Surviving within the Void

Angels here I come!

2011-10-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

So after debating on what to do, Vincent Pryce convinced me into grinding Amarr Navy standing so I can run the Angel Cartel Arc.

So after grinding status for about 1 week, an hour or so a day, I finally have the standings needed and am preparing to head to Sendaya, border system to Doril, a gateway into Curse where all the bad guys live.

Now it's time to use that spare jump clone I have lying around and give it a shot. Hope i don't run out of ammo xD

How do I EVE-Online?!

2011-10-15T01:49:00.000-07:00

So it's only been like .. what ... 10 months or so since my last blog update and lets see what's changed.

A ton to put it simply.

After some stagnation within VETO which still breaks my heart, I took the big step and left the corporation and family that housed me for over 2 years. Left on the best terms possible and hope everyone is still doing well <3

Since then I joined Shadow Cartel which is another low-sec alliance group who are more or less just like VETO, except they talk in local =P

However after about 1-2 months of joining life came knocking and I disappeared to take care of things.

These things included buying my own house, a new vehicle (fuck ya 4x4 trucks), working, and learning how to cook food other than spaghetti (fucking love spaghetti).

I finally found time and the urge to play EVE-Online again and I must say it's nice to be back even if I'm not rampaging around solo in an unscouted battleship like I used to.

Hopefully Vieve won't stalk me too much <3

Roaming again!

2011-01-30T22:35:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I took out an old skool battleship gang which I haven't done in ages and something we don't do that much anyways due to how EVE works these days in low-sec.

So we started out and got 2 jumps from home before our awesome scout with his sexy baritone voice spotted out first targets.

Bait goes in, they aggro, we aggro, I almost die, and boom they die! =)

So after looting the field and repairing up my typhoon (virgin flight too) we move out and run into our friends in Shadow Cartel and Tuskers and another few random people. They're hanging in an AHAC gang on a gate and we jump in all crazy like due to our wonderful guardian pilot jumping first by 'mistake'.

I start calling targets, they call targets, they started dying, we almost lost a few people and we take the field. Meanwhile as we loot and salvage (got an extra 100m-200m in salvage ^_^) we score another 4-5 kills as people warp into us and jump in.

So after taking care of more loot, we head out towards Heydelies and the home area of the GalFeds. A few more quick kills and we turn to go home and while taking a bio break in Ladistier, the Gallente, Caldari, and Minmatar militias come through with a 30-40 person bs + logistics gang and camps us in for a whole ten minutes before getting bored and leaving.

We come back from our potty break and go home and laud over all the loots we got. While nothing super spectacular happened, for me to FC and TC and do all the overhead work and be 100% successful without losing anyone was special for me as I haven't had that kind of success since Ghost Festival.

Hopefully this means more Korthan ops and more ownage in the future in more battleships.

Pray for Villains 3 Done.

2011-01-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

So I've finally just said screw it and put together what decent or good fraps I'd had stored away and made part 3.

It's roughly 13 minutes long with solo and gang clips in there. Flown ships are: Harpy, Drake, Hurricane, Harbinger, Prophecy, Bhaalgorn, and Guardian.

EVE-Online Forum Thread: Pray 4 Villains

Hope you enjoy it.

Pray for Villains 3 Preview

2010-10-02T03:45:00.000-07:00

So while I'm still working on the next Pray 4 Villains video, figured I'd render the first minute or so and upload it for people to take a peak at.

There is no super fancy editing as I'm still learning how to do awesome stuff like that =/

I've posted 2 links to one with a bit of added effects that hopefully goes along pretty well with the music track(s) and another one without the effects.

Effects Preview Link: Here
Standard Preview Link: Here

Rocket Fix?! In My EVE?

2010-10-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

So CCP have decided to take a look at Rockets after however many years it's been since it was pointed out that after changes to game mechanics (speed, webs, sig radius, etc) that Rockets suck and are useless.

While I still use rockets occasionally, broken or not (working as intended™ so says CCP), on a Vengeance, I never really noticed how bad they were considering as a pirate, I've always chosen my targets that I know I can kill.

I digress!

So supposedly they increased the base damage [modifier], increased launcher capacity, and increased rate of fire and I believe something else to do with explosion velocity or some such. Anyways what this means is, according to some math gurus who crunch numbers, is that rocket dps for ships like the Vengeance, Hawk, and to extent Crow, will see a boost in the damage they do to other ships.

While this means rocket ships can now downgrade to 1 webifier, it still means that you have to have a way to reduce the speed of your target via web or scrambler. I suppose only needing 1 beats needing 2, but we'll see what happens when people stop number crunching and get on SiSi and find out for sure.

I'm hoping it'll get fixed to where you'll be able to do dps like light missiles where you still do ~60%-75% of your damage to moving targets (mwd or ab), but full damage when said target is slowed down or not moving; this is probably what CCP did and I fail at reading comprehension or something.

Anywho figured an update of something that'll eventually affect what I fly is better than no update! See ya in space!

Activity and Ranting.

2010-09-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

Well it's been almost an entire month since my last blog post, however I digress as I've been busy.

Think the spark to actively log back in and do things has come back as I find myself playing EVE a whole lot more than Bad Company 2 and StarCraft 2. Granted there are still some people whose idiosyncrasies bother the hell out of me, but that's life I suppose...

Still debating on whether or not to enter the Tusker AF Tournament being held next Saturday as I'm such a lazy person that having to move a new assault frigate down from high-sec is a pain. The temptation and prizes however could totally make up for my slight discomfort of having to do something proactive about getting a new ship.

Trying to FC again and it's slow going. People saying 'yay korthan ops w00t' are many, however those who show up are not; definately a work in progress I think. In anycase the overall increase in activity since Verone laid down his facist, dictator law is a boon and there are more people undocked and active than the number of those logged in afk in station (hate those people >_>).

Anywho almost done with Pray 4 Villains 3, just need a few more good clips and then a few hours for rendering; keep the eyes open!

Update Time!

2010-08-14T05:39:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything important or fun and that's due to a slight burnout in EVE.

My usual wingmen are off doing other things which is understandable as they're burnt out too, but it's left me floundering in how to go out and do my thing again.

Thanks to VETO and its members I've been slowly becoming more active as I reconnect with others and go out in gangs and do ops with more than just three other people as I had a tendency to do in the past. Roaming with Kaileen and Nahnil in our shinny battleships is a blast and entirely too much fun, as well as doing regular roams in the prophecy and hurricanes with the others in VETO.

Also I never thought I'd say it, but thanks to Dame Death for a free Archon which helped pay for +5 implants for a learning clone!

Anyways activity is slowly coming back as is the urge to undock and do solo work again (just need to remember fraps!) and go enjoy myself even if others are not around to enjoy the fun with.

A new video (Pray for Villains 3) is in the works as well as a special video I've restarted about 10 times for VETO itself. So expect those to randomly appear in the next month or two hopefully.

Until next time!
Fly safe and pay the ransoms! xD

No POS for you!

2010-07-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

So after waking up at my desk and finding I was still logged into EVE, I saw a corpmate asking for some back up in the form of a few BS. Needless to say I volunteered and went speeding on my way to Gratesier to help out.

We land on a gang of about 10-12 BS taking out a POS and let the rape commence. We killed 8 BS, 1 Destroyer in just over 3 minutes as the rest ran off as they could.

Killboard Link!

Kerplah?!

2010-07-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Kerplah?!

That's right that's more or less how I've been feeling lately with things going on in-game and out of game, but such is life no? When the going gets good, it starts getting rough?

So this alliance has decided to make Goinard their home, whether temporary or permanently, I'm not sure, but they've not been doing a good job at it as we've been catching them solo and in pairs all over the place, showing them how VETO. welcomes other alliances and corporations to the system.

Shadow Cartel (this alliance) seems to like to sit in station and wait for their members to get attacked before undocking or logging in to try and get us, but have thus far failed at both allowing us to score some good kills on them however, I do believe one of their pilgrim pilots needs to reconsider his/her fit (nanos don't work on pilgrims especially with gcc).

So back to this whole Kerplah?! thing... Yeah it's my general feeling and consensus about how things are going in the corporation due to some serious stagnating, but I suppose that's normal really, but it still bugs the crap out of me. Hopefully people will turn into the old 'Don't afraid of anything' pilots we had at the beginning of the year and I won't be so emo about everything?! Surely this can happen I swear!

In anycase felt I should update this here blog as I've not done it in... well ages so yeah! Rabble blog post best post.

Good fight, better laughs!

2010-07-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

So I go roaming in my Prophecy for the first time in ages and run up to Naguton. A corp is ratting in the belts with a Blackbird, Kestrel, and Cormorant. I chase em around and then the Kestrel pilot gets bold and declares war in one of the belts. His corp mates warp in to help him and I land and the fighting commences!

