Humbling Experience

Entry: six hundred eighty-nine.
 
Today is day two of trying to flip the W-IX station to Cascade control. Black Legion have come back yet again to mess with us while we handle our business in subcapitals. We know better than to light a cyno and take the easy way out with Dreads: we do that, and Raiden or Pandemic Legion or anyone else itching for capital kills will come knocking down the house to save the couch.
 
As Black Legion attacked the TCU, the main FC, who was overly tired, asked for bombers. I took command as no one else was going about organizing any sort of bombing run. His fatigue and frustration are egging me on.
 
I ask bombers to "x up" with bomb types. Four scorches with mine, one shrapnel, one concussion. I create a group chat with the scorch bombers and a prober, simultaneously setting up a pounce at the TCU while Black Legion takes a brief break in K7D-. Just as I make my pounce, Black Legion warps in on the TCU and starts attacking it. Bubbles go up at zero on the TCU: I hoped I wasn't wrong in my next judgement.
 
I ordered the scorch bombers only to warp to me at ten and to "x up" when they landed. No one is being vocal and the fleet FC is getting frustrated in part because his fatigue is so intense. The only bombers talking are the ones I don't want around for the bombing run.
 
Finally, my scorch bombers "x up". Warpin is fifty behind them towards the P4- gate. I order a warp up to the warpin at ten, we end up twenty from the nearest. FC is infringing on me, and I make a bad call to get thirty from the nearest, turn around, bomb, warpout. 
 
First scorch bomber decloaks and launches, and I call a stop because I read shrapnel. I see it as scorch a moment later and call the resume action. Too late, first bomber down, second going down, random shrapnel bomb from the damn shrapnel bomber, my bomb goes out. I lag, try to warp out, but I'm not in my bombing fit because I was shooting the station, and I die.
 
No bombs hit. Not a single one was set up for a proper bombing run, mostly because of alignment, partially because of fit, and partially for the mixed bomb that blew up bombs immediately behind it. What a cluster****.
 
"Computer: playback forum post."
 
Computer: "Confirmed."
 

*****

While working on the W-IX station BL came in with Gilas and started knocking on the TCU. I asked for bombers to x up with types. 5 scorch including me, 1 shrap, 1 concussion.

I had a pounce on the TCU and had the scorch bombers warp to me at 10. None of them decloaked. We got a warp in behind them and began bombing. Our target was the drones, but 5 bombs should have done a substantial amount of damage to them as well.

Problems:
1) Bombers that died lagged out or got insta locked and killed.
2) Mixed bomb types were launched despite only scorch bombers only being told to make the run.
3) Our warp in position had no aligned warp-out. We did have time to do it, but I felt rushed and made a bad call
4) Main fleet chatter was pretty active despite our setting up to bomb. It's very hard to coordinate when non combatants are talking about anything.
5) Squad members did not speak on comms. Do not know why.

How I'll be looking to fix this:
1) I will not execute any bombing run when "lone bombers" with bombs not part of the main group are present. They get impatient and disobey orders because no one can see them. If a TCU falls, so be it.
2) Bombing runs will be aligned with a warp out if time permits. Ambushes will be set up ahead of time, defensive bombs have a short time before the enemy target is destroyed.
3) Even though I lagged, I still took a few hits before dying due to the Invuln I had active. If I had had an MSE fitted and online, I could have survived long enough to warp out despite the damage. Instead, my bomb never hit because I died. Will bring an offline MSE from now on. Cannot use this bomber on thorn fleets period since I can't switch between the MWD and AB. Can still fit torps for structure shoots by toggling off the MSE and MWD as necessary.
4) Will use separate comms channel instead of staying in main fleet channel.
5) Will tell squad members in this separate comms channel to reply over voice comms instead of holding silence.

Are there any suggestions on other improvements that could be made? Any bomber FC can learn from this, so I encourage constructive criticism.

*****

 
Computer: "Playback terminated."
 
Such a humbling experience.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

Grinding

Entry: six hundred eighty-eight.

I'm painfully reminded of Suleiman's comment yesterday. "lol sov". Indeed. I've been scouting for the main fleet for quite some time, perhaps six plus hours, I'm not real sure. Raiden and Evoke went around taking sovereignty away from us in three major systems today: A2-V2, 9CG6, and W-IX. We've only been able to manage a smallish fleet of forty to fifty for this mission of taking back space.

I'm sure Raiden are laughing at us for how long it's taking us. First, we had to destroy the TCUs in those systems, and then we had to flip the stations. So far, we've destroyed the TCUs with torpedo spam, and then reshipped into Battleships to flip the stations, of which only 9CG6 has been flipped back to us from Raiden. 

Currently the W-IX station is in structure being flipped from Raiden to us. A2-V2, but the Neocom network is going down for upgrades in a few hours, and I doubt we'll flip A2-V2 in time for that.

Raiden attempted to get a super fleet up against us for the 9CG6 and then the W-IX stations, but failed and formed up a small bomber squad. While forming up, Black Legion rolled past us into 9CG6 in their Gila fleet, then came back to W-IX and killed a few of our battleships. After Black Legion left, Raiden managed to drop some bombs on our kitchen sink battleship fleet and we lost a few more.
 
Setbacks sure slow station flipping down.

"lol sov". No kidding. But it's this or gate and station guns, and I'd rather deal with this, especially since the flipping process usually results in combat, just not when your opponent would have to fight you out of their timezone.

On the upside, it looks like I'm going to win the first place prize this month for combat. I haven't necessarily been the most active, but two major strikes with bombs put me over the top for the month. I'm looking forward to perfecting my bombing tactics, solo and in groups, to win these sorts of prizes more often.

Computer: terminate recording.

It didn't happen at NOL-

Entry: six hundred eighty-seven.

About six hours ago, while I was setting up tactical bookmarks in NOL- for a large scale conflict I anticipate in the future, I saw Suleimain Shouaa in local. What a rare chance to speak with someone whose public logs I follow! But it was a curious situation: The Tuskers were several hours late for the party with nothing left but preparation for the next conflict. Computer: play back private chat stream with Suleiman Shouaa.

Computer: "Confirmed."

