In The Eye Of The Beholder

Sometimes I get very "Print Screen" happy and start taking screen shots of everything I do, trying to get some good stills. Here are a couple of the better recent ones:

Brutix Warping

Brutix Lounging

My Megathron and UberNero's Dominix

Spectre will be planet side on vacation for the next week. Try to survive without him and get your pirate fix instead from the other wonderful blogs out there.

Hit And Run

Well in my particular case it was more like "Hit And Die" but at least the rest of my gang escaped unharmed.

A number of anti-pirates were camping our station as well as one of the gates nearby (and they had managed to pop a couple of our ships). They were flying no less than four battleships, a heavy interdictor and a heavy assault ship. Even if we assembled a fleet of our biggest vessels it was likely to be a very lopsided battle so we let them continue to have free reign of our system as we looked on helplessly. Golden Helmet followed their gang around, watching and providing us with intel from his covert ops ship as they lumbered about. Finally, they all took a break gathered at a safe spot in space to wait out criminal timers. As GH watched, he realized that some ships were aligning and otheres weren't and that if they continued to travel away from each other, there was going to be a fairly large gap between some of the ships. The plan was suggested and we all agreed... we would try to hit and run and gank one of their unsuspecting ships once it was separated from the pack.

I decided to bring my Brutix to the fight and I had all the mechanics in the hangar bay help in order to get it done fast. I promised if they worked extra quickly that I would buy them all a steak dinner later that night. I might have been lying just to get my way but it was necessary in this situation. Off came the armor repairers and armor resistance plating and electron blasters. On went the ion blasters and the weapon modifications and a small plate. A buffer fit with as much damage output potential as I could possibly squeeze onto my giant flying helmet.

As I finished my prepartions and went to undock, the call came in. Almost every enemy ship had warped off and left an already damage Typhoon class battleship by itself! We set course for Golden Helmet and landed on the unsuspecting target. My Brutix, two Drakes, a Nemesis, a Stabber, an Incursus and Golden Helmet's Helios all arrived within moments and we locked down and began our assault upon the Typhoon. Unfortunately for my trusty flying space helmet, he targeted my ship and began to fight back. With my capacitor neutralized away so that I could not even fire my guns, I simply tanked as much as I could for my gang as they burned down our target. A Megathron class battleship from his group soon arrived as backup and helped finish me off but it was too little too late... the Typhoon was done for and the entire rest of the gang was able to flee safely just as the rest of our victims fleet arrived on scene.

A mediocrely fit Brutix for a rigged Typhoon? I'll take that trade.

Karma Is A Bitch

Don't Go Looking For Trouble

I don't really feel that bad about the terrible pirate things I do. Sometimes there will be a twang of regret when I pop the same newbies Bantam for the third time in the past hour, but it doesn't last long. Last night however was different. Sitting at the station in my Megathron with a couple of Python Cartel members, a pilot that was not in our corporation, not in our gang and not blue to us showed up. He was in a stealth bomber and chatting with us over the public Python Cartel communications channel. We had ganged with him the night before to bust up a Vanguard Alliance gate camp and he was genuinely interested in joining our corporation.

I wasn't considering shooting him until Golden Helmet made the suggestion.

True. He is not a corporation member. He is not in gang. He does not have positive standings. According to the rules we live by, he is a perfectly valid target. So why did I feel bad about the fact we were about to gank his unsuspecting ship? I ignored the feelings of "WRONG" inside my gut and made sure to lock and fire so that I could get on the killmail as I am a complete killboard whore. An examination of the mail made me feel even worse as the ship was rigged and well fit. I didn't think there was anything that could make me more regretful until someone pointed out this post that Pr3ach3r left us detailing his enjoyment in working with us.

At least he was cool and understanding about that situation.

[ 23:06:24 ] Pr3ach3r > ....
[ 23:06:49 ] Pr3ach3r > well that sucked
[ 23:06:56 ] Pr3ach3r > lol

Trouble Will Find You

I launched my Thorax named "I Love Gunner Cid" from the station in Aurohunen and did a quick scan. Nothing in the area. Time to move on. I set my destination for the Dantumi gate and upon arrival I noticed an Onyx, Cerebrus and Claymore. The Claymore being flown by Gunner Cid, the very benefactor that gave me the ship I was flying. I made sure he noticed the name before I jumped on through.

