R1FTA DRFTA

Things we do in EVE:
- Lowsec solo/small gang PvP
- Nullsec solo/small gang PvP
- Griefing
- General villainy

That's what we do or strive to accomplish each time we log in. Whether one of us achieves multiple objectives, or share the workload throughout the corp, those above bullet points is what we base our corp on and measure our success by. It's interesting to see the people who arrive at our club house, wide eyed and full of fantasies of ransoming mining barges and going Rambo on ratters. But solo pvp isn't for everyone. It takes a special type of player/person/pilot/nutter to really appreciate the solo life, both its good and bad. The bad when you fly for 20+ systems aching for a fight, to finally find one and discover that ship should not be going that fast, or tanking that much damage. Damn links. You undock feeling optimistic about todays roam. You jump into the next system ready to roll. Gate camp. With time and experience you learn how to find signs of links in system and ways to evade gate camps, but that knowledge comes through many losses and perseverance. But the good .. oh the good! When you grab tackle on that Merlin and see a huge spike in local. Adrenaline pumping, his shields are beginning to give, you make the call to stay and finish him. You check short scan and see some visitors. Almost there! Your guns punch through his shields as his armor melts and hull breaks apart. The sound of frigs landing on grid forces you to align out. The Merlin explodes and you moon walk out of there as the gang yellow boxes you. When you say screw it after weighing the risks for a 2v1, and emerge victorious. Those moments, those victories that result from the lessons learned of many explosions are what keeps us going. 

Especially the explosions :]

Guide to the Light

Even though there aren't many who have a fondness for solo pvp, it doesn't mean they aren't out there, wandering, wondering if there's a place for them to call home. We do our best to find those capsuleers and invite them to fly R1FTA colors. Well recently I stumbled upon one such individual, and needless to say I had to contact him to see if he wanted to fly with us.

Fool Auto. Rifter Drifter.

Fool Auto. Right at the top of his post;

Thy Ship: Rifter
Thy God: Wensley
Thy Text: Wensley's Rifter Guide

My goodness! This man possesses all the right stuff to become a Black Jacket! Loves the Rifter, worships Wensley, and his holy book! We share very similar views and interests;

From R1FTA;
You read Wensley's Rifter Guide and decided he is now your god and you want to be just like him.

Great minds think alike :]  

Still A Hot Spot

I logged in and was greeted by fellow Black Jackets Darth Terona and Tox Uitra. We chatted it up asking what we were all up to and how things were going. 

[ 2016.08.18 06:17:47 ] Tox Uitra > just getting blown up, no blowing up sofar
[ 2016.08.18 06:17:49 ] Darth Terona > Max Emelyanov next door in a kitey instalock curse.  watch out 
[ 2016.08.18 06:18:14 ] Tox Uitra > atron in  small darth
[ 2016.08.18 06:18:32 ] Sem Skord > rgr

Busy busy! I wanted to get in on the action, but I had other things in mind. I began to type out a message to Fool Auto, to see if he'd be interested in joining up with us since we share a love of all things Rifter. But then Tox said this:

[ 2016.08.18 06:20:49 ] Tox Uitra > Sem Skord hookbill in caldary small outpost
[ 2016.08.18 06:20:55 ] Sem Skord > undocking

Message can wait! I undocked and scanned around. Usually from our station you can scan all the nearby plex's. The only thing out of range were the outgates to Nikkishina and Usi.

[ 2016.08.18 06:21:05 ] Tox Uitra > I cant enter, will grab rifter
[ 2016.08.18 06:21:22 ] Sem Skord > aligned
[ 2016.08.18 06:21:26 ] Sem Skord > let me know when ur rdy
[ 2016.08.18 06:21:32 ] Tox Uitra > even better, 1 month old toon
[ 2016.08.18 06:21:35 ] Sem Skord > :D
[ 2016.08.18 06:21:49 ] Sem Skord > You want the honors then? since you found him
[ 2016.08.18 06:21:57 ] Sem Skord > dont think he'll put up a fight solo
[ 2016.08.18 06:22:21 ] Tox Uitra > sure
[ 2016.08.18 06:22:37 ] Sem Skord > let us know how it goes :]

I returned to my correspondence. I was keeping an eye on local, and saw it go plus one. Well no shit! 

[ 2016.08.18 06:23:00 ] Tox Uitra > in warp, fool auto is rifter btw
[ 2016.08.18 06:23:19 ] Sem Skord > lol
[ 2016.08.18 06:23:32 ] Sem Skord > i was just writing him a message

Fool Auto had made the trek from Metropolis all the way to Isho. I remembered his thread said to hit him up for a fight, so I closed the message and reached out in local.

[ 2016.08.18 06:23:41 ] Sem Skord > Fool Auto
[ 2016.08.18 06:23:43 ] Sem Skord > 1v1
[ 2016.08.18 06:23:44 ] Sem Skord > Sun
[ 2016.08.18 06:23:56 ] Fool Auto > o7
[ 2016.08.18 06:24:06 ] Sem Skord > o/

I warped to the sun and loaded Fusion bullets and Nova rockets, eager for what seemed to be a very promising duel. Two Rifters, 1v1, at the sun. *excited girl scream* Our diplomat 200mm Autocannon II, was ready to begin introductions. I overheated everything, took a deep breath, and waited. Seconds later he appeared on short.

[ 2016.08.18 06:24:18 ] Fool Auto > GL HF :)
[ 2016.08.18 06:24:23 ] Sem Skord > gl hf

Fool Auto landed about 4,000 meters from me. Immediately I activated my afterburner and pounced on him, simultaneously spamming target lock. Once I had a lock I let the guns loose and unleashed a volley of bullets and rockets. His Rifter returned the favor as his volley put me in half shields. Oh man. The gunfight was in full swing, and he was winning the dps war. When my shields fell I activated my SAAR and got my first rep off when another volley took a quarter of my armor out. My guns had put him in armor as well but not at the rate same as me. I noticed his Rifter was also faster than mine. No plate, gyro. I overheated my afterburner (usually I shut off the OH once I get right on top of my opponent) and tried to keep him in range. If he got outside 10km, pack your bags boys war's over! As he pulled range, I stayed on his tail, our Rifters continuing their explosive exchange. My tank was keeping my armor steady at half, while his shot down all the way to hull! Stay on him! This disciple of Wensley wasn't going out without a fight. A couple more volleys broke through my ancillary reps as I began to bleed into structure. I was coughing up reps that would bring me back to low armor, but the damage was bleeding through. Slowly but surely I was gaining on him, on top of that he was deep into structure but still causing enough damage for me to hold my breath. For a second he repped himself back into 3/4's armor, but right away another volley broke through and returned him to deep structure. Yes! My tank held steady at a quarter armor as I let loose one last barrage of bullets and rockets that turned his Rifter into a glorious wreck.


[ 2016.08.18 06:25:19 ] Sem Skord > gf
[ 2016.08.18 06:25:27 ] Fool Auto > GF
[ 2016.08.18 06:25:34 ] Fool Auto > nice tamk!

[ 2016.08.18 06:25:38 ] Fool Auto > tnak*

I linked our club house so I can return his loot, to honor our Rifter fight and out of respect for a Rifter gearhead :]

[ 2016.08.18 06:25:59 ] Sem Skord > The Rifter Gods are proud :]
[ 2016.08.18 06:26:10 ] Fool Auto > Rifters for the Rifter God
[ 2016.08.18 06:26:15 ] Tox Uitra > Fool Auto ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US
[ 2016.08.18 06:26:26 ] Sem Skord > Fool Auto

[ 2016.08.18 06:26:28 ] Fool Auto > cheers mae to the victor the spoils

Very well! That fight was closer than I expected. If I had activated my reps too late, Fool Auto would've most likely came out on top. Not wanting to dirty up local, I invited him to the pub and we talked about the fight, our fits and tactics. He mentioned that he had no ships in the area since he was based in Avenod. I gave him two of my Rifters (custom made!) so he wouldn't be stranded in a pod. But Fool Auto wasn't done. 

[ 2016.08.18 06:30:45 ] Fool Auto > cheers man
[ 2016.08.18 06:30:50 ] Fool Auto > wanna blow me up again
[ 2016.08.18 06:30:51 ] Sem Skord > no prob man
[ 2016.08.18 06:31:01 ] Sem Skord > haha yea let me rep up
[ 2016.08.18 06:31:08 ] Sem Skord > its the same fit as me
[ 2016.08.18 06:31:12 ] Sem Skord > so it'll be good :]
[ 2016.08.18 06:31:46 ] Fool Auto > nice
[ 2016.08.18 06:31:52 ] Fool Auto > top belt for sexyness?
[ 2016.08.18 06:32:02 ] Sem Skord > sure
[ 2016.08.18 06:32:07 ] Sem Skord > gl hf

[ 2016.08.18 06:32:08 ] Fool Auto > GL HF :)

Now I don't have footage of our second round so my memory is hazy, but I do remember this. I waited at the belt for him, guns hot n loaded ready to roll. He landed right on top of me and we charged at each other rockets and autocannons lettin' loose. I settled into my close orbit as my shields went down first again! I waited until my shields had a quarter life left before I activated my SAAR. Why is he still faster than me?? I eyeballed his speed and saw he still had his afterburner overheated. Doh! Once I did the same the distance between us no longer increased, which put us right into the golden zone of one another's guns. My tank was holding steady at a rate that didn't alarm me as his struggled to repair the incoming damage. My guess is that he mistimed his reps. Seconds later, R1FTA Victor!

[ 2016.08.18 06:33:22 ] Fool Auto > gf
[ 2016.08.18 06:33:32 ] Sem Skord > gf man
[ 2016.08.18 06:33:35 ] Fool Auto > fark baked my dinner twice :P
[ 2016.08.18 06:33:39 ] Fool Auto > need revenge lol
[ 2016.08.18 06:33:57 ] Sem Skord > how about we get that hookbill at the small?
[ 2016.08.18 06:34:03 ] Fool Auto > kk

Now while Fool Auto and I were getting to know each other, Tox was having his war with that Hookbill from earlier. Turns out this was no mere Hookbill, it had exploded Tox twice. We warped to the small, and as we entered the plex, the Hookbill had warped off. 

[ 2016.08.18 06:36:41 ] UltimateKen > 2v1 now?
[ 2016.08.18 06:37:01 ] UltimateKen > when in doubt, call for backup... i understand.. lol
[ 2016.08.18 06:37:08 ] Sem Skord > ;]

Now this is where Mr. Ken became a bit pompous. 

[ 2016.08.18 06:38:04 ] UltimateKen > you see, when someone lose 1 leg and become handicap, they have to rely on another person to help them walk around... lol
[ 2016.08.18 06:38:10 ] Tox Uitra > I never called, they are on their own

Usually I ignore people like this, but something about this guy I just couldn't ignore. Maybe it was his face, I don't know. 

