Poor, Rich, Poor Again

Entry: six hundred.
 
Two days ago, I was dirt poor. I had sixty-two million to my name, and in null sec, that's pretty damn poor. Yesterday, I ran a seven of ten DED complex in FV-, and I was able to tank entire rooms by myself, but needed help on the last room, and as such need to split the profit from the Nightmare BPC we got. Today, I went about trying to make a little ISK in my Munnin in TG-, and made a fatal mistake that got my Munnin destroyed by a Drake.

There's this trick to being in a signature that I heard about. Supposedly, when you go into one, you become practically unprobable while in it. However, drones get no such bonus. I was feeling pretty safe, what with only two neutrals in local and twenty odd in system generally moving around quite a bit. I warped to the site, went to work, and was probably seventy or so from the warp in when the Drake landed next to me. Having completely fit wrong against Drakes, I went down in a handful of seconds. At least I got my pod out, although that doesn't really affect my bottom line since I have no implants.

Aside from a cloaky prober that got on me, my guess is one of two: either I got scanned down and what I had read about the signature radius bit was bull, or my drones got scanned down and I paid the price. Either way, I'm not real happy about the situation, but the guy flying the Drake did a good job.

I'll admit it, it's a shit combat fit, but for dealing with Sansha, it's pretty damn good.

So, now I have a hundred fifty million in my wallet, four hundred million waiting in the wings with this Nightmare BPC, and down one hundred fifty million for the Munnin if I replace it. I'd admittedly bought the Munnin sniper HAC fit, planning to lose it back when I still had three hundred million, but hard times come and stuff happens. My net profit so far, despite this shitty loss, is still at least 200 million.

What lesson have I learned? Don't use drones in signatures unless you need to. Don't fly a Munnin to make a couple million when you can use it for DED plexes to make hundreds of million. Use something more economic, like a Wolf, or a Cane, to do the small fry stuff.

What lesson will I not have to repeat? All of the above, and most importantly, not letting the loss completely get me down, or raging, or going back.

Computer: terminate recording.

How Things Seem

Entry: five hundred ninety-nine.

Things in Stain have mostly been rather quiet. CTAs have been few, roams have been frequent, almost matching that of our "move home" portions during our normal campaigning.

Our normal MO is to deploy for a few weeks to a few months, mess up whoever the enemy is, come home for a month to recoup ISK. During the 'staycation', we normally experience a large number of roams and very few CTAs.

You know what this looks like to me? That we've given up. Red Overlord on the other hand has deployed north and is constantly assaulting DRF assets. This has taken much of the pressure off of us in the South, but we're not doing anything with it. We're not SBUing DRF systems, we're not raiding their systems, we're not doing anything but sitting back and waiting for the DRF to come at us.

Hakawu spoke with me and a few others late last night about this, and he wants to try something. He wants to form up as many bombers as possible and attack the HED-GP station. Question is, how long will it take one hundred fifty bombers to reinforce a station? How long for one hundred? How about two hundred?

If he manages to get that fleet together, we'll find out.

Computer: terminate recording.

White Noise Defense

Entry: five hundred ninety-six.
 

Time: 19:06
System:  MB4D-4
Region: Stain
Sovereignty: Sansha's Nation
 

[ 19:06:50 ] Me to Intel: Eggnaug  MB4D-4 Solar System nv
[ 19:07:23 ] Me to Intel: 16 man red gang coming from  MB4D-4 Solar System
[ 19:07:29 ] Me to Intel: BaltickMan +15
[ 19:07:39 ] Me to Intel: looks like a nano BC gang
[ 19:07:43 ] Me to Intel: drakes, canes, scimis
[ 19:09:44 ] Me to Intel > red gang left  MB4D-4 Solar System
[ 19:09:56 ] Batttlekiller to Intel: they in lgk
[ 19:10:57 ] Me to Intel: vaga tengu x2 scimi cane x3 drake x6 dramiel harbi sabre = red gang in lgk now
 

*****
 

[ 19:13:34 ] Nitor1013Z to Alliance: OK LOOK
[ 19:13:41 ] Nitor1013Z to Alliance: there are 15 baddies heading this way in battlecruisers, and right now we have a chance to form. Are u people really going to wait until they are in fv?!
 

*****

Time: 19:32
System: FV-SE8
Region: Stain
Sovereignty: Sansha's Nation
 

Nitor: "When you undock, warp to me. Warp to me guys, before they bubble the undock. We don't have a lot of time."
Computer: "Warp drive active. Warping to Nitor's location."
Nitor: "Alright, everyone align station...everyone warp station, warp station."
Computer: "Warp bubble collapsing...aligning to station...warp drive active. Loading Republic Fleet Phased Plasma M; this will take approximately 10 seconds."
Nitor: "Microwarpdrives on, burn at them out of the bubbles."
Computer: "Warp bubble collapsing."
[ 19:33:34 ] (notify) Nitor1013Z has started trying to warp scramble "Sirlene Akaro"
[ 19:33:40 ] (notify) bassie12bf1 has started trying to warp scramble "BaltickMan"
Nitor:  "Come on microwarpdrives ON guys. BURN OUT OF THE BUBBLES MICROWARPDRIVES ON! Align planet one, burn out of the bubbles align planet one!"
[ 19:34:05 ] (notify) Aligning to FV-SE8 I
Nitor: "Warp planet one!...everyone make it out?"
Darius Ringhal: "Lost a Scimitar."
Nitor: "Everyone with me align back to station."
???: "They've left into FZ."
Nitor: "Everyone warp FZ."

*****

Time: 19:43
System: UF-KKH
Region: Stain
Sovereignty: Sansha's Nation
 
Nitor: "Everyone warp to the bounce on the O5Y3-W gate."
Computer: "Warp drive active...warp bubbling collapsing. Enemy targets approximately two hundred kilometers Z negative."
Nitor: "Align...planet six customs...warp at fifty."
Computer: "Warp drive active...warp bubble collapsing."
Nitor: "Align back to the O5 gate guys."
???: "They're landing."
???: "We're right on them!"
Nitor: "Primary is the Harbinger! Get points and neuts! Take him down!"
???: "He's down!"
Nitor: "Dark Eirlys in a Drake! Get the Drake!"
[ 19:47:15 ] (notify) You failed to target nothing.
???: Grid crash!
???: "Where'd they go?"
Nitor: "Keep burning! There they are, get that Drake!"
[ 19:47:19 ] (notify) You failed to target nothing.
???: "What's going on?!"
Nitor: "Keep burning and get that Drake!"
???: "There he is!"
[ 19:47:38 ] (notify) You are already managing 0 targets, as many as your ship's electronics are capable of.
Computer: "Warning: ECM drones are jamming your ship."
Nitor: "Come on take that Drake out!"
Computer: "Warning: Shields succumbing to heavy fire."
Me: "Random warp out."
[ 19:47:56 ] (notify) External factors are preventing your warp drive from responding to this command. Warning: Ship is out of control.
Computer: "Warping to Stargate FZSW-Y...warp bubble collapsing...jumping."
 

