(An In-Character record of life in New Eden. Posts based on real events of my day to day play sessions.)

Friday, April 24, 2015

New to Null: Jumping in the Shallow End

My corp is buzzing regarding a future move. I'm not sure the specifics, but we've been asked to leave our renting systems by the end of the month, I believe. Not a big deal for me as I've just started out here and I don't have much assets. I've already moved my stuff to the system asked of me, ready to move when everything is confirmed.

In the meantime, I've finished training for that Ishtar and finally fit the thing how I wanted. I had to top up my Afterburner skill to fit a T2 10MN Afterburner, but to my disappointment, The drones I wanted to use will take another 25 or so days. I'll go for them, as they do add quite a bit to my DPS. For now, I'm forced to buy Caldari Navy Wasps, because the price of Geckos are too damn high. I can see why people advised me to get them though. Omni damage and high hit points are very nice.

So there I was, undocked in my shiny new Ishtar, drones loaded and ready to warp to an Anomaly to rat for the first time in Null Sec, and I ended up warping to a safe spot instead.

I was hesitant to jump in. Like getting your trunks on, a life jacket, and floaties, and standing at the edge of a pool, staring into the depths and wondering if you will come back up if you jumped in.

I needed a lifeguard. Well, just until I knew how deep the pool was....

I was asking every question I cloud think of, then someone offered to come with me to my first site. Just what I needed. I warped in and they warped at 50km to me in their Tengu and just sat there to watch as the rats started shooting. Following guidance like a flailing child learning to swim for the first time. I got my feet wet with a sort of safety net in case I started drowning, but as the damage came in, my shields tanked it fine and I was able to float by myself. It's not that I was scared to go off by myself and try a site on my own, but why not take advantage of other people's advice if it's available, right? It turned out perfectly for me in the end. And, on my second ever combat site in null sec, I got an escalation 8 jumps away, which was rare as I understand it.

I think I'm going to like ratting out here. The money is better than mining, well the way I mine at least.

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"You've never learned to swim?"

Amalea turned pink and directed her gaze downwards at her knees as her legs slowly churned the water. They all sat on the edge of a large, luxurious pool, their legs in the water and sipped their drinks. Amlaea slowly shook her head and Osiph simply smiled. Maya kept quiet.

"I've never been around this much water." she said, "I grew up on a Barren planet."

"I wonder if there's a skill book for it..." Maya muttered.

"I could teach you, I suppose." Osiph said, leaning back on her hands, "Or I could hire one of those handsome pool boys to give you a private lesson..." Amalea's face turned a deep shade of red.

"No, no, no! That's alright. I'm fine like this." she said waving her arms in disapproval.

"You'd rather Sain teach you, right?" Maya said. Amalea spaced out for a moment and simply nodded as the other two girls started to giggle.

"No! I mean! I'd rather someone familiar teach me." she said, "Maya, you know how I am with men."

"Oh right." she sighed, "It might be a while before we see him though."

"Yes. It looks like he's settling down well." Osiph commented, taking another sip of wine.

"What's he up to lately? Did you hear from him?" Amalea asked.

"Recently? I just shipped that Ishtar up to him like he asked. Forgot to send the money though. Oh well, I guess." she sighed.

"He's going to use a combat ship? Missions?" Amalea questioned. Osiph shook her head.

"There are no agents out there. He's going hunting pirates for bounty. Ratting they called it."

"Ratting?"

"You know. Pi-rats. Rats for short." Maya explained, "Just the same, really. They sort of infest areas of space like rats anyway."

"And he's going out alone to kill them?" Amalea asked. The three went quiet for a moment and Osiph finished her glass of wine.

"Amalea, remember we're probably the only ones in a unique position to deal with criminals like that. It's to keep the peace. That's why we get paid to kill them. If we don't kill them, they will kill more innocents." Osiph explained, "Sain can handle it. He may be a little rusty but before he was a Capsuleer, he was, well, you know."

"Yeah. I'm just worried." She sighed.