Local chat was pretty awesome the whole time as well as a private chat with the Kestrel pilot

EVE System > Channel changed to Naguton Local Channel
Alpha Spinecone > got to be said, nice irate ship
Alpha Spinecone > doed it have a jolly rodger on it?
Travilo > Korthan, wanna mess with my tech?
Korthan > If only =)
Alpha Spinecone > trav
Alpha Spinecone > shut the fuck up
Alpha Spinecone > we will be raped
Korthan > 3v1
Alpha Spinecone > i do not have my drake
Alpha Spinecone > im in a naff mobile
Travilo > no, he's messing, I'm gonna blow his little pirate junk up
Alpha Spinecone > oh dear
Alpha Spinecone > well, lokks like were gonna have to save trav
Travilo > come to Naguton V ASteroid Belt 1
Alpha Spinecone > your funeral
Travilo > sure is
propatrebor > is this the belt your in now
Alpha Spinecone > fuckit, ill help
Travilo > yeah
Alpha Spinecone > ill ge to range
propatrebor > im right next to you are you INSANE lol
propatrebor > i'll die
Alpha Spinecone > i know
Alpha Spinecone > still, we all have bdetter rides and good clones
Alpha Spinecone > ow
Alpha Spinecone > warping
or not
Alpha Spinecone > ouchie
Travilo > HAHAHA XD
propatrebor > ive warped
Korthan > You can come back for your loot. This was pretty awesome.
Alpha Spinecone > what is that ting fitted with, kryptonite cannons?
Travilo > HAHAHA XD
Travilo > this was fun
Alpha Spinecone > can soeone check my shattered wreck for lootable pls?
Korthan > I'll not go after your pods.
Alpha Spinecone > is anyone even alive still?
#
Alpha Spinecone > thanks
Travilo > I'm alive
Alpha Spinecone > in your ship?
propatrebor > will you let be back to collect his stuff ??
Travilo > nope
Alpha Spinecone > he said yeah
Korthan > You all have some brass for that hehe
Korthan > Yeah comeon back
Alpha Spinecone > thanks, i think
Korthan > i'll not attack
propatrebor > kk thanks lol
Alpha Spinecone > can you show me your fit, you i can learn how to do it?
Alpha Spinecone > *envious*

Travilo -> Kestrel
Alpha Spinecone -> Blackbird
propatrebor -> Cormorant

Private chat afterwards:
Korthan > Hello good sir!
Travilo > nice fight
Korthan > Thanks for a memorable fight. NOt often I get those.
Korthan > Not*
Travilo > yeah, I just wanted some action
Korthan > Hey you gotta start somewhere
Travilo > yeah, you had fun?
Korthan > Barrels
Korthan > Gave you guys some iskies to get new ships
Korthan > I believe I was laughing too much to pay good attention
Travilo > yeah 5 mill, really?
Korthan > All I can spare right now
Korthan > I'd send more
Korthan > But for having some balls I think you deserved a free ship or two on me
Korthan > Most people dock and talk crap in station
Korthan > you actually gave it a good try <3
Travilo > it's cool, I came to get podded so why not by someone with a good ship
Korthan > =)
Korthan > I like that kind of attitude. That's why I'm in this ship. One of my cheaper ones so losing it won't be a big deal
Korthan > You'll get a cameo on my next pvp vid for sure
Travilo > yeah, it got kinda boring
Travilo > pvp vid?
Korthan > I record random fights when I remember to and put them into a video
Korthan > working on my 3rd one right now.
Travilo > nice, glad I could join in it, "the noob with balls"
Travilo > nice
Korthan > indeed
Travilo > nice getting to know you man, and thanks for the fight
Korthan > the pleasure is mine
Travilo > so, what's up?
Korthan > waiting out my flag so I can go roaming some more =)
Travilo > nice, i'm gonna do some mining
Travilo > thanks to you it seems I got the reputation of crazyguy in the ccorp
Korthan > Kindred spirits then as I'm the same way
Korthan > in mine.

I sent 10m to the Blackbird pilot and 5m to the kestrel guy for being so positive and awesome about it all and providing me with some good laughs.

Boat Violencing!

2010-07-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

The other day we managed to get a sweet fight out of some people in Goinard. Was a real thrill getting back into some proper slugfest pvp and thanks to those involved for bringing it!

Engagement

Operational Urban Zion Order and Masters of Blitz were cruising around in a pretty heavy battleship and battlecruiser gang with a falcon or two as support. We waited in a belt and they obliged us and warped in. Lasers, drones, missiles, and everything started flying and people started dying.

I went down about a minute or so into the fight due to their falcons keeping our logistics pilots jammed most of the fight, but we managed to hold the field and by the time I managed to come back in a different ship the hostiles were breaking away.

Unfortunately I only got like a minute or so of fraps of what was an epic fight! Also must say <3 to Matti for being awesome and taking over when I exploded and had to warp out.

Leading Ops?! Me?! No Wai!

2010-06-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

So I decided to run a corp op and be FC and all that fun stuff for the first time in a good year since joining VETO and I must say it was awesome fun.

We even went to Amamake where everyone except a Rifter decided to dock up or hide in pos's before going into Auga and almost getting myself killed by some Amarr Militia pilots; the gang saved me <3

Wasn't as epicly awesome as I had hoped, but no one died, everyone had fun, and we got kills steadily throughout the whole thing which is always nice =P

Pray for Villains 2

2010-06-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

Finally got a new video finished, rendered, and uploaded.

Link Here.

Enjoy.

Alliance Tournament 8!

2010-06-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

So it turns out CCP isn't going to fail this year and is going to broadcast live the AT8 matches all the way through until the finals!

StevieSG's blog post here gives a breakdown of how it's going to work and have announced they are going to stream/broadcast the matches in HD, which hopefully won't break anything =)

AT8 EVETV Site link here

I also must mention that the prizes are pretty ridiculously awesome and only wish I could get my hands on some of those ships!

The winning team receives:
* 50x Adrestia Heavy Assault Cruiser
* Gold Medal for each participant
* 50 Billion ISK
The second place team receives:
* 50x Utu Assault Frigate
* Silver Medal for each participant
* 25 Billion ISK
The third place team receives:
* Bronze Medal for each participant
* 25 Billion ISK
The fourth place team receives:
* 10 Billion ISK

Anywho until next time!

Zoom Zoom Zoom... We could be a Mazda Commercial!

2010-05-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, which is only really yesterday still for me here in the US, we ran what the FC called an Imbamiel OP. In other words we ran an op with about 6 or 7 dramiels and a few supports on the side as you gotta have support ya know?!

Needless to say we went to Old Man Star, only one of the best places ever to get a good fight, gank people, or get ganked in return, and got a fight with The Tuskers! <3

We managed to drop on them after they'd just finished a fight it looked like with all the wrecks and what-not skewered around the top belt and got all of them but 2 of their pilots.

Was crazy fun and fast too which was the nice part as we covered something like 80 jumps worth of low-sec and only managed to squeeze out a few meager kills towards the end, but the op itself was a success and none of us died! w00tz! Especially me as I have a tendency to go down on ops =(

Also here is a link to a quick video render of the OMS fight for those interested: LINKY!

The Nation. Empire in Shambles.

2010-05-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

Steady reports have been filtering in through The Scope as well as from feeds and agencies within the Empires as well. The Sansha Nation has come out of hiding from and is openly attacking not just one Empire, but all four of them.

Word is they are taking slaves from civilian worlds for unknown purposes. Their leader... a Master Kuvekai I believe has openly requested support from the Capsuleer world. I'm not sure how heavy the support for him and the Nation is, but I can't imagine it'd be overwhelming.

Personally I've not given it much thought. Ethan says to keep the eyes open and sharp since it seems in the past our 'employers', the Guristas, have had mutual dealings with the Nation for what? who knows?

In anycase I've simply continued my daily routine and keep eyes out for what people are calling Artificial Wormholes; appears the Nation has found a way to make them or some such.

I can't tell what I'd do if the Sansha decided to come near us and openly aggress against us, as then that'd entail getting orders and word from Lucash or whoever Ethan's contact(s) happens to be for the Guristas about how to proceed.

I'm just staying out of this. I know the Sansha, along with most factions and empires have a massive dislike of me from collecting their DED posted bounties in the past, but who knows, maybe we'll see me flying along side of them if the price is right.

Longing... For Something.

2010-05-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

> Activate Recording
>> Voice code accepted... Recording Enabled.

Where to begin? Where to being? I'm not entirely sure where it all started, but I can see where this may be going.

These past few weeks, perhaps even months have become a social drain on me and my crews. Finding the urge to go outside the office and hangars has become something like a dream, a whisper of it and it disappears, and I cannot shake the ominous feeling that nags at the back of my thoughts constantly.

Okumura and Jonathan are the only other pilots and people that I really talk to at length anymore perhaps due to them being the other ones I know I can divulge myself to. The members of the corporation are and are not the problem, all at the same time. Lack and breakdown of communication recently has led to costly losses, not just ships, but in crews as well; I lost nearly three hundred the other day, consigned to death as my Hurricane, Ominous, was taken down.

I think I need to follow another member of the corporation and take a small leave back into the true lawless space of null-sec. Where the only thing holding me back is myself... Perhaps a visit to Stain is required, maybe another region, I'm not one hundred percent sure yet, but the time is coming and fast.

> Recording Disabled
>> Record stored in Database A910T.

