I started playing Eve in 2008. I started Eveoganda in January 2010. In-between those times I primarily flew down in Providence as part of various Corporations. For some reason during 2009 I started keeping a "Captain's Log" of my activities for a short time. Consider it a pre-blog journal. In celebration of my 12th anniversary of writing this blog, here is the complete run of that log. Keep in mind, I am nine months into Eve Online at this point and still very much learning my way around.
RIXX JAVIX: CAPTAIN'S LOG
ENTRY 5.26.09
I realized today that one of my Crow's (ZipLock) has been alive for more then three weeks, which is the longest I've had an Inty and not gotten popped. I almost regretted noticing that as I barely escaped a Red bait trap inside the F9E-DG gate today. Half into armor before I could get away and I spent ten minutes hiding in F9E before the red blob gave up and went back to the SV5 gate. I did get a good Harpy kill warping in to the station, someone had already gotten point, but I managed to contribute to the kill. The Harpy kill gives me 50 kills on the LFA Killboard. Yeah!
I jumped on again later in the day for a roaming gang into Catch. It didn't go well, we found nothing to fight all the way deep into enemy territory. So we turned back and went into SV5 to the HED gate again. Assasination was our FC and I have to say that he let us down, communications were not clear and we managed to get blobbed pretty hard in HED on the SV5 gate. I did manage to get in on a Drake kill (51) before the blob arrived, but I was burning towards the Keberze gate when the reds dropped four or five bubbles around us. The fleet was split between gates and orders were garbled. Reds started popping around us, so I made the decision to burn to the gate and jump out. It would be all about timing, but this time my lucky Crow let me down. In hindsight I should have warped away to a safe spot, but that would mean leaving my fleet mates behind and that is just not my style. So I woke up in Meetpoint in a new body minus my lucky Crow. Oh well, I have another one fitted and ready to go.
ENTRY 5.27.09
Not much time to undock today. I finally took the Crow out to the F9E gate just in time for a Red to poke his head thru, we popped him but I never got a killmail and it hasn't been posted (another in a long line of missing kills), but he was just the vanguard for a BLOB! I warped to my safe spot and the Red fleet was all sniper HACs so not much to do in the Crow. I went back to station and got the Drake (Black Knuckle) and went to the JB. Lots of confusion as usual in LFA/CVA response. By the time we got the fleet up and running the Reds strategy was almost over. Skirmishes at the gate ended and we decided to go on a roam thru Catch. Nothing happened except it was obvious the FC had zero control over the fleet. By the time we made it back to SV5 I decided the fleet was going to do nothing more than get me killed and I docked up for the day. Another day with a missing kill, but no deaths.
ENTRY 5.28.09
My Crow is cap stable now and fitted with T2 MWD, perma speed baby!! The morning gate camp was boring and nothing really happened. The lunch gate camp started that way but ended on a bang, I managed to get 2 more kills and a pod. A Rifter and a Retribution. I didn't even bother shooting at them, just locked and pointed. With so many blues around it's pointless for me to shoot anything with my Crow, so I just focus on tackle. At least I am contributing and building the killboard. 54 Kills now.
At one point this afternoon there were 120 people in DG, that's the most I've seen in a very long time. Mostly because of a CVA fleet that warped in.
Lots of reds in sys when I got on this evening, jumped into my Raven to join BS fleet at the JB. No one would move me in TS so I couldn't hear anything. That would eventually prove to be the reason I lost my Raven. But it was the old Raven anyhow, which is why I was flying it. Losing it wos not a big deal. If I had known what was on the other side I wouldn't have jumped in until things settled down somewhat, instead I jumped in right away and got popped. I escaped podding and re-shipped into my Drake. This time, still without audio, I jumped in and got in on a Carrier kill and a BS kill. The battle was over for the most part. Later I gate camped in my Crow for awhile and got in on another kill or two, can't remember exactly. One of them is missing at this point, people don't post kills like they should. No big deal, but I am a perfectionist.
