Quick lesson... Empire is saf_er_ , not _safe_...

Had one of my Hulks out last night in Korsiki, ganged with Kaye (Ity V) and a student (Osprey) to pass bonuses.

Typically, when you think of passing bonuses as a miner, you are looking at mining yield, but every now and then, those combat related bonuses come in handy, too....

Reports in Corp chat indicated a couple of suspicious characters skulking around the belts, acting like can flippers. No worries for my little group as our can only held 100 rounds of small iron ammo as a popper-stopper. As ore was deposited in the can, Kaye immediately transferred it. When Kaye was out of the belt, the student & I held our take in our own holds until Kaye returned. Almost zero risk to can flippers.

The two ne'er-do-wells hit our belt and approached our can (one in Caracal, the other in a cruiser of indeterminate make/model). As I typed a warning in fleet chat, they opened fire on my Hulk!

Crap! What a time to not be aligned to anything! Crap! Shields down & armor melting, I'm aligning & preparing to bail when Concord arrives.... 2 secs later it's all over. Battered, but still space-worthy (thank you shield & armor bonuses!), I head to the POS & Kaye brings reppers. In fleet chat, the student says "By the time I figured out what was going on, they were both dead!"

So, dear student, remember, Empire is not safe... Just safer... Those who are willing to sacrifice their ship can cost you yours, even if they don't gain anything in the process.

Fuzzy made a comment about my shotgun...

So I added a couple of additional pictures.

My new RL job is consuming tons of my Eve time. Fun in a different way and it's good that most of my skills for both Kaye & Dee are long term now... A 4 day skill seems short now!

Plus my new notebook will run the premium graphics. :) What a treat! I can even leave sounds & effects turned on!

I'm maxing out my exhumer skills, betting that will be a requirement for the rumored Orca, while Kaye is 26 days from Gallente Cruiser V. Not sure if her next step will be HAC's or Heavy 'Dictors.

Here's to a short, victorious war!

Those Who Would Like To Be Named withdrew their dec last night right after we popped and podkilled 6 of 14 members of a cruiser gang in Korsiki, with no losses.

Previous to the withdrawal, I assisted in the CSAR of one of our cruiser pilots caught in station in Olo.

Subsequent to the withdrawal of the dec, we headed south to camp a few gates 2 systems from their HQ. One of the other directors had been stranded in OPFOR's home system earlier on a DC & emergency warp from the gate. I swapped to a Manticore to take a look at the gate & help him get out. Jumping into the system, I landed in the middle of 2 Scorps & a Typhon. Things were exciting for a moment as I made my way to a safe spot & cloaked. Moments later, 5 of the 6 WT's left system. I gave a heads up to the FC of our main fleet 2 systems out & returned to confirm the gate was empty. Our fleet took down all 5 smartbomb fitted battleships & 3 pod for the loss of a dessie, 8 frigs & 3 pods.

Meanwhile, my Manticore got popped as I was one volley hitting short of scoring a Caracal & my Raven buddy couldn't uncloak & target fast enough to support. My bad as I underestimated how much time it would take for him to get into the fight.

All in all, a very satisfying evening!

Once again, into the breach....

War again, from those that would want me to mention their name.

Took a little trip to their HQ last night before the war dec went active. Just as many Uni pilots in local as soon-to-be war targets.

The difference was that all the Uni pilots were in space & all the OPFOR guys were docked.

Seemed familiar.

Peace is death to blog posts...

At least it seems that way...

Caldari Battleship V finished, boack to work on mining support skills for a bit.

I broke down & bought a Raven and have been running some L3 missions for Lai Dai. Very easy so far. Hope to get to a L4 agent soon.

In RL, I have accepted a position as Chief Financial Officer for one of my audit clients. Will probably mean more travel, but I ordered a kick ass notebook (Dell XPS 1730) that supports the premium graphics. Spending the weekend moving files & stuff from old notebook to the new one.

Finraer is taking a bit of an extended leave of absence and will be missed.

Fingers crossed that Beastie Boys' Superbowl bet pans out!

Later!