Friday 29 January 2010

Wormholes and Wabbits!


Hi all,
As you can see from the above I am very bored at work! I posted this on my alliance forums and it got a good reaction so I thought I would share it with the rest of you.

I have only one thing to report and it relates to a operation that members of The White Rabbits and The Black Rabbits embarked on about a month ago. Wormholes.

As a bit of a trial the alliance CEO decided to get a number of pilots into a Class 3 wormhole to see if we could a) survive and b) make some Iskies. We made preperations and awaited a wormhole to open up in a nearby system.

At the operation kick off a fleet of TBR and TBRA who were not ivolved in the op gathered to escort the mining and transport ships we were taking with us to the newly found WH. Once through we set up a pos and started scanning. We had 2 Legions, a Proteus, a Tengu, a Domi and a Myrm as our plexing and protection fleet. The miner fleet consisted of 2 Hulks, a number of Retrievers and of course the normal Orca. We also had a number of general ships for anyones use, salvagers and scanning ships.

A couple of shots of the WH teams in action:

I also have some really good pictures of the mining fleet in action however I seem to be having computer issues so will update from home tonight.

The reason I am talking about this now is because we have finaly started selling of the loot, salvage and minerals from this operation and I thought that you would be interested in knowing the details.

There were seven members of TBR and TWR involved directly in this two week operation. However we had more than that in actual 'characters' online due to alts and having dual monitors!

At this moment only the loot and salvage has been sold and already the total is up above the 2 billion mark. This is before the minerals from the mining team has even been touched!

As this was only a trial, we learnt alot from it and we will be taking that knowledge and going on in the future to do more of these types of operations. Hopefully it will include larger wormholes, more ships, more people and MORE ISK!

I would quickly like to shout out to the members of the EvE Blogging community who write about their experiences in wormhole space in EvE. It gave me a good background to work from.

Fly Dangerous o/


























Wednesday 27 January 2010

The Guristas Associates are recruiting! WOW!

The Black Rabbits our the main backbone of The Guristas Alliance. They are made up of skilled and battle hardened PVP players. They are also a bloody good laugh on vent and have a willingness to help and train members of The Black Rabbits Academy.

The requirements are as follows:

  • 20 mil PVP skillpoints
  • Must be able to fly a T2 Fitted Battle Cruiser.
  • RP experience is an advantage
  • Mature player
  • 18+ preferred
  • Self-sufficient
  • Active player
  • Voice Communication software MUST be used.
  • Willingness to go to -10 sec
  • Willingness to stay IN CHARACTER in local, and during ransoms

The Black Rabbits Academy do not base acceptance to the organisation on skillpoints. We are a teaching corporation and as such believe the willingness and enthusiasm of a person should be the major points on which a new recruit should be judged.

The Requirments are as follows

  • No Trial Accounts.
  • Mature players only (18+ Prefered)
  • You must submit your LIMITED API to a Director for review.
  • Voice Communication software MUST be used. Ventrilo is the current Guristas Associates standard.
  • Willingness to go to -10 security status
  • Willingness to stay IN CHARACTER in local and during ransoms

Both of these corporations are entirely PVP based and if you join you will be expected to drop to -10.00 sec status. The ramifications of this include loss of access to 0.5 space and above and you can be engaged on gates and stations without the sentry guns interferring. If this does not seem your sort of thing please read on!

The White Rabbits are the logistical part of The Guristas Associates and spend most of their time in Empire. Mining, Plexes, Mission Running and the occasional wormhole op aided by their piratical brethern. They also manufacture ships, rigs and modules to help keep the 'pew pew' going.

The recuirements for TWR ar as follows:

  • Voice Communication software MUST be used. Ventrilo is the current Guristas Associates standard.
  • Must agree to a 20% taxation for mission runners.
  • Must stay IN CHARACTER in local.
  • Mature player (18+ Prefered)

As you can see the requirements are pretty mininimal with no skillpoint limit. We take everyone!

To join one of these corporations you should go to our website and register on the forums. In the recruitment forums are options for each of the above. Once there, complete the application form and join 'Guristas Recruitment' ingame channel (For TBR & TBRA) or The White Rabbits (For TWR) and one of the directors or recruitment managers will conduct a short interview for you.

I joined TBRA 5 months ago and haven't looked back. They are a great bunch of guys and I have made alot of friends there and met alot of competent pilots. TBR and TBRA fly together regularly and TWR are very friendly, welcoming and eager to help.

If you would like to talk ingame in regards to joining on of our corporations please join 'Guristas Recruitment' ingame channel.

Fly dangerous o/

GoonSwarm - Point and laugh at will!

I guess I am just jumping on the bandwagon here; I have never had any dealings with GoonSwarm other then popping a few of their ships when they ventured into Low Sec space.

However I am looking forward to reading the interesting blog posts that will undoubtedly come from this and to getting home and reading up on the EvE-O forums. (Not accessible from work, evil net police!)

I’m not going to give any reasons to what has happened to GoonSwarm as a number of other blog writers have done it quite nicely.

Jump on contact
Newbation

In other news, while the Rabbits were watching a Low Sec/High Sec gate in one of our surrounding systems last night, a fleet of anti-pirates decided to try and engage us.

They had us outnumbered in ships and had both ECM and Logistical support. Our excellent FC weighed up the options and decided not to engage and to quit the field. They had the tactical advantage over our own fleet. Due to this withdrawal an amount of one way smack talk ensued in the systems local channel.

My one and only response was our alliance motto ‘All for the good of money’

Fly dangerous o/

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Blue but not red yet!

Just a quick one about a stupid thing I did a few days ago.

