Corp mission night: One report of many

I am still training up and preparing myself to help my corporation with clearing criminal influences near our offices. But even though I am yet not much help I was still invited to join and could watch with awe what my corp-mates were doing. Here is a report of one of these endeavours that my sensors picked up while I watched the battle:

>>> Data connection opening
>>> Subject: Battleship fleet sighted in Sol
>>> Sender: Serpine Sol Inquestor 389
>>> To: Serpentis 3 HQ
>>> Transmitting data

Around 2000 hours a battleship fleet has been sighted prowling the nebulae of the Sol region. It was quite an ominous sight.



Due to electrostatic interferences of these particle clouds my team had trouble localizing them. Our cov-ops sensors were to weak to penetrate too far into the clouds. When we finally found out were they were haeding, we immediately alerted the local station to scramble their fighters and followed the fleet invading our territory.
Finally free of those clouds we could make out their signatures: The fleet arrayed against us was made up exclusively of ships of the Black Thorne Corporation. Intel suggest they are mostly miners, so we didn't investigate them. That was quite a mistake of intel as it turns out!

Following is an inquestor probe feed of the invading BTC fleet facing our ships.


Sadly the fight didn't fare too well. Here you can see one of your battelships being hammered quite heavily by incoming fire.


They didn't suffer any losses and our ships were smashed. It was terrible to behold! And they didn't stop there but did advance on our Station in system as well, smashing the stations defences with ease.


Our station sits undefended! I am awaiting your instructions how to proceed! What? Looks like I was discovered! There was a rupture hiding between those battleships. It is targeting me ...

>>> Transmission closed

Ruin

I just read through the new chronicle called "All These Lives are Fit to Ruin". I have to admit it was quite a read and one that made me thoughtful as well. Are we Capsuleers really that unthinking of other lives? I do fear so. But I guess it's always better to look first before your own door (or however that saying goes): I do think that I so far only shot at those things that really matter to the outcome of a mission. But I fear that there might have still been a bit collateral damage that could have been avoided. That story at least opened my eyes to these matters. I hope now to be much more sensitive to such issues (concerning not-military structures). And regarding my crew ... well I guess most of us don't think about their crew too much. I guess I will try to get to know them better. Capsuleers don't have to be monsters, they are human still. I am human still. Or better: I want to be human.
What do you thin about that esteemed reader?

Tepet's Pride my first T2 ship whose crew sadly died when I was doing a mission versues Mercs that warp scrambled me.

All these Habitation Models survived my visit btw 0:-) And here is also the first picture of my new pride (my first BC which is self-made as well) :o)

Mining ops Part II: A Miner's Life

A Miner's life is not bleak but can be quite fun when in the right group. I guess that is why I am such a fan of corp mining operations.
Here a few excerpts from things happening:

Hulk of Fire!

In the peaceful reclusion tht is Solitude the roid belts don’t have to fear loneliness. To the contrary! They had to fear for their life! For the BTC mining fleet does descend upon them. Even though mining is quite peaceful it can bet stressy as well. Especially for the haulers who have to hurry to keep up with the output of the many Hulks in attendance.

Those same Hulks must have put their processing facilities in overdrive to eat away at those roids as fast as they were. One of them was actually too enthusiastic and one could see fire shooting out of his Hulk.

Mal valiantly tried to put out those flames with a blanket, but just before he would have had to evacuate the ship reprogrammed drones were able to put out the flames.
Aside from that incident the operation went quite well and the miners even found the time to reprogram a few drones to serve tea. 0:-)

Newbie Hauler

On one of those mining operations I was honored to try to be the one to haule all the ore off to the safety of the nearest station. That was quite a night! It began when our master-miner Greg called all of us (those that were willing at least) to attack the roids of Solitude. And attacked they were with a lot of ferocity so much that your humble reporter who for the first time tried to haul was hard pressed to keep up but was never able to.
Here you can see the beginning of the end of said asteroid field with the miners sitting like a dark spider in the middle building their net of destructive mining laser energies.

It was quite difficult to manoeuvre through that net safely (and that was before certain Warrior drones were ordered to attack said poor hauler to entice him to haul faster ;-) ).

Here you can see the hauler trying to exit the mining HQ as fast as possible.

It was nice that Mrex brought his Orca as well one to clear away the most hauling-heat btw.
And here you see 3 Hulks huddling conspicuously close together.. what plans might they have hatched? Perhaps we will see during the next mining mission .. ;-)



Apocrypha – Life goes on

Even though the beginnings of Apocrypha were quite disastrous – not only for the poor people of Seylinn – even with the emergence of the anomalies called wormholes life has to go on. And life did go on! One way to show that was by doing something relaxing – like mining.
Below you can see the BTC miners diligently destroying roids and looking at their new awesomeness as well as the nice new technical effects. 0:-)

Here the most valiant miners of that night. Even as they came under attack by Serpentis Frigates they did just continued their mining exercise undisturbed.

The Serpentis spying upon the miners before it got surrounded by drones.

