Brutor Bullfighter

The Devil's Playground

2012-02-04T22:47:00.000Z

The recent assault frigate buff meant that I had quite a few fitted and rigged assault frigates with empty slots, all scattered across New Eden in a random fashion. Jaguars, Wolfs and Vengeances to be exact. Now I only owned three different assault frigates but boy did I own some. Literally hundreds of the little firecrackers. However, seeing as most of these frigates were in remote places, I certainly wasn't planning on modifying them too much.

I flew to the relevant stashes and sorted through the ships. I must admit that I took the lazy approach to modification. I definitely did not intend on doing any hauling of new goods to these remote outposts. My plans were something like this:

1. Check my hangar for spare parts/junk/loot that might fit into the newly available slots.

2. Check the station's market for any modules that might be available for purchase and that may fit.

3. If desperate, check through cargoholds for anything lurking that might be fit for purpose.

4. If even more desperate. Check the asteroid belts for rat wrecks for any parts that would fit. (Didn't quite go this far but I was tempted)

5. If none of the above options were available. Repackage the fitted and rigged ships and put them on the market.

It turned out that I had nothing available for the Vengeance. Where they were based I had quite a bit of junk and some other ships that I no longer needed so I arranged for it all to be repackaged and sent to a main trade hub via the croaking midnight courier.

Nearly all my Jaguars I got lucky with and was able to buy and stick a Nanofiber Internal Structure II on them, regardless of how they were fit previously they all now have a Nano fitted or an extra Nano in some cases. An extra nano can't hurt, right? Quite a few of the Jags however were unlucky and I had to again dismantle them and send to market.

It was a similar story with the Wolf. Half of them I just threw a Tracking Enhancer II on because that's what I had in the hangar. Couple this with the metastasis rig on some of them and the autocannons on these Wolfs should be able to track a marble falling through space. I liked the Wolf better with poor tracking in all honesty. It made things a little more interesting come dogfight time. Some of the Wolfs I threw a repper on or an extra resist mod. But, again quite a few had to be given the silver bullet.

Anyway, I managed to make a good turn of ISK by selling quite a good number of these overpowered demons at over-inflated prices and I still have some to play with. Result!

---

I had five spare unfitted Jaguars in my hangar in Heild. With the new changes I thought I'd try a wacky fit to try and counter blaster boats. The plan being twin neutralizers that can be run permanently to literally shut off the blaster boat weapon systems and I would also sport a kinetic and thermic hardener to minimize the incoming hybrid damage types. In theory it might work by plinking away at a boat with no capacitor.

Unfortunately theory doesn't always work as you hope it to.

The first outing of this ship did not end too well. Although a tough ask going up against a good friend and old corpmate in Raxip who, if this was a boxing match would have 3 years of skills and experience over me. Not to mention the fact he is a damned good pilot. Although I did take Raxip to hull, which isn't that good really against the Gallente, but still. I was also hoping that Raxip had left the Nosferatu module at home and I also tried to second guess he would be plugging his resist hole so I went with EMP ammo. A bad choice but a good fight. I have four of these left, I am wondering if against a lesser pilot it might do its job. Time will tell I guess. It is definitely a situational ship.

--

Champion Jaguar pilot Alex Medvedov once said:

Jaguars do not end in boom sound. They end with fanfare and go straight to heaven.

This particular Jaguar that I was piloting was loosely based off the famed Alex fit that I must admit to being a massive fan of. This particular Jaguar also had a brand new Nanofiber fitted to it (surprise!). This particular Jaguar wasn't quite ready for the fanfare.

Running the Devil's Playground that takes you from Heimatar and up into the belly of the Metropolis region through the choke-point system of Eszur is a dangerous run. It is especially dangerous to those on the wrong side of the law. Notorious space-lane robbers, murderous executioners who scout the whole pipe and lay in wait with fast-locking Thrasher camps ready to strike are a constant menace for those navigating the pass. So much so that most pilots will avoid the area completely and pod run through high-sec or clone jump over the area to get to their destination.

In this instance this wasn't an option, I was in a hurry.

As the stargate flashed in Eszur and I waited my cloak timer I was confronted by a Curse 15 clicks away. A scary sight indeed, even more so the fact it looked like it was ready for a fast lock. It was guarding the gate like Lucifer himself would guard the Gates of Hell.

Running would not be an option.

I dropped my cloak and the Curse went red to me in a flash. My heart instantly started pumping faster, somebody had just stabbed me in the back with a massive shot of adrenaline. I smashed open the afterburner and burnt straight for the Curse, on the edge of scram and web range my capacitor failed on me. I was bled dry, completely dead in the water with the exception of my cannons. Drones began to eat away at the Jaguar's shield systems. My autocannons were hot, but I wasn't even close to doing any damage.

I had to somehow get in Nosferatu range to give me any chance of regaining my capacitor levels. I was running out of time but remarkably I managed to get in close, for a brief moment I had scrammed and webbed the Curse after the Nosferatu module began spitting its blood-red fire at the dark and moody Recon ship.

Both shields stripped away it was now a straight up burn to the finish line. Both our armour disappeared fast. We both had no damage control fitted. I was living by the skin of my teeth. My tiny amount of capacitor allowing me to micro-manage my modules.

As we both slipped into structure and the real possibilty of the dreaded structure bleed kicking in I banged my knee hard on the underside of my desk, the adrenaline was running that strong that my leg was performing involuntary movements.

Then there was a flash and it all went quiet for a moment.

MB.

The Budding Ideas of Miura Bull

2012-02-03T01:36:00.003Z

They were, with one exception, not original but picked up, raw, from the churning maelstrom of the life of piracy and the first years of his awkward life amongst the pirates. The old ways were dying of indigestion and it was time to tap into something new. For years the old breed had ruled with an iron fist and with the black flag raised high above the storm. They had stamped their unique language and their romantic culture on it. But the grip was slipping, weakening. The minorities, the outcasts could not be digested.

Piracy and in particular, solo pvp, was a melting pot. It was also bubbling and spewing out its contents to a wider audience. Ready to explode onto the scene.

Now, as the new era began, the various new school started to sprout like a beautiful wild flower. The various Brutor, Sebiestor and Vherok cool kids. Cast away from the chains, the boundaries removed, hungry for a share of the spoils and a slice of the pie. But it didn't stop at the Minmatar race. Gallentean punks more accustomed to the pop scene and fizzy drink dispensers. Caldari capitalist pig-dogs and even the Slavers from as far away as Amarr Prime were negotiating a route down the well-trodden path.

It was this new ideology that would shine like a fiery beacon on the new generation. Crazy and outlandish fits and tactics that were berated on paper but when put out on the field would reap the token killmails that these new kids chased. And chased they did. Meteoric rises up killboard ladders and ever more daring and outlandish attempts at gaining the kills that they craved like a drug.

But this was not all.

There was social revolt too and this often transcended into a downward struggle. The ever more unpopular lower classes of New Eden (in the eyes of the pirate) were demanding the ballot, a change for good, a cry of angst for more protection and the introduction of mind-boggling rules and stipulation. The workers and industrialist sector were insisting on the right to organize safe havens and no-fly-zones away from the grasps of the pirates and their bloodstained morals. Away from their guns and fearsome looking spaceships and modified weapon systems.

To these developments Miura, the fanatical young Brutor nationalist from Ammold, was bitterly opposed. To him New Eden was sinking into a foul swamp of bias and ignorance. It could be saved only if the master profession, piracy, reasserted its absolute authority. To Miura, those who followed the other professions were an inferior people. It was up to the pirates and to some extent the general pvp combat capsuleer community to rule them with an iron hand. Coalitions must be abolished and an end put to all the democratic 'nonsense'.

Though he took no part in the general politics of New Eden, Miura followed avidly the activities and killboards of some of the major players in the pvp world. He studied them like a hawk would study his next possible meal. And there now began to sprout in the mind of this wannabe leader, in the locker rooms of some Roden Shipyard hangar, a sense of clarity of a future goal and a vision. He could see his vision with amazing clarity. It was sharp and focused albeit quite barbaric by some standards. This vision burned down on him from above like the morning light bursting through the top of a dark cave on a Summer's morning. He wanted to mature and become a Master Leader and he knew exactly how he could do it.

At first contact he developed a furious hatred towards those that hunted his profession, actively engaging in trying to put down the piracy movement.

"What most repelled me," he says, "was its hostile attitude towards the piracy movement and in particular the way that these do-gooders would hide behind their shiny security status and strength in numbers approach."

In the first few months out in the spacelanes Miura had obtained what might have otherwise required decades: an understanding of a pestilential machine, cloaking itself as some kind of social virtue to the good community and spreading the righteous word of brotherly love amongst its followers and any other ear that was listening.

And yet he was already intelligent enough to quench his feelings of rage against these coalitions that were springing out of the ground at alarming rates. He was able to examine carefully the reason for their apparent success and championing. He concluded that there were several reasons, and years later he was to remember them and utilize them in building up the Black Rebel Rifter Club.

One day, he recounts in his journal, he witnessed an organized gate camp, a mass bundle of ships and crew, ducking and diving from the safety net of high-sec into the jungle of low-sec to commit sin against his pirate brethren.

"For nearly two hours I sat there cloaked watching with bated breath and an itchy trigger finger. This gigantic ball of slime slowly going about their 'work' like some kind of heroic super-machine. In oppressed anxiety I finally left the place and cruised homeward."

During downtimes he began to read the workings of veterans and those who were already mastering the art of which he craved. Kane Rizzel, Ka Jolo, Wensley, Sard Caid, Skira Ranos and many, many others. He studied their writings, looked deeply into their organizations and reflected on their psychology and techniques and he pondered the results that had churned in his wicked mind. He came to three conclusions: They all knew how to create a mass movement, without which any corporation and idea would be useless; they had learned the art of propaganda among the masses; and, finally, they knew the value of using what he calls "spiritual and physical terror."

This lesson, although it was based on his own observations and a sort of narrow-minded blinkered view, certainly intrigued the young Miura. Within six months he would put it to good use for his own ends.

MB.

Killmails I

2012-01-19T19:23:00.001Z

The game of cat and mouse is nearly over as the Taranis kicks open the afterburners, 20k, closing, slam-bang-overdrive, full throttle, fast, scrammed. The Jaguar closes the ground, nosferatu primed, smiling and ready for the onslaught. Two scrams now. Webbed, going nowhere. Weapons overloaded, bullets screaming, blaster slugs in flight, smash! The Taranis is neuted. ECM drones block out the light for the Jaguar. The Vagabond fights for its life. Tables turned for a moment? Out of nowhere another lock lands like a grappling hook on the side of a cliff face. The frigates hold on to their prey.

Taranis & Jaguar v Vagabond

The Firetail points the enemy cruiser. Battlecruiser lands on grid. Harbinger. Stay focused. Eyes on the Arbitrator. Watching for drones. Waiting for the neutralizers to bleed us. The heroic tackle of the Firetail is too much, spiralling out of control, explosions. The gang remain in the belt, determined. Arbitrator down. The lumbering Harbinger struggles. The pack of frigates and lone cruiser dismantle the beast with relative ease.

Firetail, Rupture, Rifter, Jaguar, Taranis v ARBITRATOR, Harbinger

Firetail, Rupture, Rifter, Jaguar, Taranis v Arbitrator, HARBINGER

Bloodclaw light missiles rip at the stricken Cormorant. A routine journey through The Citadel about to be rudely over, remote repair support long since gone. A slingshot and the fight is over. A pleasant surprise in the cargohold vanishes into the murky soup of darkness around the stargate.

Crow v Cormorant

The small patrol of frigates tear into the cruiser. The glow of the distant star reflects and shimmers on the hulls as they go about their business with ruthless efficiency. Flashes of light like an ancient firework display and the short fight is over. The dust settles. Silence.

Jaguar, Rifter, Rifter, Rifter, Firetail v Rupture

A demonic Firetail smells blood. The strategic cruiser is no match for a pilot possessed. Working for the devil, knifes are out. Sharpened. The Firetail's orbit is tight. A spectacular sight as the Loki swings for his foe but misses like an old drunk bare knuckle champion. Fallen.

Flashbacks for the pilot. DARKSTAR POWNYOUALL scoops his loot and adds another strike next to the ship image -- Loki.

Firetail v Loki

Firetail v Loki

The Daredevil smells an easy kill. The Jaguar dances and then strikes. Daredevil panics, neuted. The fight rages. Jaguar is king. Perceptive. Hip. Street-fighter.

Jaguar v Daredevil

Interceptor and Interceptor. Gloves are off. Rockets fly, zipping like angry flies. Malediction. Menacing, sleek and black. The Claw is raw, all-out brutal. Autocannons clattering. Fight is close, both pilots need the nosferatu, the reppers are whistling, buckling, overheated.

Claw v Malediction

The Stiletto parades suggestively on the edge of the bubble. Slicer engages. The fight is on. Slicer hits hard, aggressive like a rabid dog, biting. Stiletto needs to pull a manoeuvre. A daring move, Slicer is closer. Overloaded scrambler and the brakes are slammed hard stuck. Up close and personal the Stiletto is superior. The Slicer crumbles.

Stiletto v Slicer

MB.

Fight Night I

2012-01-15T22:25:00.001Z

Joe Struck's fight night was on. The invites had been sent out and ships began rumbling towards Heild. Movement in the docking bays was frantic as crews scrambled to ready craft for the mayhem. The word had spread, tonight Heild would become a party venue.

