A Look at Retribution on the Test Server

.... or "A Trip to Buckingham.". Warning, a lot of screenshots incoming!

I'm a bad man! I admit it, I'd never been on the test server before! However, in my defence I do have a 20gb limit on my internet per month so a 1.5gb download is a lot. Anyway, I've been on holiday for the first week of this month so time to try it in the run up to Retribution. This is not a full list of the changes in Eve Online : Retribution and neither is it a Eve Online : Retribution review. It's simply me arsing about on the test server for an hour or two trying out a few things and taking a lot of screenshots. Whilst I was writing this over the weekend Susan Black was commenting on some of the changes on Twitter and she posted some pics of Retribution on her blog here.

Fairly easy to get onto the test server, full instructions here - http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Buckingham.

Basically, make a copy of your existing Eve folder called something different, create a new shortcut and edit the target line with the IP for the Buckingham server. But for smegs sake follow the full instructions otherwise you'll patch your main copy of Eve and have to reinstall to get back on Tranquillity.

Easy! Right, now what is new?

Vagabond, Tempest and Megathron Re-skin

The new Tempest.... well..... I'm not sure. Obviously in no small part to Clear Skies I have soft spot for the Tempest. The new one looks like a finished ship! That's not the Matari way. Anyway, like I said, I'm biased.

The Vagabond has had it's 2nd work over this year and thanks to Rixx Javix and the Frillseakers it has it's frills back! Somebody pointed out on Twitter (Susan Black?) the new paint job does make it look a bit like a Friesian cow and they have a point there!

Mega has had a re-skin too. Not a ship I use, don't even have one in my hanger, had to buy one to screenshot it. Not sure about the new curvy front.

However, my Vindicator does look a double-hard-evil-bastard now!

Destroyers

The four new destroyers to be included in Retribution are on the server....

....but only as blueprints so I had to log my alt on. Now I've done ZERO industry in years so had to fly 11 jumps to find some BPO's, return them to a factory near Drackarn as he can fly all destroyers and use all the guns which my alt cannot do, and remember how to build stuffz. Then I needed some minerals, so I bought a single big ship and repossessed that down to give the enough minerals to build each of the four BPO's. Then shipped them to my main who fit them and went ratting in each one......

I love the new Caldari destroyer, then again I am a missile fan. With a full rack of rocket launchers, the effects are great. The new Amarr and Gallente destroyers are meh (to me), then again I'm not a drone fan (and they really do need their drones!). The new Minmatar destroyer, well I'm not sure where that fits into the game. Then again that is from fitting just one, flying it out to an asteroid belt, killing a rat, then docking up. We'll see how I get on with them in the proper game.

The Ore Frigate.

Ninja Miners rejoice!

Really should try this out.... but.... mining? May be if I use an alt! Hang on.... the BPO is WHERE? Sod that.

New Camera Thingy

You can now set you camera to track to certain object. This is making video and screenshots easy. It also helps to see where things are and also to see where that slippery bastard just warped to :)

I like it, I like it a lot!

New HUD Changes for Combat.

You know how it flashes up really fast when you get hit but you cannot really see anything as its flashing up too fast. Now we have scrolling! Now before I undock my carrier... I am on the test server right....

There are also new hit types - Misses, Glances Off, Smashes, Penetrates, etc.

The targeting icons are also new with curving indicators for shield, armour and structure. My first thought was "I don't like it" but it grows on you very quickly. Of course the brackets are gone on the main screen replaced with the larger circles you can see above. Are we going to keep saying "He's red boxed" now there is no box (OK there are boxes still on the overview.....)?

Of course you also have the new flags. Didn't test them all but they appear to show you everything you need to know!

A New Button.

Hello. What is this? A bright green button to the top-left of my ship status round thingy.

Ah! It's a replacement for the annoying "Are you REALLY sure you want to do this?" pop ups. Looks like you can set it for Carebear (default), Wannabe (Orange) or Full Yarrrrrr (red). That will stop you going suspect, stop you going GCC or stop you in no way, shape or form!

Orbital Bombardment Ammo

As well as infantry gear, vehicles and weapons for the DUST-bunnies, the market has "Orbital Bombardment" ammo. Looking at the descriptions I think Laser is a precision strike, Hybrid is AOE effect and Projectile is battlefield EMP AOE. Interesting that there are no missiles for this.

Silly Things.

W...... T...... F......?

CCP Troll, best troll?

Anyway there are the most visual changes I saw in my play around on Buckingham. There are obvious a lot more things coming in Retribution (Crimewatch overhaul, Bounty System overhaul), I really liked the new "low capacitor" alarm! So why not get on Buckingham and have a go yourself. If we can break things on the test server and tell CCP about it, then we'll have a less buggy release in a few weeks!

Vengeance - Epilogue

Fan Fiction Friday! Alternative post in case those first three words made you break out in a cold sweat is this way.

This post is the epilogue for the Vengeance series. I hope you've enjoyed the series. I cannot believe this has been running eleven weeks! This post has been by far the hardest part of the series to write. I was going to end it on the last part where the full reasons were revealed and Captain Jorn became a True Slave or something horrible, but a posted comment on that one said it needed another, so here it is. Took a lot of staring at a blank page before I had the idea how I could do an epilogue.

For the near future, I'm currently finishing off two shorts and also looking ahead to the next series. The first short will be my entry for the Pod and Planet fiction competition and should be up next Friday.

The next one after that will be as a result of someone convo'ing me in-game with their ideas regarding one of my "game mechanics" type posts on here which led to "that is a good idea but it would be very difficult to incorporate that into the game, however, it would make a good story.

Then I plan a fiction break. I don't really want to do more than three posts a week, those who need daily fixes can easily get them at Evogander and Jesters Trek. That means when I'm running a series it takes up a third of the posts. I think I'll give it a few weeks break after the two shorts and the next series.

The next series I'm working on is basically the story that I would tell if I ever became a billionaire and decided to toss a 100 million into make an Eve Online Hollywood blockbuster movie. I think Sansha's Nation need to feature heavily given the pop-culture with zombies currently. And no, 100% no way will there be any sparkly vampires! Joss Weldon would direct obviously ;) Tempted to cast Nathan Fillion in the lead but would that be betting too Firefly'y? Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself, need to be a billionaire first and I'm not even a millionaire.... or a 100,000'er..... or a 10'000'er for that matter!

OK, lets finish off Vengeance.....

-o0o-

Vengeance - Epilogue

Dantan blew a low whistle through his teeth and took another drink.

"Wow. You're being serious aren't you?"

"Absolutely. I've never told the story to anyone before like that. When you look at it that way it is quite the tale isn't it."

"So what happened next?"

"Well I sold up everything. As a capsuleer you forget the real value of money. That Harpy class assault frigate is not considered a very expensive ship, but when you convert 30 million interstellar credits into local credits, then you have a lot of money. All I have left of my ship is that picture." he nodded at a framed photo on the wall showing a Harpy class assault frigate against a plasma planet.

"Next job was to get these damn implants out of my head. You'd be surprised how difficult that is. Every doctor I spoke to asked if I was mad."

The barman stopped his story as a woman entered the bar. She ordered a glass of wine and then walked away to the furthest booth by the window. Dantan watched her walk taking in the sway of the hips.

