighting. Call it an inbred Minmatar thing if you will, but the thrill of battle is like fuel to a spaceship for me. Limiting engagements to only pirates or only FW pilots just doesn't cut it for me. I want to shoot anyone I want.<br />
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All I needed now was a corp who shares my love for combat. It was Kaeda who suggested I join the Tuskers. To be honest, I didn't deem myself worthy of joining the Tuskers at first, but after a little pep talk from Kaeda, I decided to go for it. One week later I was accepted to their ranks and I've been enjoying it ever since. Their recruitment is now officially open, so should you feel like you have what it takes to join, go apply on their forums.<br />
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I've been experimenting with a bunch of T1 frigs lately, my most recent discovery being Tristans! After getting my ass handed by these one too many times I decided it was time to try them out. I love them! They are so versatile, being able to handle most T1 frig brawlers with relative ease. But don't let me get ahead of myself, I'll tell you all about it in my next post.<br />
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If you see me in space, come out and play!Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-62678934161621602672013-01-15T11:59:00.000+00:002013-02-06T14:25:20.661+00:00The Cleansing: Mission AbortedFor a moment, it seemed like I was worried for nothing. I was warping to my out gate, which Jax Spade already reported as clear, but in Hevrice things change in a heartbeat.<br />
<br />
The Tuskers were known to guard their home system with finesse. This was a perfect system to come to if you were looking to fight, but that day I wasn't. I fought to keep my eyes open as it was already quite late in the evening. I just wanted to reach null sec, then I'd sleep.<br />
<br />
My warp drive disengaged as I landed at the gate. I yawned, waiting for the Hurricane to stop before jumping through. The yawn abruptly turned into a cough when I saw a small fleet of Tuskers land as well. My half closed eyes were now ajar and my heart was pounding in my throat.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I could've waited at the gate, swung my ship around and warped off. If they agressed I could've jumped through without them being able to follow. I could've, but hind sight is a powerful yet useless tool. Instead I jumped through, fatigue clouding my judgement. I watched the gate fire again as the fleet jumped through as well. I could've burned back to gate, but once again, I didn't. I selected my next out gate and spooled up the warp drive, hoping they were just passing through. The enemy Condor started targeting, and soon I heard the terrible noise of a warp drive being forced to a halt. I activated my microwarpdrive, targeted the Condor and opened fire, launching my drones too. I was hoping to get out of disruptor range of the other two Tuskers while shooting down the Condor but this plan failed horribly as my warp drive was scrambled. Volley after volley slammed into my shields until they couldn't hold under the pressure. The ship now rocked with every volley exploding into the thin armour of the Hurricane. All I could do was get my pod out to safety. Tired and upset, I retired for the night, not even bothering to find a station to dock in.<br />
<br />
It was a new day, and filled with renewed vigour I headed to Ishomilken. I still had another Hurricane in Heild, and had a better null entry system from there. I decided I'd leave my current body in Isho with the few ships I had left there and activate a jump clone in Heild. Jax Spade didn't have the luxury of jump clones, he was forced to go through the more jarring experience of self-destructing his pod. Pretty soon though we were both in Minmatar space and after a quick trip to Rens, Jax supplied me with all the mods, rigs and ammo I required. We headed out, Jax once again scouting ahead for gate camps. We would enter null through Skarkon. Jax headed into the first null system, with me close to the gate waiting for his go ahead to come in. His report soon came through.<br />
<br />
"Warp bubbles at the gate, gonna try and find safe passage through," then silence. I was getting annoyed and was about to shout at him when he reported again, "Gate camps everywhere!" I could hear explosions in the background, "I'm not going to..." I heard Jax scream for a second, then silence.<br />
<br />
How cute, he still screams when he gets podded. "Not through Skarkon then," I replied, even though I knew he wasn't there. I grinned, this was not the first time Jax was sent to his doom. The benefits of having a scout with low skill points meant his clone didn't need upgrading, and he'd receive another Reaper for free to replace the one he just lost. Knowing it would take a while for him to get through the "rebirth" process I sent him a mail to hurry up and meet me in Egbinger, another null entry system.<br />
<br />
Why was I so determined to reach null? As you might notice from the topic of this post I've halted the Cleansing. This decision came due to a difficult choice I made, leaving the Black Rebel Rifter Club. I've decided to join the Crimson Reach. Crimson Reach, or CRR, was created by Kaeda Maxwell as a bounty hunting corporation. Initially they were still in the R1der alliance, but they left temporarily to join in faction warfare efforts against the Gallente Federation. As most of CRR's members are ex-pirates, even Kaeda himself, the move to the military seems to quench their thirst for destruction while actually making them some ISK. As I've been spending most my time flying with them, especially Sorn Nordvind, I decided to repent for my sins and join them. The idea of later becoming bounty hunters, something I wanted to do since climbing into my first Reaper, is also part of the appeal.<br />
<br />
Concord is a very forgiving institute. They require but one thing to return to their favour, shoot down rats. With my security status looking as it does, only the best rats would do, and those can only be found in null sec. Egbinger was a much better entry into null and now I am shooting down battleship rats in the Great Wildlands. Soon enough though, you realise why Concord is handing out get-out-of-jail-free-cards to anyone shooting rats for long enough. Ratting is a soul numbing activity, with every battleship rat only giving back a fraction of your precious security status. To make matters worse, the better your security status, the smaller these fractions become. I would compare this to my high sec mining days, but it's much more work intensive…and lucrative. Especially if I can find a commander, or even better, the much sought after officers. The chances of finding these are minute, especially when hopping from system to system shooting only the first battleship you find.<br />
<br />
Ratting won't give me much to write about, so I might not post for a while. Hopefully it won't take too long. <br />
<br />
