mikeazariah

Mike looked over and sighed. Kry was heading up the gangway and she looked like she had a full head of steam going. He settle back at his desk and frowned at all the paperwork that was accumulating and shoved to one side. He set the maker for one coffee and one glass of tea.

“You . . . you . . . Cat, you!” She slumped. “Where have you been?”

“Um, out and about? Mainly working for this agent who sends me after pirates.”

“You do know we had a war on?”

Mike smiled. “I haven’t been far.” He tapped his comm padd and two ship schematics filled the space between them. Another touch of the controls brought the smaller one to the fore. “I have been scouting about in my bomber, keeping an eye on things.” A touch hilighted the larger. “And I slapped this together in case we needed to be a bit more convincing.” The Megathron rotated slowly in the space. “I call it the Big Rifter.”

“Good, as long as you are not still naming ships after me.”

Mike chuckled. “No, I even changed the name of the Kry Baby. But now the war is over and I hardly saw hide nor hair of the enemy. They get tired of looking at our POS?”

“You have NO IDEA how many hours I spent manning the guns waiting for them to start something.” She growled. “I had a cot set up in the POS so if something started while I was asleep . . . ”

“You sleep? While ‘roids still wander the belts?”

She growled and shook a fist at him. “They interrupted my mining. I am just glad we took the battle back to them and ended it once and for all.”

“Yeah, I been meaning to ask about that. The other folks who joined us and helped out. Not that I object but who the hell were they?”

“I was wondering that myself. I was there when one of them met up with Smeg and I think they know each other from some previous encounter . . . but neither said much beyond basic war conversations. But I am sure there was a lot that wasn’t being said.”

“What, like something out of the movies? ‘We even yet?’ or maybe ‘I’m your father, Luke?’” Mike laughed. “You have the most interesting imagination, that sort of stuff never happens in real life.”

“Well there was something going on . . . I’m just sayin.”

Mike waved it off. “So I am almost ready, been studying like a demon.”

She smiled. “Soon the belts will be cleared so much faster. I might even be able to free up a bait hulk I had for the last ‘event’ that you can borrow till you have one of your own.”

“Bait hulk? You took one out during Hulkageddon?”

Kry primped her hair for a moment. “A Queen must keep up appearances, even in the face of adversity.”

Mike facepalmed and shook his head. “Queen of the Carebears, hunting gankers, manning the guns to defend a POS. I swear, Sab is a bad influence on you.”

She looked down her nose at Mike. “No, he was the jaws of the trap that the hulk was bait for.”

“I stand corrected, you are a bad influence on him.”

“Damn right.” She sniffed imperiously then they both started laughing. “Oh, I need you to man the recruitment channel, tonight. I will be busy.”

“Me? I don’t know anything about recruiting. I . . . I might blow it.”

“Easy there, ya wimp. You talk to them, sound them out. Let them know we are mining, industralists, missioneers. Casual as we can get and only ask for a sense of humor and a love of old comedies. We have little tournaments, the occassional low and nullsec roam, wormhole explorations, and mining ops, as the mood takes us. How hard is that to tell someone?”

Mike muttered. “Sounds easy when you say it.”

“This from a man who made speeches and ran for CSM? You are being lazy! Now find me some recruits or I will put you in charge of POS fueling for a month.”

“Yes ma’am.”

*****************************

Lessons

You can play Eve solo . . . but it will wear thin, fast. People make the difference. We have one of the most vibrant communities in gaming and whatever you are looking for, there is a group here, for you. You should get out of the npc corps as soon as possible unless you are in them for a reason (like avoiding wardecs).

The other thing you can do is join a chat channel other than the ones forced on you by the default settings. This is where you readers come in. What are the ‘other chat’ channels that you hang out in aside from your own corp private ones? I will collect a few of these, play chat-whack-a-mole for a few sessions and bring it back here to a future blog post.

m

Shifting to low and null was stressful, but not so much as travel there once was. Jiorj reflected on his comfort level as he slid through systems looking for the new base and making a few bookmarks along the way. Local was an automatic glance as he entered system, a quick check to see what bookmarks he already had followed by the placement of a few more. Align, check, jump, warp and on to the next system. The Comms chimed and he slid to a safe spot and activated the cloak as he started to read.

