Opportunity: The Sand Castle

We built something great, laid the groundwork for a thriving Capsuleer society in our little area of Null sec, and were on our way to making a new home for ourselves. We built our sandcastle and were adding bits and pieces to it every day, building it up and making it more massive as time went on.

Before we could plant our little flag in the tallest tower, someone came along and kicked over our sandcastle.

I think I barely had two or three cycles of PI harvested from our home system's planets before we had to pick up and evacuate again. All because Pandemic Horde showed up and wanted to take over.

I remember the day it happened, not too long ago. Intel channels told of a large fleet on the way, and Darkness responded with a fleet of their own. The first fleet defended our space, making PH retreat with loss. What our intel didn't say, however, is that they have a big red phone that calls their big brother, Pandemic Legion.

The call was made and they came in force. I was hastily trying to put together a combat ship to fight, when the fleet left and saw the force that PL had brought. Before I had undocked, local filled with a staggering amount on neutrals that I lost count. Local soon filled with smack talk and I was forced to sit and wait.

Over the next week or so, systems and stations fell to them and we were given an evac order. I was able to get my stuff out safely, along with Maya who had come down to also farm PI materials and help mine, but it was short lived because of this invasion.

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I understand it's been a while since I posted in my log and a lot has happened in our little pocket since arriving. I've decided to try my hand at exploration and started skilling for T2 analyzers, but it's a long train. I've debated buying an Astero for it, or even a Stratios, but aside from the big scanning bonus on the Astero, it gives no clear advantage over the buzzard, and costs a lot more. Sure it gives the option to be able to fight, but if I wanted to stick to strictly data and relic sites, it makes no difference. If there is a distinct advantage to flying them besides the scanning bonus, I've yet to find it. Right now, all my ships and modules are still in boxes waiting to move again to a new home, but one has yet to be decided on.

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"You seem happy." Maya said with a sneer. She watched as Her sister seemed to dance around her room, pulling clothes from her wardrobe to pack in a bag. A terminal briefly graced her hands as she kept checking the progress of her ships and assets being packed into courier contracts.

"I am. Sain said he'd buy me a PLEX if I came down to Querious with him." She said, "I can't wait to get out in space again!"

"You just can't wait to see Sain." Maya said with a grin.

"Yes. That too." she replied, her cheeks a slight shade of pink.

"You two are serious, aren't you?"

"I am." Amalea said, "Obviously."

"You don't think Sain is?" Maya asked.

"He says he is serious that he likes me, but he seems a little indifferent to me." Amalea said, sitting on her bed, "It's like he's still unsure of wanting to get that involved. I know he said yes to it and everything, but I'm still not sure."

"Sain is like that anyway." Maya said, "It's also a guy thing. You haven't been around enough guys to recognize that because of your condition."

"You're saying his hesitation is normal?" She asked.

"Probably."

"But you're not sure?"

"Look, men are usually an open book! Sain, on the other hand, seems to be hiding a lot of stuff about himself and his past. I know he is a good person now, and that's what matters, but who knows who he was in the past."

"I do want to get to know him better." Amalea said, "Do you think there would be a good way to find out that stuff?"

"You could ask him." Maya said, "If he does want to get involved with you romantically, he should start with being open to you and tell you those things."

"And if he doesn't?" Amalea asked, "If I'm too scared to ask?"

"He used to have a friend, or acquaintance he shared most of his past with. An Amarrian named Chadrick Belefonte." Maya said, "Sain used to loan him money all the time. Not sure if he ever saw it back."

"Where can I find him?"

"I think he's living in a wormhole again. No way to find him." Maya said.

"There's no way to get a message to him?" Amalea asked. Maya seemed curious.

"You know he's another man, right? Someone other than Sain. A shady man at that."

"I k-know." she stammered, thinking about it. Maya's brow raised and she almost smiled. There was a chime at the door and Amalea circled the bed to answer, finding Osiph at the door, her hand on her hip.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

"Almost finished packing." she said.

"Yeah, put that on hold. Sain is here. In the bar." Osiph sighed. Amalea perked up and nearly knocked Osiph over to get out the door and across her quarters. She had her hand near the door release when she stopped and darted back into her room.

"Pants! I need Pants!"

"Yes, that would be a good idea." Maya chuckled.

"Osiph, do you know who could get in contact with Chadrick Belefonte?" Amalea called through the door as she dressed. Osiph seemed confused as she glanced at Maya who was leaning against the wall beside the bedroom door.

"I think his, um, friend might be able to talk to him. He does poke his head out from his wormhole at times to resupply or sell gas." she said, "Why?"

"What's this friend's name?"

"Zoei Fortuna, I believe." Osiph replied.

The Doomed Freighter

This is my entry for the Pod and Planet Fiction Contest YC117. Events foretold are based on a true event. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent, as there aren't really any.

Koswin is still holding a grudge...

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Hydrostatic pod fluid is an odd substance. It gets everywhere, as it's supposed to, but it's hard to get out of your hair. Osiph was frustrated with this fact ever since she became a Capsuleer, but after a long trip of shipping things out to the ass end of nowhere, she was in no mood for such difficulty. She cursed under her breath as she pumped yet another handful of shampoo as the warm water flowed over her in the small shower of the bathroom in her Captain's quarters. She just wanted to relax. She wanted a drink. 

Dressed in a towel, she sat on the couch, watching the latest bounty reports flash on the screen before her. She sighed and lifted a terminal to contract all her cargo back over to her brother's ownership and jumped back up off the couch, pulling her towel off to dry her hair before she got dressed. 

Parses had only one station and it was still fully decked out in Ammarian religious paraphernalia . The Royal Khanid Navy Assembly Plant, or one of them at least. A facility that boasted a fine output of the latest weapons and ammunition delivered straight to large storage facilities for use by the Amarrian Empire. Really, it was a backwater factory that employed the most unmotivated devotees to their religion that Osiph had ever encountered. The books were clearly altered to show a surplus in output.

At least they had a decent bar.

Amarrian bars were a lot different than most others. For one, you never saw any exotic dancers and the staff seemed afraid of everyone. They all seemed to be Matari for some reason. There was music, but it seemed that it was just instrumental, with the lyrics omitted. On the night in question, the doors slid open and Osiph stepped into a nearly empty establishment. She stood for a moment, surveying the room and settled at the bar after a moment to order a drink. As the bartender placed a coaster beneath her glass, she took it and spun around to look over the room, resting her back against the bar. She then noticed a man sitting at the other end, typing casually on a terminal. He seemed to be the only other Gallente man in the room and from the visible, metal ports in the back of his neck, she could tell he was a fellow Capsuleer.

He caught her staring and looked up from his terminal, "Hello!" he said, oddly jovial for an Intaki, but then again, so was she. An Intaki, that is, not jovial. At least not yet.

"Hi." She simply replied, "You look busy. Here on business?"

"Yeah, we're just trying to move into null sec and I've decided to help some corpmates haul some stuff in." he said, "Just trying to organize my cargo, you know. Plan my route and whatnot."

"I see." she replied.

"Just trying to fit Sain's cargo in somehow. It would be best to only take one trip instead of two. Trying to stay away from the local pirates." he then added.

"So you're taking my Brother's stuff in, eh?" Osiph said with a smile, "You better be careful with it. He'd be pissed if it went missing."

"Don't worry. I'll be careful." he said, reassuringly. Still, his eyes flashed back to his screen for a second, then he held out his hand, "Rekindle."

"Osiph. Osiph Darkwing." She replied, pausing for a moment, "I just shipped in all his stuff he wanted to bring down. He must be quick on the contracts."

"Yeah, I just got his request a minute ago. I might have to come back for it. I already have my director's stuff ready to go and she has quite a bit of luggage. Maybe it's everything she owns!" he said, "It's her I really don't want to piss off."

"And a Jump Freighter isn't big enough to haul both?" Ospih asked.

"No."

"Then I'd leave Sain's for another trip. Better safe than sorry." she advised.

"True..."

***

As the night progressed, Osiph had taken a spot at a table across the room as the bar started to fill up. She sipped drinks all night, but nothing compared to what that Gallente man put down in him. By the end of it, Rekindle had become somewhat of a spectacle, belting out several shanties and ballads, even though no one had asked him to. When he was eventually thrown out of the bar, Osiph could hear mutterings of acceptance as he stumbled down the hall past the window she was sitting beside. He paused for a moment before passing, turned to look at her through the glass, and tried to wink at her with class, but instead blinked with both eyes that squinted with force. It was enough to entice a giggle from her as he continued on, finger raised high in the air,

"Aura! Fire up the Providence! I'mma goin' to Querious!" he shouted. Osiph noticed a couple of men approach him and each grabbed an arm to help him to his ship.