Nevertheless see you soon in high sec!Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-29986077588717304432013-01-10T09:18:00.001+00:002013-02-06T14:24:23.577+00:00The Cleansing Pt.3In my quest to destroy every boat I own, I turned my gaze towards my large Rifter supply. I headed over to Hulmate, grabbed one and patrolled around Essence. I was hanging around in Adirain for a while, waiting for Jax Spade to arrive in his Mammoth to carry my loot to Jita when local comms caught my attention. Dark Magni requested a T1 frigate 1v1. I obliged by starting a fleet and inviting him over to a safe spot. I knew he was flying an Incursus so I loaded Barrage, figuring I'd stay out of blaster range if I could, and waited.<br />
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He arrived on grid and the battle was on and I was plowing through his armor. He responded by repping up the whole time while my 400mm plates were wearing thing from blaster fire. Things were looking good however and I was fully expecting a win when he started moving out of range. My autocannons were now struggling to hit him and he repped up his armour fast. Taking a risk I approached him directly. Unfortunately he was also moving back into blaster range to finish me off, and soon my lack of transversal made his job easier, turning my Rifter into a <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27649733/" target="_blank">flaming husk</a>.<br />
<br />
After I safely escorting Jax to and from the Adirain station with my precious cargo, I headed back to Hulmate to jump into another ship. Looking through the list of ships I had docked up there, my attention was directed to my Procurer, or the Trojan Turtle, as it was dubbed when I created it.<br />
<br />
Not having had any luck baiting in roid belts I decided I'd take a more direct approach, the mission is exploding all my ships after all. However, a few jumps from Hulmate my heart sank as I was <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27668588/" target="_blank">ganked</a> by gate campers. I headed back to Hulmate in my pod again, a trip with which I'm familiar by now. I opted to continue working on depleting my Rifter stock.<br />
<br />
Akidagi has become my favorite hunting grounds. Faction warfare pilots are pvp fitted and the plexes makes finding frigates a hell of a lot easier than roaming through systems. I had barely arrived when I spotted an Incursus in one of these plexes and I rushed over for battle. Again I loaded Barrage as I was afraid of being kited, this was a decision that I soon regretted as our confrontation was close and personal. Marcel72's Incursus ripped chunks from my armor plates with his neutron blasters. Though my autocannons were now doing low damage due to the Barrage, I still worked through his shields and armor fast. This fast and furious brawl was ending in a structure race. I sighed of relief as the Incursus <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27669486/" target="_blank">exploded</a>. My Rifter was spitting flames so I docked up for repairs after grabbing the loot. Looking at the killmail I realized how lucky I was to win this fight. The Incursus didn't have any form of tank and the cruiser rat did 15% of my job for me. If not for these factors my Rifter would have been toast.<br />
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With a few rolls of ductape my Rifter was ready to roll once more. I found a Kestrel sitting at a plex and I warped in to find him sitting at the warp in gate. Realizing the potential for a kite fit I was happy to be within scram and web range. The fight was soon <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27669860/" target="_blank">over</a>. I don't fully understand why you would fit a MWD and a scram, but hey, what do I know.<br />
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Next on the list was an Atron, another likely kiter. I tried to keep range, but he still hit hard (only later I learned of the falloff bonus Atrons gets). I got carried away with range at some stage, deactivating my webber in the process. He was deep in structure at this time and I was low on armor. What happened next I only noticed while watching the recording I made of the fight. I noticed the web was deactivated, once inside web range again I clicked on the webber again, slightly dragging the module instead of activating it. Unaware of this I closed range to finish him off, only now my transversal was low, and his was still high. I went from <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27670007/" target="_blank">hero to zero</a> in a matter of seconds, and soon I was taking the usual route back to Hulmate in my pod.<br />
<br />
Back in a Rifter at Akidagi, I engaged a Merlin. Not long after engaging his fleet showed up and, you guessed it, I was <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27670992/" target="_blank">heading to Hulmate in my pod</a>.<br />
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My next fight came in the form of a Condor. Most definitely a kite fit. I loaded Barrage as I headed to the plex. As soon as I landed the Condor used the acceleration gate, and I followed. I smiled as I entered warp, this fight was going to end in two ways, and it would all depend on how it started. Either he would land and mwd away fast enough to open a gap from the landing spot, or I'd land soon enough to still catch him at close range. I loaded phased plasma again and waited to land. I was within scram range and stopped him in his tracks. Kite fits aren't notoriously good tankers and it was all <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27671689/" target="_blank">over </a>pretty soon. Once again though I noticed a scram together with a mwd on the killmail. Could someone please explain what this is about?<br />
<br />
Another Kestrel appeared in a plex. I headed over and as soon as I landed noticed the 15km distance between us. It was a slow frustrating <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27673570/" target="_blank">death</a>. One day I'll catch me a kiter though!<br />
<br />
It was a new day and I decided to fit the Slasher. I came up with something...let's just call it experimental. High speed and a tracking disruptor with only an armor repper for tanking I headed to Akidagi full of hope. I noticed a Merlin and a Breacher at a plex. Hoping that the pilots weren't friendly towards one another I headed in. I arrived at the scene of missiles and hybrid turrets firing at each other. I decided I'd jump right into the fight and ganged up on the Merlin. It soon exploded (the Breacher pilot got the killmail and didn't post it) and only me and the Breacher remained. I made another mistake here, when switching targets I disengaged the autocannons that was still in a cycle after firing its last shot, thinking that I engaged it. Not noticing that I wasn't shooting till I attempted to overload, I soon fell behind on the dps race and, to make matters worse, I noticed another Breacher on dscan within 1AU. Deciding to save my Slasher, I aligned to a celestial and burned out of his point. I warped away as the second Breacher arrived.<br />
<br />