[ 14:24:40 ] Spectre3353 > please note my ship name before i jump through cid

I hesitated at the gate for a few moments until I felt a huge crash and my ship shuddered under the force of a massive collision. I got up, shook myself off and checked what had just happened. My ship had been rammed by the Onyx and I was now well out of range of the stargate and webbed by my attackers.

I mulled over my options quickly as my ship was being destroyed. I could not make it back to the gate with webs on me. I could not get out of scram range with webs on me. I could not tank the damage I was taking and I could not even put a dent in my attackers. I sadly concluded there was no escape and prepared to flee in my pod. A few minutes later I was back in the station and with one less Thorax to my name.

[ 14:26:26 ] Gunner Cid > I saw it on scan spectre, why did you hesitate at the gate =/
[ 14:26:38 ] Spectre3353 > because i am not a smart person apparently
[ 14:26:51 ] Spectre3353 > nice bump btw
[ 14:26:56 ] ridik ulass > apparently...?
[ 14:26:56 ] Gunner Cid > thx
[ 14:27:57 ] Gunner Cid > meh you have a couple more of those thorax left I am willing to bet
[ 14:28:02 ] Spectre3353 > a few :)
[ 14:28:07 ] noktamid > gf pythonoob
[ 14:28:22 ] Spectre3353 > wasnt a good fight at all actually nok but i appreciate the sentiment

This was the result of karma. This is what I deserved for doing virtually the same thing to Pr3ach3r the day before. Karma is a bitch.

Of Epic Proportions

Air Conditioned Nightmare (For Real This Time)

I was in complete and utter disbelief. How could this be happening to me? I had fit a brand new Thorax and flown it a few systems away and it was happening again. The air conditioning system was busted and I was sweating like hell.

*THUMP*

"STUPID GALLENTE MANUFACTURING" I screamed as I drop-kicked the AC unit. It must have realized how very furious I was because it stuttered and putted and started working once again. I went back to the cockpit and continued on my journey through low security, looking for targets with my wing man Andrea Skye who was piloting a Rupture cruiser. We traveled several jumps until we arrived at what is quickly becoming my favorite system within the war torn region of Black Rise. Teskanen is usually populated with several pilots from the Nexus Allliance and they seem to always be up for giving us the action that we crave.

We jumped into system and saw the usual blob of Nexus Alliance pilots in local. We began to scan around and quickly I noticed a Drake battlecruiser and Hulk exhumer off towards one of the clusters of asteroid belts. Upon closer examination, we realized that they were actually in a belt! I warped in and scrambled the Hulk and Skye arrived soon after as well. I checked my overview and saw the pilots call-sign was "Air Conditioning". I rubbed my eyes and checked again. Was this some sort of weird joke? I stared out the glass at my opponents ship and in its place I imagined a gigantic air conditioner, just like the one in my Thorax that never works. My blood began boil and I tore into the Hulk with my blasters and drones. It was so incredibly soothing to watch the ensuing explosion as we turned our weapons on the Drake next. If we had more time, we very likely would have won the fight but his friends began to arrive and an Ishtar landed in the belt. We quickly fled the scene and both got out alive (and I even managed to loot the Hulk on my way).

It was a good kill and a safe escape but we were not out of the woods yet. For the next several minutes we watched the system begin to fill with angry Nexus Alliance pilots in their various battlecruisers, battleships, heavy assault ships and covert ops ships. We had stirred up the hornets nest and Teskanen was a dead end system. The only way out was through a single gate and it was safe to assume they were waiting for us on it. We decided to make a break for it and warped to the gate together. We jumped through and on the other side was the Ishtar. While Skye was able to escape, I was warp scrambled and forced to return to the gate and jump back into Teskanen. Just as I warped away into the deepness of space, I saw a Dominix battleship arrive... the gate camp was just starting to be assembled.

Back in my deep safe spot, I contemplated my next move and checked the scanner. There again was a Drake and an industrial in the same belt as where we had killed the Hulk and nothing else was around. These fools were so busy camping us into the system that they had again left their mining friend alone and helpless. I laughed at the humorous situation as I warped back into the belt, killed the helpless hauler piloted by Air Conditioning and then warped back out before the Drake had even gotten a lock. What a poor sucker.