"You mean the Arc, sir. Right?" one asked him as they faded from earshot.  Osiph sighed and hung her head.

"I really hope he doesn't do what I think he will."

***

The two men ended up doing most of the work in escorting Rekindle back to his Captain's quarters, using the man's hand print to open the door and allowing him to stumble inside. He surprisingly pivoted in mid stumble and turned back to wave the men away.

"Thank you good sirs. I shant be needing your assistance any longer." he said. Rekindle straightened up, finally taking a moment to actually look at the two who basically carried him here. Both were mercenaries dressed in black dropsuits, "My, my, aren't we looking dapper tonight?"

"Uh, thank you, sir." The one on the left said, his head tilted slightly, the only expression seen as his face was covered by his helmet.

"Was my Arc readied?" Rekindle asked.

"Yes, sir. Your jump freighter was prepped for launch. We'll be ready to go in the morning."

"No! We go now!"

"But sir! You shouldn't be piloting in this condition!" the one on the right advised. Rekindle brushed him off, nearly falling over as he waved his hand.

"Nonsense! I'm perfectly fit to pilot a ship!" he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure!"

"Alright." the left Mercenary said, "We'll be ready to go in a half hour."

"Tank you." Rekindle said, then slapped the controls to shut the door in their faces. The two seemed shocked for a moment as neither of them moved.

"Contact the fleet. Tell them the plan has been moved up. Thirty minutes." the Left one said.

"Roger." the other replied.

"You're sure it's the Providence that's packed up and ready to go? Not the Arc?"

"Yes. He's so hammered he won't be able to tell the difference. He'll think it's a Jump Freighter, gate into the next door low sec system to jump and we'll be waiting." he explained, his hand balling into a fist.

"Doesn't he know he could just jump from a High Sec system? You only need a low sec system to light a cynosaural field." the other asked, confused.

"Listen. Drugged drinks, remember? It's part of the plan. I'm sure he knows  that, but he's highly suggestible right now." he said, "Besides, we will be on board to rewrite the commands from him to take us to the Chamemi gate instead. Even if he is sober, he just needs to undock and initiate warp."

"But if we're on the ship when our corp mates destroy it..."

"You are a Mercenary, right?" he asked, placing a heavy hand on his partner's shoulder, "We die. Then our internal implants will transfer our consciousness to fresh clones on board of one of our allies ships."

"Ah, right!" he exclaimed, "Nothing to worry about then!" The two continued on their way to the hangar where they watched the massive Providence freighter continue to be loaded.

*** 

Osiph stopped in the hallway a mere thirty minutes later to see a massive Providence freighter slowly exit the hangar force field as she headed back to her Captain's quarter's. She peered out the window and hoped it wasn't Rekindle's Freighter, as it would be going against her advice. Yet she continued to watch as the ship cleared the station, then flew off into warp...

In the wrong direction.

Confused, she lifted her terminal and accessed her system map. That was the direction of the low sec Chamemi gate. Definitely the wrong direction. Rekindle had renamed the ship as well: "The Drunken Intent."

"Well shit." she simply muttered and continued on her way, shaking her head. 

*** 

He had only been in the ore anomaly for nearly ten minutes when Sain already started to fall asleep. He was eagerly awaiting his shipment of ratting ships so he could get out and start shooting some Blood Angels, curious as to how to fight them as they would be a new enemy to him. He knew he needed different shield resists than the pirates in their old home and had sent money to his sister to buy the right ones. He had thankfully finished shopping a few days ago and tasked his sister to get it all to the staging system where one of his corpmates could jump it in.

He woke with a start when he noticed his contract had been accepted by his own CEO and was enroute. Excitement built in his chest and his Procurer responded by turning on all of his shield hardeners for a cycle, then he forced himself to relax and turned them back off. Sain targeted another ore rock and started mining again, then connected to his alliance communication channel to see what was going on.

To his surprise, he found his CEO online and in channel. Sain was about to speak up to ask how it was going, but refrained when he heard what was happening.

"Oh. no. This is not good." Rekindle said. Sain's heart sank at his words.

"What?" Someone asked.

"Why did I take a full Freighter into low sec?" Rekindle cursed, "Why did I do this?" 

"You what?"

"I'm shipping some of my corpmate's stuff and I took my freighter through low sec. I'm pointed and there's like 7 of them on me. I'm going to lose my ship." he said exasperated, "Koswin is going to kill me."

"Do you need help?" someone offered.

"No, you won't get here in time. I'm burning down fast." he said.

"How much stuff you carrying?"

"I'm, like, full. I think it's probably all of Koswin's stuff and some of Sain's" He said.

"What?" I ask, finally speaking up.

"Oh hello Sain. Yeah sorry about this." he said nervously.

"You lost all of my ships?" I demand.

"Yeah, I'm about to." he said nonchalantly, "Don't worry. I'll pay you back."

"What else did you loose?" I ask.

"Koswin's stuff. I think it's everything she owned." He said. There was a pause, some static, then he continued, "And I'm down. I was able to get my pod out."

"Didn't you scout your route first?" Someone else asked.

"I did! I thought it was clear!" he retorted, "Guys, at least this was a learning experience!"

It took a few minutes but a kill report was sent to the victim, who linked it in our comms channel. No doubt several people were quick to review it.

"Is this right?" Sain asked.

"Unfortunately." Rekindle responded.

"All of Koswin's stuff dropped in the wreck."

"Yeah looks that way." he replied.

"And all of my stuff was destroyed."

"Yes."

"Well damn." Sain said, somewhat deflated. Those days of waiting now wasted as he would need to go re-buy everything that was lost. A tinge of depression set in his mind as he docked his ship and just stayed inside his pod, "Does Koswin know?"

"Not yet." he said. I open a corporation chat channel and text the group the situation who are not on voice comms, hoping she was there, but there was no immediate response. It took a few minutes...

Koswin: You're joking, right.

Sain: Nope

Sain: He lost both of our stuff.

Koswin: How much did you lose?

Sain: I think it was only like a billion isk worth of stuff. How much did you lose?

Koswin: Everything.

Sain: I'm sorry.

Koswin: Not as much as Rekindle will be when I get ahold of him.

Sain: You know all your stuff was left in the wreck, right?

Koswin: Yeah and now some stranger has my Gila and is probably doing nasty things with it. 

*** 

It took a few days but Sain finally got in touch with Rekindle again. He walked into the bar on the outpost they were all living out of and Sain found him sitting at the bar pouring over a terminal as usual. Sain looked him over and he seemed to look a bit younger. Maybe it was a fresh clone but he could be wrong.

"So about that Freighter..." Sain began. Rekindle sighed heavily.

"Look, I'm already getting enough flack from Koswin about that. She will never let me live it down." he said.

"No, well. I was looking at the killmail and I'm confused." He said, "Chamemi isn't even in the route to this station. You had a clear High Sec route all the way to the lowsec pipe. Why jump into that system?"

"I dunno. I thought I was in my jump freighter, I suppose."

"Yeah, but you can jump fine out of High sec. You only need low sec to light a cyno." I advise.

"I know that." he replied quickly, "I don't know. I wasn't thinking straight."

"Do you suppose the alcohol had anything to do with it?" Sain asked. Rekindle seemed taken aback, "My sister said she met you in a bar and you had to be, well, escorted out."

"I can normally handle what I drank." He said, defending himself, "I don't know why I was so, um, influenced when I left." he paused for a few moments, then added, "Those two chaps who brought me home were nice though."

"What two 'chaps'?" Sain asked.

"These two guys dressed in black suits carried me back to my Captain's quarters." he said, "I think they helped get my ship ready. I could have sworn I asked for the Arc and not the Providence though."

"Black suits? Like robes?" Sain asked.

"Armor I think." He replied, "With those funky helmets."

"You mean Mercenary dropsuits?"

"Yes!" Rekindle said, snapping his fingers, "Exactly!"

"Now why would two Mercenaries in Dropsuits escort you back to your room then help ready your ship?" Sain asked rhetorically. Rekindle just stared at his terminal.