After repairing the damage to the modules I overloaded, I headed back to Akidagi. There were no viable targets to be found, only a Stabber in a medium plex. Having limited flying time at that stage (I was needed planetside) I decided to engage the Stabber. Once again I realized the potential for a kite fit, but I reckoned that a cruiser kite would be much easier to catch than frigate. Luckily it didn't come to that as I landed pretty close to the Stabber. I opened fire and activated all my modules. Webbed, scrammed and tracking disrupted, there was little the Stabber could do to hit my agile Slasher. His two neuts were destroying my capability to keep him pointed though, but he didn't warp off during those few moments while I lost point. The fight was only going on due to the nosferatu I fitted. After a bit of shooting, the Stabber <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27688588/" target="_blank">exploded.</a> He was using 425mm's though, and I can't help but wonder how 180mm's would have fared in the fight. I'm sure I would still get the chance to find out someday.<br />
<br />
After all this fun my stockpile of ships looks like this:<br />
<br />
<i>Malediction - 5</i><br />
<i>Rifter - 15</i><br />
<i><span style="color: red;">Hurricane - 2</span> (After all the fun I had with frigs, I might decide to sell these and buy more frigs)</i><br />
<i><span style="color: red;">Imicus - 1<span style="color: black;"> </span></span>(Not really in the mood to fly this into battle, will remove from list)<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></i><br />
<i>Firetail - 1</i><br />
<i><span style="color: red;">Vigil - 2<span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span>(Not really in the mood to fly this into battle, will remove from list)</i><br />
<i>Tristan - 1</i><br />
<i>Rupture - 2</i><br />
<i>Merlin - 4</i><br />
<i><span style="color: red;">Probe - 1</span><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span>(Not really in the mood to fly this into battle, will remove from list)</i><br />
<i>Slasher - 1</i><br />
<i>Incursus - 1</i><br />
<i>Wolf - 1</i>Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-18966038184811992482013-01-07T15:15:00.002+00:002013-02-06T14:24:14.461+00:00The Cleansing Pt.2<br />
Continuing on my mission to blow up every ship I own, I headed out with a Rifter to look for more fights. It's been a while since I've flown a Rifter and I soon remembered how much fun T1 frigates could be. It didn't take long to find a fight.<br />
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<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27575182/" target="_blank">Rifter </a>vs Stabber vs <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27575181/" target="_blank">random Retriever</a><br />
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I decided to attempt flying under the Stabbers guns like I did with a Malediction before. This Stabber was kite fitted and soon I was in a tricky situation. After some manual flying I managed to escape, warping off to a random roid belt. Upon landing I was amazed to land right on top of a Retriever. Full knowing the Stabber pilot wouldn't just let me be, I decided bagging the Retriever kill was worth more than saving the Rifter. I was busy taking the Retriever down when the Stabber landed, but I continued my assault. The Retriever soon died but my Rifter quickly followed. I hopped into another Rifter and was on my way again.<br />
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Rifter vs <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27575635/" target="_blank">Slasher</a><br />
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Not much to say about this one. The pilot was young so the fight was in my favour.<br />
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Rifter vs <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27575773/" target="_blank">Rifter</a><br />
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Again, the pilot was young, but this time I had a bit more of a fight.<br />
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Rifter vs <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27576683/" target="_blank">Merlin</a><br />
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Young pilot again, but Merlins are the bane of most Rifters. I decided to increase my orbit on this one and it worked beautifully. <br />
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Rifter vs <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27580761/" target="_blank">Tormentor</a><br />
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I teamed up with Sorn Nordvind as he was looking for faction warfare targets. We spotted this one in a plex and I warped in. Upon landing I locked up and engaged. When Sorn landed he declared that this pilot was in his faction and he warped off while I tore the ship apart. I felt a little guilty but hey, I'm a pirate.<br />
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<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27580830/" target="_blank">Rifter </a>vs Hurricane<br />
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Managed to get caught by this station camper and got wasted. My <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27580861/" target="_blank">pod </a>was lost too. Really freaked on this one, if I stayed calm I might have escaped.<br />
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<a href="http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=15814262" target="_blank">Rifter </a>+ Talwar + Slasher vs <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27582115/" target="_blank">Thrasher</a><br />
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Tomas Brandhart joined the fray and he managed to point a Thrasher. Me and Sorn warped in and the Thrasher switched targets and decimated my Rifter before getting destroyed himself. I hopped over to Hulmate and grabbed a Malediction.<br />
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<i>*edit - I was wondering why this one didn't show up on ZKILLBOARD. It appears that I was such an eager beaver that I didn't realise we were engaging on gate. Only after uploading the loss on killmail.org I noticed the sentries were the only damage dealers here. </i><br />
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Malediction + <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27583395/" target="_blank">Slasher </a>vs <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27583382/" target="_blank">Comet</a><br />
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We landed on this Comet inside a plex and started shooting. Soon after his backup arrived and Sorn's Slasher was lost, but not before we destroyed the Comet. The remaining fleet had me pointed, but the Maledicion's speed saved its hide to fight another day.<br />
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Malediction vs <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27595646/" target="_blank">Venture</a><br />
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This felt like a trap from the get go, but I decided to go for it anyway. A lone Venture in a FW plex was either baiting or depending on its warp drive stability to get away from a fight. I landed on the Venture and opened fire. The Venture had me webbed and scrambled and a fleet soon appeared on d-scan. I destroyed the Venture just as the fleet landed and I got away without any problems.<br />
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<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27618300/" target="_blank">Malediction </a>vs Stabber Fleet Isssue<br />
