Feast, Famine, Fabulous.

The past few weeks showed a bumpy seasonal effect of targets in the area. At first, people were on a consensus that Verge Vendor and surrounding areas were running pretty dry. I was feeling fairly parched as well throughout this little season, the food was thinning out.

There's been the occasional catch, the occasional small-time entertainment, the occasional smile and laughter. But in general, things were going slow, at least it seemed so for me. This draught continued for a week or so before things slowly improved in a gradual crescendo.

There was a few of this, this and this. Occasionally, i was so despressed with lack of activity that i resorted to gate camping the Macro Haulers which stream through Hevrice regularly.

Then there was some of this, this and more this.

I was in dire need of some sort of group activity at this point, and was glad for the roaming ops which followed. One particular operation led by Wensley stood out in particular. This particular roam involved particularly small ships - frigates. We managed to bag an Industrial Command Ship - an Orca! This was a first time for many of us and the factor of its guardian ships - Blackbird, Hyperion and a Raven - made the encounter even more special. We were prepared to ransom several of these ships, however due to the faffing about of these funny pilots and the iminent countdown of the POS bubble activating, we had little choice but to crack their nuts. Both a Hulk and a Drake take-down followed shortly after the very same evening. It was a very satisfying feeling at the end of the day. See: A Quiet Saturday With The Tuskers

A more recent operation consisting Remote-Repping Battleships also ended in success. This also being my first time putting a Battleship to use meant i was fairly aroused (:random thesaurus selection from the word 'excited'). Our gang consisted of 3 RR Battleships (Ronan and myself in a Dominix each and Egrat in his shiny Armageddon) and a squad of supporting gang-mates. Things began slow with litte happenings as we did a short circuit around the neighbouring systems. Just as the night seemed bleak, a fellow corpmate - Yarhh - gave intel of a missioning Golem in the 0.4 system of Onne. The first squad of support ships in the fleet was ordered byJolo to engage first, in hope of luring out a lurking Ishtar, but without luck the order was then given to the Battleships and Alex Rudd in his Blackbird to enter the system and engage the Marauder with the others. We were lucky to have Yarhh and his Ship scanner available, which gave us a heads up on the juicy, succulent faction mods which entailed alongside this Golem package. A generous offer of a 1.5billion isk was offered to the pilot, who however claimed he only had 500million at hand. The decision was made to destroy the ship and gamble with the Loot-gods. We were met with a good enough result and arranged for a cloaked transport ship to bring the treasures home.

All in all, i can humbly say... We are in good business once more! As for my new resolve for profit, i think i can safely give that a green tick thus far.

Returning to the Roots.

I have been questioning the motives behind my actions recently, the actions which result from my healthy career of Piracy.

Lately, my lust for destruction has been the sole factor in my activities and the word Piracy has been reduced to an excuse. I've been out flying with a psychopathic will to kill whatever i can find, with no thought toward profit. Of course, this has resulted in a steep decline in my wallet and it doesn't feel good.

This changes, now. Each time i undock, i will have profit sitting between my ears. Gone are the days of reckless flying and crazy laughter. I will restore meaning to the word.

Drakes - WTF

Today, was perhaps the most fun i have had in Eve for a long, long time.

It began with lunch. I was munching happily in one of the station canteens (Chicken & Mushroom Pie \o/) whilst having a lovely conversation with fellow Corp-mates. I was contemplating whether or not i could be bothered to do anything whilst i was charmingly shoveling food down my throat.

I managed to bring my lazy self into the Ship hangar shortly afterwards in the Pod and boarded my Taranis Interceptor. This particular one wasn't rigged - it felt cheap. Not a good feeling to have towards your own ship, usually.

I set a course for Intaki and undocked into the familiar sensation of weightlessness in the gooey confines of my pod. This was only a frigate sized ship, and thus has no internal gravi-systems installed. Unlike the larger ships, it doesn't need one.