“Huh.” He had known that it would be a very long haul to get to the point where the locals would trust him enough to allow him to install clone copies. He had made the long flight from the one clone center where he started his career, once, and was prepared to do so again, when the need arose. But this corp message told of an alternative path. If he joined Estel Arador Corp Services then he could swiftly have a liaison who would expidite the making of jump clones in the local systems.

Jiorj looked into the suggestion and found it to be true but he was very very loathe to leave the corp in the middle of a war. In the end he went to speak directly to Black Claw.

“I know that making the Jump Clones is a good idea but I do not want to presenty as being a coward or a quitter.”

Black Claws image smiled. “Jiorj, I do not think that is something I could easily be lead to think. You have told me why you are going and that you will return, that is good enough for me and if anyone asks, I will tell them what you are up to. You may want to shuttle a few ships why you are flying under the ‘new flag’ and the enemy cannot fire on you. We will be here when you get back.”

Jiorj thanked the leader of the School and logged off, sighed, and commenced the leaving of OUCH to make his clones. The process and searchig for apprpriate bases took a pair of days and he was soon back in OUCH laughing at the message he had received while on leave. . .

Hello! I have noticed that you have resigned from OUCH, as short as your term with them was, I would like to sympathize myself for your losses, as well as congratulate you for what could have been, the best decision you have ever, and will ever make during your time spent in eve.

Before this can be forwarded to anyone else in OUCH with misconceptions, I would like you to understand that I am completely sincere when I say that I sympathize towards your losses. I personally would not have stayed in a corp for so long with a CEO who holds his ego in higher regards then his members and their well being, and for that I salute you.

Fly Safe!

-dxrom

[06:58:49] Cellest Grendal > just thought you would be taking the heart beat of the corp and it’s members in consideration

[07:00:01] Black Claw > I don’t do what the corp wants. The corp does what I want. If they don’t like it, they’re free to leave. Most of them share my vision

“The thing is”, Jiorj mused softly to himself, “We do. Black Claw created a place to learn, to teach, to grow into more competent pilots by actually going out and doing things. We do share his vision, and his decisions are his to make as he is the founder of the school. He has let those who want to go, go. Those who have stayed do so on the belief that what we are fighting for is NOT a bit of territorry. It is making a stand against . . .against . . .against whatever the hell you want to call the opposition.” (Some of the terms he had used in corp chat were less than proper)

A School that had been created to help pilots learn to deal with adversity. This is the group that the enemy thought would pay a billion to end a simple wardec. Jiorj laughed. Perhaps it would be better if we asked them to set a class schedule. If they were going to become part of the curriculum at least they would have the decency to post classtimes. The laughter grew as he opened the comms and prepared for a nullsec roam, the class for the evening was in session . . . with the enemy huddling in it little hisec station camps wondering where all of that targets went.

*************************
Lessons

If you are making wardecs in a hisec bid for what amounts to extortion be sure you research your target first.
Spelling counts when making extortion and so does grammer. People lend more credence to somoene who doesn’t stutter, slur, or grunt.
If you are going to use quotes to try to damn someone, make it something out of context that doesn’t make them look like who they normally are.

j

Jiorj browsed through the active messages and then sighed, leaning back in his chair. Ouch had been at war for a few days now and the pressure was beginning to wear people down. He looked out at his own crew and realized he had not spoken to them since this war began. They had lost friends out there, not to the war but to where the war had taken them. He sighed and gathered his wits about him before heading out.

“Brothers, sisters, gather round if you will.” He waited while they moved closer. Many were faces from his village but there were faces missing and new ones in their places. He sighed. “As you know, we are at war. This has made space even more dangerous than it has been in the past. I do my best to keep us safe but ships . . . and lives have been lost.”

“Why are we fighting, sir?”

“I have made inquiries into that and the best I can tell is that the enemy seem to be what is commonly called griefers. This is not about money, territory, or honour. They hunt us because they think they can.”

“People are dying . . . sir the losses on our side in pure isk . . . ”

“Yes, I know. I am managing to keep us in the positive right now and am trying to get better at flying the frigates we take out. Our leaders are looking into ways to help us and they think they have come upon a solution. We will be moving our base of operations, soon. The griefers only go where they feel sure of having the advantage. They camp outside of stations waiting for someone to exit but it they are thenselves threatened they hide within the station until the danger goes away. So we are going to make the danger more omnipresent. We are moving into lowsec.”

