Life in the 'Verse

Planet Side Life

2011-10-16T18:58:00.001Z

It's good to have family and even a Capsuleer must attend to family when the going gets rough.

Although it is tough being grounded, it does allow the crew time to connect with their families as well. We'll be heading back into the black soon enough.

New Beginnings, Again

2011-09-29T23:18:00.002Z

We've moved into a new alliance, a wormhole alliance for the most part. Burning Spear fields a larger, more capable force and is not bound by the Not Red Don't Shoot rules of engagement. They were able to field a good sized fleet to come and assist us in a recent wormhole episode and I was impressed with how easily we were able to work with them. It's the place for us.

Logistically, it isn't going to be much of a change. I am establishing a hi-sec area of operations for industrial and mission based activities. We've also started bringing in new pilots so we're seeing an influx of replacements filling our own ranks. The future is so bright, I gotta wear shades.

Getting Back Into It

2011-09-02T00:22:00.003Z

Planet side duties have kept me quite occupied lately and I have had very little time to keep the crews in shape. Our patrol went well the other night and we just completed a test run in the new stealth bomber.

Although we didn't get any kills, we did not get killed or even take fire. We dealt over 1,000 hp of damage to an assault ship over the course of 2 bombing runs. Each time we were able to evade quick enough to keep from getting locked. The second time we did hear the alarm sound that we were being targeted just as we entered warp. We would have done more damage and perhaps gotten a kill had the weapons control officer remembered to use the target painter. Bombs don't do the damage to frigates that they do to battle cruisers and battle ships. The goal of practicing bombing runs in a combat setting was highly successful though and the crew was quick to get into a good rhythm.

I'm finding the stealth bomber a tough ship to solo in but cannot wait to start working in packs.

First Patrol

2011-08-12T03:25:00.004Z

Tonight was spent familiarizing myself and the crew to our new AO. I'm moving my empire space operations into the same area as the Alliance operates in. Time to hone up our scouting and fleet operations skills a bit.

Overall, and at least tonight, this low and null sec area is relatively quiet. The pilots even seem friendly enough, even those that call themselves pirates. Had an interesting convo going in local with some not so successful pirates.

Operation Delta Dawn

2011-07-17T23:59:00.000Z

With both production lines now on full operation Delta Station is running smoothly, fueled and ready for the final touches. An entire POS moved, setup, fueled and operational all done during a wardec.

During the launching day, one of the wardec parties dropped their wardec. One down, one to go.

Normalcy Established

2011-07-17T02:46:00.002Z

Life has returned to semi-normalcy, as close as it gets out here on the edge. You'd think that in space there would be plenty of, well, space. The edges of empire, especially the high sec fringes are just crammed with pilots. With the proper space suit I bet you could walk from one end of Jita to the other.

Out here though, I can breath, as long as the atmosphere scrubbers are functioning properly. In the last week I've managed to move in excess of 400,000 m3 of equipment and supplies. One operation alone I was able to move 26 jumps round trip for 7 trips. Each trip 22 of the systems were low sec. Plenty of pirate activity to keep me on my toes but it was a lot of fun. Now I'm setting up the benefit of all of that work. Production should be up and running tonight if all goes well.

The crew is functioning like a well oiled machine. Morale is high as profit share continue flowing again. I think we've adjusted to being in a state of war, everyone seems to finally be on their toes. Cross training is going well and a good solid foundation is finally getting into place. Let's hope the next report is as good.

New Strip Miners

2011-07-10T23:00:00.000Z

I just picked up some new "Blue Beam" strip miners, shiny!

What? What is that? Arkonor? No???

2011-07-10T22:44:00.002Z

Yep, bringing it home at an undisclosed location...

Seeing the Sites

2011-07-10T21:29:00.002Z

These jokers who have been wardecing us are not fond of low or null sec so it's given me some time to check out the sites.....

The Monolith.... Maybe this will make the monkies want to move on with their lives.

Abandoned Amarr Research Post...

The Eve Gate, in New Eden System....

Can't Talk Now...

2011-07-01T23:55:00.006Z

So with the wardec in it's 3rd or 4th week I can't post very much interesting news for security reasons obviously. I was however looking at some entertainment vids coming in from the cortex and found the following...

Seems fitting on other levels as well, you can't stop the signal....

A Mining Trinity

2011-06-07T03:43:00.000Z

Three Hulks working the hole is worth 10 in the hangar....

Any successful wardec should put a stop to industrial activities, key word 'should'. The crew harvesting Arkonor at an undisclosed location.

Inner Sphere Industries Military Commendation Medal

2011-05-25T01:49:00.000Z

Presented by Waren Bufet on behalf of Inner Sphere Industries on May 24, 2011, 17:14 hours Jita Time.

It gives me get pride to announced that I have given Shaddai Zenjii The Inner Sphere Industries Military Commendation Medal for his quick thinking and action while under fire.

Shaddai Zenjii was running a mission with some fellow corp mates when a ninja looter came into the mission site. The order was given by the FC to shoot the ninja looter which was quickly followed by “oh shit it is a trap”. Five other ships with the ninja looter warped in and warp scam Shaddai. Everyone else in the fleet made it out but the ninja looters where there for Shaddai Navy Apocalypse ship. Instead of just giving up, Shaddai quickly assessed the situation and decided his only option was to self destruct his ship to deny the ninja looters their kill mail. Then with only five sec left on the self destruct timer the ninja looters deactivated their warp scrambler. Most likely they where trying to get a pod kill. Shaddai noticed that he has no longer warp scrammed and within split seconds warped his ship out and deactivated the self destruct. There by saving his Navy Apocalypse ship and giving the ninja looters the finger as he warped off.

For these actions Shaddai Zenjii has earned The Inner Sphere Industries Military Commendation Medal.

----
Special Corporate Notice presented by CEO Lance Ducatillon on May 25, 2011, 01:47 Jita Time.

Fucking-A right he earned it! Nicely done Shaddai Zenjii. This medal will be aka the "James Tiberius Kirk" award for not believing in a no win scenerio.

POS Fuel Truckers

2011-05-18T03:24:00.001Z

We successfully completed getting a load of Ice Fuels into the WH for the POS. Pretty solid operation as I took a full load from Sam; Max picked up the rest in an Orca and brought it to the rendezvous system from Jita. I was ahead of Max far enough that it enabled me to bring out excess PI for sell. Three full loads of PI should make for a good profit share. Finn kept a weather eye on the low sec gate and all went well.

Overall a very quiet night. We needed that tonight, sometimes the Eve gods are good to you. Usually right before they smash you down.

Surprise Attack

2011-05-07T01:32:00.000Z

After the R&R was over I rendezvoused with the crew and the Rook and headed to meet up with the mostly rookie crew working the wormhole. Of course along the way my usual devious plan popped into my head.

After a dozen or so jumps, a quarter of which was in low sec, I successfully inserted into the wormhole unknown to the unsuspecting noobs. In order for my plan to work I had to switch ships and gear up and hope they did not notice me on the scanners.