"I dunno, man." He said with a sigh, lifting his drink to his lips to take a sip. Sain's eyes follow the glass, or more precisely, the ice in the glass. The wheels begin to turn in his head.

"Where does that ice come from?" he suddenly asks.

"Outside." Rekindle said, "In the ice anomalies."

"What about the station in Parses. Where do you think they get theirs?"

"Probably imported from somewhere."

"Who was mixing your drinks that night?" Sain asked.

"The Bartender."

"Who was the Bartender?"

"Some Minmitar guy. Why?" Rekindle asked.

"Did you notice anything odd about him?"

"He seemed scared and twitchy. Like the rest of the staff there." He said.

"They're probably all slaves. The twitches could be the withdrawl symptoms of Vitoc or something." Sain said, leaning back in his chair.

"Your point?"

"Slaves do as their told." Sain said, "If that means mixing you 'special' drinks all night, then it could explain a lot."

"You mean I was drugged?" Rekindle asked in disbelief. He set his drink down on the bar and turned to hang his head in his hands.

"Why did you jump into lowsec in a tech one freighter full of expensive cargo? A system you didn't even need to go into? I'm sure you're smart enough to know at least that much common sense stuff. Even loaded drunk, something in your head should have told you it was a bad idea."

"I was drugged!" He shouted, slamming his fist on the bar, "I was drugged!"

"It also means those two Mercenaries were probably spies. They could have messed with your Navigation computer to force you to take the Chamemi gate."

"What? Yes! It was the spies! They did this to me!" he exclaimed, his expression now almost jubilant.

"Why are you happy about this?" Sain asked, skeptical, "You were played, cheated and plundered."

"Yes. But I was drugged!" Rekindle said excitedly as he stood up and put on his jacket, "That means It's not my fault!" Sain watched as he ran out of the bar yelling down the corridors, "Koswin! It's not my fault! I was drugged! It's not my fault! Do you hear me!?!"

Sain turned back to the bar as his usual drink order arrived, "It's still your fault for drinking so much of it though..."

The Doomed Freighter

OOC: Broadcast for Reps

Eve online is an odd mentality about it. Players gladly shoot and kill each other, scam and steal from you until you had nothing left, given the chance. But this is all just part of the game. We know it's a game and most of it shouldn't be taken personally either. However, those same murderers, scammers, and thieves are here for you as a friendly source of aid should you need it. The Eve Online community is a close knit group who are all gamers, for all different reasons. Some play to relax, some use Eve as a form of escapism, and some even play just for the community they've become a part of. Corporations, Alliances, Coalitions, even small fleets with friends become a haven you can escape to from your troubles in real life.

We are a resource. Use us.

If you need to talk, use the chat channel mentioned in the video. Ask in your corp channel, or alliance channel. Don't be afraid to get help if you need it. Don't let suicide become an answer you will ever consider. Eve online may seem like a dark place of death and destruction, but it's only a game. We are all human and even the best of us need help at times.

Please share this video to raise awareness about this serious matter so that we can get the help to those who need it most.

When life has you pointed and you're taking damage, please Broadcast for Reps.

Opportunity: A New Frontier

Something's been going down for the past couple of weeks that I thought it best to keep a lid on. I'm not up on how Null Sec politics work or the inner workings of Alliances or Coalitions either. It's only now that things have been made official that I can say anything. I wasn't specifically told not to, but I felt it was best to wait.

My Corporation is moving.

We're leaving FCON and Branch up north to head to more forgiving space, an alliance without Paps or any other significant requirements. A place where we can truly do what we want. We're joining a new alliance and moving to space close to Amarr, where the Blood Raiders fly.

This means I may need to train up my armor skills, or at least, my EM and Thermal shield skills. I also have to switch drones to the right type, pick up the right missiles, etc. It's going to be a good change though. Something to alleviate the stagnation I started to feel once again. I hope the space is less noisy as Branch, with less Neuts.

We're currently waiting for our allegiance to change and sitting in out staging system. One good thing is that it's not that far from where Osiph is living in Kusomonmon.

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"Something's fishy." Osiph said as she sat on her couch. Her Captain's quarters was as spotless as ever, and Maya leaned forward to take her drink from the coaster on the glass table.

"What's going on?" Maya asked. Amalea looked up from her terminal. She had been watching a fiction holoreel.

"Sain just contracted me alot of assets in Jita, with a note asking me to haul it all out to a remote system in Kahnid." She said.

"What?" Maya asked, "Why?"

"Not sure." she replied, but was cut short by a chirp from the door, "Who is it?" She called, without getting up. She heard a muffled voice from behind the door.

"......right place.....hack...door....open...me.." was all she could make out through the door and the distance to it. The girls tensed as Osiph slowly drew a parapistol from her jacket and stood up, laying her terminal on the glass table.

"Ah! There!" came a voice as the door suddenly slid open in a blur and Osiph jumped, squeezing the trigger. The shot zipped through the air and caught the intruder in the shoulder, where he was knocked backward into the hallway and slumped to the floor against the wall.

"Holy crap, Osiph! Who did you just shoot?" Amalea gasped. Maya approached the door and peered outside at the unconscious man in the hallway.

"Your Brother...." She muttered.

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Why do I frequently lose consciousness every time I come to High Sec recently? My last trip was fuzzy in my memory and I'm still trying to piece that trip together. This time, it's something else.

I figured I'd surprise the girls again and come unannounced. I checked with the port authority to find Osiph's Captain's quarters and made my way there alone, among the regular folk on public transport. When I arrived, I rang the door chime, but couldn't hear much of what's going on inside.

"I think this is the right place." I muttered to myself, "Maybe I can hack the door..." I started pressing buttons on the keypad, "Hey! Open up! It's me!" When there was no response, I began to type faster.

"Ah! There!" The door slid open and I looked up with a smile on my face, trying to look as smug as possible, however, all I saw was a bright flash of light, then nothing...

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"You almost killed him!" Amalea shouted. She alone had rushed into the hallway and started dragging his limp body back inside Osiph's Captain's quarters. Osiph and Maya watched as the small woman seemed to effortlessly carry the man across the room and deposit him on the sofa. In a flash, she had a medical scanner and was waving it over his body, "Wait a minute. This isn't a jump clone. He has a set of Implants!"

"He flew back from Null sec? In what?" Osiph grabbed her terminal and checked the docking records, "He came in a Bestower? How did he survive a trip like that?"

"He almost didn't, Osiph. How could you shoot your own Brother?" Amalea scolded, now holding Sain's hand without realizing.

"I'm sorry! He startled me! I didn't mean to!" Osiph retorted, trying to mount some sort of defense.

"Why do you have a Parapistol?" Maya asked, taking another chair in the room.

"Protection! You know we can die outside of our pods, right? I mean Perma Death!" she cried. Apparently adrenaline still running high, "How is he?" Amalea looked at her scanner.

"He's just stunned. He'll be fine. His implants look unaffected as well. It's a good thing you didn't hit him in the head."

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I woke with a pulsating, throbbing pain in my head. I tried to sit up, but a strong arm suddenly laid across my chest and held me down.

"Shhh. Just stay still. You're going to be fine. You were hit by a Parapistol." It was Amalea's voice, but I couldn't see clearly. I was still trying to figure out how what I thought was her face was at such an odd angle. Very close and almost ninety degrees to my own. Then I realized my head was on her lap as I laid on the couch. Again I tried to sit up but was held down by her single arm.

"I'm sorry!" I grunted as I tried to sit up.

"Stay!" She commanded. I gave in and laid there, staring up at the ceiling as my head slowly cleared.

"So you said I was shot?" I asked, "A Parapistol?

"Mmmhmm." she said, nodding.

"Who?"

"Osiph." she said, "She thought you were breaking in." I huffed with a smile.

"Well, I was." I said, "I meant it to be a joke. It kind of backfired. I wanted to surprise you all."

"Oh it was." Amalea laughed. Her shoulders shook as she laughed, causing her chest to bounce near my face. I tried to ignore it, but it was distracting.

"Where is she now?" I asked, "Osiph and your Sister?"

"At the bar." Amalea said, "Osiph didn't really want to be here when you woke up for fear of retaliation." She giggled, "She thought you would beat her for shooting you." I sighed heavily. Still my head pounded but was getting better by the minute.