Gasps and mutters filled the hanger as this news was absorbed.

“If this was a true war then the enemy would follow us. But if this is all about easy kills then these people will become hunted by the stronger inhabitants of our new base area. By going where it is dangerous we will, in effect, even out the playing field.”

“But not into nullsec, right? I have heard that is getting worse lately. The Providence region . . . ”

“THAT is ENOUGH of that.” Jiorj paused and let the echoes in the hanger dissipate. “Ahem. Do you know what the deadliest weapon in a war is? I will give you a clue, it cannot be mounted on a ship. Information. What we know and do not know is the difference between living and dying. What we say and think influences our knowledge. If we think all is lost then it is. If we worry about tomorrow and dread suiting up for the next flight we might as well retire now.”

Jiorj pointed up to the higher reaches of the hanger. “There are podpilots on the channels bemoaning how foolish this war is and how they plan on ’sitting this one out in Jita’.” Jiorj spat on the deck. “THIS for anyone who would think to leave his comrades behind and ’sit out’ a war. THIS for someone who would pollute the comms with defeatist talk. We are here to do a job and we will not ’sit it out’ nor will we leave OUCH while the war still runs. Cowards are as common as cockroaches and when light from the fires of war shine you see them scuttling away in the same fashion. Our people did not raise us to run home when the going got tough.”

He stopped and looked about at the assembled crew. “As for Providence. I am sure you have been following the news as much as I have. It seems this is the season for leaders to be suicidal and to take many people with them. Goonswarm is no more. CVA struck a cowardly blow in their ‘holy cause’ and failed. They were then rapped over the nose sharply by their neighbors. I do not know if you have read the most recent offer of peace and its refusal but for me, it beggars my imagination. How they could refuse the return of thier station and an offer of peace after it has been clearly proven that the alternative will be their destruction . . . ” Jiorj shook his head. “Madness.”

“I could never have predicted what those people would do, but I know what I am going to do . . . what WE are going to do if you are still with me. I have ships being made as we speak, some we will fly, others will support our losses. Many of them will be lost in this war, and some lives will go with them. I never fly to die but I hav eyet to shirk my duties. Black Claw has suggested that I might lead a Roam.”

“You sir? But . . . ”

“Yeah, my reaction was about the same. But I have been watching and learning from the other fleet commanders and I hope I have learned from both the successes and the losses. To fail to have done so would be spitting on the sacrifices and the losses we bore for those lessons. We will be going into nullsec, looking for targets. The trick will always be to tell the targets from the bait. We have lost ships to mistakes in that identification procedure. I will be taking us out to the edge of Providence if we can get that far and I expect the best we can get from all of you. I am not going to ‘fly till we die’ because I owe you better than that.”

Jiorj looked out at the worried faces and continued. “Now I expect that the enemy will be haunting the hisec passages looking for us to be making supply runs. One of our jobs will be to supply our fellow pilots.”

“At a profit?”

“Have I done otherwise? We will not be wartime profiteers but Black does not mind if I make a percentage. I have done my research, my homework and I know what is being used and will be moving those job lots to the top of the factory queue.” His comm chimed and he frowned, looking down at it. “There’s the, pack up people we are on the MOVE.”

“Where sir?”

Another voice from the crowd scornfully answered. “Ya ain’t heard of operational security? We will find out when we gets there.”

Jiorj smiled. “Actually we have a choice of destinations and Black is not too worried about spies anymore. OUCH is not hiding and is accepting new students again. We can go to losec or nullsec.” His smiles turned wolfish. “Guess where we are headed.”

A quiet voice from the back said, “We are so dead.”

**************

Lessons:

One nay sayer in a corp can kill more pilots than a battleship station-camping your home base
Realistic is nice, but most pessimists claim they are ‘just being realistic’
“And thereore those skilled in war avoid the enemy when his spirit is keen and attack him when it is sluggish and his soldiers homesick. This is control of the moral factor” Sun Tsu

The news ran through the comm channels . . . prepare for war. It is a semi-common thing for educational institutions to be wardecced and Black Claw was not truly surprised. He had instructions coming out to the students swiftly and reminders of how to spend the 24 hrs of peace before the shooting started was well used. War target members were identified and investigated and reasoning behind the dec was discovered. It was NOT a griefer corp (at least not in the usual terms) but someone who had a grudge against some of the volunteer instructors of OUCH who actually had their own seperate corp.