My alliance members and I were outside our home station and we were testing fits. I was messing around in a T1 fitted Rifter that I had sorted out for a new member of The Black Rabbits Academy.

As all of the people who were around were red -10.00 naughty people, as I am, I started peppering them with EMP from my T1 guns and playing around with my Neut. I was doing next to no damage as they were all in Heavy Interdictors, Battlecruisers and a Falcon. Then one of our alliance mates undocked his new Black Rabbit alt in an Arazu. I burned towards him to do the same as I was doing to the others, locked him and activated my Neut.

Pop.

The alt that had been undocked, Florian, was a member of The Black Rabbits but hadn’t yet earned her red status. The sentry guns insta popped my little Rifter and much laughter and taunting ensued.

Whoops…

Fly dangerous, and don’t engage high sec status friends on station unless you can tank sentries! o/

My Brutix Theories

Ok so the ship most associated with me by my alliance is the Brutix Gallente Battlecruiser. I love my Brutix, I have lost a few (Seven of them to be exact) over the last 5 months with The Guristas Associates and I will probably lose a lot more over the next year.

However one thing drives me to distraction and my alliance all know my feelings on this issue, Railguns VS Blasters on a Brutix.

Now I’m guessing your all saying right now that this post will be about the advantages of Blasters on a Brutix rather than Rails, however you’re WRONG!

I want to sing the praises of the Railgun fit Brutix and why, up until recently, I fitted them to my ship.

As you may or may not know, TGA takes great pleasure in closing down our home system against any incoming ships or fleets. This means engaging on stargates is the norm. We normally have between 3 – 15 Battlecruisers, Heavy Interdictors and Battleships on a normal gate camp.


Now in a Blaster fit Brutix this means landing on a the gate from your warp in spot, waiting for the target or targets to appear, activating your Microwarpdrive to burn into range, then, just before you get there the boys with long range weapons (Drakes) or faster MWD ships (Hurricanes) destroy your target. Yes I will be on the killmail as I had a Warp Disruptor, but I won’t have added any DPS to the target as I wasn't in my 2000m optimal.

However, bring in the railgun fit Brutix, Optimal Range? 18km!
And another great thing? No need for a microwarpdrive as you don’t need to burn like fuck to get in range!
The bonus to not having a microwarpdrive? You don’t need to spend any of your capacitor on it, meaning the T2 medium armor repairer can run longer and you will be on the field longer!

Now I hear you cry, what about DPS? Surely you’re taking a HUGE blow on DPS! Well actually it’s not as big as you may think. Someone using T1 Medium Electron Blasters will only be doing between 10 and 30 more DPS over your Railgun fit Brutix and you can start your DPS a lot sooner thanks to not having to worry about the range issue.

Now the above is really for gate camp scenarios only, in a fleet on fleet battle I would ALWAYS go for blasters, just for that extra DPS. There are more targets on the field and it would be a lot easier to get in range when fighting a fleet.

However I know that as soon as I have finished my training for T2 Medium Blasters (about 2 weeks left) and I fit Medium Ion Blaster II’s to my Brutix with both Caldari Anti Matter charges and Null in my cargo hold, I will never go back to Rails.

The reason?

Null = Range and for Gatecamps, I will always use Null.

Fly Dangerous o/

Monday 25 January 2010

EVE Blog Banter Special Edition: Why we love EVE online Contest

Welcome to this special installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by myself, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to me. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!


When you've been roaming New Eden as long as I have, it almost feels like home. That's how familiar it has become over the last 5 years. Not that I have done everything or touched every aspect of this most amazing of virtual world, far from it, but it just feels as though it's always been there. And always will be.
Whether you've logged into the game every day since its launch in 2003, or you've taken one or several sabbaticals from your capsuleer career, you've always come back to New Eden don't you. Why is that?
We know
the EVE Online Community is unique in so many ways, and that EVE Online is like no other MMORPG out there. But what makes the game special for you?


What is it that makes this particular virtual world so enticing, so mysterious and so alluring that we keep coming back for more. Why is EVE one of the very few MMOs to see a continuous growth in its subscriber.
To put it simply: Why do you love EVE Online so much?

Freedom.

That’s what I love about EvE online. The giant multiplayer, do what ever you want, sandbox game!

Want to run missions for huge conglomerates or smaller companies? Fine.

Want to use your skills to find and explore wormholes and random space anomalies? Go ahead!

Want to prove yourself in combat with other players both with you and against you? Feel free!

Want to run a huge empire spanning business and make all the ISK you ever wanted? Have fun!

Want to become and outlaw from all civilised space by blowing up other peoples ships? Do it!

Want to rule your own part of space? Do so!

That’s what I love about EvE online. You’re not bound to one path or one way of playing. No matter how you play you can find like minded people to play alongside you! You can enjoy the freedom that a sandbox gives you.

Just because you’re in High Sec doesn’t mean you’re free from terrorists and pirates! Suicide bombers, high DPS low armor fleets, no one is safe.

Whether you play for hours on end making your character as productive and as intricate as possible, or whether you log on once a week to check your skill queue and update your market order, there is something for everyone in this game.

There is no boring grinding for levels as in every other MMO I have ever played. Skills train in real time, Days, Hours, Minutes. You know how long something is going to take, and you don’t need to sit at your computer for hours on end training a skill. You can be out there following your own path in a huge universe!

And then there are the people. EvE is not made up of children playing on their daddies laptops for a few hours a week. EvE is for the Elitist, the person who sees other MMO’s and thinks why would I do that? What’s in it for me? I’m lucky to have met a great group of people through the alliance I call home. We have laughs, fun and games, and best of all the average age is over 20.