As the clock ticked over to 21:00 the fight night was officially started. Afterburners whistled and popped in the hangars as ships made their way out of the station. Blasting off in warp around the system to ready themselves for the resultant carnage.

To kick off the carnival Joe Struck piloted a Mammoth industrial boat head first into a small group of frigates that had formed at a nearby planet, the result was predictable, with the cargo of goods emptied into space and free to looters.

After some initial cautious movements around the system it was reported back that a Rifter piloted by one of the Rebels, Nicholai Hel, had become the first frigate casualty of the evening, set upon by a Jaguar, a Nemesis and a Punisher it was never going to end well for him.

The next two hours were something of a blur with battles happening all over the system, 1v1's, group fights, free-for-alls, it was pure madness. On a personal level I lost a Rifter, another Rifter and a Firetail that landed in the middle of a ball of frigates at planet 1, tackling a Wolf was never a good idea in a ship with no tank to speak of.

On the kill front I had some interesting fights. I showed up on the killmail of Brink's Rifter after two Slicers cut it down shortly after I had fought him. After reshipping from that fight I jumped into a Wolf kitted out with a stasis webifier and parked myself on the entrance to the 2/10 plex. A Jaguar soon landed on me, I'm not sure if he was part of fight night but I made short work of his shields and the Jaguar quickly crumpled into a wreckage.

Shields regenerated from the Jaguar tussle it was then a Vengeance that tried to take on the mighty Wolf. The Wolf only just managing to grab the kill with few structure points remaining. A good fight indeed. Soon after this I whored onto another of Nicholai's Rifter losses before heading back to station for repairs.

After patching up the Wolf I was challenged by Kaeda to a duel, wanting to test out her ship against a Wolf. As I undocked and made warp for her position I wasn't sure of what I was actually going to be fighting. A Malediction was the answer. A good fight, Kaeda commenting that she couldn't quite manage to get under the guns of the Wolf, luckily for me.

I was docked in the station again making use of the repair facilities when it was announced that the devilish scamp Sard Caid had decided to warp in his Scorpion battleship into the party that was taking place over at planet 1. Planet 1 by now was littered with wrecks of every frigate variety and was looking very much like a salvage pilots dream scrapyard. Needless to say all the frigates set upon Sard with venom, after some of the plucky frigates were removed from the field via a fiendish assault of smartbomb warfare it was left to the rest of the pack to carefully remove the intrusive battleship from the field. Well played Sard Caid.

I then showed up on a Wolf killmail before it was time to prepare for the final event. The Fight Night Battle Royale Thunderdome that would kick off inside the 2/10 plex at 23:00.

All the frigates were assembled on the entry point. Joe gave the order to activate the acceleration gate and for battle to commence as soon as everybody landed. My Kestrel didn't have much of a chance from the start, taking some heavy blows from two angry Jaguars I decided to ungroup my weapons and try and shoot at as many ships as I could before I popped. I didn't get much of a chance to even do this as I exploded in a fire, the first frigate to be removed from the field and an early end to the Royale. I continued to watch the action unfold in my capsule. My initial plan for this frigate was to try and web the nano ships that I knew would be present, sadly I did not have the chance to put my plan into action.

For the next 25 minutes or so some twenty frigates were engaged in a bloodbowl of frigate duking, individual battles and all out brawling. We were now down to the final four. Kaeda Maxwell flying the R1FTA flag in her Vengeance, RANSM pilot's xxxAlloxxx in his Jaguar, CraftyCroc in his Stiletto and Arasul in his Imperial Navy Slicer.

Kaeda's Vengeance.

The Stiletto and Slicer danced around the field, Kaeda tanking the damage and xxxAlloxxx dishing it out. It was glorious to watch. CraftyCroc was the first to fall of the final four, his Stiletto putting up a brave show as it fell to the firepower left on the field.

Stiletto piloted by Gunpoint Diplomacy pilot CraftyCroc.

Three remained and Kaeda was next to give way, her Vengeance had served well but it was now game over and we were now down to our final two, the final dance had begun. Jaguar versus Navy Slicer.

Arasul's Slicer cuts through the field.

After what seemed like a stalemate was about to occur both the pilots slammed into each other at close range and went for the final blow. The final race to the finish line was won by xxxAlloxxx in his Jaguar, the Slicer finishing a gallant second place. A thrilling finale to an exciting evening.

Slicer and Jaguar dogfighting to the finish.

It was a fantastic evening of frigate combat. Thanks go out to Joe Struck for organising the event and thanks to everyone who came along and made the explosions happen. The picture below shows Heild as the number one system in EVE for kills during the entire evening. Quite an accomplishment!

click me

Here is a list of the prize winners for the evening.

Most Kills
Laktos (Prize - a set of navy faction frigates)
Ilik Tanikalot (Prize - Wolf)

Most Losses
Kaeda Maxwell (Prize - Jaguar)
four way tie for second
Laktos (No prize you won stuff already)
Fulgin Jet (Prize "Nightstalker" Combat Goggles)
Brink Albosa (Prize "Nightstalker" Combat Goggles)
Tao Icarus (Prize 100 Nanite Repair Paste)

First Kill
Xulgar (Wolf)

First Loss
Nicholai Hel (Jaguar)

Thunderdome Winner
xxxAlloxxx (Fitted Vagabond, courtesy of Lhorenzo)

Killing Sard Caid Award
Laktos (Tornado, courtesy of Korvus Falek)

Podded by Sard Awards
Tao Icarus (Prize Rifter)
Fulgin Jet (Prize Rifter)
Tomba (Prize Rifter)
Brink Albosa (Prize Rifter)

Now to get ready for Fight Night II.

MB.

Okay enough rambling about assault frigates

2012-01-07T20:50:00.000Z

Now time for something new. A new logo, something to break all barriers that have come before us. I don't know what that means it just sounded cool. Hope you like it.

MB.

Say no to the Assault Frigate buff!

2012-01-05T18:03:00.000Z

Title says it all really. Buffing the assault frigates as planned will create a domino effect of imbalances and game impacts that I don't personally think have been thought through properly.

Here is the link to give your feedback for the planned changes.

I strongly advise anybody who flies assault frigates, other tech 2 frigates, t1 frigates and faction frigates to go make their views known.

In particular go to page 2, scroll down and read the posts from Ava Starfire, Ilik Tanikalot and Kaeda Maxwell.

Thanks.

MB.

A New Year (but please stop warping away)

2012-01-05T08:22:00.000Z

Recently on our corp forums we have been talking about goals that we have set for the coming year as a corp and also for the individual. Obviously it mainly revolves around kills, kills and more kills. Everybody loves a good kill right?

Of course they do.

In general it looks like we've set some tough tasks, but ones that certainly are achievable if we all put the effort in. Recently we have been ending the month on something around the 700-800 mark as regards to total kills. Our target now for every month for this coming year is to break 1000 kills per month. I think we can do this, either way we'll have a good go at getting as close to it as possible. As a guide and reference point, if we look at an established group of killers like The Tuskers, they tend to hit approximately 1,300 kills each month, give or take a few hundred either way.

We've set some recruitment goals too. Recruitment is currently open for the month of January, after this we probably won't recruit much if at all during the year ahead, if you're some kind of pvp God or something we might let you in. We're hovering around the 100 member number right now so if you want in on the action then apply now for the R1FTA blob. In reality we rarely fly with more than 5 pilots in a gang, the majority of us being solo types, spread far and wide across many different regions.

Having said that, Molden Heath region is definitely our home now and most of our pilots do base out of the region. We've settled into a great community, one that I honestly don't think exists anywhere else in the game. We share good intel, comms, forums and some other things with some of the best guys in the game but we will also fight each other when we seek a good fight. You guys know who you are. Thanks for having us.

Most of the individual goals that were set involve climbing killboard ladders. Personally I'd like to break that top 1000 mark on battleclinic. I've been borderline a few hundred places short now for far too long. So all I would like to say to those above me is stop pvping for a bit please. Excellent.

Speaking of battleclinic. R1FTA have been in and around the top 30 for recent corp activity ranking for the last few months now. By the middle of December we were number 20 and I believe we are still at number 20. I still find it hard to believe a corp that started up again just over 7 months ago is the 20th best corp in the game according to killboard stats, but I guess the figures don't lie, regardless of what people think of the stats. A few of our members had never even played the game let alone knew how to pvp when they signed up. Sticking to the trend of difficult targets, as a corp we would like to be in the top 10 by the end of the year. Watch this space as they say, the corp full of rifter-flying-noobs is on the rise. Ha.

As a corp we have agreed to continue our philosophy of not really giving a flying ****. This to some may seem to contradict some of the goals we have set, you could argue against our claim to not care about killboard stats for example by my rambling above about, well, killboard stats. It is hard to explain to those who don't 'get us'. You see, the good killboard stats and high-ranking that we achieve are down to one thing--not really giving a damn. If you start to worry about killboard stats then you die a little in this game (in my opinion). If you go out there, shoot everything that moves and play with a smile on your face regardless of winning a fight or losing a fight then the rest will come good. Trust me, it is tried and tested.

__

I'd like to finish this post by giving a nod to part of the title of my post (the warping away bit). Just this last day I have been out in the belts looking for the good fights. The first fight involved me in a Wolf against a small gang I had spotted causing mischief in one of the asteroid belts. There were 3 rifters, an incursus and a maulus, 5 v 1. As I land on the gang it looks like a cat amongst the pigeons. Everybody panics and tries to warp away. I grab the incursus and kill it and then chase the others around the system until they eventually leave. I am fully confident that if that small gang had just stuck around and stayed calm and did all the right things they would have turned my Wolf to dust. Sure I'd have kicked and screamed until the end but yeah, stay and fight! Test your limits and don't be afraid to fight the flashy red in the belt.

Next up I decided to go roaming in a rifter, thinking maybe the Wolf spooks people too easily. I found an awesome fight with a punisher. We exchanged blows and eventually we were both hitting structure, cap is tight and I lose my point. It looks like the punisher is going to win as I have mods burnt out and I start to get that sinking feeling, but as soon as my point dropped the punisher warped off into the distance, voiding any killmail for either of us. Maybe I am from a different school of thought but I would never try and warp off in a tech 1 frigate in such a close fight. Stick around you never know how the fight will end!

In the same system after repairing the damage I loitered around a plex entrance and I spot a gang in system. A slicer, a rifter and a catalyst. I think what the hell, 3 v 1 and this gang by far and away has the advantage. Slicer lands on the gate 50k off of me and then burns towards me but just before any hostilities commence he warps away. His two mates join the action but they are way off and they too warp off. Puzzled by their tactics I give chase but again they leave the system. Really? I was in a rifter. My rifters are not invincible. Far from it.

In fact every ship I fly is already lost in my mind. Fly this way and you'll have a lot more fun and end up with more killmails.

End of rant.

:)

Recruitment link. Recruitment open for January only!

MB.

Lhorenzho Claus ('Twas The Night Before Christmas)

2011-12-24T15:55:00.000Z

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the hangar
Not a creature was stirring, not even a hound.
The black jackets were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that Black Frog Logistics soon would be there.

The Rebels were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of exotic dancers danced in their heads.
And Kaeda in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s brap.

When out on the undock there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the newly-formed nebulae
Gave the lustre of shine to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a mad looking Lhorenzho, and eight cynos lit.

With a little old pilot, usually angry and bitter,
I knew in a moment it must be the big hitter.
More rapid than eagles his Rupture it came,
And it whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now cyno alt1! now, cyno alt2! now, cyno in Griffin and Vexor alt too!
On, Probe! On, Heron! on Atron and Kestrel!
To the top of the station! to the top of the dock!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild Rupture fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the turrets.
So up to the undock the projectiles they flew,
With the freighter full of Toys, and Lhorenzho too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The popping and fizzling of each little frig, not bullet proof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney Lhorenzho came with a bound.

He was dressed all in black, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with wreckage and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pirate, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The blazing cigar he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like an exploded Wreathe.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the jackets, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his Rupture, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a cyno lit thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he warped out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

MB.

Zodiac and the Rifternauts

2011-12-21T02:40:00.000Z

The Quest for the Golden Rifter.

Storyline.

Zodiac Black has been prophesied to take the throne of Molden Heath. When he saves Dirty Protagonist from drowning in the pleasure hub's bathing facilities one drunken night in Oddelulf, but does not recognize him as the man who had earlier podded his father in a 1v1 frig fight over in Bosena. Dirty Protagonist tells Zodiac to travel to a mysterious wormhole entrance just outside Paragon Soul to find the Golden Rifter. Zodiac follows his advice and assembles a small fleet of the finest pod pilots in New Eden, including Darkstar Pownyouall, an ancient Brutor mythological hero who flies Firetails and crushes his enemies with his tracking disruptor and his special KEYBOARD SHOUT MOVE.

Standing before them is an unscouted 112 jump roam which they must complete before Zodiac can return to Molden Heath to claim his throne. In order to gain the throne, he must find the magical Golden Rifter, which has immunity to ECM, infinite repping powers and wasp-like agility. The Golden Rifter lies idle at an abandoned pos inside the wormhole, he must claim the ship as his own and then fly it back to Molden Heath. However, all is not as it seems as legend states that the Golden Rifter is guarded by a fleet of advanced cloakies believed to be alts of one person.