*****

 Time: 19:51
System: FV-SE8
Region: Stain
Sovereignty: Sansha's Nation
 
Nitor: "Well guys, that sucks, we should have had that."
FurionSavage: "The grid kept crashing, which was why we couldn't kill them. If that hadn't happened we would have crushed them, we were right on top of them.
Nitor: "I'm in a chat with their FC, and they said they were getting grid crashes also."
FurionSavage: "It's bullshit...that should never have happened...we would have destroyed them."

Hold the Line Once More

Entry: five hundred ninety-three.

Turns out there's been a discrepancy in my logging. Some clerical errors were made, they'll be resolved. Today is my five hundred nintieth day as a capsuleer.

I've not been as active as I would like, but circumstance at current forbid me from being so. To top it off, it seems the galaxy has been quieter these days. I find myself if many other capsuleers are in the same boat as me in terms of time management, or if they're planetside on vacation. I'm doing what I can to sort out some of these issues to give more time for killing and less for admiring my ass in the mirror.

We had a small op today, nothing serious. We dropped some SBUs in GE-8JV, recently taken over by the DRF, then proceed to push the IHUB and Station into reinforce. It was a small CTA, maybe seventy members in total with a little under half being supers. Total operation timer was about thirty minutes before we burned back to GE-8JV.

Hopefully, once I get things in order and my ships moved, I can get back to killing on top of CTA fleets.

Computer: terminate recording.

GE-8JV falls

Entry: four hundred eighty-one.

Today was the final timer for GE-8JV, a station timer. The -A- team was set as the defensive force, the DRF the attacking force.

Archie formed us up an hour early in a bomber fleet. Against All Authorities didn't show. FAIL and FAILP were the only alliances that even bothered to defend GE-. That said, we were seventy strong, and seventy weak at the same time.

After setting up bookmarks and pounce points, and having been told to fit scorch bombs, the DRF came for GE-. Our cover was blown, as the DRF quickly figured out that seventy uncloaked bomber meant a bomber defense. This is to say it wasn't meant to be a defense, but a killing spree if we could get one.

While the DRF handled the station, we warped to the TCU and cloaked. Having seen us, they had bubbled themselves at the station hoping to drag a a few foolish bombers. We didn't entertain them that way. Once done with the station, they warped to the TCU, and I had the privilege of seeing at least six supers and titans taking it out. They again bubbled their fleet, hoping for drags, but none came.

Archie ordered us to warp to a belt, and we all got decloaked. The DRF came after us, and a few bombers were destroyed while most got away.

Some time later, Archie got a warp-in on the DRF fleet, and told us to bomb the rather obvious target. He called out warp-ins by squad.

That didn't go well.

The warp-in may or may not have been good, but the calls for squads to warp in were too clustered together, and after the first squad's bombing run, the rest of the squads got caught in bubbles by the DRF fleet. Being in squad seven, I was literally half a second from warp when a bubble caught me, keeping me from warp, resulting in my Hound's destruction and my exposure to vacuum.

The headache I woke up with in FV- left me unable to think for a few minutes. Shock and pain were my world. 
 
Just before that last bombing run, I remember seeing a DRF TCU onlining.
 
Computer: terminate entry.

GE- Station Reinforce

Entry: four hundred seventy-nine.
 
Last night Maka called for a pre-timer op at the GE-8JV station. Basically the job was to repair the station before the DRF showed up. The op started thirty minutes before the station was to come out of reinforced mode.

Not long into the repair operation, the DRF dropped fifteen caps, consisting of titans and supers. The repair operation was obviously cancelled. At some point, the cap fleet jumped out.

An hour later, the full CTA fleet of about one hundred sixty for the -A- team had formed up on the titan and bridged into GE-.  Our immediate target was the DRF SBU, but when someone called out that there was a neutral hound at the station lighting a cyno, Maka ordered us to that cyno at zero and to open up on the NCdot forces that had bridged in.

It seemed that NCdot actually wanted a fight. No capitals of theirs had bridged in, just their subcapital fleet.

With our at zero warp-in on the enemy fleet, our Hellgeddon fleet seemed to be destroying the enemy arty Abaddon fleet. As a Logistics, I got the sense that we were doing ok in keeping the Geddons alive.

With that, Raiden dropped supers, and according to Maka, NCdot was not happy. Maka ordered us to withdraw. Those in fleet foolish and greedy enough to fit sensor boosters instead of cap boosters and microwarpdrives were destroyed as the fleet burned out of the bubbles.

Unable to fight supers, the -A- team withdrew from the field, the DRF putting the station in GE-8JV into reinforcement. I'm not clear if it was shield reinforce or armor reinforce, but I've been hearing that the next timer in GE-8JV for the station is the final one in two days.

Unless things change, GE-8JV is gone.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

A Jaunt, a Steal, A Chase

Entry: four hundred seventy-six. Continuous recording mode.
 

*****

System: 9CG6-H
Region: Querious
Time: 01:00

nut custard: "I'm taking out an assault frigate and interceptor roam. We'll leave at half past the hour."
???: "Where're we going?"
nut custard: "I'm thinking about going down into Delve."
???: "There's going to be a chance to kill DRF supers in LGK- in about forty-five minutes, you could go do that..."
nut custard: "Ehhh, you know, I'd rather not. It's not fun getting blobbed to hell all the time. I'm perfectly happy going down to Delve and doing some small gang stuff.
*I totally agree.*

*****

System: 9CG6-H
Region: Querious
Time: 01:30

nut custard: "Destination is in fleet, we're burning to four out."
Computer: "Programming route to 1DH-SX."

*****

System: A-ELE2
Region: Delve
Time: 01:49

nut custard: "Everyone warp to 1DH- at...ten. I got us a fight, but it won't be one for long."
???: "In warp."
nut custard: "Gotta hurry guys..."
???: "Oh man, he's already like eighty off."
nut custard: "I knew I should have fit a microwarpdrive to this instead of AB."
???: "Well, they know we're here now..."

*****

System: A-ELE2
Region: Delve
Time: 01:50

Scout: "There's a Harbinger and a Malediction here at the gate. Coming back."
nut custard: "Alright, I need two suicidal guys to go into 1DH- for me."
Me: "I'll go in, anti amarr here."
Grim Starwind: "I'll go in."
Scout: "Harbinger warped out."
nut custard: "Grim and Truen1ght, jump in and get that Malediction."