“So they do not attack the corp of the instructors but, rather, us. That makes no sense.”

The answer was easy . . . griefers do not attack competent enemies, they try to pad their killboards up with easy kills of relatively inexperienced players.

Withint ten minutes of the war going live Jiorj was a member of a fleet in home space hunting for war targets. A LOT of new ships followed them from system to system and were swiftly tagged as ’spies’ as they kept pace with the fleet until it decided that the enemy did not want a standuyp fight but more easy pickings. So the fleet went into 0.0 and were not followed to continue the normal routine of nullsec training (and dying, oh this time was a doozy of a fleet wipe to a cynoed fleet who arrived just for them . . . fantastic experience.)

The following day showed the strategy of the attackers in more detail as they camped Berta station and popped any of the OUCH members who came out. This was treated as another lesson and a breakout was successfully organized. Since then the opposition has pulled back and only seems willing to engage when nthey have the massive advantage. This is the right thing for them to do as it is an Eve truism that fair fights do NOT exist. Thr trick is to make sure you are on the winning side.

Jiorj listened to the more experienced members of the corp and waited for the right moment to make a last run into Berta and out again. Bases of operations shifted as the corp start to spread out denying the opportunity of camping one station for easy kills. Space is large and the lessons that may be learned, endless.

j

Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.
For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm’s way that is capable of striking a blow for victory.

In OUCH we do not ask you to attend lectures, we do not tell you to read or inject knowledge. You will learn in the doing. Sometimes you will fail and the lesson will be hammered home even more, if you have the ability to learn from your mistakes. We have found that lessons you learn in the doing are FAR more apt to stick with you than lessons learned any other way.

Jiorj slid into the rifter pod and activated systems. A fleet was heading out and he planned on being with it. A pair of jumps and he was in orbit with almost a dozen other ships. Cro was the named FC even though there were more experinced pilots in the roam. He had lost a fleet earlier and was looking to redeem himself in a more successful run. Jiorj was happy to be greeted in a familiar way and smiled as they all sympathized with his slow comm systems. He was first to volunteer to take point and soon he and another pilot were springing ahead of the main fleet as they swept through lowsec and into 0.0

It did not take long. Outbreak patrols were still about. Cro bemoaned the fact that Outbreak had decimated his earlier command and the ships they flew were far and above those of this small fleet of tech 1 frigates. He tried to avoid contact but Outbreak was more than willing to give chase. The scouts had trouble keeping ahead of the fleet as the orders to warp/jump came fast and furious with a vagabond always just a hair behind them. “He is the one who got Me!” Cro exclaimed as the Vaga was visible just as the fleet leaped to the next system.

Again and again the systems changed and the long range showed that the Vagabond was not alone. The next system was called and questioned as some with maps wondered if it might be . . . . it was . . . a dead end.

The more senior pilot offered to take over and command was swiftly passed across. Keeves took up the challenge and the cornered fleet turned to face their pursuit. Jiorj wondered what went through the Outbreak pilots mind as he warped into the system to see the swarm of small vessels racing at it. Points were called and other electronic warfare worked its arcane ways on both his engines and his targetting systems. Then the fire began. Unable to return fire he was slowed to 21 m/s and could not escape. His compatriots arrived to lend assistance only to have their own targetting systems jammed and locked down and become but spectators to the demise of the 100 million isk vessel. Little frigates worth less than a 100th of the target swooped and soared as Keeves kept them on target and monitored the rest of the space about them. The Vagabond silently exploded followed in very short order by the pod of the pilot. No quarter was given and now the other Outbreak members realized that they had become prey.

Before the next hour was up a Megathron battleship had also fallen to the rejuvenated team. Keeves himself would alternate between lavish praise and scornfull derision as he commented on the fleets actions. He would NOT, for all his scorn, leave a ship behind and even fell while acting as the rearguard of a retreat. He directed a pair of killings of ‘old friends’ who were acting as cyno pilots and his giggles were infectious.

When Jiorj finally docked the vessel he had started with back in the hanger he breathed a sigh of relief and opened a file to make notes of the few things he had picked up on this trip.

LESSONS

A roam is motion. To stay in one place is to invite a planned and deadly attack upon yourself. Move or die.

