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Log Entry: 7.26.2008

Published on 26. Jul, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

Well I took the plunge yesterday and took on a partner in my private operations. He’s a Minmatar – Brutor Clan, and an outstanding miner/industrialist. Matter of fact he’s better than me – a lot better. Can’t fly a ship to save his life yet, but I offered to pay his expenses on all of that if he flew for me. Lars Manson is his name and for now he’s back at University.

I am enjoying my Retriever, which is mining so much better than my old cruiser, but having problems getting both the Miner Laser II’s and the MLU to be online at the same time. Currently working on that issue though and hoping to have it finished within a couple of days. Right now, just leisurely mining I am making about 2 million ISK an hour and I expect to be able to raise that by a good bit when I can get my MLU online. Once Lars is able to join me out in the asteroid field though, we should be able to pull two and a half to three times that amount. He has the mining and repossessing skills, just can’t fly a mining barge yet.

I’ve been staying out of low-sec lately, though still have some gear and ships parked there. Been mostly flying out of Lustervik for missions and great mining in a lower risk environment. Went ahead and made a home-base for now and in a couple of weeks should be ready to transfer needed supplies and armaments out there, so I can exist for longer than a couple days at a stretch.

The best news I have though is that I can finally fly Battleships!! I have a Scorpion that was custom-made for me by a friend in the Corp, and I am just a few days salary away from being able to buy a Raven. Of course, the main thing is to be able to fit them properly, which may take a few more weeks.

Times are busy with juggling everything, but I am starting to get into the swing of my new existence here in Eve. I’ll write more later, of course. Gustav out.

- Gustav Malori

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Log Entry: 7.3.2008

Published on 03. Jul, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

The universe is full of uniquely ugly people. For example the Ore thief I ran into awhile back. Today, I took out a little Merlin, Tech I Frigate with some simple tackle gear (read tech I) and took on some pirates. Doing well in .5 space, I hop over to .4 space and head for an asteroid belt, where I quickly find that I’m up to my elbows trying to stay alive with shield tanking a Frigate with two Angel Cartel Nomads and an Ambusher on my tail. For the record, I was rather proud of myself, as while it did last awhile, I finally had gained the upper edge. My armor was gone, my structure had taken some damage but I had shields back to full defensively. On the offense I had the Ambusher that had hurt me so bad, on the run with little or no power supply, his targeting system jammed and a steady stream of missiles heading his way. It was just a matter of time.

Then, I see the flashing red box on my overview as another pirate from a different corporation; later identification would place him from the (name withheld due to privacy concerns) Pirate Gang. He’s 104km out when I notice him and within seconds I’m being hit and losing shields – fast. I go ahead and warp to a nearby gate that I only make halfway due to loss of power and I contemplate while I let my ship rest and regain its precious power supply. Do I go home, call it a day and count my blessings I survived two pirate gangs?

No, I decide, I have to identify this other pirate and his corporation and see what he was flying that targeted me from so far away. So, I make the jump. At first I don’t see him, so I head over to one of the wrecks I had blow up earlier to salvage what I could out of it’s cargo hold and enroute I see him. He’s got me locked. I head back out to warp and my shields – even with the booster on is suddenly gone as I’m rocked with explosions. It’s moments and I hit the warp drive. No good. I’m stuck, unable to warp due to this pirate.

Long story short I make it home in my pod, out a few thousand ISK on my ship and all I could wonder is what the frak would someone in Tech II Interceptor possibly get of ANY worth from a lowbie Tech I frig? And to do so not even on even terms but after which he had to have witnessed the battle he had been fighting and then on the second engagement to do so outside my own targeting range (well, ok perhaps smart if I had been in a ship even remotely capable of harming a Crow). I have determined that such people really aren’t pirates but frauds. Cowards. Not that I can do anything now about it. I don’t have the skills or the ships to adventure out and start cleaning up pirates, but I tell you what I am seriously thinking that this is something that my future holds for me.