*****

System: 1DH-SX
Region: Delve
Time: 01:51

01:51:44 ] Approaching Shit Nailer . Grim Starwind has started trying to warp scramble "EEPLURIBUS".
??? : "Hurricane just landed."
01:52:21 ] 150mm Light AutoCannon II deactivates as Shit Nailer begins to explode.
Grim Starwind: "Malediction is down!"
nut custard: "Get that Hurricane!"
01:52:32 ] Xelea Yauntyrr has started trying to warp scramble "Liberal Swan"
nut custard: "He's webbed!"
Legasti: "He's neuting me out."
nut custard: "Keep all DPS on the cane!"
???: "He's going down!"
01:53:21 ] 150mm Light AutoCannon II deactivates as K|||3R begins to explode.
nut custard: "Nice kill guys!"

*****

System: 1DH-SX
Region: Delve
Time: 02:03

nut custard: "Alright guys, we're take the long way around. I like coming down here for the truly awesome kills you can get, but I hate how Brick has to throw a hundred guys at a small gang like us. Destination is in fleet."
Computer: "Programming Route."
Me: "Display route."
Computer: "F2OY-X, 4-2UXV, RKM-GE, DG-L75, K4-RFZ, 8-YNBE, E-VKJV, 3-DMQT, N-8YET, 1DQ1-A, T5ZI-S, D-W7F0, 4K-TRB, QX-LIJ, O-IOAI, NOL-M9."

*****

System: QX-LIJ
Region: Delve
Time: 02:17

???: "He's gone."
???: "He was afk at a gate!"

*****

System: NOL-M9
Region: Delve
Time: 02:20

nut custard: "Everybody warp PR- and jump on contact."

*****

System: PR-8CA
Region: Delve
Time: 02:22

???: "The Rapier just warped to you, his gang is on the other side."
nut custard: "Everyone reapproach gate."
???: "Rapier landing."
nut custard: "Everyone jump and reapproach."

*****

System: NOL-M9
Region: Delve
Time: 02:25

nut custard: "Get that Rapier!"
02:25:46 ] "Approaching TACKLE ONE"
02:25:53 ] nut custard has started trying to warp scramble Appius. You have started trying to warp scramble Appius.
???: "He's jumping."
nut custard: "Yep..."
Scout: "His fleet is on the other side, drones out."
nut custard: "Yeah, they want to us to fight them on their terms, and we're not going to give that to them. For now, everyone reapproach and hold."
Scout: "They're approaching gate and pulling drones."
nut custard: "Everyone take the warp, everyone take the warp!"
???: "I didn't get a warp."
nut custard: "Everyone warp O-I, sorry about that, could have swore I got the warp...jump on contact. We're gonna head home for the night."

*****

System: O-IOAI
Region: Delve
Time: 02:29

nut custard: "Shit. Ok guys, calm down. Hold your cloaks. When I say, approach the gate and jump, no, not now...everyone approach!"
02:29:38 ] ...has started trying to warp scramble Xelea Yauntyrr.
02:29:53 ] SharkStomp3005 places an excellent hit on you, inflicting 822.7 damage.
02:29:55 ] ...has started trying to warp scramble suun Leeh.
02:30:00 ] Jumping to Stargate (O-IOAI) in NOL-M9 solar system.
02:30:00 ] Unorthodox Snake has started trying to warp scramble Legasti.
02:30:01 ] Fredrick Pirkibo has started trying to warp scramble nut custard.
02:30:02 ] Ajax33 has started trying to warp scramble Dadbbad.

*****

System: NOL-M9
Region: Delve
Time: 02:32

nut custard: "I'm dead guys, you'll have to make your way back home without me now. x up with who survived."
Me: "Survived."
Jessba: "x Sabre alive."
Neok1337: "survived."
Me: "Computer, set destination P-ZMVZ, take the back route."
Computer: "Route Programmed."
Me: "Display route."
Computer: "HM-XR2, AJI-MA, Q-HESZ, 1-SMEB, 6Q-R50, A-ELE2, Z3V-1W, ... P-ZMVZ."
Computer: "Warning, TEST fleet is in pursuit."

*****

System: P-ZMVZ
Region: Querious
Time: 02:52

Computer: "Destination reached." 
Me: "Computer, terminate recording."

Kil2

Entry: four hundred seventy-five.

I was in a Hound at the time. I had joined a fleet to go bomb some DRF subcaps, fighters, and fighter bombers, ie cost them a great deal of ISK. After the formup, I found out that the op was cancelled because the DRF wasn't coming. There was a glitch in something invulnerable being destroyed, and CCP ie CONCORD somehow intervened.

I know, I don't get it either.

Op cancelled, I was returning to P-Z in Querious to find out that Kil2 was in a Drake and had entered 5V- from 49-U. I and several others gave hot pursuit.

We chased him through 5V- and into 3-JCJT and found him setting up a drag bubble forty off the L3-I3K gate. A friendly Eris and a Nemesis engaged Kil2 on the gate with me. I set up the target painter and sensor dampener while aligning out, microwarpdrive active. I got off four volleys of torpedoes before his first and last volley of missiles hit me, taking me into high armor. I warped out immediately. The Eris and Nemesis were not so lucky.

More reinforcements incoming, Kil2 jumped into L3- and then into the next system, K-L I think. After a few minutes, Kil2 jumped back into L3- and was engaged by a Cynabal, Armageddon, Drake, and two Hounds, of which I was one of. Kil2 appeared to be fit into a nano Drake, as he was outpacing the other nano Drake that had accompanied us.

I aligned at an asteroid belt behind him, microwarpdrive on, and activated everything. Target painter, sensor damp, torps, all on Kil2's nano Drake. It didn't take long for him to target me yet again, apparently having given up on taking out the nano Drake, Cynabal, or Armageddon. Another volley of missiles slammed into me as his Warrior II's rushed at me and then strangely returned to him.

The armor alarm went off. I warped out, twenty-seven percent armor remaining. Once at the belt, I cloaked up and burned straight down. After a few moments, I considered warping back in to engage yet again when Rumless reported Kil2's drake was destroyed.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

EXTRA! EXTRA! -A- falls back to Stain!

Entry: four hundred seventy-four.

Shortly after the DRF receeded from GE-8JV, redeployment orders were given. Against All Authorities and Cascade Imminent were to redeploy to LGK-, five jumps from GE-8JV. LGK- is Sansha controlled space in Stain. Shortly after that, Cascade was given new redeployment orders to P-Z, two jumps from 9CG6-H.