For anyone out there who is on the fence about trying EvE online for the first time I will be honest with you, there is no learning curve, it’s a learning vertical line.

However try the free trial, spend a few weeks playing through the starting missions and don’t be afraid to ask questions in the help channel. There is always someone willing to help. If you go through the trial and think, this isn’t for me, I would say subscribe for one month.

Join a corporation that accepts newer players, and experience the social aspect of EvE online before you make a decision. Things are always easier with a good corporation at your back to ask your questions and get advice.

I love the Freedom, The People and the pure anything goes aspect of New Eden and will be a player for a long, long time. Thank you CCP for a great game.

Fly Dangerous. o/

EDIT : Links to other Blog Banters:

http://www.crazykinux.com/2010/01/eve-blog-banter-special-edition-why-we.html

http://denseveldspar.blogspot.com/2010/01/eve-blog-banter-special-edition-why-we.html

http://sered-sl.blogspot.com/2010/01/eve-online-whats-appeal.html

http://eveopportunist.blogspot.com/2010/01/oh-opportunity-is-there-anything-so.html

http://minuitsoleil.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-this-special-installment-of.html

http://jagerda.com/why-i-love-eve/

http://eve-trial-by-fire.blogspot.com/2010/01/eve-blog-bantera-first-attempt.html

Thursday 21 January 2010

Who is Mail Lite?

A bit late but time to introduce myself.

I am 23 and hail from the UK, I play EvE and I love it, I have a good network of friends in EvE due to being a Director of The Black Rabbits Academy, part of The Guristas Alliance.

Incidently TBRA are currently open for new recruits. Here is our Killboard.

I started playing about 5 months ago and have not regretted a moment of it. I played a one month trial of WoW and hated it. I have played a game called Runescape in the past and expect to get completely flamed for that!

I inherited Mail Lite from a friend who was on sabatical from EvE at the time. He was in an idustrial corp, so i tried my hand at mining and other boring activities.

I got bored quickly and started looking around for help with fun things to do on eve. I stumbled upon Spectre's blog on low sec piracy, I read every single post, and a number of the posts from his blog roll and thought... Piracy, sounds fun.

I got home from work, told my other half to go away (she gets me, luckily) and started looking on the market for PVP modules for my Rifter.

Once fitted I went to a system mentioned in Spectre's blog a number of time. Aurohen. I started learning how to use the scanner, using safe spots etc.

I actually had my first kill that night. A Retriever mining in a low sec system, amazing I know.

I lost my first ship the next night to a Drake. He managed to find my safe spot, probes? Not sure.

My plan is to keep you all updated on the happenings in The Guristas Alliance, Wins, Losses and fun and games.

I have a number of other characters aswell and they will be talked about and I will probably post according to thier adventures as well.

I will also be writing some RP stuff. Some of Mail Lite's back story has already been posted and more is to come. Other characters will be introduced and all the stories will converge and split at times.

Please feel free to post feedback.

Thanks,

Fly dangerous o/

Mail

The path to effective low sec piracy

I have put this guide together as a quick ‘what-to-train’ for new members of the academy. These skills will help you in becoming useful both in large fleets and smaller gangs.

I am basing this on someone who is very new to the game and has less than 1 million skill points. However more experienced members of EVE may still find this useful.

First off is your Learning skill. Very boring as it does not give you access to any nice new shiny ships or equipment but is vital none the less.

The skill ‘Learning’ should be at level 5 and the other learning skills should be at least to level 4. These skills cut the time you need to spend training for new equipment and ships and will make a noticeable difference to your skill plan.

Signature Analysis Level 5 should be the next skill you max out. This directly effects you locking speed. If you can get a fast lock on something then you can start doing the damage before the other person your half way there. This is especially important to those who want to fill the role of a tackler in fleet engagements or gatecamps.

Next up is gunnery/missiles depending on what you’re flying. Don’t train for T2 guns straight away. The gunnery/missile support skills make a HUGE difference to your rate of fire, tracking speed and how hard you actually hit!

If your T1 Autocannon fitted frigate, with all of the gunnery support skills trained, came up against a T2 weapon fitted frigate with none of the support skills, you will be miles ahead in DPS and volley damage, thats a win in my book.

My advice would be to have a training skill that looks something like this:
Turret Users
Gunnery level 5
Weapon upgrades Level 5
Sharpshooter Level 3
Rapid Firing Level 3
Controlled Bursts Level 3
Trajectory Analysis Level 3
Motion Prediction Level 3
Advanced Weapon Upgrades Level 4

Missile Users
Weapon Upgrades Level 5
Missile Launcher Operation Level 5
Missile Bombardment Level 3
Warhead Upgrades Level 3
Rapid Launch Level 3
Target Navigation Prediction Level 3
Missile Projection Level 3
Advanced Weapon Upgrades Level 4

I would also suggest learning the skill Thermodynamics to level 4. This allows you to overheat your modules to boost there effectivness above normal limits. This means that you can get extra DPS out of your weapons, extra speed out of a MWD or Afterburner or get extra armor or shield boosts from repair modules. Be warned that all modules that are overheated can be damaged or destroyed if you overheat to much.

Once the above is dealt with T2 weapons are the next thing you would train for. Obviously you would train the best weapons for what you are flying. If your flying Gallente then Hybrids, Minmitar would be Projectiles, Amarr would be lasers and/or hybrids and Caldari would be Missiles and/or Hybrids.

My next bit of advice is also a bit boring. Support Skills. There is no point training for a Battlecruiser if you don’t have the support skills to maximise its effectiveness. So your next training should focus on the main skills.