They are under the protection of Dian Lung, queen of the Caldari gods. Their roam is replete with battles against Hatcheries, who are part of an alliance of cutthroat winged beasts who stand in their path through nullsec space, a giant bronze statue of Altaen, who would, with the presence of Electus Matari, protect Metropolis from pirates and Amarrian invaders by circling the regional stargates three times daily, a hydra like ECM creature that spawns from the asteroid belts and plexes known as Nergalion, and an animated skeleton army that spring from high-sec gates which the Rifternauts called Eve Uni, all this brought to life under the wizardry of the stars and nebulae of New Eden.

Synopsis.

Dirty Protagonist usurps the throne of Molden Heath by podding Wensley, King of the Rifters. However, there is a prophecy that he will be overthrown by a child of Wensley wearing one black leather boot. When he kills one of Wensley's daughters after she had sought and been granted the protection of Dian Lung, Dirty Protagonist makes an enemy of the goddess.

Four expansions and numerous emergency patches later, Zodiac Black, clone son now grown to be a pod pilot, saves the life of Dirty Protagonist during a chance encounter in a hot tub in Oddelulf, but loses one of his black leather boots in doing so. He does not know that he has rescued his father's murderer, but Dirty Protagonist recognizes his nemesis. DP keeps his identity secret. However, he cannot just pod Zodiac; the prophecy also says that he himself would lose all his implants.

When he learns that Zodiac is undertaking a dangerous roam to obtain the fabled Golden Rifter to rally the people of Molden Heath, DP encourages him, hoping that he will be podded in the attempt. Capsuleers from all over New Eden compete for the honor of joining Zodiac. Since their fleet comprises mostly of Rifters, they are dubbed the Rifternauts. Among those chosen are Darkstar Pownyouall and xxxAlloxxx, the son of DP, who is sent by his father to sabotage the roam.

Zodiac is taken to Teonusude top station by Durzo Smith to speak to the gods Sard Caid and Dian Lung. Dian tells him that she wishes him well, but that Sard has imposed restrictions on her assistance (Zodiac, like all capsuleers, is a piece in the game which the gods play against each other. This is an accurate portrayal of Molden Heath life and rarely found in any other region). Zodiac is told that he can only invoke Dian's aid five times (the same number of times his sister called on the goddess by name for help before she was slain). In response to Zodiac's unasked questions, Dian tells him to search for the Rifter in the land of Paragon Soul, on the other side of the wormhole.

Many dangers threaten the roam. When the Rifternauts run perilously low on supplies and ammo, Zodiac turns to Dian. She guides him to a secure cargo container on a planet in Taff solar system in Metropolis, but warns him to take nothing but provisions. However, while chasing some tasty looking space goats, Darkstar and his young friend n00bpwner4000 find a partially-open vault belonging to the gods, surmounted by an enormous bronze statue of Altaen. Despite n00b's warning, Darkstar steals an enormous lump of Megacyte the size of a tracking disruptor. The statue comes to life and attacks, causing much mayhem before Zodiac can destroy it using Dian's advice. n00b goes missing and is presumed podded, but the guilt-ridden Darkstar refuses to leave until he knows for certain. The other Rifternauts will not abandon Darkstar for fear of losing his tracking disrupting powers, so Zodiac is forced to call on Dian for the last time. She confirms that n00b has indeed been podded and that Darkstar is destined not to continue with them.

Dian also directs them to seek out Overnauta, the blind seer, for the way to Paragon Soul. They find him tormented by two blue-skinned, bat-like Hatcheries called Michael Harari and Im Jed, sent by Sard to punish him for misusing his gift of prophecy. In return for imprisoning the flying creatures, Overnauta tells Zodiac what he needs to know and gives him his only possession, an implant that gives a 5 percent bonus to small projectile fire. To reach Paragon Soul however, they must pass through Rancer, a system flanked by towering smartbombs that shake and pulse to destroy any ships attempting to pass through the stargate. Fortunately for the Rifternauts, they learn this second hand. Another ship tries to run the gate from the other direction and is destroyed. In despair, Zodiac ejects Overnauta's gift into space; the god Kane Rizzel emerges and holds back the smartbombs long enough to let the Rifternauts pass through the stargate. On the other side of the gate, they pick up three survivors from the other ship, including Lao Mah, the high priestess of the goddess Kaeda Maxwell.

Michael Harari camps the entrance to EC-P8R

They sight Paragon Soul the next day. xxxAlloxxx and Zodiac disagree on how to approach the owner of the wormhole. The argument escalates into a 1v1 frig fight. Eventually xxxAlloxxx runs out of ammo and ejects into space to escape. Believing him off scan, Zodiac and his fleet accept an invitation from the owner of the wormhole to a feast, but once they are off guard, they are captured and imprisoned inside a pos forcefield. xxxAlloxxx has betrayed them, telling the owner of the wormhole about their mission. However, Lao Mah helps Zodiac and his fleet escape.

xxxAlloxxx tries to steal the Golden Rifter for himself, but is fatally podded by its guardian, the many-ECM-headed Nergalion, who surprises everyone by uncloaking in a Rapier inside the wormhole so far from his home system of Heild.

Nergalion decloaks.

Zodiac succeeds in killing the ECM monster and taking the Golden Rifter. But the owner of the wormhole is not far behind. He scatters the wreckage of Nergalion's Rapier across an asteroid belt and prays to Kaeda-- the goddess of witchcraft, necromancy and magic. The wreckage turns into an armed skeleton anti-pie Eve Uni fleet who pursue and battle Zodiac and two of his fleet with an enormous blob of 50 ships with Griffin and Blackbird support.

Eve Uni await their orders to burn down the enemy.

Seeing that his companions have been jammed and then slain, Zodiac escapes by jumping out of the wormhole and back into Empire space.

The quest fulfilled, he, Lao Mah and the surviving Rifternauts start the return voyage to Molden Heath.

====

The cast, in no particular order.

Im Jed (Harpie creature #1)

Michael Harari (Harpie creature #2)

Dian Lung (Hera)

Dirty Protagonist (Pelias)

n00bpwner4000 Pounder (Hylas)

DARKSTAR POWNYOUALL (Hercules)

Zodiac Black (Jason)

Overnauta (Phineas)

Durzo Smith (Hermes)

Wensley (King Aristo)

Kaeda Maxwell (Hecate)

Lao Mah (Medea)

Kane Rizzel (Triton)

Altaen (bronze statue creature)

xxxAlloxxx (Acastus)

Sard Caid (Zeus)

Nergalion (Hydra)

Eve University (Skeleton Army)

Thank you for reading. This Jason and the Argonauts eve online parody was brought to you by the Friends of Molden Heath Film Productions. All characters are portrayed as a work of fiction. No likeliness is intended with actual characters. Any likeliness is pure coincidence. All corporations and alliances mentioned are the work of fiction. Any likeliness is again, purely fictional and coincidental.

MB.

pdf version The [R1FTA] School of Hard Knocks

2011-12-19T14:16:00.001Z

I recently received some requests for a pdf version of the guide I recently created for bloodthirsty new pvp pilots. Whilst I'd love to say I got hard at it and produced the goods, sadly in reality I just didn't have the time to make this happen.

*sigh*

So imagine my surprise when a document lands on my desk from my corp mate Joe Struck!

The [R1FTA] School of Hard Knocks pdf

Thanks go out to Joe Struck for the time and effort he put into this. Looks good mate. Cheers.

Joe Struck. Head of [R1FTA] I.T Dept & part-time combat pilot.

MB.

A Tribute to The Ecca One

2011-12-17T20:48:00.000Z

I was today informed of the sad passing of our corp mate and friend, The Ecca One. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this sad time.

:(

In a game that at times is so far removed from reality, it is often difficult to express the desired words and/or do the correct thing under such circumstances. I write this blog post as a lasting tribute to a fellow eve gamer.

The Ecca One

MB.

The R1FTA School of Hard Knocks (A Guide for New Pilots)

2011-12-14T03:09:00.004Z

This is a rough and ready guide that is aimed at the newer eve player who is just setting up in eve and wants to blast down the route to a pvp play style. It can also be perhaps useful to those with only a little amount of experience in pvp who want to expand their options and hit the ground running. Or to be more straight to the point - to get out there exploding spaceships.

Disclaimer.

It will be very biased and it will contain opinions and thought processes that not everybody out there will agree with. This is the R1FTA School of Hard Knocks, we come from the mindset that any fight that results in the destruction of your own or your opponent's spaceship is a damned good thing.

This guide will give quick pointers on some of the essentials that I had to dig out info for when I was starting 'on the road'. It might not be the most detailed but it should at least give you the basics, from there you can dig deeper yourself if you wish!

---

So you want to be a Rock Star?

There is a select group of pilots in New Eden who are labelled as outstanding pvp'ers. They shine like a beacon in local, their mere presence in a chat channel can excite and inspire. They aren't unbeatable, far from it. They started somewhere right? A quick glance at their stats reveals a goldmine of pvp killmails. Then you look at your own stats. You feel daunted somewhat? Or inspired? Heck, you want to be on that ladder. How did these maniacs rack up all those kills? Take me to this place! How did they do it? Let's start from scratch.

Choosing your character's race.

In reality the race of your chosen toon makes absolutely no difference to your options in-game. It is more of a personal thing. Your character will represent you in-game. You are that picture you see in your bio, the eve player base don't know you as the family man from Michigan with the wife and kids or whatever you are or wherever you come from. You choose to be a gun toting, tattooed, mohawk sporting Brutor with that nasty grin and cool as ice leather jacket then that is what they will see you as. Choose something that intrigues you, this decision does not stop you from training any race's ship hulls and weapon systems further down the line so go crazy and take your time choosing a cool name too.

A very quick run down on the available races.

Amarr - Laser breathing zeal. Missile spewing Slavers. The largest of the empires of New Eden. A deeply religious people. Their laser weapons can only deal out EM and Thermal damage. They have great armour defences. They wear hoods.

Gallente - Up close and personal. Blasters and drones. Pop star like race of liberalists of the Free World with people with pink hair and funky clothing and an unhealthy addiction to energy drinks. Good armour defences. Versatile ships. Limited damage types.

Caldari - Capitalist, missile spitting, shield tanking, ECM jamming, pig-dogs. The Caldari State is steeped in military tradition.

Minmatar - Projectiles. Fast ships. Armour and shield choices. Drones too. Minmatar is perhaps the most balanced way to go, although this choice can be skill intensive, you won't regret the maniacal lifestyle of the Minmatar. Can deal any damage type.

Nice hairstyle! So what next?

So you've created your monster. You want to jump on in now and get your pvp feet wet. So what is pvp? What can you expect?

Eve combat is deep, many variables can influence the outcome of battle, some more obvious than others, many less so. To fully cover everything related to pvp would require a journal of epic proportions. But this is what makes pvp in eve so beautiful, you see. Every fight is different, every locking of horns can harbour any myriad of outcomes.

You can pvp in eve within a few hours of rolling your character. It can take months to become anywhere near competent and years to be a master. However, this should not put you off. With the correct application and attitude you can begin the enjoyable, if sometimes frustrating path towards a career in pvp.

The key thing to remember is you will eventually soak up knowledge, from the very first time you lose a ship to your most recent loss.

Losses bring knowledge! Don't be afraid of dying!

A loose set of rules to follow on your pvp adventure.

1. This is probably the golden rule and you will hear this time and time again during your eve career but DON'T FLY WHAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE! This is a game, don't get to the stage where you're flying something that you get attached to because it is super expensive or you just used your last 100 million isk to fit it out. Be sensible and stick to the limits of your bank balance. Do not leave yourself short.

2. To counter the above. Once your ship is fitted up and locked and loaded, get into your head that from now on the ship is scrap metal. It is already dead, you already lost it! This will take a while to adjust to, some veteran players consider this an alien way of thinking. By thinking like this you won't be as bothered when your ship goes boom. Which it will, every ship will die! You will also become fearless when it comes to engaging in a fight that maybe you might have backed away from previously.

3. Every ship will die! As above, unless you are going to be one of those elite players who spins ships all day and never undocks, remember that your ship will explode at some point. It just will okay, trust me.

4. Never trust anyone. Never. Not even me (except for what I said above). Eve is home to some crooked people. Don't trust them. They are all evil. Especially when it comes to engineering fights.

5. Always rename your ship. A ship hull that hasn't been named is like sticking a big neon sign above your ship that reads HEY GUYS THIS IS PETER458'S CATALYST AND I'M RATTING IN TOP BELT COME HAVE A LOOK I'M SAT AT ZERO on an enemies directional scanner.

6. Learn to master the directional scanner! We'll look at the directional scanner in more detail a little later. But, this is the most powerful tool you have as a pvp pilot. It is also easy to learn. Learn to use it and then use it! Simple.

7. Learn that cap stable ships in pvp in 99% of cases are bad. So many players strive to fit out a cap stable ship when venturing into pvp. Why? Good question! Remember that most pvp fights won't last that long anyway and if they do you've done something wrong in the first place by not killing your enemy sooner. You can successfully fly ships with 8 seconds of standard capacitor in pvp. Also, to get a ship cap stable requires using up precious slots and rig points that can be utilized far better by sticking combat mods in their place. So just to be clear. Don't purposefully set out to make your ships cap stable. Okay? Glad we're now clear on that one. Still not sure? Go look at any killboard of the top listed pilots and show me a fit they lost with capacitor rechargers installed in the mid-slots.