From the standpoint of a grunt sub-capital pilot, this move by Against All Authorities is signalling the end of real resistance against the DRF. At the same time, the move by Cascade is signalling the end of aiding -A-, changing strategies to support Morsus, RAZOR, and Brick.

As I lack leadership roles, or the ability to use capitals, I can't provide those standpoints.

-A- claims that it will keep up the pressure, that it will continue the war, but I myself find this a little skeptical since the staging system chosen by -A- leadership has no cloning services. On the other hand, I find this believable, as Morsus and RAZOR continue to exist, and will soon be fighting the DRF the way things are going. To further support my belief that they will continue the fight, if -A- doesn't get it's space back, they'll have no renters to fund the combat they want to engage in.

It's a confusing situation, time will tell the truth of the matter soon enough I suppose. I just wonder what is in store for Cascade at this point however, as it's been discussed that we ourselves might need to pull back to Stain to reclaim our space.

Computer: terminate recording.

HED-GP falls, GE-8JV under siege

Entry: four hundred seventy-three.

HED-GP fell today to the DRF. It was a no-contest takeover. GE- is also currently under siege. It seems that the whole of the DRF have turned their ire towards us, as opposed to only NCdot and White Noise.

Honestly, I didn't see it coming, even though I should have. Ever since taking their first timer, they steamrolled the remaining timers by simply outblobbing us. After taking the timer, they began bringing six hundred and eight hundred man fleets. Simply put, we do not have the manpower to deal with it.

This could change, if the entire south bands together. Right now, Against All Authorities and Cascade are the most of the allied forces. Remaining forces that could be deployed are Atlas, Red Overlord, and Nulli. With Evoke and Ewoks attacking Morsus, RAZOR, and Brick, they are not really able to leave their space to help push back the DRF.

GE- has been sieged for four hours now, the station in GE- just being put into shield reinforcement a few minutes ago. While six hundred of their pilots sieged GE-, the DRF took HED.

So much for conservative estimates about holding off the DRF for another month. They're already in GE-. We'll just have to see if we can hold the line at GE-, but firesale spikes in the market seem to indicate a loss of faith by residents. Given that, I'd say it'll be a short wait before the DRF sieges CZK-.
  
I think we'll still be trying to retake HED and hold the line at GE- despite these rather major setbacks.
  
Computer: terminate recording.

Morsus, Brick, and Cascade? The Fate of HED-GP to be Decided Tomorrow!

Entry: four hundred seventy-one.

Today was interesting, to say the least.

Hakawu broadcast a call for an AHAC fleet. Twelve Guardians were required to take the fleet out. Formup was CZK-. 

After approximately an hour, we'd reached the requisite number for an AHAC fleet, ie twelve Guardians, a Blackbird, and the rest in Armored Heavy Assault Cruisers. We moved locations to 8QT-, and ended up being bridged by a Morsus Mihi titan to 1DH-, territory technically owned by the Blood Raider Covenant though truly controlled by Morsus, Brick, and RAZOR.

After the way we had denied the former Northern Coalition space so steadfastly, I had thought the day would never come that we would end up going so far as to use their titans for bridges.

The fight itself was Cascade, Brick, and Morsus against Evoke and Ewoks with a dash of NCdot at the station in 1DH-. Having been piloting a Guardian, I wasn't able to watch the fight play out or pay close attention to orders over comms, but my sense was that we'd lost a good warp-in when our Cov Ops got decloaked, and despite this, the AHAC portion of the fleet burned towards the enemy logistics line composed of Guardians and essentially destroyed it.

At one point, about five minutes into the fight, the Cascade logistics were unable to keep up with incoming damage. It was determined after the fight that this was due to standings issues between Brick and Morsus with Cascade Probable and Cascade Associates. 
 
Cascade Imminent is the main alliance, Probable is just as it sounds, and Associates are renters.

Because of this standings issue, our fleet was being fired upon by Evoke, Ewoks, Brick, and Morsus. Our logistics line encountered heavy jamming along with occasional alpha striking while the AHAC portion largely encountered raw alpha strikes. To top it off, Evoke and Ewoks jumped in their super capitals, capitals, and Titans.
 
To say Cascade was wiped out is a severe understatement. I was one of two surviving Guardians, and only five AHACs of fifty-two were spared from destruction.

During and after Cascade's annihilation, a protracted fight took place between the two opposing coalitions. Not having a fleet to repair, I locked random Brick and Morsus vessels and repaired them as needed. As this happened, Morsus and Brick activated their super-capital, capital, and titan pilots. Having intelligence of who these pilots are, Evoke and Ewoks surrendered the field, departing as quickly as they could for a dead end system two or three jumps away, Z3X-, where they promptly docked up. Stragglers were eliminated as per the usual while Brick and Morsus looted the field.

After the fight, and the looting nearly complete, Trader John of Morsus Mihi bridged what few members of our fleet were still in 1DH-. He made clear, while waiting for a cyno in 49-U, that he and his would much rather have us around to fight than the Drone Russian Federation.

To top off this strange day, it seems that the CTA that had been called off the other day was the DRF's second timer win. My figures on time spent by the DRF to take the first timer were corrected over comms as three weeks instead of two, and they were given the second timer as we didn't have the forces to fight them. 

Tomorrow is the final station timer for HED-GP. The DRF is sure to show, no matter what time it is, and so must we. I'd heard that the HED Infrastructure Hub was already destroyed, so it seems like this it.

Tomorrow, the fate of HED-GP may well decided for the rest of the war.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

On the Losing Side

Entry: four hundred seventy.

Yesterday was one of the rare instances where, in an alliance operation, I've been on the run and caged. Prior to that operation, I'd only been involved in a small number that ended the way this one did: with us cowering in a POS forcefield. 

It was the smart tactical decision. With the enemy overwhelming us, and the escape routes cut off, the POS forcefield is the right decision. The only problem is that it instills a sense of cowardice, of being beaten bloody and black when you are forced to retreat and hole up.

Yesterday, there was an alliance operation. Main fleet was the Hellgeddon and Guardian combination, Support fleet was everything else. After about an hour long formup, we bridged into HED-GP via titan in GE-8JV. After both fleets were bridged in, the allied blob warped to some sovereignty structure near some planet...the details escape me.

Upon landing, the blob engaged the enemy subcap fleet, primarily artillery abaddons, known to Cascade Imminent as FailDongs. Guardians orbited on their logistics anchor and got to about fifty kilometers away from the main fleet. Perhaps two to three minutes after the engagement began, the DRF jumped in their capital fleet.

By capital fleet, I refer to thirty titans and forty plus super carriers, with some small number of carriers.
 