Electronics Level 5
Mechanic Level 5
Engineering Level 5

These skills free up a lot of CPU and powergrid and make fitting ships a lot easier. In each section there are a number of other skills that are also suggested for training.

Electronics
Electronic Warfare Level 4
Electronics Upgrades Level 4

Engineering
Energy System Operation Level 4
Energy Grid Upgrades Level 3
Energy Emissions Level 3
Energy Management Level 4
Shield Operation Level 4
Shield Upgrades Level 4
Shield Management Level 3
Tactical Shield Manipulation Level 4

Mechanics
Hull Upgrades Level 5
Repair Systems Level 4
Jury Rigging Level 3
Salvaging Level 1
Remote Armor Repair Systems Level 3

A few other useful support skills include:
High Speed Manoeuvring Level 3
Afterburner Level 4
Informorph Psychology Level 2
Science Level 4
Cynosoraul Field Operation Level 3

The above are what I would suggest for anyone wanting to fly an effective PVP ship in EvE. All of the above skills either make it a lot easier to fit ships by making more CPU or Powergrid available, or it means you will be able to fit the modules needed to PVP in low sec.

The Science and Informorph Psychology skills are for the placement of jump clones in other areas of space.

The Cyno operation skill allows you to set up a field to which Capital class ships can jump. This is very useful in large fleet engagements and also for just being able to help out your capital fleet pilots.

If you are a drone user then I would suggest the following skills to be able to use those effectively in a PVP context.

Drones Level 5
Scout Drone Operation Level 5
Drone Navigation Level 3
Drone Interfacing Level 4
Drone Durability Level 3
Drone Sharp Shooting Level 3
Electronic Drone Interfacing Level 4

Once the above is complete decide which race of drone you wish to specialize in and train that skill to be able to use the T2 variants.

Ewar, Electronic Warfare, a very large part of EvE and can decide the outcome of any fleet fights. At lease one of the following skills should be trained to help both you, and your fleet come out on top.

Target Painting Level 4
Weapon Disruption Level 4
Sensor Linking Level 4

Target Painting skill lets you use a Target Painter, use this on the primary to grant you and your fleet bonus to tracking and damage.

Weapon Disruption skills lets you use weapon disruptors. Fit one of these to your ships and the enemy will have a hard job in hitting you for their full damage. N.B DOESNT WORK ON MISSILE SHIPS

Sensor Linking lets you use Dampners, these cut the effective range of your enemy making you and your fleet tougher to hit.

Ok so you have T2 weapons, shiny support skills, droney goodness and now you need a nice shiny new ship. Now with the skills above you should be able to effectively fly up to a Battlecruiser without too much of a problem. If your wishing to specialise into a certain type of ship now is the time to do so. You have the general skills needed to fly well in Low-sec PVP, now go carve your own path.

My last piece of advice is to train the skills here to Level 5, it may take months and you may take breaks away to train for other useful skills and to train for new ships, weapons and upgrades. But when you have nothing else to train, fall back to maxing out your support skills.

They will save your life and make EvE a more fun place to be.

Also remeber that in the end the individual skill of the pilot may come into play. SP is not everything. There is no 'I WIN' button here. Just a guide on the things you need to know!

Fly dangerous o/

(I would like to thank the members of The Guristas Associates who helped me in writing this skill guide.)

My first Blog Banter...

EVE Blog Banter #14: A beginning is a very delicate time...

Welcome to the fourteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by none other than me, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The first banter of 2010 comes to us from the EVE Blog Father, in which I ask the following: As we begin another year in New Eden, ask yourselves "What Now?" What will I attempt next? What haven't I done so far in EVE? Was it out fear, funds, or knowledge? Have I always wanted to start my own corporation, but have never dared doing so? Is there a fledging mercenary waiting to come out of its shell? Or maybe an Industrialist? What steps and objectives will I set myself to accomplish in order to reach my ultimate goal for this year? EVE is what you make of it. So, what is it going to be for you?

Hi,

So I am a big follower of the Low-Sec/PVP bloggers of EvE. I have read all thier replies to this and have decided that I myself would like to reply to it.

I have 5 different characters over 2 accounts, to answer this question the easiest way I will tell you what my plan is for the coming months for each character individualy.

Mail Lite is first. As my Low Sec pirate toon his main skills are PVP based. By the end of 2010 I would like this character to be flying a T2 fitted Brutix for normal Gatecamps and smaller engagements. I am also planning to have him skilled up for flying a Megathron for larger fleet engagements.
After this I would like to be able to fly the Phobos and Ishtar. Whether or not I will actually fly them in combat on a regular basis is up for debate.

Hannibal Vexor is currently a mission runner with Amarr and has access to low level 3 missions. This character is also skilled up MAJORLY for exploration. I am planning to use this character for exploration and WH's once I have him skilled him up for the T3 cruiser, the Legion. As always I am planning to have the support skills up to a reasonable level before I fly the ship itself. I am going on my CEO's fit as a basic guidline for what I want to fly. More on this later.

I will be buying the modules slowley over the next few months.

Theknownkillu is an industry and mining toon. Apart from the obvious mining and stuff I am planning to train this character into an Orca and to fly a Charon for TGA logistics over the next year. At the moment I have a Charon on lone from a collegue in TWR, but will be trying to but my own shortly.

Gateway1 is a cyno alt, however he can fly a Itty MK III and also has a number of skills in marketing and retail. I am thinking of turning this char into a market player for an extra income.

Heavy Mail is a basic hauler alt and will be training into another basic cyno alt, just for logistical support.

These are my main goals for the next year.

Each are easily reachable and the main contraint to the goals I have set is the ISK involved. However I am hoping to widen my ISK making by specialising each character into a specific job role and utilising them as and when they are useful.