"I'd be careful with that one. She's more than you can handle!" laughed the barman quietly. Dantan smiled and turned.

"You're probably right. Go on."

"Well finally I found a medical centre who would at least cover the sockets on my back and neck. You thought you saw scars, they are not. Whilst I wanted them ripped out of my body I had to accept they were a part of me now. Like the pain. At that I point I realised that was it. I had no idea what to do next. Since the death of my wife and daughter all I ha thought about was killing those responsible and turning my back on capsuleering. Not for one second had I thought about what I'd do after than."

Dantan glanced over his shoulder to see if he could glimpse the lady but she had her back to them.

"If it was me, I think I'd go crazy. After all you'd been through, suddenly to be free and rich."

The barman smiled and chuckled.

"That is exactly what I did. I rented a pleasure yacht complete with crew. I went to my favourite club in the Federation and left with six girls and a contact number. A quick call to that number and a case of pills was delivered to the hanger. Whilst I was arranging all that the crew was stocking up my wish list of drinks. When we left Odotte later that day you'd think that a rock-star was on board. We partied and we partied hard. After about three weeks I woke one morning on the floor. The lounge was wrecked, everywhere I looked there was empty bottles, empty vials and unconscious half-dressed women. I started to rouse them but one wouldn't wake. Soon I had five panicking women and me. We rushed to a medical centre and got her help. Thankfully she was OK in the end. But the sight of her in the medical ward, well that's when I saw her without the tarty makeup and the whorish dress. She was just a young woman, like my daughter would have been if that day hadn't have happened. It hit me like a Matari 1400 shell. I left her enough money that she could live on for the rest of her life, flushed the contraband, emptied the booze down the waste and took the girls back to their station and cancelled the hire of the yacht."

Dantan lifted his glass to signify he'd like a refill.

"Then how did you get from there to here?"

"I was just getting to that. I withdrew pretty much. Spent far too much time in my quarters, had limited contact with others. I felt everyone I got close to got hurt. Then one day the buzzer on my door went. I opened it to find Amber stood there. Amber had worked in a club over in Caldari space where I was based when hunting the crew of the Night Terror. We had got on very well. I forgot I'd given her my details before I had left telling her to look me up if she was ever in the Federation. We had been good friends and lovers even if it was.... in that setting and nothing really more than a business transaction. She'd given up on that life and had taken an InterBus transport to Gallente space. Not knowing anyone here she looked me up to see if I had any contacts that could find her work that didn't involve swinging around a dancing pole."

The woman had finished her drink and came back for another. Dantan got a proper look at her this time. She looked Caldari with jet black hair and bright green eyes. She smiled at Dantan and returned to her booth. Dantan craned his neck around and watched her walk.

"I'm telling you, you do NOT want to go there." the barman said with a smile.

"Oh I don't know. I think I'm in there! Plus wearing boots like that! She's out for one thing and one thing only!"

"Sorry to disappoint you kid, but you're right, and it is not you I'm afraid. You'll see soon. Anyway, Amber and I spent a lot of time together. She pulled me out of the hole I was in and showed me there was more to life. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid. She was a beautiful young woman who knew what she was doing and I was an older rich man. Lets not pussyfoot around, we men always pay for it in one way or the other. Someone even said to me 'You know she wouldn't be with you if you weren't rich!' to which I replied 'And I wouldn't be with her if she wasn't beautiful and amazing in bed!'.

Both men laughed.

"Anyway after a few months we were walking down the promenade on the station when a woman pulls a gun in my face. I thought it was a mugging until I realised it was a crowded street. She simply said 'This is for Mellisa' and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. I was shocked and couldn't move. Amber simply let go of my hand and punched the woman in the face. Knocked her out cold. The police arrived and took us back to the station. Apparently they had recently installed dampening fields that prevented blasters from firing in certain areas of the station. I got lucky that new covert blasters, immune to the weapons scanners, had been appearing on the station so the security people took extra precautions. Once the Police knew that technically I was still a capsuleer and the woman who tried to kill me was a member of the Guristas they let me go and advised me to stick to the capsuleer decks for my own protection."

"Did you?"

"No, I took Amber and we ran. We moved around, enjoying ourselves but being careful. After a few more attempts from renegade factions of the Guristas, eventually things quietened down and we settled here."

Dantan looked thoughtful.

"There is one thing I don't get there. Clearly there are people within the Guristas that want you dead right?"

"Yes. Friends, crew members, lovers of those I killed. I don't believe the leadership of the Guristas wishes me harm. They understand and do not want people like Jorn, Bull and Slasher in their organisation. But others, yes they want me dead."

"So you've told all this to me, a total stranger. I could be a Guristas agent or assassin!"

The barman nearly doubled up in laughter.

"OK" Dantan said with a smile "But I could tell them where you are and collect a reward for the information. Why did you tell me all this?"

"Two reasons. Firstly I've wanted to tell my story to someone for a long time. Secondly, it doesn't matter as the Guristas assassin was casing the joint last night and has already returned tonight to finish the job."

Dantan's eye's went wide in shock. He span around to look at the woman, the only other person in the bar. She was already out of her seat striding towards the bar with a compact blaster rifle in her hands pointing at the barman.

"For Captain Jorn" she hissed as fired. The green bolts of plasma erupted from the gun and the barman just faced them, unflinching, with his arms folded with a look of defiance on his face.

The air above the bar flashed blue and ripples expanded out from where the plasma bolts struck the invisible shield. The assassin looked shocked and continued to fire screaming as she slowly advanced. The barman just stared her down. Suddenly the gun clicked and bleeped indicating the magazine was empty. She jettisoned the clip and was removing another from her handbag when the side door to the bar was kicked open. Dantan couldn't believe his eyes. The barman's, or capsuleer's, or what ever he was, wife was stood there, in her high heels, mini cocktail dress and holding a large plasma rifle at her hip in both hands.

"Hey bitch! I've got a present for you."

The assassin had spun around when the door had been kicked open. She tried to load the clip for her gun but never got close. The plasma bolt from the barman's wife's rifle slammed into her chest and errupted in a blue flash out the other side. A painting on the wall of a Dominix was holed and sprayed with blood.

The bar was silent. Dantan jumped as a hand patted him on the shoulder. He turn around and saw it was the barman.

"What? How? The shield? You knew? What the hell is going on?"

"The force-field is built into the bar. Scanners in the roof detect weapon discharge and activate it to stop any fire hitting me. Bio-scanners in the door are linked to a central database and tell me everything about the person entering the premises. I thought the Guristas had stopped chasing, but I'm not stupid, I'd taken precautions. I think it's time for you to leave."

Dantan just nodded. He felt numb. The attractive woman he'd been eyeing up was laying on the floor with a fist sized hole in her chest. The pool of blood surrounding her body was growing. He reached for his wallet.

"No need lad." the barman laughed as he walked to the side door and took his wife in his arm. "The drinks are on me." And with that they both disappeared into a side room.

Dantan left the bar and walked away trying to make sense of what had happened that night. As he reached the end of the street he heard a powerful hovercar accelerate heavily followed by a small explosion. He looked back and could vaguely see the cars lights disappearing down the street as fire started to emerge from the front of the bar. Sirens could be heard far in the distance.

Dantan smiled and thought to himself. "He might not be a capsuleer any more  but it would appear he will be reborn again to new life in the morning."