*****

 

Suleiman Shouaa > o/
Truen1ght > nol should be dead for quite a while 
                > good luck huntin
Suleiman Shouaa > ah cheers
                           > we saw many kills on dotlan
                           > ::(
Truen1ght > 1300 in sys about 5 hours ago
                > station timer
Suleiman Shouaa > ah lol sov war
Truen1ght > evoke ddos'ed goons comms
                > and goon's backup comms
                > so, that didn't work out
Suleiman Shouaa > lolsov
                           > ty for heads up
Truen1ght > yup
                > lol sov
                > was there a wh to here from gallente low-sec?
Suleiman Shouaa > nope
                           > just roamed from hev
Truen1ght > ah
Suleiman Shouaa > hoping for :thunderdome:
Truen1ght > 1dh is probably best bet
                > black legion should be aroudn 1-smeb
                > my delve intel channel is dark though, so I don't think much is going on right now
                > KFIE is where you'd have the best chance of finding evoke
Suleiman Shouaa > we're heading back soon
                           > and in a "dram is OP fleet
Truen1ght > you were the only one i saw in a dram lol
                > saw a flicker of scimis and some other stuff, wasn't really paying attention
                > oh, derp, I think 1dh has a gatecamp
                > probably on the pr-gate
                > but, have a good trip back, gl on the kills
Suleiman Shouaa > nope
Truen1ght > weird
Suleiman Shouaa > on other gate
Truen1ght > a-e?
Suleiman Shouaa > y
Truen1ght > alright, i'll let you be
                > o7
 

*****

 

Quite strange to see pirates from Gallente low-sec all the way down in Delve, but interesting. Black Legion are the resident pirates in nearby low-sec. I didn't think anyone else would bother.

It was after this conversation that I realized that I haven't done much to explain the way things are around here much, however, and that perhaps I should do that. It would be best to explain why The Tuskers bothered to take a roam down to Delve in the first place though.

The Tuskers were four hours late for the major conflict in NOL-. Goons on one side, the DRF on the other, both vying for control of that system. Sovereignty Blockade units had been deployed by Goons, the station about to become vulnerable once the reinforcement timer expired, and the IHUB in line for reinforcement immediately after the station. Evoke was facing a serious threat of losing NOL-, a system that Goons seem to desire above all others at the present time.

It wasn't long after I logged in, activating my ship in the depths of space, that a bomber fleet was posted. It was difficult to understand the situation, as comms were constantly active. "Polaris fleet" was the keyword of the hour, and the only fleet I could think of to match that description is one similar in vein to the one destroyed in Tama not long ago.

This was not that type of fleet.

After joining fleet, I made best speed for NOL-, managing to stay one very small step ahead of the Evoke tackle wing in 1DH-, PR-, and NOL-. They were diligent about trying to catch anything making its way towards NOL-. I only managed to get in because of the rush they were in to get into position.

After escaping the clutches of the tackle wing, I notified my fleet of the local population: thirteen hundred. A population that size in null sec is all but unheard of except in the largest battles in null, such as one in Teneferis a few months back and a battle in Uemon nearly a year ago. The hell camp of 6VDT-H was only six hundred, and the major battles at HED-GP and GE-8JV never crested nine hundred.

The scope of the conflict to be had was quite clear to me immediately. "Epic" is only the frosting on the cake for what I expected to happen. I was sadly disappointed, however.

My fleet came into NOL- through a detour via HM-. Once in system, we all set up at the edge of the station grid, where we expected the fight to take place via our communication with Goons. Evoke had several triage carriers repairing the station, and it didn't take too much longer before the Goon fleet warped in to the station at zero and started attacking.

And almost as soon as they arrived, they left. Reports came through that Goon comms, both primary and backup, had been DDOSed by the enemy, preventing any sort of coordinated attack. The Evoke carriers were free to repair the station as local dropped from thirteen hundred to eight hundred and the Evoke subcapital fleet, consisting of a ridiculous number of Drakes and Scimitars, destroyed all four Sovereignty Blockade units within twenty minutes of starting the task. That feat is equal to using several Motherships in conjunction with a Battleship fleet of size seventy, per SBU.

The Initiative stopped by to try and ninja a few kills, but ended up being sent home with their tails between their legs.

My biggest issue with this entire conflict is simply that I was unable to participate. Our FC was someone I had never heard of, and while he knew the concepts and understood patience, did not have the brass balls to make an attack happen. I saw several opportunities to simply warp in and launch bombs, bombs which would have destroyed the large majority of the clumped up Evoke Drake-Scimitar fleet, both at the station and at SBUs. Our FC was overly concerned with not losing bombers and not concerned enough about destroying billions worth of ISK in ships and modules in thirty seconds of kinetic hell. Fourteen bombers, totaling approximately four hundred million ISK in trade for billions of ISK? It's a no brainer.

Pilots were chomping at the bit so fiercely that they began engaging Interceptors at the PR- gate once the fight was over with torpedoes and bombs. I logged out, frustrated, unwilling to give in and become a mindless idiot and lose my bomber needlessly.

After that break and cooling my emotions, I logged back in and set up tactical points all around stargates and the station for a future conflict in NOL-, one which I am certain will happen. It was during this time that I saw the Tuskers.

It's hard to blame them for not knowing the area, it's not like they live here after all. I didn't want to leave them with the bad taste of fruitless searching, however, so I offered some of my knowledge of the area, but perhaps not as much as I should have.
 
Goons live near JP4- right now, more accurately at and next door to Y-2ANO. Evoke in the area populate NOL-, Z3V-, and KFIE- for the most part, and roams from deeper regions of their space in Delve enter into upper Delve from those systems more often than not. 

Cascade Imminent makes its home in 1DH- with easy access to its controlled systems in Querious via F20Y-, but also patrols within a few systems of 1DH- in addition to roams towards Raiden in L-6BE1 or its former home of CZK-, which is currently occupied by DRF pets. Occasionally, White Noise, Against All Authorities, or Nulli Secunda will travel down to 1DH- when they are really bored, but those are only rare occurrences. 

Nulli Secunda lives not far from 1DH- in the region called Period Basis, and while easy to reach, are often out of the way for forces hostile to them. As for the final major player in Delve, Black Legion makes its home somewhere in nearby low-sec. I suspect Kaira personally, as they usually come into Delve via 1-SMEB. 


With the Goon freeporting mission in Delve nearly complete, I wonder what they will do once they are done with that, and how diligently they'll need to defend their assets in Delve from Evoke and Ewoks.
 
More importantly, I wonder if the pirates had much fun beyond wasting a Cynabal whilst in Delve.
  
Computer terminate recording.

Acclimation

Entry: six hundred eighty-three, supplemental one.

It's been a pretty slow day, and I spent the majority of my time awake actually active today. It was a rare and welcome change, right up until the end, where I warped down to the PR- gate in a Hurricane during a gatecamp fleet with bad intel.