I flew to meet up with Skye who had returned to the system to help me try and figure out a way out of here that didn't involve the destruction of my precious ship. We waited several minutes and none of the gate camping pilots returned to the system to find us. Our criminal timers all expired and still we were stuck. We contemplated several solutions including having a friend bring us Intertial Stabilizers and Nanfiber modules to fit to our ships but finally decided on simply docking up and buying shuttles. There was no way they could stop us from leaving system in such an agile ship and we could come back and have more fun with our cruisers another day. Together we jumped out of Teskanen and got a good look at our pursuers...


It seems that we had angered them. They tried their best to stop us from getting away but it they apparently mistook the nearby Concord Billboard for one of our shuttles:

03:53:05 Notify dawndeath [UNV]NEXUS has started trying to warp scramble "Concord Billboard"

As I warped through the system, I apologized for our inexcusable behavior:

[03:53:14] Spectre3353 > tell air conditioning that we are sorry :(
[03:53:21] Darkslyfoxx > pussies!

I almost felt bad. Almost. I glanced back at the small air conditioner in the back of my shuttle. It purred and hummed quietly and effeciently as if trying it's best not to get on my bad side. It must have heard about what I do to Air Conditioners that piss me off.

Why I Am Going To Hell

There is one thing that we as pirates love to see. It is the Bantam mining frigate and every time that one appears on scan, we all trip over ourselves to see who will get the killmail on such a ferocious and fearsome ship. Tonight was no different as Skye and myself found one attempting to mine in our home system. We got prepared and warped in on him in our own battle-tested frigates, an Imicus and a Bantam. Unfortunately I had forgotten to fit a warp scrambler and our target panicked and warped away before we could lock him down. Dissapointed at myself for my error, I quickly contacted the young pilot to try and coax him back into the belt:

[04:04:47] Spectre3353 > hey man
[04:04:53] Spectre3353 > i wasnt going to hurt you, just wanted to mine too
[04:05:02] ibrahim vilem > oh im new lol
[04:05:05] Spectre3353 > no prob man
[04:05:11] Spectre3353 > if you want to come back to 6-1, we can both mine
[04:05:12] ibrahim vilem > thanks for letting me know
[04:05:18] Spectre3353 > theres plenty of asteroids :)
[04:05:29] ibrahim vilem > thanks XD

We watched the scanner and sure enough, the Bantam was back out in space and moments later he appeared back in our belt. Much to his surprise, we did not want to mine with him. We destroyed his ship and again I almost felt bad about what I had done. Almost.

[04:08:44] ibrahim vilem > didnt figure you guys were THAT shady
[04:08:48] Spectre3353 > we are
[04:08:49] Spectre3353 > we are pirates

[04:09:11] ibrahim vilem > its a job i guess
[04:09:20] Spectre3353 > its a tough job but somebody has to do it
[04:09:28] ibrahim vilem > lol

It is a tough job indeed.

Air Conditioned Nightmare

Air Conditioned Nightmare

*THUMP*

I kicked the air conditioning unit as hard as I could and it spun back up while making a whiney whirring noise. Why hadn't I gotten this thing fixed properly before flying out? I wiped the sweat from my brow and plopped back down into the cockpit seat of my Thorax. I was floating out in deep safe in the extremely busy system of Amamake as Andrea Skye, Thurxus, Lanissum and myself had taken a forty jump trip here the night before. It went well since none of us lost a ship and we had several kills including a Hurricane, Catalyst, Merlin, Thorax, Condor, Punisher and Rifter. I had stayed in the station overnight and was getting ready to head home but not before I took one last scan around to see what was doing in the wild west that is Amamake.

I squinted to read my overview as sweat was dripping down my forehead and stinging my eyes. Fifty pilots in system but nothing that dangerous on scan. Just a Bellicose and he was in the infamous "top belt" near planet III. Very possibly bait but for some reason I was feeling suicidal. I set a course and landed directly on top of my target. Locked, scrambled, webbed and I opened fire. Then it started. A Falcon uncloaked and broke my lock just as a Caracal, Vexor, Vengeance and several other ships began warping in and engaging me as well. I should have seen this coming. I immediately set course away from all my pursuers and toggled the microwarpdrive. I gained some distance from several of them but the Bellicose pilot was still close and keeping me scrambled as my armor quickly disentegrated from the all the hostile fire. I overheated my microwarpdrive for that extra boost and deployed my ECM drones at the ship scrambling me. The extra power must have been too much for my Thorax because I heard the air conditioner stutter and stop once again. This time I was not as angry about it as I realized that the Bellicose was now far behind me and I was able to warp away to safety as my ship started taking damage to its hull.