8. Rigs. Always rig your ships. Gone are the days when rigs were only viable on large ships due to their high cost. Most rigs are now affordable, use them. Take a moment to read what each type of rig does and what it can bring to your pvp ship.

9. Acquire a knowledge of good fitting manner. In your early days of pvp don't be tempted to mash together one of your own fits. These usually turn out bad. Instead, study killboards of corporations and pilots who have years of experience. Check their losses, look at the fits. You can also access good fits from websites such as failheap challenge.

10. Damage control habits. Get into the routine of always switching on your damage control after every undock or jump into a new system. It will never compromise your capacitor levels. You'd be surprised how many pilots who don't do this sometimes forget to switch on their damage control too late in a fight or even not at all. Think of your damage control as your seatbelt. If you have one fitted then make sure it is ALWAYS on!

11. Don't ever fit a warp core stabilizer to a pvp ship. Ever. They are bad, m'kay?

12. Finally. The shakes. If you're doing things right and you are getting your kicks through eve pvp you should come across a marvellous drug-like experience that most combat pilots call 'the shakes'. The rule is that you will need to keep a clear level of concentration while you are experiencing this quite addictive feeling. The shakes can make you do silly mistakes, make you lose fights you could have won, make your arms do things involuntarily. Once you learn to fly and fight through the shakes barrier you can say that you've made it as a pvper. Remember that the shakes are good, they aren't a bad thing. It's an adrenaline kick like no other. Learn to live with this.

---

Frigate Lore.

To begin with, forget about cruisers, battlecruisers, battleships and imperial star destroyers and other large hulls. The frigate is going to be your workhorse on your pvp journey. Frigates offer the best value for money, at little risk. You can fit out a frigate for a couple of million isk. Frigates are fun, every decent pvper worth his salt started out in frigates and most are still in them. Doesn't that tell you something?

Even a semi-skilled frigate pilot can easily take out destroyers, cruisers and in some cases battlecruisers and battleships. But these ship classes won't be your staple target diet, of course you won't shy away should an opportunity present itself but instead try to concentrate on frigate v frigate combat. The beauty of frigate combat is that given the mind-boggling amount of possible fits out there, any frigate can in theory kill any frigate.

Your first frigate.

We're going to look at some basic entry level tech 1 frigates. The fits are designed for (relatively) easy access during your first few weeks and months. You should look to train towards the tech 2 guns at the very earliest opportunity but don't be afraid of sticking some equivalent tech 1 'named' guns on there until you are skilled towards the tech 2 weapons. Same goes with the other modules.

Incursus.

The Incursus is a Gallente blaster boat, it is a cheap and throwaway do-or-die frigate. You need to fly these ships with no fear, as fights will often end with your ship's hull on fire or you in your pod--it really is a race to hull sometimes in these little firecrackers. One thing is for certain, you'll have a lot of fun learning your trade in this ship.

[Incursus, Afterblaster]

3x Light Neutron Blaster II (Null S) Tech 1 'named' guns don't really work with this fitting. Train up those tech 2 weapons now!

-

1MN Afterburner II You can use a 'named' afterburner if you can't yet fit the tech 2 module.

J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I Self explanatory warp stopper.

X5 Prototype Engine Enervator Your webifier, keeps your opponent close by and in blaster range, assuming you manage to land the thing in the first place of course.

-

Emergency Damage Control I Always switch on your Damage Control!

F-aQ Phase Code Tracking Subroutines Tracking Enhancer that enhances your tracking. Haha!

Small Hybrid Burst Aerator I
Small Hybrid Collision Accelerator I

1x Hobgoblin II Tech 2 drone is a must here really. Look to train for tech 2 drones as soon as you have trained up your weapons to tech 2 level. Tech 1 drone used here until you have skilled up, but be advised it won't really do that much to your damage dealing potential.

Flying style.

With this ship (with t2 weapons) you will want to try and 'keep range' from your opponent on the edge of scram range. We do this by setting our 'keep range' function to something around the 7500-8000 mark. If we have the ability to do so, overheating our weapons, scrambler and webifier gives us extra range and damage to play with. Don't burn them out though! We can also overheat the afterburner if we get into a tricky situation, if you need to overheat the jets I'd suggest cutting the heat to the other mid-slot modules or you'll end up with a burnt out middle. Not nice.

Once the enemy begins to burn towards you and close the range, switch your flying to 'orbit' mode. Set your orbit to something like 16000-20000, this should (in theory) keep you away from the advancing foe. Then, going in for the final kill we switch back to the previous 'keep at range' setting. If it looks like your opponent is now trying to run from you, hit approach to gain range and then switch back to keeping him at range or just go at him full on to finish him off, assuming it looks like the fight is going your way. After a bit of practice you should find yourself getting used to this tactic and winning more fights than you lose.

Alternatively you could try a buffer fit Incursus.

[Incursus, 200Buffer]
Damage Control II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I

1MN Afterburner II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter S
Light Ion Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter S Here we can use some 'named' tech 1 guns if we like.

Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Small Hybrid Ambit Extension I
Small Ancillary Current Router I

Hobgoblin II x1

Flying style.

This fit relies on the buffer from the armor plating for added survivability during fights. You can fly this similarly to the above Incursus if you have the tech 2 weapons and load null, or you can go for an in-your-face smash and grab style of fighting by going in close and orbiting at 500 and praying, with the faction antimatter loaded. Again, overheat guns, set your drone loose and have fun. The fit may require a good level of fitting skills (Weapon Upgrades, Advanced Weapon Upgrades). You may need to switch some tech 2 modules for meta modules to make this work or in some very low-skill cases use a Micro Auxiliary Power Core in place of the damage control, although I wouldn't really advise this.

Rifter.

The Rifter is a bad ass fire-spitting flying machine gun on steroids, the every day diet of the Black Rebel Rifter Club pilot, but you guessed that already by the name right? It can be fitted out in an unbelievable amount of different ways. Shield fits, 200mm armor fits, big fat 400mm plated fits, dual repper fits, cap booster fits, artillery fits, and I think the list goes on. We're going to concentrate on the 'cookie' Rifter fit. A universally acknowledged 'standard' Rifter.

[Rifter, Cookie NOS]

Damage Control II Your hull-saver lifeline. You can fit a 'named' tech 1 module here but really you should be using the tech 2 module. Some people like to fit a Gyrostabilizer here for extra damage and rate of fire. They are very brave or cocksure. You need to remember that once you start bleeding hull points with no damage control fitted you will inevitably go pop.

Small Armor Repairer II Again you can get away with the tech 1 modules here until your skills are up.

200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I Your buffer for extra survivability.

--

Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters Poverty line tech 1 afterburner. Fit tech 2 if you feel flush.

J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I Standard tech 1 warp stopper.

X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator Your webifier, use tech 2 if you prefer. Not essential though by any means.

--

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Barrage S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Barrage S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Barrage S Some of the tech 1 'named' guns can dish out some mean damage, some are quite expensive too, find the right balance for you. Train up for the tech 2 guns as soon as possible. Barrage gives you extra options during fights.

E5 Prototype Energy Vampire This will replenish your own capacitor levels by stealing capacitor from the ship that you have it targeted on. If your capacitor level is lower than that of your opponent and the module is operating in range. This can be a lifesaver in certain circumstances.

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Ambit Extension I
Small Projectile Ambit Extension I

Flying Style.

The science to flying a Rifter is ..... Well, there isn't any science. There is some skill to flying one, of course, but you can get straight into pvp and learn along the way by strapping yourself in and throwing yourself into combat.

You are going to be agile and fast. Use this to your advantage, whether it be closing and dictating range or running away from a fight--never be afraid to turn tail. You can use the fall-off from the Barrage ammunition and try to kite your opponent, similar tactics to as discussed with our first Incursus fit or you can go in close and fight knuckle-to-knuckle with faction ammo.

With the armor repairer you are for the most part looking to 'pulse' this module. You will need to set your auto-repeat to off (you can set this by right-clicking the module in space). The repairer will then de-activate after each cycle. You will need some careful capacitor and cycle management when mastering this ship, but after some practice you should start to get the hang of things. Sometimes mid-fight you can switch the repper to run permanently if you think your cap will last.

The beauty of this ship is in figuring it out for yourself. To discuss every little tactical detail would in some ways be like putting in a spoiler alert. Go out there and have a blast learning your trade in this multi-functional death machine.

A word on ammunition types. When out in the Rifter I will always have the following in the cargohold ready to use.

Barrage.
Republic Fleet Phased Plasma.
Republic Fleet Fusion.
Republic Fleet EMP.

I will carry anything between 700-1500 of these rounds.

Other frigate options.

With the two Incursus fits and the Rifter fit I've gone for two cheap and easy fittings to give you an idea of what to go for as you start your pvp career. Other options to look into and research include fits for:

Punisher. An Amarrian tech 1 frigate that rivals the Rifter as numero uno in the fight for the top frigate crown. Can be fitted with lasers or autocannons. Is well known for its strong armor tank. Definitely a tough frigate although the lack of mid-slot modules does hamper your choices somewhat.

Merlin. The Caldari frigate of choice. Although slow it has a tough shield tank that can be hard to crack. Uses a combination of either blasters/rockets/missiles/railguns and can sport any other weapon platform in some niche fittings--autocannons and lasers are not uncommon. Well worth looking into if you want to go down the Caldari route.

Tristan. The Gallente split-weapons system frigate. A tough frigate, more skill intensive to get into than the Incursus. If flown and fitted correctly can make for a mean frigate. One to progress to perhaps after the Incursus.

Kestrel. Traditionally a Caldari missile boat. Rocket fits are now popular and this frigate, although paper thin on the defence front can spring a few surprises to those who look on it as an easy kill.

Understanding your modules.

Get to know and fully understand what your basic pvp modules do for your ship, here is a basic run down of the most important basic modules used during pvp.

Damage Controls. This module generally makes your ship stronger by reinforcing the internal structure of your ship and providing uniform resists across the board when you need them the most. Always a good option for frigate fits.

Armor Repairers. Reps or reppers as they are commonly known give you the ability to repair incoming damage to your ship's armor hitpoints at the expense of capacitor. Essentially giving you more time on the field. In theory.

Armor Plates. Armor plates are available in various sizes. Concentrate on the 200mm and 400mm versions for frigate combat. The best available and therefore most expensive being the Reinforced Rolled Tungsten version. You will not be able to fit anything bigger than a 400mm plate on a frigate, nor should you be using anything smaller than a 200mm plate. 100mm and 50mm. Nope. Don't do it. Ever.

Warp Scrambler. Commonly referred to as the scram. The warp scrambler will stop a pilot from warping away from a fight providing that he does not have two warp core stabilizers fitted. The warp scrambler has two points of scrambling power versus the warp core stabilizer's 1 point scramble strength. It also shuts down an opposing ship's active MicroWarpdrive and operates at standard ranges of between 7.5-9km, increased when overheated.

Warp Disruptor. The warp disruptor offers more range (20-24km) but only has 1 point of scramble strength, they do not turn off MicroWarpdrives and they also use too much capacitor to activate. Only really used on specialist long-range tackle fits like interceptors or kiting frigates.

Afterburners. Propulsion modules are vital for good frigate combat. The afterburner boosts the ship's speed at the expense of capacitor. Always turned on during combat.

MicroWarpdrives. MWD's as they are commonly known boost the speed by a massive amount, but at the expense of more capacitor over the afterburner. They also increase your signature radius bloom, making you much easier to hit by enemy fire despite your boost in speed. They are also deactivated by warp scramblers. Often used on tackle interceptors and some specialist kiting ships or throw-away tackle frigs. For the most part you should always look to fit an afterburner for frigate combat.

Stasis Webifiers. Webs or webbers. These modules slow your opponent down by a set amount depending on the webifier type. They come in useful in allowing you to dictate range and to stop would be escapers from escaping out of scram range.

Nosferatu (Energy Vampires). These modules replenish your own capacitor levels by stealing capacitor from the ship that you have it targeted on, if it is in range and if your capacitor percentage is lower than that of your opponent. Range is below 6.5km.

Neutralizers. Similar to Nosferatu modules. Energy neutz suck the opponent's capacitor dry at the expense of your own capacitor levels, although you lose less than you take. They work well against active tanked fits, i.e fits running an armor repairer. Range up to 6.25km.

Overheating.

A quick note on overheating modules. Overheating your modules can give you a massive edge during combat as it allows you to squeeze out extra performance but at the risk of burning them out completely. I'd recommend training the Thermodynamics skill to at least 4. There are some great individual guides and debates out there on overheating and I'd highly advise searching for them and studying them in detail.

Skills needed for overheating (Thermodynamics).

Thermodynamics.

Prerequisite skills.

Engineering 5.
Energy Management 3.
Science 4.

Certainly not the quickest of trains but definitely worth training for early in your pvp career for that added performance boost.

Implants/Hardwirings.

Choosing whether or not to roll with implants is purely a decision you must make on whether you can afford to or not. It is definitely worth doing as the bonuses given to learning and combat can give you a tactical edge and speed up your skilling times. Just remember to warp your pod out often by spamming the warp to button BEFORE your ship explodes when a fight looks like it is turning sour, and you should lose less implants.