Prior to my demise at the PR- gate, goons had brought yet another Rifter fleet down. While I wasn't wildly successful, I soon learned the reason why: apparently I'd become a main feature point of these frigate fleets into 1DH-, whether by name or not. To quote my contact: "Only newbs die to your bombs."
  
Apparently, after those first five or so bomb runs, people started to catch on when and where and under what circumstances I'd launch a bomb. It seems I'll need to expand my engagement envelope. I'll still be able to bomb on the undock and catch the newbs, but for the big hits I'll have to engage elsewhere, preferably on a gate that has a drag bubble.

A few hours after that I got to experience another death of fiery decompression.

DaBigRedBoat had been commanding an Alpha Fleet in the area. We'd seen him come to 1DH- once before and very few kills were to be had. They went to NOL-, did something in terms of grinding towers, and after being taunted, came back into 1DH- via the PR- gate.

This is where it went south. The scout in PR- failed to mention that an Alpha Fleet was on the way behind the few frigates that were being engaged. I had at first suspected this, but as the seconds passed, I began to wonder, and warped down. Mere seconds later the Alpha Fleet jumped in. My Hurricane crumpled, my pod soon after.

They don't make medicine strong enough for these headaches. Literally. The Med Bay faculty load me up with what they can, but the pain still knocks me out. I put in the order today for my sensory nerves to be destroyed throughout the bodies of all my current and future clones.

I got in the Purifier and taunted Goons a different way. I launched bombs at them at will. There was little chance to kill anything, but it was less about destroying them than pissing them off.

I warped to {station 231 -x}, then {10 undock bomb -x-y-z}. Aim, decloak, bomb, activate DCU and Invuln, warp off. Minimal shield damage. I warped to {station 231 -x}, then {10 undock bomb +x-y-z}. Aim, decloak, bomb, activate DCU and Invuln, warp off. Minimal shield damage. I warped to {station 210 +x+y}, then to {10 undock bomb +x++y-z}. Aim, decloak, bomb, activate DCU and invuln, warp off. Minimal shield damage. Goons were reported warping PR-. I warped to {pr- 280 -x}, then {40 pr-}. Fix alignment with A-E stargate, align A-E stargate, at thirty decloak, bomb, warp off, no shield damage.

Every bomb hit. One blew up a Rifter. At best I was completely annoying, at worst barely a consideration. My revenge was most assuredly not sated. I needed more bombers, but no one else has the patience to be part of a real bomber squad.

Maybe the majority of my alliance isn't interested in covert warfare, in subterfuge, in mind games, or most importantly, the big score. Nothing does things for your ego like taking out a swath of enemies with a single strike.

The one desire excellent bombing doesn't fulfill is instant gratification. That damn plague affects countless trillions, mortal and capsuleer alike. The unfortunate side effect of instant gratification is mediocrity, and mediocrity is a terrible fate.

I have to admit though, so is impotence. I'll not stand for it, and I WILL correct it.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Entry: six hundred eighty-three.

The suggested scheme I laid out for bookmarks hasn't quite worked out. I realized this once I saw how bookmarks are catalogued by the computer: alphabetically. With that in mind, the new scheme is {?L ?R ?X?Y?Z}.

 

For those who follow my logs, the investment I've put into 1DH-SX is clear. I've become pretty attached, and somewhat spoiled for choices with all the bookmarks I've created at and as tactical points. I'll wrap this up with the view from my favorite perch outside of 1DH- station.

 

 
Computer: terminate recording.

Coordinate Definitions

Entry: six hundred eighty-one, supplemental one.

Introduction: 
     Everyone knows bookmarks are necessary. The problem is defining a system of handling coordinates to label bookmarks in an understandable fashion. I feel dense for only recently realizing the most obvious, and perhaps best, coordinate system for bookmarking.
     There are only two constants in all solar systems: the star, and the orientation of Z-axis in space. When multiple bookmarks describing multiple locations on the same grid are defined, the best way to label the bookmarks is by setting the center of grid as an origin unto itself, but treating the star as the origin for the total map.

Example: 
     I have many bookmarks around 1DH- station. Simple descriptions of range and locations won't suffice, eg. 231 station.
 
Problem:
     Lack of clear X and Y orientation about the origin.

Explanation: 
     Warpable spots are difficult to determine, paths that cause decloaking are difficult to avoid. Requires initiation and halt of warp to check alignments, actions which are attention intensive and possibly fatal.
 
Solution: 
     The positive X axis is opposite the star 2 the origin of the grid. With Z and X now clearly defined for any grid, Y is easy to understand, and any bookmark on grid can have a clear RLXYZ definition, where R is radius from grid origin, L is object, XYZ are directions. Double +/- indicate a heavier bias towards an axis as opposed to another. With bookmarks clearly defined in this fashion, bouncing between bookmarks without decloaking is much simpler.

Solution Examples: 
     231 station is now 231 station -x-y. 10 undock bomb is now 10 undock bomb -x-y-z.

Note:
     Future bookmarks should be labeled {?X?Y?Z ?Radius ?Location} in the future, as orientations and locations will be easier to read for evasive warping and covert observation. ? denotes variability for use in general naming conventions. 

Note: 
     Old locations should be updated to match the new scheme.

Note: 
     Z width of an undock ring is large on some stations, twenty kilometers for 1DH- centered on the terminus. Boomarks do not reflect this knowledge directly, only through actual locations.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

Blood in the Water at L-6BE1

Entry: six hundred eighty-one.

It's hard to believe it's been seven days since I last made a log public. I suppose it's more proof that I keep strange hours. Also more proof that zero zero keeps strange hours as well.

At approximately twenty-two hundred hours I logged into the neocom network, powering up my Purifer from its logged off state. As I warped onto a pounce spot outside of 1DH- station, I saw what was clearly an AHAC fleet forming up. I activated voice comms without delay and joined the fleet posted in fleet finder, docking and reshipping to a Guardian as well.

Almost as soon as I undocked, the fleet warped to F20Y- to use the jump bridge network. We made our way to L-6BE1 via the back entrance, which lies through 7GCD- while the front door from Delve lies in MKD-.

"...align only! There are titans on field, so grid is going to load slow..." explained our FC, Archiebald Hornby. "DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT shoot anything unless it is broadcasted. Goons are on the field as well!"
 
I made sure to turn off all brackets on my display system, as well as switch to the celestial only overview feed. Titans meant Supers, both meant drones, fighters, and fighter bombers, and local was well over four hundred already. Keeping reps quickly required the minimalistic overview that only no information can provide. The fight for me devolved solely down to locked targets and the broadcast window.