"How in the world did I just survive that?" I thought as I climbed back down into the engine room.

*THUMP*

Stupid air conditioner.

One Small Step For Man

It is hard to explain to people that are not combat pilots about that feeling. The feeling we get when we work hard towards our education and our finances and are rewarded for it. That feeling of purchasing and fitting a brand new ship that we have never flown before and then getting into it for the first time. I had that feeling today and it was good:




My very first battleship. A Megathron named "Gunner Cid Is Kool". It saw its first action for a few minutes when trying to intercept a hauler at a gate. I look forward to losing her in some awfully newbish way.

Sad Pirate Fundraising (Conclusion!)

Number of Donations: 18
Smallest Donation: 0.10 ISK
Largest Donation: 100,000,000 ISK
Total Amount Raised: 311,177,354.30 ISK

That is the final total! In a mere five days, we raised over 300 million ISK for the sad pirates. Do you know what this means?


No longer are we sad pirates. Now we are happy and joyous! Our hangar is full of fun toys and our wallet is stuffed with shiny gold coins. You should all be proud for you have done a great deed and you will forever be remembered for it:

Bronze Eye-Patch Members (0.01 to 1,000,000 ISK Donated):
Stratx Devayne, Melninck, Gabriel DiCozza, Merria Brown, EKR XD, Zangert, Drixion

Silver Parrot Members (1,000,001 to 5,000,000 ISK Donated):
Nik Fiur, Kachak, Phantom RaspberryBlower, Htrag

Golden Rapier Members (5,000,001 to 30,000,000 ISK Donated):
Bf0ster, Atheist Peace, Apoctasy, Mynxee

...and our three prize winners for the fabulous prizes are:

3rd Place:
40,000,000 ISK Donation - Omae Gaw'd

2nd Place:
50,000,000 ISK Donation - Gunner Cid

1st Place:
100,000,000 ISK Donation - Avaricha Halo

Congratulations to the winners! Please contact me in game or in the blog comments section below so that we can discuss your prizes and how I can give you exactly what you want and deserve. Thank you to everyone who participated in this historic and phenominal success!

I Can't Think Of A Good Title Today Either

Sad Pirate Fundraising (Last Chance)

Due to the complete lack of donations in the past two days, I have decided to call a premature end to the Sad Pirate Fundraiser(tm). Today will be the last and final day. If you have not made your donation yet, this is your last chance to do it. Don't miss your opportunity to give to the sad pirates who need you. Don't let your chance at the fabulous prizes slip away. Don't let tomorrow come without donating to the greatest cause in the universe. Me.

"Silly Wabbit (pt 1)" or "Why You Shouldn't Attack A Blaster Taranis From 10KM Away In A Stealth Bomber"

I had seen a Hound on scan just a minute ago. A stealth bomber, hiding in one of the belts of the system. I went straight to the asteroid belt that I thought I last saw him and I flew around slowly for a few minutes. He was not on scan. Nothing was in the belt. But I stayed. How I knew he would appear I was not sure, but finally I heard that whoosh of an uncloaking ship and checked my overview. Hound stealth bomber targeting me and only 10km away? I might be scared to engage one of these fellows if they started with a 100km range advantage but this little sucker apparently had no idea what he was doing.

I flew a little closer, turned on the web, the scrambler. A volley of cruise missiles knocked my ship slightly off course and vaporized my shields. Still, I flew a little closer. Another volley put a small dent in my armor. Closer. Closer. Finally, I could see the siloutte of the opposing pilot through the glass in his ship. I could almost see his face as a third volley tore off another bit of my armor plating. My curiosity was now satiated and I was done playing with my food so I toggled my blasters. I felt that adeneline surge as my Null shredded his stealth bomber. Obliterated. Devastated. Annihilated. His pod got it too and my ship was barely touched.