[ 2016.08.18 06:38:20 ] Sem Skord > Get off your high horse ken
[ 2016.08.18 06:38:34 ] Sem Skord > Tox didnt call for help, fought you twice alone.
[ 2016.08.18 06:38:44 ] Fool Auto > UltimateKen, name like that you need fear nothing
[ 2016.08.18 06:38:45 ] UltimateKen > lol, what gave it up was both incoming rifters were name exactly the same!! lol... i don't buy your handicap storry brah
[ 2016.08.18 06:39:02 ] Sem Skord > Im not your brah friend
[ 2016.08.18 06:39:02 ] Fool Auto > hey I am handycapped
[ 2016.08.18 06:39:18 ] Fool Auto > check your microagression brah
[ 2016.08.18 06:39:19 ] UltimateKen > and i'm not your friend brah.. lol
[ 2016.08.18 06:39:33 ] Sem Skord > then we're strangers o_O
[ 2016.08.18 06:39:56 ] Tox Uitra > stranger danger!!!!!!  UltimateKen is a creep!!!! hide yo kids
[ 2016.08.18 06:39:59 ] UltimateKen > keep crying, my bucket isn't full yet
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:10 ] UltimateKen > so salty in this system
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:18 ] Sem Skord > How do you feel?
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:20 ] UltimateKen > i like it, i'm gonna stay here for a few days
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:22 ] Fool Auto > it goes with my chips
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:25 ] Fool Auto > got any vinegar
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:30 ] Sem Skord > Got any cheddar to go with 'em?
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:43 ] Fool Auto > fuck thats...thats just...wrong
[ 2016.08.18 06:41:18 ] Tox Uitra > but bbq sause and cheese is awesome on chips
[ 2016.08.18 06:42:11 ] Fool Auto > think I sicked up a little in my mouth

Over at the pub we were having a laugh about it.

[ 2016.08.18 06:40:21 ] Darth Terona > Epoara. its obviously an alt their dealing with. i was just pooring on the salt
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:36 ] Epoara > I know
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:42 ] Darth Terona > <3
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:50 ] Epoara > heavy metagaming inc
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:51 ] Epoara > https://zkillboard.com/kill/55618694/
[ 2016.08.18 06:40:54 ] Epoara > Probably the fit
[ 2016.08.18 06:41:46 ] Sem Skord > well
[ 2016.08.18 06:41:49 ] Sem Skord > hes not gonna fight
[ 2016.08.18 06:42:11 ] Sem Skord > i wonder if he'll do a 1v1 with me

I'm not much for smack talk, I prefer to settle those kinds of things over 1v1's at the sun or belt. But with all of us talking to him, I doubted he'd accept the challenge.

[ 2016.08.18 06:42:18 ] Sem Skord > How's about a 1v1 Ken?
[ 2016.08.18 06:42:29 ] Sem Skord > Me and you ... friend
[ 2016.08.18 06:42:38 ] Fool Auto > oh oh then me
[ 2016.08.18 06:43:04 ] Darth Terona > UltimateKen id like a 1v1
[ 2016.08.18 06:43:23 ] Darth Terona > our corp has to honor requested 1v1s
[ 2016.08.18 06:43:39 ] Sem Skord > Yup. Mandated by Miura Bull and the beloved Saint Wensley
[ 2016.08.18 06:43:43 ] Sem Skord > blessed be thy name
[ 2016.08.18 06:43:51 ] Tox Uitra > otherwise we get the boot
[ 2016.08.18 06:44:28 ] Darth Terona > you have to accept though
[ 2016.08.18 06:44:42 ] Fool Auto > The Original and First Rifter Drifter
[ 2016.08.18 06:44:47 ] Darth Terona > i mean. you dont have to accept. but for it to be an official 1v1. you have to accept
[ 2016.08.18 06:44:51 ] Sem Skord > ^

Silence.

With Ken not wanting to accept anyone's 1v1, I suggested to Auto that we continue on and check out other systems to shoot something. Tox was conducting the holy duty of disposing of cyno's while Darth stayed behind as we jumped a system over into Uuna. Nothing was on scan so we pushed on to the next system. I warped to my safe and scanned around, waiitng for Auto to enter system. I decided this was my opportunity to make my pitch! I'm not the savviest guy when it comes to this kind of stuff!

[ 2016.08.18 06:45:38 ] Sem Skord > well shit man
[ 2016.08.18 06:45:43 ] Sem Skord > dont wanna put you on the spot in the pub
[ 2016.08.18 06:45:53 ] Sem Skord > but i was in the middle of writing you a message when you showed up
[ 2016.08.18 06:46:08 ] Sem Skord > was gonna see if a fellow Rifter lover like yourself would like to fly with us?
[ 2016.08.18 06:46:52 ] Fool Auto > when in town happy to fleet up or shoot each other whatever is most fun at the time :)
[ 2016.08.18 06:47:44 ] Sem Skord > haha sounds good. we dont have blues, but we'll set your corp to orange. means you give gf's and dont use links
[ 2016.08.18 06:48:09 ] Fool Auto > if you set me as blue I would take it as a personal injury
[ 2016.08.18 06:48:19 ] Fool Auto > mutual orange it is then :)

Hey I tried! Not gonna push it, perhaps if he spends enough time flying with us, he'll see the light!

Never Safe

While Darth was in Isho, Auto had made his way back there as well. I was still a couple systems over waiting around, when they told me they tried to snag him again but he managed to escape. He was still in system safed up. To hell with this! I declared in the pub;

[ 2016.08.18 06:57:24 ] Sem Skord > gonna probe him down
[ 2016.08.18 06:57:34 ] Sem Skord > standby in Isho if you want to get in on it
[ 2016.08.18 06:57:50 ] Tox Uitra > on my way back. Just needed to dispose of another cyno
[ 2016.08.18 06:58:02 ] Sem Skord > doing the Lord's work
[ 2016.08.18 06:58:10 ] Fool Auto > lol

[ 2016.08.18 06:58:11 ] Fool Auto > you guys

I burned back to Isho, jumped into my Cheetah, undocked and scanned around. The first scan showed no Hookbill, so I warped to a celestial near the outgates outside scan range. Another scan revealed our quarry! I lowered the range to get a better idea of how far he was from me so I knew where to set my probes. He was between 10 and 14.3 AU. I checked the map and there was no celestials within that range, just the outgate and the nearby planets, which I confirmed were free of Hookbills with a couple more d-scans. All signs were pointing to this fella being safed up.

[ 2016.08.18 06:59:18 ] Sem Skord > Probing

As my probes went out and did their soothing sonar sound, Ken spoke up in local.

[ 2016.08.18 07:00:34 ] UltimateKen > blocked.... can't hear you guys... leave me alone, i just want to plex for some fast ISK

Oh NEIN you didn't! Our determination to catch him increased at this arrogant request! But I was having trouble getting a solid red dot thingy, and without that red dot, I couldn't probe him down. The guys had occupied the plex's in system, so when he warped to another safe nearby, I had to find him again. I moved the probes closer to the center and scanned. They were there and my d-scan was empty, which meant he was no longer near me. I held my position and waited a few seconds. I hit d-scan again and this time Ken was there, so I brought the probes back and scanned again. It was taking a while.

[ 2016.08.18 07:04:02 ] Sem Skord > he keeps moving

[ 2016.08.18 07:04:05 ] Sem Skord > but i think i got him

[ 2016.08.18 07:04:28 ] Sem Skord > he doesnt know we're probing tho

[ 2016.08.18 07:04:30 ] Sem Skord > thats a plus

[ 2016.08.18 07:05:24 ] Sem Skord > Geez

[ 2016.08.18 07:06:02 ] Sem Skord > ok

[ 2016.08.18 07:06:06 ] Sem Skord > close

[ 2016.08.18 07:06:15 ] Sem Skord > 27%

I found the red dot! 

[ 2016.08.18 07:06:58 ] Sem Skord > 84

[ 2016.08.18 07:07:00 ] Sem Skord > 1 more probe

[ 2016.08.18 07:07:07 ] Tox Uitra > jackdaw in system

[ 2016.08.18 07:07:23 ] Sem Skord > wait

[ 2016.08.18 07:07:26 ] Sem Skord > get ready

I had probed him down to 100%! I felt like that had taken an eternity, but looking at the logs it had taken almost 10 minutes. Fortunately (for us) he wasn't paying attention to d-scan or else he would've saw those combat probes near him. I didn't want to waste any time, so I decided to fleet warp the guys so they can get explode him and Tox get his vengeance. Little did I know ... 

[ 2016.08.18 07:07:45 ] Sem Skord > fleet warping

[ 2016.08.18 07:07:56 ] Sem Skord > get em!

[ 2016.08.18 07:08:05 ] Sem Skord > catch it?

[ 2016.08.18 07:08:08 ] Tox Uitra > fleet warp didnt work

[ 2016.08.18 07:08:12 ] Sem Skord > dammit

[ 2016.08.18 07:08:14 ] Sem Skord > ill get a shi[

[ 2016.08.18 07:08:18 ] Sem Skord > then warp to him

[ 2016.08.18 07:08:20 ] Sem Skord > then u guys warp to me

Ahhh! I warped to the station, hopped in my Rifter, undocked and warped to Ken's safe. 

[ 2016.08.18 07:09:02 ] Sem Skord > alright

[ 2016.08.18 07:09:08 ] Sem Skord > ill xxxx up

[ 2016.08.18 07:09:10 ] Sem Skord > then yall warp to me

[ 2016.08.18 07:09:25 ] Tox Uitra > k

My heart began to beat faster. I don't know why I was getting the shakes, maybe it was because of the smack talk from earlier and that he didn't know what was about to happen to him.

I exited warp to see the Hookbill sitting there motionless. Right away I locked him up, landed my web and scram and fired away. The autocannons spun furiously spitting out bullets as the rockets soared towards the sitting target. Volley after volley landed on the Hookbill and still no movement, not even an attempt to lock me! At this point my heart was beating out of my chest. Oh yea! Almost forgot!

[ 2016.08.18 07:09:30 ] Sem Skord > xxxxx

Ken either returned from his AFK, or snapped out of the surprise of a Rifter shooting him in his safe because I was locked and dual webbed as rockets rained upon my ship. 

[ 2016.08.18 07:09:41 ] Sem Skord > `XXXX

The surprise I had early on gave me a head start on the dps race, but the Hookbill closed that gap quickly. Out of nervousness I hit my reps early, wasting two nanite pumps. I left them on because I didn't want to lose point. The Hookbill's shields had fallen and was nearing half armor, but the dual webs were allowing him to drift out of my scram range. When he was 5,500 meters away, the sounds of ships landing on grid greeted the battlefield. 

[ 2016.08.18 07:09:42 ] Sem Skord > AHHHH

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:06 ] Sem Skord > get point!

Within moments the guys had lent their extra points and webs, trapping Mr. Ken to meet his doom. The Hookbill exploded shortly afterwards. The shakes were still going through me as I readied a trembling hand on my overview to lock the capsule. Scram! I held point on Ken's pod, fired a volley, shut off the guns and held it so the guys could get their hits in. Wooot!