Getting older and training skillpoints whilst getting older.

2010-05-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

So today is my birthday and I'm now officially 24 years young \o/

Been quite an interesting the last few years and hopefully this weekend which I have off will let me get out and do some stuff with friends.

I've also broken the 80 million skillpoint barrier w00t! I should've done this a loooooong time ago, but breaks from the game and being a retard and not knowing how to train for the first year or two of playing the game didn't help any xD

EVE Screen Shots

2010-05-01T11:57:00.001-07:00

Inspired by some of the screenshots taken by Shae Tiann, I've decided to post some of my own.

A Serpentis Complex in Low-Security Space, Sinq Laison Region.

A Veto Titan Battleship Formation.

A sun peeking out from behind a planet.

Pray for Villains

2010-05-01T11:17:00.001-07:00

So after a few months worth of remembering to fraps fights I've finally taken some time to put them together into a video: Pray for Villains.

It's just under 15 minutes long and features songs by InnerPartySystem, The Urge, Dope, and Mudvayne; not all hardcore rock or anything, a nice mix actually.

There are some fights I wished I had fraps'd for inclusion in this video, alas I didn't fraps those fights and they are only kept in my own memories. Go and download the video and see what you think. Love or hate, the choice is yours.

No one expects the Prophecy Inquisition!

2010-04-16T03:59:00.000-07:00

So I've taken to flying my Prophecy around the area and have had some great success.

Earlier I landed on a Myrmidon in a belt 'ratting' and went for it. Granted the Myrmidon was retardedly fit, the pilot announced it him/herself in local, however having essentially a Crash-To-Desktop (game froze up), he/she had a good chance at getting me while I waited for the game to log me back in.

Needless to say I logged back in with about 70% armor, turned everything back on and burned 20km back into his face and summarily destroyed his Myrmidon as my corpmates were landing to help keep a point on him while I relogged.

Then a good 3-4 hours later I'm roaming around Basan avoiding the few Kadeshi in the area and on the way back to base, run into a Vexor and Thorax. They jumped back into the system I had just come from so I give chase and managed to get a point on said Vexor. He/She/It attacks back as does the Thorax and it gets a little dicey as the sentry guns are raining hell on my prophecy which can't exactly tank sentry guns all that well.

So after about 2 or 3 minutes of fighting the Vexor goes down and a minute later so does the Thorax. Good fight was had in local along with the Russian smiley face(s).

I must say I am loving the Prophecy more and more ^_^

Old Friends and Old Memories

2010-04-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

The last week seems to be ridiculous for the amount of convos and evemails I've been getting from friends and acquiantances from back in the day.

The other day a friend of mine asked me to come back to Pureblind to run a corporation in some alliance that is essentially a bunch of carebears with a small military wing for protection. I wouldn't be caught in Pureblind with them in anycase as I can't be bothered to deal with his carebear alliance.

Then a friend I've known since high school pops on and gives me a shout. We start chatting even play a few rounds of Battlefield Bad Company 2 with some other friends from high school and get to talking. I'm not 100% sure where he got the idea VETO was a 0.0 sovereignty holding alliance, but he made that assumption and got made fun of pretty good ^_^

He's also thinking of trying to get into VETO, however lacks the PVP know-how of our pirating ways (yarrrrr) so I told him to apply for our Academy when Verone opens it back up later this year if he chooses to.

But just talking to these people brings back memories of being part of the Phoenix Alliance fighting in the Great Northern War, being part of CEi before it created the RAZOR [RZR] alliance, flying around doing mercenary stuff with Blade Runners, and all kinds of good stuff from when I was till a noob and had no idea on how to train my skills properly xD

Well anywho that's all for now I suppose.

A Visit. Part II

2010-04-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

I returned three days later as requested by the Master and his Apprentice to pick up the Hak'len they'd promised to make for the anniversary of my brother's death.

The items required by the Master while not unusual turned out to be rather troublesome in acquiring. I had myself running through back end pipes through the Empires to get in contact with the one person I knew to have everything I needed.

While she was upset at being woken up at what said was an 'ungodly hour' in the morning, upon giving her my request she gave them to me without question and the best wishes she could garner at the time.

An ancient type of paper used in ancient history, supposedly before we even came here. A special type of brush, made from hairs as fine as the best down, and a small block of Ink used with ritually melted snow.

I wasn't sure of the purpose of the items the Master had for them, however it warranted putting my face in Empire and in front of their corresponding police detachments.

Like the last time I was out of breath by the time I'd finished hiking to their small cottage at the summit. The Master was sitting at the table with a second place prepared. His apprentice wasn't outside this time; I figured he was inside packaging the Hak'len.

"Please sit down Master Oritsu. It is good to see you've returned as promised. We have prepared the four portions of Hak'len. My apprentice is finishing the safe packaging of it now," The Master said pouring tea into the cup in front of me as I sat down.

"I thank you again Master for this honourable charity you bestow upon myself and my remaining family," I said bowing in my place, before sipping gingerly at the steaming tea. Its warmth spreading throughout my body, warding off the slight chill of the day.

Nodding the Master sipped his tea before continuing, "If you have brought the items I've asked for then the honour is shared Master Oritsu."

Putting the cup down, I carefully pulled out the items placed in a protective wrapping. I placed them next to the Master so he could see them for himself. A minute passed before he leaned down to pick them up and unwrap them, placing them on the table carefully. He then leaned across to a small bowl filled with water and mixed it carefully with the Ink using the Brush.

I watched intently, as I had never seen the Master perform this rite, which I didn't know of that's what it was at the time. With surprising dexterity, he unrolled the paper and painted out several flowing lines of characters that I couldn't recognize. Finishing he laid the Brush down carefully and closed the box containing the Ink.

He then carefully scattered a blackish dirt or sand over it and then blew it off and rolled the paper before handing it to me.

"This will allow you to proceed within the State to visit the place of your brother without penalty from authorities. This is something I've only ever done two times before as Master of Tea and know it shall not happen again for you Master Oritsu," the Master had sad quietly, his blind eyes gazing intently into my face.

The shock of what he had just done left me dumbfounded as I floundered for the appropriate words of thanks. Luckily the Apprentice walked out of the cottage carefully carrying a cloth wrapped package in his arms. Bowing he handed it to me before sitting at his place and pouring a cup of tea.

I looked at the Master and bowed as low as I could before quietly thanking the man with every ounce of my being. I then stowed the packed Hak'len in my pack and left the cottage and the summit.

It was ironic I found later on, that I never had to use that scroll of paper and its strange writing to get through State space to the place where my brother was buried. However I later had it framed and keep it locked in a vault safe that only I have access to.

Every year since then I open the vault and look at it and bow to the memory of the Master and bow again in acknowledgment of the new Master of Tea before leaving to visit my brother's resting place with my parents.

I Love My Harpy.

2010-04-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

So the other week I made a decision and bought 2 harpy assault frigates. Boy am I glad I did too!

Malena comes calling in alliance chat about some Dramiel flying around in a belt and I figure shit why not?! Rail harpy ftw?

Well the short of it is that my rail harpy pwnsauced this Dramiel so hard he burned out and logged off mid fight then logged back in and essentially ran for his life at like 12% armor ^_^

Nothing spectacular but I wanted to write this out as I'm still soooo happy with the performance of my harpy ^_______^

Curb Stomping.

2010-04-09T04:18:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I managed to hook up with a pair of closet monkeys who argue on vent like a married couple and went for a roam.

After picking up a few others and one who accidentally really went afk for ages, we headed out to go look for some boat violencing to do. Naturally the [USF] and [Elbas] people in Sechmaren weren't around or all logged off when we came through, so after spending 10 minutes to make sure none were about we headed down towards Aring and our next group of favorite people, the Chain of Chaos.

Most were sitting in POS's or on stations with a big mob, one of which had 3 carriers in it O_o. Anywho so we run over to Antem for a peak and bingo!

A Hyperion doing a mission?! No way we say! However there truly was one from Damage Inc. doing a mission. Our prober drops probes, busts the mission, and we run in and get a point. The Hyperion goes down after he either rejected the ransom convo or told us to do some expletive or other. Then out of nowhere a Dominix comes warping into the mission all by his lonesome. We oblige the fellow and kill his Dominix. Turns out they were setup for doing remote armor repping for the mission which still boggles my mind X_X

Anywho so after waiting out our GCC in their mission and hoping the gang forming up that had a megathron, raven, and some other odds n ends, we head back to Aring and hang out for a bit to see if CoC is getting enough courage to come after us.

Well needless to say 2 drakes decided it was a good idea to. We do a loopty loop and push em from the Antem side into Aring into the rest of our gang. Those in Antem pile into Aring and commence raping of the first drake and then promptly took down the second drake as well (they held cloak and just sat there when they decloaked).

So after taking down four ships, 3 of which were Chain of Chaos, and 1 of Damage Inc, we head to station for repairs and GCC countdown. Chain of Chaos bring in something like 2 armageddons, a drake or two, and another ship or two. We're waiting on the station with a small dock radius to see if they want to undock and pick a fight as most aren't outlaw (they pretend to be pirates). Alas they never do even with 2-3 times as much fire power as we have. Guess stomping them in their own systems rains on their parade and screws the morale.