ENTRY 5.29.09
Interesting morning. As usual I jumped into my Crow and warped to the F9E gate in DG and as usual was the first one there. A few more blues showed up and I scanned the intel channels. A red Vaga jumped into sys and I warped to gate, locked him down and started scramming him. We didn't have enough DPS on gate and he popped my Crow. I went back to station and bought another Crow down in Meetpoint, the only one around, capsuled down there and re-fitted and returned to DG. By this time a small gate camp gang was forming and I joined up, we warped to gate and started camping. A few reds in sys, including Taanu the Vaga that popped me earlier. I wanted revenge, but woudln't get the chance. A Dominix approached the gate and once again I locked him down, scrammed and started shooting. Once again we didn't have the DPS to take him down quickly and once again I was popped. Luckily we did kill him and I got some satisfaction from being on the km. But now I am totally out of Crows and the nearest ones are 11 jumps away.
I bought 3 new Crows up in Pig Sty and took the Badger up to pick them up. Made the run up and back without problems and got one re-fitted quickly. Good thing as the reds were still around. A cloaked Nemesis tried to gank me outside the station but he had no chance with me in my Battle Badger! I actually hung around outside the station for awhile to let him try, just to see how well the thing was tanked. Once the shields went down I docked and gave him some lip in local. I don't normally EVER talk in local, but sometimes - especially after the morning I had - you can't help yourself. Joined a CVA led gang (about 31 ships) into red space, excellent fleet with a good solid FC. We chased and we were chased back and forth from HED/SV5/F9E for awhile and I got plenty of chances to get my revenge for this morning. Got an Onyx, a Broadsword and a Zealot. I think I was also on 2 other kills, but they haven't been posted yet and probably won't be. Oh well, up to 61 now on the LFA killboard.
64 I mean. Went on a quick roam with Angor as FC, we popped a Helios at the gate waiting for the gang to form up and I got a Manticore as well. The rest of the kills were old ones that finally showed up, not all of them but it helps. We almost got DD'd by a AAA Titan that cyno'd in on us in SV5, but we were at the gate and jumped just in time. We lost one ship to bombers and one to friendly fire, which I think might be the first time I've seen that happen. Noobs.
ENTRY 5.30.09
Limited playing time as usual, but got mixed up in a fun couple of roams today. Ended the day with 6 or 7 kills but also got podded three times and lost 4 ships!! I know, what the heck? Nauron organized a small (15-20) gang for a roam bringing only frigs, destroyers and other small ships. The purpose was for fun and we did have fun, four times we went out engaged Reds and got popped and sometimes podded. I lost a Cormmie, a Drake, a Crow and a Blackbird - but I managed to kill a Cormorant, Broadsword, Omen, Stabber, Prophecy, Sabre and an Ares which made it somewhat worthwhile. It was fun and it was great to be able to play Eve like a game for awhile. 73 kills now on the LFA killboard.
ENTRY 5.31.09
Didn't undock today.
ENTRY 6.1.09
Bought 2 new Blackbirds down in PI5 and went down to bring them back. Got caught in the pocket by Red swarm everywhere, although I did manage to fit one and join a response fleet. But we never engaged, wasn't able to get enough BS support to make sense. Eventually we stood down and broke up the fleet. I went back to DG with one of my Blackbirds and put my Raven on the market. No more BS flying for me right now. I've decided to focus on improving the skills that involve the ships I enjoy flying (Crow, Blackbird, Drake, etc.) and those that I will be flying soon (Hawk, Rook, Manticore, Buzzard, etc.) That's the plan for now at least.
Too many red fleets around today, hard to keep track of them all. In the end that is what finally got us, the chaos. I did manage to get involved in a sweet Drake kill with my Crow. But immediately after that I got popped by a bomb. That's the first time that has happened and it was just stupid luck. Happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with my MWD on. Boom! I came back into fleet with my Blackbird and we got caught in a blob and pop. Another weird day and that was enough for me. Time to re-supply and fit some new ships into the RJ fleet.