We did it! Through some determination, smack talk, patience and probing, we got him!

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:34 ] Sem Skord > LMAO

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:36 ] Fool Auto > i believe he is dead

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:37 ] Sem Skord > we fucking did it

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:45 ] Sem Skord > god dam my heart is beating

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:49 ] Sem Skord > Kill: UltimateKen (Caldari Navy Hookbill)

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:50 ] Fool Auto > nice work mate

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:50 ] Tox Uitra > WOOOOOOOOOOOOO \o/

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:52 ] Sem Skord > Epoara

[ 2016.08.18 07:10:54 ] Sem Skord > can you message him for us

[ 2016.08.18 07:11:03 ] Sem Skord > and tell him R1FTA sends its regards

[ 2016.08.18 07:11:06 ] Sem Skord > or something cool like that lol

Turns out UltimateKen had blocked Epoara as well! And he wasn't even in the system! Perhaps he blocked R1FTA as a whole?? 

[ 2016.08.18 07:13:09 ] Fool Auto > heheh didn't block me

[ 2016.08.18 07:13:14 ] Sem Skord > lol

[ 2016.08.18 07:13:18 ] Sem Skord > Message him

[ 2016.08.18 07:13:26 ] Fool Auto > oh I did :)

Auto forwarded me the mail he sent Ken. The first two lines were ingame links to the killmails. Underneath that was a meme I asked him to include, followed with a GF link from Auto. He closed the message with "<3 Fool Auto and the R1FTA crew."

<3 it! We chatted excitedly about the events that led up us probing down his safe and exacting cosmic R1FTA justice on Ken. It was a fun and rewarding night! It was late so I decided to call it in right there. 

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:14 ] Sem Skord > well gents

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:23 ] Sem Skord > gonna rack out for the night

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:27 ] Sem Skord > thanks for the fun :]

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:27 ] Fool Auto > nn mate

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:30 ] Fool Auto > thanks for the fun

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:34 ] Fool Auto > and the Rifters

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:35 ] Sem Skord > good meetin ya n flyin with ya Auto

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:48 ] Fool Auto > ditts

[ 2016.08.18 07:23:50 ] Sem Skord > later guys, happy hunting o7

A good night! 

Turf Skirmish

It All Began When ... 

My time in Avenod was short lived. Although I enjoy the red, rusty glow of Minmatar space; my time there wasn't satisfying my thirst for good fights and explosions. I remained there for a week in hopes of finding them, but the action wasn't happening at the rate I liked. As I continued my scenic stroll through space, Black Jackets back at the club house in Isho were dropping killmails in corp chat like it was cool. Alright. That's it. I did one last roam around my constellation, docked up, prepared my body for the clone jump, said goodbye, and (a lot of commas there) off I went! 

First Blood

Isho was just how I remembered it when I arrived. Local's in system, a few of 'em flashy and gf's exchanged in local. Home! After I gathered myself, I checked my hangar to inspect what I still had laying around. Rifters, my beautiful Rifters. Ah! A Wolf! There was some other goodies, but I had enough ships to continue my quest of causing explosions. From mid June to early July I was roaming various regions; the Citadel, Black Rise, Essence, Placid, and Verge Vendor (those commas again). There were victories, defeats, and the addictive shakes. I remember what the original intent of this blog was, to share cool things that happened in my travels and fights with other players of New Eden (because my wife can only pretend to care so much, bless her heart). Well just recently, one such event occurred! 

Earlier this week as I was returning to my home station to drop off loot after a roam, I saw just four other people in local. I checked d-scan as I warped and saw a Caracal, Hecate, and a Merlin on scan. D-scanned a bit more and they were at a large together. Since one other person was in the same station as me, I checked the remaining three and sure enough they were newbro's (about a month to two months old) in the same FW corp. I started entertaining the thought in my head of harassing them, disrupting their plex'n, perhaps split them somehow and maybe pick off the Merlin. The biggest ship I had in my hangar was a Thrasher, which was not suited to what I wanted to accomplish nor how I like to fly. My Wolf was there, ready to roll. I was wary about flying without a web, but in the search of good fights and explosions these risks must be taken! 

I searched the local market for 280mm's and a long point so I can do this by kiting, but artillery always gives me stupid powergrid issues (grrr) so brawling Wolf was what I was gonna work with. I do not have footage to help me tell the story properly, but it was one of my proudest feats of solo pvp to date. It took a lot of warping in at distance to gain intel on how their ships were fitted and small skirmishes with Barrage loaded to see if they were long or short point. The Caracal was as expected; fit for kiting, the Hecate had an MWD with blasters and a short point, and the Merlin was also MWD with blasters & short point. More probing the lines and small engagements led to the culminating event of my Wolf gloriously exploding the Hecate (scram kite ftw!) and the Merlin! It was my tank that kept me in the fight when it all went down, but without the footage or any notes I can't give it the proper justice. What impressed me more was that the newbro's stuck together very well and remained to fight! That was their plex and they weren't gonna give it up without a fight! EVE needs more newbro's with that mentality, who aren't scared to fight in Factional Warfare. Bravo!

Revenge, and then more Revenge!

I was still giddy about the previous day when I logged in. I did my usual inspection of my Rifter. Ammo. Check. Repaired. Check. Any loot or corpses out of the cargo bay. Check. All set! As I undocked I saw the hardy group from last night online plus one more Caracal. I stopped my ship and went back and forth on whether I can pull off the same feat but in a Rifter. A few seconds later I decided Why not? Just space pixels! I hit warp and began my pre-battle checks. But something was amiss. The UI wasn't responding quick enough, and the camera wasn't centering on whatever I clicked on. No. I clicked like a madman all over hoping it was just a momentary freeze or something. Then ... it popped up. Socket Closed. Eve is kill. Well that was anti climatic. A few agonizing minutes later, my internet was backup and I logged in to see I had not only lost my ship (as I expected) but I had been podded as well.

I was butthurt. Yes, shit happens. D/C's happen. But I was upset that I didn't have the opportunity to properly defend myself or give an actual good fight. Ah well! I sat in Yvangier displeased with what happened. The pilots who had exacted their revenge were pleased; they had sent me a message saying gf and stuff, nothing negative. But in the spirit of New Eden, I must avenge my own loss; for my e-honor!

You know those moments where a number of thoughts and memories come together in what seems like an instant, and the result is a plan of clarity and purpose? Well I had one of those. Many months ago a fellow Black Jacket, Sam Sobati, gave me a fit for a Rupture. It was dual webbed and brick tanked fit, mainly for anti-frigate stuff for the lulz. I never brought that fit to life, but I kept it because you never know what the future will bring. The future had presented me with an opportunity to use Sam's Rupture fit to dish out some R1FTA vengeance. Wensley wills it!

Off the top of my head, the mission involved two phases. First would be to actually buy everything I need for the fit and get it to Isho, which would require me to use my hauler shopping dude. The second one would be the easiest, put everything together, fly into the middle of the FW pilots, and fire away! I hopped into a Rifter to get myself across Black Rise and to The Citadel so I can be ready to roll when the Rupture arrived. I sent the fit to my hauler, switched over to him and like a tortoise burned towards Jita in my indy. The entire trip to and from, I was anxious. Will they be there? Are they still there!? Will they even stay to fight if I land on them with a Rupture? I docked in the club house, contracted all the stuff to Sem, switched over to him and began to fit everything up. A wrench was thrown into the gears that brought my plans of revenge to a grinding halt. The original fit was made before the whole module tiercide, and there were powergrid issues as a result.

No! Not like this! The intended targets were still in Isho plexin' away, and here I was with a Rupture missing a couple key modules to make this happen! I checked the local market remembering that SF had kept Isho stocked with various pew pew modules and equipment. Of course in my haste to get everything to Isho and put the plan into action, I forgot to buy Fusion ammo for the Rupture's big glorious guns. The nearest available ammo was in Tama, about eight jumps away *facepalm*. The original medium neut would have to be scaled down, along with a couple modifications to fit my needs and what I would likely face in the fight. I bought what I needed in Tama. Just go! Go Now!! I took off in my Rifter and burned towards Tama. Along the way I grew anxious, wondering the same things I had stressed about earlier when I was transporting from Jita. I docked up in Tama, loaded the cargo and undocked. I think a dock worker might've been caught in the door, I don't know. I'll send ISK to his family. I was close to Isho, and in the end decided that if they are gone, at least I'll be ready with a fitted Rupture instead of running around everywhere to get the parts together. I jumped the gate ..... and they were still there! Plex'n away! Wooo! 

Apocalypse Now
I stared at the Rupture, admiring it's size and beauty. This would be glorious. Whether I won or lost, explosions will be made, and gf's will be exchanged. I could feel Wensley's warm, drunk smile upon me as I entered the ship. I was intimidated a bit. I had flown a Stabber before (long time ago) on a cruise to Heild, but I was drunk so don't remember much except it exploded (and it was kite fit, which I suck at). But this. The guns were bigger, the armored plate thicker and more durable, the SAAR to compliment it's strength .. it was a brawler through and through. I said a prayer to Saint Wensley, and undocked. 

The plan was simple. Get in the middle of all of them, point and web the closest ship, and unleash hell. The Hecate, Caracal, and Kestrel were all at the Novice. That's where they were when I D/C'd midwarp, perhaps they were protecting the Kestrel? That's some love right there. The Hecate would be the first to go since it wouldn't stand up to the fury of Dual 180mm's and Warrior drones (Trust in the Rust!). After the Hecate I would focus the drones on the Kestrel while the guns go to town on the Caracal (point would go to the Caracal of course). Republic Fleet Fusion was loaded into the guns as I practiced deep breaths, reminding myself to not forget the drones and manage overheat. Perhaps because this was my first time flying a Cruiser into a 3v1, that the shakes and adrenaline was running through me. This is why I love solo pvp. I flicked on the switches to have my guns and modules overheated, ready to roll. I repeated instructions to myself untiI I exited warp and saw the Hecate and Caracal outside the gate. The Kestrel must be inside plex'n. The ships were right on the gate. I began to lock up the Hecate, sticking to my plan. As soon as I locked him, a thunderous boom from my 180mm's calmed my nerves a bit. The Hecate was scrammed, webbed and his shields were already gone. I hit orbit to keep him close as a volley from the Hecate's blasters reminded me to neut him. I shutoff the overheat on my modules (except the weapons) as my guns were tearing the destroyer apart, the larger size projectiles putting beautiful holes into its armor. At this point I was long & short pointed and webbed. I remembered my Warrior drones, and they screamed towards the Hecate to do their work. A combined volley of blaster and missile fire put me in low shields, signaling me to hit my SAAR. The gun fight was on as the sounds of battle were echoing outside the acceleration gate. Autocannons, blasters, missiles and drones were once again conducting a symphony of burnt metal and destruction. The Hecate was struggling to repair the damage it was sustaining as my tank was holding up very well. I was missing a few volley's, but the hits that were landing were putting the Hecate deeper into hull. I checked d-scan and the Kestrel was no longer on short. Although the ship was bigger, slower but more powerful and tankier, the essence of it was the same. I was still missing, and that's where I remembered I was flying with bigger guns against a smaller target. The fact that I was orbiting so close was working against the tracking of my guns. I checked the optimal of guns and orbited at the appropriate distance. There was nothing left to do but sit back and watch. The Hecate coughed up one last rep that put it into low armor as its structure was slivers from exploding. My neocom pinged as the Hecate exploded in a brilliant flash as the Kestrel landed. The adrenaline and shakes were still flowing through me, and the Caracal was still on grid. Sticking to the plan, I pointed and webbed the Caracal as I switched ammo to EMP. I set the drones on the Caracal (modified plan) and noticed that only two of my original five drones were alive. Either the Caracal or Hecate focused on my drones, which explained why I began to tank comfortably at one point in the fight. I had one drone left in the bay, so I let it fly like a peacock to join its brethren in space battle. All my guns were set on the cruiser as I activated the neut. The 180mm's let out another roar as they fired away and tore through the target's shields. I was no longer taking any damage, so I shutoff my SAAR to save some cap life. A few volleys shredded through its armor and began to chew up the structure of the Caracal. Moments later, another glorious explosion. 

