Fare Thee Well; Providence

Now, nobody lives forever
Nothin' stands the test of time
Oh, you heard 'em say "never say never"
But it's always best to keep it in mind
That every tower ever built tumbles
No matter how strong, no matter how tall
Someday even great walls will crumble
And every idol ever raised falls
And someday even man's best laid plans
Will lie twisted and covered in rust
When we've done all that we can but it slipped through our hands
And it's ashes to ashes and dust to dust
~Steve Earle

  It is with a heavy heart that I write this post.  Our alliance has recently made the difficult decision to leave our home.  While I have butted heads with the NRDS nature of the area at times I have always respected the work CVA has put into the area and the idea.  I cannot help but feel that EvE is losing something that it will never get back with the fall of Providence and I am sad to see it go.

  I have re-written this post twice because this is pretty huge for me personally.  I want to mention the drastic change that CCP has introduced which has allowed so much upheaval.  Obviously for the residents of Providence it has been a bad thing but I cannot help but believe that it has been a bad thing for EvE in general.  I have always hoped for the increased openness of 0.0.  However instead of coming at the expense of difficult to hold fringe systems it has come at the expense of systems within the heart of holders.  

  In the end though, no matter the circumstances, FA has left Providence.  It has been one of the busiest periods in my EvE life since that decision was finalized.  FA has now taken sovereignty as a "renter" and we have been working hard to setup shop.  This has been a crazy process but the membership of my corporation has proven up to the challenge and many have worked long hours in logistical support.  We are still in the "settling" stage so there is much work left to be done, but this is an exciting time for us.

  When time permits there will be much more news about the experiences of living in space with our name on it soon, so stay tuned.

Wow, What Happened?!?

     So, I turned around and about two weeks have gone by without me updating the blog at all.  In all fairness to me it has been a really busy two weeks.  First, RL has a tendency to get in the way of fun things far too often, and secondly we've been extremely busy in EvE the past few weeks as FA has made some major moves.  There will more on that coming soon but now I think I'll talk about me, yay!

     I have now taken my first flight in a Thanatos which was a pretty exciting experience.  I felt very prepared stepping into the ship for the first time after doing my homework on the forums and reading about other bloggers experiences (such as Manasi).  For anyone upgrading to a major new ship I always advise that you get the basics of how that ship needs to be handled down before you give it a real try.  However, research doesn't replace experience and I have to say that flying such a serious ship is a little daunting.  The main task so far has been ferrying ships and supplies for the Alliance's movements which has given me some nice practice in the ship.  I am hoping to find the time soon to commit it to offensive actions but I'm not sure when my schedule will allow that.

     I'm sure there will be plenty of critique on my current setup but as a general fleet fit I'm pretty happy with it so far.  Note that the tank is a bit inflated because I was playing with fleet boosters or remote rep when I saved this.

Back In The Saddle

  I haven't posted much lately but for once it was because I've been playing a lot of EvE.  Ushra'Khan has dropped the war dec so instead of hi-sec PvP (which is boring) I have been able to to do a little mining, mission running, and null sec PvP which has been nice. 

  While exploring some new areas in null sec for PvP action I have had the pleasure to fly with a few of Black Claw's (Alexia's) OUCH members and I have been very impressed.  Not only are these guys competent pilots, but they are friendly and absolutely willing to fight which makes them a lot of fun.  I have enjoyed flying along-side OUCH and look forward to many good fights in the future. 

  In other news I finally purchased my Thanatos which is very exciting.  I can fully fit it but before I take it out for any real action I have a few support skills I will be training up, especially those that affect my remote repping ability and (non-fighter) drones.  Being busy with other EvE "stuff" I haven't given her a shakedown yet but I am pretty excited about the chance to do so over the weekend.

Friday Flash Fiction 9: Polycarbon Engine Housing

     "Crap, not this again" muttered Gabriel as his viator ground to a halt in the middle of his tenth warp sequence.  Stranded at least six jumps from hisec; not exactly the place he wanted to be, but flying an old ship came with compromises.  He had saved some money years ago trading his Iteron III in for a blockade runner and even though the Tempest had lived up to its namesake it had made him a wealthy man over the years.  Of course at this moment all that left his mind as his only thoughts were disgust at his ships shortcomings.