ENTRY 6.2.09
Didn't undock until late today. Joined the DG gate camp for a few minutes, but nothing much happened. Might get a chance to fly again later. A kill from a few months ago mysteriously appeared on my kb this morning, which is good. Gives me some hope for other missing ones.
Did a roam, not much to report. Got another kill that hasn't appeared on the kb yet and shot a few neut spies. Nothing else.
ENTRY 6.3.09
Lost a Crow today to a stupid mistake. Jumped into F9E to report on red activity, they had about 9 BS on the gate. Warped to my safe spot 300k off the gate and started reporting ship types. Someone locked me and popped me while I was reporting. Stupid. Got away though. But now I need more Crows.
Went on an all Drake (and some other ships) roam into Catch. We got some great kills and it was a lot of fun, we played Flight of the Valkyries as we warped into battle. A Zealot, Curse, Rook, Flycatcher and Scorpion have shown up so far, but I think we may have gotten a few more. Spent some time fitting a new Crow. But time was limited today. Also brought a Caracal up to fit for cheap cruiser. Two more days until Mechanic Level 5 is finished. 87 kills on the LFA kb now.
The rest of the day was survival, both my Crow and Drake escaped near death battles to fight another day.
ENTRY 6.4.09
Undocked and went down to PI5 to pick up a spare Crow right after DT. SWJesus and I had some fun in chat and decided to gate camp for a bit before work. There were only 4 of us on the gate, so I decided to trade my Crow in for my Drake for some much needed DPS, tired of getting popped in the morning. We only waited for a few minutes and first a Claw and then a Jaguar came through the gate. Luckily someone brought an Onyx and got the bubble up quick, even though they got through it, it slowed 'em down enough to get the kills. Number 89 and 90 for about 15 minutes of play time. Not bad at all.
Joined a small roam into Catch that Angor was FC'ing, not much happened on the way out but the way back was very interesting. We gate camped the system we were leaving and put a bubble up just as a red blob jumped through. It was total chaos, the bubble had just caught the start of the cycle and didn't come down in time. I got out and most of us did, but two people got caught. I hate leaving people behind, mostly because I hate to be left behind, but we had no shot at helping them. We were mostly BC's and Cruisers and the reds were heavy on BS. We high-tailed it back home with the reds in pursuit. However, another red fleet coming up from the south had gate camped SV5 and made it even more difficult to get home, I think we lost some more stingers in that. The fleet re-grouped in DG, but that was it for me for the day. Somewhere in there I got kill #91, a Vagabond that I managed to get point on.
ENTRY 6.5.09
Another stupid death this morning. No gate camps, so ended up chasing a small gang of reds into TR. Couple close calls, but nothing that led to a kill. JUmped back into DG and several CVA/LFA on the gate, decided to hang for a minute. A SB jumped in and started boating off the gate at about 40k. This happened at the exact same moment I had decided to head back to the station and dock up. Sadly for me, I had started to mwd to my safe spot, which just so happened to align with the new concussion bomb the sb had dropped. Stupid of me for not paying attention to an active field, but I insta-popped and took the capsule back to the station. Got lots of lols in chat for that ace move.
Went on a lunch roam into Catch again, which is turning into our new HED. Once again, the trip out was easy enough, even managed to pop a Harpy on the way. #92. But once again the trip back was bad. The fleet was mostly T1 frigs and some cruisers and we popped out into a red bubble. Normally that wouldn't be an issue as I popped out beyond the bubble myself. Despite some communication issues I decided to burn off and evaluate the field. For some stupid reason my ship wouldn't move for about ten or fifteen seconds, despite pushing the button over and over again. Just enough time for the BS to lock me and pop me before I could get speed up. Capsule back 11j to DG. Again. Bought three new Crows down in PI5 and Angor escorted my Badger down and back.
Mechanic Lvl 5 done today. 8.7 million sp.