My hand was trembling as I navigated my Rupture to the wrecks to scoop up the loot and call my battle hardened drones back to base. Oh man! What a rush! The time from when I got exploded and podded, me scrambling throughout space to fit up this Rupture, and finally exploding two out of my three intended targets, had took about an hour n a half! I went over the entire chain of events. I could've logged off and nursed my butthurtness and done something else after I D/C'd and got podded, but instead I decided to get my revenge and the result of it was explosions and gf's :) 

Scars of battle .. not me! The Rupture!

So if something similar happens to you in the future, find a way to get your revenge and cause explosions. It's good for the soul, and New Eden's economy :D 

Here's a vid of the action, hope you guys enjoy!

Back to the Basics ... Again

Adirain. It was here that I arrived with the sole intention of joining R1FTA and earning my Black Jacket. Here where I 1v1'd Lucas Padecain at the sun, and soon after was earning my way by causing explosions and more explosions for R1FTA. It was with R1FTA and in Adirain that I was able to achieve my space fantasy of being a pirate, an outlaw. The flashy red and sexy -10 was a milestone I wanted to reach. Now with those goals met, there was only two things left for me to do. 



There's No Place Like Home

After a long while (about 3 weeks according to zkillboards!) with short sporadic sessions, I was finally able to go out on a proper roam! I hopped in my Rifter, cracked open a beer, and undocked into the cool, loving embrace of Mother Adirain. I admired the stars and reminisced about all the mining barges, the mission runners we probed down, ratters, miners and anyone else we've shot it out with in the past. Seasons change, the herd moves elsewhere, and we roam where the game is ripe :] 

I set my destination to a trip down memory lane, through the Jove pipe. At the end of the route I'd resupply at my outpost and make my way to Avenod. With my long absence from the game, returning to where I first stumbled around forgetting to turn the safety off (for three days!) would be a good way to shake off the rust (no pun intended). The roam through the Jov pipe was uneventful. Disturbed a farmer, was even able to get a lock and take down his shields but the stabbed fellow took off, leaving me and my auto cannons alone and sad. 

I arrived at my outpost to resupply, repair and get another beer. My Rifter was stocked, patched up and ready to roll! I went through Old Man Star through Ladister and into Aeschee. I entered Onne and set my destination to Avenod and burned through the highway. The patch of low sec connecting Peccanouette and The Bleak Lands is non Faction Warfare space. Perhaps because I travel that highway late at night, but the systems along the route are not very populated. I imagine it'd be a nice retirement spot or somewhere to PvE in peace.

Saidusairos

I arrived at the border of Amarr space. The golden red glow shined bright on the hull of my Rifter as I plotted my old roaming route into the computer and set off in search of fights. I wasn't expecting to find much since it was late, but it was worth a shot. Halfway through the roam, I plotted an additional few systems in order to visit Heimatar as well. Vard, Lantorn, Dal, Amamake. Good times! The cluster of systems in Devoid yeilded nothing. I passed through the Myridian Strip and entered the Rusty Red space of Heimatar. I raised my glass and drank one for the home worlds. I passed through each system in the constellation, searching for something to shoot. Over an hour of roaming with 15+ systems and nothing! My autocannons began talking to me, the rocket launchers egging them on. C'mon Sem. You've neglected us. Let us out, we're dying here! I entered Lantorn continuing the back and forth with my zealous companions, when I saw a Comet at a novice. Him! Please! Fine! I warped towards the plex going through my pre- battle check list. Proper ammo loaded. Check. Everything overheated. Check. Last minute stretches. Check. Woo! Let's do this! My guns were screaming with glee as I took the acceleration gate. My course of action with these stronk Comets was to orbit at 5,000 meters to stay out of blaster range. It's easier to get in range under rails, then out of range with blasters is my motto. Bullets and rockets screamed from their bays as they hit the Comet's hull. It's shields were falling fast but the drones strafing runs already punched through my shields. I activated my repper and set in my orbit but was rocked by a couple solid hits. Rails. I overheated my afterburner and spammed approach in a late attempt to close range. My repper was struggling to keep my Rifter together between deep and 1/4 armor, but the Comet was feeling the eagerness of my autocannons and rockets. The Comet must of noticed my maneuver because his speed increased significantly. I was locked in to the death, no way out! I overheated everything and fired away, my guns had one final thing to say. Thank you Sem. 

Home Sweet Home

My pod and I arrived at our outpost in Avenod.

 I docked up and took a look at my lonely hangar. Nothing but three Rifters and assortment of frigs moved by some contracted space truckers. Time to settle in and visit the Neighborhood soon :]

A Hotspot

The Following Took Place Between 10 am (PST) and 11 am (PST).


The system of Notoras in Black Rise is a nice little, out of the way system I dock up in every now and then. When I roam and don't want to head back to Isho, I'll call it a night there so when I undock I'm already behind enemy lines *cue in James Bond theme*. I see a fellow Black Jacket xxMACKxx in corp chat and we start chatting it up. As I undock a cyno is waiting for me *smile*. Off to a good start! I align to a celestial, lock up the Reaper and explode the cyno. I continue on my roam of Black Rise, stopping along each system on my route to scan around and look for targets. A few systems and no targets so I begin to roam towards Isho, stopping by the Asakai constellation first. Mack is having more luck finding fights as he shares a couple killmails with me. I enter Okkamon and continue to search. About twenty minutes in and no luck. I turn my Rifter towards Isho with the intent of hopping into my Astero and trying my luck with wormholes again. Mack dropped another fight in chat and I looked to see that he had fought the same Rifter twice, and was defeated. The fights happened in Isho! A Rifter pilot in Isho killing Black Jackets! I must fight him! I skip scanning the systems in the Isho pipe and burn as fast as I can over there. I was excited at the possibility of fighting a Rifter mano a mano! I entered Isho and as usual it was active and populated. I checked out local and saw the Rifter pilot was still here *fist pump* As soon as I enter system I see this:

[ 2016.01.20 18:23:15 ] Lost touch > you good for ISK?
[ 2016.01.20 18:23:21 ] xxMACKxx > totally
[ 2016.01.20 18:23:40 ] Lost touch > hehe T1 frig pew is cool coz you die its like 8m

I like this guy!

[ 2016.01.20 18:23:52 ] Sem Skord > Lost touch 1v1 nov?
[ 2016.01.20 18:23:55 ] xxMACKxx > yeah every now and then I sell a plex and I'm good for months
[ 2016.01.20 18:24:04 ] Lost touch > man let me rep
[ 2016.01.20 18:24:08 ] Sem Skord > kk
[ 2016.01.20 18:24:51 ] Lost touch > T1 frig?
[ 2016.01.20 18:24:59 ] Lost touch > or dragoon?
[ 2016.01.20 18:25:04 ] Sem Skord > t1
[ 2016.01.20 18:25:11 ] Sem Skord > your Rifter and my Rifter are gonna dance :]
[ 2016.01.20 18:25:28 ] Lost touch > hehe sounds like a party i wanna be a part of :p

Awesome! I warped to my home station and saw a flashy Thorax on the undock. I ignored it as I made last minute repairs and resupplies to my Rifter. After everything checked out I undocked and warped to the novice for our 1v1. But my opponent, Lost touch saw the Thorax and had other plans.

[ 2016.01.20 18:27:14 ] Lost touch > Thorax on gate
[ 2016.01.20 18:27:16 ] Lost touch > novice
[ 2016.01.20 18:27:20 ] Lost touch > team?
[ 2016.01.20 18:27:21 ] xxMACKxx > awesome
[ 2016.01.20 18:27:23 ] Sem Skord > sure
[ 2016.01.20 18:27:23 ] xxMACKxx > let's do it
[ 2016.01.20 18:27:35 ] Sem Skord > iw
[ 2016.01.20 18:27:48 ] xxMACKxx > undocking

For some strange reason I wasn't worried about this guy setting us up or backstabbing us during the fight. I think the fact that he fought Mack 1v1 and he was in a Rifter was the cause. Three frig pilots uniting to take down a nice big Thorax is always special though!

After a bit of warping back and forth between plex's trying to land on top of the Thorax (he was really fast for my AB brawling Rifter), I land 40km away from him as Lost and Mack are closer at 25-30km and burning. Mack brought his Crucifier to the fight and was able to land his long point on him but the Thorax was still faster than our frigs. I warped off to try warping back at a distance to get closer as Lost and Mack stayed on grid with the Thorax.

[ 2016.01.20 18:29:10 ] xxMACKxx > point
[ 2016.01.20 18:29:14 ] Sem Skord > iw
[ 2016.01.20 18:29:18 ] Lost touch > omw
[ 2016.01.20 18:29:35 ] Sem Skord > burning
[ 2016.01.20 18:29:50 ] Sem Skord > too fast
[ 2016.01.20 18:29:54 ] xxMACKxx > he's too fast
[ 2016.01.20 18:30:35 ] Lost touch > scrammed
[ 2016.01.20 18:30:36 ] Sem Skord > burning
[ 2016.01.20 18:30:49 ] Lost touch > drones

Yes! I landed on grid and was again 40km away but the Thorax had lost its speed advantage. The sights and sounds of battle were echoing as my Rifter made its way towards the fight. The sounds got louder and louder. The drones were out and were swarming the Rifter. I landed my point on the Thorax to hold him down in case Lost had to warp off and began going to work webbin' and shooting the drones. Mack's Crucifier had gone down during my trek to get to the fight but his sacrifice wasn't in vain as it allowed Lost to land a scram and hold down the cruiser. The system was still bustling with activity our Rifters shot down the wave of drones and turned our guns onto the Thorax. Our auto cannons and rockets were blasting through his shield and putting nice smoldering holes into his armor. A Firetail had landed but he took the gate immediately, probably unsure of what to make of the situation. Soon after a Punisher landed and was burning towards us.