On a personal note I am aslo hoping to get this blog of the ground. I will be reporting events with The Guristas Alliance, working on the back stories for my characters, posting guides and hints for people wanting to follow the life of a low sec pirate and telling you of my loses and kills over the next year.

Thanks for reading!

Fly dangerous! o/

Mail Lite's Back Story Continued

Lacham and I walked towards the commercial sector of the station. It was here that deals were done, ISK made, alliances forged or destroyed. We passed ship dealer offices, interstellar customs offices, ISK provider offices and offices for the protection of interstellar animals. The walkways were crowded with busy people, on the way to check newly delivered merchandise or whatever it is people do.

We walked along the boulevard towards the lower section of the sector until we got to an office with blacked out windows. There were no signs to say what type of business the owners of this office engaged in. No evidence that anyone even used it. Not from the outside at any rate. Lacham passed a datakey over an electronic pad and the door slid open. Even though the light from the windows was blocked by the blackened glass the interior was well lit and surprisingly orderly. A number of people were sat behind the desks, using datapads and computers. What they were doing was a mystery. Playing the markets? Lacham turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

‘Well, what do you think? This is headquarters of The Guristas Associates. This is the nerve centre of our alliance, where we collate data from our pilots on enemy movements and prime targets. If anything is going down within a 10 system radius, we know about it. We also have members of the White Rabbits in here, constantly checking and rechecking the market prices in the area. Buying and selling equipment and arranging transports. We keep our ears to the ground at all times, checking reports coming in from other alliances and factions, friendly or not. Basically, anything you need to know will come through here.’ Lacham explained.
‘It’s a lot more organised than I expected to tell you the truth.’ I admitted
‘The logistics of running an alliance this size is amazing.’ Lacham clarified, ‘The White Rabbits do a great job of keeping the rest of us in business. Without them the alliance wouldn’t exist. Most of The Black Rabbits and the Academy are ‘shoot on site’ if we enter concord controlled space due to being wanted men and women. Makes getting new ships into the system a real pain in the ass’ Lacham smirked.
‘Right’ I said lamely,

I remembered thinking about The White Rabbits when I was doing my research into The Guristas Associates, wondering if they had been duped or blackmailed into working within the Pirate alliance. My thoughts then had been wrong; they were a huge and very important part of the alliance.

Lacham wondered over to a desk in the corner of the room. Unlike others this one was a bit of a mess. An ashtray was over stuffed with cigarette buts and there were empty coffee mugs and files all over the desk. Shifting a pile of papers out of the way Lacham unearthed a datapad which he then thumbed into life.

‘Your application has been reviewed and I have decided to offer you the chance to fly with us. However be aware that flying with us means that you will become ‘Shoot on sight’ for most of what we call ‘High Sec’
‘That’s fine, is there anything I should know?’
‘Of course there is. Here is a datapad with all the basic information you will need.’ He tossed me a datapad’ Included in there are the passkeys to the private communication channels used by the academy and the shared alliance channel. This is where a lot of the data amassed in this office will be broadcast. Also the Pirates Warren is our unofficial meeting place, we have a special room in the back for conferences and for when other alliances come to meet with us. There will be guard duties involved but most of the time you will not be involved in any of that.’ Lacham said, lighting a cigarette. ‘One thing I have noticed from your file is that you seem to have a good aptitude for learning new skills. This will help you greatly within this alliance. I suggest you study this closely’ he tossed me another datapad.
‘What is it?’ I asked
‘This is the holy bible of ship-to-ship combat. This will tell you the weaknesses of every vessel in the universe. It also tells you how to tweak your ship to get the best out of it, more power, more computer memory, and the best weapons to use. Things that you need to know to fly effectively. It will take you a while to get the hang of it but I’m sure you’ll get there sooner or later.’
‘Thanks’ I said, pocketing the datapad.
‘One other thing, that business in your past, only I and Gig know about that, you can keep it from the others if you decide, but I will tell you this, keeping secrets from people you will, one day soon I am sure, need to trust with your life may not be the right thing to do, think about it.’ He got up and started to walk away, towards the back of the office.
‘Now get out of my sight,’ he said over his shoulder, ‘I have thing to attend to. Be at The Pirates Warren at 1800 and I will introduce you to some of your wingmen.’

Mail Lite's Back Story Continued

Once in Ishomilken I rented a small apartment close to the hanger where my ships were stored and kept functioning by the repair crews. After unpacking I decided to try the local bar. On arrival the place was empty, not surprising for the early morning, most of the patrons would either be nursing a hang over in their bunks or started out early to make some ISK. No one was in sight to serve me so I sat on one of the stools and started pursuing some logs I had downloaded.

The information I had downloaded were the new list of ships destroyed by The Guristas Associates over the last 24 hours. I started with the most recent and looked and the list of people and ships that were involved in each engagement. Most of the Alliance seemed to favour larger ships. They seemed to use large numbers of Battle Cruisers, Heavy Interdictors and even the awesome Battleships. I clicked my screen over to show the ships available for sale in the region. I had had experience flying Gallente ships in the past, the Vexor being among them, after scribbling down some details I decided to see about getting myself something to eat.

As no one had yet appeared to serve me I clicked into the station database to see if there were any other establishments around where I could find some food. There was one other. The Pirates Warren. On the other side of the station. I decided to give it a try. I pocketed the datapad I had been reading and patted my pistol holder to assure myself that I was there and left the deserted bar. Walking for about 10 minutes to the other side of the station I saw barley a soul. The station seemed deserted. I had looked through the details of the station before arriving and knew that there was not a lot of money to be made in this system. Not from legitimate sources anyway.