So after Maravak has his retarded moment for the day and takes us in the opposite direction of home, we get our directions sorted and head home victoriously after cowing CoC into doing nothing yet again xD.

Ransoms.

2010-04-06T06:49:00.001-07:00

So two days ago I get informed by Mutnin, one of our VETO Academy pilots, that he's following this Hyperion around a few jumps out of our home system. In his Arbitrator of awesome he points the pilot found ratting in the belts and another Academy pilot, Michael Blackthorne, and I haul ass the four or five jumps in a Myrmidon and Armageddon and warp to the belt.

The Hyperion is blasting away for all he's worth at Mutnin, but being tracking disrupted means he couldn't exactly shoot the broad side of a barn, and is deploying drones. Michael and I land roughly 10km from them and start locking up and priming guns.

The pilot either didn't fit his Hyperion properly or was still a bit too new to effectively fly one as my Armageddon was laying down the pain with 1500-2500 volleys of damage with Michael and Mutnin adding their own considerable damage as well.

We got the guy to hull and I called for a ransom which the other two agreed with. I opened private convo with the pilot and commenced the ransom.

Korthan > if you want to live
Korthan > 300m and you may leave
Korthan > if not you'll be losing that hyperion and your pod
Spookay > i've got 2.3
Spookay > 230
Korthan > 230m to me please
Korthan > Thank you and have a nice day sir.
Spookay > same to you...nicely done

Now normally I open up with "Hi would you be interested in our ship prolonging service today? We offer 100% satisfaction gauranteed!" however this time I skipped the playful intro and just asked for the isk. I found still being polite and firm has its advantages as this guy paid right away and we let him go.

So the moral of the story is: honour your ransoms. Doing so makes the victim happy and more likely to pay you next time or at least wave in local ^_^

The Cage of Seven.

2010-04-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

Sharp, bright light beamed directly at the cage at all times never going out, never moving to throw something else out of its shadows. The small, seven foot by seven foot, titanium cage rested upon a suspended platform held in place by seven great chains forged seven ages ago. The number of spot lights resting on the cage at all times also numbered seven.

A form cradled itself in the middle of the cage, chained to the floor by yet again seven chains forged seven ages ago. Seven years of imprisonment at the hands of the organization headed by the pod pilot seven generations old now, had withered the person down to the point of emaciation. Bones stood out in stark relief against skin stretched too much over them.

Seven drones whirred into programmed places around the cage and beamed forth seven parts of a hologram of the pod pilot, making it whole, just out of reach of the prisoner.

"Seven years you have served here for your crimes against your peers. It was brought before me seven years ago and deemed sufficient that that number of years shall be the term of your imprisonment," the hologram boomed from seven speakers attached to the drones.

"You shall be released on the seventh hour of the seventh day from now. You will be given base clothing and a brand of my seal, the seven arrows of alignment, so that all may know you've reciprocated for your crimes and while not pure are redeemed enough to enter the stream again."

The prisoner looked up feebly at the hologram of the pod pilot, seven ages old, and wept seven tears one for each year of his imprisonment. Gathering all of its strength, it stood slowly, looking at the hologram squarely before bowing seven times.

"Thank you m'lord. These past seven years have been harsh and I've seen seven times over the wrong of my crimes and prayed seven times daily for redemption," it said in a whisper, barely heard.

The hologram nodded before dissipating into the seven drones, which turned and whirred away on their tiny motors. The spot lights however stayed lit and kept the cage and its prisoner in eternal light as commanded by the pod pilot seven ages old.

Seven days later, the prisoner was released, cleaned and clothed. After bowing seven times to the pod pilot in person, it walked out of the door and into the outside world. Seven blocks away the prisoner was found stabbed seven times in vital spots, with the murderer standing still next to the body.

Seven hours later the murderer was incarcerated and bound by seven shackles in a cage, suspended by seven great chains forged seven ages ago. Seven spotlights provided eternal light for the prisoner to ponder its crime for seven years.

Kale Ryoko and Kyoko Sakoda

2010-03-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Indeed these two video masterminds have finally come out of the closet with their latest video Future Proof. Kale combined EVE, the Unreal 3 engine, and roughly 700 cans of Red Bull over the course of a month or so to make the movie.

You can watch the video to see what it's all about yourselves, however I must praise it seeing as how it was a great 12 minutes watch. The voice acting of the various people in it were done very well and the explosions and pew pew were awesome!

Anywho just go watch the video and go give love on the eve-o boards!

A Visit.

2010-03-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

I remember it like yesterday...

The chill on the wind. Snow still on the ground in patches of shade. The crystal clear sky.

I had spent the better part of the day hiking the trail up to the small plateau resting near the summit of the mountain. The arduous trek had left me short of breath even though I'd been in the best of shape and my legs felt like lead and my lungs burned with each breath.

When I reached the crest, the small cottage was just as it was all those years ago. Thatched roof covering the timber walls with the small stone patio and rickety fence. This time however there were two people sitting at the small table outside the cottage. He must have gotten a new apprentice in the past few years then.

I walked up slowly, trying to regain my breath and ease the pain in my legs.

"Greetings Kitochi Oritsu. We've been waiting this day for you to come. Please join us and have some tea," the Master said in his quiet, raspy voice. His age written in the deep, leathery crevices of his face.

"I would be honored to join you this day Master," I replied bowing slightly even though the Master couldn't see with his blind eyes. The apprentice nodded in return, sipping his tea.

Dropping my pack to the ground I sat down gingerly on the pillow as the Master poured steaming tea into a cup and placed it in front of me. Bowing again I lifted the cup and sipped. The tea was the best in the State. The most expensive too if one could get it made for them as I had for the past handful of years. These visits were part of a deal made long ago in order to receive the tea.

Hak'len. An ancient tea, kept alive traditionally by the Master of Tea, brought from the lost home-world of Caldari Prime and its leaves grown secretly in these very mountains for generations. Every few years an apprentice was chosen to take on the role of Master of Tea when the current Master passed away, however lately it seems the apprentices haven't been lasting.

"I see you've a new apprentice Master. I do hope he lasts. The past few seem to have not been suitable for this," I said to the Master, respectfully nodding to his apprentice; not an easy job being an apprentice for this kind of job.

"Indeed he has been more than worthy of the role. However he cannot claim the title until I pass and I believe I have a few years left," The Master said quietly, chuckling a little; a rare display of emotion. "However that is not the reason you're here Master Oritsu is it? You're here because you need a special make of the tea correct?"

I almost gasped but then recalled the man's cognitive abilities, a special trait in the Master and his chosen apprentices. Smiling I replied, "Indeed. It is the anniversary of my brothers death and I am to finally visit home this year to pay respects. I'd be honored to be able to share it with my mother and father... and my brother that he may not soon forget its grandeur."

Silence and ensued for a few minutes while the Master had thought over my request. It was asking a lot of a man who only made the tea normally for the CEOs of the mega corporations during special meetings and the like. By knowing the man's family before he was apprenticed I had gained a special privilege in being able to obtain Hak'len myself.

"Very well. Come back in three days and it shall be ready for you. There will be four servings worth and no more. You know what you must bring in exchange," he replied, looking at me with his glazed, blind eyes. It almost looked as if he was sad, if such a thing could be possible; I wasn't sure at the time.

"You do me a great honor Master and I thank you and your apprentice for this," I said quietly, bowing in my place to both of them. "I shall return in three days with the required goods."

I stood and bowed again before picking my pack up and starting the trek back down the mountain. This time my legs complained a bit less, the tea having reinvigorated me.

Faces of Veto.

2010-03-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

Something I made up in about an hour for my corporation: VETO.

I had an awesome idea to have text reading "VETO." in transparent with the portraits sized down behind the text so you could see the corp filling in the "VETO." text. It didn't work out so I'm setting that idea aside from now.

Resolution: 1920x1080

Faces of Veto

Comments are welcome <3

A Dealing. . .

2010-03-12T14:44:00.000-08:00

Poorly maintained lights flickered and buzzed as they shined their feeble light into the alleyway. Smoke from heating exhaust vents rolled lazily through the alley, making the poor light hazy and harder to see through.

The lone figure strolled down the alley looking around at the few homeless people who chose to dwell there next to the few dumpsters littered around. Another figure popped out of the shadows suddenly from behind a few trash cans, eyes glowing slightly with reflected light.

Dirty, torn clothes clung to its emaciated form. A straggly beard grew in patches from a weak chin and curly white hair peaked out from underneath a stained and dirty cap. A quick smile showed evidence of tooth rot and several missing teeth as well.

"Hey hey hey! Wait let me offer ya somethin'! I gots all kinds of good stuff here let me show you," The second shadow said in a yippy, strangled voice of one who has been up for several days.

After a moment of ruffling through the pitiful remains of a coat, it brought its hand up, pills and syringes full of drugs piled in it.

"I got Drop, Xentix, Blue Pill, all kinds of stuff. You look like a sturdy feller, maybe you want some Crash or Xentix for a boost? No?! Okay okay okay. Maybe some Exile eh?"