[ 2016.01.20 18:31:25 ] Lost touch > kill kill
[ 2016.01.20 18:31:35 ] Lost touch > punnisher is friendly
[ 2016.01.20 18:31:39 ] Sem Skord > rgr
[ 2016.01.20 18:31:50 ] Sem Skord > dragoon after?
[ 2016.01.20 18:31:50 ] Lost touch > is draggon is friendly?
[ 2016.01.20 18:31:52 ] Sem Skord > no
[ 2016.01.20 18:31:54 ] Sem Skord > i dont know him
[ 2016.01.20 18:32:02 ] Lost touch > let us know if aggro

A Dragoon had landed about 50km from the killzone and was holding steady, not moving but watching what was going on. The Punisher was slowly making its way towards us as we continued to pound the Thorax. The cruiser turned its webs on me and fired away with its medium blasters landing a few grazing shots. I overheated my afterburner as the target entered deep armor causing his shots to miss my Rifter. Seconds later, the Thorax fell to the might of frigates! Woooo! A Vigil Fleet Issue was on short and the Dragoon began to burn towards us. At this point my paranoia kicked in, telling me to get out of there incase the Rifter and the Punisher decide to kill me as well. Mack's Crucifier wreck was nearby so I grabbed the loot and warped to a safe, leaving Lost, his Punisher friend, the Dragoon and the VFI at the plex. I watched d-scan and saw a couple pilots go flashy.

[ 2016.01.20 18:35:12 ] Sem Skord > well that was a turn of events
[ 2016.01.20 18:35:17 ] Sem Skord > good shit :]
[ 2016.01.20 18:35:27 ] Lost touch > hehe
[ 2016.01.20 18:35:28 ] Lost touch > was fun
[ 2016.01.20 18:36:00 ] Sem Skord > mack i grabbed ur loot from ur wreck
[ 2016.01.20 18:36:02 ] Sem Skord > show me the km plz
[ 2016.01.20 18:36:05 ] xxMACKxx > ahah thanks
[ 2016.01.20 18:36:13 ] xxMACKxx > Kill: xxMACKxx (Crucifier)
[ 2016.01.20 18:36:23 ] xxMACKxx > i'm pretty rusty
[ 2016.01.20 18:37:05 ] Lost touch > hehe that was hectic
[ 2016.01.20 18:37:18 ] Lost touch > oldschool ships tho :)

Lost and I returned to our previous arrangement.

[ 2016.01.20 18:41:06 ] Lost touch > wanna fleet and safe
[ 2016.01.20 18:41:11 ] Lost touch > coz some ships on scan
[ 2016.01.20 18:41:37 ] Sem Skord > 100km off planet x?
[ 2016.01.20 18:41:42 ] Lost touch > okies
[ 2016.01.20 18:41:53 ] Sem Skord > iw
[ 2016.01.20 18:41:54 ] Sem Skord > gl
[ 2016.01.20 18:41:57 ] Lost touch > need a sec
[ 2016.01.20 18:42:00 ] Sem Skord > np
[ 2016.01.20 18:42:01 ] Lost touch > repper loading
[ 2016.01.20 18:42:09 ] Lost touch > i derped and misclicked haha
[ 2016.01.20 18:42:21 ] Sem Skord > haha no worries
[ 2016.01.20 18:42:54 ] Lost touch > ok r
[ 2016.01.20 18:42:59 ] Lost touch > Gl Hf mate
[ 2016.01.20 18:43:05 ] Sem Skord > ditto

We moved towards each other from 100km out. He approached me at a side spiral as I went the climb altitude then dive bomb method. I eye balled his guns and he had auto cannons. At 50km we activated our afterburners and closed the distance. At around 15km he locked me up and began landing solid blows to my shields. I was still closing the distance and by the time I got to 10km I was already in low shields. I fired my guns and rockets and activated my repper. For a few seconds we exchanged gun fire and rockets, but I couldn't get closer than 5 or 6,000 meters. I checked his speed and sure enough he was faster than me. That meant he must of had falloff rigs with no plate and a gyro because my repper was getting overwhelmed with the incoming volleys. I managed to get him into deep armor and punch through his hull a bit but the speed gap between our Rifters was the deciding factor. Gf!

[ 2016.01.20 18:44:57 ] Lost touch > gf
[ 2016.01.20 18:44:58 ] Sem Skord > gf
[ 2016.01.20 18:45:07 ] Sem Skord > scram fit? no plate?
[ 2016.01.20 18:45:18 ] Lost touch > yup
[ 2016.01.20 18:45:24 ] Lost touch > want fit?
[ 2016.01.20 18:45:32 ] Sem Skord > sure
[ 2016.01.20 18:45:36 ] Sem Skord > 1 more?
[ 2016.01.20 18:45:44 ] Lost touch > Bleh?!
[ 2016.01.20 18:46:34 ] Lost touch > yea can do mate
[ 2016.01.20 18:47:32 ] Lost touch > Should have gave you my fit after the 1v1 hehe
[ 2016.01.20 18:47:52 ] Sem Skord > lol no worries, i got no mods to counter it :]
[ 2016.01.20 18:47:54 ] Sem Skord > same place?
[ 2016.01.20 18:47:58 ] Lost touch > okies

As I was hopping into another Rifter, Mack informed us of some more possible action.

[ 2016.01.20 18:48:28 ] xxMACKxx > couple incursus out there
[ 2016.01.20 18:48:36 ] Sem Skord > got 'em at plex's?
[ 2016.01.20 18:48:46 ] Lost touch > what plex?
[ 2016.01.20 18:48:49 ] xxMACKxx > they're gone
[ 2016.01.20 18:48:56 ] Lost touch > :(
[ 2016.01.20 18:49:06 ] xxMACKxx > rax at medium
[ 2016.01.20 18:49:12 ] Sem Skord > lets do it
[ 2016.01.20 18:49:13 ] Lost touch > team?
[ 2016.01.20 18:49:16 ] Lost touch > ok
[ 2016.01.20 18:49:16 ] xxMACKxx > nm he's warping around
[ 2016.01.20 18:49:18 ] Sem Skord > ah
[ 2016.01.20 18:49:22 ] Lost touch > go together
[ 2016.01.20 18:49:43 ] Lost touch > fleet me

After some scanning and chasing around, the Thorax was no where to be seen as well as the two Incursus's. Once again Lost and I returned to our previous arrangement.

[ 2016.01.20 18:50:22 ] xxMACKxx > yeah
[ 2016.01.20 18:50:25 ] xxMACKxx > system's clear now =/
[ 2016.01.20 18:50:38 ] Lost touch > ok 1v1 P x at 100?
[ 2016.01.20 18:50:44 ] Sem Skord > lets do it
[ 2016.01.20 18:50:51 ] Lost touch > rgr
[ 2016.01.20 18:50:55 ] Sem Skord > gl!
[ 2016.01.20 18:50:59 ] Lost touch > go on landing
[ 2016.01.20 18:51:11 ] Lost touch > gl fh

I was flying the exact same fit as before except I had Barrage loaded in an attempt to counter his speed. Midwarp I switched to regular close range ammo (Fusion) since we both warped from the same spot at the same time. I exited grid followed moments later by Lost exiting warp as well. He was right on top of me. Immediately we lock one another up and let loose the bullets and rockets. I kept my AB overheated to stay close as long as I could to dish out as much damage as I could. His shields fell first as his armor began to take heavy damage. My Rifter wasn't far behind him but I activated my reps at mid shield to time the incoming damage to my armor. A few more volleys blasted through his reps sending him into hull! I was holding steadily at half armor with some gun fire sending me a bit over; but my reps would patch the damage up and hold. The first few seconds allowed my Rifter to gain the upperhand early in the fight, but he was beginning to out pace my frig and gain range on me. The Gyro was kicking in as my tank began to cough up reps in a feeble attempt to repair the heavy damage. Quickly the fight became reminiscent of our previous 1v1 as I struggled to stay on him. He entered half structure as my last nanite rep kept me in deep armor. Soon both our Rifters were smoking and aflame but intact and firing away! It was glorious! A hard volley sent me into structure as he crept into low structure, it was getting close! He reached 4,000 meters and I thought it was done. There was an explosion as my neocomm pinged, with the wreck of my opponent in front of me!

[ 2016.01.20 18:51:53 ] Sem Skord > gf
[ 2016.01.20 18:51:54 ] Lost touch > gf
[ 2016.01.20 18:52:09 ] Sem Skord > Ishomilken IX - Moon 4 - Corporate Police Force Assembly Plant for loot
[ 2016.01.20 18:52:18 ] Lost touch > am good mate keep it
[ 2016.01.20 18:52:26 ] Lost touch > spoils of war :P
[ 2016.01.20 18:53:42 ] Lost touch > Well guys the fights were super fun so thanks alot
[ 2016.01.20 18:53:48 ] Lost touch > i need a shower and food tho
[ 2016.01.20 18:53:59 ] Sem Skord > yea man gf's and good killin stuff with ya
[ 2016.01.20 18:53:59 ] xxMACKxx > sure thing
[ 2016.01.20 18:54:08 ] Sem Skord > you gonna operate around here?
[ 2016.01.20 18:54:25 ] Lost touch > yea mate just remade fla5hy and isho top station
[ 2016.01.20 18:54:37 ] Sem Skord > awesome :]
[ 2016.01.20 18:54:49 ] Sem Skord > we dont have blues, but we can set you to the orange setting
[ 2016.01.20 18:54:57 ] Sem Skord > means ur honorable and give gf's
[ 2016.01.20 18:55:03 ] Lost touch > you guys need a hand takeing something down or a few 1v1's just holla at me or any of my guys
[ 2016.01.20 18:55:13 ] Lost touch > hehe sounds ood
[ 2016.01.20 18:55:15 ] Lost touch > good*
[ 2016.01.20 18:55:18 ] Sem Skord > will do, same for you n ur guys

Gf! My stomach was rumbling as I hadn't had breakfast yet, so I docked up and was about to log when Mack again informed me of a possible target.

[ 2016.01.20 19:00:12 ] xxMACKxx > sem
[ 2016.01.20 19:00:14 ] xxMACKxx > caracal?
[ 2016.01.20 19:00:41 ] Sem Skord > where
[ 2016.01.20 19:00:47 ] xxMACKxx > novice entrance
[ 2016.01.20 19:00:52 ] Sem Skord > lets do it
[ 2016.01.20 19:00:58 ] xxMACKxx > sec
[ 2016.01.20 19:01:04 ] xxMACKxx > looks like a blob
[ 2016.01.20 19:01:08 ] xxMACKxx > tons of crap
[ 2016.01.20 19:01:17 ] Sem Skord > lets hit the nov
[ 2016.01.20 19:01:19 ] Sem Skord > see if anyone enters
[ 2016.01.20 19:01:26 ] Sem Skord > the other nov
[ 2016.01.20 19:01:27 ] Sem Skord > compound

The Caracal had left by now, but the two Incursus frigs from earlier were in system. D-scan showed them at one of the two novices, so I waited at a safe for Mack so we could hit the other nov at the same time and duke it out with the frigs. A couple minutes went by and Mack informed me he was ready.