Upon arriving at The Pirates Warren I almost ran head long into a young woman as she left. She had the look of a Caldari, high cheek bones, small mouth, large blue eyes, and her long black hair was scooped back into ponytail. She wore the overalls of a ship mechanic. She glanced at me and smiled before hurrying towards one of the stations many ship hangers. I entered the bar to find it a lot more active than the last. I placed my order with the rough looking bar assistant. Lighting a cigarette I took a look around the bar. Focusing on each patron for a second to commit there features to my cortical implant and assessing any threat levels.

There were a few men in one of the booths that lined the walls of the bar. They were wearing long tatty brown leather coats over black overalls. Some adorned with decoration or armour plating, some not. All had holstered pistols at there waists. They were talking in hushed voices and pursuing a datapad and a number of parchments. Even with a hearing implant I could not hear their discussion.

I moved on to the next patron. He was also wearing a brown leather jacket but this one had yet to lose it’s new shine. He wore black denim trousers and black boots. A silver chain hung from his left wrist. He has no visbale weapons and was reading a news sheet while sipping a coffee. The last two customers were female. They seemed to be mechanics of some sort. Tool belts at there waists and grey overalls. Not ship mechanics as they normally wore black overalls and didn’t carry their tools with them, station maintenance probably.

The bar assistant arrived with refined bacon, genetic eggs and wheat toast all washed down with some coffee. It wasn’t bad, well worth the 20ISK paid. I ordered another coffee and started reading a news sheet which had been left on the table next to mine. I started with the sport pages as normal the Minmitar league had started the previous evening with all 40 teams in action. My money was on the Ualkin Dogs this season. There starting line up was one of the best in years. I thought I better try and find a betting shop sooner rather than later to make sure I got in while the odds were still high. The Ualkin Dogs had one there first game 23-0 with no disqualification or losses of life. Not a bad start at all!

I was just finishing reading about the destruction of one of the other teams when the lone customer finished his coffee and stood up. He glanced around the room, nodded to the bar assistant and started toward the door. His path took him past the group of three men, they stopped talking as he approached and their hand started to lower towards their weapons. ‘Guristas Scum’ one of them muttered as he passed. The man carried on walking but I did notice his eye’s flash. He must of heard the insult but decided not to react.
‘Did you here me you pirate scum?’ asked the man who had already spoken.
‘I did, whats you problem?’ asked the pirate.
‘One of your fucking pirate friends destroyed my Hoarder last night. It had over 20 million ISK worth of cargo! You owe me that money!’
‘I’m sorry but that’s the law of space. If you were stupid enough to lose it then you don’t deserve to be flying out there. I don’t owe you a penny. Take it up with the station officials.’
‘You…’ The man who had lost his ship and his two friends shot out of there seats and un-holstered their weapons.
‘You fucking will give me back my money you piece of shit.’
The pirate gave a sigh but stayed completely still ‘Trust me you do not want to do this. You will not win’

I had seen enough. I started to rise from my seat; my hand on my weapon but the pirate gave me a look that plainly told me to stay where I was. Winked and then, with a flick of each wrist a knife appeared in the throats of 2 of the men. The third man, the one who had lost his ship and cargo, raised his pistol to fire but the bar assistant was quicker. Lifting a projectile shotgun from under the counter he shot the pilot in the chest, lifting him up and slamming him against the wall.

‘Cheers Reciter, I wasn’t sure if I could get that last one before he got me. He was quicker than I thought he would be.’
‘Not a problem dude, they picked the wrong bar to threaten a pirate in. you would think the name would give it away wouldn’t you?’ said Recieter, the bar assistant with a laugh and while putting the shotgun back under the counter.
The pirate was leaning over the corpses of the dead men, withdrawing his knives from the throats of the two he had killed. Wiping the blood off the knives on the trousers of the dead men ‘Yeah, you would think so wouldn’t you’
The pirate stood up and looked over at me. ‘Reciter, can you drag these guys out to the refuse shoot. I think we’ll get rid of them without inviting the autorities in this time. Also make sure you get their tags and codes if you can. Might as well have a look who they were and what they fly’.
‘Sure, no problem’ Reciter agreed and started to get large black bags from under the counter to wrap the bodies in.

Meanwhile the piarte had started towards me. I lowered my hand to my holster, just in case it was ‘get rid of the witness’ time. The two female mechanics had barely looked up during the fight, used to it I guessed, maybe they were friends or family. The pirate sat opposite me.
‘Mail Lite right?’
‘Might be, who’s asking?’
‘My name is Lacham, I fly with The Black Rabbits Academy and I read the application you made to join us. I noticed you as soon as you came in. You can take your hand away from your weapon now.’
I did, I had read of this pilot whilst researching the corporation and alliance. He had a long list of kills, longer than most within the academy.
'How did you know it was me? I didn't provide a description or holopic.'
'You think we don't have ways of screening pilots who have applied? Just take it all at face value and bleieve everything you say on your data pad? You think we're that lax about security?'
I guess that made sense.
'Did you go all the way back?'
'Yes' Lacham confirmed, looking me directly in the eye.
'So you know...' I hesitated.
'Yes we know, but we will discuss that later' Lacham looked at the datapad he had just taken from his pocket.
‘Why do you want to fly with us, and more importantly why would I want to fly with you?’ Lacham asked. In the background I could see the bodies of the three men being wrapped in black plastic by the bar assistant.
‘Because I want to learn this way of life. I want to prove myself in combat against the biggest ships, show that strategy overwhelms might. You will get a dedicated, hardworking wingman in me. You will get support and loyalty. And if everything works out. You will get a pirate’
‘Come with me’ said Lacham.

