It's Been 84 Years ... It's been a good while since I've made a post. It hasn't been for lack of activity in game though! Towards the end of June, myself and fellow Black Jacket and Road Captain Spectre33 decided to partake in a different type of hunt. I received a Proteus years ago from a R1FTA Secret Santa, but never used it fully. I trained the skills for it just in case the time came when I would have to use it. I took it out for a spin a couple times to nab a mission runner, but never a serious roam. Well with the encouragement of Spectre (and his Loki), wewentout terrorizinglow sec. We encountered a bait Procurer and a very intensefight ensued. But this is EVE. Not everything is successful. Losses were suffered eventually. For a space pirate that focuses on causing explosions with frigs, keeping a fat wallet hasn't been a priority. The occasional splurge of cash on a faction frig or assault frig, perhaps a Rupture if I'm feeling bold, but T3 Strategic Cruisers!? C'mon now! Yet, even the solo frig pilot has an itch to try something new. A flashing fantasy of themselves piloting a large ship as they unleash havoc and mayhem through space. The T3 roams with Spectre were just what the doctor ordered. After those losses, I concluded that if I were to continue to partake in that type of hunt, flying those pricey (but very fun) ships would have to be funded through in game means. I get bored very quickly of PvE. I'm a simple Brutor, I like explosions and shooting stuff. I live for the Shakes and good fights. Piracy and the outlaw life is my EVE. How can I find something lucrative yet still keep me sharp and on my toes? After some deliberation, I decided on one aspect of PvE that still exposes me to PvP. Wormholes. J-Space. Bob Wills It! After some research, questions to my knowledgeable current and former Black Jackets (shoutout to Mack & J'Mike), I put together some fits, made the trip to Jita and had them ready in my staging system on the outskirts of the Minmatar/Amarr warzone. En Route to start the Wormhole Diving ... After concluding a previous roam from Gultra, I fired up my Rifter and undocked. Immediately d-scan reveals a Rifter and an Executioner in space. Given the fact that my previous roam ended with a couple skirmishes, I was grateful to have targets so soon on my roam. Some quick d-scan work showed the Rifter at a plex. I preheated my guns and modules and spammed "Jump" as I landed on the acceleration gate, the Rifter still on short. I exited warp to find the Rifter sitting right at the beacon. My 200mm's were eager to greet a fellow Rifter as the ship crumbled under my guns. The pilot didn't even lock me up nor moved as it exploded. I pointed his pod and executed him. A glance at the killmail revealed the Rifter pilot was nothing but a filthy farmer. Atleast the Rifter doesn't have to suffer anymore. I repped my heat damage and continued towards Gultra. A couple jumps later I saw more frigs on d-scan! Excited with the abundance of targets once more, I scanned down a Merlin at a plex and warped. I loaded EMP and remembered to maintain my distance as I expected to encounter blasters. Merlins can pack a punch if you get too close. This time the pilot locked me up and we exchanged gun fire. I noticed my speed drop significantly which meant only one thing. Dual webs. Shit! I had shut off the overheating on my afterburner, allowing the Merlin to land brutal volleys that had my SAAR struggling to rep. I overheated my afterburner to put a bit of distance between my smoldering Rifter and the Merlin's blasters. The Rifter's speed advantage was enough, and I skimmed the edge of the Merlin's optimal range (with my SAAR pumping out dry reps) to watch the Merlin explode. No pod on this one, but three kills within 5 minutes was definitely refreshing! We dropped gf's in local. The Shakes were still flowing as I docked up to rep my Rifter and reload my repper and guns. I slammed a beer and breathed in a smoke to settle the nerves, then reentered the glowing red of Minmatar space. Once again I saw another frig on scan, this time an Executioner. We met on grid and the fight ensued. As I closed range, the Executioner's lasers broke through my shields and began burning holes into my armor. My Rifter weathered the storm as I pulsed my SAAR until I was comfortably under his guns. Soon after, the Executioner's smoldering wreck lingered in space. I was able to lock his pod, and before I delivered the killing blow, I dropped a gf in local. Five kills in ten minutes! The gods favor me this day! I gathered the loot, docked n rep'd, and continued my roam to Gultra. I was still intent on going on my first wormhole dive that night. I scanned around quickly as I passed through each system along the route. I didn't encounter a ship on scan until I reached Todifrauan. A lone Algos was on scan, and since there was only one other pilot in system, I checked the bio. An Amarr foot soldier, alone and unafraid. Why not? I'm on a hot streak. I loaded Fusion and went over my tactics as I warped to the plex. Pull range quickly. Keep that repper going soon as your shields fall. Ignore the drones. The Algos didn't warp, which meant the pilot was either confident or not watching short scan. I landed on grid and we quickly locked one another up. His drones were working on the FW NPC as I pulled range and fired away. The drones swarmed my Rifter as I noticed it wasn't blasters, rails or neuts (thank Bob) hitting me .. but autocannons! His Algos was also shield fitted as his shields were reppin'! Unorthodox indeed! I held a close