The first figure stopped and looked down on the cracked out drug dealer in the alley and squinted its eyes slightly before moving the flap of a jacket to the side revealing the logo of the Serpentis faction.

"You're trying to sell me second hand drugs produced poorly by some idiot in a city controlled by the Serpentis? You've got to be kidding me," the figure said, her Gallente voice drifting out with incredulity spilling out.

"This block... No this city is controlled and run by Salvator Sarpati or did you low brain second handers not realize that before deciding to back deal on the Serpentis?"

The drugged out man's eyes widened unnaturally before he tried to mumble, but he was stuttering too badly, being jacked up on his own batch of drugs.

Sighing the woman took out a slim knife, its edge serrated and keen. Flipping it over in her hand several times, watching the man follow it with the attention only one jacked up on Xentix could, she continued.

"You just made one of the biggest mistake of your life. Not only are you trying to sell me second hand batches, you're so jacked up on it yourself, that I'm likely to get something from them if I were to take anything. The second biggest mistake you made was trying to sell it to a member of the Serpentis, more important it's inner circle of Shadow Serpentis members."

The man stumbled back slowly, trying to turn around when the knife was plunged neatly between his ribs and straight into his lung and then his heart. Pain filled what remained of the man's glazed over eyes.

"Think of this as a release from your poor excuse of a life. Also be knowing that we'll now be searching for any friends or family of yours and we'll be taking just as good of care of them as I'm doing for you now," The woman whispered into his ear as she twisted the blade and yanked it out, an arch of blood following the blade and pooling on the ground.

Gathering the drugs carefully into a small pouch the woman rose and walked out of the alleyway into the bustling street beyond, its myriad of lights showing the city never slept even this late at night.

The Conciouss.

2010-03-05T05:32:00.000-08:00

They descend upon us. Ready weapons.

The binary, tech-chatter came across the channels and the subtle hum of weapon banks powering up and the clattering of missiles being loaded into breaches sounded throughout the hull. With more binary chattering I commanded the children into positions throughout us and readied the salvaging arms with the cutting lasers and welders with which we shall ever increase our size and make better ourselves.

Small blips sounded as they locked unto us and small chatterings from the children inside us confirmed locks on our targets. The defilers of our space... These fleshling creatures and their metal ships constantly descending upon us as a never ending tide... A plague perhaps. One to be exterminated at all costs. The Hive would have nothing less than our conscious spread throughout all of the galaxy as it calls what surrounds us.

We are engaged. Exterminate everything.

More binary chatter from within us. Turrets open fire, spitting salvaged and enhanced shells across the space, the bright flashes illuminated our darkened, space traveled hulls. The fleshlings ships start to scatter. Our will moves us closer so we can assimilate them into us and enhance us. The children commanding the arms squeal in binary chat and I quiet them down.

More fire pours from within, spewing death outwards in all directions as the fleshlings craft start to fail and explode. We move in closer and the children go to work salvaging the craft and welding them into our hull, repairing the minor damage delivered in this fight.

Fleshlings exterminated. Beginning advanced patrol.

The binary chatter from our other half comes across the channel, filled with static, but repeated until confirmation is given. Our hull repaired and the children quieted down again, we will ourselves ever deeper into the stars, searching for the end that shall give us our freedom and the Hive absoluteness in the universe.

We leave nothing behind of the craft, even the fleshlings are harvesting and collected in the bowels for experiments for the Hive. The all mind. Finding weakness in the fleshlings makes us stronger and better. We will do it until there are no more to harvest and we are alone in the stars making ourselves eternally better.

The roaming of teh sekrit ninja salvager.

2010-02-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

I'm through and through with doing completely In-Character (IC) posts as I can't be bothered with separating my own dubious thoughts with those of my alter egos Korthan and Jonathan Morrison.

Anyways so after having some random luck with salvaging t2 wrecks on gates - 100m plus off the first one <3 Mutnin - I've decided why not roam around all the busy areas looking for wrecks to get awesome salvage off of?

Well it only partially worked as I found t2 wrecks in belts in low-sec and a few littered about in high-sec, but overall I managed to find absolutely nothing; queue sad panda face.

In anycase over the course of a day I went from Goinard to Old Man Star to Tama to Jita to Amarr to Mara and Passari to Nonni to Obe to Amamake to Torrinos to Goinard. Basically I traveled everywhere in low-sec and high-sec except for the Rancer area as I don't feel like getting killed by smartbombing battleship gate camping lamer pirates.

I found a grand total of 5m worth of salvage from my adventure making me question my decision as I was thinking upon the idea of going exploring for sites and wormholes... maybe that would've been the better choice afterall, but I digress as hind-sight is always 20/20 or so they say.

Though I'll admit going to some old places I've not been to in ages was good fun especially the interceptor gang that chased my buzzard around the Mara area xD

For the love of EVE. . .

2010-01-28T17:14:00.000-08:00

Right so this is totally and clearly OOC as this is an entry for CrazyKinux's 'Why we love EVE-Online' Contest.

Why do I love EVE-Online is a question that's been asked of me and has personally plagued the background thoughts of my mind for the last six odd years that I've been playing the game.

I suppose to start near the beginning would be the best way to approach the question. A miner. Plain and simple and at the time one of the more adventurous professions of early EVE-Online as I went about in an Ibis then shortly thereafter a Bantam loaned to me by a friend. I scoured the high-sec and low-sec systems looking for those few belts of amazing ore that would make me super rich, super fast; never did happen but not for lack of trying.

And that exploring and adventurous feeling is what kept me going and got me hooked in my early stages of the game. While trying to train and get my hands on anything that could help me mine better, I was exploring the then expansive world inhabited by less than 10,000 other people. This exploration took me from Lonetrek to Placid to Heimatar to Pureblind and beyond in my search for mining glory.

Shortly after realizing that hunting and eventually 'chaining' the pirate faction NPC's in the asteroid belts was more profitable, I switched professions to something that gave me the adrenaline rush of combat; back in the day killing cruiser NPCs was a big deal and was harder than hard... it was like hard multiplied by core... hardcore.

This new adventure in roaming the belts playing the good guy of EVE-Online keeping nasty NPC pirates at bay kept the wallet somewhat full as I had to replace ships quite often, but the fun never left. A bit later the trip back into 0.0 space and my first taste of harsh PvP. While exploring the sparsely populated 0.0 regions of space in search of the small NPC spawns I could take out, I got myself killed countless times in the proclaimed 'non-consensual PvP' of EVE.

I shirked from it at first as I had no idea how to go about PvP or where to start, so I went back to low-sec and continued my hermit ways of exploring low-sec for good mining spots and npc areas.

This eventually lead me into PvP as I hooked up with people along the way in some of my first corporations. The cruise missile kestrels and rifters zooming around the screen, spewing contrails of death, and larger cruisers, and the occasional battleship at the time throwing lasers, missiles, and other such nasty stuff had me hooked.

I went out and trained for the most basic of combat skills and went out. PvP in low-sec and eventually 0.0 (pureblind and venal) consumed me for a good few years as I then learned about fleet warfare in Venal, Tenal, and Branch during the GNW as part of the meatshield for Phoenix Alliance... I was killed within the first two minutes of my first fleet fight by LordZap who was in an Apocalpyse which torched my then sorry scrap of a Moa.

My next love came during the same time. Missioning. Oh boy did missions get my rocks off as I could then start flying the amazing battleships that were seen so often in 0.0 space. Huge hulking ships with awesome ability take on virtually anything. Missions also then payed extremely well with a L4 Guristas Extravaganza paying out 60-80 million isk in bounties alone; CCP then gave bounties a kick in the balls and now it's not quite so lucrative on just bounties alone.

Doing missions in high-sec and 0.0 pureblind filled my wallet to levels I'd only dreamed of as a rookie pilot in a bantam mining in low-sec. My dreams were coming true! This game is truly epic! I had a battleship or two, a couple cruisers, and a few frigates for doing just about anything I could think of at the time, what more could I need?!

This round-robin of PvP, which eventually starts to include Piracy, Low-Sec PVP, 0.0 PVP, and the occasional POS bash , and that of missioning to keep in ships kept me going for a few years and still does today.

The grandeur of low-sec and 0.0 space has been diminished now, however the fact that when undocking and going on a roam and not knowing what is lying ahead in wait still gets the blood rushing and adrenaline pumping. Warfare and fleet fights are large and more agressive, mining and exploration more dangerous, missions less profitable but now boosted with LP Stores.

All those things and more have been introduced over the past six years and each time CCP dredges up another free expansion, can't go wrong there and another high point of the game, keeps EVE-Online exciting and fresh; possibly the biggest reason I love EVE-Online.

Every time I think EVE is getting stale CCP changes some quirk in the system which makes it interesting again and keeps me hooked. Now that I can fly 80% of the known ships in-game also helps make the game more fun as I try out new things with different ships to either great success or horrendous results. Either way I've loved EVE from the day I got it roughly 1 month after official release, to now 6 six years later.