The journey was uneventful and before i knew it, i found myself within Intaki itself. Gah, empty system after another... I made up my mind to venture into adjacent systems of which i had not been before. After a few jumps, my scan reading showed a Drake Battlecruiser in Eugales, located within an asteroid belt. After pulling out some details, i discovered the pilot was only a month old in his liscence. Excellent.

My nimble frigate was there in seconds, scram'd, web'd and furiously unloading faction munitions. His heavy missiles were hitting me for very little, and i dealt with his tech 1 drones accordingly. Despite overheating my Weapon systems, i was not able to get his shields below 15%. Goddamnit, if only this bugger of a 'ranis was rigged. This is getting me nowhere. My modules were overheating and my personal supply of Nanite Paste had dried over the weeks, so there was nothing i could do to repair the damage being done. I recalled my drones and warped to a Safe. Wtf tbh, a month old pilot is able to pilot a Drake AND concoct a fit with such a decent tank...

After calling me a coward for retreating, i managed to convince him to wait for me whilst i repair and restock on ammo.

[12:42:29] Bio Viper > why leave system?

[12:42:33] Caster Rom > ammo

[12:42:55] Bio Viper > yeah right, your just going to change ship

[12:43:14] Caster Rom > i dont have any big ships, my corp usually roams around in small ships

[12:43:22] Caster Rom > i dont risk big ships, too expensive for me

[12:43:46] Bio Viper > i saw that earlier, as one of your guys tried to kill me with rifter

[12:43:53] Caster Rom > yeah

[12:44:06] Bio Viper > shame i didn't have my scram on

Change ship, eh? What a GENIUS idea. I decided to run home and bring out the Myrmidon. My very own sexy Gallente battlecruiser. After sitting out my Global Criminal Countdown, i sprinted home to Hevrice.

I justified my reason for having to travel the 9 jumps home just for ammo in a private chat with him - "Faction ammo, matey. It is hard to come by :( ".

As i made haste travelling back to Eunales in my Myrmidon, I stumbled upon a lovely Devoter+Brutix gate camp in Melmaniel. I sighed, and double-backed toward the gate i had entered. Just in time too, as another 5 blinky assortment of battlecruisers, command ships and Heavy assault ships dropped out of warp for me. I managed to get out safely, with minimal damage into armour.

Looks like that is one system i cant go through... and so i set a course around it. 17 jumps... ouch. I notified the Drake pilot of my little snag and he agreed to wait, undeterred and obviously keen on having another shot on the tiny-weeny little interceptor.

On my monotonous journey around Melmaniel toward Eunales, my conscience finally hit me. As it would do any Human Bean. After his wonderful co-operative nature, i found it difficult to cope with the evilness of my planned surprise. Thus began my little remedy of deceit;

[13:19:50] Caster Rom > oh damn, another camp :( lost me ship this time

[13:20:08] Caster Rom > im gonna have to look to buy another one in system

[13:20:10] Bio Viper > oh rly?

[13:20:10] Caster Rom > gimme few ticks

[13:21:44] Caster Rom > :/ only ship i can buy here which i can fly

[13:21:47] Caster Rom > is a myrmi...

[13:21:52] Caster Rom > way overpriced though

[13:22:00] Bio Viper > i c

[13:22:21] Caster Rom > if you wnat the fight still... i could purchase it, and fit it with shitty scrap mods i can find in system

[13:23:01] Bio Viper > well myrmi can take drake down so its your call

[13:23:33] Caster Rom > so are oyu saying you wouldnt want a fair fight in the first place? :o

[13:23:44] Caster Rom > you would still be at an advantage, as i cant fit this mrymi the right way

[13:23:57] Bio Viper > i want a fair fight, and i have seen myrmidons take drakes down