orbit, hoping my 200mm's could do enough to break through the shields. My bet on the damage output proved to be a winner, as the Algos's shields finally went dry which allowed my own autocannons to overwhelm the repper and tear its armor and hull apart. The Algos exploded. I locked and pointed his pod, then promptly executed him. You never know what you're gonna get as a solo pilot. Some days you'll roam for hours and be lucky to get one kill (if a gate camp hasn't gotten you first). Others it seems the targets are lining up for you. Whatever the case was that day, it reminded me of why I love solo frig pvp and continue to roam New Eden. The Diving The luck and favor of the space gods remained with me not just on my roam, but into my first expedition as well. It was actually pretty relaxing in a way. I enjoyed the sounds of the probes as they scanned and analyzed the signatures in space, narrowing down the targets. All the meanwhile keeping an eye on d-scan for any sign of another ship. Once I found a suitable hole, I began my search for Relics and Data sites. I was in an Astero, and as I closed down on a Relic site, I saw a Heron on scan. My heart jumped. I had no point fitted since I was focusing on sites, but I did have a web and prop mod plus drones. The spirit of Saint Wensley visited me and commanded I carried out his will. As I frantically thought of where or how to find him (since I had a regular probe scanner and not the expanded one for ships), I used a bit of deductive reasoning. The Relic site I was working on probing down was less than 1 AU from my position. The Heron was 1 AU from me as well (on d-scan). Therefore, keep probing down the Relic site, warp to it and he'll probably be there! My reasoning proved correct as I entered the Relic site cloaked up and watched the Heron. He was sitting motionless as he hacked the can. Similar to a predator stalking his prey, I watched his path and saw he still had a few cans on one end of the site to go. I slowboated towards the closest one as he finished the can and followed suit. He reached the can on the other end much quicker since he used an MWD. Upon reaching the can I was lurking by, he sat motionless as he hacked the can.
The Brave Heron Explorer
The brave Heron pilot was a young but ambitious pilot to New Eden, no more than 5 months old. Bold of him to venture into wormholes. But this is EVE, and although we're here for similar reasons, I must teach him a cold yet crucial lesson. My heart rate increased as my palms grew sweaty. Something felt different about this. I've warped into fights where two to three frigs were waiting for me. I've entered sites and belts with just one Black Jacket as we took down battleships and cruisers. Yet for some reason, cloaked up in my Astero, stalking this young explorer, waiting for the opportune moment to decloak and bring violence to this Heron was giving me the Shakes of a different kind. I gathered myself, decloaked and spammed target lock. I released the drones as they carried out their deadly task. The Heron pilot panicked like a gazelle frantically trying to escape a lion. His shields crumbled as he sped off towards the sun. I realized I was gripping my mouse tightly as I clicked on his ship to track it, to see what direction he escaped to. Planet. I recalled my drones and warped in chase. Given my Astero's fit and natural agility over a Heron, I landed on grid moments later to see him trapped inside the Customs Office. The prey could not escape this time. I locked him up and released the drones, still spamming scan for any possible ships or backup who might try and strike. The drones conducted their deadly business one final time. The Brave Heron Explorer went up in flames with a brilliant flash, his capsule still stuck on the customs office. I wasted no time locking him up and setting the drones onto the pod. The Shakes were making it difficult to loot n scoot and grab the corpse as I finally warped to a safe and cloaked up. The rush! The exhilaration! It was a hell of a exciting start to my first expedition into wormholes, and a memorable one at that! The rest of the night ended with me finishing sites and warping in and out of one in particular to avoid exploding myself to Sleeper rats. It took a while, but I was finally able to leave that wormhole with enough loot to satisfy this Brutor. Wormhole space was intriguing, mysterious, and beautiful. The beauty of it was enough to draw you in and distract you from constantly hitting d-scan to spot any ships or probes that aren't yours. I couldn't resist but take a screenshot of an amazing view.
Watching a wormhole with a pulsar in system.
I hope you enjoyed this post :) I hope to post a bit more in the future as well! Happy Hunting o7
A Familiar Place Ever since our move to Ishomilken over a year ago, I still found myself yearning for the soothing rusty red glow of Minmatar space. Heimatar, Metropolis and the outskirts of Amarr space were my hunting grounds. As time went on, events occurred that left us no choice but to leave our then home system of Gultratren for greener pastures in Caldari/Gallente space. The migration proved fruitful and continues to provide R1FTA with targets and good fights. But from time to time one misses the red glow of space, so I made the trip through the sparsely populated non faction warfare low sec that serves as a quiet highway of sorts to Metropolis. From there I pushed further to our first home after our migration from Adirain, to the near empty system of Gultratren. Molden Heath
Kind of looks like a cat's or fox's head!