You wait for commands to do anything up to and including engaging. Failure to do so can earn you (at least) the honour of being declared the next primary target.

Be carefull, when hunting, that you are sure you will be able to survive what you catch.

j

Mike sat staring at the screen, trying to find exactly the right words to say. “I am sorry I have not been in station, of late, Dee. The alliance I belong to is at war and I have shifted over to support our pos, should it come under attack.” He grimaced and looked at the huge pile of failfit designs for the Megathron in the hanger. Most of them would only have a hope of hurting the enemy if they actually scanned his shit and died of incredulous laughter.

“I have been moving about, to keep them from getting too solid a fix on me and tossing bookmarks to some members of the alliance who have too little space experience to be able to last long against a determined enemy. Our corporation, on the otherhand, has spent a lot of time being ready for if and when the worst happens. The POS will yield no riches for the enemy and we aim to make this costly for them in big and small ways. We deny them targets yet always are on the move. I would tell you more of the preparations but security of fellow pilots prevents me from doing so.

In the meantime I have wandered a bit off of my beaten path in hopes of keeping upkeep costs at bay. I am venturing into lower security systems and even considering a trip to CVA space in nullsec. No, I am not turing to a life of crime but hunting serpentis and angels in their home territory. I have completed training to be able to fly a vagabond but the war has put a crimp in my plans. To top it all off . . . .”

Mike was trying very hard to keep from yelling. “What do you mean, gone?”

“Yer whole operating system for the ships, bookmarks, overview settings, the works, sir. Not there, gone.” The comp tech was sweating slightly as this was not a hisec safe job posting but one where some of the poidders would kill you just because you happened to be in their way in the corridor. “I looked to your backups but . . . .”

“They were gone as well?”

The tech nodded nervously. “We can rebuild your database so you can undock in a few hours, sir. Till then I recommend ya sit tight and take a day off.”

“I do not WANT a day off. But, I suppose.” Mike slumped a bit. “I have little choice in the matter. Look I know this is not your fault, do what you can and if it is done in a timely manner then I will double your fee. While you are working on it I will make a list of all the files that will need to be rebuilt. Comm me when you are done, alright?”

The tech scurried off and Mike sat down and opened a new file.

Settings: . . . .

Lessons:

You would think losing the settings once wopuld teach me, but no. So this time I am goint o talk about intial settings for the overview.

First step is deciding what sort of things that you do: Each task should have its own tab.

My #1 tab is always labelled ‘All’ and it shows everything. It is usefull to find things need for a mission that you normally don’t want to see.

If you work in fleet ops then a fleet tab that removes useless rocks like planets, moons asteroid belts and also removes your fellow fleet members so you do not have one of those horribly misnamed ‘friendly fire’ incidents.

I have one tab labelled travel that shows ONLY stargates and bases. That way I can warp long distances without scrolling through a cluttered overview. VERY usefull when making a run through dangerous territories.

Miners may have alternative settings so they can find the best rocks. I will be talking to the Carebear Queen herself and asking more obout that in the near future (she wants me in a Hulk beofre she will deign to train)

I might also recommend the Goonfleet (remember them? They used to be a corp that had power and sov) video that shows how to set the overviews in a well done step by step process.

I will not tell you THE WAY to set your tabs because you play a different Eve from me. I can just advise you to learn to do so.

The other parts will be in a Jiorj post to come soon.

mike

” . . . and so we ask that you not store the money with us, my son, but look to see where it can better be invested. We are sending back your tithing in hopes that you will use it to grow and build out there among the stars. Show the way for others of our people to fly and spread.”

Jiorj looked once more at the letter that was set on the desk before returning to his inventory manifest. Blueprints. He had taken the corps recommended build for small ships and gone shopping, not for the items but for the means to build the items. The first few he had set up had already paid for themselves and were now turning out a profit. So he had gone out and bought more until he was now almost at the point where he had the complete fitted ship in original blueprints with unlimited runs.

Of course that only showed him that he was lacking in other skills. His ability to supervise a shop floor or work in the market with sharks showed he was still a neophyte. But he watched what others did, took notes, and learned, slowly he learned.