[13:24:14] Caster Rom > yet many drakes take down myrmis too

[13:24:27] Caster Rom > drake tank is perhaps the best in-game tbh

[13:24:36] Bio Viper > i know

[13:24:46] Bio Viper > so i

[13:24:59] Bio Viper > if you dont want, then dont buy the myrmi

[13:25:14] Caster Rom > ill do it, its a game afterall

[13:25:25] Caster Rom > gimme 2 minutes to fit it out with what i can find lol

[13:25:35] Bio Viper > ok

I continued trekking through the many systems for a while, until the destination loomed closer. Then:

[13:27:39] Caster Rom > ok.. this will have to do i guess

[13:27:42] Caster Rom > making my way there

[13:27:48] Bio Viper > k

I returned to the system of Eunales soon afterwards, and engaged his Drake in my Myrmidon. This also being my first Myrmidon fight on anything larger than a cruiser, so i was fairly excited.

It took a while for me to tear through his shields, but it was inevitable nonetheless. I managed to keep my Armour at a safe level throughout and when his shields were diminished, my drones and blasters had no trouble with his remaining fragile armour and hull. We exchanged Gf's in local.

Astonishingly, i managed to scram his pod. He was a nice guy and before i knew it, i was contemplating for the second time today. Should i ransom him? But then my eyes darted to an Amarr Recon Ship which appeared on grid - a Curse. I warped to safety and urged Bio Viper to do the same, i had spared him. It was in-warp that i realised the Curse was actually a Corp-mate of his. An evil hooked eyebrow expression appeared on my face, and before i knew it i had willed the ship to return to the belt.

I landed right on top of the Curse, and instantly unleashed everything i had. Despite the irritating Capacitor problems the Curse was causing, i was able to stay on top of this with my own Cap-Injector system.

Things were going marvelously well, until a Hurricane appeared on scan. Oh shit. A Hurricane appeared on grid. Oh Shit-cakes Bollox. The bugger stole my Curse kill.

He then took no time in engaging me. I initiated all my systems on the new target, but then realised i had burnt out my ship weapon systems. Oh Shit-cakes Bollox F**k. My drones did decent damage, but it wouldn't be enough. I'm specialised into gunnery, not drones. The hurricanes shields would not fall below 25% and began slowly recharging, whilst my own defences slowly melted. A Typhoon friend of the Hurricane also joined at this point, and as he launched his chain of Cruise Missiles, my beloved Myrmidon was no longer.

With more Gf's sent all around in local communications, i safely docked up in the local station.

[13:55:10] Bio Viper > your welcome to join our corp if you get bored of the tuskers, with that kind of skills, your free to join anytime :)

[13:56:09] Caster Rom > ah thanks mate, appreciate it greatly, but getting bored with these guys is highly improbable ;)

Smiling uncontrollably, I decided to go for a drink at the station bar, and possibly take a little nap afterwards. Good Times.

Also a note before i forget: I owe Ronan Jacques 10mn Afterburner II x1. :D

Another note: Thanks to Sonbalin for helping out scout Melmaniel :) Without him, i daresay my Myrmi would be long gone before i had even reached Eugales. \o/

Frigate Op - 2.04.09 - 2000hours

The Tuskers gathered in their home system of Hevrice early - 14 of them, including 2 friends. Standard protocol of ship checks were reported to the Fleet Commander - Wensley.

Ares, Enyo, Enyo, Incursus, Incursus, Ishkur, Jaguar, Keres, Kitsune, Retribution, Rifter, Rifter, Sentinel, Tristan.

We departed from the Station shortly thereafter, and proceeded to the first System Gate (jovainnon). I was assigned scouting & tackle duty and was sent ahead into the neighbouring system in my sexy Ares Interceptor.

As the intimidating force of frigates sat on standby on the Jov' Gate in Hevrice, i took no time in declaring the system clear. A full 360 omnidirectional scan of 15AU takes all Celestial body's within Jovainnon into account, and there was nothing to pounce upon bar the odd Industrial ship. Wensley ordered the fleet to jump the gate and to proceed and hold on the Gate towards the next Solar System en route.