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Decided to burn away from the gate to make a pounce bookmark. Just got up to speed when I saw gatefire and the SFI uncloaked 5km away from me. Stupid loss, but the pilot complemented my fit.<br />
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<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27625973/" target="_blank">Malediction </a>vs Ishkur<br />
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A thrilling battle that lasted for a while. Could have won this one but I made a few mistakes. One mistake was trying to take out his drones. After shooting at one drone for a while I realised that it was taking too long and I switched back to the Ishkur. Another mistake was nossing a drone instead of the Ishkur. By the time I realised this mistake my cap was taking its toll. I was too far away from the Ishkur to nos it and by the time I closed that gap and activated the nos I was deep in structure. I activated my armor repairer and the cycle was a second away from complete when another volley of blaster fire hit. My Malediction went down but it was a fight that taught me much.<br />
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<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27627474/" target="_blank">Malediction </a>vs Comet + Merlin + Navitas<br />
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I saw these three coming into the plex I was in and decided to try and split them up. I burned away from the landing spot and the Comet landed and followed me. Once I've opened a gap of about 15km between the Comet and the other two I swung round and engaged the Comet. The fight went well as I wasn't webbed, my range and speed saving me from the Comet's blasters. The Merlin soon joined the fray and the Comet was repping armor as well as I was. The fight continued for a bit until the Navitas got into web range and then things turned very ugly. This was a fight that a more experienced pilot would have at least bagged a kill or two from, if not beating them outright. Once again, I learned much from this fight and if I attempted to kill the Navitas when it came into range things might have gone in another direction.<br />
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So after all these losses my stockpile of ships looks like this:<br />
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Malediction - 5<br />
Rifter - 19<br />
Hurricane - 2 (My hauler was still hanging on to one, thus the extra one)<br />
Imicus - 1<br />
Firetail - 1<br />
Vigil - 2<br />
Tristan - 1<br />
Rupture - 2<br />
Merlin - 4<br />
Procurer - 1<br />
Probe - 1<br />
Slasher - 1<br />
Incursus - 1<br />
Wolf - 1<br />
<br />
Seems like I'm making good progress, though I can't decide wether that is a good or a bad thing. Part three coming soon. Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-53410416678951819772013-01-04T15:40:00.001+00:002013-02-06T14:23:58.028+00:00The Cleansing Pt.1Looking through my assets I was shocked by the sheer amount of crap I've been hoarding up since joining R1FTA. For all the noise I was making about my money problems I sure had a lot of shit to sell. To add to my disgust I discovered fitted ships that I have long forgotten and were now gathering dust in hangers all over New Eden. It was time for a cleansing, to relieve myself of these unused items and ships. I'll start hauling the items over to Jita soon, but the ships, they've got to get blown to pieces!<br />
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Going through my assets I compiled a list of what I have in my arsenal:<br />
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<i>22 Rifters</i><br />
<i>2 Vigils</i><br />
<i>1 Imicus</i><br />
<i>2 Firetails</i><br />
<i>1 Hurricane</i><br />
<i>1 Tristan</i><br />
<i>6 Maledictions</i><br />
<i>3 Ruptures</i><br />
<i>1 Wolf</i><br />
<i>4 Merlins</i><br />
<i>1 Slasher</i><br />
<i>1 Procurer</i><br />
<i>1 Probe</i><br />
<i>1 Incursus</i><br />
<i>1 Thrasher</i><br />
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First up was the Thrasher. Passive armor tank, nothing out of the ordinary. I set a roaming path and soon I was traveling the spacelanes looking for some thrills. I bagged a <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27553403/" target="_blank">cyno</a>, but it looked like there was no fun to be had as I reached the end of my roam. I decided to head back to Heild. On gate I found an Ares, not flashy though, and I decided to lock him up and see what he does. He jumped to the next system and I followed suit. He uncloaked on the other side and I watched him to see where he warped off to. He didn't warp off however and started to burn back to the gate. Very well, I thought, let's see if I can close range. I activated the afterburner and watched the distance close. He locked on and pointed me. I didn't open fire yet as I didn't want to be kited to death. Soon I was within scram range and then I let all hell loose on the Ares. The first volley did quite the number on him, and I wasn't really hurting at all. It was looking very much like a one sided fight. Then a Wolf appeared on grid and locked me up. Now the adrenalin was pumping. I<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27553437/" target="_blank"> finished off</a> the Ares as I locked the Wolf. I started an orbit on the Wolf and fired all guns. It was a close race, but I was a little behind. Looking at my direction of travel I realized we were flying in a straight line trying to orbit each other. Desperate, I swung my ship around, hoping to get a few solid hits in at the risk of him doing the same. It worked! My autocannons teared into the Wolf with devastating effect and one <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27553441/" target="_blank">fireball </a>later, I was the victor of the skirmish. Thoroughly impressed by the Thrasher's power I headed back to Heild to dump the spoils and repair my ship. It was difficult to leave the two T2 wrecks behind, but I had no salvager close.<br />
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I headed out again, filled with confidence that the Thrasher means business. I soon found a Moa on a station, a fellow R1DER in a Rifter also nearby. I opened fire at the flashy Moa, but soon I realised that this was a mistake. I did little damage to his massive shield tank and was loosing huge chunks of armour. So used to being in a nimble frigate, I didn't think that I'd get ganked so easily by a cruiser. My Thrasher <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27555177/" target="_blank">exploded </a>and fled in shame with my capsule. It seems that the Rifter had better luck avoiding the Moa's firepower, but it ended in a stale mate with the Moa degressing and docking.<br />