The Golden Age of Heild is a legend to many of us who never experienced it. The literature that covers it along with memories divulged from those who lived through its glory continue to arouse our imagination of a land filled with explosions, frigate wrecks, smoking autocannons and good fights. It was on this reflective note that I realized I've never roamed the area. Sure I paid homage to the sacred home of R1FTA, but I never roamed it in search of targets. Mostly because Ishomilken provides quick action to scratch our itchy trigger fingers. I arrived in Gultratren where my stockpile of ships, guns, smokes, booze and ammo greeted me and prepared to set out on my pilgrim roam to Heild. From Gultratren I set my destination to Heild. I plotted a route that would keep me in low sec and circle me back around to Gultra. The route bordered both null and high sec systems, so even though I wasn't expecting the amount of activity usual for FW space, I figured my chances of finding a ratter or miner would be pretty good. I double checked the route to ensure it didn't take me through any surprise high sec systems, did an ammo check, and everything was good to go. I undocked and warped off to my first system. Gultratren was empty save one person, a reminder of why we moved a long time ago. With the lack of FW plex's, I would have to no shit search every nook n cranny of each system along the way. Belts, planets, and even anomalies. If a ship was in system, I was going to find it. The next few jumps I did just that. The handful of folks in system were either some kind of industry alts due to the years in corp, or new players between two and several months old. A couple folks took advantage of the desolate space and were running sites. Imicus and Probes would pop up on d-scan as well as an Ishtar or Gila, conducting their business in peace. I entered the system of Atlar, a few jumps before Bosena and continued my search.I scanned the belts within scan range and found nothing. There was another cluster of belts far off scan away from the centerso I warped to those and did a 360 scan as I neared scan range. Unnamed Bellicose. I landed a distance from the Customs Office and scanned the belts there but no cruiser. There was one more location, a Ruined Minmatar Mining Outpost, so I gave it a scan. Boom. I don't know what's in those outposts, but d-scan don't lie! I loaded EMP and Mjolnir rockets, overheated everything and warped to it. There were four other people in local and given our distance from center, I wasn't expecting any third parties. I landed on grid and the outpost came into view. A couple cruiser sized rats and one frig were engaged with the Bellicose who had a couple drones out firing back. I exited warp and immediately burned towards the cruiser who was 25km away. I zoomed in on him to see if he was getting ready to warp but he was burning into empty space at a snails pace of 160 m/s. My Rifter closed distance fast as I landed my web and scram and fired the guns. I settled into my close orbit and shut off the OH on my mods except my rep and guns. The Bellicose was steadily entering deep shields as he yet to lock me up. I glanced at the drones and saw there were two Hobs and a Valkyrie. There was a plus one in local as the Cruiser finally began to lock me up while the guns continued to chew away at his shields. I was target painted and some heavy missiles exploded near my ship but weren't doing any significant damage. With no webs on me plus the combination of my speed and sig radius, the Bellicose might as well been shootin' fireworks. I punched through his shields and his armor began to fall apart as he entered half. Another plus one in local but nothing on short, so I was still in the clear. My Rifter was circling the cruiser like a lone wolf on a wounded beast. His structure crumbled as the drones joined the assault, going to work on my shields. A series of rapid volleys finished off the last bit of hull. There was a silent flame followed by a brilliant and satisfying explosion as the Bellicose went boom. In the midst of the explosion I scrammed the pod and sent his capsule away with a greenish explosion.Saint Wensley be praised! I could've gone for a ransom given our relative privacy, but I was caught up in the blood lust of the moment. I checked the wreck and sifted through the loot. Blueprints! There was nothing above 100k ISK worth of mods, so I left the 'em there, gathered the corpse and the blueprints and warped off to a safe to examine the killmail. The pilot had a couple good looking blueprints that didn't drop, an Ogre and Bersker drone BPO which surely would've earned us a nice source of ISK. I docked up to rep and thought for a few seconds on whether to leave the loot here or take it with me, and decided to bring it along. I undocked and continued on my way to Heild.
Bosena.
As I got close to Bosena, I remembered reading about a pilot by the name of Sugar Kyle, the Pirate Queen of Bosena. There was a market she used to run based out of that system, but judging by the lack of activity it appears they had packed up and moved elsewhere. The next system was sacred ground to R1FTA. Heild
I jumped through and saw a couple people in local but no ships on scan. I had a fresh corpse in cargo, so I warped to the sun to leave my offering. The sun was a brilliant purple with a white aura. It looked pretty badass to be honest. I hit d-scan again hoping to see a target, but no luck. This is where it all began. The location of the now extinct 2/10 DED site was still saved in R1FTA's bookmarks. It's badass that this system was the center of Molden Heath's reputation and content, and simultaneously sad that its time has long past and leaves a desolate region. I ejected the corpse, savored the moment a bit longer, and continued on my pilgrimage.