Once the enemy capital fleet joined the fray, our fleet was being decimated. Our side simply did not have the capital fleet to deal with this. Titans were destroying battleships left and right with their guns, Supers were destroying our ships every which way with fighters and fighter bombers. To say we were blobbed is a bit of an understatement. To be fair though, if we'd had that option, we would have blobbed them.

With us Logistics unable to keep up with the damage hitting the main fleet, Makalu ordered both fleets to withdraw. After a few minutes of burning out of the bubbles, the fleet warped into a POS and hid under the forcefield. Perhaps five minutes later, the enemy subcap fleet and a few capitals warped in on the POS and began incapacitating every module anchored on it. About an hour later, they managed to reinforce the POS.

Their immediate objectives complete, not just with winning their first timer on the sovereignty structure, but also pushing back our fleets and reinforcing our tower, they initiated their secondary objective: boosting their morale while hurting ours.

After figuring out the POS password with the help of spies, they began attempting to bump pilots out from under the forcefield. It was, unfortunately, somewhat successful, as quite a few pilots had decided to take naps in cabin quarters while waiting out the siege. Their ships were bumped out and destroyed.

While the DRF engaged in this psychological warfare, RAZOR and Morsus Mihi attempted a bombing run on the DRF FailDong fleet, getting surprisingly few kills. I remember having a spark of happiness at seeing it, and then realizing how bad the situation was that RAZOR and Morsus Mihi trying to help us, even indirectly, was a high point.

Shortly after this point, I followed the suit of quite a few others, and warped off to a deep safe spot to log out for a break. My choices were that or bear with another hour or two of the DRF trying to bump me out of the forcefield, and possibly succeeding.

Exiting warp, I set my comms to passive receive only, and disconnected from the Neocom network. My ship went silent except for basic life support functions, basic lighting, and passive systems.

Roughly two hours later, the DRF was announced as leaving system. I waited a few minutes longer, in case it was a trap, then logged back in, reconnecting to the Neocom and warping back to the POS.

I waited for another ten minutes, to find out what was going on, if the routes back to GE- were clear. The route through Efa was pretty clear, but it was also twenty plus jumps, and my pride wouldn't let me run through hi-sec.
 
Someone with me in the POS asked if we could get cyno'd out. The FC, Makalu, who promised such a thing when we had to hide under the forcefield, said, "Yea I guess."

Ten minutes later, nothing was happening on that front. After some discussion with the pilots with me, I threw up a fleet advert for a burn to GE-8JV with what was in system. After another fifteen minutes of waiting, and still no news on the bridge home, I made the call to burn to GE-8JV. We had approximately twelve in fleet, a few with us that were out of out fleet, consisting of mostly Armageddons and two Guardians. We had one Rifter in fleet, and I asked him to scout us. I was surprised that so many still in the POS were away, because I saw at least twenty other ships still orbiting the tower that weren't coming with us.
 
The trip was uneventful, but I didn't let down my guard on the trip. I made sure everyone aligned before warping, so that the fleet would warp together and we wouldn't leave the odd straggler behind to die to small roaming bands of enemies. The trip home took maybe ten minutes.

After the fact, I found myself wondering how it all went wrong. Aside from being outgunned at every angle, there was, apparently, no backup FC after Makalu. It's my thought that for large-scale conflicts such as yesterdays, backup FCsMakalu promising a bridge home, but coming across as though he couldn't give a damn about it. It's not inspiring to pilots.

On a bright note, it's apparently taken the DRF two weeks to win this first timer, and while it's unclear if they need to win two or three more timers to take HED-GP and start the assault on GE-8JV, taking the first timer as an example, it'll take the DRF another month at minimum to take HED-GP.

I think we need to stop simply defending, and make raids into enemy territory more often. I haven't seen many of those since the start of the war, and I think those raids are largely what allowed us to keep HED-GP ours. I have this feeling that if we don't sortie more against the enemy instead of simply scrambling defenses, we're going to lose HED-GP.

But it's not over yet. Things can still change.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

Only a Small Fraction of the Story

Entry: four hundred sixty-eight, supplemental one.

The following killmail shows fifteen ships against one Tengu in some system that really doesn't matter. The first reaction of anyone not involved in that kill is probably, "He got blobbed." If you dig a little deeper into the battle report, and you're again on the outside of that fight, your first reaction is mostly, "They got blobbed."

The killmails and battle reports really only show a sliver of the story. It's like compressing the entire battle down into one snapshot instant where everything is jumbled in together.

Of course we won, there were twenty-two of us versus five. Of course they lost, they met real resistance. But it does a really awful job of describing what happened. This isn't to say that I can give a full account, but I can lay out what happened far better than "x friendly ships were destroyed and y enemy ships escaped."
 
So what did happen, you might ask.

*****

System: GE-8JV
Region: Catch
 
[23:06:16] ACF Cadelanne > need help YHN gate

I debated for a moment if I would have time to change ships, but I realized I didn't. I had just docked in one of my Shield rifters and found myself undocking to go help ACF. I've seen him around quite a bit, he's a pretty active pilot and fairly decent from what little I know of him.

I dropped out of warp and found ACF in a Drake, engaged on the gate by a Cynabal and Vigilant. I didn't question why he hadn't deaggressed and jumped; my guess was that some of the fleet was waiting on the other side for him in the attempted gank.

I was practically on top of the Cynabal, so I opened up on him, scrambler and one twenty-fives. The Vigilant took exception to this and wiped the stargate with me. I found myself redocking for the nano-arty Hurricane I'd been setting up, telling ACF that I was sorry, and that I didn't think it was gonna work out. I got a smile in local in return.

After docking, boarding, undocking, warping, and finally landing on the YHN- gate, I found the field cleared of reds, yellows, and neutrals. It seemed there were another few wrecks, but I didn't know what they were or whose they were.

At this point, my memory fails me. I seriously don't remember anything until I was undocking and warping to the V-3 gate in my arty Hurricane. Someone had called for help at that gate, and when I landed I found a neutral Tengu and Cynabal about one hundred off the gate.

They did a lot of kiting, aggressing, pulling away. We did a lot of holding position, aggressing, and chasing them off. A hero in a Crow got himself killed in the process. I had to warp away just thirty to forty seconds before the final engagement, the Tengu having whittled my shields down sufficiently at that point while I myself had done little in the way of damage to the Tengu. I was warping back from the station when I heard the news of the Tengu and Cynabal having been destroyed. Sometimes you get a raw deal, but at least I only lost a Rifter in the process. 

Killmails and battle report mails simply don't tell enough of the story to be worthwhile. Everything gets lost in translation. 
 
Computer: terminate recording.