"I'm in no shape for giving beatings." I sighed.

"How did you get here. You flew out here from Null Sec, didn't you?" she asked, almost sounding accusatory. I felt like I was being scolded.

"A wormhole. Came right from Branch to a low sec system one jump from high sec." I said, "My corporation is moving to a new alliance. I thought I'd stop in to say hi. It's on the way really."

"Well it is good to see you." She said, "I really wish I could get back out there with you and make some ISK."

"Yeah, you and Maya were a huge help out there." I said. Things got quiet for an awkward amount of time as I stared at the ceiling. I soon looked to Amalea and she was staring forward at the hologram of my old Orca on the coffee table.

"Do you remember what happened the last time you were here?" she suddenly asked, "Do you recall anything from that night?" Her eyes remained fixed on the transparent ship on the table.

"No, sorry. Not much at all." I said. I started feeling better so again I tried to sit up, but her arm didn't move and still held me down. I gave up and just laid there, staring up at her blank face as she continued to stare at the Orca.

"Nothing?" she asked.

"I remember the bar, you girls dancing...Something about CONCORD...I was in a limo with you...and something about a dare. The rest is a blur." I said, "Did I miss something important?" I paused for a moment, then it hit me, "I didn't do anything bad did I? Did I do something to you? I'm sorry!"

"No, no!" she said, finally taking a breath and looking down at me, "N-Nothing bad."

"But something." I said, "To you."

"No." She said, "I think I did something bad to you."

"I think I can guess what happened." I said, "I remember the next morning and where I ended up."

"I can't believe I did that..." she groaned, throwing her head back against the couch cushion. She put her free hand over her face in shame, "Twice!"

"Twice?" I raised an eyebrow, "Now I feel used."

"You liked it." she teased, tapping me on the forehead with her index finger. Another uncomfortable silence followed.

"So what do we do now?" I ask, "Where do we go from here?"

"Well I was the instigator, so I'm sure you know how I feel." She said, "What do you think?" She paused for a moment, swallowed a lump in her throat and looked down at me over the front of her jacket, "H-How do you feel?"

A lump seemed to form in my own throat. I've never even thought about romance since becoming a Capsuleer. Just knowing that anyone I courted would eventually grow old and die long before I did. I wasn't even sure I could ever die if I stuck to my ship. Just the thought of trying to love another who I knew would fade and disappear while I carried on and lived with the loss; it was too much to bear.

But why didn't I think of this? If I loved another Capsuleer, we could be together forever. We'd both be in the same boat, so to speak. Maybe it could work out.

"I feel..." I began.

"Yes?" she asked, leaning in closer.

"I feel..."

"Yes, Sain?" She leaned in even closer, her face now inches from mine.

"I feel..."

"What?" she asked in a hush, I could feel her breath against my cheek now.

"I feel...like we're being watched." I said. She stopped and opened her eyes. Her face turned a bright pink and straightened up quickly, then craned her neck around to find only Maya standing in the open doorway, her hand over her mouth as if trying to hold back all sound. I could see the tears stream down her face from here.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to interrupt." Maya said, wiping her eyes, "The air in the hallway is dusty. I think some Mercenaries went by with muddy boots or something."

"What did you see?" Amalea demanded.

"No. Nothing..." Maya said, trailing off.

"How long were you there?!" She asked.

"Mmmm...Five minutes or so. Give or take a feel or two..." she teased. I was surprised Amalea didn't run off or chase after her sister for eavesdropping. Instead she remained still, and kept her arm steadfast around my chest to hold me down. By now, I felt perfectly fine.

"Maya why are you crying?" I asked. It was now her turn to turn crimson.

"I was not!"

"You were." I said.

"I'm just so happy that she found someone, you know?" she said, "You better not hurt her, you hear?! I'm not above putting a bounty or two on your ass if you do!" Amalea had hung her head in her hand and her hair covered her face. I could tell she was embarrassed beyond belief. Especially since I hadn't properly answered her.

"I would never hurt her." I said. She removed her hand and looked down at me, her grip on my chest seemed to tighten.

"Really? Is that a yes?" She whispered.

"Yes." I said with a smile and a stomach full of butterflies. Her hand across my chest moved to my face and she smiled, leaning down to plant a shy kiss on my forehead. She release me and moved her arm to the top of the sofa. I took the opportunity to sit up as I started to feel sleepy.

"Wow. This is history in the making." Maya said with a smile, "My androphobic sister has finally found a man! Osiph needs to be informed!"

"I do have a bone to pick with my gun wielding sister." I said, standing up sharply. "Let's g..."

I fell over backwards and sprawled on the floor as the room began to spin once more.

Opportunity: The Headache

I don't remember when, I don't remember how, but somehow I've ended up pant-less on the cold, hard metal grates of the catwalk of my captain's quarters. I opened my eyes to see a simple Ibis ship floating above me in the cavernous space of my hangar, yet my head hurt too much to care.

I did care, however, when a camera drone started hovering above my half exposed body, it's blank stare of an optical sensor staring at my face.

"Fun night of drinking, huh?" Maya's voice came from the drone. It twisted in the air as if to look me from head to toe, "What happened to you?"

"I can't remember." I groaned, sitting up and grasping at my nearby cargo pants. It takes me two swipes to grab the fabric. With a groan, and support from a nearby railing, I end up on my feet and put the pants on, "That better not be broadcasting."

"Don't worry. It's encrypted." She said, "Osiph and I are out in her Retriever mining. I wanted to see how you two got on last night."

"You two?" I ask, a lump of panic welling in my throat.

"Oh shit. You don't remember? I told you not to drink so much Ammarian wine last night. Especially in a new clone!" She scolded. I staggered down the catwalk and into my quarters, where it's a complete mess.

There are bottles and cans of every kind of alcohol I can think of, and a few I've never seen before. There were clothes and blankets strung across railings and light fixtures, the glass coffee table was shattered, and the door to the bedroom was sliding back and forth, trying to close but was blocked by a beer can that was wedged in the door frame.

"Oh wow. You got wild last night!" Maya exclaimed, the camera drone had now followed me into my quarters and was hovering around the room, scanning every overturned bottle and deformed beer can. I rushed to the swaying door and it moves aside, allowing me to stumble into the bedroom where I again trip on something and fall headlong into the bed, landing among the silk sheets. I braced my fall against something soft and warm.

"Oh, ready for round two, Sain?" Amalea teased as she pulled the covers from over her head.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Twice?"

"Yep."

"I can't believe it. It actually happened?" Osiph's mouth was still agape in disbelief.

"Twice." Maya corrected.

"With Sain?" She asked, "My Brother. Captain Serious?"

"The one and the same." Maya smiled, "Although I wouldn't call him so serious. Not since I known him."

"I think he's lightened up quite a bit since you met him, Maya. He was so uptight before." Osiph said, then continued, "It really, finally happened though!"

"Twice." Maya again corrected.

"You two are never, EVER, getting me to drink again!" Came a muffled voice from the bathroom door, mere meters behind Maya as they sat in the rented Corporation office.

"Is this the first time she has ever been drunk?" Osiph asked with a giggle. Maya had to think about it and nodded.

"I believe it is." she said while giggling. They could hear her retching through the door, "You alright, Amalea, dear?"

"I'm gonna die." she moaned, "Seriously, get me a fresh clone. I've had it with this hangover!"

"How do you think Sain feels right now?" Osiph asked, "He's gone back to Null sec after last night. He's got a hangover and neural stress to worry about." Again, another fit of retching could be heard through the door.

"He's fine. He's not in the body with the hangover anymore!" she wailed, "He's the lucky one!"

"Oh no, honey." Osiph corrected, "Trust me, it's a lot worse. Using a jump clone transfers your current mental state, and consciousness. He'll be sick for a while after the transfer because he's not used to the change in body due to his weakened mental state. I'm wondering if he suffered neural damage trying to jump clone while hung over."

"Oh no..." Amalea groaned from behind the door.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine." Osiph said, waving her hand, "He's gone through worse."

"I don't feel good..." again she groaned.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine too." Maya said, "But this is a first for you, isn't it?"

"Huuuurrrrrrrkkkkkk...." Amalea retched again.

"I still can't believe they did that!" Osiph said again.

"Twice!" Maya again corrected.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried playing the night back over and over, but still came to a massive hole in my memory. I remember the girls wanting to go drinking, then we went to a fancy restaurant. We drank wine, and champagne, then started feeling a little buzzed so we left and went to a bar.