As we landed, my systems were initially stuttering through the load, information flooding through, and the only reason my systems didn't crash was because I was filtering out a ridiculous amount of information already. Even with all the filtered information, the camera drones clearly displayed twenty plus Titans and Motherships on field trapped in Interdictor bubbles.

Cascade was not alone on the field. Just prior to Cascade warping in, Nulli had warped in with a Navy Hellgeddon fleet. The Raiden subcapital fleet was dropping so quickly our own FC had difficultly broadcasting any targets before they were destroyed. Between Nulli's Hellgeddons, Cascade's AHACs, and the Goon Whelp-Cane fleet, Raiden was getting slaughtered in the subcapital vessel conflict. It didn't take long before all that remained were the Raiden Titans, Supers, and Triage Carriers.

The fight dragged on as Raiden was primaried, capital after capital falling to the sheer number of conventionals arrayed against them. Despite obliterating countless numbers of conventional vessels, Raiden was being swarmed and attacked on all side with no escape route in sight.

For me, the battle was simply keeping people alive. Tobber Harley was the first in Cascade to go. Despite seven guardians for a total of twenty-one reps his Hurricane, after about a minute of slowing bleeding structure even under heavy remote repair his vessel crumpled in on itself.

And then it happened. A Doomsday hit me, the Judgement from a Raiden Avatar on field. My ship was instantly vaporized, leaving my pod exposed. I slowly piloted out of the Interdictor bubbles and warped away. After I was certain the kill for a Raiden Triage Archon was recorded, I warped back to the MKD- gate and allowed myself to be podded back to 1DH-. Evoke had entered the fray with bombers, of which I believe one killed me.
 
I reshipped immediately into a Crusader. Goons were coming from the Y2-ANO area to reinforce their assault on Raiden, and I had doubts as to whether Goons would let anything bigger travel by them via gates, as I elected not to use the Jump Bridge network to take the back route.

Just as I arrived, Cascade was ordered to retreat. Goons were still reinforcing, Against All Authorities was on the way with Initiative, Evoke was dishing out extreme damage, and Nulli was going down. Half of Cascade's Guardians had been taken out and holding reps was no longer possible.

I scouted the fleet back to 1DH- via the jump bridge network, reshipped to a bomber, and resisted the urge to bomb Goons as they passed through 1DH- to the battlefield.

Dotlan reports over six hundred kills in L-6BE1 at the time of the battle.

Computer: terminate recording.

WMDs and Orders

Entry: six hundred seventy-four.

Last night was pretty successful for me. What it took to get success was another issue.

Despite my previously mentioned fears of lack of a CFC frigate gang coming to 1DH-SX again, it did come over from YZ9-, approximately nine jumps from 1DH-. Once here, they proceeded to play the usual game of attempting to catch small packs of bigger and more expensive ships. They did succeed, catching quite a few vessels which included a Hurricane, a Dominix, an Armageddon, and a Cynabal. I attempted to help the Dominix pilot from Morsus Mihi at the PR- gate with a well placed bomb, but it was to no avail.

I have mixed feelings about their success. 
 
Eventually, there did come a point where the frigate fleet made that fatal step. They have a safe spot approximately one thousand kilometers below the station undock and usually warp up from there to the station to pick off pilots who think they can get away. 

This time they didn't have a warp-in at the undock terminus, and I warped to my bombing spot as soon as they appeared on grid. I noticed that they landed off the terminus and that a significant number of the fleet had activated their microwarpdrives, the bloodlust running strong in them.

I aligned to the terminus, waited one second, decloaked, bombed, began warp.

I was targeted by several, pointed by no more than two with disruptors, and warped out. As I left grid, I saw the damage notifications roll in, and I knew I'd hit the jackpot.

Twenty-two frigates down. Bombs really are weapons of mass destruction. Timestamp of the kills are zero zero forty-nine (00:49) mark eleven fifteen twenty eleven (11-11-15).

Suffice it to say that I was feeling good that night. The CFC fleet even congratulated me on my bomb.

*****

Cascade has finally received new orders. Computer: playback redacted alliance mail.

Computer: Confirmed.

*****

  

From: ---------- ------
To: Cascade
 
Firstly, thank you for all you guys who took the time to come down and give me your feedback on everything alliance and otherwise.
 
Ive got Alot of the same stuff, and some rather odd bits.

------------------------------------

The next step
 
However. Due to the fact that processing this and making a further decision on where to go next with FAIL will take longer than one day, We will be standing down to a chill out Phase for ---- -----. 
 

------------------------------------

The Reasoning

Although many people will get upset and want more stuff to do, many in FAIL have been grinding against hostile incursion attempts for nearly eight months with very little chance to do anything for themselves. I know personally it's cost me alot of ISK, and even my tank is running low.
 

------------------------------------

The Facts
 
So from, ------- ---- November @ 17:00
until
------ ---- December @ 19:00.
 
You are all free to do whatever you wish. I suggest Strongly that you use this time to rat and make yourself some ISK. You should be looking for one to two billion liquid ISK and at least two AHACS, two Logistics, two faildongs, and two hellgeddons. Those FC's who want to run fleets throughout this time: keep them cheap, keep them fun; no grinding towers without good cause, etc.
 
On ------ ---- December @ 19:00 There will be an alliance meeting to announce what we will be doing over the next three months.
 
For the time being, all combat fleets will be formed from 1DH-. Bulk and combat assets are not to move anywhere just yet. In case you have forgotten, you all hate moving, and I would hate for you to have to do it two times in as many weeks.
 
During this time Teamspeak is still manditory whilst online. Take this time to get to know each other.
 

------------------------------------

The exception
 
There is one BUT to all this. Should the space get attacked, we are no longer in chill mode, but I don't see that happening.
 

------------------------------------

The final Note
 
So go have fun. Chillax, and smile.

---------- ------ 
 

*****

 

Computer: Playback terminated.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

Dreams of Control (BB 30)

"With the Winter expansion possibly being named 'Crucible', it certainly is a melting pot of refinements and tweaks aimed at making the EVE experience smoother and more wholesome. If the developers suddenly found themselves some spare resources and approached you for an additional feature to include before release, what single concept would you pitch them and how would you implement it?

For bonus points, the one thing lacking from this "patchwork" of iterations is a cohesive storyline to package "The Crucible" together. How could this expansion be marketed to potential new customers?"

Entry: six hundred seventy-three, supplemental one.

"Computer: playback dream capture."

Computer: "Playback, dream eleven thirteen twenty eleven, proceeding."