ENTRY 6.6.09 and 6.7.09 Did not undock
ENTRY 6.8.09
Nothing much going on today, Monday's are usually tough. Did manage to tackle a Drake at the F9E gate but didn't have sufficient backup on the tackle and got popped by his drones before I could get away. The rest of the day was uneventful until later when we chased a band of reds around DG and into FSW, managed to get some good solid kills in on that and we only lost one ship to their 8.
ENTRY 6.9.09
Fly up to Minimatar space to finish up a contract this morning and then came back down through Catch just because. Nothing happened though. This morning I'll be able to fly my Hawk for the first time, looking forward to that. Its cool and all, but without T2 missiles it ain't much. Have to work on that.
At lunch Angor and I got mixed up in a try on a Pilgrim inside F9E. He was cloaked near a drag bubble, so I loaded up my Battle Badger and jumped in to the system alone, warped to SV5 and then back. Just as planned I got caught in the bubble and slow boated it back to the gate. He fell for the trap and I managed to get point on him but he was still too fast, by the time everyone jumped in he had gotten away. Oh well, it was a worthy try and maybe next time he'll think twice about messing with a Badger.
At some point during the early evening it became obvious that the reds were moving into DG in force. They started swarming in, eventually we had nearly 200 of them in the system. I was initially blocked in the station but managed to escape while PXF, CVA and LFA decided what to do. The system count went up to nearly 500 and then more. They attacked out POS, stations and cyno-jammers while we built our fleets. Eventually we met them on the field of battle at Planet 1 and it was horrible. The system lag was soooo bad that it was virtually impossible to fight. I tried and escaped in my Crow several times, but I also managed to lose 2 Crows. I think I managed to kill 2 or 3 reds in exchange. It was the biggest fleet BS battle that I have witnessed so far, no doubt about that. Shame that computer problems ruined the experience. Angor faired even worse as he lost his Hyperion to lag.
ENTRY 6.10.09
Flew down to PI5 this morning to fit a new Crow so I have a back-up on hand in DG. Took the Hawk out for a spin to check the gates but no one was putting up a camp. Will check back later. Do nothing day.
ENTRY 6.11.09
Day started as usual nothing much going on. Later in the day we fleeted up and chased reds around the pocket without any luck. I did fly my new Scorpion in fleet and tomorrow I can fit t2 ECM on it and the Blackbird.
Took the Hawk out on a HED run and got two kills. Including #100!!! Yeah. The sturdy bird proved itself by withstanding several bomb attacks by stealth bombers, so its a good ship. Just need t2 missiles for it to really shine. I'm going to limit its flying time until then, but its a good ship to break things up with.
ENTRY 6.12.09
Fitted t2 ECMs on the Scorpion (CrazyHorse) and the Blackbird (WhamBam) this morning in the hanger. Now training Gunnery Level 5 so I can start training those skills up and start shooting guns again. I also fitted out another Caracal to have around for down and dirty gangs. Nothing going on this morning, gave the crew the morning off. Spent some time reading the Gunnery Manual for the big test on Monday.
Got the Scorpion bloodied today with 2 Drake kills on the FSW gate. It was a CVA fleet, but we jumped in just at the right time to help out. I actually managed to get final blow on one of them and jam the other. The rest of the day was boring, made some safe spots up the pipe and chased a Tengu T3 back down into DG - damn those things are fast. Angor and I tried to stir things up but no one was having any.
ENTRY 6.13.09
Did not undock
ENTRY 6.14.09
The pocket was quiet this morning so I decided to take a shuttle up to Choonka, outfit a Badger and do some trading. I could also pick up some things that I had left in Empire when we decided to shut down INGB - Like the Navy Hookbill I had left in Piekura. Everything went well while in Empire and I managed to pick up some great deals in Jita, all in all I had nearly 300 million of trade goods in the cargo. Angor agreed to escort me from Choonka back to DG. Everything went fine until we got to 9UY, there were two reds in system but there were also about 70 blues. The gate was clear and Angor went on ahead. That left me alone when the Hound uncloaked and attacked. Even tanked and with ECM, it wasn't long before I lost the Badger. Help was not fast enough getting there. Angor kept watch over the wreck while I went and quickly outfitted a new Badger. By the time I returned several Blues were helping guard, but the Hound struck again. This time with a Shrapnel Bomb that destroyed the wreck and my new Badger. As much as I hate what happened, I have to admire the Hounds patience. I would've done the same thing.