-o0o-

I'm Not Getting a Pulse!

There was an alliance op scheduled last night. For once it was at a suitable time for me! Yay. Pew pew!

All in big shiny battleships. A few support carriers, a few 'specialist' BS. Oh yes, undocking looks very nice!

 

However, I should have know shouldn't I? It was hardly peak time. In fact it was two and a half hours before any normal roam form up we'd consider usually on a week day. Why would an op be scheduled at that hour when most of the alliance are at work or just getting home? Because, as it turned out, it was a POS bash.

I ask you, what other PvP activity is so mind-boggling boring that you start thinking about what your weapon discharge looks like?

"Hang on, that weapons called a mega pulse laser and that is NOT what I'm seeing!"

 

 

OK, if you look closely the beam does appear to pulsate a bit. But it's a beam of a laser with a Bzzzzzzzzip sound. It should be called the Mega Bzzzzzzziping Beam Laser But Isn't A Beam Laser Like The Long Range Laser.

Mmmmmmm that might not work.

"Everyone ship up to Navy 'Geddons"
"Beams?"
"No, fit MBBLBIABLLTLRL's in the highs"

Yeah that doesn't work does it. So, rather than change the name, lets have pulse lasers pulse!

In all honesty I'm just talking about the visuals. I rarely fly laser-platforms myself. Whilst I can fly every Amarr combat ship except the Revelation and the Avatar these days (I can fly an Aeon, just no point if you don't have fighter-bombers) I rarely use them. I trained the Amarr skill tree last year simply as Amarr BS are the best in the game currently for fleet fights. Decent DPS, good tank, armour based (best logistically) and are, erm, gold? Not only did I have to start from Amarr Frigate, I had to also start from Small Energy Turret. That a few months of training to fly Amarr BS properly. Half way through I was flying an Abbadon with 1400mm Howitzer Artillery II's. That was fun ;) "Well hello Mr Falcon!"...... BOOM!

Anyway, back to lasers. I think a beam laser should just as it sounds. Like a Star Trek type phaser reaching out into the vastness of space and firing a sustained hit on the target. Pulse lasers should fire a stream of shorter shots like tracer rounds from an AA gun. Lasers should be the coolest visuals in the game, because.... well they are lasers! Even Dr Evil loves "lasoooooors"! Benjamin MF Sisko knows what I'm talking about. Which of these looks cooler?

 

 

Currently the missile effects are king of weapon visuals in Eve Online. I think lasers need to up their game in that department. Individual laser 'shots' flying through space would make for some more interesting visuals than the "line from ship to target". Then again that's just my taste.

 

Back to Eve, Sugar Daddies and Drifting Carriers

So I returned home from two weeks holiday on Thursday. The first week was on a dive boat going around the Red Sea visiting the various remote dive sites such as the Brother Islands and the Thistlegorm. Got to see some Thresher Sharks close up which was a first. The second week was at a beach resort on the Red Sea and involved doing not a lot, which was planned. Whilst I was there I did get on the internet briefly to find Rixx Javix came up with this rather epic piece of art based on The Expendables 2 movie poster featuring yours truly:-

That got me laughing out loud in the internet cafe. The next image I brought up as I was flicking through my Twitter email notifications was a naked photo of Sindel Pellion, to which the wife who was sat with me asked gently "AND WHO IS THAT!?!?!?!?". To be fair, her reaction was as you would expect when the wife finds you looking at a amateur photo of some naked woman. My reply of "Its Sindel from Eve!" was met with the response "Oh.... Legs! That is OK then!".

And no, I'm not linking the photo. Why? Because this may lead to lots of people using Google with the search term "naked photo of Sindel Pellion" and I know she just loves to see those sort of results in her blog's keyword search statistics. ;)

Anyway, at the hotel people watching was interesting, and what was most interesting was some of the couples staying there. First I thought it was nice to see so many fathers taking their daughters or granddaughters on holiday. Then watching a bit more carefully I realised that they were probably not related! Unless they came from the Lincolnshire Fens or the Somerset Levels.

I plan to do a blog post later about this in relation to Eve. Obviously these men very probably had money and power, as do the capsuleers in the universe of New Eden. What I would like to ask you dear reader, have YOU ever thought about how your character in Eve handles relationships? Maybe you get back to your quarters after a hard day of violencing spaceships to your space-pipe and space-slippers and sit down for a meal with your space-wife and 2.5 space-children? Are you having a torrid affair with the partner of a mega-corp director? Did some tragic incident in the past turn you into a loner who shuns closeness? Or are you a typical sailor with a girl (or boy) in every port (station)? Do you see your character behaving the same as those in our time with power and wealth, especially those holidaying on the Red Sea with a girl half their age? Wow, there are indeed a lot of demotivationals for this subject!

I'd really love to hear from you on this so I can list the various ways people see themselves in relationships in New Eden. Just need a couple of sentences such as:-

Drackarn - You could say he is your typical capsuleer. Aloof, superior and uncaring. He hasn't the time for relationships and generally relies on what's in the bar that night. He has previously had a "friends with benefits" type relationship with a female capsuleer but it never went beyond that.

You can comment below, Eve Mail Drackarn in-game or use normal email to that character name @gmail.com

Anyway back to Eve this weekend.

First thing I noticed is that as I logged in on Thursday is that I had a new chat window, 'Alliance'. The QCATS have joined the Drunk 'n' Disorderly alliance which I left over the summer. Will be interesting to see how things go.

First action on the Thursday was the report of a DARK-SIDE Tech 3 and BC gang in Tama. We jumped into some T3's ourselves and paid them a visit. http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=15139845

At the same time we were getting reports of a Black Ops BS gang not far away. As soon as we were finished in Tama we paid them a visit too. http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=15139852

Both of those fights had more ships in the enemy fleet. Just with a lack of loses and a lack of points on our side the KB's don't show all they had. Not bad for my first day back.

Next day I went out and solo'd a few times. Half way through a fight I realised that I was fighting a CATALYST and definitely not a COMORANT. How I made that mistake I have no idea, EMP is not best against armour tanks. I saw the scan, I loaded the right ammo for a Caldari destroyer. How did I mix them up. Thankfully I got lucky in that.....

......if they have zero tank then it doesn't make that much of a difference. http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=15146555

Later that day we heard the squids had a battleship fleet out. Again an annoying lack of points resulted in far too many escaping. http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=15147708

We were just docking back up when someone said they'd found a carrier drifting out of a POS shield. This resulted in the quickest ship up ever as we all hopped into dreadnoughts and got a mid-point cyno hastily positioned. Was funny really. I think it could be called "A headless chicken forum-up".

"He's still drifting"
"GO! GO! GO! Everyone in dreads. X get that cyno in position! Everyone undock! Light the mid-point."

With so many capitals undocking and jumping there was bumpage right, left and centre. Those of us who could dock as we flew past the station at mega-bumpage-velocity did and undocked ready to make the secong jump.

"He's slowing down! He's not AFK anymore and he's turning back to the POS."
"Get in front of him! Light the cyno! JUMP!"

I wonder what went through that Archon pilots mind.