Tribute.
The next few jumps went on without any folks in system or ships to shoot. I arrived in Gultratren, dropped the loot in station and considered bringing in some new Rifters since the ones here were outdated from the last module tiercide. I plan to stick around for a few more days, the region of Molden Heath could still provide a fight or two.
Nikkishina The previous day a corp mate, Chuck Sanussi, got me a gift. It was a badass new skin, and it looked sexy on my Rifter. I took it out for a spin to admire the new look and to break it in.
Uhm ... it's there!
There's nothing more to that story then just a new skin and it looks cool. Now to the pew pew! Neighborhood Watch Within the following days, it was time to search for the good fights. I hopped in a Rifter and set out. D-scan showed an unnamed Vexor, and a quick search narrowed him down to a Rogue Drone Swarm site thing. These events that bring people into low sec are a real winner. It encourages people who wouldn't otherwise venture into low to fit up a ship, take a deep breath and take the plunge in search of loot; and gives us low sec denizens some fresh targets to hunt. Win win! I went back and forth between going in with a Rifter or switching to a Rupture. R1FTA pilots are frigate junkies at heart, but from time to time we dabble in other ships. Plus there were only two other people in system (including the Vexor pilot), and the other pilot was in a Tristan fighting the good fight for the Caldari. A golden opportunity for a cruiser 1v1! I parked my Rifter in the Bar and scrambled through the hangar searching for my Rupture. Damn! I must've exploded it a while back and not remembered because there was none available. There's gotta be one in Isho! I jumped back into my frig and burned to Isho which was one jump over, hoping there would be a Rupture there. Isho was empty as well, so the prospect of a legit cruiser 1v1 grew a bit stronger. Once again I scrambled to find the Rupture amidst the rows of Rifters, and there it was. I jumped in and before I undocked, made sure it was fully fit with the guns and repper loaded. Good to go! The Chase
I love my Rifter, but there's something majestic about undocking a large ship as the sun shines along the hull and the auto turrets spin. The cruiser slowly turned as it aligned towards the Nikki gate and prepared for warp. The seconds that ticked by made me anxious that perhaps the Vexor pilot was either chased away or finished the site. I entered the system and it was still only us three. Beautiful. The Vexor was still on scan and at the same site, so I warped and prepared for space battle. I landed on grid with the debris of a large damaged station of some sort, and the Vexor was 24km away with his drones out working on the rats. I locked him up, activated my AB and let loose the drones! I was soaring close to 600 m/s as the Vexor recalled his drones and warped off. Nooooo! He warped towards a cluster with a belt and a planet, so I warped to the planet and gave chase. I landed near the customs office but no cruiser. He was still within 1 AU so I scanned the nearby belt and there he was. I hit warp and scanned the belt once more, but now he was gone. Damn. At some point during the chase one more pilot entered the system. I expanded the scan range to 5 AU and it showed the Vexor, Tristan and now a Tengu. I scanned the gate and plex's within 5 AU in search of my quarry, but nothing. Maybe he went back to the drone site? I scanned one site and the Tengu was there. Nope. I scanned the other and a Vexor popped up. I hit warped and went over a game plan. One more pilot entered system to make it five of us. The Rupture was in warp and there was no going back. I did a 360 scan and there was now a Claw in space. Welp! Go out guns blazing man. I shortened the range to 1 and it was only the Vexor at the site as I landed. As the ruined station came into view, another scan revealed the Tengu on short as well. The Vexor was 17km off working on the rats again (committed!) as a flash brought the Tengu on grid. Oh man. I went back and forth between the two unsure of which to go for. I don't know anything about Tengu's, the Vexor is probably the deadlier target, but he's probably the tank between the Tengu and the Claw (who was yet to arrive). Tengu. I burned towards him as he was closer (16km) and spammed lock. I kept my Fusion ammo because the reload would take too long and shit was about to go down. My Rupture got to 13km of the Tengu, and just as I activated my web he warped off! The Vexor was 16km away from us so I burned towards him and locked him up hoping to grab him before he took off again. The Vexor warped off towards the same cluster! This time I warped to the belt and readied myself. I landed right on top of him and just before I got a lock, he warped off again! Word to self, swap the AB for an MWD. I warped to the cluster he went off to, but no Vexor at the belt. He was still 1 AU from me, but the only things in range was the cluster I was at, the infra hub and a medium plex, neither of which our Vexor was at. The Tengu and Claw pilot had left system as well, so once again it was myself, the Vexor and the faithful Caldari pilot plexing away. I was at a loss as to where the hell the cruiser was! He definitely didn't go to a safe because he warped directly towards the celestials in the cluster. The sun? Nope. Planet. Nope. Customs office?