I warped into the POS and switched ships but saw on my scanners an incoming noob. I had to jump out quick and as soon as I cleared the shields I cloaked up. The incoming noob actually saw on his scanners the Rook I was in and sounded the alarm. This brought the whole mining party back to the POS and as is SOP they jumped into probers and combat ships hoping to catch the "intruder". I had successfully warped away in my stealth bomber with them none the wiser thinking an enemy Rook was in the system.

Smiling to myself and cloaked up in my safe spot my self gloating was short lived as I was interrupted by my first officer. She notified me that all we had on board were concussion bombs that would most likely destroy the retrievers, possibly destroy any of the haulers and damage the Hulks. I had to smile and laugh an evil laugh at the thought but decided against using the concussion bombs, after all this was just supposed to be a lesson.

Now the problem was, how do I exchange out my bombs for void bombs that would just suck their cap down? It quickly hit me, Finn Morgan would do it. Finn will do anything for ISK but this he did for free because he liked the idea of screwing with the noobs. He managed to pick up a couple of void bombs and brought them out to my safe spot, jettisoned them then flew off to get a front row seat of the action.

Switching the bombs took a bit of time but that was fine, it took them awhile but the gave up the chase on the Rook. Again I laughed, it took them awhile to give up on finding a Rook that did not exist. Finally the time arrived. I was able to warp in cloaked up and setup for the bomb run. At 30km we de-cloaked and let loose our fury. Bomb was away and inbound before I fully decloaked; the torpedo was homing in on the jetcan they were filling up. By the time they saw the explosion I was already cloaked up and laughing my ass off.

The best part is always hearing and seeing the chat channels: "VOID BOMB!!", "What was that?", "Where did the can go?", "Did you guys see Lance?", "Hey, what just happened, my cap is empty?!". I think Finn shit himself he laughed so hard.

As fun as it was though, these guys did really well. I believe we only ended up attacking 3 of the 6 in the hole do mostly to the alertness of Rook alert. These guys did real good for noobs on their first wormhole outing. This should be a good crew, let's see how it pays out in ISK.

Rest and Relaxation, Planetside

2011-05-05T01:29:00.006Z

I met up with another pilot for a little R&R recently. We decided we needed to hone our sharpshooting skills in earth norm gravity. Here's Mattrixx taking aim on golf ball at 25 yards.

Here he is AFTER he hit it!

Shhhh, I counted 8 shots before he hit it. But he did hit it.

That was Close, Too Close

2011-05-01T17:15:00.000Z

Obviously I survived, since you're reading this. If I were Amarrian I would take our survival as a word from on high but since I'm not, it was sheer Caldari discipline and luck that made it all work out.

Turns out my second officer had ordered her shuttle to set a destination for a tropical planet which was supposed to be uninhabited deciding to maroon themselves there and at least live. She had also ordered the other shuttle to follow them. When they arrived at the planet and found a small and long forgotten Caldari military outpost they were ecstatic. They were able to obtain the part we needed and returned to the ship just in time to keep me from freezing to death.

I have just finished being 'warmed up' by my first officer during which I showed my utmost gratitude and awarded her a much deserved promotion. Since a ship can have only 1 Captain, she's hereby granted shuttle 1 commander status with all the rights and responsibilities of that command.

Out of Gas

2011-04-25T16:20:00.000Z

Looks like this might be my last entry. We've lost life support and are adrift at the corner of no and where. It's all due to an explosion in the engine room that has taken out the main life support system as well as the auxiliary.

I sent the crew out in a couple of shuttles in hopes they would be able to make contact with someone, but there is little hope of that. I am behind enemy lines, of course so even if they are found they will just be captured, or killed. Still, that would be better than freezing to death in this tin can.

The Captain always stays with the ship.

Taking it Down

2011-03-28T00:19:00.000Z

Wow, one of our quickest and hopefully best harvests yet. We started out with sleeper signatures and the harvest went quickly. Now we've come upon a sizable asteroid belt. The refinery is almost full of its first run of Arkonor. Should the skies hold, it will be a nice harvest.....

At Home in the Unknown

2011-03-24T01:20:00.000Z

The crew and the ship are alive, an extension of my mind. The cold solace of this empty place allows my mind to rest, to focus like a laser on my surroundings. Scanners clear and we're running dark. No more than a shadow in the darkness, even less on enemy scopes. The calm before the storm.

The crew is rested, ready and focused on the task of harvesting. The POS is being fueled and the signatures scanned. Plenty of work, even more ISK to be made.

This unknown system, the place I call home, beckons.....

Breathtaking

2011-03-23T02:43:00.000Z

I get asked why I choose this life among the stars. Sometimes, it's for the sheer awe of it all....

Inbound to Unknown

2011-03-23T02:29:00.000Z

It's that time once again. Time to get back to work and make some ISK. I've had enough snooping around in NPC Null Sec. Last time we did this operation we brought in over a Billion ISK for the profit shares. It would be very nice to do that again.

Ice Mining Op

2011-03-18T01:48:00.001Z

Hi Sec Ice mining op. POS Fuel.... nice.

On the Move

2011-03-06T03:30:00.000Z

It's been a fast paced couple of weeks and not the greatest time to come down with a cold. Amazing that in all these eons mankind has not found a cure for such a common ailment.

Anyway, the last couple of weeks has brought about a record breaking profit run in the wormhole and a new alliance. We'll be working in some NPC 0.0 space which I am interested in seeing how we can make a profit in that market.

Overall the corporation is expanding and we're developing a really good team. Although I haven't been as active due to this cold, the crew is really pulling together and is running well. StoneCold Riddick has stepped up shown the ability to lead mining ops so he's been made the new director, at least until we find someone better or he dies.

Company Script

2011-02-23T02:43:00.000Z

I'm thinking of taking a lead from the old mining camps on the earth that was and issue Company Script. It used to work like this.

The mining company would hire a miner to work the mine and would pay him with company script. The company script could only be spent in the company store of the company who issued it. Miner's were given housing and of course since the housing was provided by the company, rent was deducted from the miner's paycheck. As were his tools, clothes, boots, etc. Food was also bought at the company store.

There was an old song which went, "Another day older and deeper in debt.I owe my soul to the company store.

If I were to do this, here's what the script might look like:

Right now Bhodi Zatfa is testing my plan.

Hulk Force Four......and a Retriever

2011-02-21T02:10:00.001Z

Formation Mining

2011-02-21T01:15:00.000Z

Good bye Mr. Spodroid, good bye...

Killing the Belt

2011-02-21T00:49:00.000Z

We're close to killing the entire asteroid belt. Getting it done is what it is called. Great teamwork to keep pushing through this. Well over 1,700,000 m3 of raw ore has been harvested. Here's some action shots with the last of the Spodumain going down in a ring of fire.

Hedbergite Blues

2011-02-20T02:52:00.000Z

Taking down the sharks teeth.....

HulksAGettin It During Hulkagedeon

2011-02-19T20:17:00.001Z

Humping Arkonor at an undisclosed location....

Loving it Again

2011-02-14T01:48:00.000Z

Finally back into a good rhythm with the wormhole. We're getting good sites and making some ISK again. I have just about recovered from my stupid loses. At least I'm still flying and the sky is clear at the moment. Of course out here that can change in a heartbeat.