1. SHIT! What am I doing ouside the POS?
2. 15km. Shall I 'burn' back to the POS or bounce?
3. I'll burn back it's not like there are many neutrals in system and what's the chance that anyone has eyes.
4. Yeah I'm heading back nicely now.
5. Were did that ship come from?
6. Is that a CYNO?
7. A DREADNOUGHT! AND ANOTHER! Oh and another, and another, and another....
8. ....... bugger......

http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=15148723

His mate in a Mrymadon within the POS thought he'd extract revenge on us by killing our cyno ship. Unfortunately us dreads had aleady swapped to long range ammo and stuck optimum range scripts in the tracking computers to take down the three disrupters they had within the POS defences.

http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=15146576

Nice to see one of them fitted a full set of rigs!

17 kills and 7.63bn ISK of ships killed for me on my return for no loses.

Vengeance - Part 11

Oh hai everyone! I'm back! Two weeks holidaying with Thresher Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks plus a lot of other life at 30 metres below the sea and then a week on the beach! Looks like the queued posts have been working whilst I've been away.

Anyhoo, back to normal and its Fan Fiction Friday. Alternate post for you who don't like this sort of thing is here at Freebooted. Still undecided if this needs an epilogue or if this is it!

Vengeance - Part 11

Jian lay flat on top of the Badger class industrial and poked his head inside the ship through the open hatch. The corridor was brightly lit and the ship interior looked new. He jumped inside and headed for the bridge.

They entered the bridge together, as they did the systems came to life. Consoles booted up and lights brightened in their presence.

"Greetings!"

They both span around. A hologram was facing them.

"Who are you?" asked Helena

"I'm sorry, I am a limited AI construct. I am unable to answer questions"

"It's the egger" Jian whispered to her.

"I'm sorry to have kept you in captivity for so long. I hope when you hear about who I am and what I have done you will understand. This hidden ship has been revealed to you due to two possible scenarios coming to fruition. Either I have completed my task or I have failed. I have been engaging in some risky behaviour in this endeavour, sometimes without the protection of my capsule. Either way, the facility has detected the signal and revealed this hidden hanger to you. A self-destruct sequence has also been activated. Whatever the outcome, I have no use for this facility any more  Do not panic, the 10 minute timer will not start until you undock this ship. Therefore I would recommend you get everyone on board and depart. The stations defences have also deactivated and you are free to leave. I am sorry for your incarceration.".

The hologram faded as the capsuleer finished his speech. This was followed by a low rumble as the ship powered up its reactor and engines. It was ready to fly.

Within the hour Jian had assembled all the residents of Hotel Egg onto the Badger and formed a limited bridge crew. A mere ninety minutes after discovering the ship, it undocked from the hanger array.

They were in low-sec and there was a station close. Jian wasted no time in ordering the bridge crew to warp to the station and dock up.

-o0o-

Gantor’s Crow class interceptor touched down on the landing pad at the outpost. A hastily constructed pod gantry had been erected. This outpost was not expected to have capsuleers present. After being extracted from his capsule he showered and dressed. The commander of the outpost was waiting outside his door.

"Sir. This is indeed an honour. If there is anything I can do to make...."

"Take me to your comms officer. Now!"

The commander simply nodded and led the way. It didn't take long as the outpost was small. The comms station was at the end of a dimly lit and filthy corridor. Gantor went inside alone. He found the comms officer sat at his station. As per his personnel record, he was an old man by Guristas standards. He didn't turn.

"Sir! Please forgive me if I do not stand. My legs are weak these days."

"No need Chief." Gantor looked around the cramped room. Various bits of old communications equipment were strewn around. It looked almost Minmatar the way old parts had been obviously jury rigged together. The Comms Officer was obviously making the best use of the outposts limited supplies.

"Do you know why I'm here?"

"The second in command to the Guristas pirate faction and The Rabbit’s right-hand-man comes to see me. A nobody, exiled to a back-water outpost in the middle of nowhere. I can only assume you are here about the capsuleer who was after a number of our officers. Hunting them, stalking them, killing them. You want to know why this is happening, why these particular officers. What is going on? And that question has led you to me. You already know the answers. But you want confirmation of your suspicions."

Gantor perched himself on the top of an old comms cabinet "My father was a starship captain. He always said to me, befriend the comms officer on any ship you serve upon. They are the ones who know what is really going on."

The old man laughed. He turned around in his chair to face Gantor for the first time.

"A wise man, your father. So you want to know what happened 18 months ago and why this capsuleer has such a hard-on for some of our officers."

"Yes." was Gantor simple answer.

"Well, it all started as a routine patrol. We were bouncing belts in low-sec and we came across some newb capsuleer mining away. Captain couldn't believe his luck. We attacked. Stupid egger didn't even have defensive drones. We got him to structure and stopped firing and just kept the point on him. Captain demanded one hundred million ISK. The rest of us knew the egger wouldn't be able to pay that. Hell, he was mining! He must have been poor. But the Capt'n wanted his hundred mill. The pod jockey was panicking. Said he had his wife and child aboard. How about that, hur. An egger with a wife and kid, surprised us all did that. He started offering himself as hostage and that he'd hand over the ship. Again Capt wasn't having any of it. He suggested he might want to kiss his wife and kid goodbye as he was going to destroy the ship. The egger was practically crying. Anyways, we see's the eggers ship launch lifeboats before we even fired. I think that was the Capt'ns plan."

"Where were you at this point?"

"Me? I was in me comms room. Capt didn't like me on the bridge. That was reserved from him and his 'Sick Six'. Together, that was the meanest, nastiest and ruthless seven officers you'll ever meet."

"Go on."

"Anyways, Captain orders the lifeboats scanned. Scanning officer lists up what he can see and one of thems got two women. Bio-scans says one in her 40's, one late teens. Obviously that's the eggers girls. So Captain orders it brought on board. He tells the egger if he warps off he'll kill em, and then fires on his ship and destroys it. The eggers capsule just sits there as he was told and the capt gets a point on it. Egger is beggin' the Capt not to hurt them and he'll raise the hundred mill if he lets ‘em go. Anyway, Capt and his ‘sick six’ leave the bridge and go down to the cargo bay. They got some snot-nosed junior officer manning the bridge whilst the Capt'n and his officers are in the cargo bay. Capt'n orders me to relay the audio from the cargo bay to the egger. The things that went on in that cargo bay sir. Haunt me forever it will."

"What happened?"

"I think you have a pretty good idea already?"

"I'd rather hear it from you."

The old man sighed.

"Not good, draggin up these memories sir. Well, Nutz and Sinner went first from what I could hear. Given the others, they were the two least crazy bastards. They used that poor woman everyway a man can. Every sound was beamed to that egger in high-definition along with a commentary from the Capt'n. He heard everything as clearly as if he'd been there with em. Fingers was looking after the daughter. She always did like the girls. Anyway, after them two are finished, the Capt'n sets Horse on the mother. They say that man's corpse will be worth a fortune as bio-mass. Every male capsuleer would pay handsomely to be wielding that sort of machinery! Anyways after him, Slasher goes next. That boy ain't normal. Always carries this huge hunting knife and likes to use it on the ladies when he's a with 'em. Once he was done the Bull goes. They called him Bull as he was always looking for a fight, and he did his lovin' in the same manner. He did nothing but complain that Slasher has to go last in future given what he had done to her. Anyway, once Bull is finished with her, Capt throws mum who's beaten black and blue and bleeding badly and daughter back in the life boat and flushes em back into space. Daughter should have been fine, no lastin' damage from that one known as Fingers. Mommy on the other hand, well she was in a bad way. The first three, well they did enough to her but Slasher and Bull did the real damage. Capt goes back to the bridge and taunts the egger some more before firing off a smart-bomb a few times. Fries all the life boats, the eggers pod and the wreckage. Day later I request a transfer to another boat, that kinda shit is not what I signed up for. Capt'n goes in a rage. Beats the crap out of me and I wake up here. Transferred all right. Arse-end of nowhere."

