Some recent adventures that started in low-sec in a Heron.

Wrecks left on a gate
Echoes of violence past
My salvage drones feast!

Hunting with D-Scan

Elite wrecks found on a gate

Salvager cycles

A battle raged here

Cold wrecks now litter this space

After me?  No trace.

I follow the kills -

Null-sec promised many wrecks.

It also has mine.

Note: this was written as my entry into the Pod & Planet Competition, YC117, Freeform/A day in the life of category.

FLEEETS

Signal Cartel has a pretty outgoing core set of members, who are brilliant at organizing all kinds of fun fleets and activities. I’m going to talk about two of these which I had chance to attend (in some form or another).

The call had gone out with my Corp for explorers to help raid the Devil’s Dig Site, a fixed multi stage combat site with some weird artifacts and a lot of cans to hack. Oh, and a load of sophisticated rogue drones guarding them!  I didn’t realise places like this existed within New Eden, I’m nearly two years old and still learning new things! So when the call went out for dps, hackers and some form of logi I thought it would be fun to try and do something new as something new.
I signed up for logi, went and read about shield logi, started training up a few skills ahead of the op and went to sleep. What I didn’t do was check in on the op details regularly, so I didn’t spot a doctrine fit being posted that was not what my skills were aiming for.  The time for the op came around, I had just bought myself a very nice Bantam, with lots of nice fittings that I thought I could fly quite well. And then I read the updated op details and my heart sank, 9 days of training would be needed before I could join the fleet. And in that time, the mission op would definitely be over!

Now there are ops where being in doctrine is essential, and turning up in the wrong fit is genuinely a liability. However I got the feeling this was more of a fun fleet than an ultra-serious one, so I decided to at least turn up an see. I half expected to be told I’d be a liability / risk, but at worst I figured I’d get to see a fleet leaving!  As it turns out, the corp/fcs were really friendly and let me tag along. Ok, I probably wasn’t all that useful - I think I spent most of my time shield repairing a very tanky drake and flying towards ships since my remote-repair range wasn’t far enough. But it was an amazing amount of fun, and I can say that I was there.

In a similar way, a few weeks later a tourist fleet to B-R5RB, a monument to titan wrecks from one of the largest battles in the game, was organised. The form-up and leave time were slightly ahead of when I’d be available, so I had resigned myself to another great event that I’d just have to miss.
(I am fully aware that I should step up and organise some events of my own, but with a serious lack of being able to commit to times when available, forward planning is tricky. However I do hereby promise that next time I log in for an hour + session to form a fleet).  

In my play session before, I had bought and equipped an exploration interceptor, after spotting the fitting in Corp Fittings and being intrigued. With bubble immunity and a fast align time, it’s designed to explore null-sec, in theory able to slide past most gate camps and not get caught.  Since I was too late for the fleet, I decided to take a jaunt out to B-R5 myself. The interceptor made fast work of the 20-or so jumps from Thera to the monument. When I arrived the site was amazing, not just the titan wrecks - but the tourist fleet was still there! Which meant I was immediately hit by a flurry of fireworks from my loving corpies.  I managed to get an invite into the fleet & jump on comms just as the group was disbanding, but a couple of us hung around for an extra 30 minutes or so to run data and relic sites. Bonus!

On an unpredictable and often limited play schedule it can be really hard to get involved with corp events. However it really is worth it to try (if it’s appropriate - e.g. probably best not to pitch up to a srs businez C5 Wormhole Sleeper event in a Kitsune). The amount of fun and camaraderie you get, even from a few occasional interactions, is where the joy of this game comes from for me.

Now to find an hour’s play time and set up a home-base welcoming fleet…

T3

Boring diary time...grabbing the odd hour-here-and-there to log in.  Had a lot of fun staging out of Thera and flying  around null-sec running sites.  Made about 40million in an hour or two to sell back to Signal-Cartel's buyback scheme.

Then I (along with everyone else!) gained a load of extra free skillpoints.  With Caldari Destroyer 5 finished a few days before, and a clone-jump to Amarr, I was instantly able to get three levels of Caldari Tactical Destroyer into my mind.

I fitted out something for high-sec combat exploration and went looking for adventure.

[Jackdaw, Exploration]

Ballistic Control System II

Damage Control II

Cargo Scanner II

5MN Microwarpdrive II

Relic Analyzer II

Small Shield Extender II

Medium Shield Extender II

Adaptive Invulnerability Field II

Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher, Sisters Combat Scanner Probe

Light Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Fury Light Missile

Light Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Fury Light Missile

Light Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Fury Light Missile

Light Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Fury Light Missile

Light Missile Launcher II, Mjolnir Fury Light Missile

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II

Small Ancillary Current Router II

Small Core Defense Field Extender II

While there were some rats to shoot, most of the time I'd get to a site to see an Astero or Navy Slicer fly past, already in the throes of completing it.

I did say hi in local, but everyone seemed so focus on their ratting that my presence went mostly unnoticed.

Later a corp-mate was looking for someone to help run SOE missions, so about 15 minutes of jumps let to 30 minutes of level 2 mission running.  It was great fun to be in a little fleet and helping someone to do something.  Other people make all the difference.

Much later I found the combat-site pickings a bit thin.  Instead I decided to put my Combat probes to work and start hunting out abandoned drones.  After getting some advice in alliance chat, I started working the d-scanner into my hunting technique, and soon was drowning in tiny robotic friends.

