Roaming and Idiot Removal Operations

Thrashing in his sleep, Lanissum kicked over the nightstand. The resulting crash rudely woke him up from his dreams. Dripping in cold sweat, he bent down to clean up the mess. Picking up his PDA, he developed an inexplicable urge to describe the recent events that kept intruding upon his sleep. Letting out a sigh, Lanissum activated the PDA...

"I was engaged by a Drake at a belt, only moments before I had been hunting a different target in my Thorax. Unfortunately, the Drake had been hunting the same vessel, but had deemed me to be a suitable target.

I could literally feel the hull disintegrating beneath my ship, I had forgone armor in lieu of offensive weaponry. Recalling how I had escaped from an unfavorable engagement with a drake months ago, I threw out my ECM drones.

Suddenly, silence ensued. I gave the order for the drones to return, but before they did, my ship was again being pounded. The situation was now critical, I threw out the drones a second time, they quickly jammed the Drake. This time, I opted to leave them, as I doubted that my Thorax could survive any more damage. As I hurtled through space, we exchanged pleasantries."

Lanissum paused briefly, as he listened to a sound outside in the hallway, before resuming his monologue.

"There was a call for a corp op down into the war zone of Black Rise, Tama. It was recommended that we bring small ships, but I opted for a Myrmidon. We sniffed around the systems that we traveled through, but didn't make any kills until we reached Reitsato.

There was a small gang on the gate there, including a Vagabond. A very still Vagabond. A very close Vagabond. Which quickly became a very dead Vagabond. I was only able to get my drones on it before it died, but as it was aggressed, we received no CONCORD response.

Quickly proceeding to the Tama gate in Kedama, we found a Cerberus. It was a very quick affair, as it was apparently outfitted purely for offensive use. Such a ignominious fate for a tech 2 cruiser. This time, I only managed to get a point on it, and thus elicited a CONCORD response.

As I searched my scanner input in an attempt to nab the pod, I had trouble focusing on it, as there were a great number of ships clouding my sensors. My camera drones soon confirmed what my instincts had already known, we were now on the business end of a factional defense fleet.

I initiated the procedure for a warp out as ships began to appear all over the place and the alarm was raised over the voice coms of my fleet. As my Myrmidon hurtled into space, my sensors picked up the explosions of our Vexor (Spectre3353) and Rupture (Golden Helmet).

When the enemy fleet left the system, the remnants of my gang regrouped and waited out my GCC, as I was the only survivor who had aggressed on the gate. We decided that our group was no longer combat viable and began the long trek home..."

The PDA prompted Lanissum with an "Out Of Memory Error." He fumbled in the darkness for a new memory chip, before finally finding one near the sink. Wondering if it had been damaged by moisture, he popped it in and smiled as the error message disappeared. He once again resumed working on his entry.

"Coms went out with a report of a Drake, missioning in Aurohunen. As our prober worked his magic, we prepped our ships for what would be a grinding fight, as we had only 1 cruiser and my Myrmidon on hand for a scramble.

As soon as our prober got a hit, we warped as a fleet to the indicated spot. Only to land upon a gate. We took this opportunity for our prober to get his own cruiser. When he returned, we sent the Thorax (Lachesis) through. In an attempt to trick the Drake into a fight, if he was too far away to get a point on.

Unfortunately, the Drake warped off to a station. The Thorax followed, so as to keep tabs on it. The Vexor (Nemain Darru) and I stayed on the gate, as the mission was far from complete. Soon, the Thorax reported that the Drake had left the station. Under my orders, Lachesis stayed docked until I picked him up on my scanners.

The Drake soon arrived, and was promptly ganked by our combined firepower. Unfortunately, we failed to nab the pod.

Not too long after, more of our corp undocked. There was a raven sighted in Dantumi, ratting. In a belt. It was already engaged with a Harbinger, which had similar aspirations to ours. We burst upon the scene, pointing the Raven but primarying the Harbinger.

The Harbinger wisely decided to cede us his prey. But let us know of his displeasure.

[ 2009.03.22 20:26:04 ] Mazzarra > he was mine :(
[ 2009.03.22 20:26:09 ] Lanissum > sorry
[ 2009.03.22 20:26:10 ] Spectre3353 > you were ours :/
[ 2009.03.22 20:26:13 ] Lanissum > lol
[ 2009.03.22 20:26:23 ] Mazzarra > lol

We quickly destroyed the Raven, and the subsequent pod, before quickly leaving the scene of our crime; lest we follow the Raven's footsteps. After our GCC's expired, we noticed a pair of battleships floating around a station in Dantumi. We engaged, but were outclassed, as we had only a Dominix and a few cruisers, including my Thorax; which died bravely-- frantically pleading with station control for docking permission."

Lanissum paused briefly for a drink of water, before finishing his report.

"After the loss of my Thorax, many of our members took a breather. I was left working on my now battle scarred Myrmidon. As I briefly checked the station guest manifest, I noticed that the Drake pilot who we had previously destroyed was back, with a new Drake. I looked out my port window, which overlooked the docking bay, to see that very Drake in the process of undocking.

With a speed not seen since my old Python days, I screamed at the master chief to prepare my battle cruiser. I quickly followed the Drake outside. Opening communications with the Drake pilot, I attempted to gain his confidence. I had to get him off of this station, as I would not be able to beat both him and the station guns.

He proved to be surprisingly credulous, joining my fleet after I solemnly assured him that:

[ 2009.03.22 22:06:03 ] Lanissum > If we fleet up, we can do the mish together; we don't shoot at gangmates
[ 2009.03.22 22:06:18 ] Lanissum > [or corpmates, lol]
[ 2009.03.22 22:06:45 ] Snih > :) i knw, I lose 30M for my ship
[ 2009.03.22 22:07:10 ] Snih > temporary?
[ 2009.03.22 22:07:14 ] Lanissum > Yeah

Shocked that he had placed his ship's computers under my control, I quickly warped us to an out of the way spot in space. After a prolonged fight, due mainly to the Drake's natural tanking abilities, I had my way with both his new Drake and pod."

Lanissum put down the PDA, looking visibly relieved. He briefly checked his surroundings for anything out of place, and went back to bed.