"And what about the capsuleer?"

"Capt'n got out of there pretty quick. He knew the egger would be in a new clone and looking for a ship. May be he had friends. Who knew. All the Capt'n said was we didn't want to be around when he got back on account of what we'd done to his family. Nobody disagreed."

"You didn't report all this to command?"

"Sir, I got two daughters and three grand-daughters on one of our stations. Would you have..... given what got the Capt'n and his sick-six got off on? No way I was going to have my girls treated the same as them poor women just 'cus I got a consonance."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me sir. Thank that capsuleer. He might have caused the Faction a lot of problems. But he erased seven problems that we should have erased ourselves."

"Six. Captain Jorn is still out there somewhere in patrol." said Gantor as he turned to leave.

"Well sir, far be it from me to correct you sir, but you might want to check your NeoCom when you get back to your ship. May be there is some interesting mail waiting for you. Sounds like we lost a certain ship an hour ago. Just vanished without a trace. No explosion, no mayday, no beacon, nothing. Simply there one minute and not the next. I be a guessin’ some capsuleer caught up with Capt'n Jorn. I'll let you read the rest in the report waiting for you."

Gantor smiled. His father was right, the Comms Officers were the ones always in the know.

-o0o-

The Angel Project

Hi all! Still on holiday and hopefully diving with sharks, morays, lion fish, groupers, stingrays, octopus and a whole manner of other sea life. Below is a quick interview I did with Sindel Pellion before I left! Please note comments will not be posted until I get back. This blog gets a fair bit of spam so need to filter out the spam and its dirty, dirty links!

-o0o-

When I think back to 2008 and my first few months in Eve the things that spring out at me are the learning cliff and trying to support myself with sod all ISK or assets. I recall times when I had the prerequisites for a new skill but didn't have the ISK to buy the skill book. Then once I had finally bought the skill book all the ISK I had was gone so couldn't afford the shiny new ship I could now fly with my super new skill! It was slightly maddening.

If you are on your own, Eve can be a hard game to get into. You need to grind ISK in order to get the better skills and ships you needed in order to grind more ISK to get the better skills and ships you needed in order to grind more ISK to get the better skills and ships you needed in order to grind more ISK........

The lovely Sindel Pellion....

.....has been running a scheme called The Angel Project since June 2012 which aims to help the struggling new players get into the game.

Hi Sindel!

How would you describe the Angel Project in the least words possible.
It's an in-game "charity".

OK, so how about if you had plenty of words to describe the Angel Project!
The Angel Project is a place where people who need things can go without worrying about being turned down because of the length of time they've played or the alliance they're in.  Anyone can ask for and receive help from the project.  It's also a place where people can donate items, isk and ships and know that it's all going to a good home.  I receive donations of isk, ships, time, advertisement and transport, and I give new and struggling players isk, ships, items or anything else they request.  Oh, and up there ^^^^ you called it a scheme.  That makes it sound dirty.  It's not a scheme.

How do you find those players in need of help?
It started out with me going around to newbro systems and yelling in local.  I'd give things to people who respond.  For example, I'd buy 10 Kestrels and then type in local that the first 10 people to open trade windows in this-or-that station would get a free frigate.  It's amazing how long that would take.  I'd have to wait an hour to give away 10 ships, people are that skeptical.
This project is pretty much entirely word-of-mouth.  I rely on the people I've given to to spread the word for me.  So now, the people who need things are finding me. "A friend got a ship from you and told me I should ask you for help . . ." That kind of thing.

What is the most common help you give to new players?
Sadly? Isk.  I have this PILE of ships, but they don't usually want T1 Frigates.

Do you find any difference between new players based on the race they chose? For example are Minmatar players more independent and ask for less help?
I'm not seeing that much of a difference in people who ask.  I WILL say that Gallente newbro space is the friendliest newbro space, though.  Caldari newbros ignored me and I tried multiple systems!

Do you ever offered help to someone and they are "Thanks but no thanks. I want to make it on my own?"
I have gotten that response and I respect that.  I wouldn't be where I am without the help I received, but everybody's different.

Do you ever get the opposite of that with some players wanting more than you give?
Yeah, I get that a lot.  Sometimes, it's in jest. Other times, people are actually angry that I won't give them a dreadnought.  I tell them if they're trying to bankrupt me, they're missing the point of the project.

What has been the most common reaction from people who have received things?
They are grateful.  Adorably, heart-warmingly grateful.  A lot of them try to give back to the project right away.  I try to refuse their help, saying if they came to see me, they aren't in a position to donate, but most are insistent.  They'll at least give me a T1 ship or a few thousand isk.  Yup.  Thousand.  It's great to see.  I tell everyone who receives something 3 things:

Pay it forward. To me. To someone else who needs help. Doesn't matter who, so long as the cycle continues.
Spread the word to as many people as possible.
Do NOT take advantage of the project. Everyone can request items, but abusing it just isn't cool.

They've all been very good about following the steps. :)

Eve Online is notorious for its scams, con artists and backstabbing. Do you find suspicion amongst those you are trying to help? Do they automatically assume its a tarp?
EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. has asked what the catch is. No one thinks that they can get something for nothing in this game.  I once had a poor guy scared to click the 'Accept' button on the trade window because he thought he had to pay!  The newbros AND the seasoned vets all assume I'm a scammer.  It doesn't help that I'm based in Amarr, but I needed a market hub that wasn't Jita, but Amarr is known for it's colorful scams.  I just like it for the people, the reasonable prices and the central location. :(

The other thing Eve Online is famous for is players coming up with ways to milk mechanics. Is there a worry that people might try to take advantage of you?
I am fairly confident that I have already been taken advantage of.  Do I worry about it?  No.  Why would I?  Karma is a bitch, especially space karma.  If you're that dissatisfied with your life that you're going to take advantage of some girl trying to help people succeed in this ridiculously complex game, you can have the damn ships.  Maybe they'll bring you happiness.

Without naming names, what has been the biggest single donation to the project.
I already named him on my site, but he gave me 5 billion isk.  ♥

What are your hopes for the future of the Angel Project?
I would like for this to grow to the point where I don't have to constantly watch my wallet.  I'm doing well right now because I do laugh off large requests and ask if they'd like something a little less pricey.  It WOULD be nice to help people get into things like jump freighters and Tech 3 ships someday.  I'd be awesome to fund roams for newbro-friendly corps.  And if someday this grows so large that even CCP endorses what I'm doing, I'd be over-the-moon-happy.  But as of right now, I can at least do something to help-- and that's enough.

And finally, any last words? 
In order to keep this thing alive, more people need to know about it.  Thanks, Drackarn, for doing this write-up. ♥ And thanks to the readers. As for the project, I appreciate any type of donation I receive, regardless of the amount.  It might not seem like a lot to you, but every bit adds up.  And if you need anything, please come see me. :)

Super Capital? Say Hello to My Lil' Friend!