[ 2016.01.20 19:01:58 ] xxMACKxx > hmm kk
[ 2016.01.20 19:02:28 ] xxMACKxx > undocking
[ 2016.01.20 19:02:40 ] Sem Skord > rdy?
[ 2016.01.20 19:02:45 ] xxMACKxx > yeah
[ 2016.01.20 19:02:51 ] Sem Skord > iw
[ 2016.01.20 19:02:52 ] xxMACKxx > iw
[ 2016.01.20 19:02:59 ] xxMACKxx > tristan now
[ 2016.01.20 19:03:01 ] xxMACKxx > gonna be fun

Tristan? I didn't see anything but the two Gallente frigs at the nov but maybe my d-scan was acting up or something. I landed on the acceleration gate and Mack wasn't on grid with me nor on short. Only one Incursus was left inside the plex. I scanned the other one and it was a party. Condor, Incursus's, and a Tristan. That's when I realized Mack had probably warped to THAT nov!

[ 2016.01.20 19:03:14 ] Sem Skord > taking gate
[ 2016.01.20 19:03:18 ] Sem Skord > bro!
[ 2016.01.20 19:03:20 ] Sem Skord > the other nov!
[ 2016.01.20 19:03:29 ] xxMACKxx > fuck dude i'm warping into this thing
[ 2016.01.20 19:03:37 ] Sem Skord > lol take the gate
[ 2016.01.20 19:03:39 ] Sem Skord > omw

I chuckled and smiled to myself as I warped to the nov where the party was it. I mashed d-scan expecting to see his capsule but the Tristan, Condor and both Incursus's were still on scan along with Mack's Rifter. Don't die Mack don't die! I landed on the gate and activated it. Everyone was still alive, even Mack. My auto cannons were spinning with eagerness and my Nova rockets were ready to fly and deliver their deadly payload. What better way to end the session by going out in a blaze of glory with a fellow Black Jacket!

I enter the plex and the sounds and sights of battle greet me. I saw a capsule and figured it was the Tristan. The two Incursus pilots were flashy, the Condor was flying around and Mack was in the middle of it all, alone and unafraid firing at one of the Gallente frigs. I locked up the frig he was firing on and let my guns and rockets loose. I landed my point and web and began to orbit outside his blasters. The frig was already in half armor as Mack and I shredded through his armor and blasted away his hull. I locked up the other Incursus and Condor as the frigate began repping. The Condor had pulled range to 20km plus but was still on grid. Incursus #1 (our victim) was in deep hull but stubbornly refusing to explode. He was within a sliver of hull left when he repped once more but our guns quickly overwhelmed his reps and exploded the Incursus. Wooo! The fight wasn't over yet! I turned my fire to the remaining Incursus. My auto cannons and rockets were firing away as I set into my orbit. This Incurus seemed to crumble as his shields melted, his armor fell apart, and his structure simply disintegrated. Two down, one to go! The Condor was at 18km as I turned my Rifter in its direction. Suddenly it was approaching us at a fast speed, within seconds he was in scram range as I landed my point and web and fired away with my Fusion ammo and Nova rockets. Mack had closed range and began to tear apart the Condor's shields as I shut off my auto cannons to load EMP. I took the time to check short scan as my guns loaded and it was just us three on short. The Condor's shield were about to fall as my guns were ready to roll with EMP ammo. I fired away and we punched through his shields, blasting apart a nice chunk of armor. A Hookbill was on short but the Condor was close to exploding. A few more volleys ripped through the rest of its armor and moments later destroyed his hull as the Condor joined the wrecks inside the plex.

[ 2016.01.20 19:06:21 ] xxMACKxx > lol
[ 2016.01.20 19:06:22 ] Sem Skord > lol loot up
[ 2016.01.20 19:06:56 ] xxMACKxx > gotta dock
[ 2016.01.20 19:06:59 ] Sem Skord > rgr
[ 2016.01.20 19:07:11 ] Sem Skord > im looting
[ 2016.01.20 19:07:13 ] Sem Skord > short is clear

The spoils of war were ours! R1FTA was the victor in this frigate brawl! I was still laughing at the fact that Mack was in there by himself for a good little bit. I imagined him just firing his guns at everything and I laughed again. Man that was intense and badass!

[ 2016.01.20 19:08:04 ] Sem Skord > lol i warp in and ur just alone n unafraid in this frigate brawl
[ 2016.01.20 19:08:08 ] Sem Skord > that was fucking awesome
[ 2016.01.20 19:08:13 ] xxMACKxx > it was pretty rad =D
[ 2016.01.20 19:08:17 ] xxMACKxx > i should have been recording
[ 2016.01.20 19:08:17 ] Sem Skord > hahaha oh man
[ 2016.01.20 19:08:21 ] xxMACKxx > this place is becoming a hotspot
[ 2016.01.20 19:08:26 ] Sem Skord > aye
[ 2016.01.20 19:08:55 ] Sem Skord > alright man i gotta go
[ 2016.01.20 19:08:58 ] Sem Skord > get my kids ready for school
[ 2016.01.20 19:09:06 ] Sem Skord > good luck! o7
[ 2016.01.20 19:09:07 ] xxMACKxx > haha sure man have a great day dude
[ 2016.01.20 19:09:09 ] Sem Skord > you too bro

El Lupo, MAAAAAAAACK!

P.S.
Finally got the video to work! It has the Vagabond fight I mentioned before along with the Stay Frosty fight (the fight was longer than the video, I just didn't hit record until the end). I also included the footage from our frigate brawl. Hope you enjoy!

Out of My Funk

First off the video I mentioned before is running into technical difficulties. I'm having trouble rendering the final product into high quality when I upload it to YouTube and I've been working on it all morning and afternoon. Uploading, deleting and re uploading again. I'm not gonna give up! The vid is missing our seven man frig gang battling a gang of battle Ventures (10+) because the firefight was intense and I didn't hit the record button to capture the action. The vid highlights a very tough fight against a Vagabond and an honorable Stay Frosty Rupture who met our gang at the sun in his Rupture to whoop it on. Full after action report is here for this who are curious! (Report courtesy of Amand Caldurik!)



Breaking Out of My Funk!
In the past three/four days I've been on a dry spell of sorts. I attribute this to playing other games and putting EVE on the back burner for a bit. Scraping by on cyno's and the random farmer, and racking up a few Rifter explosions along the way as well. Determined to break out of this bad mojo, I grabbed a Rockstar (Lime green flavor), sat down, cracked it open, booted up EVE and got in the zone! My buddy Sam Saboti was online spreading the love along with one of our Prospects Ziro Santos. Whenever Sam and I are online we always pair up and roam space together looking for fights, and rarely do our roams disappoint. Ziro accepted our invite to fly with us and get some pew pew. It was a good roam, snagged a Venture and a couple faction frigs and a pod or two. I logged off wanting more. 



Later That Same Day
Later on in the day (about 11pm ish ) I logged in to the ambiance of the station. I had docked up in Melmaniel and I was still carrying the loot from the earlier roam with Sam and Ziro. I reloaded my guns and rockets, put some last minute touches on my Rifter (some duct tape here, a little bit there), undocked and set off for my nearest outpost to drop off the loot. Hopefully on the way I find something to shoot! The flight there was uneventful as I arrived at my outpost and restocked on the essentials. With a fully loaded, ready for anything Rifter, I undocked once more and set off towards Black Rise. I would enter Black Rise through Abune from Heydieles (it was late and not the weekend, which reduced the risk of a gate camp greatly). From there I'd do a half circle through Pynekastoh/Rakapas/Reitsato/Okkamon, hit the Asakai cluster of systems, then victory lap it to Isho.

I don't remember exactly which system, but somewhere in that constellation I saw a Hookbill on scan at a novice. Why not? I loaded EMP and Mjolnir rockets and warped to the plex pumping myself up. Just overheat the afterburner and stay on him. Pretty straight forward plan I had! I entered the plex and the Hookbill was right on the beacon waiting for me. We locked each other up as bullets and rockets flew furiously from both sides. My systems showed a TD being used on me but I ignored it as we continued to shoot each other. The Hookbill began to pull range as it's dual webs were dictating range, all I could do was keep the afterburner overheated and fire away. His shields gave way in the first couple exchanges of gunfire. When my guns broke through and he hadn't repped that's when the thought that he may be armor tanked entered my mine. A chunk of armor was repaired to confirm my suspicions. My own tank was repping incoming damage from half armor as I immediately shut off my weapons to reload to Fusion. Precious seconds ticked away and I was getting pummeled waiting for the guns to be loaded. The Hookbill was about 4,000 - 5,000 meters away as I returned fire and filled his ship with holes putting him in half armor as well. The Hookbill was just stronger than my Rifter as I pumped out my last two nanite reps and began to evade. The ammo switch was working as my Rifter slowly pulled range to escape the Hookbill's scram, but I was in deep hull as Aura assured my narrow escape. Gf gf!! I found a station to dock up and repair the damage and went over the fight in my head. I think if I had Fusion ammo from the get go I would've got him, but how was I suppose to know he was armor tanked! Ah well! 

I continued my roam of the Asakai cluster but nothing was there to shoot. I was clinging to my fading hopes that I would find something to shoot on the pipe to Isho. It's funny how you'll roam 20+ jumps away from home, and end up finding a fight either 1 system over or your home system! Lo and behold, as I landed on the gate to the system before Isho, Uuna, the Hookbill I had fought earlier was there as well. We both jumped into Uuna and held cloak. I opened up a novice and watched the Hookbill de cloak as I warped off. This time I was ready! I loaded Fusion and Nova rockets, took the gate and waited right on the beacon. Everything was overheated as seconds ticked by, the shakes already setting in. Unless he switched to shield tank between our first fight and now, I got him. The Caldari frig was on short. I steadied my nerves and waited. The Hookbill entered the plex and I immediately burned to him and spammed target lock. My scram, web, guns and rockets activated simultaneously as I kept my afterburner overheated to keep up with him. His shields fell quickly again as my auto cannons and rockets began blasting through his armor. My shields were about to give so I activated my repper and continued the assault. The Fusion and Nova rockets were overwhelming his repper as he danced between low and half armor! My repper was tanking the incoming damage ok but I had an early lead on him. A volley punched through his armor and damaged his hull. The Hookbill was trying to evade now as I overheated my scram to hold point for as long as I could. He drifted out to 7,500 meters and it was looking like he might escape! I couldn't do anything but stay on with my current tactic. The Hookbill coughed out its last reps as it exploded! Gf! Man! I was stoked! At last I had killed something other than cyno's! I looted 'n scooted and warped to safe so I could shake off the shakes. I jumped into Isho and docked up my battle scarred Rifter, adrenaline still running through me. I just roamed about 15+ jumps from Placid, Verge Vendor and Black Rise to find this fight. I wasn't finished! 