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I arrived in Heild and immediatly looked for my next toy to play with. A Firetail, never really flew them succesfully in combat before. It had a medium shield extender with nanofibers to make this one nimble little beast. The 125mm Autocannons would mean less DPS, but nothing can be lower than my Malediction's rockets. I undocked and headed on another roam. After a few systems I found a Daredevil on dscan, a frigate I've always avoided fighting. Not this time I thought and after a short while we were on the same grid and locking up. My nimble little Firetail was brought to almost a standstill by his webs, and his blasters tore up my shields fast. I wasn't doing too bad either, the 125's doing a number on the Daredevil. It wasn't enough though as my Firetail turned into<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27556296/" target="_blank"> space litter</a>. Still, it was a fun encounter.<br />
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Next, I activated a jump clone in Hakkonen to climb into Rupture I had stored there. This was my favourite little pocket for cyno massacres, and soon I bagged a couple of <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27556961/" target="_blank">cy </a><a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27557111/" target="_blank">nos</a>. I wasn't looking for cheap thrills though, and I started hunting for a worthy opponent. This prospect was soon ended as I ran into a gate camp. With no hope of reaching the gate in time<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27557311/" target="_blank"> I went out guns blazing</a>.<br />
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I jumped into a Rifter next, but after flying around for a while, decided to call it a night. I've still got a ton of ships lined up for destruction as operation cleansing continues. Stay tuned for the next installment.Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-66121571476815698612012-12-13T13:51:00.001+00:002013-02-06T14:23:42.127+00:00Educate While You EradicateA recent <a href="http://www.evealtruist.com/2012/11/welcome-to-lowsec.html" target="_blank">post</a> by Azual Skoll, writer of the <a href="http://www.evealtruist.com/" target="_blank">Altruist</a> (an informative blog I’d recommend to any pvper out there), has been toying with my head for quite a while now. His blog post explains how ganking new pilots create a mind-set of avoiding low security space at all costs. With the addition of the Venture in the new pilot’s arsenal, they’ve been flocking to losec in herds, and pirates all over are destroying these vessels with great pleasure. I myself fitted a reaper for just that purpose and had my first <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27109117/" target="_blank">victim</a> yesterday.<br />
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Is this wrong? Should we allow them safe passage just because they are new to sucking pod goo? Just the other day I destroyed a Merlin being flown by a wet-behind-the-ear pilot who was aimlessly floating near a station. I was sporting a Malediction, and not wanting to risk the sentry guns I let him be, but after some time I still noticed him just hanging there and decided that this cocky attitude just won’t stand. I aggressed him and warped off, fully expecting him to run back to the closest gate. He didn’t and I returned to <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27092785/" target="_blank">finish the job</a>. Even then his pod was still hanging there, and only after locking on to that did he decide to run away. Local came to life as he demanded to know what my problem was. Trying to keep things witty, I explained that the station had a “no loitering” policy. He then quite rudely informed me that he only acquired his pilot’s license a week earlier and that he was reading the in-flight tutorial when I interrupted him. I told him that the lesson he learned was better than any tutorial out there, and I was subsequently told to go have sexual relations with myself, and then to go die. Tempting, but having done both quite recently I decided to pass and continue looking for victims.<br />
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Was this wrong? Should I have let him finish his tutorial? Consider this, yesterday while patrolling Adirain in my Rifter I noticed a Stabber, Vexor and Merlin on scan. The Merlin pilot offered to team up against the Stabber and Vexor pilots, asking me to ship up as he was getting his Drake. I didn’t have anything in system to ship up in, and after informing him of that, our conversation ended. Then, running a directional scan a Mackinaw popped up on my readings. Working fast I narrowed it down to top belt. Bait? I took the chance as a Rifter was well worth sacrificing for a chance to slay this beast. I warped in, locked the Mackinaw and after pointing him and overheating my 150mm Autocannons, started terrorizing him with bullets. His drones bit small chunks from my armour and the nearby Serpentis cruiser was doing the same. Soon, the Drake landed on grid as well. Hoping that our previous convo still made us “friendly,” I ignored him and continued shooting at the Mackinaw. Enter the Stabber and Vexor. They immediately sent drones to bite at me and now my Rifter was taking strain. The Mack was soon in structure, but so was my Rifter, the race was on and I sure as hell wasn’t going to leave before that Mackinaw was down. Soon there was an <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27110825/" target="_blank">explosion</a>, the Mack was down! I wasn’t pointed so I made my escape in low structure. I went to station to repair my valiant Rifter, but alas, it was too late to attempt some form of support for the Drake.<br />
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What is my point here? Well, unless that Mack was some very expensive bait, that pilot brought his trophy ship to losec and immediately warped to top belt. He didn’t notice the amount of pirates in local, didn’t even bother to check the d-scan. My point is he didn’t fully understand the dangers of losec. Maybe he didn’t suffer that mining frigate loss when he was but a week old. He was completely ignorant. The same can be said for the <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27009570/" target="_blank">Hyperion warrior</a> from my last <a href="http://thespacer.blogspot.com/2012/12/there-she-blows.html" target="_blank">post</a>, or this <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/26988437/" target="_blank">Retriever</a> merrily mining without a clue to the dangers he’s in. <br />
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Don’t get me wrong, that Hyperion and Mackinaw looks great on my killboard, but I get what Azual is saying. Making these ganks at least educational for them might inspire them to come back, better prepared. This might not sound like a pro-pirate viewpoint, but in the end, the more people coming to low sec results in a more target rich environment. <br />
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Teach the fish to survive longer and they’ll grow bigger. You might end up catching less fish, but the ones you catch will be so much better! Quality is always better than quantity I say. Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-50364185736330701332012-12-09T06:26:00.001+00:002013-02-06T14:23:21.542+00:00There She BlowsIt was Saturday 8th December. I was bored out of my mind and feeling a little depressed due to the losses I've suffered that day with only a shared Vengeance kill to show for it. First I lost a <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27001278/" target="_blank">Malediction </a>at a gate while my attention was diverted. My <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27001280/" target="_blank">pod </a>also followed. Then I decided to take on a Hookbill with my Atron. The <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27004963/" target="_blank">loss </a>wasn't really any surprise. My next fight was a bit more memorable.<br />