Mining ops Part I

One of the first things I could participate in the Black Thorne Corporation were the nice mining ops. Below is the report of the first one were I could participate. It was held in early February:

The dark of space, glittering stars, softly glowing nebulae and peacefully flying roids huddling together in a belt. I do guess being in Solitude they hope they might survive the aeons. But the solitude is scattered by the arrival of the master miner of the Black Thorne: Greg.
Unafraid of those huge roids he flies really close and starts his job.

I am really happy he didn’t get crushed between those huge roids!
He isn’t left alone though for long. Others do come: One of these is a huge lumbering demon-whale of a ship to collect the remains of the first roids to fall. The mining force grows more and more and majestic ships, like the one below, unleash their barrage of destruction against the roids - all for the glory of the Black Thorne.

The fleet is steadily increasing on and on. Here you see a powerful Gallentean workforce arriving as well.

To judge the size of that ship, just take a look of the tiny can trying to eke out an existence near the huge ship.

But the true deathbringers to roids are the immense hulks the epitome of nightmares for them. Here you see two of them flying back to back defending the can resting between them.

From the bridge of this huge orca the whole op is being coordinated.


The formerly huge belt is diminishing fast - as can be seen in the background. But as the stalwart miners are not black-hearted, they do decide to leave a tiny rest of small roids alive and head for another site where they might bring destruction for roids.

It is a hidden place which was found only due to Swiss’ diligence. Some might wonder why the operation was shifted to this site. One might think it could have been to stay on the move to better hide the operation from environmentalists who might protest against this crass destruction of natural resources.

The setting sun in the background of this drone-cam picture completes this news-feed.

BTC - My new corp

After that fiasco in Caldari territory I was quite downtrodden. But luck was with me, as I found quite a nice corporation (The Black Thorne Corporation) that would have me! And I am quite happy to be there as well! It is like an industrialist corp should be!
Below my application:

>>> Burst data connection opening …
>>> Sender: Zargyl of the Sebiestor
>>> To: Black Thorne Recruitment Office
>>> Sender Code: z7786893r
>>> Transmitting data
>>> Data transmitted message opening

Dear honoured Sirs,

after reviewing datafiles from library databanks I found quite interesting hints about a corporation called Black Thorne. Further research into the matter revealed more interesting details that made me small time research student and pilot write this application to you.
Due to the fact that I am a pilot - though not yet a good one I have to admit - I was honoured to be able to study at the Republic University where engineering, industry and science were my top fields of study.
After my time with the University was up, I wanted to see more of the world outside, explore, help others and do a bit mining to help me grow. I don’t want to do this alone and found a nice corp called C.O.R.E Research Expedition with headquarters in The Forge. That was quite a small but active, and friendly corp of social and mature people. I liked it there. But then came the time of the war and they were quite aggressively trying to help the Caldari State. Anyone who could not achieve a high standing with that state had not many chances to rise there (as well as the fear of being expelled). And as I am of the Minmatar and not yet a combat pilot able to take on the higher priority targets to rise in esteem high enough and fast enough. I am now searching for a new corp who would have me.
Therefore I can emphasize with your corporation’s founding. Furthermore as a Minmatar I also do emphasize with the problems of the Gallente Federation against the likes of a certain Mr. Heth, as the Gallente Federation was the only one actively helping my beloved Minmatar Republic.
I am no combat pilot and more of an inexperienced but enthusiastic and friendly industrialist who would like to grow together with others in a friendly environment. Therefore would like to apply for membership in your corporation in the hope that soon I might be able to do my part as well in the larger picture of the universe (as well as corporate life).

Best Regards,
Zargyl of the Sebiestor

>>> Transmission closed.

Thankfully I got accepted! *jumps happily around* This now is Mallinthas my new boss:



If all Amarrians were that open-minded I am sure there would be no cause for war between the Matari and the Amarrian people. He is also a great diplomat and I would nominate (if I had that kind of influence – which I don’t have) him as an advisor to Empress Jamyl Sarum.

Of things past Part III: Further old missions

Amarr in Caldari Space?

Upon arrival at CORE HQ I did set out to explore the surroundings of my new hope. One of the most interesting things I found yet, were the ruins of an ancient Amarr outpost. The repercussions of such a find are quite large: Does this mean Amarr had not long ago such a presence in Caldari space? Or did that space belong to Amarr before it fell under the sovereignty of the Caldari people? Who did wreck that station? Or was it just left behind?
Or even more intriguing: Was it perhaps lost in a singularity in space and transported to this location?
Lots of questions. What would be your theory esteemed reader of this message?



Caldari – Matar Diplomacy

One of the things I tried in Caldari space (aside from trying to find out why the Jovians bequeathed the Caldari people first with capsuleer technology) was to work for a betterment of the Caldari – Matar relations. That work sadly failed. Only once did I find a bit hope, and that was in the mission below:



Mission-wise I also quite liked the Rancorous Researcher. Only to find out that quite a lot researchers were rancorous (got that mission about 4 times) I was a bit dissuaded. I hope that I will never end that way!