Wormholes
Instead of re-roaming the same route in hopes of finding something, I decided to grab my Astero to probe down wormholes in hopes of finding one last thing to fight. I admired the ship for a bit (looks so cool!), ensured I had enough probes along with a mobile depot and my pvp mods (for those explorers I might find!) and undocked. There was only one signature in Isho, so I probed it down and to my pleasant surprise it was a wormhole to another part of low sec! I bookmarked it and jumped through and ended up in the Gallente border zone. There were four sigs in system. I launched my probes and began to scan 'em down. One was a combat site (unrated), another was a wormhole that led to J-Space, and the last was another wormhole that led to another part of low sec! I jumped through the low sec wormhole and was in Minmatar space. I checked my assets because the name of the system was familiar, and again to my delight I was four jumps from our old club house, Gultratren! After a short trip I docked up in Gultratren and grabbed a Rifter, checked to make sure it was ready to go, and undocked. 

Something about the warm, rusty red glow of Matar space feels very homey to me. Maybe because I'm a Brutor? I jumped into Arnstur which was empty, and jumped into Brin. I saw one person in system but nothing on scan, so I warped to Helga. There was a few people in system, but all I saw on d-scan was a Comet. I held cloak as it landed on the gate with me. Feeling confident from my last victory against a faction frig, I zoomed in on the Comet to eye ball its guns. Before it jumped into Brin I was able to make out rail guns on the bad boy. Burn back! I decloaked and burned back towards the gate. If I caught up to him, my plan would be to keep my afterburner overheated and hold a close orbit to counter the rails tracking. 

I entered system and he was there along with the lone pilot from Helga, but the plex's were well outside scan range. I opened a novice and that's when a Comet and a Kestrel showed up on scan. One was at a small, the other at none of the plex's. I warped to the Kestrel's plex, loaded my shield ammo and entered it. The Kestrel was 15km from the warp in but warped off before I could point it. I checked scan and the Comet was at the novice I opened. Let's dance. 

As I warped towards the plex, Fusion and Nova rockets ready, my heart beat increased. The shakes were returning! The Kestrel pilot was still in system, but nothing was on short as I took the acceleration gate and landed right on top of the Comet. We locked each other up and furiously exchanged volleys of gunfire. I was successfully closing range as I eyeballed the speed of our two frigs and I was significantly faster than his Comet. I kept my afterburner overheated anyway and continued the assault. My shields had fallen but he was already into armor, his repper struggling to patch up his ship and keep him in the fight. The drones were the only thing hitting my ship (pretty hard too) but the rails were effectively out of the fight as I stayed right on top of him sending bullets raining and rockets flying towards his ship. I was halfway through my reps as he entered deep armor. I checked short scan and saw a Kestrel on d-scan. You little bastard. I stayed on the Comet hoping to finish him off before the Kestrel joined the fight, but it was putting up a stubborn defense. The Kestrel locked me up and landed his webs, which allowed the Comet to pull range and land solid hits with his rails. I began to zig zag towards the Comet with my afterburner a couple cycles from burning out. My tank was holding steady a bit past half armor but I wasn't in deep trouble yet. A final barrage of gunfire and rockets exploded the Comet, allowing me to focus everything I had left into the little Kestrel. I had about 1/4 of my armor left, with a couple nanite reps left (still cycling to tank the Kestrels rockets), my afterburner about to burn out, and my guns with half heat damage. Immediately I shut off my weapons and loaded EMP and Mjolnir rockets. The ten seconds of doom seemed like ten minutes as the Kestrel was landing free shots on my Rifter. As I choked out my last rep and began the empty rep cycle's, my guns were ready to fire! I burned towards the Kestrel to get a comfy orbit and throw it down in a good 'ol fashion brawl. Steadily his buffer shields were falling, but my repper drained my cap as it began the 60 second reload of death with a bit of armor left. A volley of rockets put me in hull as I could do nothing but shoot back. Our frigs were orbiting each other firing away as my hull was slowly but surely giving way to his rockets. I had 3/4's left with nothing but my DC keeping me in the fight. Finally I punched through his shields and began tearing huge chunks of his armor away. My afterburner had burned out, and I had perhaps a good two or three volleys worth of overheated guns and rockets before they burned out. My Rifter was halfway into structure as I overheated my weapons and ripped through his hull. We both held a bit past 3/4's hull. I didn't align to a celestial and stayed on him. The neocomm pinged as the Kestrel exploded and my smoking, fiery Rifter flew victorious among the wrecks. I let out a deep breath and smiled in disbelief. I threw them a gf in local which they returned as I looted the wrecks and safed up again. The shakes took over me again and I was ecstatic at what just happened. I walked around my living room and kitchen again to shake off the shakes with a big smile on my face! My goodness that was intense! Saint Wensley was pleased. 

After I gathered myself, I went to Gultra to drop off the loot, repair and rearm. From finding the wormhole in Isho to finding that battle, only ten minutes have passed. I decided to continue forth! Why end the hot streak? 

I passed the Arnstur triangle, went straight through Todi, took a detour into Ofstold and Las, and continued on to Egmar. Bosbogger and Lulm yielded no fights. Even though I miss this place, I remember why we left in the first place. I entered Amamake, the ghetto of New Eden, but nothing was there for me to fight. About twenty minutes in I decided I would circle through Metropolis and back into Heimatar then return home via the wormhole chain. I jumped into Vard and saw a Breacher on scan. Among T1 frigs, the Breacher has been my Rifters nemesis. They're too tanky for my Rifter to break and about 80-90% of the time I explode when I fight 'em. But today was different. Today I was slaying faction frigates and wild T1 frigs alike. Today this Breacher will fall to my guns. I load EMP and Mjolnir rockets and entered the plex. Immediately I see two ECM drones on grid. Ah shit. The second I recognized them and exited warp the Breacher was locking me up, so I ignored the drones and returned fire on the Breacher. 

I overheated my afterburner and scram and orbited at 7,500 meters. Now I know missiles hit full damage, but the reason I extend my range on Breachers is my belief that the flight time from when the rockets launch and when they hit gives me just a bit of time to land more hits with my guns before the rockets land. I'm most likely wrong with this train of thought, my knowledge of missiles is just how far they fly out before losing their target and which rockets to use for which tank. 

The Breacher was going through his shield reps as my autocannons were blasting through his tank, damaging his armor. I noticed an ECM symbol and hovered my mouse over it to see what it was. The ECM drones were failing to jam me! I continued to orbit and fire my guns as I broke through his shields and begin to tear apart his armor. I was pulsing my reps so I wouldn't waste any nanite cycles and burn through my tank. The Breacher's armor had been destroyed and my guns were putting holes through his hull, so I closed the distance to maximize the damage. I had a few reps left and was still a bit below half armor and holding. As I went in for the killing blow, the drones managed to get through and jam my Rifter. Noooooooo!!! Right as the frigate was in hull!! I overheated my afterburner and continued with my path hoping the extra speed would shave some of the oomph off the rockets. The change in distance was allowing the Breacher to rock my Rifter with devastating explosions. I began to align towards the sun as the ECM jam cycle thing was still halfway and I was now in deep armor. The distance between us was slowly but surely widening and I was still unable to lock him. When I reached about 5,000 meters my afterburner burned out. He realized what I was trying to do and went in for the finishing blow himself. My smoking Rifter continued with its slow trek towards the sun as it got pounded by volley after volley of rockets. Finally the jam finished and I spammed target lock and landed my web and point and fired my guns again. His armor was still gone and his hull was hanging on by duct tape but his shields had fully recharged. Go down fighting. The first volley of bullets and rockets rocked his shields to 3/4's damage. No way. Another volley punched through his shields. DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!? My neocomm pinged as my capsule ejected from the exploding Rifter and I warped off to the sun. 

Ah man! SO CLOSE! SOOO CLOSE! 

[ 2016.01.19 08:29:06 ] Sem Skord > gf
[ 2016.01.19 08:29:08 ] Sem Skord > nice ecm drones
[ 2016.01.19 08:29:19 ] Shadow Kaundur > very good fight
[ 2016.01.19 08:29:31 ] Shadow Kaundur > so close
[ 2016.01.19 08:29:39 ] Sem Skord > yea
[ 2016.01.19 08:29:49 ] Sem Skord > woulda had you ;}
[ 2016.01.19 08:29:56 ] Shadow Kaundur > I know
[ 2016.01.19 08:30:25 ] Shadow Kaundur > i almost bailed

[ 2016.01.19 08:31:20 ] Sem Skord > o7

It gave me a bit of consolation with him admitting I would've had him if it wasn't for the ECM drones. On the way to Gultra I was going over the fight, replaying it in my head. Should I have gone for the drones early on? Would it had made a difference? I could've, would've, should've the fight but I wasn't gonna let it ruin my night. I had the chance to get out of there when I first saw the drones, but I chose to stay and fight. But Griffins and ECM ships ... I still hate you and your existence.

I jumped through the wormhole chain in my Astero and docked up in Isho. Tonight was definitely fun as hell! I made it just in time to catch my favorite show, CONCORD!

Big Game Hunting

The final credits for the episode of CONCORD rolled as I stood up from the couch and made my way to the fridge. I popped open a Quafe and made my way towards the hangar where the crew was loading the last crates of bullets and rockets onto my Rifter. I took a seat on a dusty crate of Caldari Navy Antimatter and sipped my delicious cold drink. The crew finished their work, I gulped down the last of my Quafe and admired my Rifter. Let's do this baby!



A Region Away From Black Rise

My usual route through the Isho/Manjo pipe turned up nothing. I had to push out from Okkamon to hit the Okkamon/Pynekastoh cluster of systems in hopes of finding a fight, but again no success. I could either go through Abune and take the Heydelies pipe towards Placid, or go through Hikkoken and take the back way into there. I weighed the pro's and con's of each route and went with the more populated route through Heydelies. I warped system through system, stopping at each to scan around for things to explode but no luck. I reached the fork in Melmaniel where you could go into Placid via Ouelletta or continue down towards the Jov pipe towards Aeschee. I was feeling lazy and didn't wanna venture too far from home, so I turned my Rifter towards Ouelletta in hopes of finding a fight in Placid.