It was like the Wolf Pack Prometheus had taken them on. It was also something that was a learning experience. Prometheus was a teacher who firmly understood that the best lessons are learned first hand. The pack of rifters would move from high to low and then into null-sec. Open channel communications allowed the students to see how the scouts were placed and moved and the types of reports that were expected of them. Jiorj had been on two roams with prom and lost a ship in a masterfully executed ambush of their pack when they had settled in to camp a gate. The squad of T2 Frigates had torn through the rifters showing that the ‘wolves’ were still just ‘puppies’.

The second roam had also ended with quite a few losses though Jiorj and his ship had miraculously survived, though more by luck than by skill. They had focussed on a tempest that was ratting in 0.0 and started to try to scan down the target when in reality they were the target. All warped to the tempest only to be met by a typhoon with smartbombs. Jiorj had been scanning a nearby belt and was not present for the jump and so missed the destruction. He made a solo run through a half dozen systems to return to the base in highsec and was thankful for the experiences he was gaining as that passage held far far less dread for him than it would have half a month earlier.

The lessons and experiences were beginning to show

His comm chimed. [A bursary in your name has arrived from OUCH. It is sub-labelled "Scout"] He looked to his balance on his padd and did a double take. This was enough to purchase the cloaking skill . . . he might be more useful on the next pack roam! He quickly checked the market and found a decent vendor for the lessons and was soon plugged into the skill trainer, learning about signuature interuption, interference and spoofing.

and the education continued . . .

*********

Lessons

Anyone who cannot learn from deaths needs to find a different place to play than nullsec
The bloggers who say dying is a freeing experience are right. i need some more deaths to get totally immune but OUCH is doing a lot to make this carebear less afraid to go into the dark parts of the forest

J

Kaye was dropping off some of her knitting at the medical facility when she heard the sales pitch.

“Ya wanna fly? Really fly? Not like those poddies, wrapped in goo and so ‘connected to the ship’ that they don’t hold controls, don’t feel the thrill.”

She slowed and stood by the doorway labelled ‘Terminal Ward, Paliative only’.

The recruiter wore a flight jacket from a previous era with playing cards splayed across the back. “Ya ya, you could lie here. Be a drag on your family incomes and watch the scenery out the window over there.”

She looked at the window facing the blank wall of another wing of the hospital.

“But I mean going up there. Controls under your hands, flying in a wing of fighter bombers against ships that would blacken the sky if they ever came here. Hitting back at the universe that put you in this room. A chance to be something, to do something or . . . you can lie here, and wait to die.” He paused. “The Aces and Eights are hiring right now. you sign with us and we pick up your medical costs right off the bat. We get you into simulators and train you with pay and then you get to fly. Out there you are the light in the darkness. You are in control and you are earning cash above an beyond covering your medical bills. It is your last chance to not be a debt load on your families, a memory of someone wasting to a skeleton in a hospital bed. Fly the fighter bombers . . . come with me and be one of the Aces and Eights”

The recruiter stepped back and looked across the ward then moved in to hand out forms and take down names. Kaye watched as he quietly encouraged and reasssured hesitent men and women into signing up for their last jobs. He even approached her. “How about it missy? Ready for a life among the stars?”

Kaye swept her hair back to show the plug at the base of her skull. “Ever feel like a vulture? Doing this job?”

“No ma’am. Docs say I got about another 5 months to live. I been out there flying and I want others to get the same chance I did. They pay me a commision for each one I bring in but hell, I’d do it for free. Weren’t no sales pitch, it were the truth. Give the choice between dying in a bed or in a cockpit it is a no brainer. No offense intended, but is the flying a pod what you expected? Or were you hoping for a a yoke in your hands and a throttle at your feet? Leaning into a turn and lighting the afterburners to scream towards a target? We FLY, missy, you command.”

Kaye nodded. “You are right, and I apologise for the question. One day I may fly a carrier and I hope I can have people who care as much about what they do as you.”

*****

Flash Fiction Friday submission

Jiorj scrambled the crew to the hanger desk and selected only a skeleton crew for the OUCH mission. “We are going into lowsec as a scout for the fleet. Scouts are . . . a high risk as we will be often on the outskirts and the first hint of something going wrong. We are the canary in the coal mine. So I want men and women who know the risks up front. If you are not willing to go today you will still be on my rosters, no shame, no recriminations. Oh, and this does count as hazardous duty, whether we see action or not, pay will be modified accordingly.”