Granted this bar wasn't in the best part of the station and no one knew we were Capsuleers, yet they may have that idea from the amount of ISK we were throwing around. I remember being at the bar, buying drinks, bringing them back to the table and sitting in the corner with mine while I watched the girls dance on the dance floor, then I remember something about the local Concord office, a ride in the back of a ground transport, I was talking to Amalea in a limousine, I think, and something about a dare. It was really foggy at that point and I don't remember much else. The morning after, I woke up on the floor beside my bed in nothing but my cargo pants, which were put on backwards for some reason, and the scent of Amalea's perfume on my pillows.

I'm back in Null Sec now and after a couple of days of feeling like crap I continued my normal activities. It's been a week or so since my trip to High Sec and Osiph says she's almost done the order, but she may not do another because of how much of a pain it was to invent the BPC's for everything. I don't really blame her. You need near perfect research skills for it to be profitable. Still, she says the shipment should be ready in the next few days.

That's one thing in order. Now, I wish I could sort out the rest.

Opportunity: A knock on the Door

Dodixie stations are usually busy but the main trade hub was near madness. Trying to walk anywhere in the bustling metropolis in space was futile, and public transportation was a joke. Not that a Capsuleer would even think about using something so trivial, or be caught dead in a bus or public shuttle, but the state of affairs of the common folk was quite apparent. If this was chaos, Jita must be hell.

There was an office with long window overlooking her personal hangar that Osiph had rented for the time being and was feeling sore from being hunched over a terminal as she worked. She sighed heavily and leaned back in the think leather chair, spinning around to look out the floor to ceiling window at the warehouse workers below, carrying off random items of hers to the market for sale. She just had too much stuff sitting around. She had to get rid of it and get to Jita. Some of her sell orders were sitting idle for too long and she was sick of playing the 0.01 ISK wars with local traders.

"How goes it?" Maya asked as the door quickly slid open to allow her through, Amalea chased her inside before it could close, "Getting your money back?"

"Some." Osiph replied as the two sat across from her at her desk, "I still have a lot of materials sitting on my hangar floor. I may just load everything in the Orca soon and haul it all to Jita instead."

"Will you be manufacturing there?" Amalea asked.

"No, the manufacturing index is way too high." she said, "That's something else I need to do. Find a good production system."

"Any prospective locations?" Maya asked.

"Not yet. I haven't really looked to tell you the truth. I want something close to Jita, preferably with a lab that has research and copying facilities, and a decent index." she said.

"Wow, you want fries with that?" Maya asked, sarcastically.

"No, I want decent PI in the area too."

"That will take some time to figure out." Maya said, "Good luck with that."

"Yeah." Osiph muttered as she updated a market order, clearly distracted.

"Have you heard from Sain about that opportunity he was going on about?" Amalea asked. Osiph shook her head.

"I told him where we were, and said anytime is fine to talk, but haven't heard back." She said.

Just then, light poured in the dimly lit room from the opening door and a tall figure stood in the light, his silhouette nearly filling the entryway. The girls turned to look and their jaws dropped when Sain Darkwing stepped inside.

"Hello, Ladies!"
-----------------------------------------------

Oh yes, this is what a High Sec Trade hub was like. I remember now. Each Hub was like a massive city, stuffed like sardine cans with people trying to make ISK any way they could. The lower levels were hives of illegal pursuits; drug trafficking, prostitution, black market stuff and general filth. You get my drift? The main level was comprised of respectable businesses, everyday people, cafe's, restaurants, hotels, and the like that normal people would live and make a living. The upper levels, were mostly for administration, government, and people of higher status live like kings.

Somewhere between the main level and the upper level is where they keep us Capsuleers, and all the stuff that goes with us; Personal Hangars, Ship Hangars, Corp offices/Hangars,...

And the Market....

I arrived in station directly from an outpost in Null sec via jump clone and proceeded to do a search for Osiph and found she had rented a corp office in the station. Following the computer's directions, I found the office and raised my fist to knock, but hesitated and simply opened the door.

I stood for a moment until my eyes adjusted to the dim light inside and I could make out the three figures sitting around the desk at the center of the room.

"Hello, Ladies!" I announced with a smile.

"Sain?" Maya asked, somewhat surprised.

"Did you miss me?" I joked. I took one step in the room and the door had just closed when I was nearly tackled to it by Amalea.

"Yes. We. Did!" she exclaimed, then realizing what she had done, scrambled away from him and awkwardly shook his hand, "Um, I mean, it's very nice to see you again, Sain." Osiph and Maya both stood like statues, wide eyed, and probably not believing what they had just witnessed.

"Hokay." Maya broke the awkward silence, "Sain, why are you here? How did you get here?"

"Jump Clone." I relied, "I said I had something to talk about, right?"

"Wait, you mean you can come back here any time you want?!" Amalea asked, "Why haven't you visited before this?!"

"I've been, um, busy." he said, "And my Infomorph Synchronizing skill is still kind of low. Still a full twenty four hours before I can jump again."

"So you're here for the full day?" Amalea asked. I nodded and clearly saw the wide smile on her face.

-----------------------------------

The desk in the office was turned into a makeshift board room table as we all sat around it. I tried to ignore the staring from Amalea, but tried to stay on topic.

"Down to business." I began, "I want you guys to start making ships. Fully fitted ships." Osiph scoffed.

"Do you have the battleship BPO's?" she asked.

"Not Battleships. Frigates and Cruisers." I said.

"There's no profit in it. Even I don't have the marketing skills to see one." Osiph said. My unwavering smile may have been the thing to make her sit up in her chair.

"Yes, if you sold them here. I want you to make fitted ships and ship them up to where I am." I said, "For the Alliance SRP."

"SRP?" Amalea asked.

"Ship Replacement Program. It's a stockpile of ships the alliance has to replace ships lost in alliance and corporation operations. It entices Capsuleers to actually join them. There's no chance of losing money if they replace it, right?"

"How much profit?" Osiph asked.

"Fifteen percent. Use an appraisal tool to find out how much a fitted ship would cost at sell in Jita, add shipping costs and fifteen percent and I can sell them in null." I said.

"That's pretty good." Osiph said, leaning back in her chair.

"Plus anything else you want to send up that way for either me or the market has to come from Jita anyway. It's the best market in New Eden." I advise. I can see them all thinking hard.

"There's more competition there." Osiph said.

"It's a place you can put things on the market and you know it will sell. Less adjusting market orders." I say.

"The plan is sound." Osiph said, "I'm just trying to find a hole in it."

"You're in?"

"Of course." Osiph said, "Let's make some money and perhaps send one of these two out with you to make more." Maya smiled, but Amalea was clearly excited, "Now, lets see how much alcohol that clone of yours can handle!"

Business Proposition

"I'm not understanding this." Osiph muttered. Maya slurped loudly on her coffee as she stared out the large floor to ceiling windows that exposed the high end restaurant to a magnificent view of Dousivette VIII below.

"What's up?" she asked, returning to her steak and eggs.

"My wallet. I seem to be losing ISK instead of making it." She said, "I'm sure the things I produce are profitable."

"Are you sure?" Amalea asked. Osiph reluctantly handed her terminal to Amalea who scanned it quickly while tapping, "Oh no. You're making money. You just don't have it as liquid ISK."

"What?" Osiph asked, taking the terminal back. Amalea leaned over to point.

"You started with what, a little over two billion when you sold Sain's Charon, right?"

"Yeah, roughly." Osiph nodded.

"Now you have about four hundred million in ISK left, several lines running T2 modules worth maybe another hundred million, plus look here." Amalea pointed at Osiph's assets, "You're materials station container has about nine hundred million worth of stuff in it."

"That's still four or five million short, Amalea." Maya advised.

"Yeah, but she bought a Plex a while ago to try and trade, am I right?" she asked. Osiph just nodded, "That puts her at a net profit after this month."

"But I need to buy more materials to keep producing." Osiph said, "I keep running out of one particular item I need to keep going. I have loads of most of what I need, it's just one particular item that keeps running out."

"You probably kept buying materials in bulk, didn't you." Amalea said, "You have too much wealth in assets and none to spend on things you need."

"Yes. Exactly." Osiph said, "I should have been buying just the right amount of materials I needed for the jobs I wanted to put through."