I stood up, left a few ISK on the table as a tip, and followed Lacham out of the bar, stepping over the last of the bodies on the way out.

Mail Lite's Back Story Continued

The travel distance to The Citadel should of taken years, if not centuries. However the Stargates which now connect all the occupied regions of space have made what was once a life journey, into something that takes mere hours.

I had a severe hangover that morning due to the 2 bottles of Rum last night. I reread my application to The Black Rabbits Academy. And decided I probably couldn’t do any better sober than I could drunk so left it as it was. After a quick Bio Shower and a cup of hosgage tea to help ease the hang over, I packed my case, loaded my Rifter, Riffy I and set of for Ishomilken, a system in the Citadel Region . Home system of The Guristas Associates.

The Journey was uneventful until a system only one jump out of my destination. Nikkishina. After almost a year behind the controls I have become accustomed to activating my directional scanner on a regular basis, just to keep an eye on who, and what, is around me, assessing threat levels automatically and keeping my eye’s open for targets or signs of aggression.

My system wide broadcast receiver showed only one pilot other than myself was currently in the system. All ships automatically join this channel upon entry to new systems. You can not get around this so it is a very useful tool, especially if you know how to access a pilots personal information using this link, as I do. I set my destination for the Nikkishina – Ishomilken stargate and engage my warp drives. At the same time I activate my directional scanner. I have another Rifter on scan within 14AU of my current position. Interesting. I decided to investigate this further. I cancel my warp drive activation and adjust my scan range. He’s out that way. Excellent. Towards planet three. Yes. I can’t scan him down to any one astral body as they are all aligned from where I am. It was time for a new plan. I engaged my warp engines and set heading for one of the moons around Planet Three. From there I was able to can the individual orbital bodies of Plant Three, looking for this Rifter pilot. I decided to take a second and check this pilot’s file.

I selected his file. Not a member of The Guristas Associates. That was good. A member of Empire Assault Corp. That was bad. I had heard of this corporation, they had the reputation of putting one ship in a sytem to be engaged by pirates, then jumping through with a number of other ships. He had been a pilot for three months. That wasn’t too bad.

Asteroid belt one.

Excellent, engage warp engines. I landed in the belt 10km from the Rifter. He had renamed his ship in an archaic language, after the fight I found it meant, ‘don’t kill me’. I targeted the Russian Rifter pilot and engaged the warp disruptor. He was locked and he could no longer get away. I approached at full speed. Weaving from side to side to make sure that, if he got a lock he wouldn’t be able to track my small frigate class vessel. At 2000m he finally reacted, turning away from me and trying to make distance. Trying to break my lock and disruptor. Not going to happen, I was faster; I had enough experience with high speed manoeuvres to close the gap to 1000m. My group of 200mm Autocannons engaged and ripped into his shields. He was taking a pounding. He decided to lock and engage his own guns. They did moderate damage but I had enough faith in my Riffy I to shrug and carry on the attack. As he started taking damage to his Armor I noticed another pilot had entered the system. I took a second to bring up his file. Russian. Same corporation as the pilot I was currently engaging. Not good. No ship on directional scanner. Good. The Russian pilot had started taking heavy damage to his structure. His engines were flaming and there was air escaping from the hull of that ship. With a flash, what had once been a majestic Minmitar frigate became scraps of metal littering the number one Asteroid belt at Planet Three in Nikkishina.

I checked my scanner for any incoming ships. Nothing. His back up had decided it was a lost cause and not to get involved. Unfotuantly my little Riffy I was full with my own supplies for my move to Ishomilken so picking through the wreck was not an option. I blew the wreck and anything of worth up and proceeded on my Journey to Ishomilken and the Black Rabbits.

To be continued...

Mail Lite's Back Story Continued

Gilgamesh1980, CEO of The Guristas Associates. Outlaw. Pirate. I needed to find out more about this brigand.

Back in my home station and with a bottle of Rum to hand I started my research. Gilg, as he was so called by his associates was the leader of a group of pirate corporations. I found out that, in the not to distant past, a number of corporations had come and gone from this sect. This included the corporation that Spectre3353 had sworn his allegiance to, The Python Cartel.

However three corporations still remained within The Guristas Association alliance.

The Black Rabbits, the ugliest bunch of scallywags I had ever seen up to that time, with more kills under their belt than any other pirate corporation I had currently seen in the area. They seemed to be most active within the Citadel region of space. After hacking into their files I found an application in one of the unused codes which, when activated, showed the ships and pilots recently destroyed by the gangs of this corporation. Ishomilken and Mara seemed like their hunting grounds. I stored this information for later.

The White Rabbits. It was strange reading about their exploits. The White Rabbits seemed to be made up of innocent miners, industrial pilots and couriers. They also seemed to run missions for the rich employers throughout the area. Were these pilots duped? Threatened? Or just did not know who they were aligned with?

And lastly, and most surprisingly there was a corporation called The Black Rabbits Academy. After viewing their files I found that they offered training and comradeship when a pilot decides to dedicate himself to a life of Piracy. They had maybe 30 members and they seemed to operate alongside and work closely with The Black Rabbits themselves. They were actively destroying ships, sometimes alone, sometimes with the aid of others. Large fleets had been formed encompassing not only The Black Rabbits but the whole alliance.

My bottle of rum had become empty. I yelled to the bar keeper for another bottle and kept up my Research. Koffie Black. That name seemed to be around a lot. Especially within the list of kills I had managed to get access to. Others seemed to feature quite prominently too. Stuart Price, Oddesima and Snipermurph to name but a few.