Angor and I decided to start doing some mining to build ships to sell, to make some much needed isk. I outfitted my Rokh as a miner and we set up shop in GN7. As much as I hate using the Rokh this way, it does make for a very good miner. And I finally get to put those useless skills I have to some use.
On the way back to DG after the mining op, I joined a fleet headed to 9UY. I decided to take my Scorpion CrazyHorse along. We engaged the reds in G5EN and I held out as long as I could, but we were in a bubble and eventually my ECMs gave out and I lost the Scorpion. Despite my valiant efforts I didn't even manage to get on any killmails, so the day was virtually wasted. At least the Scorp was insured. (Update: I did actually contribute to a Munnin kill, so I don't feel as bad.)
ENTRY 6.15.09
Did some more mining this morning with Angor. We have a neat little mining operation going in GN7 and should have enough minerals to start building ships within a week or so.
Nothing else of note today. Bought and outfitted a new Scorpion and sold some stuff, etc.
ENTRY 6.16.09
Started out as another slow day in Providence. Decided to do some mining and sell some stuff in the hanger for much needed isk. Angor and I are collecting a nice hoard of minerals down in GN7 and might be ready to build our first ship soon.
I joined a fleet but arrived after the battle, chased a red fleet around but nothing came of it. Spent some time on the DG gate and managed to tackle a red Moa that come through. Kill #105. But that was it. Angor probed out some plexes, but they had been used before.
ENTRY 6.17.09
Another slow day in Providence. This morning I re-fitted one of my drakes as a ratter and flew it down to GN7. I didn't have a lot of time, so I decided to hit a belt and see if I could get lucky. Sure enough I stumbled right into 3 Sansha Haulers transporting ore shipments and laid into them. By the time it was all done I had 4.5 Badger holds full of ore!! The hanger in GN7 is bursting and we are close to being able to build our first ship.
Later in the day I tried to join a fleet chasing reds around the R3 area, but the FC was sooo terrible I couldn't catch up to the fleet and they were scattered all over the region. I could hear on comms that they had some reds engaged, but I decided that the slipshod manner would only result in me getting podded. So I left fleet and headed back to DG. I think I am getting smarter in my old age.
ENTRY 6.18.09
Did not undock.
ENTRY 6.19.09
Another morning spent ratting and selling. Later in the afternoon a red fleet came into the pocket and we chased them around. I decided to fly the Scorpion today, since the targets were mostly BS and bigger ships. I ended up getting in on 7 kills in that stretch. Nothing special however.
ENTRY 6.20 - 6.21
Did not undock.
ENTRY 6.22.09
2 nice kills today a Hyperion and an Armaggedon, both with my Scorpion in fleet. I did lose the Scorpion however, slow boating it back to the gate. I learned some important lessons from this engagement though, the Scorpion is a powerful ship unlike anything else that I've flown and takes some time to get used to. But I think I am really getting the hang of it now.
ENTRY 6.23.09
Wormhole space!! I finally got to experience some of the wormhole space today, joined a small frigate/cruiser gang that had found two wormholes. The exit WH dropped us right into Wicked Creek (M-MH9). We'd pop out right into the middle of enemy territory and strike hard and fast. It didn't exactly work out that way, we believe someone tipped them off that we were coming because the systems emptied out before we got there. Either way it was a lot of fun and I did manage to get in on both of our kills. The caracal is a fun ship to fly and WH space is very cool.
Angor and I have been discussing our future plans and we think we've hit on something legendary. More later.