Many people believe the proliferation of super caps is harming the game. And there is more than a pinch of truth in that. Super cap blobs are all too common. This has seriously hurt capital warfare as people don't want to drop dreadnoughts as they may get 30 super-carriers counter-dropped on them. But dropping 40 dreads onto a titan CAN be fun occasionally.

It is even now at the stage that some low-sec faction war corps now have multiple titans!

The issue is that the counter to super caps is MOAR super caps. Is this right? Or should super caps need protection? Think the current aircraft carriers of today, they always are surrounded by a support fleet of destroyers and the like. You need to protect the big, expensive shiny from all threats. But what are threats to supers in Eve Online?

Torpedo Boats!

How about a new tech two battlecruiser, the torpedo boat which is able to equip a special type of torpedo launcher. Was it Wing Commander II that had special torpedoes for taking down capital ships? Phase Torpedoes or something?

"The Bombardis has been specifically designed to carry the Shadow Torpedo Delivery System. This weapon is devastating against super-capital sized vessels and coupled with the Bombardis' sensors that specifically lock onto weak points on the target, a fleet of these can be a super capital pilots worse nightmare. However, whilst this ship is capable of devastating damage against super-capitals, it is extremely vulnerable itself and its weak defences are no match for other combat sub-capital ships."

The ship should have a terrible lock time. I mean seriously bad. If you ain't locking a super, don't bother.
The ship should have a tank like an Ibis (well not that bad, but worse than a tier 3 BC).
It manoeuvres like a brick.
The ship has limited module slots, 3/2/2 or something bad like that.
They should be next to useless against anything smaller than a sub-cap.
The torpedoes should have crap range. 30km or so.
Even with the above, the ship should make any super capital pilots pants turn brown.

The idea here is to make a ship that is paper thin, useless against anything but super capitals and has a big delay in firing its first volley. As well as the crap scan resolution (the interference from those uber powerful warheads cause havoc with the sensors) the weapons should fire at the end of the cycle time with the cycle timing being upwards of 30 seconds.

If the super(s) has a suitable support fleet then these BC's will be useless. A single tier 3 BC should be able to alpha these with no worries. Drop a hundred of these and if the enemy fleet has 20 or so tier 3 BC or BS, then the supers will be safe and the defence fleet will get a lot of kills. The torpedo boats will die quickly to any decent support fleet given the time it takes them to fire. But if they are allowed to fire, the results will be devastating to the poor super pilot.

Just an idea.

Vengeance Part 10

Vengeance Part 10

Captain Jorn ordered a cycle of microwarp drive. The cruiser was nearly in range. He needed this loot. He needed the cash. Whilst his comms had been running dark he had been receiving messages, he just wasn’t sending. He'd followed the reports as that capsuleer had slaughtered his old bridge crew. He knew he was next and needed the cash to run. His Drake class battlecruiser closed on the Thorax. It's heavy missiles taking down the armour plates of the hapless cruiser with ease.

"Sir, Assault Frigate on scan"

Jorn froze in fear.

"It's landed 100km off sir. It's aligning out. It's warping off again."

Jorn checked his console. It was him! But he had warped off without engaging.

"Sir what should we do? That was a capsuleer!"

"That capsuleer is a high-value target we need to take him down."

"Sir?" the XO sounded uneasy.

"Launch probes, scan him down!"

It took a few minutes before the Nav Officer got a lock on the Harpy. "Warping to him now sir!"

"Good! I want scram, web and painter on him as soon as we land." Jorn had refitted the ship a week ago especially to take down a Harpy. The warp tunnel collapsed and the Harpy appeared before them.

"What in Divinities Edge!?!?"

The Drake dropped out of warp by a wormhole. They just landed in time to see the Harpy vanished inside.

"Follow him!"

"But sir! That's a violent wormhole, it could lead anywhere!"

Jorn pulled out his side arm and pointed it at the XO.

"FOLLOW HIM!"

The Ferox entered the wormhole and re-established visuals on the Hawk.

"GET HIM!"

"He's warped! He's gone towards that beacon that we have on overview sir."

"Warp to zero! NOW! Catch him as he lands."

"Aligning to the beacon. Entering warp sir.... it's a short one, twenty seconds to warp bubble collapse and..... Sir! We just passed the Harpy in warp. He must have made a safe spot between the gravity beacon and the wormhole!"

"As soon as we drop out of warp drop probes, I want him scanned down the....."

"SIR! Oh my god......"

The Ferox dropped out of warp as it reached its destination. They had dropped out of warp into the middle of a fleet. At its heart a Reverent supercarrier loomed in the distance!

"GET US THE FRACK....."

Alarms went off on the bridge as warp disruptors locked onto the Ferox.

"Sir, we're pointed! We're also webbed and heavily neuted. That thing out there sir! It's moving towards us!"

The bridge crew sat in silence as the Reverent supercarrier slowly turned towards them and the rest of the Sansha fleet approached.

"Incoming comm channel sir, it's the Harpy!"

"Open the comm link."

"So Captain Jorn, it's been a long time."

"What have you done you egger bastard!"

"Me? I've done nothing. What have YOU done? Well from what I can see you jumped into an unknown wormhole, warped to an unknown beacon and have been snagged by a Sansha's Nation fleet. To be perfectly honest with you, that's not good Captaincy if you ask me."

"You bastard!"

"Me? Don't be like that captain. I'm sure you'll make Sansha a lovely experiment. If you are really lucky you'll just become a True Slave. A mindless zombie blindly obeying every order. I hope that after the procedure, somewhere in the back of your mind, you still know what is happening to you. To me, that would be hell. Stuck, hopeless and unable to escape."

The capsuleer disconnected the comm line as the captain screamed in rage and as the lead Nation ships started to launch boarding parties. The Harpy aligned towards the exit wormhole and warped.

-o0o-

"That all you got Capt'n?" Helena said between breaths. Jian grabbed the ball from the net and threw it at her. She caught it squarely.

"Come at me bro!" he said with a smile opening his arms wide.

Helena returned the smile and crouched, pushing herself of the floor and projecting herself to the ceiling. The one tenth gravity allowing her to leap 30 feet effortlessly. Jian watched her glide. Sweat covered her abdomen between the skin tight sports crop-top and shorts. She pushed off the ceiling and came towards him, her arm pitched back ready to throw.

Something caught Jian's eye. On the back of the court there was usually nothing, just a featureless wall, but Jian noticed a small pulsing red light. The ball sailed passed his head into the net as he was distracted. A second later Helena tumbled into him knocking him onto his back!

"Ha 2-0!" she gloated as she sat on top of him. He quickly rolled her off and started over to the far wall of the court.

"That wasn't very nice! I thought you said that you preferred me on top!" she purred laying on the floor of the court where he left her. Jian and Helena had been an item for the last week and the relationship had got extremely physical, extremely quickly. However Jian was more bothered about reaching the blinking light.

"What's that?" Helena asked, walking over.

"I don't know. It's a small light set into the walls surface. But I've never seen it before."

Jian ran his fingers over it and it slightly depressed under his touch. He gave it a push and a low rumble occurred. Suddenly the playing court floor started to separate from the centre. Jian and Helena backed off as the floor retracted. A huge grey metal shape began to appear as the floor retracted.