They loaded up and transfered to the rally point where they switched to a new smaller ship, a Rifter. ‘I didn’t know we could shoot those . . . ” One of the weapons bay techs muttered as light missiles were transfered aboard.

“Not sure we can.” The other replied as they saw that the ‘LOAD’ light was not on.” (It was partway into the mission when the light did flicker then glow and they sighed knowing they could now shoot all weapons if push came to shove.)

They launched and were surrounded by other vessels, big and small, all glowing on the hud with the soft purple of fleet. The Rifter lept forward and raced about the near space first orbitting one then another ship as Jiorj got the feel for the small nimble vessel. Black Claw called for the chatter to stop and then began identifyine what ships he had to work with. Ships that could cloak were given systems to scout and sit in and were sent off. Bombers and probers vanished from the crowd around the station and then Black turned his attention to the smaller ships. Each was givena system to go to and they all warped off starting at the same gate but then spreading out to cover the systems along a general path and all the adjacent ones.

Jiorj called up a map and looked to see where ships were being assigned. Operational security meant that nobody was asking (or being told) where the station was going to be raised. But the maps showed the flow of the fleet into lowsec had a direction, a form, and a purpose. He didn’t know the exact system they were going to end in but he could see a direction from the fleet chatter and assignments. He was assigned to a chokepoint system beyond which no other ships were sent so he knew he was not on the main path but guarding the flanks. He listened as general orders were issued for the outriders to make safe spots and hold positions 200 km off of the gates.

With the latest technologies, Jiorj knew, safe spots were almost misnamed. But they were easy enough to make and he swiftly dropped three in system before returning to position off of the gate and watched, listening to the rest of fleet chatter. A gate camp was set along the first choice of paths but Black had alternative routes and the fleet confirmed that it was safer and proceeded. The POS was loaded and once the path had been confirmed the escorts ran out ahead, cloaked, and one watched the back door as the outriders continually updated Black as to traffic and populations on the side paths. The industrial carrying the large station slowly moved through the systems and settle, the construction began while all the guards watched and waited. When it was up a cheer went through the channels and the decision was made to continue the operation and make the station ‘fully operational’. Launchers and bays were loaded into the cargo vessel, the pilot Voltron, fretted, knowing that a mistake now could cost in excess of half a billion isk. The outriders were brought together as a fast response guard force and shadowed the load from the base to the station. It took long hours of stress and constant vigilance . . . this was not mining.

The fleet was amused when one ‘orange’ they were watching passed the ghost watchers in a Drake and returned a while later in his Pod. A few enemies who listed as ‘Red’ were seen here and there but they probably never had a clue as to the value of targest that smoothly went past them, an empress with her palace guards. Each step the ships moved a Black ordered, each in formation and reporting on the occupants of systems. They were his eyes and ears, his fingers across a dozen systems.

The station was built and armed, the ships returned to the rally point and then dispersed with a heartfelt thanks from their fleet commander. Back on the hanger deck the day ended where it had begun. Jiorj thanked his crew and assured them that they would be paid the full bonus in spite of the fact that not a single shot had been fired. He then returned to his studies as he continued to try to become a more usefull member of the OUCH team.

**********

Lessons

If the way is clear, you go for it. Strike with the whole set up if you think you can do it in one op.

Just because nothing happens does not mean we were bored. Watching and counting and scanning is a function of fleet as well

Use multiple channels so the chatter does not fill the operational commands, split the local off to the side so it is ALWAYS visible.

The more operational security you have, the less chance of a surprise ambush courtesy of some spy within the ranks.

If it is a one station system then lining the ‘guests’ up with local will let you see how many are out in space and how many are sleeping it off.

Mike tossed his pad on the table top and turned it o silent as Dierdre joined him. “Ah, you are just what I need, some tranquility and common sense.”

She looked down at the notes he had been making. “Another CSM meeting?”

He nodded. “Each one adds something, both to the universe and to my impressions of the people who were elected . . . and not elected.”

“Not elected? How would the meetings alter . . . oh, the alternative representatives. But they only come into play when someone fails to make a meeting, or must leave early.”

“Yup yup, and so far Helen Highwater has had a chance to speak and vote at every meeting, and has not missed that duty nor, may I add, done a bad job of it. On the other hand, the Elected Representative Trzzblat has failed to show up for another meeting. Those people who voted for that one would have been better served voting for Helen. But in the end it turns out to be the same thing. In spite of that, this meeting went better, and differently.”