Join.A.Corp

There is nothing like going to alliance chat and saying "Hi I'm new" and getting a wave of friendly greetings and questions.  I have a feeling joining Signal-Cartel will be one of the better decisions I've made in this game.

This morning I discovered my application had been accepted.  Only problem, you can't join a corp unless you're in a pod (for once, I wasn't!), or docked (I was at the outer-edges of null-sec).  Fortuitously - thanks to a lot of trial and error with autopilot and Eve-Scout's Thera wormhole map, it turns out I was only 6 jumps from a link to Thera!

So after briefly racing a Russian in a Crane, (he beat me, while pointing out that I could never be as fast as him - though I'm going to blame it on  one of the systems we crossed being soo big I had to re-charge my cap twice to warp across it), I got to enter the spooky wormhole, warp, (re-charge my cap again) and land at my new home base.

Corp invite accepted, opportunities map now completed, and time to say hello in chat.

The future starts here, and I think it's going to be fun!

Something new?

Last week I spent an hour faffing around and inefficiently trading in some old mission-running LP for some kind of nexus chips.  They haven't sold yet.

Looking back at my last log I realise I need to find other capsuleers to do stuff with - even if it is for an hour a week.  I think it's time to find a player corp to join (fringe benefit - ticking off that final pesky opportunity!).   Signal-cartel seem to have a really interesting approach to playing the game, so I've thrown an application their way.

... downtime ...

... lunch ...

Exploration time - jump cloned to Thera to pick up my scanning buzzard.  Spent an hour wandering between wormholes, and saw some pretty things (see right) guarded by sleepers that I couldn't safely do much too.  Finally, I found an exit to the far reaches of null-sec.

TFPT-U, out in Outer Passage.  Seems, quiet.

In-fact there was a whole lot of empty space out there.  I managed to happen upon a covert research site, and my paper-thin buzzard managed to liberate an ascendancy and wetu bpc, before backing off 100km to watch the fireworks as the angels came to destroy what was left.  Later a relic site yielded two upgraded drone bpcs before it was time to find somewhere safe to hole-up for a while.

I guess next time I'll need to get my goodies back to somewhere safe to be made and sold...

Faction War - traps, plexes and ore

It was a trap.  What's worse is, I knew it was a probably a trap - 10 minutes before I'd just lost a Merlin to it (and my pod).  A tormentor, just hanging around by itself above an acceleration gate.  Tech 1 frigate, shield and armour not at 100%, probably easy pickings from a previous fight gone wrong...of course I've got a chance of killing it.

Or not.

Ok, I didn't really expect to kill it, particularly not in the cobbled-together fit I was flying from whatever parts were left in my hangar.  But I had a go!  I was hitting it, managed to stay inside web-range, didn't mind being scram'd.  And then some other ships appeared... and I was quickly back in my hangar.

Roll with the punches, I'm here to make things explode - if it's my ship, no matter.
Lets head out again, what do I have to hand?  Just a Hawk I'd bought as something to aim for.  Recently completed the skills to actually equip the Tech II rocket launchers too.  Let's head out, couple of jumps, and huh, there's that tormentor again, and I'm in a much stronger ship.  Bet I can crush it quickly!

Or not.

Guess I should have paid a bit more attention in the last fight - I might have been hitting that tormentor, but, not really damaging it.  Ah the benefits of hindsight afforded by a my slightly tankier Hawk taking longer to make its inevitable fall from grace as the horde descended.

Ah well, it was fun.  I don't mind being slaughtered so much - the feel of battle in a ship I can only-just-afford-to-lose is great.  And I know I don't have a clue what I'm doing, but I think that's ok.


A week on and I'm back in my hanger.  I've managed to throw together a few more Tech I ships (Condors and Kestrels) from the various supplies and salvage I have lying around.  Once more into the warzone!


So a little about me, I'm Canatana, currently sitting on 23 million skill points, had my Pilot's Licence for about a year and a half.  I've dipped my toe into many things in New Eden, mostly as solo capsuleer, but briefly as rank-and-file for a larger corp too (I've heard they might be recruiting).  Recently I've gotten embroiled in the Amarr - Minmitar war, but I think it'll soon be time to move on and try other things.  But right now, right now I'd quite like to blow something up that isn't me.

And sometimes you need others to help you.  I'm not really a fan of corps, I often only get to spend an hour a week awake, and I like to flick around.  But that doesn't mean I can't use Local, or Militia chat:

o7 Any fleets up?

 Deafening silence.  I flew out to Huola to see what's going on - looked like a small friendly (but silent) fleet milling around and quiet WTs.  Managed to defensively-plex a small site and then decided to dock up and take on a Level 1 FW Security Mission from the local agent.  These never go well, but seemed more interesting than spinning around beacons.  Besides - I do love cutting off some ore supply lines!

8 Jumps. Quiet.
7 Jumps. A lot of friendlies.
6 Jumps. Two WTs and a criminal.
5 Jumps. A LOT of neutrals.
4 Jumps. Circadian Seekers.
3 Jumps. Bored.  Being educated about Buffy Anne Summers by 'Buffy Summer's bio.
2 Jumps. Nothing.
1 Jumps. Even less.
Target system: Oh my goodness, no-one in local!

Quite a few rockets and 8 jumps later and I'm talking to my agent again to claim my reward.
About an hour's time awake and I've gotten about 3000 LP, and 300k ISK AND NOT DIED :)
Not the best, not the worst, but now it's time to sleep until next week.