I was especially interested in the Academy, then names of the pilots I had never heard of but seemed quite proficient in the ways of the outlaw. Lacham, Laamir, Caldorak, and Umbra Vipera, the CEO and leader of The Black Rabbits Academy. The number of kills these pilots had been involved in. The ISK they made. The life they led…

I decided that, to become a better pilot and an even better pirate I needed to learn from those who knew the way of New Eden Piracy. Knew the life. I decided to apply for The Black Rabbits Academy. With the second bottle of rum now almost empty I started to compose the message that would usher in a new stage of my life. Tomorrow I would travel down to Ishomilken in my Rifter, newly named Riffy I.

Mail Lite's Back Story Continued

I killed him, an innocent miner, not hurting anyone. I am sitting in my home station in Malkalen again nursing a large dark rum, neat. I am staring at the log of Spectre again and rereading his musings and list of accomplishments. I feel bad for that Procurer pilot. Why am I doing this?

As I read through the log of Spectre I notice that, under all the text and useless date, buried in the annals of that log is a link to another, a link to the leader of a feared and respected all female corporation. Mynxee and the Hell Cats.

I scan through the logs, finding inspiration and yet another perspective of the life of an outlaw. As I am reading, my mind started looking for the specific piece of code. The piece of code I need to be able to hardwire my onboard communicator into the radio links of the Hell Cats just as I had done with The Python Cartel. Got it.

I swig back the rum, stumble out of the bar and out towards the docking bay, mumbling excuses to people I’ve knocked into. Once in my rusty Rifter I inserted the code into my receiver and it has worked. I was now able to listen into the Hell Cats channel whenever I wanted. While still in the grasp of the marathon drinking binge I undocked my Rifter and made my way back to Aurohen, freshly galvanised, and very drunk.

Once I have jumped through the mountainous Stargate I immediately warp to my favourite hidey hole. Not far from planet three and it’s surrounding orbital bodies. I immediately started to scan the system however I was having problem with my vision and thing we’re not going well. Was that another Rifter over there? Nope it is a Retrubution. Drake? Yeah that’s a Drake. Only 20km from me apparently… that’s not right… ummm…

Then my senses started to solidify again. Yes there was a Battlecruiser sitting only 20km from me. Yes he did have me targeted and no… I couldn’t engage warp drives as they did not seem to be responding. However I was not taking damage and I had started moving out of his range. Then the Drake seemed to come alive. He turned towards my Rifter and engaged his engines. His drake was faster than my Rifter. Some how he was managing to gain on me… 19km, 18km, 17km He was not going to let me get away so I decided to do the only thing that made any sense to my drink addled brain. Engage engines and move TOWARDS the Battlecruiser. 10km, 9000m, Engage Autocannons and fire!

I think he wanted to test his shield. He let me shoot him for about 3 minutes. He then engaged his engines again. 10km, 11km, 12km… Bang! One salvo from his massive missile launchers and I had lost my first ship to piracy. I warped my pod out of harms way in seconds… but not before I heard a ‘Good fight’ echo through my speakers. I went back to Malkalen and started researching the market for another Rifter and all my fittings. This is not over…

After a night of sleep my head felt better. I barely remembered my encounter of the night before but the sight of a brand new Rifter and all the trimmings brought it back. Drake. Toying with me. My rusty Rifter being engulfed in flames. I got the ground crew to get started on my new Rifter straight away. I was looking forward to getting back into the fray. It took them 3 hours to get my ship ready for departure. I got in my pod and fused it with the newly built Rifter. Time to get back to Aurohen, time to see if I can make it as a outlaw and a pirate.

I decided that the deadspace hidey hole I had been using was probably not a good idea so decided to search for a new one. I chanced upon a nice place between two of the planets where my scanner could pick up a number of belts, stargates and also the stations. I also found that, with a bit of computer wizardry I could gain details on the people who we’re currently in the same system as me. I started trawling through employment histories and biographies to see who was around. I noticed that a few of them seemed to be in the same alliance or corp.

Intrigued I started a secure ship to ship call with one of them. I explained I was new to the system and the way of life and asked what the benefits of being part of a larger group would be. As he was a Pirate I had to descipher his ramblings as they were filled with lots of ‘Yarr’s’ and ‘Oo Ahh’s’ but I got the gist of it. He was telling me that space was a lonely place for a pirate and the best thing a youngling could hope for was for a more experienced pirate to show him the ‘yarring’ ropes.
I cut the pirate I was talking to off mid ‘yarr’ as I had just seen a prime target. An Imicus had just landed at one of the belts… I hacked into his files and checked his alliances. Nothing, School of Applied Knowledge. The starting school, learning the basics. Good.

I start my warp towards the belt he is at. I land 30km away from him. Not great but not to bad. I engage engines and turn towards him. I don’t know if he’s noticed me yet. I was now in targeting range. But I decide to leave it a few beats.. 22km, 21km, 20km, 19km, targeting computer active and locked. Warp disruptor comes online. I’ve got him. He has now turned toward me and we are racing towards each other. At 1000m I engage my guns. The pilot engaged his guns. We are both running through shield and into armor. I activate my armor repairer. He is still steadily falling into low armor while mine is now slowed as the robotics do they’re job.

He’s in structure, and I am only 500m away from him when his ship explodes in a flash of brilliant light. His pod sits in the middle of the wreck. He must be dazed by the explosion as he doesn’t warp away immediately. I check my scanner. Nothing on scan. Locked and Warp Disrupter active. 500m away. Autocannons activated and his corpse flies lonely in space. My first real ‘Kill’

The Hell Cats channel suddenly activates with a 'Roar'. Someone is actually shouting 'Roar' down the communicater! His name is Gilgamesh1980

To be continued…