He was at the Customs Office the entire time! I spammed warp once again. The Vexor was motionless as I exited warp. No drones out and no movement as I landed right on top of him. I spammed target lock and burned towards him. He came to life and targeted me as I landed my web and scram and fired the cannons! It's a fight! The Shakes returned as he landed a solid volley with his blasters. Orbit outside their optimal! GET OUT OF BLASTER RANGE! The guns were louder and the hits were bigger as our drones joined the fray. A lot of time with quick, nimble frigates didn't prepare me for the lumbering, slow moving cruisers. By the time I began to orbit outside blaster optimal I was well within the Vexors kill range (700m), as he landed heavy shots. His shields were already down and his armor a quarter damaged at the start of the gun fight, and now he was entering mid armor as his blasters and drones were chewing through my shields. All in all I was sitting pretty in the fight! I overheated my afterburner to get out of range quicker as another volley broke through my shields. I was drifting slowly but surely outside the range of his blasters as the hits grazed my armor or missed entirely. Suddenly I lost my lock on him. What the hell?? I went for another lock and burned back towards him. Maybe I got out of range or something? I webbed and scrammed him again and checked to see if any ECM drones were out. Nope. That was weird, but I returned to business. I orbited at 5,000m and was comfortably outside his range as his armor began to fall. My armor was relatively unscathed as the auto cannons shredded the remainder of his hull, sending the cruiser to space Valhalla. I enjoyed the beauty of the explosion as his pod warped off. We exchanged gf's in local as I went in to loot the wreck. That was fun! I checked out the killmail and saw why I lost point. He had an ECM fitted! It would've been a bummer (for me) if he managed to get away, but thankfully it all worked out in the end ;) The Faithful Caldari Pilot Throughout the entire ordeal, the Caldari militia pilot was still plexing away in his Tristan. Since I was going to take the loot back to Isho, I figured might as well switch ships and fight the Tristan in the chance of me getting more loot and saving an extra trip. I docked up the Rupture at the Bar and hopped in a Rifter and warped off towards the plex. Tristans are very versatile in their fits. They can be shield/kitey/rails, shield/neuts, armor/hull/brawl/neuts, shield/brawl/rails, or armor/hull/brawl/blaster fits. Add in the drones, and you have a solid opponent. My rule of thumb (thanks to fellow Rifter gear head 47 Goon) is to fit for armor and get in close. That way if he's kitey, just align towards the sun and pop the drones until he has no way to hurt you. If he's brawl, neut and shields, the Fusion ammo is enough to break through his tank and tear apart the armor and hull. I entered the plex and the Tristan was 40km off with the drones out and ready. I burned towards him and zoomed in to eye ball his ship. Rails. Charge! At 35km he began to lock me up and I killed the zoom. My Rifter was burning towards his ship, he still wasn't moving. At 16km his drones swarmed my ship as I locked him up and began firing my auto cannons. His speed jumped to 800 as his rails landed a solid volley breaking through my shields as his drones followed up with a volley of their own, damaging my armor. My Rifter was getting rocked as I struggled to get a tight orbit to mitigate the damage from his rails. At half armor I activated my repper, which by this point is pretty late in the game in terms of frigate fights. My repper was struggling to repair the incoming damage as I creeped towards deep armor. I wasn't getting the range I wanted! I checked out the speed and his speed was enough to keep me in the sweet spot of his rails. Another volley from his rails and drones rocked my ship as I overheated my afterburner to go in for the kill. I broke through his armor and began to take huge chunks of metal out of his structure. My repper was holding my ship together at 3/4's armor as his ship continued to fall apart. Moments later the Tristan exploded as I locked up his pod. It was just us two in system still, now with his pod pointed next to the wreck of his Tristan. It's been a while since I ransomed someone, so I decided to give it a go. I got straight to the point in local: [ 2017.06.16 06:51:02 ] drex orlan > gf [ 2017.06.16 06:51:09 ] Sem Skord > gf [ 2017.06.16 06:51:15 ] Sem Skord > how much isk is your pod worth to you? [ 2017.06.16 06:51:20 ] drex orlan > none [ 2017.06.16 06:51:28 ] Sem Skord > very well [ 2017.06.16 06:51:29 ] drex orlan > it'd be faster transsit
[ 2017.06.16 06:51:34 ] Sem Skord > o7 He went on his journey as I scooped up the loot and the corpse. I returned to the Bar to grab the loot from the Rupture as the ping for the pod km appeared on my neocomm. Whoa! If close to 160 million is nothing, then this guy must be swimming in ISK! I'm a reasonable man and would've settled for 50 - 100 mil! No matter, he made his decision and I obliged. After consolidating the loot and rearming, I continued on my roam but there was no more action outside of Nikkishina. Nature of the beast, but I didn't complain. Two gf's (and a chase!) back to back, that's what the pew pew is all about ;]
Outside the Bar Guns? Check. Ammo? Check. Paste? Got that too. Liquor, smokes and Quafe? Check, check AND check! After a quick prayer to Saint Wensley and Mother Adirain, I undocked from Brink's Bar and set off on a roam through the Citadel and Black Rise.