I'd recommend a cheap set of learning implants, up to +3 in some cases and I'd advise reading up on what particular hardwirings give boosts to your chosen ship and flying styles. I'd then look at buying a few sets of these implants and keeping them with your ship stash.

Choosing a home system and the ship stash tactic of learning.

This method is recommended by most as an excellent way of learning combat the hard way. We say the hard way because you will die often, however, as we mentioned before, dying often and taking in the knowledge from these experiences and evaluating your application and errors can only hold you in good stead for the future.

You will need to figure out a base of operations--your ship stable. Ideally if you want to go down the route of low-sec pvp you will be better off selecting a low-sec system that is not more than a few jumps away from a bordering high-sec system. This can be advantageous for finding targets and for logistic purposes. You might want to scout out the neighbourhood first, you don't want to move into a poorly researched system where you are sharing one station with a bunch of angry pirates now do you?

If you're going down the high-sec route of pvp then all you need do is set-up your stash in one of the major market hubs. Jita, Rens, Amarr, Dodixie, Hek, for example.

Your stash you say?

Yes, you are going to save up enough isk (or sell some plexes) to purchase a bunch of frigates of your choice, complete with fittings and ammo. You are going to base them out of your newly decorated home system and you're going to fly them all until you lose every single one of them. Go for what you can realistically afford, ideally you want to have at least 10 frigates. I'd recommend more like 20. More if you can. Get a friend or courier service to ship your modules into your new home system. I'd highly recommend Black Frog Logistics here. Alternatively, if you can't afford the courier services, base your stash in the neighbouring high-sec systems. You can keep revisiting your stash until your security status tells you otherwise.

This gives you 10, 20, or 30 or so individual roams, fights, experiences. Keep a journal of every fight, what went wrong, what you fought against, how the fight went, et cetera. Make notes on the pilot you fought against, what tactics did he use, what ship did he fly, did he call in friends, do you see him often.

Don't be afraid to send a message asking for advice on the fights you have. For every idiot who will smack you there will be a good guy willing to offer tips and help you out. Sometimes you may get free ships, ISK, or the offer of a rematch. On the same subject, be polite in defeat, don't resort to smacking or being an idiot or getting mad over an internet spaceship. People will remember the smacking idiots.

Get to know the local area, make safe spots in all the systems you visit. Make insta-undocks from your home station to evade anybody that decides to camp you in.

Once your stash is depleted, study your notes that you made. Take time out to evaluate your current situation and how you can apply yourself better. You may even be getting the hang of things by now and you may have some shiny loot to ship back to market to sell. You may even have another stash of ships on the way ready to burn through.

I'd highly recommend this stash method to new players and I'm sure a lot of other pilots out there will too.

Target selection.

We talked briefly about frigate v frigate combat. In most cases you shouldn't be afraid to try any frigate duel, to test your mettle and push yourself in combat against any frigate pilot. But what else can we look out for when it comes to target selection?

Destroyers.

Even though they have recently been buffed you can still take out an enemy destroyer in your frigate. Look out for ratting destroyers hopping the asteroid belts, usually with their pilot name advertised on their ship hulls. These should be easily taken out with your frigate. You will occasionally come up against a destroyer that is fit for one thing in mind. Frig killing. It will often be a tough fight, you can still beat these destroyers but the fight will be hard. If you do find yourself taking a resounding beating against one of these frig-cutters take the experience on the chin and move on and hope the next one isn't so mean.

Cruisers and above.

There is a theme here and generally it is if somebody is ratting or doing other pve activities then you probably have a very good chance of taking them down. A cruiser in an asteroid belt shooting at rats is well worth a nibble. If it is a drone boat the general idea should be to scram the opponent's ship and target and then destroy each drone, webbing the drones helps too. From this point if you are still alive you should be able to get a tight orbit on your enemy and finish him off. The same goes for battlecruisers and battleships. The only problem in these cases is if you run out of ammo or not.

Don't be afraid to try and poke these larger hulls. In some cases some of these ships will be tricked out for killing frigs by trapping you into thinking you are scoring an easy kill. They will have anti-frig guns, lots of webs, drones, neutz. It will not end well. Again, learn from these experiences and move on.

Mining barges/Industrials.

If you see a mining barge in a belt or an industrial at a customs office by all means head on in and dish out the pain, the rewards from loot drops can be worth the while. Be aware that a Hulk can be quite deadly if attacked, with its drones causing you some cause for concern if they are tech 2. Also in rare cases you could find yourself attacking a bait battle industrial. These can be quite deadly too.

Tech 2/faction frigates.

Interceptors, faction frigates, assault frigates, electronic attack ships and other advanced frigate hulls can cause you great harm. However, do not be put off. For every good pilot you come across who vaporizes your tech 1 hull you might well find a pilot who is jumping ahead of himself and flying a frigate he doesn't really have the correct skills to fly properly. In these cases you have every chance of removing him of his ship in your tech 1 frigate. You will take great satisfaction from these kills.

Remember, everything is possible whilst at the controls of a frigate hull. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise! The Black Rebel Rifter Club has pilots who have even taken down advanced tech 2 cruiser hulls and advanced recon ships whilst out solo in their frigates. In small gangs they have even removed pilots of their tech 3 cruisers. The sky is the limit! (Until your hullpoints run out).

Intel.

Gathering intel on your chosen target can be the deciding factor of whether you live or die in combat. We spoke about getting to know the area you live in previously but there are other forms of intel worth keeping track on. Use battleclinic to search for your opponent's previous kills/losses, what fits he uses, if he is a solo pilot or a gang flyer. If his record is something like 2-66 (2 kills. 66 losses) go in all guns blazing regardless of what he is flying. If he is something like 2800-66 then I'd err on the side of caution and perhaps look for a different fight, unless you feel your particular match-up might give you the sway, then by all means go for it. But knowing what to expect before the fight can help you immensely. I always have battleclinic loaded up for these purposes. Sometimes a fight is sprung so fast that you don't have time for intel gathering but in most cases you will be able to check.

To go with the above, always keep an eye on local chat and the local count. Frequently check newcomers to local and watch out for spikes (large jumps in the number of current pilots) which could mean a gang is on its way to you or passing through. Look out for corp mates of your potential targets. Make sure that you have local chat on its own in your user interface, don't at any time let it become hidden behind another chat window.

Check dotlan maps for recent hot-spots of activity. Such things like noticing a choke point on your route with 88 kills in the last hour can only mean a gate camp is locking and killing everything that passes through. Time to change your route.

Similarly, you can use the maps to look for systems where potential targets might be. We can check for statistics on how many rats have been killed in the last hour to give us an idea of where the ratters are.

Get into the habit of using intel to your advantage.

Overview set-up.

Setting up your overview in pvp is vital. There are plenty of guides out there that will show you how to go about setting one up that is pvp efficient. Go check them out!

Personally I have my main pvp tab that only has ships visible, I have a separate tab for drones and I have a standard tab with everything on. On my pvp tab I always have the sun on the overview, so that if it looks like I am going to lose I can start spamming the warp button to the sun. Be sure to then move off after you land at the sun as most evil doers will try following you!

I don't have any blues on my overview. Having blues or corp mates on your overview will only end in tears.

As for the columns, I like to keep it nice and simple. From left to right I have. Targeting Icon >>> Distance >>>> Name >>>>> Ship Type >>>>> Velocity.

This setup keeps it nice and simple, it doesn't blind you with unnecessary info and you can easily work out where a ship is in relation to yourself and whether or not it is coming or going, moving or static.

My drone tab is self explanatory really, all drones that I want to shoot at are in here. Nothing else.

The standard tab is there if I need to quickly warp to a station or gate or a planet or something.

Find the overview that works best for you but make sure it is correct by reading through the guides and understanding how to correctly set up the columns. Also remember to save your settings! One last thing worth remembering is to always add scan probes to your overview settings, that way you can easily work out if somebody is trying to probe out your safe spot.

Directional scanner.

The most powerful tool at your disposal is the directional scanner. Learn how to use this tool and you are well on the way on the road to pvp greatness. It may seem a little daunting at first but once it clicks and you get to grips with how it works then you're in business.

You can easily pinpoint a potential target, with practice, within a few seconds of entering a system. If there is a cluster of belts near the entry jumpgate to the system I have just entered and somebody is in the belts the chances are that I will know his exact location within a few seconds, before my cloak has even dropped. In these cases I am on my way to my target before he knows I'm in system.

First of all after opening the scanner (alt & D or click the scanner tab on the hud) you will need to set the maximum scanner distance.

Click on the directional scanner tab.

The maximum range of the scanner is 2147483647 km

Approximately 14.3 AU

You can auto set this by entering a lot of 9's like this

999999999999999999999999

It will then auto set to the maximum.

Done?

Excellent, now that was easy let's get down to using the thing.

The scanner works on a degree basis with your ship being the central scan point. Scroll out now so your ship is smaller than it was when it was on the standardized camera view. With practice you will learn what a good size to go with is. If you click on your ship you will see a white box. Use this box as your cross-hair.

Check the box 'use active overview settings'.

Click the slider to 360 degrees then hit the scan button.

This will make your scanner pick up everything within 14.3 AU of you and in every direction. When searching for a target this should be your first action.

If you see something on scan your next action will be to try and narrow it down to give you a more detailed idea of where it is.

Drag the slider to 180 degrees.

Now remember that the scanner's directional system relates to your forward facing camera view.

At 180 degrees, you scan the entire screen in front of you.

At 90 degrees your scanning angle is slightly bigger than your screen (depending on your screen size).

At 60 degrees your scan is slightly smaller than your screen.

30 degrees will relate to a circle in the middle of your screen (half of your total vertical screen size in most cases).

15 degrees is half that again (maybe an inch or so around the centre point).

And finally 5 degrees is only a few pixels wider than that box on your ship (your cross-hair).

All that make sense?

Good. I thought so. If not, read through it again. Then go out and play with the scanner for a bit. Eventually you will get the hang of it and will soon be finding targets at 5 degrees within a few seconds of jumping into a system. Alternatively you can just align your cross-hair at 5 degrees to planets, belts, stations and see what you pick up that way.

Easy!

Pvp styles and options.

What kind of pvp is actually out there? We'll take a brief look at your options here.

High-sec can flipping. This style of fight engineering involves stealing items/ore from cans or wrecks. It can be used to spring traps and surprise people into fighting when they don't want to, for example you can switch stolen items into a new cargo container and when that player takes 'his' stuff back he becomes 'red' to you, enabling you to attack.

It can also be used to arrange fights between two willing parties. Although this doesn't always result in a fair fight as you often take aggression with an entire corporation. Third party neutral repping alts can also be used against you in this method of pvp.

This style of pvp can get you some good fights, you have the added bonus of being able to keep your security status well-polished. It can be a frustrating life to lead, sometimes the fights aren't always there. Definitely worth trying though as a new player.

Low-sec Pirate. The low-sec pirate lives a murderous lifestyle, he has no politics holding him back and he will attack and often kill anything that crosses his path. He relies on ransoming and loot drops to fund his lifestyle.

This style of pvp means that eventually you will lose access with your pirate character to most if not all parts of high-sec space. But don't let that put you off. Piracy in eve is great fun. I highly recommend giving it a try and taking on the life of a -10 plunderer.

Mercenary. The mercenary is often part of a group of players who mostly (but not always) operate in high-sec by using war-declaration mechanics to fight against a target character/corporation/alliance for payment of ISK as a reward for kills and disruption of activities. Terms of agreement are usually preset in an agreed contract. Great sums of ISK are axchanged in these contracts.

Mercenary work can be a viable option if you can get into a mercenary corporation. Ideally though you will need some form of pvp experience as most will not recruit a rookie with nothing to back him up with.

Ninja. A ninja engineers fights by utilizing aggression mechanics to gain aggression rights against his target. Usually the targets are mission runners in high-sec space. The rewards of this lifestyle can be great with nice loot drops and ransoms. It can be a profession worked as a solo pilot but again getting into a good ninja corporation can increase the fun factor.

Faction Warfare. Fw can open up pvp options for the rookie pilot by placing him into a constant war between the factions where fights are plentiful in the warfare zones. Before deciding on a life in faction war it is worth reading up and acquiring some knowledge on the subject.

Disadvantages include some high-sec space being inaccessible.

Advantages include isk making opportunities through mission/plex running and loyalty point store access.

Definitely an avenue worth looking into.

Red v Blue Experience. An ongoing war between Red and Blue corporations. Basically you will get to burn through a lot of ships and fight in high-sec, ideally you will need some ISK to back up this experience. Maybe not suited straight away to the new player but definitely worth checking out at some stage. Just don't fly a Rifter in the gang fights, the fc's always primary the Rifter!

This is just a very small selection of things to do in eve. You could also stick to being a solo pilot, a very difficult task but very rewarding.

Here is a chart which maps out some possible things to do in eve.

Regions, systems, hot-spots.

As you fly through space and begin to find fights you will begin to notice the areas that you always seem to be able to find combat, areas that are always busy and areas that you will mostly want to avoid. These vary from region to region, system to system. Obviously the trade hubs are a hive of activity for high-sec warfare.

In low-sec some hot-spots to look out for include.

Amamake. Famed top belt. Easy to find a fight, easy to get yourself killed/ganked/blobbed/podded. I'd recommend hunting in the systems within a few jumps of Amamake.