In the meantime, I placed a 1 Million ISK bounty on this foe in the Hemitar region. I hope he gets podded and loses his ship to something as big to him as his Interceptor was to me. I am all about fair play. Of, course if he is anything like me he can afford to lose it – I do follow that rule always and never fly a ship I can’t afford to lose. Then, the worst that I lose is some dignity, and perhaps a popped vein in my forehead.

To vent off the steam I had built up, I took my EW Cruiser out in .5 and found some other Angel rats, which I promptly jammed and preceded to blow up with my missiles. All the while considering if this was as fair as that pilot who got me was? I’ve concluded it’s not a fair comparison. I was out doing honest work and testing against a foe that had an equal chance against me. He chose to be a coward and engage me after I had already been severely damaged and on the second go-around (which I do admit was my own folly) from beyond my own targeting range. As, if my I could of done anything anyway. What was it all worth to him I wonder? To me only a few thousand ISK, which with my income isn’t much at all, but to someone who can afford tech II ships? I can only imagine that it had to be worth to him a lot less than it was to me. Makes me wonder about lower sec space, is it all just a big pirate tank where the bigger sharks eat the smaller ones before they can grow? What keeps the biggest sharks in line? The universe needs more pirate hunters.

In all fairness though, I did go looking for trouble. In the Eve Universe, trouble will definitely find you – even more so if you’re looking for it.

Yes, I see a future in Bounty Hunting one day. Wonder if Dog is available? Hmm Gustav Malori, Pirate Hunter at-large. It’s got a ring to it don’t you think?

- Gustav Malori

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Log Entry: 7.1.2008

Published on 01. Jul, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

Hard work pays off. Between mining, running missions on the side and Corp mission running, I amassed a small fortune. Enough in fact, that I now have my own fleet of thirteen vessels (not counting shuttles). I suppose some small Corp went out of business or something, because I was able to pick up several ships in the Frigate and Cruiser class for next to nothing. It’s a good thing I’ve been monitoring the Marketplace and learning how the “Price History” tab works. By doing this, and with just a couple days of patience, I was able to pick up most of my ships at huge discounts, along with some of the fittings for them.

My fleet consists of the Battle Cruiser as the lead ship, with four Cruisers on its wing. The Battle Cruiser is used mainly for mission running. Each Cruiser has a different function and at this time they are: Mining, EW (Electronic Warfare), Hit and Run, and small mission tanking. In two different ports (the main ones I run out of) I have two Destroyers outfitted for salvaging, which saves me travel time that I would have with just one. Next to these, I have three Frigates, one for Tackling and one for EW. The last Frigate, I can’t fly yet, but is of Minmatar design and will be used for Tackling as well.

Rounding out my fleet are two Haulers, one of which I can’t fly yet and a Mining Barge, which I should be able to fly in the near future. Currently I am saving up for my Battleship, which will be my next addition to my fleet. Of, course I’ll keep an eye out on the Market for a good deal on this ship as well and buy ahead of schedule if need be, to get a great price.

I guess this lesson of buying smart can be applied to the whole of dealing with the marketplace, whether for ships, rigs, books, trade items, minerals, ect. Personally, I try never to spend more than half of my available ISK at any time, especially on items that I can’t use yet, but it is nice to know that when I do grab items and ships it is at discounted costs and allows me to step right into them when I can properly fly and outfit them.

Now to find a Corp mate, willing to let me target them with the EW ship and get some experience on using it effectively. If, I do will be sure to write down my notes for a future log entry. Right now, an agent in Lustrevik just called with a freelance job that has my name all over it, so need to run.

- Gustav Malori

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Log Entry: 6.26.2008

Published on 26. Jun, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

Well I had some success, and then a massive failure. Went to 1.0 space to begin my mining operation, where I had previously moved my hauler and my mining cruiser to and laid out my secure cargo cans and set the password. Filled the two up plus the cruiser’s cargo hold and did my first haul and sell. Not too badly, from start to finish, the run took about 45-60 minutes including setup and selling and made around 750,000 ISK. My mind is already speculating what I can bring in with higher tech mining lasers and a mining barge.