ENTRY 6.24.09
Didn't do much today until later, some ratting in the morning and ship fitting. Later on Paxton started up a T1 frig roam and I managed to get invited. Small 15-17 gang jumped into HED fought and ran, we did this three times each time re-shipping into cruisers and then BS. It was awesome, quick and I managed to get in on 6 kills. A Pilgrim, Caracal, 2 Drakes, Hurricane and a Merlin. Almost got popped a couple of times but managed to survive them all.
ENTRY 6.25.09
Typical morning ratting and isk making. Decided to get a Raven to rat with instead of using the Drake, and bring the drake back up to DG for defense. It was rat fitted and I jumped out of a gate right into a 30 man red fleet waiting on the other side. I tried to get her back to the gate and almost made it, but fell about 1k short. The basterds popped me.
Later in the day I turned into yet another bomb in my Crow and popped. But I did mange to jump on a Pilgrim when he came out of the gate and I un-cloaked him, tackled him and helped bring him down - which felt really really good.
ENTRY 6.26.09
11 Kills today! What an action-packed day this turned out to be. Joined up with a fleet coming back from the North just as the red fleet (Scorched Earth and -A-) reached TR. I jumped in with my Drake (Serious Business) and started fighting, it was awesome and unlike June 6th, this time no lag problems at all. This was the first large scale battle that I really felt like I was making a contribution and doing smart things. My Drake managed to survive some serious poundings on at least two occasions before the battle move out of its range. I settled closer to the DG gate and started picking off smaller ships as they came close, leaving the big sniper ships to fight it out at range.
Also managed to catch a Harbinger outside the DG station and blow him up, between Angor and myself I think we've popped G Genetic like 6 times. He just keeps coming back for more.
We also made several roams into the North where I lost my Hero Caracal to a red blob that jumped us, but not before popping 2 of the enemy. So all in all a great day.
ENTRY 6.27.09
Did not undock today.
ENTRY 6.28.09
Popped G Genetic again! Thats at least 2 times for me and I think Angor has popped him like 4 or 5 times. Mostly spent the day trying to make some isk and ratting. Not much else going on at the moment. Joined the DG gate camp for awhile, but not much happened.
We did hear that Dusty Death might be merging with 101st Marine and that got Angor and I thinking about starting our own LFA Corp. We discussed it with Voltaire from BIG, but we have lots to think about. LFA Corps are a lot different than ones in hi-sec space and we have to consider that, dues, POS maintenance, etc. But I think it might just make sense, especially considering our developing plans.
ENTRY 6.29.09
Nothing important to report today, not much time for flying. Mostly mantainence and repair work, did some ratting. In the afternoon I took the new Caracal out for a spin and jumped in on a Hound that was cloaked at the F9E gate, uncloaked him! He started locking me and I would have stayed to fight but another ship uncloaked, 2 against 1 was not good odds so I started to warp away. Just then SWJesus appeared, he had been cloaked at the gate as well! If I had known that I wouldn't have warped away. He fleeted us up, but they disappeared.
We decided to jump into F9E and SV5 and see if we could catch something. I put a cloaker on my new Crow and we scouted the systems. Wasn't long before we spotted a lone Harbinger approaching the WD gate in SV5. I uncloaked and started my point run, when I suddenly popped into my pod!! WTF? The killmail said I took 110 points of damage, when my Crow easily has almost 2,000. I am petitioning CCP because obviously something went terribly wrong. But that was enough for me. No kills today.
ENTRY 6.30.09 Electronics Upgrades Level 5 completed.
Another busy day of organizing and buying supplies. I'm also involved in some political situations at the moment. Our Corp is in a bit of upheaval at the moment. More details later when I can get this sorted out. I did manage to pass the EU Master Test in station today and get the certification! One more step closer to flying a Stealth Bomber.
I managed to get involved in some fleet action defending the DG system in my Hawk, which I did lose. So far I'm only on one km, but there should be more.