(
Out of character note: right now, all of EVE has crashed except for HED-GP and GE-8JV and Jita. I'm in CZK-, so I can't log in, but those are the only reinforced nodes in EVE that I know of right now. Interesting eh? Oh, wait, the entire server was shut down. Here's comms:
"I crashed on a gate."
"I crashed on a jumpbridge."
"I crashed in a station."
"The server crashed."
"I was there." "I was there." "I was there and couldn't do shit."
"But CCP, they kept it together."
*laughing*
)

Big Red Rubber Stamp

Entry: four hundred sixty-eight.

I'm a junior recruiter for my corporation, ie I conduct interviews but not much else. After the interview, I give the main recruiter, who handles the background checks and application approvals and denials, my feeling on the applicant. If I give a bad outlook, the main recruiter stops there, and that's fine. If I give a good outlook, he performs the background check, and assuming the applicant passes that, he gets accepted.

The problem with recruiting right now are the circumstances. With the war with the DRF moving into high gear at this point, this seems like a perfect opportunity for spies to attempt infiltration, what with my coalition attempting to field larger and larger number to combat the DRF. Before this, it was the war against the evicted NC attempting to take space in Delve. The concerns were largely the same then as now.

When we're not auto-rejecting former members of current enemies, we seem to get people who want to join not for the combat, but for the carebearing. These are the people I don't understand: you want to move into the most violent sector of null sec so that you can grind ISK?

I've lately taken to asking people what sort of null-sec lifestyle they are expecting upon acceptance. I was surprised at how well this question began weeding out people. I had honestly expected more bloodthirsty people to be coming around, but apparently this wasn't the case, as most were telling me they wanted to rat and not do CTAs.

Not do CTAs. Just take a moment to consider the insanity of that statement concerning null-sec. CTAs are where most of the action is, where most of the news is, where most of the kills are...and they want to avoid that. Suffice to say that anyone that says that they won't do or can't handle CTAs gets a big red rubber "REJECT" stamp.

In addition to these measures to weed out the inactive, we're instituting probationary periods. We're not asking for much, just that applicants attend CTAs when possible, that they remain active on the killboards. We'll give them a month, and if their activity is low enough, they're gone. To be honest though, everyone, including myself, is in a constant probationary period. It's only probation if you really don't enjoy combat. It's a competition if you do enjoy combat, and a fun one at that.

I wonder if and when we'll get a real wave of recruits. One thing is for sure though, these new recruitment methods seem to help quite a bit.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

40 Frigates and a Junior FC

Entry: four hundred sixty-six.
 
System: GE-8JV
Region: Catch
Time: 23:00
Location: Station

FC: "Anyone know where that frig gang went?" 

Me: "They're here in GE."

FC: "Whoa. Ok, everyone, if you aren't docked, dock up."

*****

Time: 23:03 
 
FC: "Anti-frigate cruisers and battlecruisers, get ready to undock in three, two, one.

I undocked to find the swarm of frigates on the undock. Per FC orders, I and the other ship that undocked went about laying into the frigates. Things didn't go well, however. We both lost our ships. I managed to destroy a Crow before getting the order to deaggress. I hadn't realized how quickly I would go once the pack opened up on me.

I died well before my aggression timer wore out. I should have just opened up on as many frigates as possible, killing as many as possible. At least that Hurricane managed to destroy a few hundred million in ships before going under itself.

*****

Time: 23:15

After wondering how to deal with the frigate-gang, the FC was planning to take out destroyers. This would have been a great idea if there were enough destroyers and fittings on the market. I suggested smartbombing battleships, and the FC went for it. Five or six of the fleet members fitted up EMP smartbomb Geddons with EMP resists and undocked.

The strategy was simple: burn five kilometers off of the station, the activate the bombs as the frigates swarmed. However, the frigates backed off at the last second, and the Geddons didn't take many frigates with them.

*****

Time: 23:30

A bunch of cat and mouse games with the frigs and the Geddons have ensued. Not much has been accomplished except for losing the odd Geddon or two. It turns out we had a spy in our comms. The FC thinks he knows who it is, as it's likely the same person who bubbled the Geddon fleet.

*****

Time: 03:56

Today wasn't very interesting aside from the frigate gang problem earlier. Many lessons are to be learned from this experience though. First, when you undock and the FC gives you orders you don't think you'll survive, or least come out on top in the ISK war in, disobey. Second, spies suck. Third, smartbomb battleships are great at dealing with frigates until the frigates start shooting from beyond five kilometers. Better anti-frigate gangs consist of Drakes with Assault Missiles Launchers or Sniper Hacs. Typically, a Sniper Hac gang is best, but when you're camped in at the undock, it doesn't work because Snipers don't deal with well close-ranges. 
 
Computer: terminate recording.

No Mercy

Entry: four hundred sixty-two.

System: T-RPFU
Region: Providence
Sovereignty: White Noise

I'm in the middle of a Coalition operation, so I'll keep this quick. For the last few hours, we've been destroying White Noise and NCdot assets. After a major battle that started in HED-GP, bounced to SV5, and then finished in HED with NCdot and White Noise running for the protection of CONCORD's skirts in hi-sec space, we've been on a rampage.

We went to towers and incapped every mod as well as reinforcing those towers. We went to stations and completely disabled all services. If the enemy wants a foothold, they'll be grinding their lives for it. They get to repair services and modules every day. They don't get to refit, update clones, repair, anything until they've done so, and only then do the get the chance to fight us. Even if they win, we'll go back and repeat the process if we get a chance. Every time they fail to wipe us out, they'll suffer for it.
 

This is a war of attrition.
 

Computer: terminate recording.

Cat and Mouse

Entry: four hundred fifty-nine.

System: CZK-
Region: Catch
Time: 02:20

Hakawu spoke up in the Bar and Grill in CZK- proper; "I wanna go kill something...if I were to lead a roam who would want to come?" Silence followed for a good ten seconds before someone, me, replied. "Sure, I'll go with ya."

After my agreement, several more murmurs of agreement came out. Leaders need followers that will lead as well I guess. Sheep to lead sheep as it were.

One of the others asked what sort of gang we would roll out in.
 
"Nano, two Scimitars," replied Hak.

*****

System: CZK-
Region: Catch
Time: 02:40

"Seriously, does no one want to go out and kill shit today?" asked Hakawu to no one in particular.

*****

System: CZK-
Region: Catch
Time: 02:50
FC: Hakawu 
 
"Alright guys, I guess we're not going to get more. Let's undock and see what we got."

We undocked. I was in a Hurricane, we had two Vagabonds, a Rapier, a Drake, and Hak in a Zealot. "Well, at least least we don't have to worry about logi!" laughed Hak.