I put my head down onto the console of my ship and kissed it. I love you Taranis.

"Silly Wabbit (pt 2)" or "Why I Need To Stop Trying To Win 1v1 Taranis Fights"

My Taranis is rarely ever set up in a fashion that is specifically for destroying other interceptors. I usually fit in manners that are flexible and appropriate for roaming around by myself. Yet whenever I get into a situation where another Taranis wants to fight me, I can't help but agree or engage (even though I have a very bad track record). When offered the chance to duel another Taranis today, one who has killed me before and who I knew would be fit and skilled more appropriately, I still agreed.

To make it short, I lost. Again. I guess I will never learn.

I Can't Think Of A Good Title Today

Party Crashing

A mining party that is. I sat down at my console in the station just in time to hear Andrea Skye rallying the troops to bust up a mining operation that was set up in Mara. A mining operation in Mara? These fellows obviously had no idea what they were doing or that it was about as dangerous as playing soccer in a minefield. I quickly got down to the hangar, powered up my Vexor and went to meet with the rest of our fleet. Minutes later, I was waiting on the Mara gate with fellow pirates in a Rupture, Blackbird and another Vexor. Skye jumped in to scout and confirmed that our targets were still mining in a belt and there was a large assortment of ships including a Rokh, Brutix, Catalyst, Caracal and Retriever. Time to play.

We jumped in and made our way straight to the belt. I called primary on the Brutix and Skye went about jamming the Rokh's targeting systems. It didn't seem to matter much as we smushed the Brutix fairly quickly and all of his friends fled without putting up much of a fight. I only wish I had been smart enough to order a second ship scrambled while we were killing the first. I had not expected them all to flee like a bunch of girls. Near the end of the Brutix kill, an Ishtar appeared in the belt and unfortunately ganked our Blackbird but no other casualties were suffered as a result. Not surprising as Mara is almost constantly overrun with nano cruisers of some sort.

Sexxy Vexxy

I have yet another new favorite. After losing a brutally close 1v1 cruiser fight versus Omae G'awd the other day, I contacted him to figure out how he had equipped and fit his ship. I decided to try his setup and I am finding it to be extremely effective. For respect out of OMG I will not share exactly what the secret is but it has allowed me to score seven quality kills with the Vexor in the past couple of days. It's brilliant mix of speed and tank has also allowed me to survive in several situations I would not have in one of my old Vexor setups. I even tanked an Ishtar with no issues for well over 60 seconds while waiting to jump through a gate (although he wasn't exactly fit well).

Sad Pirate Fundraising (Day 4)

While I greatly appreciate the quick and generous start we had to the fundraiser, things have already grinded to almost a complete halt. You guys need to look deep inside yourself, into your heart. Think about the sad pirates and how their lives will never be the same if they don't raise at least half-a-billion ISK during this fundraiser. Make sure to continue to contribute often and contribute well! You will earn fabulous prizes!!!! DO IT.

Sad Pirate Fundraising (Day 2)

The first 24 hours of the fundraiser have passed and we have raised a little over 200 million ISK so far. The current leaders for the fabulous prizes are:

1st Place: Avaricha Halo
Donation Amount: 100,000,000 ISK

2nd Place: Mynxee
Donation Amount: 30,000,000 ISK

3rd Place: Bfoster
Donation Amount: 26,500,000 ISK

We humbly thank you all for your efforts towards this good cause but remember that the drive has just begun. These three good samaritans in the lead are begging for you to out-do them! Let us continue to donate until every sad pirate has turned their frown upside down. Only six days left!

Look at that happy pirate smile!

Sad Pirate Fundraising

I am taking time today away from the usual broadcast scheduling to tell you about a group of people who desperately need your help. Pirates have been around for trillions of years and without them, the universe would have remained a boring, safe place. They have helped pillage, rape, steal, destroy and grief countless millions. Without them, life would be boring and you would all mining Kernite in belt 1-1 in safety (and who would want that?)

The pirates desperately need your help now more than ever. They are poor and sad and cannot even afford to buy themselves a new Thorax after they keep fricken losing them every day now. This fundraiser is being selflessly posted here by me, so that I can help fund the adventures of pirates all over the universe!*

*NOTE: All proceeds go to Spectre. He will share nothing with anyone else because no one else is important.