I want to get down and work with the Alliance more but I just can't seem to make it down. Too much ISK being made here. We've got a good crew and the new leadership distribution has so far worked out very well.

I've also broken into researching blue prints. Not really into it but haven't put much into learning it really. The new lab is at least letting me explore the subject a bit. What else you gonna do way out here on the edge.

Out on the Rim

2011-02-13T23:29:00.000Z

Makeover

2011-01-23T04:30:00.000Z

New character generator is an awesome upgrade. Check out the before and after...
Before....

After....

Either way, I'm still Caldari through and through.

Eve Giveth... Eve Taketh... Amen

2011-01-08T04:04:00.002Z

This really hurts to log. I lost the replacement Bustard, Replacement Buzzard, Replacement Hangar Array AND the Replacement Ship Maintenance Array. This time in.... wait for it............. Hi Sec.

"How?", you ask, through tear soaked eyes, gasping for breath and unable to keep any semblance of a straight face.

You see, I was coming up on this gate and went to jump. Just before I jumped I had been moving my fittings around for better access to them through the F keys. You see, I had just bought and fitted this ship. I mean, JUST bought and fitted this ship. Another Titanic voyage. Anyway, I went to activate the jump [insert brain lapse here] but instead clicked the icon to activate my ECM burst disruptor. I clicked 'Yes' on the warning window that popped up thinking it was asking me to confirm my jump to low-sec."

*stops to take another sip of whiskey*
*continues*

Too late I realized it was not a window asking me to confirm my jump through the gate but a message asking me did i want to activate an illegal weapon in hi security space. Needless to say the gate guns opened up on me and I was toast before I could warp to a planet in hopes of evading Concord. What a week, what a week it has been.

So, I take a moment of silence and say...

"We are gathered here today to commit Lance Ducatillon, once again, in his pod to space; ship to ashes, clone to pod, clone to clone. Eve giveth and Eve taketh, amen."

...cue hysterical, gut busting, eye watering, tear inducing laughter. I will not be mentioning this episode to anyone beyond this blog. Comments that you may feel prudent to express may be posted in the comments of this log.

Do to the jarring around my brain incurred during the transfer to the escape pod, I have been diagnosed with selective amnesia and will unlikely recall any of this incident. I am posting it hear as official record of the event. Unfortunately, I am told this amnesia will most likely last the rest of my life.

Broken Rudder

2011-01-05T01:47:00.000Z

For a few weeks now I've been flying around in my ship like the rudder has been broken. I've been adrift, without focus and that is not the Caldari way. Losing my ship was the wake-up call I needed, it's time to go behind enemy lines.

About That Wormhole Run... Damn Space Peckers

2011-01-04T23:00:00.003Z

Another stupid Lance trick led to the following. Yet another notch on lost ships list... well actually several more notches.

2011.01.02 17:59:00

Victim: Lance Ducatillon
Corp: Inner Sphere Industries
Alliance: Apocalypse Now.
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Bustard
System: Zahefeus
Security: 0.2
Damage Taken: 8258

Destroyed items:

Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Improved Cloaking Device II
Ship Maintenance Array (Cargo)
Medium Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
Hulk (Cargo)
Expanded Cargohold II, Qty: 3

Dropped items:

ECM - Multispectral Jammer II
Buzzard (Cargo)
Magnetic Scattering Amplifier II
Corporate Hangar Array (Cargo)
Expanded Cargohold II, Qty: 2
10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Giant Secure Container (Cargo)
   Veldspar Mining Crystal I, Qty: 3 (In Container)
   Omber Mining Crystal I, Qty: 3 (In Container)
   Survey Scanner II (In Container)
   Magnetic Scattering Amplifier II, Qty: 2 (In Container)
   1MN Afterburner I (In Container)
   Scordite Mining Crystal I, Qty: 3 (In Container)
   Strontium Clathrates, Qty: 6 (In Container)
   Kernite Mining Crystal I, Qty: 3 (In Container)
   Nitrogen Isotopes, Qty: 1688 (In Container)
   Vespa I, Qty: 4 (In Container)
   Invulnerability Field I (In Container)
   Cap Recharger II, Qty: 2 (In Container)
   Medium Warp Core Optimizer I, Qty: 2 (In Container)
   Plagioclase Mining Crystal I, Qty: 3 (In Container)
   Signal Amplifier II (In Container)
   Heavy Water, Qty: 281 (In Container)
   Small Shield Extender II (In Container)
   Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I, Qty: 2 (In Container)
   ECM - Multispectral Jammer II (In Container)
   Pyroxeres Mining Crystal I, Qty: 3 (In Container)
   Covert Ops Cloaking Device II, Qty: 2 (In Container)
   Liquid Ozone, Qty: 141 (In Container)
   Expanded Probe Launcher I (In Container)
   Infiltrator I (In Container)
   Jaspet Mining Crystal I, Qty: 3 (In Container)
   Co-Processor II (In Container)
   Modulated Strip Miner II, Qty: 3 (In Container)
   Mining Laser Upgrade I, Qty: 2 (In Container)

Walking the Worlds Awhile

2011-01-02T01:28:00.000Z

I've been walking the worlds a little as of late, spending time with the family through the holidays. My crew has been managing the ships in the meantime and keeping business going but overall it's been a quiet month. I have been able to catch up on my studying and spent some time at the War Academy honing some new skills.

We're currently en-route with a Bustard load of WH supplies. The hole activity is dying down a bit but I'm putting a new system of hangars in place to help increase security in the wormhole for tech 2 and 3 ships.

The new upgraded controls I have had installed in my bridges are taking some getting used to but are working out well. All ships have been updated with a wider high definition display and integrated control keypad for more efficiency. It's our maiden voyage with the system out of testing mode and we're headed to our first low sec trip with it installed. Let's see how it goes.

Oh Trinity, Trinity, wherefore art thou Trinity

2010-11-24T03:26:00.000Z

I guess I just didn't have what it takes. I walked into her life a little over a year ago and watched her from afar. And then she was gone. Oh, I'd run into her occasionally, you know, around Jita, sometimes outside the War Academy in Onnamon. Just passing glances and often nothing for months at a time.

This time she walked right into my life. POW, there she was. We hit it off great and I was sure she was going to join up with us. She was talking about how she needed to make some ISK and I of course offered her a great position on the board of directors. She could manage the hi-sec mining operations and be rich.

It seems though that someone else had other plans for her. He sweeps in when I turned my back ever so slightly and stole her away to the dark side. Promises of money and riches beyond her dreams I bet is what he offered her. He must have bewitched her and he certainly betrayed me. First he would not join me on my quest and then he steals her away! All after I reached out my hand and offered him safe haven.

Oh Trinity, Trinity, wherefore art thou Trinity....

*curtain closes and the night grows silent, and dark.

The Mighty Hulk Falleth

2010-11-14T21:36:00.000Z

Strike up another one for Eve. I had this one coming though as I was rather stupid. We were mining the belt on our first night back in the hole with a Hulk and an Osprey with a Badger hauling when he wasn't watching the WH that went to another wormhole. Sure enough we catch a ship leaving the hole and red alert back to the POS and my crew and I hopped into the bomber.