“I thought the meetings were set in format, how can one go differently?” She nodded her thanks to the waitress who delivered their drinks. Neither had bothered ordering as they came to this cafe so often it was a given what they would have and the staff did not bother even asking, anymore.

“Well, it seemed smoother and also longer. Smoother because Zastrow also was absent for more than half the meeting. With two goons gone the discussion seemed more . . .efficient.”

“Isn’t Helen a Goon?”

He nodded. “Helen is, but if the fleet starts noticing how reasonable and well thought things have been going they may ban and kick, out of general principles.” He grinned. “Or maybe there is more than one type of Goon and Goon agenda.”

“So what did they talk about?” She asked, smiling at Mike in a way that made him flush slightly.

“um . . .let me see.” He fumbled his notes and flushed deeper as she dimpled at his obvious discomfort. “They have asked that more confirmation steps be implemented in the creation of Alliances. That there be color coding set into mining laser crystals. That a calender system be set up for corporations to schedule more efficiently. They also discussed the concept of censorship in the matter of public discussions. This one was a bit closer to my heart as I have been vaguely threatened while writing for the tribune.”

“Threats are trying to control the news from below. Censorship usually implies it comes from above.” She corrected him.

“Yeah, well trying to skew information from either end is not quite right. Although I suppose what I choose to say and write about is also biased in its own way . . . aaargh . . .anyhow they are taking that up with the major networks to at least slow down the cutting of open discussions.” He looked down at his notes. They also decided the EOS needs some fine tuning and that battle recorders could and should be mountable for large fleet engagements. They decided that Fighters should be tracked in killmails and that destroyers are in dire need of re-tasking and re-assessment. Nobody is quite sure WHAT they are to be used for right now.”

She nodded. “Most of the ones I see come and go are either fitted for small salvage operations . . . or gink?”

“Gank. Out to kiill and be killed in highsec. That got brought up as well but it was one of the issues that proved that the council is growing and adapting. Instead of just voting yes/no now they are thinking deeper and further ahead. They will send smaller groups off to rework proposals and bring them back at future meetings. Suicide ganks, the ability to import export standings, and price ceilings were set as too vague but not bad ideas and so they were not dismissed out of hand but tabled for more work before the vote would be made. They agreed on the general concept of capsulleer security needs to be tightened but did not try to get too deep into the specifics of how.”

“Know what is good, what is bad, and what is not ready to be judged. Book of Issha”

Mike blinked. “Pardon me?”

She looked at him straight on and said. “Finish what you are saying . . . we have time for this later.”

Mike paused for a moment before nodding. “Like I said . . . they took four hours to do this but very little of it was waste time. The alternates T’Amber and Helen did excellent work. It was a near run thing to even make quorum but with alternates like that it is working out fine for the council as a whole. Personalities and motivations are beginning to show through. Krovin is most likely to vote against changes but I think he mainly is worried about the changes being unbalancing to the stabilities that currently exist. Song Li is a very reasonable person who is always trying to make the little things better. He has they eye for the details of things. Teadaze brings a lot of experience to the table and still manages not to be distracted from whatever question is at hand. Elvenlord is excellent at keeping things flowing and on track with very little lost time. Zod isn’t noisy but his comments are usually straight to the point and he stepped forward to help rework some ideas showing he does not have to be loud to be proud.”

“What about Sokratesz?”

Mike scratched his head. I don’t know. Haven’t got a handle on that one, yet. Zastrow showed up in time for 5 issues and I think he was too tired or hung over to be much of a nuisance. Trzz-whatever is a no show. Alekseyev is impressing me the more I learn about him and his organization, NOIR.”

“How so?”

“Just little things are beginning to add up to a better image of him than I had, initially. Turns out sometimes you do have to toss the first impression and be willing to look deeper . . . who knew?”

She reached out and laid her hand on his. “Sometime, though. The first impression is just fine.”

Mike was rescued by the arrival of their food as he had no idea what to say to that.

***********************************

Lessons

The old communication protocols that the CSM has had in place work just fine when a good hand is at the helm.

These folks are working hard (some of them) Drop them a line in game to say thanks, they deserve it. After all, some few of you elected them.
They are coming up on the deadline for what they will take to Iceland. If you have some axe you want them to grind, get to it, Assembly hall forums.