The fundraising contest will last one week and one week ONLY. Simply transfer as much ISK as you would like in game to 'Spectre3353'. Put 'Pirate Fundraiser' as the subject/reason and you will have done a great deed for a great group of people! You may even have a chance at winning one of these fabulous prizes:

1st Place: A short story written about YOU and posted on this blog! How exciting!!!!!!

2nd Place: I will name every ship I fly after YOU for the next month! Awesome sauce!!!!!!

3rd Place: You will recieve a Hallmark card with an Eve oriented Haiku written by ME! Wowee!!!!!

Just remember that every bit of ISK you donate helps to save a sad pirate somewhere and NOBODY likes sad pirates. Seriously. Nobody.

P.S. Yes, I know I am a sellout. Screw off (and send me money please).

It's Not The Size Of The Wave...

...But The Motion Of The Ocean

It felt good to be back in my Blasteranis. I sat on a gate leading to high security space where I could not jump to, watching my target in a Hurricane. He sat in his battlecruiser almost on top of the gate as though he was ready to jump through. Unmoving and not doing anything, I would have wondered if he was not at the controls had I not just seen him leave deadspace and warp here a few minutes ago.

I was joined soon after by another pilot in my corporation also in a 'Cane and we considered whether or not to risk the gate guns and my fragile interceptor in an attack. Before we could finish our decision making, the gate fired and a Drake battlecruiser uncloaked nearby. Some quick reconnisance let me determine that the Drake pilot was very new and not in league with the Hurricane. He must have been enticed by my blinky redness because he almost immediately engaged and the fight was on! Before I could even close range enough to begin hitting with my blasters, I was halfway through my armor, being pelted by his heavy missiles. I calmed myself and ignored the panic that comes with seeing my ship in structure. I reminded myself that the hull is how the Taranis tanks. Finally in blaster range, I opened fire, overheated my guns and let the joyous feeling of an intense and dangerous battle flow through me.

We continued to fire on the Drake, my hull continued to buckle, the sentry guns continued to pelt my wingman and the other Hurricane continued to sit there and ignore the crazyness going on all around him. Finally, the Drake's tank broke and we smashed through his armor and hull. I turned to flee from the encounter just as the Hurricane finally woke up and targetted my Taranis. As I fled at several thousand kilometers a second, he managed to fire one volley that clipped my ship and nearly did me in. Once, safely away from the combat zone I did a system diagnostic. Shields: 0%. Armor: 0%. Hull: 2%. Two Percent. Most certainly the narrowest margin by which I have ever survived an encounter.

Big Mistake

No matter how many times I am promised revenge by my victims, I have yet to see anyone follow through with their threats:

[ 2008.09.11 15:09:49 ] Spectre3353 > hello
[ 2008.09.11 15:09:53 ] Spectre3353 > 5 million ISK and your pod can go
[ 2008.09.11 15:09:58 ] Spectre3353 > you have 30 seconds to place the money in my wallet
[ 2008.09.11 15:10:02 ] Camxena > big mistake.
[ 2008.09.11 15:10:12 ] Spectre3353 > 20 seconds
[ 2008.09.11 15:10:24 ] Camxena > you have 30 seconds to see my corp.
[ 2008.09.11 15:10:26 ] Spectre3353 > 10 seconds
[ 2008.09.11 15:10:37 ] Spectre3353 > yea, ive never heard this one before
[ 2008.09.11 15:10:40 ] Camxena > go for it we are watching
[ 2008.09.11 15:10:40 ] Spectre3353 > oh wait, i have, about 700 times
[ 2008.09.11 15:10:41 ] Spectre3353 > have a good day

It never gets old.

First You Wanna Kill Me, Now You Wanna Kiss Me

Blow.

When a pirate has spent enough time in a region of space, he begins to become familiar with his surroundings. He learns which systems are most active, which systems do or do not have stations, where the best spots to scan from are and how all the systems are laid out in relation to each other. On top of learning the lay of the land, he also becomes familiar with the people and groups who inhabit these areas with him. He gets to know the pilots that are most often seen flying in the area, what ships they fly, how skilled they are and whether or not they are likely to have friends waiting just next door.