"He'll be fine..." Maya muttered.


Monday, April 13, 2015

New to Null: Finding a Rythm

TO: Maya Nao; Amalea Nao; Osiph Darkwing;
Subject: News from Null

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Sorry everyone. It's been a while. I've attached my last log I've made since arriving in Null sec to let you know my first impressions of living out here. It's not bad and I do see great potential for earning money, but it's really the social aspect that's starting to appeal to me. Group comms are most enjoyable to be on. It's mandatory to be on, which kind of forces people to be there in the first place, but it also makes them available for questions or just to talk to. It's also much faster to report intel as well, rather than watching for text messages to appear on the intel channel. Also, it makes mining a lot less boring to do when you're talking to other people.

It hasn't been too bad for hostile activity here as I thought it would be. Intel is what makes it safe. As long as you're paying attention, you should be fine. It's hard to find replacement stuff here and it costs a lot more than back there. Oh, P.S. Osiph, please send money. My old gear should have sold by now. I haven't seen anything from you since I gave it all to you. It's fine if you need it, but I may need some shortly. I'm currently skilling to fly an Ishtar and will need one. You could just send one up to me with a good fit for Guristas Pirates if you like. Oh, I need the skill book for it as well.

Yeah, so I figured the trick to making it here is to diversify. I'm going to try the most popular form of income here, Anomaly ratting. Hence the need for the Ishtar. I've tried a few data sites and relic sites, but my lack of skills in that area caused me to lose some valuable containers. I almost want to remove the cargo scanner from my ship, in case I lose the container then at least I didn't know how much isk just exploded in my face. Ignorance is bliss, as they say. I think after I get in an Ishtar, I will skill up scanning skills for exploration and try that. Need to keep moving around to keep things interesting I suppose.

On the bright side, I haven't died yet or lost a ship. That could change quickly when I start ratting. Osiph, can you also ship up an Ishtar and fittings? Buying local is way too expensive, not to mention you have my money.

And now I'm starting to sound like a loan shark or something. Osiph, I don't really care about the money, I just need a little help to settle in a bit more. I could do it on my own, given time, but I'm kind of getting antsy just able to mine so far.

All the best,

Sain Darkwing

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Osiph put down her Neocom and smiled as her ruby red lipstick left a smear on her wine glass. Setting the glass back down beside the large bathtub she was currently immersed in, she sighed and sunk a little lower in the exfoliating mud that covered her to her shoulders. The towel on her head only slightly smeared by the mud as she rested her head on the edge of the tub.

"Osiph, are you sure it's fine to use Sain's money like this?" Amalea asked. She was sitting across from Osiph in the same situation, with Maya silently snoring beside her. An eye mask covered half her face.

"Relax! Amalea, darling! You need to understand that a woman needs to spoil herself at times!" She teased, "Besides. Do you have any idea how much this spa day costs? Sain has you two worrying over money too much!"

"H-How much is it?" Amalea nervously asked. She hugged her knees to her chest.

"Let's see. With the conversion rate from InterStellar Kredits to local Credits, It's probably five thousand for all three of us." she said.

"That doesn't seem like much." she said, "Five thousand ISK is peanuts."

"No, that's five thousand local credits." she said, raising a muddy finger, "Translates to about a hundred ISK, maybe? The exchange rate is rather high here."

"That's it?" Amalea gasped, "You mean to tell me, that all this time we've been spending in dirty bars and eating in station cafeterias, we could have been living the good life in elegance?!" He outburst woke Maya and she finally took her arms off the edge of the massive bathtub to put them in the mud.

"We talking about money again?" She asked, "Oh, did you also book the massage and interface cleaning, Osiph? I'd expect our implants for interfacing with the capsule may not take kindly to this mud."

"I have the entire weekend planned out. Don't you worry." Osiph said with a wink, "Sain won't even notice his money gone. I'm using a rather sizable chunk of it in manufacturing with decent profit and mining a bit on the side. I'm telling you. Don't worry about a thing. Let's enjoy ourselves and relax!"