I sent the intruder a message along the lines of hey we saw you what do you want or are you just passing through? He then replies, was looking for some PvP and saw you guys in your mining ships. The hole is about to close so i won't be bothering you again.

Well, I did watch the hole for a little bit as we went back to mining. I missed him coming back in and he warp scrammed me in my Hulk and blew it to smitherens. As I'm out here in my space suit washing the windows all I can think is I had this one coming to me.

Home Sweet Home

2010-11-13T19:23:00.000Z

We've successfully inserted our team into Zaniverse for Operation Money Maker. It's a training run for the noobs, nothing like on the job training for breaking them in. The hole has been really active in gas production for a change so we'll see if we hit the lottery with the right combination of gases. Our new production plan of weapons and probes still remains to be proven but we'll see how it goes.

The crew seem at home again and fell right back into the rhythm, let's hope the skies stay clear and the seas calm.

Gate Watching

2010-11-06T19:47:00.002Z

We're setup 204 km off a low sec gate all cloaked up observing traffic for a group making local deliveries. I left the bridge for a few moments to perform a bio elimination process and of course this put my first officer in charge.

A few moments later I return to find my bridge crew frozen almost stiff and my first officer whispering commands for everyone to keep calm. "What the hell is going on here?", I bark.

I am immediately shushed by the first officer. "That's Shhhhh, Sir number one, or will it soon be number 2?" I remind her and follow-up with, "Now I asked you a question, what in the gorram hell is going on here?".

"Sir", says my first officer, still in a whisper, "We have 4 pirate vessels sitting on all 4 sides of us each of which is within 3,000m." Anything that passes within 2000 meters of us will cause us to decloak. If these pirates see us, we're dead.

A brief glance at the sensor panel told me all I needed to know. "So, why the hell are you whispering? Sound doesn't travel in space, they can't hear us. Helm, 90 degree down angle and full speed ahead. Our cloak is holding and we have enough room to duck under and out of them."

Immediately the crew sprang to life and we managed to get enough distance between us and the pirates to take a breath and start watching them. Had they known we were there we would be dead now. The crew, with the exception of my incompetent first officer, handled things really well.

I just don't know what to do with her, my first officer that is. I'll have to spend some extra time getting her to remain cool and collected under fire. Some one on one drills will help her a lot most likely, she is new to being a command officer.

Back to my Roots

2010-11-02T02:24:00.000Z

Due to an unexpected layover in Hi Sec I've set up small scale mining ops. I now have a empire mining setup including a Hulk and a new friend Finn Morgan to haul. Stonecold Riddick, myself and Finn took everything but the Veldspar from a belt last night. Today, Lance and Finn have killed it and Stonecold Riddick is helping to bury the body!

Sovereignty Blockade Unit Killer Fleet

2010-10-24T22:46:00.001Z

This good sized fleet was engaged in taking out a Sovereignty Blockade Unit when I happened by and started watching the action.

WRFL... Radio Free Lance

2010-10-13T02:11:00.000Z

Pushing out the propaganda and tunes to the sleeper horde nightly!

Our comms are now up and active!

Event Horizon

2010-10-12T03:52:00.002Z

Exploring other Wormholes always has a sense of adventure to it. None more so for me than sitting on the event horizon watching a black hole.

Gas Harvesting

2010-10-03T00:10:00.000Z

The Osiris hard at work

Back on the Rim

2010-10-02T23:22:00.001Z

I was able to get off the planet this weekend although I must return tomorrow. It is enough time for my crew and I to harvest the gas sites in the hole. This should allow us to get the reactors going once again. We really burned through the minerals we mined. Those are all processed and ready to go.

One more week of planet-side duty and I'm free again to soar into the verse. Things have been held together pretty well in my absence. The corporation speaks for itself and is going along nicely. All we need is some fine tuning and recruiting and we'll be good to go!

Mining Expedition

2010-09-26T03:44:00.000Z

Myself and two other pilots brought in 164,688 m3 of Arkonor and 126,208 m3 of Bistot. Not a bad night for 3 miners, one of which was showering for the majority of the time and was afk. Anarith's name will go unmentioned for this of course, he did put in a lot of time in the op.

Excellent night of mining. Refining go well.

Planetside

2010-09-25T21:10:00.000Z

It's strange how small a planet can feel after spending months in the void that is space. Traveling on this planet looking for corporate backers almost doesn't seem worth it. If it wasn't for the fact that I am getting loads of skill training in place without the disruption of the crew I'd say screw it.

I am back in 'verse for the weekend though, gotta make sure my crew is staying on their toes and my corp isn't throwing any wild free-for-alls at the POS while I'm out. Everything looks good so far. Put the crew on full alert as we found a Badger in the hole, was ready to blow it to bits before we got its transponder code back and found it was a friendly. It is nice having some help in the hole.

Roids, Roids, Everywhere

2010-09-21T00:16:00.000Z

This is a fairly common site in our little home of a hole.

At the end of those lasers is my Hulk and the big starburst looking thing is the arkonor roid my strip miners are digging into. It's strange, empire pilots have to go looking far and wide to find this stuff, we just have to warp out our backdoor and there it is. Is really making us spoiled to some extent.

Oh well, let's mine!

The Main Bridge

2010-09-20T00:01:00.000Z

Here's a shot of my main bridge and where all operations on the ship are controlled.

It's not the most technically advanced but it suffices nicely.

We've got Gas

2010-09-19T01:08:00.000Z

Not my first officer, the hole has gas and we're busy harvesting it. After a two hour battle with the sleeper Sirius guns we managed to take them all down. My crew is going back to training once these clouds are harvested. There is no reason it should take 2 hour to take down 5 Sirius guns. All in due time though, at least we can train around the clock.

We have some friends coming into the hole to join us. It will be nice having some allies to help us out in here. Another POS and gunships to help out in times of need. Plans are coming together nicely and there's no substitute for pilots you can trust.

Headin to Town

2010-09-18T03:43:00.000Z

Made a supply run into Jita today. Picked up a couple more ECM batteries, implants and POS Fuel. Fairly uneventful trip which was nice. It's good to have slow languorous journey sometimes. I do like it when we make it back home unscathed.

920 pilots in Jita, not as crowded as I have seen it but still, when you're only used to seeing no one to 5 pilots in a system the sky seems really crowded. You have to be on your toes in Jita, no time to take in the sites. Many a pilot has gotten lazy in Jita and paid the ultimate price. You find scammers, pirates and spies as well as your honest traders and miners. Trouble is, you never know who is who. I like to get in and out of Jita as quickly as possible.

Once the supplies were had we headed home. Stopped at Caldari Navy station before leaving Caldari space and had a few drinks. The crew needed to relax, we'd been on high alert for a week and a half. It felt good to laugh for a bit.

After a few drinks we were all business again. We only had a few low-sec jumps to make but just one can do you in. Luckily we didn't run into any trouble, and made it back into the hole. The new ECM units are online and it's time to catch some z's.

The Truth About War

2010-09-16T02:36:00.001Z

Turns out we got pretty paranoid during the wardec. It now appears that it was just some good spirited fun by the opposing corporation. They were just bored and looking for small corps to wardec and we won the lottery. Not really because we were small but they had one of our pilots on their list for stealing from one of their cans!