"Erm, now what? Did you just activate some sort of death-trap?"

"Don't panic, we're still at point one G. I can see a deck down there, worst case scenario we float down a level but what is that?"

The huge grey metallic shape took form as the floor retracted further.

"That's a Badger! A Caldari industrial vessel! I'm going for a look!" and with that Jian took a running jump, landing on top of the huge transportation vessel. Helena followed him. He walked along the back of the ship until he got to the fore. He knelt by a hatch and opened the command console next to it. As was normal for ships like this there was a ten digit keypad, what was unusual was that a code was scratched into the metal covering. Jian hit the keys and the hatch opened.

"Careful!" Helena said.

"Trust me!" was his only reply.

-o0o-

In The Red Corner......

Blog Banter 40: Interstellar Blood Sports

"There is no finer spectacle in the universe of EVE Online than the explosive dance of weapon-laden spaceships in combat. The yearly Alliance Tournament is the jewel in EVE Online's eSports crown and the upcoming New Eden Open should deliver the same gladiatorial entertainment showcase.

Given the scope of the sandbox, what part should eSports play in EVE Online and what other formats could provide internet spaceship entertainment for spectators and participants alike? "

You git Matt! I've partaken in every Blog Banter since I started blogging and I have limited time before I fly away on holiday for the week. I've also got posts scheduled up so I'm going to have to move the lovely Sindel to November so I can get this to post on Sunday! Oh and the taxi will be here soon! Do I rush a post, or do I miss this one out? Bad timing Matt! ;)

Right, back on topic Drackarn. eSports!

I love the Alliance Tournament. I loved taking part in the PvP tournament at Fanfest this year. I would love to see this expanded in Eve Online. But how would it work? And I'm not talking simple mechanics here. I'm talking about fitting in with the back story and lore of New Eden.

Basically we could have PvP arenas with spectators. A reverse PoS shield, rather than being unable to get in, you cannot get out. Maybe 150km diameter? Arenas in Eve Online have always been a touchy subject. I think we have had blog banters on them in the past and generally they are seen as "un-sandboxy". How can we make them fit in? There are competitive combat sports in New Eden already. Think Mind-Clash, so capsuleer gladiatorial combat isn't much of a step up. Blame the Caldari megacorps for setting it up!

There would be benefits to this. I've had countless solo roams where I have failed to find any fights at all. Sometimes I do wish for a World of Tanks "Battle" button in Eve. Just push and receive PvP. But that sort of instant PvP really doesn't fit in to Eve. We'd need some sort of NPC organisation to produce a Thunderdome type arena  Two capsuleers enter, one capsuleer leaves. 

May be there would need to be several of these around. They'd need to be in low-sec so the security status challenged could use them. That would also make those systems popular for gate camping. Getting to the arena might be a challenge on its own!

We'd also need a level playing field. Fleet boosters would have to be screened out, and what about implants   A high-grade implant set and 5% skill hardwirings make a big difference in PvP, especially 1v1's. Would we need a system to pair equal pilots?

Yes, to have a simple and accessible "Thunderdome" in New Eden would not be simple!

Then we'd need some spectators. This would be an obvious Incarna feature for the bars. The ability to control a camera and place bets on the next fight. However, will we ever get Incarna bars? If the arena was a "reverse PoS shield" people could sit outside and look at the ships inside fighting. But if you cannot lock them, then you have no idea who is winning, whether it is a close fight or one sided. Oh and how many people will turn up to gank the spectators. No, spectators would have to be in station. Some terminal in the CQ that lets you browse battles? A view similar to the AT format where you can select the ship to look at and control the camera?

Bets! Now that opens up a new avenue with match fixing and cheating. But if anything, surely that is in the spirit of New Eden.

So I'll keep this one short. Yes, I would like to see some sort of PvP arena that I could take part in, watch fights in or bet on. But it would have to fit into the back-story and the lore. I don't want to be in Nisuwa station and have a big button marked "PvP". 

200 Posts and Some Gallisms

This is my 200th post here on SC&S and I'm still AFK on holiday! Hopefully I'm still somewhere in the middle of the Red Sea getting some cracking dives in.

Just a quick view of the stats over those 200 posts.

• 126,000 views.
• Most popular post is the PL titan gank.
• Apart from Google, most people have found their way here via Facebook, Eve Bloggers, Reddit, Eveogander and Evealtruist.
• Most popular search words in Eve are "Eve Online Inferno" and "CCP Punkturis". Seriously guys.....
• Readers mostly come from the US, then UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Russia and Norway.
• Firefox and Chrome are most popular with IE still there at 16%.
• 74% of people are using Windows, 8% on Macs, Android devices are 6% with iPhone, iPad, Linux, Wnidows NT and Blackberry finishing up.

In other news I was sad to hear my ex-CEO and friend, Gallactica, is quiting Eve. If you've been in the Gallente/Caldari militia for any length of time you will of heard of him. Shadows of the Federation led the Gallente come-back in 2009 when the Caldari held all of the low-sec warzone with the formation of the Villore Accords. That agreement between several of the larger Gallente militia corps resulted in a turn around and the pushing back of the Caldari. From the Villore gate in OMS being camped by the squids 23.5/7 we were camping the Nourv gate in Tama within a few months.

But with three young daughters (Oh are you in for some fun when they hit teenagers mate! You'll need to hire a portable toilet for the garden for your own use!), heavy workload and a wife, he's decided to quit Eve.

Hopefully he'll be back, never say never etc. I could list the achievements he accomplished in game, but that would be boring. Instead I'll go for some of the greatest Gallisms.

7 years experience, 100m+ Skill Points, "What warp to zero button?"
Gall had a reputation for losing pods. In low-sec this is rather uncommon. We always assumed he had bad lag as he always said he was trying to warp. Then one day someone asked if he was already spamming the "warp to zero button" as he was going down. He had no idea what we were on about. Apparently he was right-clicking in space, selecting a celestial  selecting warp, selecting 0km. Unsurprisingly he was getting snagged by fast tackle. He had no idea about the warp to zero button in the top right-hand corner.

Underpants and Computer Says No.
Gall was online in a hotel whilst working away. It was late, the red wine was flowing, and we were killing. He went AFK to get some more drink, and came back disappointed as the girl at the hotel bar wouldn't serve him. It wasn't that late and we all know Gall is a charmer so what was the problem? Apparently his hotel room was 3 doors from the bar, so rather getting dressed he ran there in his underpants. Unsurprisingly the lady at the bar said "Computer says noooooo." in a Little Britain styleeeeeee.

Apricot Scrub
---Censored---

I'm a Pretty Lady!
For some strange reason Gall shared a certain photograph with us that Eelis turned into a recruitment poster. No need for any more words here.....

If any SoTF'ers can remember any more, post them as comments and I'll add them all when I get back to civilisation in two weeks!

Vengeance – Part 9

Righto, hopefully this posts OK as I'm on holiday. As an alternative post, this is a rather great post on CCP's Eve development strategy and whether they are going in the right direction.