Of things past Part II: Old corp

As I mentioned in my first post, after only a short introductory excursion into space, I was a bit overwhelmed and went back to University. It took me nearly a year before I tried a second time. I guess I had to, as I had quite a bad conscience that I had wasted the resources the Republic invested into transformation into a Capsuleer. That was it (and that they kept sending me reminders of the glory of space) that made me reconsider and try again. And guess what: My research at the Republic University into the life of a Capsuleer proved worth it! My second escapades in space went much more smoothly and I started to like the feel of a ship around me, the feel of being more than myself of being an integral part of a spacecraft.

It didn’t take me and my renewed interest long to come to the conclusion that I would like to explore the universe together with others, so I began searching for a corporation that would have me. And I found one: The C.O.R.E. Research Expedition in far away Caldari Space (in the Forge actually). I did like the name of that region (The Forge) hinting at a place for industrialists and I did like the info the databases presented about that corp. That was why I undertook that 30+ jump journey away from my home into a possibly hostile Caldari space.

This – one of my first pictures - depicts myself at the end of this journey before docking at the CORE HQ:



The corp was small but with nice and like-mined people and I felt quite welcome as well. I even got a shorter trial-time than normal and was approached for an officer’s post within days of that. Being my humble self I of course declined at first. But after the third invitation I did join that august group. It was nice to see how many things were happening and how an, albeit small, company could advance! I tried my best (newbie that I was and newbie that I still am) to help in any way I could. The problems started when those advances were going faster and faster. One indication of that was the restructuring of the message boards: Threads got restructured and posts deleted. The second indication was paranoia: Well I guess a bit paranoia is healthy in such a dark universe as ours, but still .. I ended up as what I would like to call a “voice of reason” that was trying to defend members form various accusations (like being too inactive, a spy, someone disguised for someone else or what have you). I did try to be reasonable and always was the one to point out the positive sides of the various accused members. I guess I did fail in that (being reasonable) as I was asked twice by the director to leave the corp if I couldn’t life with his decisions. That did hurt my enthusiastic self quite a bit. (As a side note: all the various accused members I defended were cleared afterwards, though most left - probably because of the accusations vs. them).

The final straw came when it was decided to more and more embrace the ideals of the Caldari State and to show the state how successful the corp as a whole was to advance the goals of the State. As quite a new member, being able only to fly a Frigate I fell behind expectations. One day I found myself demoted on those grounds (even though there was no rule and no dead-line set for upholding the tenants of the Caldari State sufficiently).
That was the final straw. Even though I got reinstated one day later the damage was done and I was gone. It was quite a hard choice to make, but frankly it was the only choice. I tried to end my associated with the CORE as nicely as possible (even though I was quite furious) and even suggested a few nice things as kind of a positive parting-gift. It wasn’t seen that way and I earned quite a few questionable remarks when unveiling my decision to leave. Those were quite eye-opening though, as they tried to make me look bad. This was not achieved (actually it was the other way, as those unfriendly replies I got made the corp look bad) so that thread got deleted.

But enough of my old troubles, off to nicer times. If you want to know more, just mail me though.

In closing a picture I made for that corp:

Of things past Part I: First missions

This actually stems back from my time in Minmatar space where, when exploring a system for an agent of mine I did had quite some exciting encounter. From quite far away my sensors made up a ship of unknown type. It seems to have spotted me and vanished immediately. The rumour has it that it might have been a ship of the ancient ones known as Jovians.



Wow was I excited! If I didn’t have this image in my sensory storage I wouldn’t have believed my eyes. I hope to someday follow up on this.

(Only much later did I find out that what I saw was probably just a drone – still the excitement from that nice mission is still there.)

Me myself and I

First I guess a little bit about myself is in order: I am quite an enthusiastic and open-minded (some might call me naïve) young Minmatar student nearly fresh out from Republic University. Actually I might appear a bit older, but even though I passed the tests to become a capsuleer for quite some time now, upon passing said tests, I didn’t venture into space much. Actually I only left my home station once for a first tutorial. The experience was quite overwhelming and so I decided that I wasn’t yet ready for space and returned to my studies for one year more. So you might still call me a newbie - for that is what I am.

Though newbie that I might be, I am looking quite wide-eyed at all the possibilities the universe is offering and I hope to be able to share my adventures and experiences with you via this text-feed and its journal entries.

Why did I have this idea about text-feed messages now you might ask? Well recently I saw a dark girl named Selina Starfire at a station near my new home. I waved to her but she looked away. My luck with girls I guess … Still even though she just passed me by and didn’t want to talk to me, I was able to find out more about her in a database entry. Said database entry then led me to quite a nice blog of hers. I guess the long hours of research from my days at Republic University finally paid off ;-) Seeing this interesting blog with so many well written stories, my interest in trying myself on one was piqued. The rest they say is history (well ok perhaps in my case only a pitiful try - but still a try nevertheless).


Myself on the move with Trashy my stoutest and most often used ship.