"Gimme a minute Hak, I need to repair some heat damage I forgot about," I called.

"Sure thing, no problem," he replied. "We'll leave in five minutes guys."

*****

System: T-RPFU
Region: Providence
Time: 03:30
FC: Hakawu

"Everybody get on the D-G gate at zero," was Hakawu's order.

"I've got a Heretic on scan," someone said. Hakawu said that was that ok, that once the Heretic landed, if he bubbled we would simply jump through. "Heretic landing!" someone, possibly the same person, called out. I haven't learned everyone's voice yet. 

Understandably this is hard to do in an alliance of two thousand or more pilots.

"Nobody aggress," Hakawu reassured us. "Just stay on the gate and when he bubbles us what the fuck just happened!" he laughed. "You guys just NUKED it! Oh my God hahahaha! Everyone align out," he gave the order, just before hostiles appeared on grid, warping in on the D-G gate at zero. "Warp out warp out warp out!"

A few moments passed, then he asked if anyone had been tackled. Silence rung out for a few moments, long enough for me to decide that everyone got away, and I vocalized a "Yep" over comms.

"Alright, everyone warp to Hakawu," Hakawu commanded.

*****

System: T-RPFU
Region: Providence
Time: 03:45
FC: Hakawu

Our lone interceptor had died in a failed gatecrash upon jumping from D-G. Apparently he sets destination for the system he's crashing, burns for the gate, and activates the autopilot. In this case it failed horribly, as autopilot takes several seconds to set in after activation, and he bounced off the gate. Explosive decompression ensued. 

"Everyone warp to D-G at one hundred. Everybody warp, everybody warp. Once you land, pick your favorite celestial and align, microwarpdrives on," came the FC's commands. "We'll just pick off their tackle, when they come to get us."
 
As we landed, I aligned to the first safe spot I had made that night in mid warp. Nothing happened at first, and then, "Here comes the Malediction," someone chuckled. I made multiple attempts to target him, as he kept his transversal high and his range dropped from over hundred clicks to sixty-five. Right around sixty-five clicks away from me, he turned around and headed back to the gate, then warped away towards the station.

"He's going to get a warp-in for them. Guys, take the warp." I was the last to leave, the Hurricane turning like a brick because of the active microwarpdrive.

"Who's still there at the gate? I know I saw someone there when I warped out," called Hak.

"Truenight," I replied. "My mwd was active when you gave warp, so it took a little longer."

*****

System: T-RPFU / MH9C-S
Region: Providence
Time: 03:47
FC: Hakawu

"Warp MH at zero! Everybody warp everybody warp!"

The enemy fleet, NCdot, had scanned us down and warped to our safe spot. We were pre-aligned, waiting to get away. It was going to be close though; NCdot had a few interceptors with them, and it was a long warp to the MH gate.

"Guys, when you land, jump through and annihilate the bubbler that will be waiting for us. Align to the star and pulse your mwd's," Hak commanded.

A few seconds, and the warp tunnel dissipated, dropping me at the MH9C-S gate. I jumped through as the enemy Heretic did.

I arrived on the other side in a fury of reassembled atoms. I immediately aligned for the sun, activating the microwarp. The Heretic dropped a warp bubble as I began targeting him, and in a matter of seconds the frail destroyer class hull crumpled.

I initiated warp.

*****

System: MH9C-S
Region: Providence
Time: 03:48
FC: Hakawu

"Here they come guys," called Hakawu. An interdictor was landing on us, at the sun at zero. "Pop him guys!"

"Here comes more!"

"Burn out of the bubble and warp out! Nail that dictor!" commanded Hakawu.

*****

System: F9E-KX
Region: Catch
Time: 03:49

FC: Hakawu

'Damn gate lag, I can't jump. The NCdot fleet is right on my heels, and I'm cooling mine at the SV5 gate in F9E...come on come on come on goddammit stiletto jump jump jump...' 

*****

System: SV5-8N
Region: Catch
Time: 03:53
FC: Hakawu

"Align sun align sun mwd's on! Is anyone scrammed?" asked Hak.

"Truenight," I replied.

"Shit align sun primary the stiletto kill the stiletto. Primary the Arazu kill it guys keep burning warp off when you can warp off when you can."

I was the last to leave the field, mwd overheated, and I managed to slowly outpace the Arazu, the lone tackler with a fifty kilometer point. I warped off, NCdot just fractions of a second behind me. I landed at the sun, finding a two NCdot Hurricanes already there and having just tackled the Drake in our fleet, Biskuit. I aligned planet five customs and initiated warp, managing a cycle of my two neutralizers on an enemy Hurricane before entering warp. Biskuit didn't make it out, the NCdot fleet warping in on top of him as I warped out.

"Safe up guys!"

*****

System: SV5-8N / HED-GP
Region: Catch
Time: 04:08
FC: Hakawu

"Align HED."

It took some time, but the combat scanner probes finally tracked us down sixteen au from the HED-GP gate towards the F9E- gate.
 
"Here they come!" Perhaps three seconds passed before the NCdot fleet started landing on grid. "Warp HED and jump go go go warp and jump! When you land align out and pulse your microwarps!"

We slammed into warp, ten seconds later slamming out, and crashed the gate.

An instant of nothing, and I landed. I aligned to to a deep safe, overheating the microwarp, and targeted the Arazu that came in.

"Anyone tackled?" asked Hakawu.

"I'm scrammed," replied Rhianna. "I'm dead Hak, get outta here!"

"Fleet warp fleet warp," commanded Hak.

I warped out, the Vagabond exploding behind me.

*****

System: HED-GP
Region: Catch
Time: 04:15
FC: Hakawu

I had been sitting in my super deep-safe spot, apparently a remnant of an old incursion site. Thirty clicks from the nearest celestial, damn near no one would ever find it. Were I scanning, I sure wouldn't bother with a scan greater than eight au out of pure need for speed.

"Warp to the x's for the jumpbridge to GE-."

I warped. The roam was done, and even though we lost half of our fleet, we all had fun being the chased instead of the chasers.

Surviving ships: Me in a Hurricane, Hakawu in a Zealot, CreCre in a Harbinger.

Destroyed ships: Crow, Ishkur, Vagabond.
 
Possibly destroyed ships: Vagabond. killmail and pilot missing from all battles on Cascade Imminent Killboard.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

Rescue Operation

Entry: four hundred fifty-eight, supplemental one.

System: 49-U6U
Region: Catch
Sovereignty: Cascade Imminent.

There doesn't seem to be much going on today. We're still redeploying to GE-8, because people always procrastinate. Seems people don't really change in the basic respects: once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator. 