Vengeance – Part 9

The capsuleer's badger class industrial approached the station. He'd not flown an industrial ship in over a year. It's hold was full hazardous materials. His manifest had stated the cargo was fuel for a capsuleer control tower. Even the capsuleers were scanned by customs occasionally and questions would be asked why he was carrying so much hazardous fuel. A scan is all they would do too. There were very few customs officials that would be prepared to do a detailed search of a 4000 cubic metres of hazardous materials on their salaries  The cargo he carried nicely masked the small package in the centre of the hold from the customs ships scans. The small container secured in a shield case held less than 50 millilitres in volume, but had cost him more than the ship he was flying.

As he approached the docking ring he checked the confirmation emails. The agent had confirmed the arrangements had been made and they awaited his 'go' and transfer of the money. With a few simple thoughts the capsuleer instructed the local credits to be transferred and a simple reply to be sent back to the agent.

"Tonight."

The ship jolted slightly as the tractor beams locked onto the ship and eased it into the station and into one of the capsuleer hangers. The capsuleer was a bit disappointed to be back in a dull grey, but functional, Caldari station. He had much preferred the Gallente station he had last stayed on. The Minmatar station he last visited was a quick in-and-out visit. As he expected, the Bull had been particularly stupid and easy to lead into the trap that cost him his life.

The capsule detached from the badger class industrial and docked with the pod gantry. After being disgorged onto the deck the capsuleer reached for a towel and wipe his face. He was smiling. The end was in sight.

-o0o-

Meeka "Horse" Vasges smiled, this was going to be a fantastic night. He'd gone out for a drink as normal but this time had scored straight away, in his favourite bar too! He had met the two gorgeous women as he ordered his first drink at the bar. They wasted no time in starting the flirting and had been all over him from the start. At first he thought they were in competition with each other, seeing who could take him home. He'd been wrong, they had expressed a wish to share him together tonight and now the drink was flowing freely.

Meeka was desperately trying to think of an excuse to get these women back to his quarters, but he didn't want to appear desperate. In the end he didn't have to come up with any excuse.

"Soooooo." purred the Minmatar beauty "When are we going back to yours?"

"Yes!" joined in the Gallente stunner "I want some real fun!"

"Well ladies" smile Horse, "Let's go!"

They took a hover-taxi back to Horse's quarters. As soon as they were inside the two women were kissing each other and ripping off their clothes. Horse just stood there dumbstruck. He had a massive stupid smile plastered over his face and had whispered a silent thank you to his good luck that was making this come true for him. He undressed clumsily where he stood as he watched the two women who were now on his bed making out with each other. When he was finished undressing they looked at him and gasped!

"Wow! Do you think we can both handle that?" one of the women asked the other.

"I think so, but I think we need to be in charge!"

Horse smiled. He liked the sound of that. The two women grinned and led him over to the bed. Using the discarded belts and stockings they tied him to the bed. Once he was secure, they gathered their clothes in silence and left.

"OI! Get back here! You cannot leave me like this! Get back here you bitches!"

There was movement, a man entered his bedroom.

"Who the frack are you?"

"You don't really know me Horse. You knew my wife though." said the capsuleer as he placed a bag on the table. He withdrew two strange arm-length gloves made of some type of flexible shiny metallic material and started pulling them on. Horse became afraid.

"Dude! Look I have partied with many women. They don't tell me they are married! I ain't done nothing wrong!"

"You've done nothing wrong? Oh, how about in the Onnamon system?"

It took several seconds of thinking for Horse to realise.

"No! We killed you!"

The capsuleer rolled his eyes "I'm immortal, idiot!"

The capsuleer removed a sealed case and carefully undid the clasps.

"Look man! I was following the captains orders!" Horse was struggling in his bonds. However it was futile. The women the capsuleer had employed through the agent had done a good job in making sure he was secured. They had been proffesionals in more than one sense of the word.

The capsuleer removed what looked like a spray vaporiser gingerly. He held it up in front of his face as if he was studying it carefully.

"Nanite technology. It's wonderful isn't it. They can repair ship systems, fix 1600mm thick armour plates, devourer waste, and can even be used as a weapon. Nanites constructed to consume human tissue and a small vaporiser this size can reduce a grown man to nothing but a foul smelling vapour in less than 30 seconds."

Horse started to cry.

"But these, ah, these ones aren't as fast. They've been slowed down specially for you. These ones take their time! They work very slowly."

And with that the capsuleer gave a short spray on the body part that gave Horse his name. Horse was panicking but felt nothing as the capsuleer packed up and left the room.

A minute later Horse felt a tingling sensation. Then the pain arrived. It took over an hour until the nanites had consumed through enough flesh to open an artery in his thigh and kill him, and he had screamed in agony for every second of it.

-o0o-

"Helena Wateen, please to meet you captain."

"Please, call me Zian. A captain has to have a ship, and with me being here, well you can probably guess what happened to mine!"

Helena laughed causing Zian to smile. She looked around his age, Gallente with sharp cheekbones and a slender body. They had just met in the makeshift bar that had been constructed in a spare store room at Hotel Egg. Thankfully one of the rescued cooks from liked a drink. He'd managed to build a still and used ingredients from the kitchen stores to make the bars only drink, Gabo's God-awful Green Grog. It was a very strong moonshine that made Minmatar spirits taste smooth in comparison. But it was strong and also it was all they had.

They drunk the night away telling old battle tails from their time in the Guristas.

Zian found himself enjoying himself for the first time since he got here.

As the night wore on the bar patrons started to disburse. Helena turned to the Captain.

"Hey, Zian. Look, I, er, don't usually do this. But. Would you like to come back to my room?"

Zian smiled and stood, taking her by her hand. As they left the bar he looked around at the last of the crew remaining.

"Who are you capsuleer?" He thought to himself. "Why are you doing this? And more importantly, where are you now?"

In terms of light years, nobody could say at the distance between the capsuleer and the facility at that moment. He was sat in a cloaked ship watching a vast fleet. He had to admire the supercarrier sat at the heart just positioned off the gravity distortion. That is what led him here. He had spent weeks searching for this, and when he'd got to the right system the beacon had shown up immediately on his overview. Everyone who entered the system knew there was something there, just not exactly what it was. If they warped wrong, then they would be confronted by a fearsome sight. His plan was almost complete. He had the waypoints programmed into his computer. Now all he had to do was to lead the chase. The ship aligned invisibly against the unfamiliar pattern of stars and nebulae and warped to one of those waypoints.

-o0o-

"His WHAT was eaten by nanites?" Gantor held his head in his hands. It felt that everytime his aide entered his office these days it was to report another horrific death.

"The medical staff say it was one of the most horrific deaths they have dealt with. They were all men by the way. The nanites started on his, well you know his handle. Once they had finished with that it was other parts in the region. He finally died when they opened up an artery in his thigh and he bled to death."

"Any luck tracking down Jorn?"

"No sir. His ship was due back 48 hours ago. I think we can assume...."

"Don't assume! Find him. We need to know, I need to know what really happened on the Night Terror that day. He's the last one who can give me an answer."

"Yes sir, but given that he's over-due I think we can assume the capsuleer has got him. However I will ask the station Comms Officer to continue trying to hail him."

"Sorry? What did you say?"

"I said, sir, I'll ask the Comms Officer....."

"Never mind, just give me the complete crew manifest for the Night Terror."

"Yes sir, sending to your datapad now!"

Gantor scrolled down until he reached the Night Terrors Communications Officer at the time of the incident.

"Well dad. Let's see if you were right." he said under his breath.

-o0o-