Tama. The Caldari version of Amamake. I don't visit here often but I'd use the same advice with regards to Amamake.

Old Man Star. A busy system on the Gallente/Caldari faction warfare pipe. Some great systems in and around. Often camped by pirates and faction warfare crews.

That's only three of the obvious systems. You will learn the others as you go along. Remember to keep notes on the systems you find to be busy. Make plenty of safespots in these systems and never stay in one safespot for prolonged amounts of time and certainly never go afk (away from keys) in space.

Choosing a corp.

So you didn't quite like the sound of being a solo pilot? Now you will want to find yourself a new corp. A few pointers.

Always look for a corp with activity. Check their killboards, make sure they are active during your own play time.
Advertise yourself on the forums. State clearly what you are looking for in your new corp and what you have to offer.
Make sure you agree to the corporation's rules on such things as conduct, requirements on your part, ventrilo/teamspeak communications requirements.
Always talk to your potential new corp through chat or in-game mail.
If you feel you've made a mistake don't be afraid to leave.
Make sure it is a fun environment and isn't too strict or work-like. Nobody wants a job in eve. It is a game.

Killboard.

It is always a good idea, regardless of whether you are going solo or joining a corp to get yourself your very own killboard. Griefwatch and eve-kill both offer free killboards for individuals. You can easily keep track of your combat record this way.

Career plan.

Finally, make a career plan and try to stick to it.

If you continue with frigates why not move onto tech 2 frigates? If you do I'd advise training up skills such as Assault Frigate, Interceptor, Electronic Attack Frigates all the way to 5. Getting these skills to 5 should be a must on your skill plan. They really do come into a league of their own when the skills are maxed out for them. Don't be tempted to jump into them before level 3 at the very least. Level 4 is ideal, but 5 is the best!

Max out your gunnery skills. Don't stop at level 4 on what are basically the best skills in the game. Squeezing out the last percentages can make the difference between winning and losing a fight!

Max out your support skills. All the skills you need to fly your chosen ship, make sure you get them to level 4 and then onto level 5!

Don't be tempted to fly cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships with bad skills! You will suffer embarrassing losses. If your plan involves these ships make sure you have the required skills to at least 4, preferably 5.

Always enjoy your eve time and don't get disheartened with the game. If you're not enjoying it then it is time for a change!

--

I hope you found some of this guide useful. Comments encouraged. If I've screwed up with something please let me know. I'm just a n00b at heart myself! Additionally, comments furthering on pointers I have made can be beneficial for anybody reading them.

Cheers.

MB.

edit. pdf read only link now available by clicking here.

Like a Nebulae to the Face

2011-12-12T16:34:00.002Z

I have been blindly running eve on the lowest graphics settings for some time now. I had forgotten entirely that my settings were on this rock bottom level of detail. So come the new patch day I wasn't really blown away by the new nebulae and engine trails, what engine trails? The nebulae all looked a bit samey and overall I thought it was all a bit meh.

Doh.

I noticed this last night after looking through my settings. I immediately whacked all the settings to maximum (all the way to 11) and ticked all the effects boxes (GTX 550 Ti overclocked card ftw) and all I can say is WOW.

Completely blown away. The detail is sweet, the engine trails impressive.

Silly me.

MB.

16 Dramiels ....Conclusion.

2011-12-10T13:03:00.000Z

This task was harder than I first imagined. So many Dramiels to lose that in the end I felt burnt out flying the damned things. I think I managed to lose two, one to a Hurricane (yeah that didn't go too well) and then I lost to an odd ECM Vengeance/Vigil combo. That fight in particular souring my taste for 'the fight' somewhat.

I snagged a handful of kills along the way but nothing too exciting. A not so troubling Rifter, another Rifter and a fallen Hookbill. Oh and a Jaguar too.

The most enjoyable moment of Dramiel flying during this period came when I was invited along on a Tusker Dramiel roam. Kicking off with a Slicer kill as we rumbled out of Hevrice on the way down to our null-sec target destination, what followed was hours of ship slaying, some comedy local moments in Fountain and an attempt by a rival fleet commander to infiltrate Tusker comms and goad out our self-induced log-off with some odd espionage techniques.

Taurean blogged about the roam in a little more detail here.

Some killmail highlights along the way included:

A gang which we encountered early on that was swiftly removed from space with ease.

A shiny low-slot Ishtar.

A Zealot.

And a Tengu.

Great fun. Thanks to Suleiman for the invite.

So I've now stripped the remaining Dramiels and put them to market, with certain modules repackaged and put to use on other ships or ready for shipment to trade hubs. All of my previous fits now obsolete. Which I'm glad about I must admit, I never really did get on with that ship. I much prefer killing them and then killing them some more.

MB.

8-Track Active (Muse)

2011-12-06T03:09:00.000Z

Testing the old 8-track on the Rifter, just wanted to blow away some cobwebs. Max volume, like all the way to 11.

Do it.

MB.

An Interview with Shalee

2011-11-21T13:42:00.001Z

I was recently invited to take part in an interview with Shalee Lianne who runs an excellent faction warfare based blog. The subject being the Black Rebel Rifter Club. I hope you find it an interesting read.

You can find the interview by clicking right here.

Thanks go out to Shalee for the invite.

MB.

16 Dramiels ....

2011-11-17T23:52:00.000Z

12 days .....

Gotta lose them, gotta lose them all.

Coming soon.

A blog post of destruction.

A tale of a frigate's dying days.

Killmails.

Lossmails.

Broken hulls and scorched autocannons.

Soon.

Trademark.

---

In other news ..... The Cult has arrived.

*cough*

MB.

Hijack

2011-11-16T04:51:00.000Z

Time seems to stand still, first the flash and then the bang. Bright and burning and louder than is comfortable, ear-splitting. Popping and then whistling and striking straight to the brain like an intrusive needle poked deep into the eardrum. Panic is taking over, passengers scrambling for the locked emergency escape capsules. Red lights flashing. Alarms wailing. Flashing. Wailing.

Gunshots crackle and bullets bounce off the heavily armoured interior, the odd bullet zipping into the upholstery of the worn seats and tearing into the foam, spraying material up into the air. Everyone falls silent. The passengers look around in shock, almost in disbelief that none of them have caught an unlucky ricochet. The recycled artificial air of the ship's cabin fills with a dirty grey smoke that bites at the lungs like an angry virus. There is coughing and crying, fifty odd people now at the mercy of their captors.

Five men in full combat apparel appear through the smoke, clad in all black they look fearsome, sporting black masks to hide their features they look like they mean business. Assault rifles strapped to their shoulders with fingers on triggers they are sharp and ready. One of them kicks the once sealed heavy steel door that is now spinning on the floor, mangled. His steel toe cap boots crunch the broken metal and burnt plastic underfoot.

"Well Boss look what we have here," the dreadlocked Brutor laughing at his new found cargo, a gleam in his eye. Reaching to his pocket he takes out a small silver flask and takes a long pull of the fiery liquid.

"Aaahhh," he smiles awkwardly at his audience as if he is some kind of twisted showman.

The Boss takes off his black shades and places them neatly in his top pocket. He pulls off his mask that is covering his mouth and tosses it to the floor.

"Everybody remain calm, do not panic. This here is your new crew, everybody back to your seats please."

There is a calmness about this hijack, like this has been rehearsed, or is some kind of routine occurrence.

The gangsters have come for one thing, an important shipment deep down in the belly of the cargohold. A shipment so valuable that these pirates will stop at nothing to get their bloody hands on it. Underworld markets are relying on this shipment. Seedy station-side pushers and disease-ridden junkies--right up to the lab rat booster-cookers at the other end of the spectrum. The chain is waiting. Orders are ready to be filled and veins ready to be poisoned.

The ship banks sharply and the lights in the cabin flicker for a moment pitching the room into temporary darkness between the delayed flickers. A mean looking clean cut man of Caldari bloodline takes an incoming radio message from his two-way.

"Cargo is good, green light on the cargo."

The radio crackles but it is clear that the incoming voice is that of a woman. The Caldari man wipes a bead of sweat from his brow, nodding to his Boss that the mission is almost over and the cargo is safe. The group begin to leave the cabin and enter the corridor back from where some ten minutes ago they had smashed their way in. Then, from the front row of seats a young looking man of Intaki origin stands and begins to spit venom at the Caldari as he is leaving. A young woman, also of the Intaki grabs him trying to pull him desperately back to his seat.

"Son of a whore," he spits.

Taken aback he pauses for a moment, his anger building up inside him. The two men stand there sizing each other up as the Intaki woman cries behind them muttering in a broken Intaki tongue. The gangster smirks and begins to turn heel, resisting the temptation. He carries on towards the corridor as the ships tannoy system announces that the ship's autopilot has been engaged. The ship banks again, this time more violently than before.

~Darkness~

The flicker of lights bathes the cabin in a warm orange glow that sporadically breaks the gloom. The ship's engines boom and then falter as if stalling.

The passengers fall silent.

MB.

Bellicose/Scythe PVP Video

2011-11-07T04:10:00.000Z

A while back we held a corporate Bellicose and Scythe tournament. Dong Orson recorded the footage and has put together a video of the events.

Linky

Warning contains graphic images of ECM.

MB.

On location with Bullywood Productions

2011-11-03T20:56:00.000Z

For the past few weeks I have been flying with my production team - Bullywood Productions, to capture and record material for a future series of pvp videos that I plan to release. Camera drones have been deployed and daring shots by brave and fearless (and somewhat disposable) film crews have been stored for future editing.

As things currently stand my plan is this. There will be a video dedicated to fights whilst piloting the Rifter, in solo combat 1v1's, in small gang fights and up against the odds in 1v2's, 1v3's, 1vblobz, et cetera. Going along the same theme there will also be a Jaguar video and a Wolf video.

At the moment I have a lot of Wolf footage and it looks like I might be able to release this one first. Jags are next for the amount of recorded fights but Rifter footage is low, I keep sitting in belts in my Rifter but it seems it is invisible. So inevitably I hop into a Jag or Wolf and hit a roam and end up finding some cool fights.

I have some nice Wolf footage from a 2v3. Myself and a corp mate both in the Wolf versus another Wolf, a Jaguar and a Myrmidon. All 3 enemy vessels were slain. I also have a cool fight in my Wolf against a Hawk where we both end up exploding, never seen that happen before, pretty cool stuff.

One thing I've noticed from recording my fights is how often I make stupid mistakes. There was this one fight against a Taranis in my dual-rep Rifter where I forgot to fire up the afterburner, and there are a few instances where I randomly click on an asteroid and begin keeping range from the rock instead of the target. Not because I click the target whizzing around on my screen, that would be bad, I just accidentally click things in the adrenaline rush of the fight it seems. I probably wouldn't have noticed any of these things if I hadn't reviewed the footage. I'm a bit of a purist in the sense that I don't use any F keys during combat, I like to click buttons on my mouse and I guess doing it this way makes for a more exciting experience and mistakes are only going to happen. Still, I think it will make for interesting footage either way.

I also wanted to make a Firetail video but after spending some time in the hull I have come to the conclusion that watching me fail miserably by dying every time I undock in the thing wouldn't make for a good watch. I'm thinking of fitting up some Claws and recording fights in that hull, but we'll see how long it takes to burn through all these assault frigates first.

I'm a long way off gathering all the material I need, so would be open to any offers for 1v1's or if anybody wants to throw a small gang at me when I'm in an assault frigate then don't be shy. Just don't embarrass me too much or it won't make the final cut. Heh.

I also need to think about what music I am going to use in my videos, exciting times ahead, it is like being your very own disc jockey. If anybody has any recommendations please do fire away in the comments section. Being cheeky, any donations to this film project would be greatly appreciated in either ISK form or hulls, as the bank manager has told me this project looks like it won't come cheap. If anybody does donate anything then you'd be listed in the end credits.

:)

So that's it, I just wanted to waffle on to let it be known I will have some videos of me dying spectacularly out soon. But not that soon. Also, it will just be pure pvp, none of this fancy boosting malarkey. Raw unadulterated and filthy ship explosions with a sprinkling of music.

See you in space.

Cut!!!

MB.

Corp Spinning

2011-10-27T01:59:00.000+01:00

The recruitment drive rumbles on, inactive members have been kicked from the roster and more pilots are joining to keep things fresh. We're currently standing at approx 75 members, we've got every time zone covered but we want more pilots, more pilots for the Rifter swarm.

In reality most R1FTA pilots enjoy solo roaming, or at least will try their hand at it and take the challenge to master what is for some not an easy play style. Some will snag kills aplenty, some will have barren spells, some will die spectacularly each and every time they undock until they get the hang of it. The facts are that whilst you're out there losing ships and getting into fights, at least you're learning. We also enjoy small roaming frigate gangs, sometimes maybe cruisers. Most of our gangs are usually formed when a target has been reported in intel or a fight has escalated.

As a corp we have hundreds of fitted tech 1 Rifters ready for combat and available for new members should they ask, most pilots tend to come with their own hangar though, but free Rifters are always a good thing, right? We don't care too much about our corp statistics and efficiency ratings, sure, everybody likes to look at a good killmail but we won't berate somebody who is going out losing ships faster than he can fit them. In fact, as CEO I only look at the lossmails if somebody points me to them.