This news came to us from a conversation from one of their pilots after the war had been declared invalid. It was a good conversation and was them saying thanks for being good sports. They have even said that if we needed help in the future to give them a shout and that they'd run missions and the like with us. I believe them, you learn to get a feeling for conversations in this verse and this one seemed sincere.

That's part of what keeps me coming back to this verse, it comes at you from all angles. We were looking for spies and old pilots who might have had a grudge. By it's very nature this game makes you paranoid and it's all part of the game.

Hopefully we learned a lesson or two and will now have some experience under our belts for the next time war comes our way. In this game it seem inevitable that war will come our way again. Live and learn, fly another day.

Wardec, Week 2

2010-09-16T01:28:00.001Z

Who knew war could be so boring. The guys who have wardeced us will not follow us into low-sec, they do little to harass us in hi-sec and the spy they have in the wormhole is actually amusing in his little ship. He will say something in local to get our attention and then hide for the night. Life goes on pretty much as normal for Inner Sphere Industries. Short of our hi-sec pilots having to be a little more cautious operations continue uninterrupted. Seems like an awful waste of ISK to me, but we're not paying for the wardec.

The wormhole is producing well now and harvesting operations continue. Keeping a more watchful eye on the scanner is necessary but then again, when is it not in wormhole space. We're testing out a new production process which I think will be very profitable and, life in and out of the hole goes on.

Evidently they agree that it was a waste of ISK and had very little profit potential, war has just been declared invalid by Concord. That means they didn't want to renew the war declaration. And life continues to go on.

War has Come

2010-09-11T00:29:00.000Z

Another corp decided to wardec us. At first it seemed to be a pretty even match up as they show as having 10 pilots in their corp. Looks can be deceiving in this game it appears even when presented with pretty straight forward seeming information.

Hi-sec pilots from our corp decided to meet them in what was to believed to be a head on engagement. It was then we learned of their devious tactics and the not so smallness of their corp. Their main corp may only have 10 members but it seems they have plenty of friends and allied corporations ready to assist them.

In hi-sec engagements you pilots of warring corporations can target and attack each other without intervention from Concord. If you target and then fire upon any corp not part of the wardec then Concord can and will blow you into tiny floating bits. These guys have their allied corpmates target and shield rep and repair them while we are engaged in combat with them.

These tactics work well in hi-sec but will not work well in low or null sec. We stand a better chance there than in hi-sec.

Back on the Rim

2010-08-30T21:20:00.000Z

We're getting back into a rhythm in Zaniverse and things seem to be falling into place as planned. Our first new recruit has joined and is seeing the different aspects of the corporation and we're meeting other corporations and Alliances as well.

You know what they say though about life on the rim, good and bad times shift on the solar winds.

I Love it when a Plan Comes Together

2010-08-28T04:33:00.000Z

It's all working so far. The new corp is setup and running, recruiting is slow but otherwise things are going great. The crew is starting to get paid regularly and all seems well in Zaniverse for the time being. We currently have several sites to work over in the hole and a lot of them are combat sleeper sites.

We're on our way back to the hole after a supply run and a new replacement ship. I am finally able to comfortably replace Morpheus 1-1 and all is right in the world. I have heard that several other pilots are training up for this type of ship, which of course is classified, and once we get a gang of these going we should have some serious fun.

Back in the Rhythm

2010-08-26T04:03:00.000Z

The crew's morale is through the roof.We have a new banner to fly under with familiar pilots and the WH is ready to harvest. Planetary Interaction is going better than initially expected, for the most part.

Hopefully our operatives will be in the hole this weekend and we can begin the fall harvest in earnest.

CEO Lance Ducatillon

2010-08-26T01:46:00.000Z

Inner Sphere Industries has an established framework and we're officially open for business. Hopefully my crew and I can get back into the rhythm of the Wormhole and start making this thing work. I've got strong leadership and able pilots under me. Recruitment will be our first test.

Profit Run Like Hell

2010-08-21T21:24:00.000Z

It's our first profit run as Inner Sphere Industries. Two Bustards loaded to the gills with tons of goods. 1+ billion ISK worth as it turned out. Will make for nice profit shares. Our scout found a gate camp after he escorted us to Hi Sec and was heading back to the hole. 13 ships in total waiting to ambush pilots at the gate and we have to go right through it on the way back.

We're loaded up with POS Fuel that we can't produce in the hole and are headed back. I'm about 10 jumps from the suspected gate camp. We will be regrouping in the last hi sec system and get a plan and do some scouting. This will get interesting quickly. It's times like these that make it all worth it.

CEO Lance Ducatillon

2010-08-21T01:45:00.000Z

The move is complete and I'm running a corporation now, Inner Sphere Industries. It's composed of pilots from our old corp Zan Industries. I think it may actually be the first ever peaceful corporate transition in Eve history. We didn't take any of the corporate assets that were available to us, only the active pilots moved. The move was due only to the fact that we had no one with CEO powers and that limited certain aspects of play.

We've got good pilots with varied skills who have come together as a team really well. I see a bright future on the horizon if we can keep it all together. Pilots come and go in Eve, some you miss and others you don't. It is our hope that we'll maintain good relations with the leadership of Zan Industries and that there will be mutual operations should they ever return to the game.

One thing I like about New Eden is that there's no need to look back, only forward. That's where the danger is waiting to ambush you.

Walking in the Real World

2010-08-08T01:34:00.000Z

I was planet side for a little over a week. Things are fairly quiet when I get back. There will be a corporate meeting tomorrow night. It's time we get our bearings again and make plans for going forward. I think we have a plan, only the meeting will tell.

Frigate Dome!

2010-07-23T01:56:00.000Z

Two frigates enter, one frigate leaves! With a mobile warp disruptor as the arena two frigates enter the bubble and begin combat. The only rules are that they cannot leave the bubble and cannot use any tech 2 mods. If they leave the bubble then they can be targeted by the Drake outside the bubble.

This is how justice will be determined in Zaniverse. I think this is a first, I've never heard of this type of spaceship combat before.

Never Get Outta the Hole, II

2010-07-19T19:58:00.000Z

I've said it before and refuse to obey it seems. Never get out of the gorram hole, NEVER! At least I only lost about 20 Million and a PVE fitted Drake. Didn't last in a PVP gate gank. And to think, I hadn't even had a chance to bump it up against anything to scratch the paint!

Heading to Town

2010-07-19T17:46:00.000Z

I'm taking a shuttle and heading into civilization. I need to try and find a new Drake for the combat sites inside the hole. Just cannot beat its awesome offensive capabilities along with its dreaded tank! This will be the farthest from Zaniverse I have been in over 6 weeks, it's strange with all these people around me.

Mining is Goooood

2010-07-19T04:40:00.000Z

It feels great to be out mining again. Two retrievers and a Hulk for 4 hours now taking in Arkonor and now Bistot. Scanners are clear and the crew is going strong.

Zaniverse lives again. With the war over and the other pilots coming back the life comes back into Zaniverse. She's producing more sites now, well consistent sites let us say. This is our first Grav site in a couple of weeks probably but we've just come off a cycle of Gas sites. So far things are moving pretty much according to plan.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Mining We Go!