My second sojourn though wasn’t as successful. As I was finishing loading my second secure can and starting to fill my cruiser’s cargo hold, I get slammed by another ship and suddenly my cargo can is gone and he warps out. I didn’t catch his name but had the feeling he would be back, so that way I would have his name and could go get one of my more offensive ships and come back and blast him from the stars. Sure enough, he came back and suddenly my remaining cargo can wasn’t there and…. He wasn’t flashing red. Or yellow. Or orange. Or nothing.

Apparently you can scoop a cargo can and it not go down as a crime with CONCORD. I was furious. An hours worth of work, 750K ISK worth of rock plus another half a mil ISK gone – just like that and I didn’t even have an aggression timer to come back and shoot this guy with. I went back to my home base and bought a Caracal and started outfitting it for a quick hit and run on the SOB that stole from me. I knew the consequences I was taking – being shot at by CONCORD and a loss to my security rating, but all I could think of was how I was not going to let some smuck come and take what I had worked hard for.

As I outfitting the Cruiser and talking to other employees at Corp though, I calmed down somewhat and one thing was said that stopped me in my tracks. Doing what I was about to do, while they would of supported me, if I was seen doing a suicide run like this could be mistakenly seen from outsiders that PGGB was a pirate gang versus the Corp we are. I thought about it a few minutes later, hoped into a shuttle and returned to my mining operation and proceeded to move all my gear over to home base.

I did get out on the public communications though and alerted the system of the Ore thief, so at least I got that much satisfaction. Some people came back with information though how to work avoid this next time. So what are my lessons for all of this? If, you’re going to use Giant Secure Cargo containers in your solo mining Ops, be sure to be in a system that you can anchor them to and be sure to password protect them.

Them’s the breaks in running your own mining business though and I am sure I will only profit all the more in the future because of this incident.

- Gustav Malori

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Log Entry: 6.25.2008

Published on 25. Jun, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

Pan Galactic Gargle Busters, my Corp did a mining operation earlier tonight. All of us showed up to either mine, or haul with a couple employees running security for us. We wiped our system clean of all asteroids in only a few hours. It was an amazing sight to see with Mining Drones, Exhumers, Barges, Cruisers and Battleships rigged for mining out strip mining everything in sight. It was such an inspiring presence that it pumped me up for my own private operation and on the way to base I stopped and picked up the tech manual for mining drones. I know I’m not ready for Mining Barges yet, but I will be soon. The profits will roll in – I know it!

- Gustav Malori

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Log Entry: 6.24.2008

Published on 23. Jun, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

I am fast approaching the next evolution of my own mining operation. Bought my first Badger-class Industrial hauler and traveled a very roundabout course to get it. It was only six jumps away if I cut through low sec, but keeping to high sec seemed like a good way to save my investment but it was in the neighborhood of 14 jumps. I outfitted it with cargo expanders and bought myself two giant secure cargo containers. Now, I’ll be able to leave the cans out, mine with the Osprey, transfer the ore and when the cans are full, come back in my hauler. I can’t wait to give this a run and see how it works!

- Gustav Malori

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Log entry: 6.23.2008

Published on 23. Jun, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

With an outfitted Condor, I ventured far from my home system of Emol, into the greater universe. My first stop was to Jita, via Hek and Rancer. Great place, I’ll be sure to visit there again, albeit probably through safer space. I did have a pirate try to lock onto me but I was apparently faster that go-around.  From Jita, I ventured into “Vale of The Silence”, where I managed to avoid two other attempts on my life. One was a close call and actually just prior to entering 0.0 space. Either by chance or by skill, another pilot matched me in warp space from one gate to the other, at one point during warp we were separated by a mere 32km. I quickly ducked out of warp, went to a nearby moon, warped back to the original gate I entered the system from and then warped to the gate that I had planned on leaving the system. As I dropped out of warp space, I saw him leaving out in warp and so got away clean.