*****

I found myself in a modified version of the standard capsuleer pod. It had been enlarged on the interior, for starters, and the inside had been completely redone. Instead of the normal version where I'd be interacting with a ship via neural communications, where my hands would drop out there were two stick-like protrusions.

Blood Raider Engineer: "...will allow you to act more intimately with your vessel, giving you better control over your vector."
Me: "What were these called again?" I asked, nodding at my right hand while moving both hands experimentally in the grips.
Blood Raider Engineer: "Joysticks. They allow for more a more tactile sense of your movement as opposed to the standard interface, thus greater freedom of movement, allowing you to complete maneuvers not loaded into the standard code base, such as barrel rolls, spiral dives, flat spins, etcetera."

I cast a questioning glance at him, peering over the top rim of my shades at him with a raised eyebrow.

Me: "Perhaps we should find out."

*****

Blood Raider Engineer: "Welcome back. Did the interface live up to your expectations?"
Me: "Yes and no. I was unused to the first person locked ahead view as opposed to the normal omniscient view of my vessel and surrounding grid. It was both exciting and frustrating, especially with the guns being locked to my camera view. Shooting while piloting in this fashion was somewhat strange, but I think I could come to love it."
Blood Raider Engineer: "Your praise is most gracious."
Me: "Would it be possible to acquire vessels with this new interface?"
Blood Raider Engineer: "Not yet. However, when they do become available, they'll only be available to members of The Blood Raider Covenant, as this is what one would call 'top secret software'. Any vessels not piloted by a member of the Covenant will result in automatic self destruction.

I left the modified pod and walked towards my guest quarters, pondering the possibilities.
 

*****

As the ritual hall in 1DH-SX III - Moon 1 emptied out, I stood up from my lounging position against the way near the hall entrance. I watched as the sect members departed to their various sections of the station. The history behind each of the sects intrigued me, but it wasn't something I was about to ponder right then as I had a meeting with a Bishop of the Covenant.

When the doors began to shut to the hall, I kept one door open while I made my way towards the back, where the offices were.

I entered the office of the Bishop I was planning to meet and shut the door behind me, pricking my finger in the ritual offering of blood in true Blood Raider custom whenever entering another's domain. My fingertips were developing some serious scar tissue in just the few days since I'd last been killed.

Bishop: "What can I help you with, Capsuleer?"
Me: "I wanted to speak with you about joining the Covenant, Bishop." 

I pulled a up seat on the other side of his desk, artistically crafted to resemble a blood letting altar. The Blood Raiders took their religous beliefs to a whole new level of serious compared to every other faction in the galaxy, of that there was no doubt.

He cast a look at me, serious and contemplative, but clearly there was some influence to be gained upon my recruitment judging by the hard calculation within his eyes. I could practically see the futures unfold as he played out the scenarios suddenly put before him.

Bishop: "Have you taken the lifeblood of an enemy in a Blood Raider death ritual?"

I thought back to my first day at this station, where I'd sacrificed a True Sansha recruiter and ended up drinking every ounce of his blood, leaving only a dry husk behind, quite literally. 

Me: "Yes, I have." 

I retold my relocation from LGK- to 1DH-, and after he verified my story with the priests that had been present before I began the ritual, he looked back to me, naked greed and glee in in his eyes.

Bishop: "Welcome to the fold, Brother."
 

*****

There was a curious contraption being attached to the station in 1DH-. "What is that?" I asked a nearby Blood Raider, apparently supervising the operation.
 
"Have you not heard, Brother?" he asked. Apparently members of the Covenant were known via proximity, as he hadn't so much as looked in my direction while his fingers flew over a control screen on the window before him overlooking the scene.

"No, Brother, I haven't. I'm only recently entered into the fold."

"I see. Well, keep this information within the Covenant then, as we have no plans of letting this technology slip out among the capsuleers basing in and around our space." A new screen flittered to life before him, detailed drawing plans and demonstration videos in progress.

"This device that we're attaching to the station is a wormhole generator. Recently, W-Space has become nearly inaccessible throughout the known galaxy, and contact has been lost entirely with capsuleers known to make their living in W-Space. Since W-Space is no longer accessible by probing, a new method must be invoked." A video played showing the rapid decline in registered wormhole spawns across the galaxy across the past few months until spawning ceased entirely. The last wormhole spawn was noted as two weeks prior to the current date. "Essentially, we plan to use this device to open a connection to W-Space."

"Is there a reason it's so large though?" I asked.

"We're planning to push the station through into W-Space," he replied. The idea blew my mind. I'd heard that the Sansha had staged in W-Space, taking over ancient structures as their base, but moving current starbases into W-Space, that was something else entirely.

"We'll send in one station at a time, dropping automated relay beacons back in the systems the stations came from. These beacons will relay the locus signatures to the other stations, which can then go through and repeat the process. As each station goes through, those stations, starting with the second will open a portal to the previous locus, and a joint effort between stations will construct a device within the portals to keep them open once the generators have spawned wormholes. When the last station enters W-Space, the W-Space network will be complete."

"But, how will we return to known space?" I asked.

"We already know the locus signatures of our systems in known space, so we can easily use the first station to create a bridge to any of these systems," he replied.

"Would it be possible for a group of smaller ships, or even a POS to generate a wormhole?" I asked, still intrigued at the possibilities.

"Perhaps for a dedicated capsuleer ship, and most assuredly for a POS."

"That's extremely intriguing, Brother," I said. I was having a hard time seeing him just stand in front of me because the possibilities were running through my mind so vividly.
 

*****

Computer: "Playback, dream eleven thirteen twenty eleven, complete.
 
"Computer: terminate recording."



(For those who missed it: joystick controls for dogfighting, the ability to join a pirate corp, the end of random wormholes spawning and the start of players generating their own wormholes)


List of other Blog Banters:
CCP Ninveah - Ship Transport, D-Scan Improvements, Exploration Ships
CCP Madhatter - Stalemate Unleashed
CCP FakeDevBlogger - Faction Warfare Redesign
CCP Truen1ght - Joystick Control, Pirate Factions, Wormhole Changes
CCP Cozmik - Global Criminal Countdown Changes
CCP NinjaHoneyBee - EMP Blasts, New Rigs
CCP BadStudent - Market-Linked Navigational Tools
CCP Haberdasher - War Dec' Changes, Hi-Sec PvP
CCP Ranter - Launcher and Turret Animation, PI Improvements, Motherships
CCP Anomaly - Incursion Interations

The Next Play

Entry: six hundred seventy-five.