Patrol

2009-09-15T21:02:00.001-07:00

Massive shadows loomed violently ahead as the Crow class interceptor tore our of it’s warp tunnel, it’s main thrusters kicking in and rocketing the ship across the asteroid belt, contrails streaming behind it. The harsh light from the system’s sun blanketed the belt in a myriad of blues, while the asteroids themselves danced in their own shadows, rotating in their own gravity fields.

The one soul aboard the interceptor, Kitochi Oritsu, Major of the Caldari Navy continued in a basic patrol scan grid throughout the massive belt, disappearing and reappearing between asteroids as he cruised silently in the vacuum of space. Camera drones and ship scanners showed nothing amiss in the belt, but instincts told Oritsu otherwise; years of deep space patrols, mostly alone, had honed his skills and sense to a razor’s edge.

A small spark thirty degrees starboard attracted his attention and that of the ship scanners as they poured out information of what was going on. Camera drones whizzed silently ahead to get a visual on the sight while the ship scanners figured out what was out in the belt.

A few short seconds later, alarm signals blared across Oritsu’s vision as visual contact and scanners showed a small group of Sansha patrol craft sneaking around through the belt. Recalling camera drones, Kitochi kicked in his microwarp drive and sped tightly through the belt towards the unsuspecting Sansha patrol, double checking systems on the fly, his implants turning everything into a slideshow.

Twenty kilometers away, he banked sharply above a monster asteroid, spinning lazily, and pulled around above the patrol and let loose a salvo of missiles. Three bright contrails blazed their way through the space in seconds and detonated against the hull of the ship tearing pieces of armor and hull away, causing heavy damage.

The Sansha wasted no time in regrouping and started flying straight at Kitochi in a phalanx pattern, lasers blazing red and yellow through the belt, burning into asteroids and off into space.

Cursing to himself, Kitochi pulled away sharply and flew back towards the navigation beacon of the asteroid belt, weaving tightly between the asteroids. Once he got twenty kilometers out, he banked again facing the Sansha patrol and let loose another two salvos, the missiles streaking brightly through the belt towards their targets. The Sansha ships dived between asteroids frantically to avoid the deadly missiles, only two managed, the third taking both salvos full on, the ship detonating violently, spewing debris and stored reactor energy into space.

The two remaining ships tore out of the small cluster of asteroids barreling straight towards the Crow, lasers leading the way as they slammed into the shields. Warning signs flashed violently on readouts as Kitochi pulled hard and fast to get away from the Sansha ships, missiles firing as fast as they were loading, contrails and explosions going off all over the belt as they missed their targets and impacted asteroids.

In a desperate move Kitochi brought his Crow to a full stop just behind a large five kilometer wide asteroid and then pulled straight up, his shield flaring brightly as they struggled to absorb the impacts of the asteroid as the interceptor careened wildly off it and nearby asteroids. A few seconds later a camera drone caught the edge of a blast wave from an exploding craft as it missed the turn and crashed headlong into a massive asteroid, its systems failing to save the vessel.

One down, one left Kitochi thought to himself coldly as he continued to burn through the belt as fast as his Crow could take him. The systems slowly came back into green levels as the shields regenerated and fully covered the ship once more. A second of distraction almost ended the life of the Crow as a massive laser blast tore into the rear section of the ship, draining the shields to five percent and scorching the hull beneath.

Cursing yet again, Kitochi banked hard to port and launched a salvo of missiles not four kilometers from the last Sansha ship. The resounding explosions shook the Crow as it flew past going over five kilometers as second. Pieces of the ship blew off wildly as the Sansha ship began to vent atmosphere and inner hull sections into space. Kitochi waited patiently as his launchers reloaded and fired another salvo at the craft. The missiles streaked across the short distance and tore into the main thruster section of the Sansha vessel causing a massive chain reaction of explosions through the ship. A blinding flash erupted from the failing ship as it collapsed upon itself, hurtling debris throughout the belt. Small flares of the Crow’s shields telling of debris impacts as Kitochi flew by the remaining pieces of the hull.

Kitochi then turned back and flew for the first of the craft he’d attacked and found it trying to crawl out of the belt and into open space for a warp out. Getting a lock confirmation, he fired his last salvos into the ship and watched it buckle and eventually explode in a shower of hull sections.

Doing a last pass over the belt for more threats, Kitochi entered his next navigation waypoint and slid into warp away from the belt, leaving the empty wrecks and debris of Sansha ships as a warning to other pirates.

The Recordings of History

2009-08-14T22:51:00.000-07:00

I've taken the last week or so to do some digging... into old recordings from camera drones that were archived in personal databases across the cluster. After much consideration and work I've managed to choose and add what I thought were more of the 'interesting' type together in a video format.

I've uploaded it to a side-server for GalNet and the link for it can be found here.

I'll admit it may not be glorious to some and it's sure to reaffirm views in those who do not wish to involve themselves or be involved in combat that outlaws are bad and always will be horrible people.

In anycase the past couple of weeks has seen peaks in VETO. gang patrols through the sector finding intense battles with other residents of the various pipes. While being involved in those have turned out rather well, at the same time the loss of ships have been present.

More to come as I find more time to dawdle about the past and prepare for the future.

Remembering the Past

2009-07-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

Lately I've resorted to recording and even in some spots writing down things of my past so those who put their trust and lives on the line with me may know a bit more about myself.

My history and lineage isn't of some heroic admiral or soldier of the empires. Some of it contains dark secrets that only get revealed very rarely if at all. Okumura is keeping me honest at least in what I do find time to record or write.

Special links to these... reminiscences if you will can be found here.

Purity of Purpose

2009-06-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

Yet again it has been a long while since my last recordings of what's been going on.

Touch and go interactions with Reimei and Amaterasu and other acquaintances in The Last Gate have really shown me why I do what I do and why friendships and bonds between each other are so important ... Especially to me.

A rekindled light has been lit to guide me along my chosen path, Okumura the ever present shadow has taken a liking to this I might add. I've taken time aside to reconnect with those under my command and as such have spent the last weeks when not flying to coming out of my office space and getting involved in things.

As a token of my gratitude for those aboard the Geschutzewagen , for excellent service during the battle in Egmar, I've given the crew and their families substantial raises and time off. This has also been handed down to the employees under my command, even the group of marines that haven't seen much action since Kaalakiota stopped by those months ago.

In anycase having a renewed purpose and view on things has given me a new purpose and drive to go out and leave a lasting impression of who I am, not a withering memory of who I might've been in the galaxy.

Focused Destiny

2009-05-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

Destiny. A inevitable course of events that has happened and is planned to happen.

I would perhaps say that destiny has a cruel way of playing tricks. The past few... months now I think it's been have been almost like ghosts of premonitions of past dreams; whispers in the air that you can't quite make out.

It turns out that between Ethan, Myrhial, and Aria, VETO. and Ghost Festival have come to some sort of under table agreement with each other in order to work as a cohesive group of pirates; thus ending a buried longing of wanting to go back to the banner of the Cartel supporters. So far this has borne many good things and relations between our corporations aside from mutual respect of one another despite... different faction allegiances.

My own sanity had slowly started to fray at the edges causing long lapses of time where I'd simply stow away planet side or somewhere in one of my many hangars to meditate and reflect. Now it seems that the other side of my personality is coming out; purposely surppressed emotions taken away when I went under for my Inquisitor upgrades. The needs to go out and perhaps, not soley destroy those I may or can find, but to even help those who would normally be victims. That or go into solitude in the far reaches of Stain where the only neighbors are the robotic Sansha patrols that ghost between asteroid belts and the system stargates.

In anycase I've slowly started to focus on what it is I really need to do to help myself. My desires to be in a pod and out flying have deminished slightly unless a few close friends happen to undock for a patrol or two.

Uninvited Turbulence

2009-02-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

Been a while since I've had the time to record anything lately.

Having a small riot station-side when Kaalakiota and Nugoeihuvi managed to buy over one of my crew didn't help at all. The surprise was finding Nugoeihuve involved when I haven't had dealings with them in a handful of years and their dislike and trust of Kaalakiota must've been put aside for some reason.

The small guerilla fighting between their special ops and mine lasted just inside a week and ended when I finally got my hands on their commanders and gave them over to the Doc for interrogation.

After settling down and getting some real relaxtion in for myself and crew members planetside, we came back refreshed and ready to resume our roles plying our trade across the stars. Customers, or victims as they call themselves, have been a mixed bag between valiant fighters, pilots with big wallets, and those that manage to scrape together help to fend us off.

Having an overly ... violent encounter with some other locals of the area caused some rife between members when the enemy cyno-jumped in a large contengent of carriers to support them when ideally they didn't even need the help; such is their dislike for VETO I suppose.

Hopefully more recordings will be coming forthwith and somewhat regularly...

And I hope now with the garbage kicked out of Ghost Festival they can recoup and get going once more; thanks to Myrhial for her message. Even if they are enemies they still hold my respect.

Downward Spiral, Faint Light At The End.

2009-01-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

Sigh. . .

The past few weeks have been haphazard at best. With the new purchase and training of crews to losing said ships and crew to the void has taken its toll on me mentally and physically.