"Exactly." Amalea said, taking a bite of her toast. The table went silent as Osiph and Maya just stared at Amalea with their mouths open for a long time until Amalea noticed and became uncomfortable.

"What?" She asked, "Do I have jam on my face?"

"How the hell do you know so much about this stuff?" Maya asked.

"And why aren't you doing it yourself?" Osiph asked.

"Oh, I, um, read books I suppose. I study." she muttered, "And I don't have the money to invest in that stuff. It costs a lot to start up something like that."

"You need to work for me then." Osiph said with a smile, "We go into it partners."

"What about me?" Maya asked, feeling left out.

"We're all in this together then!" Osiph said, "You can be logistics!"

"Because I can fly an Orca?" she asked, "I need a pilot's license renewal first. This was the issue that Sain runs into all the time. Getting a Plex for all of us."

"Exactly." Osiph said, leaning back in her chair, "I'm planning to run a business that would profit those Plexes each month. But it will take some time.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Not sure if it's the best thing I could have done, but I've made a change in my current ratting ship. See, I've been eying the Rattlesnake for a while now and can fly one, just not with T2 launchers or sentries. Then, a corpmate posted a contract for one, fully T2 fitted for cheaper than buying it off the market and now my wallet is dwindling under a hundred mill again.

Was it an impulse buy? Perhaps. But I think it's going to pay off once I get the skills for those launchers and drones.

The main reason I wanted to upgrade, was because my Ishtar was just taking too long to clear sites of enemy pirates. Sites ran from 30-45 minutes each and started getting boring after a while as my tank barely budged and my recovery rate on my shields were high. So I bought this Rattlesnake as an upgrade, but with my skills only allowing T1 ammo, drones and Meta 4 launchers, It's breaking about even with the Ishtar.

Plus, I'm enjoying the sniper fit. I can sit away from the blob and shoot from a distance, instead of being right in the thick of it. Also, outside of scram and web range. This was also the first time using Sentry Drones and I'm still learning how they work. I learned that Wardens have a longer range than the Guards I had in stock, and was, for some reason, fielding one of each because one does thermal and the other does kinetic damage. I started watching the damage notifications and realized at range, one was hitting, the other missing entirely, which led me into the investigation of why. I realized that with the Ishtar, though still showing potential, was nearly capped at the DPS I could put out without a very lengthy skill train to T2 Blasters or Rails. I know I need to train them eventually, but I kind of like missiles over guns.

Plus the Rattlesnake looks great. It seems to already have some fangs with just the hull alone. I've decided to start training into flying it a lot better.

------------

I tap the stop button as I finished recording my log. I keep forgetting to do these things for longer and longer periods of time. Seems like once a month. It's shameful is what it is.

I glance at my wallet and sighed heavily. My ISK was getting low and I needed to sell some PI and whatnot, but that meant actually going to the station where it is to contract it to the corp. Ratting is getting me money, but now I had to make up the four hundred and fifty ISK I spent of that Rattlesnake.

I stared at the unmoving numbers of my wallet's balance, then I began to read my email as an idea formed in my head. A bulletin from the CEO asking for industrialists to buy SRP fits in Jita and ship them up to the area for Alliance use and standard operations. Bulletin is asking for a tidy profit to be made on each ship brought up.

Buying is great and all, but it's cheaper to manufacture. Plus the profits would be better. I opened a new message and set the recipient to Osiph Darkwing.

To: Osiph Darkwing
CC: Amalea Nao; Maya Nao
Subject: Business Proposition

I have an idea that would interest you. Can we set a time to talk?

OOC: Playing Eve on a Budget

My background is Computer Support so I'm always on the lookout for new technologies. One of the ones I'm most interested in is remote control software that let you see your home pc elsewhere. And, if possible, run Eve on such a connection so the game client is always at my fingertips, to a degree.

Windows Remote Desktop works great for just operating the computer over a network, and over the internet requires a bit of configuring on your router, namely, opening TCP and UDP ports 3389 and port forwarding that port to the specific IP address of your gaming machine. Plus, you always need to know your home external IP address, which on some/most providers are DHCP, and change over time. This is handy for things like tinkering with a server, working on Industry Spreadsheets, or other simple tasks, but displaying video or graphics over the thing is a painful torture of watching frames redraw over and over across your screen as it updates. It's just bad and can't be used for playing eve.

Usually, when I'm looking for something to connect to my home PC with, I look for something lightweight and something web based (preferably) so I don't have to install a client. This does eliminate majority of the solutions out there: Teamviewer, NoMachine, Logmein, Splashtop, VNC, Etc. One of the ones that I don't mind, however, is Chrome Remote Desktop. This one at least will show a decent picture of the Eve client and I can do things like update market orders, update Manufacturing jobs, and even undock and fly somewhere using autopilot (eww), or manually if I have the patience. It's super choppy and flying around is definitely not recommended. but doable in a pinch. Plus, it can be run from within Chrome and not much else needs to be installed besides the addon, unless you want to set your machine up as a server, but then again, it's not that bad.

So here's where the thrifty part comes in. What if you put all your money into a decent gaming desktop, like I have, put it in another room, like your 'Man Cave' in the basement, yet spend most of your time in the living room on the couch with an older laptop because you want to be around your family instead of in a basement. Would you go buy an expensive gaming laptop that can actually run Eve and not play in 'Potato Mode' (All settings on low/disabled)?

No, and ain't nobody got money for that either.

A friend of mine is into streaming media using programs like CouchPotato, XBMC, Sickbeard, PLEX and whatnot to download, manage, and stream his movies and TV shows. He also started playing his large Steam library on a slower media PC connected to his TV in the living room.

He introduced me to Steam In Home Streaming.

If anyone has heard of services such as Onlive, which has shut down now, the concept was interesting. I've tried Onlive, played high end graphical games on my Laptop I lovingly call the "Walmartop" as it was cheap and not that powerful. The concept was that the server or remote machine would run the game, use it's resources and graphics card to render the game, and just stream the video output to you, then accept the input from your remote keyboard to the game instead of the local. So basically, the performance just relied on your connection speed to send input data, and receive video. Sure, the video got a little fuzzy at times of latency, but it worked kind of well.

Steam In Home Streaming is sort of the same thing, except you set up your server on your own gaming PC in the basement, then connect to it using this option on your craptop. It runs smoothly, you can spin your ship like it was running locally, clicks are responsive, and flying around is fine too. I tried a few low level missions and found that once you got alot of things moving around on the screen at once that went kind of fast, it got a little choppy, but you can mine all day to your hearts content without worry. However, I still don't trust it enough to try PVP or use my Null Sec character on it just yet as our wireless isn't that great. Yes, this only works on your local network and is not designed for over the internet.

Enter the baby monitor......

Oh yes. Things were just peachy once I discovered this solution of streaming my game from my gaming machine in the basement, however, becoming new parents not only limited my play time, but once I did get on during the baby's naps, the baby monitor was on and it killed my connection. The video baby monitor runs on 2.4 Ghz which is the same frequency as WiFi. After some research and trying to discover a way around this menace, I was out of luck. First, I looked up the exact frequency the monitor ran at, then tried to tweak the router to operate on a channel far away from it, but low and behold, I had to buy the only monitor that constantly changes it's frequency all over the available spectrum of the WiFi signal. That means it could be working fine, then the monitor goes on it's scanning phase and switches it's frequency to one that's the same as the Wifi, then the screen on the laptop goes all pixelated, the sound cuts out or gets choppy and I can't do anything. A few seconds later, the stream drops and Eve is no longer available in my library because Steam has disconnected from the PC in the basement. The only thing that I can do to reconnect, is to use Chrome Remote Desktop to my Gaming PC, open Steam, go to file>Settings, Select Steam In Home Streaming and then it reconnects by itself as it is forced to check the connection.

This is why I don't trust it. I could be in the middle of a fight and the bloody monitor will do it's check for a better signal and boot me off, taking several minutes to reconnect, meanwhile my client remains connected and doing whatever I left it doing without me there. It's alot worse than disconnecting from the game. At least then, the client tries to warp you off to a safe and log you out. Not in this case. The client is connected and it's as if you stood up and walked away from the keyboard and went upstairs.

I think my solution here is already in the works. I could have bought a new Baby Monitor, but they're more expensive than a new router. Canada day sale at Staples and I'm the proud new owner of a dual band router. Once it comes in the mail, I'll set it up, connect our laptops on a much faster, 5.0Ghz connection and all will be good in the world again.