I finally heard what Morsus Mihi and Brick were up to the other day. My CEO found them in a low-sec location that I won't name, but it seems they've been moving to Curse. I can't honestly remember who owns Curse, but my feeling is that the Angel Cartel presides over that domain. I'm looking forward to hearing how things go for Morsus Mihi and Brick after they've moved in.

Now that all but the very last few members of those alliances have left Delve, things have been pretty quiet. With Cascade now making up the majority population of Delve at any one time, the population average has dropped from one hundred fifty, to one hundred twenty, to one hundred, to seventy, to fifty. With a population that small, I sense that there won't be many frigate gangs to bomb on the 1DH-SX undock any time soon.

With those allies gone, there has been some serious grumbling within the alliance about what Cascade is still doing in 1DH-. Cascade controls seventy-two systems between Querious and Delve, and the alliance has technically been deployed away from home for over three months. If Cascade isn't going to push back the Freeport mission, or attack Evoke and Ewoks to prevent capital construction in Delve, then what are we doing in 1DH-?

My simple answer is that it is to prevent station flipping over the course of dealing with Raiden. Raiden does control a small portion of Querious and does pose a serious threat, and it would be the best practice to stage out of Blood Raider space to prevent Cascade assets from being trapped in stations by Raiden. My answer, however, may not be the real reason Cascade is still in 1DH-. To be blunt though, I don't want to leave. 

In recent history, Cascade has moved several times since going home so many months ago. First, we staged in CZK- first, then P-Z, followed shortly by FV-SE8. After a month long period in Stain, we redeployed yet again to 1DH-, and we've now been here for a month or two. I and my CEO are tired of moving, and I'm sure much of the alliance feels the same. At the same time, much of the alliance wants to go home, while I don't.

Given the war fatigue settling in with many of the members, as well as depleting wallets, there is an additional factor not yet mentioned: the alliance leader.

Recently, he's been absent for days at a time with no one to take over the reins even temporarily. Additionally, he has apparently not been comminucating with the alliance as to what is going on and what he plans to do and simply attempting to do everything himself. You could say that Cascade is facing a crisis period, to the point where the alliance leader has been disassociated from his main corp and had to move to the asset holding corporation. Things are looking a little dire.

It'll be interesting to see what Cascade's next play will be in the next few days. Will we move, and if so, to where? Will Archie remain the alliance head? If not, will he go peacefully or try to take the alliance with him? If he does remain, how will he remedy his serious issues stemming from trying to run the entire alliance by himself, and will his plan put an end to the threat of corporations leaving the alliance? What is Cascade's next objective, or do we even have one?

Equally as interesting, what will my corporation do if the alliance disbands? Will the member corporations of Cascade create a new alliance free of the current leader? Will my corporation even join it? Who's left to join that meshes with our corporations goals aside from Goons, TEST or Against All Authorities? Will we even join the DRF and have to learn Russian?

Living in interesting times can be such a curse.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

One False Step

Entry: six hundred seventy-three.

Yesterday the CFC brought down yet another frigate roam. You know the sort: cheap, tech one hulls with tech one fits, but when there are eighty of them, anything dies fast. I managed to cash in on the opportunity and extract a heavy price from them despite the cheapness of their fleet.

The CFC frigate fleet had been bouncing around a lot, using a one thousand below station bookmark, off station bookmarks, warping to gates, generally trying to pick off tiny groups of bigger ships in the area. I happened to have a spot roughly in the same area as them below the undock, and warped to it. Their fleet was some four hundred kilometers away. I crunched the numbers and quickly determined that it would take me approximately seventeen minutes to reach their position.

I did not have that kind of time, and they were not going to give it to me.

I warped up to a handy bookmark I have, a pounce on the station, and waited. They warped in some time later, and created a few wrecks before warping out, one of which was rather conveniently placed. Once they had warped off, I warped down to this wreck at ten and discovered my new favorite bombing spot. It's below the massive docking ring of the station, but plenty close for bombing the undock while being out of the way of everything and unaligned to any celestial. I made the bookmark, and warped back to a pounce.

Some time later, the CFC fleet warped the undock at zero, which dropped them out about twenty below that actual undock terminus. I warped to my new bombing spot, and noticed almost immediately that much of the fleet was microwarping at the terminus. I aimed for the terminus, decloaked, launched the bomb, and attempted a warp out.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my regular bombing fit, as I'd acquired it via contracts on the cheap. As my bomb exploded, my systems overloaded, trying to keep up with the massive amount of incoming information. My Manticore was destroyed, and I found myself podded due to the crippling lag I'd induced in the slaughter.

I had the worst headache upon respawning in the medical bay. After it wore off, I took a look at my combat logs.

Thirty-two final blow killmails at the same time after an hour of patience. Most were tech one, although there was the occasional tech two, cruiser, or pod. And although several people show up on the kills, aside from one poor soul who died before my bomb hit him, I was the only person actively engaged in killing them at that time. The timestamp on my bomb explosion is zero three thirty-nine (03:39) on eleven twelve twenty eleven (11-12-2011). Additional kills were logged for me throughout the hour as the CFC fleet continued to roam in 1DH-SX.

Me, I was reveling in the destruction I'd inflicted from their one false step for the rest of the night. I went to sleep with a smile on my face.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

Dead Space

Entry: six hundred seventy-one, supplemental one.

Since I logged into the neocom network, very little has happened today. A RAZOR fleet camped the 1DH- undock for a short bit, then a Black Legion gang did it, and then there were constant reports of a well known shifting gatecamp run by Admiral Ackbar and his six or seven other versions of himself. Apparently I had just missed yet another CFC Rifter roam down to 1DH-.

It's amazing how little was going on, and how dead 1DH- felt today, and how empty it feels now. The place is no longer bustling with the activity of a one hundred fifty active inhabitants on average, with the occasional red fleet spiking local to a little over two hundred. As of right now, there's a grand total of fifty-seven active. CZK- was on average this active at all times when that was Cascade's capitol.

With nothing to do, I clone jumped to an old body I left in LGK-. An instantaneous forty jump trip is always nice, beats piloting a pod that far. I podded the rest of the way to TG- to pick up a Crusader I'd left there, and made the trip back to 1DH-, planning to hit the bridge in K-6K16 to F20Y-, which would put me one jump out of 1DH- and avoid that cloaky nine-of-one shifting gatecamp.

The largest population I encountered along the way was forty four in LGK-, followed by approximately twenty three in V-3. All other systems from TG- to K-6K16 had a population of six or less, with only CNC- having a population of six, CZK- a population of five, and the rest having a population of one aside from myself or empty.