2010-07-18T17:19:00.001Z

We're taking out the last Emergent Patroller now and then the Grav Site is all ours. Cancel that, it has just fallen. The Grav site is all ours, clean and ready for harvesting. I'm trying to stage a WH mining Op tonight, let's see who is able to make it.

We just took down 1 Sleeper Awakened Patroller (Cruiser) and 3 Sleeper Emergent Patrollers (Frigates). Once they are salvaged, let the mining begin! The salvage contained:

6 x Neural Networks
2 x Sleeper Data Libraries
4 x Neurovisual Input Matrix
4 x Reinforced Metal Scraps
3 x Electromechanical Hulls

Mining Gas

2010-07-17T19:29:00.000Z

Mining gas is boring as hell but is at least bringing in some stuff that will make us all some ISK. At least there is something to harvest anyway. We have 4 combat sites but I don't have a ship capable of taking them on alone. I really need to replace the Drake. While the Ferox is working out reasonably well as a multi-tasker it's not much on the combat. Not that it can't hold its own, it's just not a Drake in combat.

We need more pilots in the hole but there's not much incentive with so little signatures popping up. Still, it would be nice to be able to hit some belts outside our little hole here. We could get in some lowsec mining action and do pretty well I think.

The profit runs are moving along at a good pace now. Chappa just did one and there is stuff in the hangar for another. I am at least able of keeping up with the gas sites and the planetary interaction is going well for us.

Shore Leave Canceled

2010-07-17T19:25:00.000Z

I was supposed to take the family on shore leave until the little one fell and has most likely broken her arm. The local doc told us we needed to see a bone doc and is making the arrangements. Meantime we're just hanging out around the ship keeping her entertained, it will be Monday before we can see the bone doc anyway.

Ship's Manifest - Osiris I

2010-07-17T18:57:00.001Z

Sleeper Ships:
2 Emergent Escorts (Frigates)
1 Emergent Patroller (Cruiser)

Salvage:
4 x Reinforced Metal Scraps
10 x Modified Fluid Routers
7 x Electromechanical Hull

Ladar Site: Token Perimeter Reservoir
1500 x C70

Cargo Hauler: Karma Train

Ship's Log - Osiris I

2010-07-14T02:54:00.004Z

Ladar Site: Sizable Perimeter Reserve

Captain's Comments: The Sleepers let us actually start mining and get comfortable. It wasn't until we turned off our harvesters because of an overload issue and a need to return to the POS. It was a tactic I haven't seen them use before.

Ship's Manifest
4 x Reinforced Metal Scraps
7 x Powdered C-540
13 x Electromechanical Hulls
4 x Modified Fluid Routers
1,196 x Fullerite C-50
2,052 x Fullerite C-84

Sleeper Kills - 6 Sleeper Frigates
3 x Emergent Patrollers
3 x Emergent Watchmen

Run Silent, Run Deep

2010-07-10T03:10:00.001Z

We're mining a gas site, C-70, and 98 km away are two sleeper cruisers. They don't appear to notice us taking their gas but we are buried deep in the gas cloud. It may be messing with their sensors but ours are working fine. Of course we're on full alert but in Zaniverse you're almost always on full alert.

My expectation is that as soon as we this cloud is gone we'll be instantly targeted. At 98 km though we may be out of range. Regardless we will be facing them shortly, they are positioned at the next cloud of gas we will harvest. I'm debating on whether to use the stealth bomber and see how they fall with it but it's a frigate up against two sleeper cruisers. It does pack a punch though.
---
2 Awakened Patrollers down, C-72 being harvested. Kicking back with a drink with an eye on the scanner.

Gas Mining and Warp Traps

2010-07-06T03:39:00.000Z

The mobile warp disruptors paid off tonight. We were able to take down an intruder before he could get away with our goods. He logged out podded in our system and I have reason to believe that there is a cloaked Buzzard in here as well. I plan on keeping warp disruptors setup on the hole for the next few days. Hopefully we'll be able to draw him out and blow him away.

I found two exits that go into wormhole space. The guy Waren nailed was out of the one that just collapsed. There is another that leads to an empty Class II wormhole. Would be a nice place to setup in but the lack of varied planets would keep it from being sustainable.

System Malfunction

2010-07-05T05:26:00.002Z

We were complety dead in space for about 6 hours today. No life support, no environmental controls, navigation, communication, nothing. Damn compression coil blew yet again.The backup was bad and the backup of the back was bad. All came from the same damn batch.

My ace mechanic was able to mix and match parts from the various bad models and we are back in business. He thinks he can manufacture them in our machine shop so I told him to cracking. I need to put him in for a commendation, he really is top notch. The whole crew has become as one and the camaraderie is at an all time high. I've got them mining the grav site in Zaniverse. Of course, they will alert me should need arise but it has been quiet of late. Famous last words there.

I've retired to my quarters and am taking the rest of the night off. Music and and movie sounds good. I can monitor the mining progress from here. I went into the dispensary and managed to snag some feel good pharmaceuticals that I am particularly enjoying and the visit to the on-board hydroponics lab has helped as well.

New Ships

2010-07-04T05:09:00.000Z

I've acquired a couple of new ships lately and we're trying to break them in. The first is a freebie ship meant for Planetary Interaction. It looks like a transformer and I've called it Bumble Bee. It's an ok ship, It needs a bigger cargo bay to take care of planetary interaction goods more efficiently. I've turned it into my living quarters and PI HQ. It can hold a couple of CCU so it's handy to keep loaded. My sexbot of Megan Fox that I keep in the co-pilot seat is a great added feature.

Bumble Bee

The second ship, I had to get when I lost the Drake. I'm going to take a different route and try a multi-purpose approach. I purchased a Ferox. I can set it up to harvest gas, salvage and attack sleepers just by changing out the mods. It's not the greatest combat ship but the versatility should pay off. I've christened this one Osiris I.

Osiris I

Good luck to these ships, may they bring us safely home to port on each mission.

Ladar on the Radar

2010-07-03T04:33:00.000Z

My crew and I took down the only sig in the hole tonight. It was a Ladar site and we harvested C-50 and C-70 for about an hour. This of course was after taking out the Sleeper guards. After the gas was hauled out we salvaged the wrecks. Overall it was a good night, a quiet night.

Never Get Outta the Wormhole

2010-07-01T02:52:00.002Z

I should have remembered the words of the chief mechanic on the PBR Streetgang, "Never get outta the boat man, never get outta the boat.Fucking Tiger man, never get out of the boat." Zaniverse is seeing a bit of a drought in terms of resources at the moment.so a few of us were feeling antsy and jumped a battle ship, we figured 3 Drakes against a BS we should be fine. Never get outta the hole man, never get outta the hole. Fucking tiger man, never get out of the hole!

The first encounter happened in the lowsec system our hole opened up to. It was in front of a class III hole we were going into to raid for gas and combat sites. Waren jumped him and was battling it out when LoZo and I jumped back from the WH side and engaged him. After he took Waren down we stayed on him but he warped out.

