Not the Greatest

of Days.


I was running some Sisters missions, while building up my resolve to quit COSMOS space and go back to ordinary missions (with the Sisters at least I'm working up to earning some boosted probes), and I got led to a L4 agent who was offering non-combat missions. So I did two, in a shuttle, and got away with it, and then a third came, and it was apparently pure reconnaisance, so I took that one.

Gated in and was blatted by two cruisers and a BS. Ran, returned to station. Was going to look up the mission and see what else I might do, but got call from AKFT person who needed help catching Dagan (Don't worry if you don't know the SP -- either you eventually will come across him, or you won't and it won't matter). So I threw up the 7-figure mission, and went to help him in Mal's Megathron.

I tanked, he blatted, I threw in a couple of drones, Dagan went down. I salvaged and handed it over, and went back. And then found that my shuttle ought to have coped, and that I'd thrown away a 7-figure mission.

Snit city. Ponie-cuddling time.


Bless

Not Good News

I don't know where they heard it from, but according to what I was told ....

I've stayed in the Pator Tech corp since I graduated -- they're good people, they have clean stations, and they do what they can for their graduates. Now, apparently, CONCORD have decided that they have to start charging us (or taxing us) to stay members. They want us to join the commercial corps (which tax anyway), because they say that they protect us by blocking pirates and null-sec gankers, and we ought to pay for it.

So I lose all my friends, and then I lose this protection because the null-sec people simply war-dec hi-sec corps, which means they can kill you as they like and you get no rights against them. My poniez are scared stiff.

And if I'm going to save up for my Orca, I really can't afford the taxes.


On the other hand, had excellent day yesterday with the AKFT, mining and chatting -- mostly mining. Ursus was there, too, which kept my spirits up.

And tomorrow I'm planning on ... well, never mind: don't want the gankers to hear me ....

Back in the Sa-ddle

The Mega seems a bit better with the Warp Stabs off. I've also diversified ammo (anti-mater being a mite expensive), and worked out ranges. My long-range ammo hits at 40k, my drones can go in at 35k, and my shorter-range ammo kicks in around the 25k mark.

Frigates boil under drones; cruisers seem to wilt under shells, and Mal left me room for a tractor and salvager so I can even hoover my own wrecks most of the time.

Did Human Cattle 5of5; thought about the fleet, but then noticed there are no bounties (because they're Amarr) so I'd have to be sure I could get them all before I'd get the salvage. Decided to leave it alone. Still got almost a mill between fee and bonus. Rounded off the take with a L1 mission: 2 frigates. Didn't even need to fire: drones did both of them. Good fee -- must not have been taken for a while.

How to Get Blatted

Basically, don't learn the disadvantages of your modules.

I don't blame Mal -- he obviously rigged the ship the way he wanted it. A Megathron. With Heavy Hybrids firing Antimatter and Iron. And including, in the lows, two Warp Core Stabilisers.

Which apparently cut your targeting range by half each time. Which meant that, before I could target a ship, I was looking down its gun barrels, and was well inside the effective range of any of my guns.

Took it into a fleet with AKFT, and found out. Escaped the first engagement, because they drew fire off me; never got into range on the second one (the AFB kept cutting out as well).

First experience of a Command Ship being in-fleet. Kept getting Shield points added, which made me think I was taking damage.


After that I took the Meg for a stroll among some other ships. Unfortunately they were far too heavy and by the time I got out (thankfully unscrambled) I was deep in armour and wondering if I hadn't ought to have structure tanked as well.

Won't be going back there in a hurry. Wonder what works well against 3 BS and a small horde of smaller. The Ogres didn't even have an effect.

Inshal.

Ponie-feeding time.

Combined Ops

Scoped out an unlisted jump-gate with the CovOps and found it guarded. So I sent the BC in, to clear the guard, and then sent the CovOps through the gate.

Which turned out to be hairier than the poniez wanted -- there were a fleet of ships, but there was also a close-in spotter. Who, when I decided to warp out, turned out to be packing something that shut my warp-drive down, as well as a webber, to kill my regular engines. Fortunately, when I'd stopped Snoball from panicking, I cut in the afb and just ran for it. And managed to outrun the warp-drive shutter-downer's range.

So, having had a day to think about it, I went back with the BC, and shot the guard, and then, once I'd Gone Through, I poured everything at the inside spotter. He (or she, I suppose -- though the piloting was about male-standard) melted and I got to look round, with everything else at about 60 k.

Then I spotted another PC ship -- a strategic cruiser -- my first to get a look at -- had a hole in the middle. Someone was firing at her, and since I had the opportunity, I fired back on his account. And then shamelessly kited along, letting her draw fire, and then picking off anyone who responded. Of course, that left wrecks, at which I wanted to look. Was tempted to use the BC salvager, but didn't want to be stranded when Whoever came back.

So had to warp out, and go fetch one of Mal's salvagers, with tractors. Eventually got all but two wrecks (which were full of scrap metal when you salved them), but then had agression at 40K, and decided to leave those last two and keep my skin whole.


So, just waiting now to get the bounties and then I'll nap.

Happy patch-day everybody !!

Fleeting Glances

Have had enough (for now) of Just Mining.

And didn't fancy the offer of L4 missioning with a fleetlet (sorry, gals); so I spent the day flying ships back and forth (or forth, and shuttling back), getting my own best set together in one place at one time, to see what I could do.

One BC, one Hulk, one Mammoth, one salvager, one scanner ship, one Assualt Frigate just in case things get needful.

Now I'll see what the poniez and I can do with them.

Though if a first flit is anything to go by ... Put it this way, 16 belts of roids, all of them scoured clean not only of rats but of rat corpses. I eventually found three rats cowering in a corner, and set drones on them (I was in the salvager at the time), and then found none of them had salvage to take. So I suspect that the Real Loot is somewhere else, and I will have to seek it out.


Wish me luck.
J

Hundredth-and-one post (apparently).

Broke from mining, to go ratting and meet up with the AKFT.

Took the Cheetah into the L1 dungeon, and found it totally empty, so slaughtered everything there, and salvaged. Oddly enough, there was no trigger to the next bit and no Overseer.

Then did some higher-sec belts waiting for corp op time, and then took Mal's Hulk into belts to wreck roids. And the Bear must have pimped up her Orca skills, 'cause my Strip Miners were running about 10% up (or down -- faster anyway) and they seemd to be clawing more ore, so that I didn't bother keeping it in my hold but just dumped it straight into jet cans.

When that had to end (RL Chinese run), I switched to clearing some of my module-loot. In the end, with a trip to Hek and back, and with Bear paying me for mining, I ended up netting almost *9 million*.

So me and the poniez are off to a spa for a day or two.

Then it's back to the mine face, I fear.