Some interesting changes were to be seen, however, largely in claims on space. YHN- has been successfully recovered by .-A-., as well as one or two systems leading to YHN-. GE- was still owned by White Noise, but pretty clearly abandoned. V-3YG7 station was under siege by a group of about fifteen blues, presumably Legio. 

Legio had taken several of the systems leading to CZK- as well, and one system on the path to CZK- was entirely unclaimed. Otherwise, there were no notable changes that I've seen, excepting previous knowledge of Raiden taking over some systems in Querious, most recently L-6BE1 and V-3U8T (not to be confused with the V-3 in Catch, both are often referred to as V-3), and one or two surrounding systems such as GOP-GE.

I just wish that there was something more exciting to talk about than what group owns what space. Politics can be such a bitch.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

The Thunderdome Is Getting Nerfed

Entry: six hundred seventy-one.

Some political circumstances have come about that are going to cause a reduction of deathing in the Thunderdome known as Delve.

Firstly, Morsus Mihi is moving away from Delve. Multiple sources confirmed this, and that they were in fact moving back North. Sources were suggesting Guristas Space, which is to say Venal if I recall correctly. Why Morsus would move there when all the action and all their remaining space is in Delve is beyond me. Maybe they plan to strike a vengeful blow at the Deklien Coalition. My guess is that the blow will land quite softly upon the CFC, however, and cause more pain for Morsus than the CFC. This change is already taking place and appears almost complete, as residence in 1DH-SX has declined considerably and there has been an influx of public contracts from Morsus Mihi members.

Just in case, for those not in the know, the CFC is the Deklein Coalition. The CFC is what the Deklein Coalition calls themselves. CFC stands for Cluster F**k Coalition, go figure right? It has its charm, don't dog it.

Secondly, Brick Squad is leaving Delve. Supposedly they are becoming Against All Authorities' pets and moving into Catch. Again, this move baffles me, as both the action and their space are in Delve. There won't be much to do in Catch aside from grind out some new sovereignty, which does make sense if Brick is simply tired of defending its space from the CFC invasion. According to the mails, this change will take place within the next few days.

Will Cascade remain blue with Morsus and Brick? I can't say as I know. My initial guess would be "yes", but it begs the question, "To what point?" If both are going to be too far away to help and be helped, there seems little reasoning behind remaining blue except for possible futures which could result in Brick and Morsus moving back to Delve.

Third, Against All Authorities will be resetting Cascade and Nulli and are already on enemy terms with Morsus and Brick. This means that Against All Authorities might well decide to invade Cascade and Nulli space at some point in an effort to, if not expunge us, then just take some of our space to rent out. This change is supposed to take place by the end of the week.

Fourth, Pandemic Legion has already left Delve. Where just last week PR- was filled with Pandemic Legion, now it is barren. I've heard that Pandemic Legion has moved north into Tribute or Vale from a few sources, but no source seems real sure about what happened. Perhaps they are taking their own space up north? Perhaps they got tired of being denied fights in Delve? Maybe some combination?

With those four major changes in effect, I expect to see Evoke and Ewoks escalate in activity, as they are also based in and attempting to take space in Delve. I expect the Raiden invasion of Querious to either slow down or drastically increase, as there will be fewer enemies for them to deal with. Whether it slows down or speeds up depends on if Raiden is intent on holding space in Querious when, to the best of my knowledge, they already hold a good chunk of space in the East. I also expect to the CFC invasion to speed up in the short term as they take what remains of Morsus' and Brick's abandoned space.

In addition, because of the .-A-. reset of Cascade and Nulli, I somewhat expect to be moving out towards Nulli space to defend against .-A-. at some point in the future, but not for some time. Until then, I suspect Cascade will be alone in its endeavors to push back the CFC freeporting invasion, as Nulli has yet to appear on the board. I am unsure whether that results from standings issues with Morsus and Brick, or if they simply do not care about Delve.

Perhaps one of the bigger questions is, "What comes next?" If the CFC does succeed in freeporting Delve, do they go home, or do they continue the campaign? If they go home, enemies will be few except for low-sec, and hard to reach even with jumpbridges given the size of CFC space. I once made a trip from VFK-IV to 6VDT-H in an effort to find something to shoot, and even with jumpbridges, the trip was forty jumps one way. If they continue the campaign however, will members grumble about not being able to make ISK?

We will just have to see how things turn out in the longer turn, but the implications seem clear for the short terms. The Thunderdome will be coming with less Thunder.

Computer: terminate recording.

Combat Probing

Entry: six hundred sixty-six.

I only tried combat probing in null once, long before yesterday. My results back then were pretty shaky, and I was certain I was no good and in need of some serious teaching. Seven months have passed since then, no additional training in combat probing obtained, no practice completed, leaving me only with the theoretical knowledge that I possessed before my first attempt back then.

Yesterday, the fleet commander was asking for a cloaky prober. No one was volunteering despite repeated calls. I offered myself up as a last resort if a more experienced once could not be found, and as can be guessed, a more experienced one was not found to accompany the fleet.

FC set destination for 3-F from 1DH-. Jump bridges were down, in part because of Raiden hitting them, in part because of Atlas merging into Cascade, so we took the long route through the Z3V- gate.

My first failure occurred in L-6. I reported what appeared to be a cyno on a station and a Thantos at that cyno. I had not, however, actually warped towards the cyno, and when the FC ordered a Drake to warp in and aggress, the Drake ended up pinned on a tower on a moon near the station. The FC replaced his ship and gave me a mild scolding.

To be fair, I didn't promise good results when we set out, saying that while I was technically capable, I didn't have any practice in the art of playing hide and seek.

We continued our trek towards 3-F, and I jumped in alone from 0TKF-. I bounced above the Efa gate and caught sight of a gatecamp: three drakes, a dramiel, a hound, and a firetail, with two drag bubbles, most likely set up from the 0TKF- and I1Y- gate. I should have checked, but didn't have the presence of mind to do so at the time.

I warped down to the gate as the Drakes approached the drag bubbles, settling approximately forty kilometers off the Efa gate towards the bubbles. I reported being within five of one Drake and ten of a second, the third nearly back at the Efa gate. FC ordered interdictors to jump in and drop bubbles.

Unfortunately, five people jumped into 3-F, a fact I missed as I watched the Drakes align to safes and warp off. I decloaked and began the targeting sequence a second too late to catch any of the Drakes on the gate with either my Warp disruptor II or my Warp Scrambler II.

I deployed probes, and began scanning. Thanks to my earlier scanning attempts in L-6, I had a capital class and up filter active while scanning for Drakes, only realizing the mistake five minutes in. I quickly changed the filter to scan for all ship signatures, knowing that I was looking for a Drake, and picked up a full Drake signature at a belt near planet ten.