Later, we jumped him in the Class III hole and Waren was able to web him. We were taking his armor down when all of a sudden it regenerated just as Waren popped. LoZo and I managed to retreat back to the low sec side of the hole. Our warp drive malfunctioned and the Battleship jumped in time to web me and subsequently blow us up. Next thing I knew I'm sucking on Pod air.

Never get outta the hole man, never get outta the hole.

Note: See comments for killmail

Ambush at Planet IV

2010-06-28T23:14:00.001Z

After a little bit of not seeing anyone on our scanners we returned to the ambush site and found a few sleepers there. We engaged, having moved back to our Drake at this point, and took out the sleeper cruiser only to have 4 more spawn. After a good battle we were successful and we salvaged the ships.

All in all we brought in:

10 Sleeper Data Libraries
10 Reinforced Metal Scraps
1 Fused Nanomechanic
8 Modified Fluid Routers
2 Melted Nanoribbons
3 Powdered C-540
10 Electromechanical Hull Sheeting

I don't know much about this alien shit but I hear it sells for a pretty penny. Judging from the directional scanner there are a lot more wrecks out there. Someone has been having fun at our expense.

David vs. Goliaths

2010-06-28T20:58:00.000Z

Close encounter in the wormhole at an ambush site. My crew and I jumped into our Drake to try and take down a combat site alone. It wasn't going great but wasn't going badly either. I had to jump out a couple of times as I slowly tore away at a sleeper sentry gun.

I jumped back in after recharging only to find another pilot taking out the anomaly. I quickly targeted, got off a salvo of Heavy Missiles and promptly left seeing how I was going up against a Tech III Amarr Strategic Cruiser on top of the sleepers.

I jumped back to the POS and we jumped into Dreadlord 1-1 my stealth bomber. I jumped back to the site to find Killdu engaged with the sleepers. I snuck up on him, decloaked and fired off a void bomb and heavy missile before jumping back out. Before we could get away either he or the sleepers were able to get a shot or two off and we took some damage to our shields. I did see him disengage and warp off. No sight of him since.

This is our gorram hole and no one will take anything from it without a fight! Damn, 98% boredom mixed with 2% sheer terror, I need a drink and the crew has earned a couple as well!

Lonely Life as a Wormhole Miner

2010-06-28T02:34:00.002Z

Half way through a bottle of rum and on our 3rd can of the night I find myself sitting staring into the black. Solo mining in a wormhole is not for the faint of heart. We're on full alert yet the skies seem quiet and the crew have slipped into their routine.

There I was, sitting in the sensor room with my first officer continually scanning for probes and ships when I just had to slip away. Amazing how solitude is so hard to find so deep in space. We've been in this hole almost continually for a month now. It's a good home and secure. The corp has come together well though our time zones mean only a few at a time are on at any given time and the weekends are slow as everyone takes leave planet side.

The weekend rotations are really sparse and so we've gotten use to mining alone through these times. I've taken a personal interest in killing a particularly large Hemorphite roid that we've been gnawing at for 3 days now. Tonight we've made the most progress and have it under 67K units. This will be our last can of the evening and I'll be turning in, or passing out, shortly.

Beer and Sanity Run - R&R

2010-06-27T04:51:00.000Z

I had to get my crew outta the hole for a bit. We ran out for some more alcohol and I gave the crew some time off. We had to keep a low profile as we were in Minmatar space but so far so good.

I also picked up some new specialized scanners that should let us scan signatures a lot quicker. They sure as hell better, they cost enough. Everyone's back on board at this point and we're 3 jumps from home.

I feel like everyone can see me out here, can't wait to get home to Zaniverse.

Fuel Delivery

2010-06-26T02:01:00.000Z

We just delivered a pretty good load of POS fuel to Alice's Restaurant. 880 units of Mechanical Parts, 21,100 units of Oxygen and 940 units of Coolant, all of which was produced through my planetary colonies. Very nice.

That's a little less than 1 week in Mech Parts, a little over 1 week in Coolant and almost 2 weeks of Oxygen. The amount of time varied for this load but was less than a week of production in all processes. With what the other pilots are making I think we will be self sufficient for POS fuel and can keep the restaurant open indefinitely.

Shiny.

It's Good to be King

2010-06-23T03:40:00.001Z

"Welcome to Ducatillon IX - Free beer inside can!" These are the words that will great visitors to my planet, Ducatillon IX. It is a mining planet where the Ducatillonians mine resources and produce coolant for use in the POS.

When not working they enjoy themselves at the many indoor observation parks and other attractions. Prostitution, gambling and drugs are all legal on Ducatillon IX so make sure to stop by and enjoy yourself. I do however, wish to warn you not to over indulge as serious transgressions of the law will lead to sterilization and placement on one of two penal colonies that are currently in operation.

Instead of the warm climate and beautiful storm systems on Ducatillon IX you will find yourself on a Barren inhospitable world or floating above a gas giant producing Oxygen. They work 16 hour shifts, we do use the standard clock system as all empire worlds do, six days a week. The day off is spent relaxing in drug induced comas to ensure peace and tranquility at all times.

So please, stop by and enjoy the exciting storm world known as Ducatillon IX and the sprawling metropolitan area known as Lanceville, just behave yourself!

Lanceville, Ducatillon IX

2010-06-09T01:54:00.001Z

Here's my storm planet colony Lanceville on Ducatillon IX in Zaniverse:

Currently running 6 extractors, 5 Basic Processors, 4 Storage Facilities, 1 Advanced Processor and a Spaceport. I might could do away with a storage facility and add a factory.

Zaniverse, Planet Ducatillon IX and What to do with a Drunken Sailor

2010-06-08T01:39:00.001Z

The spirits are in the hole! That's right, the beer and liquor run was successful. I have a happy crew and the crew has a happy Captain. There will be libations and parties all around Zaniverse tonight and probably some crew members on window washing detail tomorrow. Being in a space suit, hungover, really sucks. The weightlessness messes with your stomach and when you hurl there is only one place for it to go. The crew members who know me, know when to stop and the ones who don't, will.

We're on mining duty at the moment with my sensor operator's nose buried in the directional scanner.I love mining, it gives me time to reflect and plan my colony and have a few drinks. Planet Ducatillon IX will be laying it's foundations tomorrow evening. It's a good sized storm planet with magnificent sunsets, assuming of course you are not in the middle of a continent sized hurricane. If you are in the middle of a hurricane the light show is fantastic.

POS fuel will be the name of the game, coolant the specialty. We will see how it goes. I will be planet side over the weekend so I will have to get the colony self sufficient until my return. It will be tough setting up a new colony and leaving it to itself for two days but it has to be done.

Spirits are High, and in Great Demand

2010-06-06T23:29:00.000Z

The crew has really come together and spirits are high. The first profit run was pretty good and everyone's mood soared. It's been a pretty quiet op so far, although a small gank group managed to take out a couple of our miners. Pretty well organized and stealthy from the sounds of it. We've recovered from the loses and for once I was not involved in the losing of ships.

The crew has discovered that we have no alcohol on board. I of course have known this all along and was not a bit concerned since I had my private reserves. Had being the keyword on the private reserves. Now that we are completely out I have decided to side with crew and blame our old scapegoat the first officer. Poor bloke is outside cleaning the bridge windows now. I'm trying to think of a new punishment for him but the crew does get such a kick outta this game.