This standard process of crawling towards our destination continued throughout, and no sooner than the fourth System in, i had called a 'point' on a blinky target sitting 100km off a Station - a Cerberus. As i maintained a wide orbit on the Heavy Assault ship, the rest of the fleet streamed into the system and warped to my co-ordinates. The Cerberus' shields evaporated within 20 seconds and it's armour and hull crumbled instantly in a spectacular display of fireworks. We laid points upon the resulting Pod, but he refused ransom and we showed him some love in return.

As i left to scout the next system over, the fleet struck lucky with a Ferox battlecruiser on their side. I acknowledged via voice comms its destruction, but at a cost of 3 of our own frigates.

Being so close to home still, our FC made the decision for a pit-stop at base to re-ship and take a short break. I took use of this time to scout around the neighboring systems.

I narrowed down a scan within Aeschee consisting of a Caracal cruiser and a Condor frigate within a belt, and warped in at 10km without delay.

As the warp bubble collapsed, i landed right on top of the Caracal in which i instantly pointed and requested back-up from anybody still present on voice comms. My call was answered immediately, and help was on its way.

I maintained my 15-20km orbit of the Caracal as the Condor burned his Microwarpdrive from 52km away to aid his shackled friend. The little frigate would cause a problem as my Railguns would not be able to track it at such a close distance. My MWD at this point was also futile as he had Scrammed my warp systems and in turn, prevented me from being able to escape also. All that was left for me to do, was to maintain my Warp Disrupter on the Caracal, boost my shields occasionally, and let off the micro smart-bomb when my capacitor allowed it.

He was not able to get my armour status down past 80% when the cavalry arrived. The condor abandoned his companion and escaped whilst the gang raped the Caracal. We suffered no losses and pleasantly received 10million Isk from the pod ransom. Very nice.

Whilst the fleet were sitting out our Global Criminal Countdown, i took the liberty of zooming around the system. Purely for the sake of it. In turn, i had scanned down an Ishtar at a 5 degree scan towards a station. I warped in at 100km for Intel on pilot and security status. No sooner had i left warp did i start taking sentry fire. "Shit!" In panic, i turned the ship around to return to the fleet, tail between my legs. I survived with a structural integrity of 15%. Don't you just love Criminal flagging.

As i rendezvoused with the gang, Wensley noticed the path of flame trailing behind my humble ship. Believing it to be the result of our Caracal-Condor engagement, he stated in Comms:

"Jesus, Caster. That was close."

"... Yeah." I responded, a wide smile stretched across my face. I didn't particularly want to embarrass myself at this point in time. I repaired my ship once GCC had expired.

As i set course for the next system en route, i blissfully landed on a blinky Dominix Battleship on the gate. However, it was Smart-bomb fitted and because of that the fleet lost its drones, and the damage dealing blaster ships could do naught but twiddle their thumbs. Wensley wisely called the decision to disengage.

My first mistake loomed round the corner as i had spotted a blinky Taranis on the far side of the Jov' gate in Muetralle. The opposing pilot was roughly 30km off, and i was ordered to engage. Mindlessly, i activated my MWD and approached. I noticed my mistake before it even happened. "Shit! I'm gonna overshoot..." I did. The Taranis also MWD'd toward me, and we clashed within 3 seconds. I was scrammed, webbed, and screwed. No MWD, no dps available, no drones. It was only a matter of time before my brand-spanking-new Ares was twatted before my comrades could reach me.

I reflected on this outcome as i fled in my pod back toward Hevrice;

Number 1: I shouldn't have stupidly approached the way i did. The 'ranis was obviously not in a hurry, and i should have drifted somewhat to see if it would come to me. In which case i would be in control and dictate the range.

Number 2: I'm a silly-billy.

I returned to the scene a few minutes later in a Taranis, pimped and ready to go. Egrat had switched from his Retribution assault frigate to an Amarr Interceptor - a Crusader - to take over as Scout and tackler.

After much patience and fleet discipline from all, Egrat skillfully caught a Vexor in Lisbaetanne. The fleet was onto it within seconds and after carefully dispatching its drones, proceeded to devour the Gallente cruiser.