I warped in at ten, approached, decloaked, laid down both points and called for support. The Drake targeted me, opened fire, salvo after salvo smashing shields and armor as I attempted to keep my signature radius small and fast with an afterburner. Some seconds later, an interdictor landed, bubble went up, I aligned out and took another two salvos on the align out before exiting the disruption bubble and warping. The fleet cleaned him up for me. I escaped with thirty-nine percent armor integrity.

After another few minutes of scanning, I determined I wasn't going to get any hits. I should have had the fleet warp to a specific safespot so that I could ignore their signatures and probe some more, but again the presence of mind escaped me.

On the trip back, we stopped in L-6 again, and I managed to find a ratting Raiden Tempest in an asteroid belt with just directional scan. I warped to the belt at twenty, saw the tempest aligned, and approached. At ten, I decloaked and attempted to lay down both of my points only to have the ratter warp to station and dock. 

In retrospect, I should have simply continued the approach and bumped him first, laying down the points once I was automatically decloaked.

Suffice to say, being the prober is a difficult task.
 
Computer: terminate recording.

Anonymous Comments

It didn't take much to notice that people without blogger accounts were suddenly signing up to drop me comments, two of the most notable being Monster from Morsus Mihi and ilikepie from wherever. Doing a show info on their profile revealed no posts, no blogs owned or followed, and profile views under 10.


Like I said, pretty clear. I appreciate the fact that people went to enough trouble to create blogger accounts solely to drop comments (maybe just for me, maybe not), but it leaves me wondering about the 99% of people who don't do that.


To that end, I've enabled anonymous comments. All I ask is that you sign your comments with an identifier, preferably your EVE main character name. However, if I start getting trolls all of a sudden, I'll disable automatic approval and enable approved comments only. Let's not live under bridges, ok?


If you already have a blogger account but no blog, I strongly encourage that you create a blog. I personally like to read the battle report blogs more than metagaming blogs, but I'll be honest, the metagaming blogs get alot more attention, not to mention there's a great deal of them on the blogpack Rixx has.


That said, I pretty much don't read anyone on the blogpack. Maybe 1, maybe 2, I'm not real sure and am too lazy to check. But when half or more of the blogpack is metagamers, and they all talk about the same stuff at pretty much the same time, I don't find a real point. 1 is enough. If metagaming is your style, just be aware of your competition, and that with the number of them out there, you'll probably drown in the mix.


If/when you do create your own blog, be sure to give it it's own unique twist to seperate it from the 200+ other active eve blogs out there. If you want readers, you need that pzazz.


With that, I'll close this out with a question: What do you like about my blog and what would you like to see more of?

Bust, Roam, Month in Review

Entry: six hundred sixty-two.

After a few days away from space-faring combat, I came back and almost immediately joined up on a fleet to break a gatecamp. The FC requested specific ships, one of which was bait. I didn't have anything that fit the bill except a Cyclone. I showed him my fit, and he said it'd be ok.

After a short formup, we headed for 6Q- with me going plus one jump of fleet.

When I get to 6Q-, I didn't see any hostiles because of the wrong overview being up, so I start alignment to 1-SMEB and quickly find myself warp disrupted and being hit by autocannon fire. I called the fleet in, overheating my invuln and warp disruptor II as they started to land on the 6Q- gate in the previous system A-ELE2. A Rapier, Stiletto, and Tempest are targeting me, all firing, thinking me alone and ultimately defenseless.
Just before they jump in, I point the Rapier, who made the silliest of piloting decisions by webbing me at fifteen and keeping within fifteen of me.

The fleet lands on the A-E gate in 6Q- and chases down the Rapier while the Stiletto bugs out and the Tempest cloaks up. Pretty easy kill.

Shortly after that, those of us that were on the gatecamp are invited to a nano roam. As it turns out, the only FAIL members who joined were all from my corporation, as the only FAIL members to break the aforementioned gatecamp were also in my corp.

The roam itself was largely uneventful, more so for us few FAIL guys. Things were quiet, probably because Capsuleers were going door to door in stations getting candy, or, you know, getting drunk. After a trip through Nulli space however, we ended up in Stain and managed to snag a Brutix who was successfully baited on station at RPS-0K and wasn't able to dock in time. The Morsus and Brick portion of the fleet at least managed to snag a Hulk and a Harbinger on the way towards that Brutix kill. After that, we roamed a little deeper, and not finding anything, turned back towards home.
 
The way back was a failure. We were burning back to 1DH-, and having found almost nothing, and in RPS- ran into a sniper Machariel gang with a Scimitar for support. After a minute or two dancing, the FC decided to engage. Points were called and interceptors largely avoided dying, but critical communications errors resulted in our fleet biting off much more than it could chew. All said and done, we bugged out with zero kills and five deaths.

Thankfully, none of us FAIL guys died. We're either pro or not all that important. Frankly, I felt unimportant, as only one flight of Warrior II's was set on me, barely scratching my shields at all during that minute or two of combat.

Right about the time the survivors burned for 1DH-, the new month began. As it turns out, my corporation, Militaris Industries [UDEAD] managed to break Paragon Fury's [PFURY] four month reign on the alliance killboards. UDEAD scored one thousand thirty-two kills in that month, PFURY scored one thousand seventeen. 

Typically UDEAD would come in a close second to PFURY, but apparently injecting the few new recruits we've gotten into battle has paid off, netting us those extra kills to put us over the top of the also recruiting PFURY. PFURY has many more members than UDEAD and many more active combat pilots, so it's especially pleasant to see that our small group of combat pilots pulled through to take rank one. It should also be noted that UDEAD lost approximately half of what PFURY lost that month, but I'll couch that with PFURY having several Fleet Commanders and UDEAD having none.
 
I also feel especially good about my record last month. One hundred thirty-four kills, only five losses. That's twenty more kills than average, half the losses, and means that I account for thirteen percent of all the kills for my corporation. Two of my losses were pods, approximately two million ISK each since I fly without implants, and the only loss I can't recall is my friend who lived too long, Rudra the Wolf.
 
It's been a great month for combat, and it's only going to get more exciting as more null-sec entities are moving down to Delve for a piece of the action. Pandemic Legion is coming back into the mix, and Raiden decided to drop in as well. We're even seeing triple a, Nulli, and Vera Cruz fleets coming our way. The only major powers not down here getting in on the action these days are White Noise, Shadow of Death, Red Overlord, Red Alliance, and NCdot.
 
Computer: terminate recording.