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A Tusker flew into Hulmate, sporting a Condor. Not knowing what to expect from the revamped ship, I decided to engage him where he was waiting at sun. I was flying a Malediction, brawler fit, and soon it was apparent that I was being kited. Having recently read some guides on how to catch a kiter, and having all the time in the world to try thanks to the armour repper on my Malediction, I started maneuvering so I could catch me a kite. 14km! So close to web range! I was getting excited, this fight could still go my why and I flung my ship around once more. Then after hearing the most terrible sound, my speed grinded to a halt. My afterburner melted! Full knowing that I was now but a fish in a barrel, I managed my cap use so my repper could keep repping. I was hoping for his cap to run out, a long shot I know, but the only thing I could do at that moment. It wasn't to be as pretty soon my cap gave in due to the heavy use of the repper. <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27007771/" target="_blank">Farewell </a>my lovely Malediction! A very educational fight though, as most fights are versus Tuskers. Good Fight!<br />
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I decided to buy some more of the Ammarian beauties, having found a wormhole leading close to Rens earlier that day. While waiting for my Maledictions to arrive I was hailed by Kortes, a resident station camper. He asked me for backup against a Vengeance outside station and I obliged with my Rupture. I pointed and nueted him and Kortes <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27008549/" target="_blank">did all the damage</a>. While killing the Vengeance a Hurricane undocked, arty fit. Kortes ran but I had other plans. I tried getting in under its guns but alas, my Rupture <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27008577/" target="_blank">exploded</a>.<br />
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Right, so back to the story I wanted to tell, I was bored and depressed after my losses. I hopped into a Rifter, deciding not to fly the more expensive stuff to its doom for the remainder of the day. I was half paying attention in a safe when suddenly, Derka Miller started talking in local chat.<br />
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<i>Derka Miller > start with 1st belt then work way down<br />Derka Miller > mining<br />Derka Miller > err wrong chat</i><br />
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I laughed, was this for real? Was it a trap? I located top belt and pointed my D-scan towards it. Kortes's Tornado was there with a capsule. That was fast I thought, but there was still a Hyperion there. The Tornado left, leaving the Hyperion alone in the belt. Waiting for a few moments I was surprised to see that no one was jumping the battleship. I warped to the belt in my Rifter, upon landing I noticed it was Derka Miller himself flying the battleship. He was a two months old pilot, how great can he be? ATTACK! I tackled the battleship, fully expecting that I wouldn't be able to kill it alone. I was ready to call in some help, but his shields were dropping steadily. His oversized weopons was littering space with oversized bullets, but none could track the speed of my Rifter.<br />
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Could this be my white whale? The Moby Dick of space ship combat? My d-scan button was being abused, but no ships appeared. His shields dropped, surely his armour is tanked, I thought, you wouldn't fly a Hyperion into low sec if it wasn't at least tanked...right? Nervous laughter escaped my mouth as I wither away his armour. More abuse to the D-scanner followed, but still nothing showed up. It was taking much longer than the shields though, and I started to overheat the autocannons just to speed things up a bit. <br />
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After a reload and some more shooting, I hit his structure. This was it, I thought, I have you! His weapons stopped shooting, it seemed as though Derka also realized his impending doom. A glorious explosion lighted up the asteroid belt. I locked up his pod, and <a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27009626/" target="_blank">sent him back to hisec</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://zkillboard.com/detail/27009570/" target="_blank">RIFTER > BATTLESHIP !!!</a><br />
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Looking at his...interesting fit on the killmail, I noticed the cargo. I realised there were plenty of modules looking suspiciously like battle loot. I checked his killboard, nope, no kills. Two losses though...seems like five hours later, he decided to try again...in <a href="http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=15438135" target="_blank">Old Man Star</a>. I also noticed a lack of any miner modules, leaving me confused at what he was doing. Was he baiting? Was the convo in local a trap? I guess we'll never know.Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-8444672642651624052012-12-04T10:21:00.000+00:002013-02-06T14:23:08.344+00:00The Rogue RebelEssence is home to many a R1DER pilot these days, specifically Adirain. Yesterday I went there to see if I can find anything worthwhile to shoot at. A quick glance at my D-Scan revealed another Rifter on scan. Delighted I checked local and spotted a fellow R1DER in the system, Bobby. A quick enquiry revealed that it was him sporting the Rifter. Dismayed at the loss of a possible fight I continued abusing the scan button and pretty soon a Catalyst showed up. I informed my fellow partner in crime and checked who the third person in local was. It was a new pilot, dipping his toe into losec for a quick thrill no doubt.<br />
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Both Bobby and me were hard at work trying to find his location till I pointed straight at him with my d-scan with no celestials nearby. A quick change of filters confirmed my suspicion, he was ratting either at a mission, sig or anomaly. I was holding thumbs for the anomaly theory to be true as I did an onboard system scan. To my delight I found one in his direction and warped to it instantly. <br />
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Alas, it was not to be as I landed too far from him to point before he warped away. I headed to the planet in the direction he warped off to. Not there, but I quickly had him on d-scan towards the hisec gate. He'll just jump when I land I thought, and instead I waited for him to gather some courage and head to the anomaly again.<br />