I managed 22 jumps in Vale, before leaving there to head into “Tribute”. Tribute is where it got interesting. My first jump into this region, I am in the most heavily populated system since leaving Jita with 12 other pilots in the system. I went through here as quickly as possible, but not without notice. By this time I was paying close attention to Local chat – not because anyone was chatting but so I could see for sure who was in the system with me. The next jump I noticed a name I swore I had seen back at this original system and in the very next jump landed in a system called IMK-K1, which according to the 2D maps had a station. Now prior to this I had approached unsuccessfully to two other stations, and my intent was if I was denied docking here, I was going to set a path home to Emol and call it a night.

And then it happened. Two ships right on top of me, one of them the person I had seen jump from the previous system I thought I recognized from earlier. I immediately set my course to get back to the gate but it was too late, I was locked on and getting rocked. The end indeed came very quickly. It happened in IMK-K1.

Of course, once I was dropped back in my clone, I did a little research and found out that apparently this system is very hostile, with a lot of reported kills. I guess next time, I’ll be a little more patient and research the systems I jump into a bit more carefully and see if there had been any kills recently reported. That information could of made a difference on which direction I decided to fly.

- Gustav Malori

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Log entry: 6.15.2008

Published on 15. Jun, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

My hard work at Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters and my own side work have paid off already! I am the proud new owner of a Drake-class Battle Cruiser. I christened her T-1812 Overture and she has been a welcomed addition to my growing fleet. I lost the Caracal the other day in a nearby .4 system, but with the insurance pay-off and some additional funds, I was able to purchase a Moa-class Cruiser. I also added a Cormorant-class Destroyer as well. Still learning the finer points of fitting out ships though. So my time is busy between running missions at Corp, mining and continuing my education and training. Currently I am working on some skills that will let me outfit my ships a little better and therefore have a little more survivability.

Got to run, an agent just called with some emergency and wants my assistance. Reminds me, I am now running Fleet missions with Corp and started moonlighting on my own a little.

- Gustav Malori

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Log entry: 6.11.2008

Published on 11. Jun, 2008 ... written by Sam Guss.

It’s hard to believe but I am just a week out of the State War Academy and flying high in my career with Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters. Prior to the entrance in Academy, I got the job lead with the Corp from a friend who flew for them and all I had to do was score high enough on my exit exams from the Academy and the job was mine. PGGB is a great corporation and my duties so far have included handling pirate Frigates and Drones – mainly those of the Angel Cartel during Fleet missions.

On the side, I’ve been trying my hand at mining but it is obvious that I have a ways to go before I start making some serious ISK with this, but for now it is making a nice secondary income. Enough to allow me to fly two separate Cruisers, one for mining, an Osprey and a Caracal I fly for the Corp. The Special Forces training I undertook at Academy definitely helped me prepare for flying these.

I’ve been in touch with some of my old classmates and apparently they are still looking for work or worse yet, haven’t bothered looking at all. I suppose I can understand the desire to take what we’ve learned at Academy and starting off alone, seek out our destiny in Eve and eventually come to our own empire. I know I entertained these dreams, as well back in the Academy, but with the entire universe out there, there is comfort and safety in working for a good Corp. PGGB is located in a high-sec .5 system and there’s news that in a year we will moving towards lower sec, if not beyond empire borders. I look forward to this day and the skills, training and experience I am learning with my fellow employees at Corp I am sure will come in handy. I know there is other great Corps out there as well and surprisingly enough work for recent graduates out of Academies and other schools.

For starters, flying Frigates on Fleet missions with other Crop members helps. Since many of them fly the bigger ships, and therefore use the bigger weaponry, they can’t track and kill as fast a Frigate can on smaller ships – such as other Frigates or Drones. Learning to scram and web smaller ships also helps the bigger ships hit them with their larger weapons. Last but not least, every new pilot in a Corp helps make it stronger and more profitable, thereby increasing our own chances for individual successes in our own dreams when it is time for Corps to move out towards the universe’s fringes.

Time to fly, apparently some rogue drones are harassing a nearby mining colony and we’ve been contracted to go out and rescue them.

- Gustav Malori

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