Over the course of the past few months here in my home, I have come to know many of the pilots, especially the competing pirates and anti-pirates. One such corporation of pirates that I run into fairly often is VMF-214 Blacksheep. Blacksheep is run by a friendly and polite pirate by the name of Omae G'awd. Whenever I pass through the system where OMG and his corporation live, I make sure to send a hail and jovial greeting. I don't remember how or why we became friendly and frankly I do not care. There does need to be some honor and companionship among thieves. I have never had any direct engagements with OMG but I have combatted with his corp on a couple of occasions.

So I sat on a gate in my Thorax. My usual plated and extremely resilient fit with mostly expensive tech II modules. In local was Omae G'awd and on scan was a Vexor that I knew must belong to him. I scanned the ship to a nearby planet and several things crossed my mind:

(1) I have always been friendly to OMG. Would it be wrong of my to engage him? Does he expect me to act in a friendly manner?

(2) He may only be in a Vexor, but he has been a pirate for nearly four times as long as me. Even though he is in a subpar ship compared to my Thorax, will his superior skills and perhaps superior fitting allow him to make quick work of me?

I thought these things through and decided that the code of pirates and of my corporation meant that anyone not in my corp or in my gang was a valid target. OMG was a pirate as well and he would understand that this was just business. As far as his experience advantage went, I was in a better ship with a very solid fit and my skills are not that shabby.

Let's do this.

I engaged the warp drive and dropped in on my target and his ship. As I landed, he was about 20 kilometers away and I immediately went to close distance and lock him down. He made an attempt to kite my close range blaster ship but it didn't last long as my web and microwarpdrive did their thing. Soon we were locked up in battle and slowly wittling each others well tanked ships down. He did not have me webbed so it meant he must have a capicitor booster installed in its place. I had to burn him down fast otherwise he and his armor repairer would outlast my ship! I decided to use a new trick I had learned only recently... I overrode the safety measures on my weapons systems and pushed my guns beyond their maximum suggested energy output.

I watched as both of us began taking very serious damage to our armor. OMG was the first to hit structure and I watched as he continued to repair his armor but not fast enough to prevent the very hull of his ship from continuing to take hits. I still had some armor left and I winning the damage race! I had won! I was going to kill a pilot that was one-and-a-half years my senior! I cracked a grin in the cockpit of my ship when I felt two explosions. I glanced out the left side of the viewing glass and noticed I had taken a direct hit to the hull. My ship was now in a little trouble. I glanced out the right side of the glass and saw that one of my blasters had exploded and was offline. My ship was now in serious trouble. I grimaced and realized that I should not have celebrated so early. My opponents Vexor was still deep in structure but he was repairing the damage almost as fast as I could continue to deal it out. My ship had run out of capacitor to run my own armor repairer, one of my guns was offline and the other four turrets were no longer running as optimally as before.

At the very last moment things had turned against me. My ship was lost.

After the battle, we discussed the fight and I was happy to know that I had at least put a little bit of fright into a pilot who is older, more skilled, more experienced and barely has more losses in his entire career than I already do in mine. A very good fight it was and I hope that next time we engaged, I will emerge the victor.

Weakness

One More Time

I continued to suck margarita out of my glass as hard as I could. It was down to the very bottom and my straw was making that annoying gurgle sound that it does when the drink is gone but I am trying so hard to not leave behind a single ounce of limey tequila goodness. It has been days since I gave up my life as a pirate. Gave away my money. Gave away my ships. Gave away every module and ammo and mining laser and donkey I owned. Here I was on a tropical island, drinking margaritas and working as a cabana boy. I didn't have to worry about being blown up every time I walked around a corner. I didn't have to worry about the best way to fit a Thorax, whether or not the Korama gate was camped or why cloning leaves me with such debilitating migraines. I was on easy street now. So why was I not content?

I looked down at my hand. I tried hard to keep it still but it just wouldn't stop shaking. Like an addict that had gone cold turkey, I was feeling the ill effects of giving up my favorite high. I needed to see that golden flash of light as my enemies ship exploded. I needed to feel that uncomfortable tug on my body as I jumped through a gate. I needed to feel the adrenaline burst through my veins that I get when I charge into combat against overwhelming odds. I didn't want it. I needed it.