Right?

New to Null: Starting Something New

With sov changes coming up, I can no longer hole up in my chosen system and do everything I want without moving around. Indexes need to be raised so we can better defend the space we live in so I'm off flying around to whatever system they need, ratting or mining to help the cause.

This presented a particular problem I had solved long ago in High Sec. Getting ships around.

In High Sec, it annoyed me to have to fly back and forth to pick up ships and move them. They came out with the new Bowhead for moving these ships, but I can't fly one yet. I can, however, fly an Orca that will do the job. I have an Orca in high sec, but i can't get it out here. So what to do? None are on the market.

I'm going to build one.

------------------------------

Doussivitte 0.6<Agiesseson<Sinq Laison
Doussivitte VIII - Moon 20 - Chemical Tech Factory
Gallente Federation

It was going on two weeks now that the girls had really started to dig deep and put some effort into getting pampered, spending a measly amount of ISK in the eyes of a capsuleer. Still, even luxury was starting to get boring, and the three girls were soon reminded of why they became Capsuleers in the first place.
  A measly 4 jumps from Dodixie, Osiph had moved operations to a factory in a system with a lower industrial index.

"Why are we here again?" Amalea asked, almost in a whine. The three sat around Osiph's Captain's quarters as Osiph stared at her Neocom, managing industry jobs, research and invention.

"I've never really paid attention to the industry index of systems before. I was getting bored of trying manufacturing in Dodixie station because of the thin margins." Osiph explained without looking away from her terminal.

"If you're that worried about margins, look into a POS." Maya said. Osiph shook her head.

"I've wanted one, but it's not worth the fuel. Plus, there's word that they'll soon be obsolete." Osiph said, "I hear there are new structures available soon that Capsuleers have permission to build."

"You want a Citadel." Maya teased, "How gaudy."

"Just a small one. I think it would be nice to own your own station type structure you can dock in." she said.

"So why this station?" Amalea asked.

"It has invention services. I want to really put some effort into making T2 things." She said, "It's better margins."

"What are you making?" Maya asked. Osiph looked up from her Neocom and glanced between the two, "What, afraid we'll start doing the same and become competitors?"

"Drones, mostly." she said, "I heard the best is to start with Ammunition, drones, scripts and really anything that gets blown up a lot." She paused and hit a button, the holoreel on the table displayed a catalyst, "I was going to start making these, but everyone is doing it and the margins are thin."

"Catalysts?" Amalea asked, "Why?" Both Maya and Osiph glanced at each other and sighed.

"It's the destroyer favored among pirates who gank things in HighSec." Maya said, "They use these because they have enough damage output to kill things before CONCORD shows up to kill them."

"That's horrible!" Amalea gasped.

"That's life." Osiph sighed, "You're a miner and you didn't know that?"

"I just did whatever Sain told me to." She innocently said.

"Well, if you ever see one, or any destroyer on grid with you while mining, get out." Osiph said, "They use them because they do a lot of damage and are cheap."

"If they're so horrible, why are you supplying them with their tools of death?" Amalea questioned.

"Money is money." Osiph said, "I don't know the Catalysts I put on the market will be bought by pirates or some mission runner. There's no way to tell."

"Amalea, you have to get our of this righteous phase. We're Capsuleers. We have to do some shady things now and then to keep going. If you think going industry will keep you from killing people and take the moral high ground, think again. All the minerals you mine from the ore in belts are going to make ships, guns, and bullets that will be used to kill someone. If you aren't firing the gun, you're an arms dealer and supplying them to others to use instead. It's the way of the universe now." Maya lectured. Amalea had shrunk into the couch and was now hugging her knees. Maya leaned back as she noticed she was now leaning forward, almost in an accusatory posture. Relaxing, Maya sighed and leaned back, "You need to watch out for number one, Amalea."

"You need to get laid, girl. You're so uptight and naive" Osiph added with a smile, "It's something weeks of pampering won't fix. You need experience." Osiph laughed at the shade of red Amalea was turning as her face disappeared behind her knees in embarrassment, "What did I say?"

"She has an issue with men, remember?" Maya reminded. Osiph recoiled and smiled.

"She has no issue with Sain." she added. You could almost see steam rise from her ears from behind her knees.

"True, but he's still off in Null sec." Maya said.

"Oh that reminds me. I got a message from him. He wants me to send a set of BPC's for an Orca. He said he's building one." Osiph said.

"Can he build them?" Maya asked.

Osiph smiled, "He wanted me to send the Capital Constuction Skill book too. Oh and some Command Centers. He still hasn't set up PI since he moved."

"It's been forever. Isn't he mad about lost profit or something." Maya asked. Osiph nodded.

"Null sec planets are really good too for PI." She said, "Still, it seems to be a different mentality out there. More flying for the team rather than yourself. He seems to be willing to take a hit in his profit making to help out with things."

"That sounds like him." Maya said nodding. Amalea stayed quiet as she was just grateful the subject had changed. Osiph kept her in mind though and brought them back to point.

"So, anyway." she began, "Amalea, let's get you hooked up with someone. Take it slow, eh? What do you look for in a man?..."

New to Null: Resettling

Word has come across the net that there are changes happening. Rules regarding Sovereignty are changing and Alliances are contracting their area of influence to a more manageable and defendable size. Because of this, our Corporation had moved and switched Alliances to FCON, a member of the CFC, hold on, The Imperium I believe they are calling themselves now. This now means we are no longer a renter corporation and a member of a sov holding Alliance.

That means defending our space.

I joined this corporation for the reason that they do not have any CTA's or make you do anything. This has changed as they now expect you to join defense fleets and fight. I have little experience with PVP, low skill points and less time to undock than before, so it's something I can't really help with. I wish I could but other things have come up (OOC: we adopted a baby).

I sent a message to our CEO explaining my situation and he said that  the sort of CTA wasn't really for everyone, but he encouraged people to participate to get our participation level above a certain quota to remain in the alliance. These are new rules we seemed to have adopted from the new Coalition, not something I particularly care for, but I will adapt.

I really need to get a pvp ship fitted. Maybe a few. I've been ratting recently and had to dock up several times to passing hostile gangs, only to hear that someone on Comms has been caught and asking for help. With only PvE ships in my hangar, I wouldn't be much help no matter how much I wanted to fly out and help.

I've debated leaving Null sec to head back to High sec again, pick up where I left off. But now that the money is coming in, it really is peanuts back in empire. The trade off is a weaker market and rules, among other things. I thought of coming back and running missions for a bit, but it takes a while again to get the standings to get good payouts. I'm going to stick it out here though. The people I fly with are great people, there are more opportunities here and I'm committed at this point regardless.

Plus, I've been away from mining for a bit and I hear my fellow miners are reporting changes in the Ores out here as well...

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"What in the name of Molok are you doing here?" The agent asked. Chadrick shifted uneasily as he stood on the golden deck plates of the Mabnen IV - Moon 1 - Emperor Family Bureau in the small office of a level 2 combat agent, Marmed Odadi. His thick brow twitched in annoyance.

"Looking for work." Chadrick mumbled, "I'm trying to get back in da good graces of da Empire."

"And you come to me?" he asked, skeptical, "Why?"

"Look, I just picked a Corperation in the Empire dat would give good standin's for Amarr." He snapped, "It didn' 'ave ta be you."

"So you're saying I should be honored to be able to employ a mighty Empreyan to do my menial tasks. Am I not worthy of your services?" he asked in a snobbish tone. Marmed sat back in his chair and sneered in a way that just irked Chad in the wrong way. He sighed and spun on his heel towards the door when he was stopped by the agent again, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen? I read that you used to be a big shot in the military, became a Capsuleer and then did a few bad things. Where have you been for the last few months, Chadrick?"

"Inna wormhole." he grunted.

"Off grid I see." the Agent sneered, "Trying to make a comeback then?"

"I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. Tryin' to slow down a bit." Chad said, rubbing his brow, "I'm just sick of getting shot at by Sleepers for the moment. And I know somethin big is happening with them now that all these Drifter ships are popping up. I just want to get out of the way and do my own thing."

"Sleepers? You fought them?" he asked, "Did you fight a Drifter?"

"No, not the Drifters." he said, "But I've take a few Nanoribbons from the normal ones farting around in the hole."