Our current wormhole exit is in its last stages and hopefully the next one will lead to some spirits close by.

Wormholin It

2010-06-02T03:19:00.001Z

This is where we like it, wormhole space, nothing like it. Open skies, good size chunks of rocks and you never know what will happen. The crew is really coming together well, not just on my ship but in the whole operation. Did a nice run back to HQ and picked up a surprise for everyone. If it works out, more iskies all around.

Unfortunately, my first officer forgot to remind me to stop off for alcohol. I have him disinfecting the ship to make sure we don't come down with Space Herpes. I saw a case of those spring up on a ship once, it's not a pretty site. They were a bunch of Ice Pirates out of Minmatar space, found some princess and came down with space herpes, was not, as I said, pretty!

Wormhole Mining Ops

2010-05-30T21:18:00.000Z

We're setup, established and in resource gathering mode. At the point of each laser is either a roid "the big things" or a mining barge, the little things! The size of the roids are just ginormous! (100,000 to 200,000 units average).

Out on the Rim

2010-05-29T05:28:00.000Z

It feels good to be back in the sky and in unknown space. Looks like things are getting started rather well this time around, knock on wood. The opening stages have gone well.

I mined my first Bistot tonight, mostly just to say I have. I don't think I'm as efficient at it as I should be but I couldn't resist. The crew is in high spirits but, it's the excitement from getting started, from spreading your wings after a long pause.Once the monotony sits in, and they find out we have no booze, we'll see how it goes. The potential for large iskies are out here so that should keep them focused.

Itching to Get Moving

2010-05-15T02:35:00.001Z

The past month or so has seen me planetside much more than I would like. I've had to put in some repair time on my ships and have been studying up for my Hulk qualifications at the Academy. I miss the open sky.

I got to spread my wings a bit yesterday and took out the retriever for a mining op. Made some good ISK and was a good exercise for the crew. All went well.

My plans are coming together. The moonlighting I've been doing as a hauler is paying off and my plans are in motion. It will take some time but I'm really seeing some progress. Getting the Hulk will help make it come together even faster!

I miss the open sky and Frontier territory. I will be going back, soon.

Vulcan Retriever

2010-05-14T00:00:00.000Z

Section 8 Logo

2010-05-08T03:01:00.001Z

Crackin The Krakken

2010-04-24T18:32:00.000Z

I've got a new ship, The Krakken. It's a battlecruiser, Drake style and it's bad ass. Been using it to help the Caldari Navy out. Not making friends anytime soon with the Gallente but hey, you can be friends with everyone. I may have to get some help with the current mission. We barely made it out with the ship, 3 Mil in repairs and I'm not quite sure I'm ready to go back. Maybe after a few beers.

Taking a little R & R with the crew planet side. Beautiful day for cooking out and listening to some music. Should be interesting to say the least. More when we return.

Looking for a Section 8

2010-04-15T18:24:00.015Z

We must be crazy, we joined the Section 8 alliance. A lot of them have chosen to move down and help us start taking control of low-sec. I've already met some really good pilots and we've seen how the politics really come into play. I'm glad there are pilots who like to delve into the politics but it's too bad you can't elect to stay the hell out of them. Always seems like we're stuck in the middle of something but hey, that's how we like it. Would be boring otherwise.

It's time to start organizing the intel side of the alliance and see who's got interest. I do miss the days of hanging out, exploring and living in Wormhole though, I have to make that work out better next time. To do that requires ISKies though and seeing how I have very little, I better find us a job.

Going Dark

2010-04-10T03:06:00.000Z

Running dark and running silent, just the way I like it out here. We're really on a roll and it won't take us nearly as long to get this system finished up as it did for the last one. 51 moons overall and about 2 hours time after all will be said and done. That also assumes we don't run into any unforeseen circumstances.

Crew is doing well. Of course it's my cream of the crop exploration crew. I've been asked a lot lately about the size of the crews on the different types of ships I fly. Of course the exact number is classified but I generally see it as follows:

Frigates: 5 - 15 crew members
Cruisers/Battlecruisers: 20 - 50 crew members
Battleships: 800 - 1500 crew members
Carriers: 2,000 - 5,000 crew members

Of course it all depends on the mission and the ship. For instance the survey and intel mission I'm on now requires about 4 crew members to safely keep the ship going around the clock. If we were conducting deep strikes then I may have double or triple that many in case we take casualties in battle and to assist with battlestations.

Eve Gate Expedition - Part II, The Journey Home

2010-04-09T00:29:00.001Z

We'll, I've been out to the edge and took a look at the Eve gate. Just looked like more space. It was strangely settling somehow, though in a way that I can't explain. It could have just as easily been the beer. We're on our way back to HQ now. We'll have to figure out what to get into once we get there.

Eve Gate Expedition - Part I, The Search for Enlightenment

2010-04-08T02:28:00.001Z

We've set off for a trip to the Eve Gate. I've heard only rumors but there is something that is drawing me there. I'm being accompanied by my first mate, the mechanic and the cook. All volunteered to go and understand the risk, they are all Caldari and they are feeling compelled to go as well. We outfitted a Condor with a prototype cloak, micro warp drive, cap charger and warp stabilizer. We're set for speed and hiding.

The Eve Gate is where our forefathers from Earth first entered into New Eden. Something destroyed the gate and it is said that there are still strong magnetic fields surrounding the remains. We've been warned not to go and it's almost like the place has turned into the edge of the universe or something. There is only one way to find out.

The first mate at least remembered to stock the beer cooler for the trip.

The Name of the Game is Intel

2010-04-06T04:11:00.001Z

Two systems, 71 moons surveyed in 4 days and that includes drawing up the detailed POS and mineral report. There was one snag in the second op which was 52 of the 71 moons. I was trying to break in a new recruit.

After scanning 15 moons, he loses the results and had to start all over. It took every bit of patience I had not to turn the Chappa loose on this guy. He kept saying how every POS he warped to had warp bubbles and he was taking fire. I had to explain to him that those were the shields and he shouldn't target anything. What can you say besides, noob. He had some potential and a little interest he was just hard to get along with. Anyway, that's why my first officer's primary job is keeping the beer cooler stocked. Which.....

He forgot to stock the cooler with beer before we left port. He spent the rest of the mission washing the windows, on the outside of the ship. Yes, I did give this one a spacesuit and he survived. The best thing was waiting til he just got out of his suit and saying, "You missed a spot.". The whole crew got in on that one. Someone even filed out an official safety concern report about the smudge that was blocking his pristine view of space from the enlisted crews head.

I bet I have cold gorram beer on the next trip.

Mining Operatives

2010-03-21T23:46:00.000Z

A couple of the gang....

McLad McHulkin ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hit and Run by Matrixx ^^^^^^^^^^

Did you see the size of that veld ^^^^^^^^^

Views Like No Other

2010-03-20T04:23:00.000Z

Sometimes you ask yourself, "Why the hell am I out here in this void?". It's days like today that remind us of why....

and then there's the isk ;)