Reschef came through for me today, netting me another fifty million ISK. This mixed in with some sell orders I put out brought me to just over three hundred million. Now just to go rat some more in 49-U...

Archiebald Hornby: "EVERYONE, GET IN FLEET NOW! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY OP! YOU'D BETTER GET IN FLEET, BECAUSE IF I DON'T SEE YOU IN IT I'LL BE COMING AFTER YOU! AHACS, GET FROM CZK TO THE 4-07 JUMPBRIDGE!"

So much for that. Computer, redock and eject from from vessel.

*****

Thirty seconds is a pretty fast trip for 4-07 to CZK-. Clonejumping is pretty useful. Computer, board Claw.

Computer: "Command verified."

Archiebald Hornby: "How far do they have you down?"

???: "Ninety percent armor."
 

*****

Five minutes is about as fast as I've seen for a seventy-five man fleet. Really, it's quite phenomenal. Normal form up time for a fleet this size is at least double that, if not triple.

Archiebald Hornby: "Guys, get through into 4-07. Take the jumpbridge from CZK to 4-07. Seraph, what do they got you at?"

Seraph: "Fifty-six percent armor."

Archiebald Hornby: "How bubbled are you?"
 
Seraph: "I'm pretty bubbled."
 
Archiebald Hornby: "How many we got in fleet? Seventy, alright, we might be able to do this. Guys, get into RR-dos on the 25S gate and HOLD. DO NOT JUMP. Hak, you in a Dram?"

Hakawu: "Yeah."

Archiebald Hornby: "Fleet, jump in. X's are in fleet."

Seraph: "Looks like your best bet will be from...planet seven..."

Archiebald Hornby: "Hak, warp to planet seven and get a warp in, fleet jump in and warp to planet seven. Fleet, warp to planet seven.

*****

Hakawu: "Warp to me warp to me!"

Archiebald Hornby: "FLEET WARP TO HAKAWU, FLEET WARP! Did everyone get warp?"

???: "Someone warped the fleet."

Archiebald Hornby: "Good good..."

*****

We landed at the edge of a bubble. Being a tackler, I did a sensible thing and microwarped straight down, skirting the edge of the bubbles. Halfway around, I noticed a few Scimitars holding at the bottom edge, and I started to burn towards them. A second look showed me a Dramiel on fast approach.

I made the right decision to burn away. That right decision didn't work out quite as planned, as I soon found myself sucked dry of capacitor. No capacitor, I knew I was doomed. It still took them thirty seconds to kill me between the five ships that blew me up.

The Claw crumpled. I was, however, outside of the bubble when I was destroyed, and I made a few jumps back to CZK-, where I reshipped to a Wolf and made the trip back through 4-07 via the jumpbridge. When I finally made it back to 25S-, I entered warp just as Archie called for the fleet to warp out. The supers had exited the field, and the field was hot on their heels. I thought for sure I was going to bite it on landing.

And then Archie called for "good fight in local guys". My plans for the future changed suddenly, from dying in a second fire in the space of five minutes to looting the field. My cargohold was small, but I knew I could get some good stuff. Seraph was grateful for the rescue operation, which he caused by ratting in a Sanctum with a super. He was so grateful in fact, that he promised to reimburse any ships lost on the operation. When you think about it, it makes sense. The few ships we lost are a paltry sum to the super he almost lost.

Computer: link battle report and terminate recording.

Destitution in time of War

Entry: four hundred fifty-eight.

Contrary to popular belief, my life in null-sec, ie. Catch/Querious/Delve, isn't all glamour, bullets, explosions, and epic proportions.

Two to three days ago, I had received two Guardians via contract. Pricetag: three hundred and seventy million plus two insurance policies, putting me well over four hundred million. It should be noted that that is technically my final cost on those ships for as long as Cascade Imminent uses Armor fleets because of the reimbursement policy.

Having been shot down to two hundred and thirty million ISK from six-sixty, I decided that I would finally have to break down and get a ratting battleship. Because of my lack of skills in the tech three area, and to avoid further ISK expenditures in ship purchases, I clone-jumped to Balginia, podded to Rens, and got my Tempest Fleet Issue.

Yes, I do have one. No, I have no real idea how to fit it for ratting. For combat, I have awesome ideas in quite a few niches.

Since I really only develop combat fits for ships I fly, I had to pick a middle ground. I had a choice of a close-up nano shield autocannon brawler, which is pretty awesome, almost as good as a Machariel actually, or I had the choice of an armor sniper. Experience with the Blood Raiders and Sansha tells me that close range with shields is a disaster waiting to happen between the tracking disruption and energy destabilizers, so I fitted out an armor sniper. With Tremor, I've got an optimal range of one hundred forty-five kilometers. If I forgo the microwarp on my TFI, I can lock to about that far.

To create that fit dropped me to one hundred million after insurance, and I wasn't pleased. I was running low on funds. One hundred million is pretty poor for null-sec. 

I jumped through forty or fifty gates to get it into Querious for ratting.

I'll say it straight out: I suck at carebearing. I'm really bad at it. Designing carebear fits makes me cringe, fitting them makes me itch, and flying them makes me nervous.

Once in Catch, I found a quiet system with mid-level true-sec, and began ratting away. Professional bears make twenty to thirty million a tick, ie. every twenty minutes. I was able to make seven million, on average. Suffice it to say that Sanctum and Haven running is probably not the most profitable thing in a sniper Tempest. That said, thirty million an hour isn't horrible, but it pales in comparison to one hundred million an hour. As my wallet will reflect, I spent approximately four hours smashing through the four Blood Sanctums on scan, as well as two Blood Havens and the odd Hub in hopes of a Dark Blood appearing for a showdown. Sadly, only one Dark Blood lieutenant dared show his face, and that was after the first Blood Hub I'd run at the start of the day. The loot he dropped for me on death was sub-optimal, one particular piece being only as good as the tech two variant.
 

When I next get the chance, I'll try scanning down some some juicer spots, and we'll see where that leads.

In more relevant news, the war with the DRF has finally hit our doorstep. Cascade Imminent has redeployed twice in the last week to move closer to the front lines of war. For now, we've deployed to GE-8 in Catch in an effort to keep Against All Authorities alive. If they fall, it's going to be much harder for us to resist, much less push back, the DRF. It's the Deklein Coalition pushing them back in the North, and the Fatlas Stainwagon pushing them back from the South. It is, quite literally, the left side of the map against the right side of the map. 
 

"Open up the influence map. If there was ever going to be a great war in EVE, this is it." -Archiebald Hornby
 

"The line must be drawn here! This far, no farther!" -Jean Luc Picard
 

Computer: terminate recording.