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After a bit of waiting he disappeared from scan but was still in system. I warped back to the anomaly, checking the d-scan if he was there. He was indeed and I pre-heated all my modules before landing. Once again I was disappointed when I landed 100km from him, and he warped off to the gate again.<br />
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Deciding that I wasn't in the mood to chase a Catalyst to and from this plex the whole time, I warped straight to the gate after him. I landed next to him and locked on, hoping that he would panic and engage, but expecting he'd jump. Then a full volley of a fail fitted Catalyst crashed against my Rifter's shields. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of this pilot realising he can't jump through the gate anymore as I engaged and moved in under his guns.<br />
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I hailed Bobby to join in on the fun, and turned off my autocannons till he arrived. With his Rifter on grid I decided to let him have the honour of taking the kill, but then I noticed I was being webbed scrammed and shot at.<br />
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Confused I checked the overview again, was I missing something? Is it the Catalyst unleashing his full fury only now? No, I realised, it was Bobby shooting me. I called for him to stop but he didn't listen and decided to take down the Catalyst first. It didn't <a href="http://r1fta.zzeve.com/index.php/kill_detail/30768/" target="_blank">take long</a>, but now I was at half armour.<br />
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Was Bobby really that evil? Was he...a rogue rebel? Would he really kill me after I graciously allowed him to whore on the killmail? Well I'm not going down without a fight I thought and unleashed the full fury of my Rifter against his. Overheat everything! We're taking him out! I was just about done with his shields and very low on my own armour when I noticed his modules disengaging. <br />
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"Sorry!" he said, "I was on the phone while fighting," then with a little grin, "Not a good combination." <br />
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Relieved I disengaged as well. I was worried that Miura Bull's new training methods have turned these new recruits rabid, making the hell raisers turn on everyone. I mean, we're all scum but you got to have some morals right? <br />
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Our laughter ended abruptly when a Caracal appeared on scan. Back to business as usual!Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-84608020832236656162012-11-27T14:54:00.002+00:002012-11-27T14:54:58.108+00:00Knights in Black LeatherWhile grounded for six months I missed the raggedy bad ass group of no good pirates I call my brothers. So I took the time to write a poem:<br />
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<i>There aint no stopping when the rebels ride<br />Boozed up courage more liqour by their side<br />Frenzied to no cause just loving the thrill<br />Better watch out when they hunt for a kill</i>Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-89540549351013538842012-11-26T16:55:00.001+00:002012-11-27T14:43:02.472+00:00Back in BlackNothing like a six month leave of absence to make you yearn to fly amongst the stars once more. It's been longer than I expected and my first order of business was to look at my corp status. I was happily greeted with the BRRC symbol and greetings soon followed.<br />
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I was then informed that a lot of things have changed since I last departed. The list of ship modifications went on and on and in the end the only plan I could muster was to undock a rifter and start shooting.<br />
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I soon found a cyno and decided I'd have <a href="http://r1fta.zzeve.com/index.php/kill_detail/30232/" target="_blank">a go at it</a>. Then, with the help of a Tusker called Volstruis, we scanned down the pod and merrily watched it <a href="http://r1fta.zzeve.com/index.php/kill_detail/30152/" target="_blank">explode</a>. Not the most impressive of kills but kills none the less. It was a late Sunday night and there wasn't much action to be had so after a few hours of fruitless hunting, I headed to my quarters and grabbed some z's.<br />
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All in all though I'm glad to be back!Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-47455510987229425002012-07-17T16:41:00.000+00:002012-07-17T16:50:09.567+00:00Be Back Soon...I hope!As I explained in a previous post I take the occasional break from space at times. The length of these breaks vary, but time and again I find myself back in a pod shooting stuff before too long. The current break would have been over by now if not for the...<span style="font-size: small;"><i>technical difficulties</i></span><span style="font-size: small;">*</span> I'm suffering under at the moment. Don't fret though, I shall make my glorious return soon.<br />
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Ah, to see the ENCAPSULATED text from POWNY and the "......" from Lhorhenzo! The drunken giggles from good ol' Judge and the encyclopedic knowledge from the Maxwell's. Not to mention Saftzuse's beautiful mustache and Miura Bull's teapot's jerseys....well, maybe I'll be okay not seeing the last one again....<br />
Sooooon........<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>*I moved to a new place where I have absolutely no internet at the moment, not even 3g. It's a very frustrating wait for our telephone company, the evil monopoly called Telkom, to install my land line, and my ADSL after that. The installation of these might leave me broke and out of Eve for even another month! ARGH!!! I just hope the good folks at BRRC remember me...</i></span>Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262928328095010070.post-78950322513397298672012-05-08T17:27:00.000+00:002013-02-06T14:22:09.690+00:00Stormy May DayApril is done and dusted and was by far my best month yet! Here's a quick summary of the month:<br />
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<b><u>Kills</u></b>: <i>55 (0.99B)</i><br />
<b><u>Losses</u></b>:<span style="color: black;"> </span><i>19 (0.32B)</i><br />
<b><u>Efficiency</u></b>: <i>75.27%</i><br />
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Essence has been kind and I had a lot of fun shooting noobs with a few good fights in between. On the first of May however, I found myself in Minmatar space. Dal to be exact. It was two days after killing the Vengeance and I was determined to get another kill in the Wolf.<br />
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I found a few faction warfare pilots on my roam, all of which ran at the sight of my mighty Wolf. I decided to try and camp the warfare plex, hoping to prey on unsuspecting pilots that warp in. I was barely there when I noticed a Stabber Fleet Issue on scan. There was no celestials on d-scan so I figured it was going to land in the plex. I had little time and was desperately trying to answer a simple question: "Fight or flight?"<br />