As I drifted off the undock my d-scan detected a Vexor in system. I began scanning possible locations where it could be. Not at a large plex, or a medium. No FW mission sites up either. Hmm maybe an agent mission? I did a 360 scan for any NPC wrecks but nothing turned up. I narrowed down the search and he was towards a cluster of belts with a station near it as well. I scanned that area and a 5 degree hit confirmed he was certainly there. As I warped I checked to see who was in local. Besides myself, three others were in system. I landed at the station and the Vexor was motionless near the undock. I eyeballed the ship and saw he was fitted with blasters, but no drones out and still he was not moving. I hit scan again and saw there was a Garmur out in space now. I checked local again and saw one had entered system, and it was a pilot from Se7en Sins. A while back the heavy hitters in Isho and the nearby systems was DUTY; they had the numbers, the ISK and the ships to fight off any force their size. There is no tactic they won't use to kill you. At some point another alliance arrived to the area and DUTY joined with Se7en. After multiple skirmishes and gun fights with them, we became familiar with their ways. We employ guerrilla tactics with 'em, rarely do they fly solo; let alone in a frig! If you see one, then expect many more nearby. The memory of foolishly expecting a fair, honorbru fight from these folks was fresh, but given the hour and the type of ship the Sins pilot was in, I figured he was flying solo. Why not? With this in mind I warped to a novice and waited. I set my d-scan to the range of 1 AU and every couple seconds hit scan. After a few hits and no sign of the Garmur on short, I extended the range to check if he was still in system. He was, and after some quick scan work saw he was at a large. Well I'm not going to you! I aligned towards the large, killed the engine, and waited some more. I loaded EMP and Mjolnir rockets and planned my course of action. If he lands more than 10km away, I'm warping to large. I lowered my range to 5 AU (since the large plex was 10 AU) and scanned. Garmur. I lowered the range to 1 AU. Garmur. I pre-heated everything as the Sins pilot landed. 20km. Warp! I spammed warp as the Garmur yellow boxed me. I landed at the large and immediately aligned back towards the novice to warp at 20km and hopefully get the Garmur right on top of me. A couple seconds before warping, the Garmur landed at the large right at zero! Damn! I didn't want to play these warp games long and lose his interest in the fight, so when I landed at the nov it was now or never. I re-aligned towards the large in case he landed at a distance again, and waited. A flash of light brought the Garmur on grid. Immediately I spammed approach and activated the afterburner. He exited warp 15km away which meant he landed at the gate at zero. He was eager to catch me >:] I locked up the Garmur at 14km as my speed increased. I had a lock and landed my heated web just as his MWD activated. 13, 12, 11, 10 .. I scrammed him, effectively removing his one advantage over me. I left the scram, web and AB heated for one more cycle just to ensure I was sitting pretty. I kept a nervous eye on local, waiting for his comrades to save him. My autocannons were steadily working through his shields as he returned fire. With three volley's the Garmur broke my shields as his was on the last bit of health. Fight wasn't over yet! The 200mm's broke through the last sliver of shields and tore a nice chunk from his armor. A couple more rapid volleys put him in deep armor. Seconds later the Se7en Sins Garmur exploded in a wonderful flash of orange. No gf for this pilot as I spammed target lock on his pod. Lock, scram, autocannons. The Shakes flowed through my body as I finally relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. Great start to a roam! Still no spike in local or third parties on short, so I scooped the loot from the wreckage (the Loot Fairy favored me this fight), docked up to rep and reload and set back out. I jumped into Ishomilken ready for more, but sadly it was only myself in system. No matter, there will be more down the pipe! From Uuna to Asakai, and the systems in that triangle of sorts, there was no targets. Still riding the high from the Garmur fight, I headed to Okkamon to roam the surrounding systems. Okkamon was fairly active with at least ten people in local. A quick scan showed another Garmur out, along with a Keres (ew) and other ships. Another Garmur, let's do it! I warped to a nov with the intent of waiting inside the plex instead of on the gate, in case a Keres and other stuff showed up. Mid warp I scanned the nov and saw there was a Breacher in that direction. Shit. I had no intention of fighting on the gate. As soon as I landed I aligned to the nearest celestial in front of me and spammed warp. The Breacher was targeting me but I was able to warp off. Paranoia V. The Trek Home The rest of Black Rise turned up nothing. Once I hit Pynekastoh I began to circle back to Okkamon through Hirri -> Nisuwa -> Kedama and then Reitsato. I skipped the outlying systems connected to Asakai and headed straight for Nikki to return to the Bar. I entered Mushi and d-scan showed a Merlin in space. The Merlin was at a novice plex, so I warped to it. Guns, web, scram and afterburner heated. Correct ammo loaded. Let's finish strong! The Merlin was right on the warp in waiting for me. As I exited warp I locked up the Merlin and set my orbit to 5,000m to get outside his blaster optimal. The advantage was with the Merlin as his blasters tore through my shields. My Rifter had the speed advantage but struggled to match the Merlin's dps. Nevertheless the speed of the Rifter put me outside the Merlin's range. One last volley landed which damaged my armor. I used one nanite rep and turned it off but kept it preheated ready to go just in case. I was no in the sweet spot, the Merlin couldn't hit me but I could definitely hit him. The Merlin's blasters missed, with a couple grazing hits sprinkled in. Once the shields fell, the Merlin crumbled. The pilot got his pod off grid and short scan revealed no third parties so I proceeded to loot 'n scoot and continue on home. I entered Nikkishina and docked up at Brink's Bar. Sexy pirate frig kill, even better pod kill, finished with a Merlin. Not bad!