"I see."

"Anyway, I'm not going to waste anymore of your time." Chad grunted. Marmed raised his hand.

"I may have something for you." he said, "Although, you aren't in good standing with the Empire for killing ships for the Caldari and Minmatar around Metropolis."

"I just work where there's money." Chadrick said with a shrug, not really concerned what the Empire thought of him. His social skills were high enough for most Agents to overlook the lowered standings.

"I have a mission. I need a shipment of Silicate Glass delivered to this station as soon as possible. It's currently stored in one of our warehouses; I'll give you the coordinates, of course. Just warp to our outpost, navigate to the warehouse, and pick up the shipment, and then return it here. Simple, ain't it?
Just make sure you keep a lookout for any suspicious activity. You can't be too careful these days."

"You want me ta be a delivery boy?" Chad asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm expecting this mission to be somewhat complicated. You may need a fast ship, or maybe a cruiser. What are you flying?" Marmed said. Chadrick hesitated before answering.

"Battlecruiser. I'm flying a Prophecy." he replied. Marmed's eyes widened for a moment then he smiled.

"You'll do fine."

--------------------------------------------------------

Warping to the supplied coordinates, Chadrick spotted the warehouse he was supposed to pick up the Silicate Glass from and started approaching the location. Halfway there, he got impatient with the speed of his ship and activated a micro warp drive to go faster. Just as he entered transfer range, he quickly scooped the cargo and turned around.

Space quickly filled with red crosses and Blood Raider frigates, destroyers and cruisers barreled towards him, the space around him lighting up with red and white beams of light.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he muttered to himself, "I figured the bastard wasn't telling me everything."

He suspected the idea was to just grab the loot and run away, but he was so pissed at this point that he decided to mow down everything that was coming his way. Missiles sprayed from his ship and his best drones buzzed around dropping them one by one. Ships exploded so often that every pop gave a little satisfaction to Chadrick, almost enjoying this opportunity to let loose and 'express himself'.

He managed to get down to around five ships when a second wave warped in. A little shot of adrenaline went through his body as he eyed his shield, which was now nearly gone, and the damage started coming off his armor instead. Activating a hardener, he went back to focusing on killing stuff and when the dust settled, they had stripped off half his armor and his salvage drones were off stripping the wrecks of anything useful.

After the attack, Chadrick had a chance to once again think about the bastard Agent who sent him to an expected ambush and didn't tell him. Warping back to the station, he made sure the station crew unloaded the cargo and he paid his repair bill, bringing the data pad with him to Marmed's office.

"I'm here to pass in the goods. Mission complete." Chad snapped as he entered the meager office.

"Splendid! I have already transferred the ninety four thousand ISK to your account." He said taking the Data Pad, "What's this?"

"My repair bill for ma ship." Chadrick stated, his voice thick with hate, "It cost me 'bout a million and a half to fix. I don't think ninety four thousand will cut it."

"I-I'm sorry, sir. But you understand that under the circumstances, any normal person would have just warped away with the cargo and not even get a scratch on their shields." he stammered, "Wait, did you stay and fight them?"

"They pissed me off." Chad said, "Or rather, you pissed me off for sendin' me into a trap."

"You killed them all?" he asked again in disbelief.

"Battlecruiser, remember?" Chad said, "Regardless, you sent me there knowing those pirates would show up. I don't take kindly to misinformation."

"I do apologize, but I had to be sure you would take the mission."

"Be sure I won't be taking any more from you." Chad said, his fists balling at his sides. Chadrick's anger began to boil up and he knew he would get in trouble if he just clocked the guy and stormed out. He had a pistol on him, but even threatening him with it would be useless as everyone knows about the station security system disabling any live firearms on board. He should have worn his Parapistol as Sain kept telling him to do, but he hated knowing that he only had a glorified stun gun as his only weapon. Still, his only option was to just leave and cut his ties to this agent. Maybe find another somewhere else.

Or try something new entirely....

Later that day, Chadrick stood in the Amarr trade hub station, holding his Neocom showing his now maxed trade orders. He waited until his wallet flashed and his available order counter would show one available to use. He would then select another random module from his asset list and sell it off for a little cheaper than the lowest price in the station.

A fire sale if you will. A contract for the Prophecy was up for grabs as well. Odd, He had always wanted to fly one of them as he found the ship design to be esthetically pleasing, however, once he was in one, he found the ship rather bulky and thick. He clearly saw why some capsuleers call it the "Fat Turkey".

A plan was in the works, yet it may take a while to implement.

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.

New to Null: Finding a Rythm

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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!"

New to Null: Settling down

Getting set up in Null Sec is expensive. Not only are things like ships and fittings scarce up here, it costs money to have the things you need shipped out to where you are. Our corporation has an arrangement with a shipping company so that's fine, but it can still be pricey. I was told I'd make money when I came out here, yet I ended up spending more to get set up. I think I just need to spend more time mining, or start skilling to be able to rat up here, but my income is very slow right now.

It's been over a month since I moved and I do like it up here. I can see how people say it's safer than low sec because of intel channels and open comms. The only mandatory rules are to be in fleet and on voice comms which makes total sense to me. The people up here are great and friendly, however, neutral pilots coming and going tend to disrupt activities in our systems.

If you were ever thinking of coming out here, here are the pro's and cons' that I have seen so far in my opinion:

Pros:

- Rocks are huge. I think I mined one out so far, the rest I've only dented. The asteroids are several times bigger than your ship.
- Mine in anomalies. I've never been to a belt as our Industrial Index is such that large asteroid anomalies are always present and sometimes offer upgraded ores.
- All ores are present. You can build anything you want without buying from market if you want to mine yourself.
- Always a fleet. Most of the time there are Rorqual boosts. They put max Orca boosts to shame.
- Bigger rat bounties. If they do show up, you get a little coin for killing them. Their loot is also upgraded somewhat.
- PI is amazing. Get your PI set up and manage frequently. Way better than low or high sec. All POCO's are owned my your corp/alliance with low export fees.
- Intel channels offer notice to dock up if hostiles are incoming.
- Stations/Outposts are privately owned and great manufacturing facilities/ reprocessing.
- Jump bridge network at POS'
- Can fly any ship you want. Not limited to Dreadnought and below like in High Sec.
- Warp Bubbles!

Cons:

- Activities can be disrupted for long periods of time due to neutral/hostile activity.
- High corporation tax to help pay for rental fees of space, (Still not bad as it's more profitable to be there)
- Rats are a lot bigger. Battleship sized pirates show up, maybe six at a time. Need good defense and drone skills to survive.
- There are Corporation/Alliance rules you need to follow depending on the one you join. These may vary from mandatory CTA's (Call to Arms), restricted activities in certain systems, and asset use like jump bridge, ship types allowed, etc.
- Market is smaller than empire space. Things may not be available or overpriced compared to High Sec. Will need to use shipping corporations to bring things in. No BPO's or skill books on Market, (or very few).
- Activities may be disrupted or relocation needed should Sovereignty of the system change.
- Higher Skill Points are needed to survive. May be limiting for new capsuleers. It is possible, but risky.
- Warp Bubbles!

I'm probably missing a bunch but as I said, I'm only out here a little more than a month. I picked up a Skiff because I was told the rats were big and it worked fine for a while, but I found I was filling it up way too fast and I was annoyed with all the warping to the corp's compression array. So, I ended up getting a Mackinaw and it was a lot better, but I was worried about the tank on it to survive the rats. The first time they showed up, I started to warp out but as their missiles started hitting, I realized I would be fine. It took a little longer for the drones to take them down because of the bonus on the Skiff to drone damage that the Mackinaw didn't have. I also find it best to mine with other people so there are more targets for them to shoot at and even out the damage between us all.

Null sec seems like a place where you need to work and build everything you need, rather than having it all available to you from the start. It's now a game of survival, rather than trying to be the best. It was a refreshing change and one that I needed to break the monotony of it all.

Osiph had sent a message to me, saying she finally sold off most of my things. One of them being my Charon for quite a bit. She asked if she could send up the ISK, but I told her to wait for now until I needed it. She ended up buying a PLEX but is holding on to it. She bought it just because the price had dipped a bit just to hold on to, but had offered it to one of the Nao sisters to come and join me if I wanted. Right now, I think it would be best to build up my wallet a bit first before I start expanding again. For now at least....