If we do delve into the statistics side of things, we'll see that since firing back up the R1FTA project just over 5 months ago the Rebels have:

2,119 Kills

and

1,888 Losses

To me, that says that in over 5 months we're getting our autocannons dirty, winning slightly more than we're losing, and having a good laugh along the way. We've got a great camaraderie and corporate culture going on in-house, the secrets can only be unlocked once you are in, as they say, but here is a teaser.

Barry White - former Rifter pilot.

We've destroyed almost 52 Billion ISK worth of ships and fittings.

and

Lost some 33 Billion ISK

This spike in kills and a fire-first-ask-questions-later attitude saw the Black Rebel Rifter Club climb to number 25 in the battleclinic corporate rankings for recent ship violencing.

I think I may have mentioned this previously :) Photo courtesy of Sard Caid Publishing.

Looking into the details a little further.

All R1FTA Rifters come pre-loaded with R2 units for pilot safety.

The top 10 ships flown in kills by R1FTA pilots are:

1 Rifter (well, no surprise there) 1,021 kills

2 Jaguar 208 kills

3 Thrasher 152 kills

4 Wolf 143 kills

5 Republic Fleet Firetail 114 kills

6 Capsule 104 kills (I'm guessing most of these are hero tackle Rifters)

7 Hurricane 77 kills

8 Tristan 72 kills

9 Malediction 65 kills

10 Dramiel 63 kills

The most popular systems for scoring these kills, according to recent history are:

1 Hek

2 Amamake

3 Adirain

4 Siseide

5 Hadozeko

6 Egghelende

7 Arnon

8 Auner

9 Bosboger

10 Isenan

You'll notice that is a good mix of high-sec and low-sec systems, as we have pilots in all types of pvp styles and in all areas of space. Low-sec piracy, Empire war decs and general can-flipping and robbery are all big parts of the R1FTA pilot's play style.

With this current recruitment drive we'd like to double our numbers at the very least, we'd like multiple small roaming gangs in various parts of New Eden, as well as pilots out doing their solo thing. If you think that you'd like to be a part of this then drop by our public channel - The Autocannon - and say hello.

MB.

Rubber Bullets

2011-10-24T13:10:00.000+01:00

Minding my own business in Egghelende solar system I spot a Loki on scan that hadn't been renamed.

Hmm.

I am in a Jaguar. The Loki pilot is affiliated to a corp that has strong connections to a seemingly mining and industrialist venture.

A quick blip of the 360 degree scanner reveals nothing else in the near vicinity so I decide to head straight on into the belt with all guns blazing. Landing on top of the Loki it is clear that he is currently ratting with a battleship rat.

Ohh, so I lock him up. Heart starts racing a little as I start to ponder if I could actually do this. Loki has no shield damage at this point. I get myself into a comfortable tight orbit and begin to unleash fire and brimstone at the Loki's shields and ....

They start to drop.

Slowly.

Painfully slowly.

He locks me back up and we begin the dance.

At this point I'm starting to half believe that this Loki might die, his shields are taking the incoming damage well but there is some damage registering, not quite enough to break them of course and I'm wondering now if I have enough ammo in the hold. Then, from what looks like a quarter shield strength the Loki's shield is regenerated back up to full strength. I've been shooting him now for nearly two minutes but it seems more like twenty and I now get the feeling that I'm a mouse playing with a big cat that is out here for the thrill. It looks like I've got rubber bullets shooting at this thing. I have ran out of EMP ammo now so switch to Phased Plasma.

I put in the call in some intel channels and corp chat but people are spread out and a few declare their interest but they are close to ten jumps away. I feel now that I could keep this thing tackled forever and a day. I notice some of the locals are in system, a couple of the -10 guys I start a convo with in the hope that they might want a piece of the cake, but my calls go unanswered.

Hurricane on scan. He lands 60 clicks off, could this guy be here to help me or is he the Jaguar pest control guy? He is gaining slowly, I'm guessing he is now an anti-frig fit fat armor hull as he slithers towards me like a fat slug. At 40 clicks he locks me up and starts registering on my incoming damage meter, damn. I'm taking no damage from the Loki but this guy has just trumped my ambitious plans for Loki destruction.

Just before the incoming damage from the 'cane.

At nearly 3/4 shields I cut my losses and burn away and then warp off. I watch the belt at 5 degrees and they are still there. They are fighting each other, I start to check my assets tab for where my nearest Hurricane is staged. There is one next door and as I prepare myself for a gate jump with GCC I notice gf's go up in local and the Cane pilot makes the statement that he couldn't break the Loki's tank.

Stalemate.

I offer up a cheeky request in local for an ammunition refund. After the Loki pilot asks me what ammo I was using, and my response, "Republic Fleet's finest good sir", my wallet flashes with 15 million ISK.

Oh well was worth a try and I made a profit.

MB.

Black Rebel recruitment is now open

2011-10-11T21:20:00.000+01:00

The time to recruit new blood to the R1FTA ranks is upon us. The age of the Black Rebel Mega-Corp is near, hundreds of customized black jackets are on order. Non-active members will be purged from the rolls and a new freshness and zeal will be injected into the corp.

With the birth of five new individual regional chapters all uniting under one Black Rebel banner, big plans are being put into place by the Black Rebel management team.

Enjoy frigate combat and looking for a new home?

Drop by our in-game public channel The Autocannon or pay a visit to our recruitment thread.

Are you crazy enough to join R1FTA?

MB.

The Knife

2011-10-09T20:23:00.000+01:00

The corridor was dark with two thin deep-orange strobe lights blinking rhythmically along the edges, periodically bringing the narrow walkway into a pulsing soft light and then plunging it back into the darkness. The lights pulsed and bounced off the cold steel girders, occasionally revealing a mellow haze of smoke rising up to the ceiling.

In the small recess stood the Brutor, waiting patiently, his huge frame wedged into the wall. Clad in old dark-green almost black combat trousers and sporting a long black trenchcoat which flowed almost right down to his rusted steel toe cap boots, he waits.

As the sound of distant footsteps clinking off the meshed flooring grow closer a cigar is stubbed out on the girder and flicked down and onto the floor, it sizzles and fades away against the cold metal. The Brutor pulls on his fingerless military issue gloves, footsteps closer now, the man coming towards him is dressed in the uniform of a local wannabe law enforcement crew, he is young looking, barely 20 years of age, fresh of face and he sports a ruthlessly efficient looking silver stun gun that clings to his leg in its holster.

The Brutor's grip is firm. The razor sharp blade clasped in his hand tightly, he lunges forward revealing himself from the darkness, his trenchcoat swooping across the floor in a breathtaking arc, the timing is perfect as the strobe lights shimmer off the silvery blade. He pulls the young man towards him, as he tries to yell out the Brutor's hand grips his mouth, he falls silent, struggling he wriggles like a trapped fawn in the grasp of the predator's claws.

The knife is sunk deep into the man's back, the thug-like Brutor twists the shank further into the flesh, through the gloves the sensation of hot liquid oozes onto the man's black skin. As the blade is pulled the young man gasps and all the air leaps out of his body. He stumbles, still on his feet he swings around a full turn, his hand now fumbling for his weapon, he is now shaking, the sudden realization of what is happening strikes him and wrenches at his heart, death is upon him.

The Brutor smiles, revealing a gold tooth, it is a menacing grin, a trained killer in action, he doesn't flinch as the young man points the gun at him before firing off a bolt of the stun gun.

Shaking nervously. He misses.

As the weapon begins to spool up for another shot, the Brutor kicks out, his worn boot smashes against the man's shin with a sickening crack, taking his legs away from him he falls onto the flooring and the weapon falls into the side of the walkway, spinning on the floor. Blood spills more violently as punches rain down on the head, a frenzied attack the man is now lifeless.

Air hisses from one of the station venting systems, filling the corridor for a moment in pure cold vapour, the Brutor takes in a large breath, replenishing his lungs, he stands over the body.

A small badge on the uniform reveals the name and rank of the young soldier.

Junior Officer, Adams.

Two letters are emblazoned on the side of the Junior Officer's blood stained shirt.

E.M.

The Brutor thug rips away the badges and carefully places them inside the top pocket of his trenchcoat, he pulls out a fresh smoke and walks away down the corridor, the blackness in the bottom belly of the station envelops him.

Ruthlessly efficient.

MB.

The Solo Combat Pilot's Guide to Good Roaming #7

2011-09-30T17:32:00.000+01:00

Hagilur Pocket

This low-sec pocket of space in the Metropolis region lies only 3 high-security jumps from the busy trade hub of Hek. A popular short-cut and smuggling run to to Jita lies behind the Thelan gate in Hagilur for those brave enough and wishing to risk the hazardous and often deathly run.

The pocket itself has a varied amount of pvp opportunities available to the solo and small gang combat pilot, from duelling frigates and ganking mission runners, to evading gatecamps and hijacking plex dwellers. A visit to the Hagilur pocket usually does not disappoint.

Hagilur 0.4

Hagilur, in the constellation of Barvigrard, is a traditional low-sec Minmatar mining and factory system that offers the visitor five working stations which all boast the latest facilities for tourists and broken spacecraft. It should be noted however that none of the stations in Hagilur offer a medical facility at the time of writing this guide.

The market is usually dictated by supply and demand and is rarely well stocked but for the basic ammunitions and equipment. The occasional reconditioned frigate or cruiser hull can be picked up from time to time, but these don't sell anywhere near as much as the local Spirits, the workforce in the area renowned for their thirst of the imported fire liquids.

Six asteroid belts that can attract brave mining crews seeking a quick cargohold and a next pay packet can often yield results for the discerning hunter killer, it is not uncommon to spot a newly registered mining barge or other modified hull performing this task in Hagilur. Planet 4 and planet 5 being the main clusters of activity as far as the rocks go. The asteroid belts can also be alive with frigate fighters, out looking for a good fight. Do be aware that bait tactics are sometimes used, with gank squads waiting behind the high-ecurity gate. But by all means, a good bait ship is a dead bait ship so chancing your arm shouldn't be turned away from.

The entry points from high-sec can sometimes be camped, the main campers in Hagilur are often set up to take down passing transport and industrial ships so a frigate hull should be able to pass relatively unscathed.

Numbers in Hagilur can vary, sometimes only a handful of pilots will be active, at busy periods it can peak to around the 30 number. This fluctuates as gangs move on, and a good stay in Hagilur should get you the fights you crave.

1v1 ?

Ragnarg 0.4

Moving into the dead-end system of Ragnarg, which offers five stations with basic repair facilities and little else in the way of creature comforts. The main attraction of this mostly quiet system other than the three asteroid belts is the Angel Cartel Creo-Corp Mining 2/10 plex, if somebody is in system here there is a good chance that he is running the plex or perhaps waiting on the gate looking for a fight. A Minmatar Contracted Bio-Farm (1/10) also provides an avenue for combat, but this is a rarely visited site.

Hagilur 0.4

Doubling back on ourselves we blip our 360 degree scanner for targets as we cross warp the system onto our next gate.

Dudreda 0.3

A high ranking low-security Minmatar system that plays host to the Republic Military School and the Parliament Bureau amongst others in its six stations. Remarkably, 4 out of the 6 stations offer cloning services. As expected the other facilities on offer are of a high standard. The market is average in comparison to everything else on offer in Dudreda.

Nine asteroid belts provide the backdrop for hunting opportunities.

Hakisalki 0.2

Hakisalki is another system with high corporate military academies and presidential bureaus, three clone capable stations and great repair facilities. The main attraction here for the hunter is the 19 asteroid belts which will hopefully harbour your next fight.

Arwa 0.1

The deeper into the pocket we go the lower the security of the system, this makes for ideal ratting territory. Attracted by the spawns of battleship rats offering close to the bounties that are more common in null-security space, your next target is hopefully trying to crack one of the rats as you hunt him down and enjoy the feast of your find. It will be rare, but it does happen and those with the patience and cunning will often reap the results.

Arwa has 10 asteroid belts and a Ruined Minmatar Outpost, three stations offer only the very basic of facilities, and only one station - the Republic Fleet Assembly Plant at Moon 3 of Planet X offers a ship repair service.

Arifsdald 0.1

Again the main opportunity for combat as we move fast and further down towards the bottom rung of the pocket is the hope of finding a lone ratter. Arifsdald is a large system that has 20 asteroid belts to hunt in and its 4 stations offer a good mix of services, including one medical bay over at the Krusual tribe Bureau.

Ansen 0.1

Ansen lies at the bottom of the pocket and with only two very basic stations and only two asteroid belts it is usually quickly bypassed as we begin to head back up to Hagilur.

Krirald 0.2

Krirald is another parliament system, the services on offer are good and cloning is available at the Republic Parliament Bureau. 10 asteroid belts give the chance of finding a stray ratter a boost and the top belt is a stunning Glare Crust ice belt, sometimes mined by local starbase operators on the lookout for cheap fuel material. You never know when you might get lucky, although it must be said that these types are usually sharp when it comes to keeping an eye on local.

Republic Parliament Bureau - Krirald

Moving back towards Hagilur in the hope that targets have refreshed and new faces are in local we pass back through ....

Dudreda 0.3

and then we are back in Hagilur 0.4

This is a good little pocket to hunt in and I would recommend the area as a good place to base a ship stash ready and loaded for combat. I more often than not find that Hagilur reaps the most in terms of combat but I will always do the pocket roam from time to time as you never know what you might find along the route. I regularly visit Ragnarg too to check local count and visit the 2/10.