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An SFI is very fast, so it would be kiting I figured. Bare in mind that I had, and still don't have, any solid info on SFI's. So I figured if it landed on top of me I could shoot it down up close. My decision was made, if it lands close to me, fight. Long distance from me though and I'll be warping to a pre-aligned celestial.<br />
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It landed close enough and I immediately locked up and activated my pre-heated modules. He responded by activating his modules too and launched a fleet of drones. Webbed to a standstill and being torn apart by medium AC’s and Warrior II's, I realized in dismay that "flight" was the better option. Needless to say, my Wolf <a href="http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13241216" target="_blank">didn't make it</a>.<br />
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The next day I jumped back into my clone in Essence. There I had some luck, together with Sorn, ganking a noob who wandered into low sec. I was looking for something a little more thrilling though, and soon found what I was looking for in the form of an Ishkur. I warped with my Malediction and <a href="http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13270080" target="_blank">engaged the Ishkur</a>. After the fight, I realized that I could easily have run away. This was something I rarely thought of in the heat of battle and could've saved me a lot of ships in the past. Definitely something to work on.<br />
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After that loss I decided to jump back into the good ol' Rifter. I headed into Tusker turf, and asked for a 1v1. Abellona accepted my challenge and soon we battled. It soon became very apparent that she was kiting. I didn't even get a shot off before I got <a href="http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13277726" target="_blank">popped</a>. I was in scramble and web range for a brief moment in the beginning of that fight but I forgot to lock on to my opponent and missed the chance to get close and personal. This too is something to work on as I find myself locking on way too late in a fight. Abellona, being an honourable pirate and all, said she felt dishonorable for kiting in an arranged fight. I told her that it was all good, but soon she asked me to dock and gave me a fitted Rifter. Not one to turn away a free ship I accepted and went on my way.<br />
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After a few more noob killings in that Rifter, I headed back to Heild. There I hopped into a Rifter and went out looking for a fight. Sid Afraldir, a corp mate, reported that he saw a Drake ratting in his system but needed more DPS to take down its beastly shields as he was only flying a Rifter himself. I was the only one close and responded to the call, hoping for a fail fit on the Drake. On my way over he reported that the Drake docked. Soon after he saw an Incursus in system too, and as I arrived at the neighbouring system, he called point on the Drake. I hurried over, but as I was warping to Sid's location he died thanks to the Drake and Incursus teaming up. I landed on station with them and Sid's wreck. I locked up. They did the same, but didn't engage. I grabbed Sid's loot and warped to the sun.<br />
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The Drake landed and I started an orbit that would keep my speed high as to avoid missile damage. The I started working on the drones. I dispersed three Hobgoblin II's and was working on the fourth when the Incursus landed. Here is the point where I made my biggest mistake. Instead of dropping aggression on the drone and immediately working on the Incursus, I tried to finish off the drone first. The Incursus was webbing me and hitting the drone became tough. The Drake's missiles started hitting hard, along with the blaster assault of the Incursus. The fourth drone went down and I immediately engaged the Incursus. By now my armour buffer was getting thin and I was racing to at least kill the Incursus. It was low in armour, but my Rifter finally gave in to their <a href="http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13284384" target="_blank">battering</a>.<br />
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I left that fight with a big smile on my face. That was the type of fights to be losing. My mind was racing with the "what if's" and "I coulda's." The big question was whether I could have relieved the Drake pilot of his drones if I had killed the Incursus. It wasn't doing much damage with its missiles before I got webbed and if I survived the drone fleet, could I have taken the tank on the Drake? Not if it was well fitted, but you never know. I docked and got into another Rifter, but I didn't find anything else that night.<br />
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The next day I teamed up with Sorn. We both wanted to try out our Hurricanes, and decided it would be best if we teamed up and had a little roam. Judge Sarn also joined us a little later but our roam ended back in Heild without us finding anything.<br />
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Then, after some discussions about ship fittings, me and Judge traded. I gave him my Jaguar for his Wolf. Once I had the Wolf fitted I decided it was time to get it a kill. Me and Judge was warping around the system chasing stuff, until I found a Vexor at the local plex. I engaged, but knew he had a fleet in system. I was hoping to get rid of the Vexor before they warped in. Judge, knowing about the fleet was hesitant to warp in, and I also recommended him not to. The fight went horribly wrong as I hit his armour and wasn't able to dent it at all. As I got <a href="http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13297200" target="_blank">destroyed</a>, Peri Simone, another rebel, landed and engaged. This too ended in a loss to him and then Judge, probably after taking another shot of whiskey, valiantly charged at the Vexor, with Sorn also on his way in his Hurricane. I docked, grabbed the only thing I had fitted, a Rifter, and hurried back to the plex. Judge went down. I landed and saw Sorn shooting at the Vexor with more success than us. I also engaged but then the Vexor's fleet dropped. Sorn's ECM drones kicked in just in time for him to make his escape. Then my little Rifter got <a href="http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13297272" target="_blank">raped</a>.<br />
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It was only after the fight that I remembered that the Vexor pilot had a linky alt in a Legion in system. Ugh, I hate those, but all's fair I guess.<br />
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After that me and Judge had a little Rifter showdown. Judge in his shield fit and me in my armour buffer fit. Thinking he'd try and get range on me, I switched to Barrage mid-fight. That was probably the worst thing I could have done and Judge came out the victor. We docked up and headed straight for the pub. With a whiskey in his hand and a brandy in mine, we discussed fittings and strategies for our favourite ship, the Rifter. As I passed out on my bed I remember wondering if May would stop kicking my ass soon...Yuzuki Katayanagihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13719518093466885246noreply@blogger.com3