Beautiful ain't it? Brink's Bar lives on! I admired our little piece of home for a bit longer, then hit d-scan. A few people in local but only a Slasher at a medium. Let's do it! I gave the command over the intercom for the crew to load EMP ammo into the guns and replace the Nova rockets with Mjolnir (Caldari ones of course). I took the acceleration gate and prepared myself for the first fight of the -- god dam recon bait. The Slasher was sitting 40km off the warp in but a Huginn was waiting for me with open arms and a shit eating grin. There were no celestial objects directly in front of me (not even 180 degrees in front of me). I hit the red alert button to signal the crew to get to the escape pods as the dual webs and long point sealed my fate. I locked up some drones and took one down before I exploded. Sigh. Freya Godspeed > gf Freya Godspeed > you owe me one hob Freya Godspeed > quafe? Sem Skord > gotta stay hydrated as you roam Freya Godspeed > that´s true i use other boosters tho Freya Godspeed > Krivich o7 Krivich > o7 Freya Godspeed > nice fitting btw Freya Godspeed > i like rifters Sem Skord > me too Freya Godspeed > slashers are better imo but that´s just my opinion Sem Skord > well too bad we didnt get to find out
Freya Godspeed > true I cursed myself as I returned to the Bar to grab another Rifter from the garage. Something about all this seemed very familiar. I checked the neocomm and scrolled through my recent fights. Aha! Same person, same method, same system! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I'm getting revenge! Veteran Black Jacket, R1FTA Director and good friend xxMACKxx was at the bar smoking a cigarette and throwing back some whiskey.
Sem Skord > Mack Sem Skord > Kill: Sem Skord (Rifter) xxMACKxx > yeah boss Sem Skord > got something to kill a huggin? Sem Skord > this fucker has gotten me twice Sem Skord > sitting at a large
xxMACKxx > theoretically yes He threw back another shot, allowed the liquor to marinate for a second and elaborated. xxMACKxx > I have an incursus you could use to get tackle on it xxMACKxx > while I come in my crucifier and TD it xxMACKxx > then it would just die Sem Skord > hmm xxMACKxx > it's an AC boat dual TD would shut him the fuck down he's running 425's on there ez pz
xxMACKxx > drones would be your only worry A tanky Incursus that would grab point and hold it long enough for Mack's TD Crucifier. We could definitely use a couple more ships. I looked around the Bar for someone that could lend some guns to the cause. Across the room I spotted two fellows sitting in a corner, both baby sitting a couple beers, huddled close to each other conspiring about something. Gallente Mil. I made my way over and recognized one of them.