Intaki

I entered the system of Agoze and basked in the ambiance of Placid. Having roamed this region when Black Rise didn't have things to shoot, I set off on my route through the cluster. I jumped into Intaki and it was only myself and another pilot in local. I warped to the center of the system and scanned around. Unnamed Gnosis. Oh baby! After all those systems of nothing to shoot, a big juicy ship was in system! I scanned the plex's, nothing. As I was scanning down the anom sites, I saw a couple Operation Frostline plex's in system. Jackpot! Not knowing what the tank would be for a Gnosis, I loaded Phased Plasma and Inferno rockets and warped towards the plex. My heart beat increased as my Rifter rocked side to side exiting the warp. Nice and easy man! Nice and easy! The Gnosis was sitting about 40km from the warp in with two drones out. With my afterburner overheated I burned towards the battlecruiser locking him and the drones up. His shields were at half strength and I noticed T1 drones around him, but I wasn't going to underestimate them. The Gnosis was slow boating towards the Serpentis rats in my direction. 30km and closing and he still hadn't locked me up! 25 .. 23 .. 15 ... 13 .. 10! I activated my scram and web, and let the guns loose! The guns were chipping away at his shields but they were steadily falling. I held a close orbit and saw that he had railguns fitted as my small nimble Rifter was too fast for them to hit me. I orbited the Gnosis and continued to fire away at his ship waiting for the drones to attack. My autocannons and rockets punched through his shield and were tearing up his armor. That's when the drones came to life and swarmed my Rifter. My shields were holding, but if I wanted to finish off this Gnosis those drones would have to go. I switched my guns from the battle cruiser to the drones and fired away. The pilot's rail guns were firing away but missing my Rifter. Suddenly my shields get rocked! What the!? The damn Serpentis rats were firing at me! One of the cruiser rats landed a solid hit! C'mon guys! I'm one of you! I'm defending you!! I overheated my afterburner to mitigate the tracking of the cruisers. The Gnosis had pulled in his drones as I blew one of them up, so I returned my weapons to their original target and pressed on. Moments later another wave of drones, this time Hobgoblins were out in space and swarmed my Rifter. The cruiser rats landed another solid hit that put me into armor which was followed by a volley of drone strikes. I activated my repper and began shooting the drones again. My tank was holding but my repper was on its last two nanite reps. No! I'm taking this guy down! I shot down two of the hobs and worked on the last one as my repper ran out of paste and began to pump out empty reps. I was managing the overheating on my afterburner as the drones and I continued our dog fight around the Gnosis and other cruisers firing away. The rats had closed in on us which gave my Rifter the advantage of flying under their guns as well. Alright, still in this fight! My SAAR pumped out its last rep as my capacitor ran out which began the 60 second reload of death. The Gnosis was still in armor as another wave of drones entered space. My speed was working to my advantage against the incoming fire. My armor was roughed up a bit, but I finished the last drone and and turned my attention to the Gnosis. 

My Rifter was in half armor. The cruiser rats were getting lucky with random hits that rocked me as my guns steadily grinded away at the Gnosis's armor. My repper was about 10-15 seconds from having a full cycle of nanite reps ready to patch up my ship. The amount of heat damage on all my mods made it very dangerous to risk another heated cycle of any of 'em. I watched with anticipation as the reload bar dwindled closer to completion. Yes! REP!! I activated my repper and chunks of armor were brought back to life! The Gnosis was in half armor as my guns continued to fire away. With my Rifter back at full armor, no drones in space, and a couple nanite reps left, I ceased fire and switched to my trusty Fusion ammo and Nova rockets. Time to finish this! The extra armor damage will blow nice big holes into the Gnosis and turn it into a smoldering wreck. The switch worked as planned as my guns were tearing apart the last bits of his armor and sent him into structure. My shields were coming back online, almost at half strength as I zoomed around dodging fire and pounding away at the last line of defense of the battle cruiser. As the Gnosis reached half structure, local spiked by two people. No! My heart beat spiked as I switched between long and short scan looking for any incoming ships. Another wave of drones entered space as the cruiser rats landed a nice blow to ship that damaged my armor. I activated my reps and ignored the drones and focused on finishing off the last bit of structure left in the Gnosis. As I pumped out my last two nanite reps, the battle cruiser was on its last slivers of hull. The drones were slowly damaging my armor as my reps entered their reload cycle. I watched a volley of rockets and bullets hit the Gnosis as it exploded into a glorious flash of light and fire. I was excited to have brought down a big 'ol ship! I looted 'n scooted and warped to a safe. The entire fight lasted almost ten minutes! I thought when those two pilots entered system they would interrupt my kill, but thankfully I never saw anyone but us two on scan. I finished that roam with a close fight with a rail Comet and came out victorious with some zig zagging to close the distance. A couple days later, another big ship fell under the cross hairs of R1FTA's autocannons.



Two Days Later, in Manjo

Amand, Ruthless Chi and myself were flying around the Neighborhood blowing stuff up and getting blown up. After a brawl we made our way back to Isho to reship and head back out. On the way out we spotted another unnamed cruiser, a Rupture. All three of us saw the same thing and spread out to scan it down. We scanned it down at the sun, and Chi was already there in his Slicer. Gotta go help him! Expecting the Rupture to be a big armored brick, Fusion ammo and Nova rockets were loaded. I landed on grid with drones surrounding the Rupture its guns firing away at Chi's Slicer. As I locked up the cruiser I saw that Chi had brought down his shields and was going to work on his armor. My guns and rockets joined the party as we began to put dents in his armor. It was slowly giving way, so I switched my fire to the drones out in space and began to shoot 'em down. Amand landed on grid as Chi's Slicer exploded valiantly. It was just Amand's Firetail and my Rifter left to take down the Rupture. We focused our fire on the drones and the dog fight was in full throttle. As the first wave of drones exploded and the second wave entered space, local went up by one. I checked short scan ... Daredevil. The Rupture had been focusing his firepower on Amand's Firetail leaving me untouched as we shot down a few more drones. The Daredevil was still on short but not on grid, so we continued to fire away at the cruiser. The Rupture pulled in his drones so we switched our guns to the hull. There were no reps as our autocannons were ripping through his armor, followed up with love taps from rockets. The Rupture was in deep armor as the drones came back out. We ignored the drones and focused on punching through its remaining armor to finish it off. The decision led to Amand's Firetail going up in flames, leaving me with a Rupture almost in structure and my Rifter with a full load of nanite reps to avenge my Black Jackets! The pressure was on! My speed plummeted as the Ruptures webs landed on my Rifter. I immediately overheated my afterburner to gain some more speed to out-track its big guns. The Hob's landed their first volley scratching my shields but so far nothing significant from the cruiser's big guns. I punched through his armor as a chunk of hull got blasted off the Rupture. It's Dual 180mm's missed my Rifter. I was under his guns, but my afterburner was midway from burning out. I would have to do as much as I can without burning out my prop mod, or else all this would be for nothing! At half shields I activated my repper to time the incoming damage. The drones were doing their cold thoughtless work strafing my Rifter putting me in half armor, but my tank was holding. The big guns on the Rupture were still missing as he entered half structure. He was nearing the final stretch of structure! I overheated my afterburner (which would surely be its final cycle) and pressed on to finish it off. The rockets spiraled towards the cruiser, causing it to go up in a glorious explosion! We did it! The sacrifices of my fellow Black Jackets were not in vain! The pod was caught amidst the smoke and debris of the wreck, and I exacted final revenge for the ships of my comrades. It was a good finish to that night's roam as we congratulated one another for the combined effort on bringing down the Rupture.


Final Note

We recently had a corp roam that yielded good fights and high octane adrenaline pumping explosions! I had written a good chunk of this post before that roam happened, and decided to finish this one and work on getting the events of that day published hopefully this week. With the next post on the corp roam, I will also work on putting together a vid of the fights from that roam so you can see the awesomeness of one fight in particular. Until then,

Happy Hunting o7

First Blood

Happy New Year! Three days and I haven't had the time I'd like to spend exploding space ships in my Rifter, but fortunately my fellow Black Jackets have been spreading the love themselves! Dr Bob Madeveda shares his stories of his travels from time to time with us, and this one was so full of badassery and pew pew I had to share it here!

In his own words from THE DOCTAH!

Yes, he's a Dr.

So it's been a while, but I finally got back in a Rifter in Ishomilken:

First up I spotted a Thrasher in a small, with good odds he was a newer pilot, seemed reasonable odds:  as I landed a Comorant landed alongside, took the gate and hoped for the best.  They were together, so I just got smashed.

Re-shipped into an alternative fitting: 150mm guns, neut, and 400mm plate.  Not sure how good it is, we'll see.  Launched myself at a Kestrel. Dual web: got kept at range; neut no use; my DPS too low; I exploded.  Definitely missed the extra power of the 200mm Autocannons and the little extra help from the rockets.

Got back in the standard brawler again, and headed out.  Saw a Stay Frosty in a Kestrel in a Novice plex.  The last one was armour and dual web, so I loaded Fusion and Nova, and took the gate.  We locked each other up and opened fire.  His shields were dropping slowly, he's shield fit and I'm firing the wrong ammo.  I overheat the AB and speed up the orbit, mitigating more damage.  His shields drop slowly, and my reps start triggering. I staggered the reps to save some cap, and overheated the rockets as well.  I was in deep structure as he exploded.  The AB burnt out before I could loot the wreck, and a Tristan appeared in short scan. I aligned and warped out as another SF warped in.  The pilot suggested a fight once I had repaired, which I took.

Reloaded with Fusion and took the Novice gate.  We locked each other up and opened fire.  I kept a loose orbit to avoid the neut, and overheated everything.  My damage punched through his reps and so I dived in at the end to punch through the final bits of hull.  GFGF!

Two Stay Frosty kills back to back!

Dropped the loot off, repaired up, and headed out.  Flushed with success against Tristans, I took a fight with another.  Loaded Fusion, set a tight orbit and opened fire.  His shields were blown away and his armour reps pulsed.  As my shields dropped, I went to trigger my own reps, but no cap!  I'd missed him neuting me out!  I overheated everything and I exploded with him in structure. The fight was closer than I expected, and if I'd thought to keep a looser orbit it might have been a different outcome.


Re shipped and headed out again.  Saw an Incursus, Rifter and Punisher on scan, but I couldn't find them at a plex. Thought they might be at the sun, so I loaded Fusion and Nova (common theme tonight!) and warped to zero.

No one was there, do I started D-scanning again, and after 30 secs or so, the Incursus landed: Great come to me!  We locked each other up.  I orbited wide, anticipating Neutron Blasters and overheated guns and fired the rockets.  My damage punched through his armour, and his reps started.  As he started dropping into armour the Rifter and Punisher appeared alongside us!  Shit, locked them up, but I'm going to take at least one out - overheated guns and AB and dived directly at the Incursus.  More damage was coming in, but I watched him explode.  Damage was high, and I was losing armour.  I switched guns to the Rifter, not hopeful, but he would be least tanky.  I went to trigger reps but no cap!  Shit, not again...  I overheated everything on the Rifter, and prepared to go down fighting.  We both dropped into structure together, maybe I'll get two!  Suddenly he disappeared; he warped out!  Orbit the Punisher, mitigate some damage, watch the cap, fire shells and rockets at the Punisher. Cap inches higher, and bang, off goes a rep!  Watched the mod cycle round, as my structure dropped down. With a sliver left it pulses a big chunk of armour back!  Still in the game, but desperate times. Before I can do anything else the Punisher warps off too.

3v1 and held the field!  GFGF in local, looted the wreck, and went to find a station to repair again.

Found one more fight with a Tristan, more luck in one night against them than I've ever had before. That recent little nerf clearly helped.  They don't feel quite as OP anymore.

A fun return to shooting and looting.

Good stuff Dr Bob, real good stuff :]