I got up out of the beach chair and dropped my glass in the sand. I started to walk slowly towards my bungalow but soon I could not contain my excitement and simply ran like a little kid. Bypassing the front door I slipped around back and into the woods where I had hidden the last bit of pirate Spectre that I had left. I removed the ferns and foliage I had used to hide my Gallente Catalyst destroyer. A small frigate sized ship but it was capable of giving me the fix I needed. I powered her up and sat for a moment with my eyes closed, my hands on the controls. I took in the smells, the sounds, the feel of my ship. It has been only days but it felt like forever. I have missed this.

I opened my eyes and soon I was back in space and making my way towards my old home. It was only a few systems away from where I had settled down in the heart of Caldari high security space. They would miss me at the pool tomorrow for sure. I flew on past my old home station in Aurohunen and on down into Dantumi to see what was out and about. Upon entering the system I found almost exactly what I was looking for! A Kestrel frigate, Cormorant destroyer and Catalyst destroyer were on scan towards a planet! I set course, jumped into warp towards the planet and I felt the anticipation of combat all over. My heart was pounding so hard that it made my body feel as though it was pulsing. I came out of warp and saw two of my targets, the frigate and the Catalyst about one-hundred kilometers away. I kicked on the microwarpdrive and set a course to begin orbiting them just at the fringe of web distance. I was fit with several railguns and a web but no warp scrambler so I could not hold my enemies in place. It would be completely up to their own will whether or not to stick around for the fight.

Closer and closer I drew and it looked like it was a fight they wanted. I first targeted the Kestrel and tore him down in mere moments with my eight railguns all firing deadly antimatter charges. Next up was the other Catalyst. I webbed and began orbiting him at my prefered range and quickly destroyed him as well while taking almost no damage. Finally, I turned on the Cormorant destroyer that had warped in near the end of the fight and while his tank was considerably more resilient than his friends, he went down as well and I had taken only a very small amount of damage to my shields. I exchanged a polite acknowledgement of the encounter over the comms and sat for a moment. My hands were shaking again but this time it wasn't due to what I needed, it was due to what I had obtained. Three kills in a single encounter. An intense fight. For this moment, right now, I felt whole again. How could I ever truly leave this life behind?

Who Am I Kidding?

What can I say? I meant every word when I said that I was leaving Eve. I truly did give away everything I owned down to the last bit of ISK. I sent a mail to my corporation thanking them for our time together. I gave away the ransom board I was developing. I uninstalled the game. Yet here I am again... it is tough to give up something you enjoy so much and especially tough to suddenly decide never again to talk to the dozens of people you have become friends with.

So I am not going to quit completely. It is a little bit too harsh and was perhaps a bit of an overreaction. I am however going to considerably cut back on the amount of time I play and devote to Eve in general. I am going to let Xasz work on the PCRB (thanks Xasz), I am going to get rid of my missioning alt and I am going to just pirate for fun. I will play on occasion as opposed to every night for hours. Eve is a very forgiving game in the playtime respect as I can advance my skills just as fast (or faster since I won't lose as many implants) when I play less. I may not post on this blog quite as often as I did before, but you can rest assured that there will continue to be posts about my silly internet spaceship adventures.

Last Post

To make this simple and sweet, I have decided to stop playing Eve-Online. As an obvious side effect, this blog will no longer be updated and this will be my final post. Many thanks to everyone I encountered and interacted with in game for the past several months, it has been a lot of fun. Many thanks especially to the Joint Strike Squad and the Python Cartel for being awesome corporations and giving me a great group of people to fly and banter with. As of right now, I have contracted or given away every ship, module and bit of ISK to my name and uninstalled Eve.

To the bloggers and sites who have linked to my blog or to all of those who have left me comments, thanks for your support. I am amazed at how many of you were actually interested in reading what I wrote and contacted me in game. As of this very moment, this blog has gotten 8,921 visits from 3,399 unique visitors and nearly 19,000 pageviews over a period of about 4 months. I never, ever expected this kind of traffic and I am really grateful to all of you for reading my silly little internet adventures.

Please check out all of the other great Eve Blogs and Pirate Blogs out there for now on for your Eve blogging fix. Fly safe everyone.

-Spectre

More Pirate Blogs

I have updated the Pirate Blogs list from last week with a few new entries, specifically Wensley's and Lanissum's blogs. Check the original Pirate Blogs post for more details.