Arsikere was a skilled pilot who can hold his own in a fight. We fought each other numerous times in the past, eventually forming a bond through guns and wrecks. The other fellow I didn't recognize. Sem Skord > Gentlemen! Sem Skord > Good evening Arsikere > hey HEY Kim Karsons > o/ Sem Skord > you guys up to kill a huggin? Sem Skord > sitting inside a large Sem Skord > with a bait slasher Sem Skord > Nikkishina Sem Skord > Freya Godspeed Ariskere glanced at his companion as they whispered quickly to each other, I couldn't make it out. A couple moments later, Arsikere took a long swig of his beer. Arsikere > alas, i am dodizzle Kim Karsons > you gonna try to take em in frigs? Those things have pretty hard tanks, no? Arsikere > huggins, not as much Sem Skord > wanna join? Arsikere > and we have a 3rd guy in fleet Sem Skord > you'll make 4! Kim Karsons > yeah I do, lemme see what I have for ships Four pilots! I'm comfortable with this! They finished their beers and followed me back to the bar where Mack sucked down his cigarette and stood up. With suspicious eyes Mack looked 'em both up 'n down. When he saw the Gal Mil patches on Arsikere and Kim, I could tell even behind those shades that he was questioning their motives. But Gal Mil don't associate with outlaws, so his suspicions were put at ease. We walked out to the parking lot and formulated a quick plan. Sem Skord > plan is pretty straight forward. im gonna grab tackle with incursus Sem Skord > hope i live long enough for ya'll to get here Sem Skord > then shoot him Sem Skord > gg Arsikere > rgr
Kim Karsons > Wish we had some Tracking disruption Mack snorted. Sem Skord > FUNNY YOU SAY THAT KIM xxMACKxx > <-- cruci xxMACKxx > <--- double td Arsikere > haha :P
Kim Karsons > There we go
We separated and jumped into our ships. I was in Mack's Incursus, Kim jumped into an Incursus as well. Arsikere was bringing the big guns with a Coercer, and Mack with the Crucifier. We can do this. I took off and set out to get the ambush in motion. Apocolypse Now The Slasher was in a medium plex now. Before I left Mack gave me a crash course on how to use the dual rep cursus and a couple of boosters to help with the tank and reppers. My concern was first getting point, then living long enough for the guys to ride in and shoot the Huginn. We left the Bar at different intervals as to not alert our quarry. We all held on the other side of the Nikkishina gate in Isho and went over the plan one more time. Sem Skord > as i take acc gate ill scream Arsikere > yarp Arsikere > u said he's in large right
Sem Skord > then ride in like that helicopter scene in apocolypse now xxMACKxx > should be medium Sem Skord > medium now
Arsikere > ah rgr I slammed down a Quafe, said a prayer to Saint Wensley, and jumped in system. I warped to the medium plex and repeated "Don't f*** this up. Don't f*** this up." to myself. I landed on the gate and checked short scan. Slasher still there. I popped the drugs and took the gate. Sem Skord > GOING IN The Huginn was right on the beacon as before. So far so good. I locked up the recon and burned towards it, the Huginn returning the favor. My shields melted. I landed point and activated both reppers. Sem Skord > GOOOOO Arsikere > comin
Arsikere > warping I was already in deep armor choking out reps, struggling to stay alive. Mack was in system, followed by Arsikere and then Kim. I checked short scan for any sign of them but nothing. Cmon! I was going down fast. I activated my cap booster to refill the capacitor and keep the reppers running. I might as well been motionless with the dual webs holding me down as the drones and big autocannons blasted away at the Incursus. Crucifier on short! Another volley put me in structure but my dual reps patched it up quickly. I'm not gonna make it. I didn't care about surviving the fight, I cared about holding point long enough for a secondary point to land. Another volley tore the frig apart and put me into deep hull. Still no Crucifier on grid. I coughed up one last rep as I exploded. As I warped off in my pod, I saw Mack land on grid. Sem Skord > down Sem Skord > get gim
Sem Skord > him I sat at the sun and checked d-scan and saw the rest of the guys were in the plex. I didn't know what was going on or whether or not Mack landed point. I decided to grab another Rifter from the Bar and join the fray. Just then Arsikere's voice came over the radio with one word. Arsikere > dead Woooo! Kim Karsons > shit nice Sem Skord > Fuckin ay Sem Skord > Good shit guys :] Sem Skord > <3 Arsikere > 9M bounty Kim Karsons > Kill: Freya Godspeed (Huginn) Arsikere > Sem Skord we get the gud will with you :)
Arsikere > aw yiss... Our perfectly thought out and organized plan worked (/s), and I was happy to say the least. There was a shit eating smile on my face :] Freya Godspeed > nice one ;) Sem Skord > ;] xxMACKxx > =D Arsikere > gf o7 Freya Godspeed > was time too i suppose Kim Karsons > gf Sem Skord > gf Freya Godspeed > least i got sem again ;) Sem Skord > dying was part of the plan that time :] Freya Godspeed > i did not die Freya Godspeed > could have warped but fuck that
Whether he decided to stay or Mack pointed him before he could leave, I don't know. What I do know is that our mission of revenge succeeded. Arsikere and Kim were very content with the kill. Kim Karsons > Thanks Sem Arsikere > at a safe btw Sem Skord > No thank you Sem Skord > finally got revenge Kim Karsons > lol
Arsikere > revenge is a dish best served with Scorch S Mack and I returned to the Bar with the loot from the recon. We asked our Gal Mil companions if they wanted a cut but they turned it down. More for us! Mack was sitting at the bar again, cigarette lit and whiskey shots in front of him. Arsikere and Kim were in their booth in the corner again, conspiring and scheming. I cracked open another Quafe and took a swig and smiled. What a day!
P.S. The story was more simple than what I wrote above. After Freya got me again, I switched back n forth between corp chat and Arsikere's pub channel to get the fleet going. Arsikere and Kim were actually 16 jumps away moving stuff for their corp. They had to dock in hostile FW space and go a bit out of the way to execute this ambush. They made it back successfully through enemy territory and got their cargo home :] Hope you guys enjoyed the story! Happy hunting o7
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 07:08:14 ] 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 07:10:54 ] 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