     "Thank God for small miracles."  At least that rusty covert ops cloaking device he had salvaged from a Nemesis wreck afforded the relative safety he needed to work on his ship in peace.  Grumbling like a crusty miner Gabriel worked his way to the engine room, very much wishing he had been able to keep his crew at Unity Station.  Those Minmatar were the best crew he had ever worked with, but being stuck in the middle of a war over slavery was not the place for him.  So with little fanfare he left them in 9UY to be picked up by the vile Ushra'Khan and took off with his cargo alone.

       When he got to the engine room the tangle of exposed wires that confronted him gave no sign of the problem.  It was obvious that the PolyCarbon Engine Housing he had crammed onto his ship was causing the problem but since he never had the skills to fit them in the first place, there was no way he was qaulified to find the problem.  He started poking around like any layman does when he doesn't understand the problem.  Then he started kicking things, everything, out of frustration.  As if by a sick twist of fate, a siren went off that shocked Gabriel and chilled him to the core.  He hadn't heard that siren in months. 

     The Tempest had been uncloaked and was being targeted by a U'K Tarranis; had they known he was here or was it just coincidence?  It really didn't matter now as Gabriel sprinted to the bridge with all the physical might a space man could muster.  He jumped into his control chair, hoping beyond hope that he had kicked the right exposed wire.  In a moment of lucidity he realized that the interceptor targing him was alone and that he had equiped his ship to handle the rather weak warp jamming abilities of a craft this small.  If only his engines would fire up, the Tempest would be just fine.  Praying, begging, he hit the warp button and...

     The engines of the old Viator rattled and roared to life; Gabriel swore he felt every millisecond of use they had logged as they strggled to regain their energy.  The ship lept, then bolted into warp, just in time to see several U'K pilots land close by.  Gabriel could hardly breath as he careened out of warp just meteres from the gate.  He hastily requested jump clearence and didn't even check his sensors for three jumps while his nerves settled.  He swore this would be his last trip to null sec but deep in his heart he knew the riches were too much for him to resist. 

About Meatay-ness

This blog has been lacking a true "about me" for a long time now so I thought I would take advantage of the new pages feature of blogger to create one.

I have included it in the header but you can jump right to my details from here:

http://aufescapevelocity.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html

Is Cloak Radiation Bad For You???

  After making my poor pilots spend a few hours cloaked last night I had to wonder if that radiation has some afftect on them or the crew.  In fact I'm pretty sure it does but who cares, I love my cloaky ships!  Last night was my first solid play time in a while and I spent a good chunk of the time trying to get my assets to "higher ground" as Providence is facing a flood of red invaders.  The native cloak of my Viator saved me on so many occasions I almost wanted to kiss it.  On one occasion I jumped into a system I believed to be clear only to find local full of reds, and I still escaped.  My escape was mostly due to the absence of a gate camp, however the nimble Viator's ability to slip into a safe spot undetected sure made it less nerve-shattering.

  Once the Viator was no longer needed I fired up the Nemesis for my most valuable assets, it just happened to be in 9UY4-H with plenty of reds.  After an alliance FC gave me some eyes on the station (which I refuse to call Unity) I was off and running.  At first I was followed by a Dramiel to my first warp spot which was about the worst thing I could hope for.  Luckily I managed to evade him as I slipped into the next system with enough time to get cloaked and out of the way before he came in.  After losing the Dramiel I found myself in the path of a red Stealth Bomber roam that seemed to be looking for me.  I had so many chances to bomb them as they landed on the gates I was scouting that it hurt not to, but my cargo was worth more than the chance at a kill to me.  In the end my trusty little Nemesis got me to a blue zone with ease and I breathed a sigh of relief.  The next step was to haul the Viator back out to get some corporate assets out of harms way but this would prove comparatively easy.

CrazyKinux Blog Pack Refreshed!

For anyone who loves the blog pack as much as I do, especially with Capsuleer, you'll be happy to hear that CK has released the updated list. Some cuts and a nice round of additions have left us with a new (longer) list of more active blogs which I know I will enjoy.

You can find his list here, but the "official" change will be forthcoming: http://www.crazykinux.com/2010/03/new-improved-and-expanded-eve-online.html