The rest of the night (or 5am in the morning for some - i'm looking at you, Jolo) went by without much of an event. Until we stumbled upon a Vindicator Battleship. It was sitting 16km off a gate when we scram'd and web'd the Beast. A few of us sat on the other side to catch him if he jumped through. The fight was exhilirating, and we managed to get the thing down to 50% armour. Then the blob came. The blob of death.

The blob of 15 Battleships which ripped through space and time to serve us a volley of fat burning doom. Many of us lost our ships, the odd pod, and our virginity. We laughed and cheered all the way home. Good times.

See: Tuskers in Frigates

The Tuskers

From one notorious pirate corp to another, The Tuskers.

I withdrew my application toward the Bastards around 5 weeks ago, for reasons entirely to do with myself and what I want, rather than anything to do with them. Long story cut short there.

Since that time, you could say I've accomplished a fair amount. I've found a truck-load of fights; won some, lost some. Forged several new friendships, some helpful contacts and above all, a new home. The journey has been pretty exhilirating and time seems to have passed slowly.

I have settled in smoothly amongst the Tuskers. Hevrice -our home System- is indeed a juicy place to be situated in, too. It's on a 0.5 border and bridges 2 other low-sec systems, which means there are quite a few pretty people who float through here. A good thing.

My new comrades are -simply put- pretty awesome. Professionalism with a touch of sugar.

I have fallen through the rabbit hole and thankfully ended up in wonderland. I am grateful to be able to call this place home.

The Bastards

Being situated in the middle of the region of Metropolis, I learn a great many thing regarding the occupants.  It's not an uncommon thing either - just the usual drink at the bar and a shady character catches your eye. One begins to overhear a great many things. Perhaps too much.

Either way, a certain name was bound to reveal itself sooner or later, and no longer than a full week of being here, it was revealed. The Bastards. They seemed to have a dirty influence in these parts, especially beyond the system borders into low-sec. This was their turf. And I was intrigued. 

Not managing to suppress my curiousity, I did some digging. I discovered - via multiple sources including the locals - that they were either loved, or hated. Talk about Marmite. I was determined to meet them. Maybe, because I've been so deprived in company lately that I was afraid of going crazy. Perhaps it's just human behaviour, to seek companionship.

I carefully let slip amongst the low-lifes my interest in the Bastards, and began my patient wait. I was giving all my cards to Uncle Luck, in hope that someone perhaps affiliated with them will take note and contact me. I can't say that helps me sleep at night, though. Thankfully, Uncle Luck got a Royal Flush, and I was shortly subtlely contacted by the one and only Mynxee of the Hellcats. It is common fact that they are associated in close league or partnership, with the Bastards. The word 'surprised' would be an understatement. I was not expecting the famous CEO of the Hellcats herself to directly contact me, it was either extremely trusting of the Bastards, or extremely careless, given the kind of company that comes with our job description. I was honoured, nonetheless. 

We discussed my interest in the Bastards, what i was hoping to achieve in terms of goals etc, and questions were fired both ways. The usual BS ;). All compulsary and a necessity regarding these kind of circumstances, of course. I was finally told that they would contact me again, after going over the recording of the conversation (I should have known). 

After another few nervous days playing the waiting game, I was given the all clear to bring some ships into Evati (their home system) and have some fun - with them, not at them!

On my first Frigate roam with the Bastards, led by the venerable, sober RoninData (CEO of Bastards), I flew in my Ishkur. Fresh out of 0.0. Unfortunately, due to the abrupt 'moving around' I've not been able to properly gather equipment and modules to fit/refit my ships. Wasn't too much of a problem though, just meant that my Ishkur - Steak - would be a 14km orbiter with a cloak. Heavily relying on my juicy drones, just the way it should be with an Ishkur. 