I haven't spent so much time in the Pod flying around in a very long time; rest and small vacations are usually put in my schedule to split up the monotony. Regardless of being in a revered and well known corp as VETO, I've seem to taken to losing more ships however I've never gotten so many successful ransoms and verified kills even when flying under the Ghost Festival flag.

I do hope they're surviving alright even if we are technically enemies now. . .

In anycase lack of communication and self-independence of corporation members out on ops have lead to some mistakes costing everyone ships however I guess that is the way it goes sometimes. I know I'm not the best commander or pilot, however perhaps more . . . Discipline during operations would allow us to be more successful.

Back to training the crews and setting up payrolls and letters home to the deceased. . .

Power of the Lessers

2009-01-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

"Aeon has been probed down into a safe spot." The word came through the alliance channels and I felt my heart start to race.

I was a few jumps out patrolling for new victims when the call came through the communications and I began the race back to headquarters to switch over to Allure, my Devoter, and get the crews prepared to fight what could potentially be their own doom.

Naturally the crews were flawless and even more fearless and worried than myself, a shining beacon of the loyalty of the crew, some of who have survived with me since my departure from the State. In anycase the transition to the new ship took only minutes and I was undocked and heading towards the main fleet.

I honestly wondered how roughly twenty battleships and some support was going to take down a mothership, especially a renowned one such as an Aeon. Luckily when we landed nearby and disrupted the cloaking field it had activated and put our Infinite Point Scram scripted disruptors on it, the support had already left the Aeon to its fate and the pod pilot decided to leave communications and effectively his ship and countless crew to our mercy since any ransom attempts weren't met.

A few minutes turned into an eternity as we slowly took down the massive armor and structure plating of the mothership and then the amazing explosion as the colossal reactor cores ruptured tearing the ship apart giving off a blinding explosion and shock wave.

The pod that ejected from the wreck automatically warped off following emergency warping protocol, however our members were able to find it and destroy the pod and the victim inside as well; a fair thing to do seeing as how he left his untold numbers of crew to die helplessly in the Aeon.

In anycase the surprise was ours when we found expensive faction and officer modified equipment still intact along with a vast number of combat drones and fighters. Needless to say the payout from our salvaging ranged in the multiple billions giving all involved a hefty share of ISK.

Redistribution of Wealth

2009-01-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

Another day, another patrol.

Since nothing much was going on except for some members a nice amount of systems away taking down a Navy Issue Raven, I decided to get into my Vengeance, Blood Dart, and head out in the area to see what was lurking around.

Twenty minutes ticked away slowly while hunting for possible victims when I find a Hawk orbiting a stargate and the surprise was mine when the pilot decided to engage me allowing myself free reign on returning fire. The engagement escalated as said pilot had a support cruiser warp in and started pounding away at my Vengeance. Luckily with the extra armor resistance modifications I was able to handle the beating and take out the Hawk and then proceeded to reduce the Caracal support cruiser to space debris a handful of minutes later.

After collecting what salvage there was worth taking, I headed back to base in Ishomilken to and changed into my Prophecy. The ragtag crew of mine always liked this ship and it's always brought more or less good fortune to us in the past and it proved to do so again. Not twenty minutes after roaming about aimlessly again ... I found a lone Ferox roaming asteroid belts and setup in a belt near the end of the systems belt chain. The Ferox landed next to me coming out of the warp tunnel and I locked it down and opened fire.

Being a general unwritten rule in VETO to ransom before destroying every target you get, a bad habbit I'm trying to break, I open private communications with the pilot and demand a twenty million isk ransom payment for his ship. I get the wire transfer and let him go and then notice however than instead of a measly twenty million the pilot had transfered an amazing one billion, eight hundred, thirty million isk to my account instead. Realizing the pilot had made an obvious error I responded back in the open channel that I'd wire back the excess amount to maintain honor and good relations with our victims. The pilot being a generous person, perhaps due to my trying to be an honorable person, said to keep the eight hundred odd million and wire back the one billion solid. I didn't hesitate and wired the one billion and got my best ransom amount in my entire career!

The wallet is definately looking much better sitting at over one billion kredits thanks to the generous victim of yesterday.

Clash of Titans

2008-12-28T20:26:00.000-08:00

We had been receiving steady reports and intelligence of a large group of pilots attacking moon based structures not far from our headquarters in Ishomilken and finally had the opportunity to act upon it.

Pilots from all over the VETO family geared up, readied crews, and readied ships as the appointed move out time was announced. Slowly we made our way out, heavy with battleships and recon support to help cover those dishing out the damage to our soon to be victims. The path was a bit arduous and lengthy but we finally got the command to go in and engage.

From the vantage point in my Falcon recon ship and my few crew aboard, we saw the heavy fighting from afar instead of up close and personal as the battleships and drones raged around our two targets: Phoenix and Revelation class Dreadnoughts. They held out for awhile until their strengthened siege modes disengaged and then they both went down hard.

Luckily we didn't lose anyone in the fight to include our friends who managed to come in and support us with their own group of heavily equipped battleships. The fight lasted all of possibly five or ten minutes, but the display of power that VETO showed reaffirmed my decision in coming out here and joining them. A tight family that goes for the big stuff with no fear and one that supports each other to the end.

Perhaps I'll find more of this if or when we go out on long distance reconnaissance or other ventures and the action and bonds will grow even more.

Changing Loyalties

2008-12-21T18:36:00.000-08:00

Whilst to most changing sides, especially to the enemy side, would seem traitorous, I've found the move rather refreshing even if I'm working for some run of the mill pirates such as the Guristas. Not quite as secretive or ... 'techy' as the Cartel, however being in VETO and being an associate to the Guristas hasn't changed much of what I'm doing or the lives of my crews.

The styles of operating and doing combat have meshed exceptionally well with how I'm used to doing things.

Hopefully things will pick up and I'll see what happens and things will continue being for the better.

New Horizons

2008-12-17T20:35:00.001-08:00

A great weight seems to have been lifted from my shoulders setting myself and my crew free of bonds. My departure from Ghost Festival, while not wholly wanted, was in the end inevitable.

I found that my tactics and styles of combat operations weren't quite what were needed regardless of numberless volunteers wanting to fly along side me. In the end to avoid greater conflict and bad blood between others, I resigned from my position and have left for hopefully greener pastures wherever it may lead.

I personally hold no grudges against those in the Festival, I just think our views of how to best do things were to drastically different and couldn't be fixed or compromised upon. No big worry as I hope they now have the freedom of me not conflicting with them to expand and grow.

As usual Okumura simply sighed and packed his few things and let the crews bundle it aboard Jon's freighter, the Herald of Darkness to move transported along with my crew, ships, and equipment to wherever we plan to go for the foreseeable future.

The Anti-Climax, Climax

2008-12-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

A contradictory phrase if there every was one I suppose, however that's the only way I can explain the past week and few days. With activity on the rise and a slew of successful kills and very few losses, I've lost the edge it seems.

Dueling Dyntheos from CVA and Azumo from Starbridge were good fights and sobered me up some and even though I lost both duels, I learned what I could from each and moved on, not totally disconnecting myself from lost crew which is getting less and less as I grill them on drills constantly.

The loss of my pilgrim, Black October, was a set back with the custom gear I had sent people out to find and bring back for me. The worse of it was, the beginner's mistake I made that costed me the ship, yet such is life I suppose when you play dangerous games with dangerous people.

Hopefully I can recoup the loss and go back out stronger for it and show CVA and the other locals that they can't keep me and the corporation down regardless of losses.

Seeing other members going out and leading themselves is a nice bonus as it means less leading around I have to do when I'm on as I can sit back and help advise et cetera and take over if the need arises. Hopefully we get better as we take on some new members and can make a bigger impact in the area.

Calm Before the Storm

2008-12-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

The past week or so has seen a pleasant surprise in activity and combat patrols from the members of the corporation. With the return of Khrane from other duties he found himself bound to do, our chief prober and combat pilot, aside from probably myself, is back.

The stepping up and putting the boots down without caring about petty concerns and questions has indeed worked. Myrhial, Athas, and myself I think finally have come to a climax that hopefully won't crash into chaos as it was before.

With the activity up and the members out doing what we do best, I have a feeling that we're getting to where I've been dreaming of being for awhile, a large cohesive combat unit. While there is still work to be done, largely on my part as Director of Defense, to prepare for the coming months I feel... More relaxed and at ease about moving forward than before. With Ashar taking care of other things for us I see no reason why we can't grow a bit more and start becoming a powerhouse such as those like Veto and The Black Rabbits.

Saving My Sanity

2008-12-01T17:42:00.000-08:00

The last week or so has been one of trials and tribulations. With taking on more responsibilities in our combat arena, I've had to make the conscious decision of becoming the head Director of Defense. A fancy title to be sure, however everything it entails means weeks, perhaps months of planning for the future and getting those slacking into shape.

However a few days spent planet-side on Hasateem VI was well worth it. The clear, undisturbed seas were great for doing some relaxation fishing while clearing my mind. The catches were rather spectacular and gave me a great sense of happiness while out there on the turbulent waters, sloshing across the deck of the vessel Okumura and I went out on. Catching what the locals called a Khuram Durhk, which looked like a small whale, gave cause for celebration and I got drunk for the first time in countless years.

