Blackness......emptiness.....space....man how I have missed you...
After so many weeks trapped on planet it felt so good to be back into space again today. I am sure that my good friend Truen1ght had given up on me, that I would be trapped forever on SOLID ground, just like JR from “Clear Skies” ((awesome movies if you guys haven't seen them you should, very cool)). But like JR my crew decided they had had enough of me moping about and doing nothing with them, they were still getting paid but only their base saliary. With me planetside they we haven't been doing any ops for anyone not even just going around killing those stupid pirates that think they can take on a capsuleer warship. I just don't know what those guys are thinking, no capsuleer to command them and yet they continue to come out of the 'wood works', stupid sayings from wherever.
Ah well, what was I saying.....yes that was it, so my crew decided to rescue me from my planetary exile and to reward them I figured hey lets go see if we can get into some trouble, and make some money. So I jumped into my ship and headed out to Hjoramold and crush some of those stupid pirates that are occupying the Minmatar Stronghold that is located in the system. I don't know why those guys even bother to keep coming, myself and some other non-aligned capsuleer commanders were just slaughtering them today and pretty much everyday. Good place to get some blood money from concord, just killing those rats is so easy.
Anyways so we made some cash fired some shells and my crew got to watch them shred some other ships, I am sure they are at least a little horrified to watch so many ships being destroyed, I mean those crewman get killed the same as any other, but that is the risk they take when they signed up so no need to loose any sleep over it. I have to worry about the hundreds of my own crew for all the ships that I have in commission right now, don't have time to worry about those people on board other peoples ships. After a little while talking to a couple of the other capsuleer commanders I decided that I had had enough of shooting these guys, it was no real challenge and concord doesn't pay all that well for the destruction of those ships anyways.
So I headed back to my main bases in the Essence region, and decided that what I needed and wanted was a challenge and the only one to be able to give it to me was another capsuleer. So I hoped into one of my small fleet of combat ready rifters and headed out. These ships have been sitting in high sec for months doing nothing, it is time they at least fire their weapons. I originally got them before leaving for null sec and never took them out, didn't seem to be much point, I could get my ships in null sec just as easy and so they got left behind to sit in storage.
I had actually forgotten how many of them I actually had sitting in Essence region stations waiting for combat that had never come. So I decided that I need to get back into practice of doing battle with capsuleers, they fight so much differently than the non-capsuleer rats and it has been so many months since I have done proper battle that I wanted to start out slow. I started off by jumping into some low-sec systems that are surrounded by high sec, figuring that I might get an easier challenge that way.
Man was I wrong or maybe I was right in so far as nothing is a pretty easy challenge. Tonight I spent almost 3 hours jumping in and out of over a dozen low-sec systems in and around the Essence region and what did I find? Nothing, zip, zero, nadda......so annoying. I even jumped into Old Mans Star...nothing nadda, zip, zero, zilch....couldn't believe it. Picked up people in local and no ships in space that I could engage.
Finally found another capsuleer commander in Obalyu sitting on the Parts gate in a thorax, so I went and got one of my wolf's and came back figuring that might actually be worthy of a challenge. I had left my rifter further up the chain with a jump clone to be able to get into low sec easier later. Anyways, get one of my wolf's and come back and he is gone....DAMN IT.....I get ready to jump back into high sec to give my crews some rest when on the Arant gate in Obalyu I find a rifter sitting with a female capsuleer commander. As I arrive at the gate and get ready to jump through she actually begins to target me, so I return the favor and target her ship. We are both hovering near the gate targeting each other but I know that if I fire first the gate guns will engage my ship and even though there are only two guns I am not sure if I can tank their fire and the rifters in just a wolf. Note to self: Need to run some simulations on that so I know for next time.
She than asks in the local channel why I haven't fired on her yet, so I ask her why she hasn't fired on me? Her response was classic, my guns are offline!!! Really you just admited in local that you can't shoot back and want to know why I haven't already destroyed your ship??? Can you say setup....she was playing me for a fool. I guess she was trying to get me to be the aggressor knowing that once I did the gate guns would fire on me, and I wouldn't be able to use the gate for a min or so, until it decided that I wasn't being a bastard and shooting at someone. This would give her friends, probably sitting one jump further up the chain time to jump in warp to me and that would be it.
So I declined her offer and we just sat there orbiting each other or the gate for several minutes until she warped away ((DC'd Hate it when that happens in low-sec)). So I figured that maybe someone else would come through and I could still have my chance to shoot someone and have some fun before needing to give my crew some rest.
I stayed on that gate for the next 30 minutes watching and waiting, she did return and we orbited each other again for a while and than wouldn't you know it several other members of her corp arrived, both of them piloting command ships, now two command ships, a rifter and gate guns against my wolf...those are some crappy odds so I decided that I would just go ahead and jump into high sec order my crew to stand down and get some rest for the rest of the night.
Just before I did I saw one of the absolution's move away and what I thought was warp speed to begin with, 33km/s, and arrive at a point approximately 300km from the gate. Than I thought maybe he was using something crazy, boosted MWD or something....as I jumped through the gate I realized he had simply warped to a tactical over watch spot on that gate.......just goes to show that I have been planet side for way to damn long. Overestimating the enemy can be just as deadly as underestimating him.
So the end to my grand adventer tonight into low sec....nothing....nadda....zip.....zilch....zero
But I still have my ships so I guess that is a win of sorts....and my crew performed their duties with the skill and determination that makes me proud to have them serve onboard my ships. I need to keep up with the bonuses for them, fine crews don't stick around for long without the bonuses....
Ranger Gama
Spartan Guard