The roam was neither uneventful nor overly-eventful, there were some misses and some catches. One particularly painful miss, a Smart-bomb fit Typhoon Battleship. The fleet engaged in break-neck speed, scrammed and lay waste upon it, taking it into structure damage. However, it then unleashed its array of Concussion Bombs and hit many of us hard whilst destroying a few ships. I witnessed the marvelous explosions in horror, safely within my 14km orbit raining him in Caldari Navy Plutonium Charges. I lost my Hobgobs. Luckily I had brought along spares with me in cargo. Despite having a warp disrupter activated on the target Minmatar Battleship, it managed to warp out at 5-10% structure. Much to our annoyance.

On a more positive note, we caught a few too including a Stabber (which I missed out on due to a systems crash) and a Bellicose cruiser. After refusing the ransom, we finished him with a prod. The same happened to his captured Pod, which when given the green, I opened fire eagerly.

The remainder of the night, (with regards to my memory) unfolded without incident and I bid the guys farewell to retire in my quaters. First impressions? Pretty Genius.

Two Birds with one Stoned

I had my lunch two hours previously before plugging into the capsule – piloting 101 right there, wouldn’t want to throw up and swim around your previously digested food mid-flight now, would we?

My capsule then made its humble way into the docking bay and was inserted into my choice of ship, my second grand spanking new thorax, ‘Stoned’. Once securely onboard I checked all flight systems, weapon systems, and every other system before viewing the ship internal cameras. I silently watched as uniformed people hurriedly scurried along the decks of my cruiser, my proud crew of thirty. When everything was ticked off green, I requested undock and soon found myself in the pits of nothingness. I set my course for Molden Heath – 6 jumps.

I plot my route, my hunting ground as it were. A 10 system route should do nicely for just over an hours worth of time.

The first Solar System was dry. Small left-over’s were all that remained. Wrecks left behind from victims of those also in my newly acquired line of work. There was nothing to be found here, I moved on.

EVE System > Channel changed to Heild Local Channel

As I lay there cloaked alongside the Stargate, I did a quick 14AU Omni-directional scan. Nothing picked up.

I warped towards a previously logged safespot, and repeated my scan. 2 Minmatar Frigate ships appeared on display –Rifters. Juicy.

I narrowed my scan down towards a specific belt in orbit of Planet VII. As I entered the vicinity out of warp, they were gone. Nothing remained but the dead cluster of rocks drifting meaninglessly. I swung the ship around and set my next target toward a distant planet. However, as my warp drive initiated at the peak of 75% velocity, my overview picked up 2 Rifters entering the space at a distance of 70km. So, the hunter was being hunted. I smiled, perhaps in a more sinister way than I had intended. It was too late to cancel warp, as the ship had begun its sub-velocity warp sequence, but it was enough time for me to pull out the pilot details on the Rifters.

Their pilot licences were only a few months old. My confidence grew. Surely these were guaranteed kills. I returned back towards the Asteroid Belt, Scram module at the ready. They were gone again. But this time, I knew they would not be running away. I waited.

It took perhaps a full two minutes before the frigates appeared only 15km from my position. I sprung into action, initiating microwarpdrive as I approached the targets. We clashed moments later and began close orbit. I was both warp scrammed and webbed, so it was only polite to return the favour. I launched my Hammerheads from the Drone Bay and ordered them to engage.

I released the wrath of my Heavy Electron Blasters and the carnage of drones upon ‘Rifter A’. By the time I took down its shields, I was only 50% into mine. I was getting cockier by the second.

This was when my smile was painfully torn away, his armour refused to buckle. Goddamn my tracking speeds. He was too close and my guns couldn’t keep up. I was losing time, every second that went by drew me closer to my impending doom. I was 37% into armour.

I aligned towards a distant planet, in hope that my linear direction would help increase the distance between us. It seemed to work. The remainder of his armour plating diminished upon 4 blaster volleys, I didn’t even get a reading on his structure status before I was engulfed with the soft, blue light.