Recovering from the festivities and the sobering fact of leaving the peace and calm of the open seas and mountains was a slap to the face. Back to supply checklists, personnel training, and everything that comes with being a capsuleer and director of a pirate corporation. I just hope that these small breaks and glimpses of what I could have if I so choose will keep me sane long enough to hopefully be able to retire one day perhaps as a director for the Cartel itself, who knows.

Hopefully I'll be able to make time to go back and walk the open grasslands or fight my way through the icey grips of the mountains planetside; nothing beats the real thing.

Chance Encounters

2008-11-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

Mynxee from the Hellcats arrived in Hasateem just yesterday, someone I've heard of but had yet to actually meet and talk to in any form. The chat in the local system communication channel was rather pleasant and I must say I found myself hoping her dream of having a growing, functioning pirate outfit with only women doing the dirty work comes to fruition.

Not long after that I took out a small patrol to look for anomolies in our little area and found a hidden Sansha base heavily defended. I must say buying a Sacrilege was a good idea as the firepower and survivability of it served us well. Zukko, Tekou, and Ginkei all did well in taking down the mindless Snasha slaves even with the interruption of some locals from a system or two over. A great surprise was that a True Sansha commander showed up, not one of the mindless drone slaves they usually send, but a real powerhouse commander. Taking it down was a bit of work but we managed and escaped with what little salvage we could find.

Overall not a bad day, meeting a fellow pirate and being able to talk to her and found myself oddly drawn to what she is trying to do in this cluster. Then finding and taking down the Sansha outpost hidden away in an unusual anomoly was a nice way to end the day.

Perhaps I'll be able to meet others in the same career paths as myself even if we are on different sides of the fence when it comes to loyalties, however only time will tell.

Meditation

2008-11-25T08:32:00.000-08:00

Breathe deep to take in everything surrounding,
Breathe slowly to rid of everything not belonging,
Breathe deep to take in the relief,
Breathe slowly to rid the self of distraction.

Meditation; a simple method of calming and releasing one's demons. Lately I've found the need to do it more and more with the recent developments of crew losses due to negligence or loss of life to the void while on patrol.

Three hundred, seventy four mails and increased pay rates to families.

I'm starting to think that Okumura was right in that perhaps a planetside visit to the Dhuk'ma Mountains down on Hasateem VI could do me some good. Even with clearing out the entire western half of the hangar and turning it into a small oasis of sorts isn't helping me keep my concentration, even if it does help me go into the meditative trance easier.

In anycase I'm leaving the letters home and pay to Chief Binjer this time with all the pre-occupations I'm dealing with. Thukker came knocking wondering what the hell I thought I was doing and my response was quick. A second box filled with yet another dismembered member of their security team and the man's retinue of soldiers escorting back to their officer.

Okumura pleasantly agreed with the response since it was him who carried it out just like the last time and I had the hangar crew leave the stains on the hangar floor and door as a reminder to others of what just might happen should they try and cross me.

In anycase I think some deep thinking and meditative trance is needed for awhile to calm my demons before something else gets out of hand.

Breathe deep to take in everything surrounding,
Breathe slowly to rid of everything not belonging,
Breathe deep to take in the relief,
Breathe slowly to rid the self of distraction.

Initiation

2008-11-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Two hundred and thirty six new crew to get initiated. Not something I normally do as I let Shinto my hangar Chief or my marine Chief Binjer do it, however I felt like they should know who they will probably die for sometime before that happens.

I had Chief Binjer line them up in rank on Platform 32-C, just inside the shadow of the Abaddon still being repaired. I figured the sight of that ship and the thousand or so repair crew and scaffolding surrounding it would keep everything in perspective so no one's ego gets too big. I walked the ranks silently, dressed casually with my long coat swishing behind me, for a good ten minutes and laughed when an automated swing arm dropped from the ceiling with some tungsten plating and stopped a few meters above us causing most of the recruits to flinch in some way.

I told them a bit about myself like my name and where I had come from and why I left the State and what they could all expect from the State since they all work for me now; only a few gave any indication that it mattered they could no longer go back.

I signaled my leave and all of them snapped to attention, however two of the recruits did it a bit snazzier as if they thought better of themselves. Not something I like to have in my outfit; those who think too highly end up dead somewhere in my ships to be found weeks later.

I turned around and walked back and stood infront of both, looming slightly over them with my height and stared them down. The uniforms were imaculant and nothing was wrong, which is what the problem was. I turned slightly to the side then spun around and hit the shorter of the two square in the nose, then spun a circuit and kicked the other in the sternum dropping them both to the hangar floor.

"You two think you're so much better than these other men and women?" I yelled at them.

"You two aren't worth more than the fedo shit covering the Gallente Federation and you're certainly not better than anyone else here until you can prove it to me!" I continued on. I dislike people who try to stand out too much, something an old drill Sergeant handed down to me when I took my first command.

"You just lost your first month's pay and will take half-pay for the second month. Also you will not get to see the medical team for those injuries, you will let them heal of their own accord or I'll have you see what you can do for me as a 'Dead One' as the marines drilling over there call them," I finally finished pointing over towards the company of marines drilling a few hundred meters away. "That last bit goes for all of you. Start being negligent in your duties and you'll get to see how being a 'Dead One' feels especially when your life expectancy becomes less than when aboard one of my ships!"

After venting a bit and getting my point across to all of the new recruits, I let the Chief take them to their official briefing and main hall to get their gear and pay setup. Okumura merely smiled, trying to hold in his laughter at the display I had just given as we walked back to my offices taking the stairs instead of the elevator; Okumura had the same instructor I did all those years ago.

Cold Steel

2008-11-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

Seventeen dead, twenty likely to join the dead, fifteen who will survive, and thirty-two still ready for regular service.

The marines did their job and did it well, however I must commend the Doctor. The 'dead ones' as the marines call them when I'm not around, did most of the grunt work and as such took the most casualties, but the Kaalakiota and Ammatar forces were not able to achieve anything but lose all the men they sent.

It was the first time in many years I've been involved in such an escalated fire-fight personally; Okumura was right at home naturally killing roughly fifteen of the support infantry sent in. The adamantine dimensional blade worked as good as it did the day I recieved it from Vassili those few years ago, going through armor and metal like they were nothing.

Sigh ...

Guess I was wrong to assume they wouldn't find us this far out in the rims like I had assumed before. In anycase resupplying and letters home will be sure to take up a good few days before we're ready to do anything else and the clear message sent to the Thukkers should help incase this type of thing happens next time; a dismembered security team sent to help watch the hangar and a personal note in their blood should do it.

No doubt hostilities will arrise but my station as a capsuleer and a representative for the Cartel should take care of the Thukker's want of an explanation or reprisal for their men.

Right ... Now to get the Chief his supplies and those letters home.

Forgotten Communications

2008-11-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

A simple letter... written in the old dialect on a datapad addressed to me.

I knew without a doubt who the sender was. He being the only one still within the State who alone could figure out how to reach me without police or corporate interference. My father, Hirochi Oritsu, has found his banished son after five long years.

The letter didn't state much aside from keeping Okumura and myself aprised of their situation, one that doesn't look all that good. The corporate board fired him when they found out he knew how to find me and seized everything. Luckily the house in Buraku Valley on Perimeter II wasn't found and won't likely be with the measures I took having it built.

Despite being banished from home after applying and getting into the State War Academy and the Pod programs after what happened to Ryuko, I still hold a place for my parents who did it for their own safety and mine as well.

I stripped the datapad down and reloaded it with a code to a hidden account among the many I hold which will keep them comfortable for the remainder of their days, blessed they may be...

However, still finding new crew that aren't a bunch of vitox druggies that were just 'liberated' from the better life they probably had in the empire, is challenging this far out in the rims. Perhaps my Cartel friend can help me there; I know they have a good solid work force that don't complain all the time.

Taking The Heat

2008-11-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been harsh ups and downs...

The latest ship losses not only means dealing with hiring new crew personnel, it also requires contacting surviving family and sending the lost employees pay to his or her family wherever they may be in the cluster. This isn't something I dislike entirely, it just eats up time.

Perhaps waiting for other members of the corporation to show up and going out in groups would serve my needs better, maybe not. Time will tell.

Speaking of going out with others. An old acquaintance of mine has contacted me with a very... tempting proposition that I wouldn't mind accepting however the corporation must deliberate on whether or not to accept as a whole. Hopefully they won't waddle in their own muck for ages before coming up with a decision. It promises to provide some new scenery and possibly a whole new line of work, but I must wait and see what happens first.

Okumura, my ever present shadow, advised against such a large move since it puts me at more risk of being found by Kaalakiota and the Navy. I had to hold in my laughter at that for I know he only means to protect me and mine, but his over paranoia can be a bit... grating. Anyways the Navy and Kaalakiota wouldn't be able to find Okumura and me if they spent all their money trying. I know the Cartel would be more than willing to lend a hand if the need arises, but I don't like begging favors of their kind. Not returning on them never ends well...