My focus was now on ‘Rifter B’. I initiated Scram and Web, and engaged both drones and Blasters. I gritted my teeth as my armour fell deeper below the last remaining 10%. Things got slightly worse as 2 (Gistii?) Pirates entered the fray, of which one of them had me locked. Another minute went by before my Hammerhead’s lay the final blow on the final Rifter. Blue’s my favourite colour. I called in my drones and warped out to a safe location, not wanting to risk my ship further from the 2 Gistii. I was 80% into Structure integrity. I smiled, not in a sinister fashion, but out of relief. I repaired my armour and returned to the Belt to collect my reward.

Pit Panic > damn nice fight man gratz

Pit Panic > nice fucking fight yai

Caster Rom > good fight lads

Pit Panic > hha ya

Pit Panic > hehe

Caster Rom > <3

I could have hugged them.

Not wanting to risk my newly acquired Cargo, I made my way home toward Hek. This was enough to satisfy me for the day. I put the goods up on the market for a few million, and retired to my quarters.

[Notice the poor 'cutting' and 'pasting' there in the image ;)]

Neural Development

It's difficult to describe the setting, there are so few details to depict. There is no weather to follow, for this is cold, empty space. There isn't much of a view either, just the simple scene of the pilot lounge; Sofa seats and regular shaped coffee tables evenly spaced across the bland metallic room. Either the architect or the interior designer must have lacked that speck of creativity, because something went wrong. The place felt dead. It would have been more so if the place wasnt swarmed with people, but alas - this is Hek. My temporary residence after the migration up from Curse.

"Sir." It took a while for me to snap out of wonderland and look over my shoulder. A middle sized Caldari man stood before me, short military style hair and cold stony eyes. I recognised him to be a crew member of mine - a new guy recommended by one of my subordinates. I'm having trouble trying to recollect his name and file.

"Please, we're not in the military. Take a seat, mate." I beckoned him to the seat across from me. I tried a smile. "So what brings me the pleasure of your company?"

"I heard you purchased one of those Myrmidon ships the other day," he said. It was a statement, not a question - straight to the point i guess.

My gaze had wondered over to the reinforced 12" thick glass window beside me at this point, taken aback at the sudden tranquility of the dream-like spectacle. Ships orbitting the station, sun light gently touching their armoured hulls. Instruments of war and death, transfigured into pretty flowers in a field, birds in the sky. I take back my comments on the view.

"Sir?" His voice snapped me back into reality. It was true, I had purchased a Gallentean Battlecruiser. But don't get me wrong, i honestly don't intend on flying it full-time, nor part-time yet for that matter. I still have a little longer to wait, the skillpack (Energy Management) currently plugged into my neural rig jack will take another 2 days to complete. I still have several skills and abilities I want under my belt before taking my Myrmi out on a serious operation.

I explained the situation to him, and he took it all in without a change in facial expression, nor an expression of opinion either.

"What skills you planning on uploading?" he asked, his face blank and unaltering.

"Well, the ones on the list; completion of Signature analysis 4, and then I'm gonna be focussing on Energy management and Thermodynamics. Can't go wrong with extra boost to performace. You with electronics?" I asked.

"Mechanics."

"Right. Sorry." I still couldn't place a name.

He continued, as if without interruption. "So we've still got a while to wait yet. Guess we'll be stuck on Flint a while longer." Flint, my recently attained personal Thorax Cruiser, my pride and joy. I've only taken it on short flights lately, not daring to risk anything quite so soon. Not until i'm satisfied with the support skills.

We continued to discuss possible skill-paths and routes in development for a while longer, occasionally glancing at the passing Battleships out the oval window.

"I'll be off then, sir. It's been a pleasure." He finally rose to his feet, gave a curt nod and a salute, and smiled. I moved my arms awkwardly toward my head, taken aback from the sudden display of emotion. He slipped out between the chair and table, and strode away towards the exit lift. Harrison, Scott Harrison. That was his name.

*Cue joyous, spasticated air-punching.