Happy Hunting!

MB.

High-Security Assassination Unit

2011-09-25T19:06:00.000+01:00

War is a state of organized, armed and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties, typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality.

The Black Rebels in the heaving, sweaty bar tonight didn't care about the risks of War. War for them was just some rules and procedures that had been laid down by CONCORD so that they could go about their sinister deeds with no reprimand. The music was loud, brash, but their focus wasn't on the music it was focused on the list of targets in front of them. One of them took his drink, over half-full and downed it in one.
Most of the Rebels had a bad security status, a lust for murder and the way of the gun had led them down this path and they didn't care. But for those who looked after their security status and for those who watched carefully over aggression and the what we can and what we can not engage in the battle field, war was their time, their time for murder without sanction.
The list of targets was long, a blue screen from a small digital tablet shone in the corner of the bar and shimmied up the wall, creeping through the darkness as the Rebels talked tactics over the music and debauchery sizzling around them. These pilots who took to this way of life, the chosen few were tonight like frenzied warrior ants. War was on the horizon, months of bloodshed was a few bill payments away.

Like some savage mercenary army the pilots would be ready for the cold killing, no mercy, all bullets and no diplomacy, no rest for the wicked as they say. They would kill and would be killed, they won't stop though, clone insurance paid up to date, medical supplies not a problem, firearms and bootleg spirits aplenty. Ships and supplies stacked, throw-away frigates to pristine high-tier tech III cruisers. They don't care much for stats as long as they are getting their kicks, the showmanship and the camaraderie is uplifting. Kitted out in all black combat suits, black masks and dirty leather, these few looked the part too, slick, scary, well-polished looking criminals.

This appears to be the start of a sustained campaign of terror aimed specifically at those who deem themselves safe in the walled comfort of high-security space. This is the making of a menace, there will be no end to this.

MB.

Meet the Rebels - Saftsuze

2011-09-22T18:23:00.000+01:00

The story so far .....

We've been jumping into the mind of New Eden's criminal combat pilots. The Black Rebel Rifter Club decided to distribute into the public domain a series of standardised press interviews that were conducted at various locations across the cluster. The following short transcripts are in the words of the journalist who conducted the meetings and their identities have been hidden by request.

MB.

---

Saftsuze's invite to his personal quarters took me by surprise somewhat, what would it be like inside? Trashy decor, messy, caked in grease, empty bottles and general carnage was something I would have expected from a Black Rebel gang boss. To my surprise I was greeted to the pleasant smell of a clean apartment, furniture polish and a faint twang of some exotic spicy cologne wafting through the air.

In fact Saftsuze is getting quite a reputation in the Rebel circle as a man of fine grooming and a legendary moustache that glistens like a quivering scorch beam underneath a moonlit sky. Saftsuze is the operator of a public channel called The Overheated Hot Tub that claims to cleanse dirty pirate types once they jump in for a chat. The only rules are that you must bring a towel. I nod in agreement, almost expecting an invite to this room of pirate loins.

As we sit down on the finest leather chairs and begin the interview I notice a small round tub of 'Gallente Extra-Firm Brand 47 Moustache Wax' on the coffee table in front of me ...... by the side of me is a life-size golden statue of Saftsuze, complete with running waterfall (erm) feature that splashes gently on the hero's golden feet.

Saftsuze

------

What is a Black Rebel?

I can only speak for myself: I am a free man shooting stuff I think I might be able to kill. And no, we are not pirates. We might do acts of crime, but as my corp mate put it: Do you see a fucking parrot on my shoulder?

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

No, just make sure your moustache is smaller and less sexy than mine.

The Rifter, tell me more?

It should be smoking. There is nothing like the smell from a burning Rifter with a thawing corpse in the cargohold!

Tell us a little bit about your background in New Eden.

To make a long and boring story short: As a last effort to make me some sort of political force, my parents got me into the Gallente Capsuleer Program. They wanted me to become a Gallente hero. Well, after running a few missions for some dull and annoying agents in high security space, my corp was declared war upon several times by some bad ass corp with just a few pilots. After being hunted for a while, I finally got my head together and started studying the art of hunting other capsuleers and I got hooked on making stuff explode.

So you once were a law abiding citizen in high sec preyed upon by the more unlawful elements?

Yeah, for a few months. I am however eternally grateful to Soronova and her corp, for kicking me out of the false feeling of safety in high security space. One day I will have to challenge that bitch for a Rifter duel.

How did you become a Black Rebel?

Now that is a long story. It starts with me running from our very scary Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Miura Bull, in the unsecure space lanes of Obalyu and Parts. He was in his sturdy Jaguar and I was in my fragile, but very fast, little Incursus. I swear I could smell the cigar smoke from his Jag, that’s how close he was! But he didn’t get me.

So after running away from this Soronova in high sec you “advanced” to running away from Miura Bull and the likes in low sec?

Yeah, I’ve always been a coward, and I guess that running away that many times from Mr. Bull earned me just enough respect that he cared to answer my questions about the life of crime. After that, I was randomly in contact with him whenever I bumped into him, and we hung out in the same communication channels. I would have teamed up with him earlier if it wasn’t for my inability to use voice communications in fleets.... Ehm.. You see, I have a bit of social anxiety. I am best when I am flying solo. So, instead I started my own corp named after my personal style of decision making: Overheated Hotheads. It was a great success with two members - including me!

Two members - you call that a great success?

Hell, yeah! I got Tomba as a member, a fine capsuleer that almost killed Kane Rizzel once! And we almost got Sobczynski as a member, a very entertaining bureaucrat of Pator Tech School. Sadly he has now retired to some backwater planet somewhere. I hope he one day will reactivate his clone - or activate a new one - and come back to the asteroid belts of low security space.

So he was “almost” a member...

I guess what I am trying to say, despite the low numbers, we had a good atmosphere going in our public channel The Overheated Hot Tub and I started enjoying my own solo roams a lot more. Overheated Hotheads helped me define my flying style and it inspired me as a criminal pilot. And I have a feeling Miura got a bit inspired as well from that cesspool of scumbag germs, because, not long after, he decided to revive his old rebel corp - and me and Tomba jumped out of the hot tub and into the hot new club.

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as 'the enemy'?

Excuse me! I am certainly not unwashed! I spend quite a lot of time on personal hygiene and in front of the mirror. I hear some of the capsuleers are not happy with the new upgraded Captains Quarters, but I guess that has something to do with what they see in that lovely mirror. Well, for some of us, these refurbished quarters certainly has added value to New Eden life. But scumbag? Yeah, that’s spot on.

What about your corpmates?

Now, THEY might very well be unwashed! I read your interview with Taranfel. I guess you remember him by the smell? And I bet I wouldn’t be wrong when I assume it is me he is referring to as a “pretty boy”. Well, Taranfel, here is a message for you: It is a proven fact that 10 out of 10 women would prefer a trimmed moustache over sunglasses, untidy hair and pod goo breath.

[The sound file has some mumbling recorded at this point and Saftsuze is saying something like this: “Pretty boy? Huh? I’ll show him “pretty boy” next time he shows up in the hot tub” but this can not be confirmed 100 percent]

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

I always start with careful grooming of my moustache. Being good in battle has a lot to do with how good I feel about myself. It’s all about confidence. But, of course, sometimes I’m just too sexy for my ship - and it explodes. But I digress. After getting ready for the pod, I undock and start scanning for targets. Then I find something to shoot, and then, depending on the outcome of the last engagement, I find something else to shoot or go get another ship. That’s it, basically. I have made arrangements for associates to do my ship logistics, selling of loot and generally manage my ISK.

End of transcript////

What makes a good fight?

2011-09-21T18:41:00.000+01:00

The killmail is the token prize once the dust of combat settles; the trophy, the deal breaker, the ornament, the bragging rights. But what makes a good fight?

Generally speaking this could be a difficult question to answer, everybody has posted up the obligatory gfgf in local after a battle, each and every one of you has a different opinion on what is a good fight. When posting up the gf in local we don't always mean it in its true form, but to myself and many others it is the obligatory gentlemen's nod, the handshake after the fight. For example every single time I run into one of those annoying as hell insta-locking camps, if I have the chance before I am podded, I will offer up a gf in local. I definitely don't mean it in this instance, in fact what I am actually thinking is far more sinister but I enjoy the fact that your lame camp has not fazed me in any way, not made me angry, I will simply take the punishment of being -10 and go about my business somewhere else, acknowledging the 'effort' put into the 'fight' against me.

This isn't to say I don't fight back of course, I will always go guns blazing with the thermodynamics whacked up to 11 when it's a Thrasher camp I can't escape from, sometimes you can take one of them down with you. Which partly defeats the object of their fantasies somewhat, if only a little.

Speaking on a personal level, a good fight for me is when the odds are stacked against me and I am outnumbered in the manner that I will get a good fight but not so much that I'm blobbed into oblivion. Getting the balance right can be very rewarding. There are not many better feelings in combat than when you are on your own in an assault frigate or interceptor and there is a fight happening with three or four hostile frigates, all hell bent on screwing you over. Carefully managing range, target selection, overheating, angle of attack, capacitor and everything else whilst the damage is incoming can be an exhilarating experience. These fights really do get the heart thumping for me.

A recent engagement that springs to mind happened in Hagilur a few nights ago, sitting in an asteroid belt in my Wolf class Assault Frigate admiring the sun glistening off the rocks I was tackled by an Incursus. With other ships on scan it was obvious something else was going to come on in and start dancing along the barrels of my autocannons. In good time a Punisher and Rifter were on top of me. This was good, just what the doctor ordered, if you could bottle the adrenaline from these types of fights I think you could become a rich man. Not knowing if the other larger ships on scan were about to enter the field or if anything cloaky was about to announce itself really does keep you on the edge, especially as your armor starts disappearing into the blackness of space.

I also enjoy the more risky engagements, in particular I like to test the limits of the Rifter, whether that be in small gangs or whilst flying solo. Last night I was out flying in tandem with corpmate Kaeda Maxwell. I followed a Wolf to a plex and announced tackle, fully expecting a good fight and perhaps the Wolf to at the very least take one of us if not both of us down. The Wolf was hitting me heavy but I was able to rep up the damage with some mad bursts on the repper, the end result was the death of the Wolf and Kaeda announcing that she had only just got off a few volleys in the end after landing outside of an ideal range. Never underestimate the Rifter is the lesson learned here.

Another avenue that always engineers a good fight (well, unless broken, obviously) is the arranged 1v1. This particular engagement was an assault frigate duel that ended in my favour, I've had plenty that I have lost, plenty have been won, this one is the most recent I can remember and I remember it being a close fight, always the best type.

If I have a ship to hand and know that you're good for your word and I'm not doing something else I will always be up for a 1v1. Especially if you are in Metropolis or Heimatar where I have a ship stash that really needs burning I must admit. My corp members will also oblige to give you a good fight if you so wish, just ask nicely as some of them can bite.

It seems that the above ethics towards good fights run deep right through the Black Rebel Rifter Club. Sure, there will be times when we gank people, times when someone brings an ecm boat or other foul deed but the majority of the fights I see spring up on the killboard look like good honest fights to me. Not to put down the above kills, I like kills like that as much as any, we're all cutthroats after all.

Some that have caught the eye recently include some rather well known eve names. This fight and this one spring to mind, as well as this one. Zodiac Black is a young Rebel pilot who is ruthless when at the control of his Rifter, this Crow kill rewarding him with a nice pay packet from the loot.

It is also nice to see a few Dramiels showing up on the killboard too, whether it be one of ours scoring a kill or somebody else's that we have blown out of the sky. We're not really that fussy and neither were Saftsuze and Darkstar and Gul'Gotha when scoring these Dram notches to their kill count.

So in summary, the good fights are there for the taking, it is just how you apply your mindset towards pvp that shapes what good fights you engineer. You won't learn that much by being a cog in a machine of 50 others, so broaden your horizons a little bit and catch the solo/small gang bug. It might just be the best decision you ever made!

MB.

Bloody Noses and Bellicoses

2011-09-01T19:28:00.000+01:00

The neighbouring high-security systems had been braced for invasion for a few days now, reports were circulating in the media of suicide squads of Thrashers operating in the area and seedy looking scout ships that lurk in the shadows of the asteroid belts. Relaying intel and picking out the next feast for the hungry maniacal gang that had been sighted over the last few weeks, their apparent disregard for the well being of their crews and ships clearly evident.

Fear had gripped the border systems and a group of approximately eight capsuleers and their crews were known to be present in the low-security system of Auner. Local security forces and sentry gun operators were placed on standby as capsuleer and crew activity in the docking bays of the Thukker Mix Factory was being reported.

One by one the Rebels undocked into space, their intentions as yet unclear. Dong, Kaeda, Judge, Lhorenzho, MB, Joe, Lao and Rocanegra rolled out off the docking ramp in uniform intervals, all blasting their warp engines in the same direction. Oddly the Rebels had ditched their usual nimble frigates and were showing up on directional radar as being in command of either a Bellicose or a Scythe. Weird. The gunnery crews stood down from their positions, much to their amusement.

----

This was the end scene of what had been an optional month of tomfoolery and experimentation for the Rebels, a competition of sorts culminating in one final in-house brawl - The Bellicose/Scythe Bash. The rules were simple, over the course of the month points would be awarded for kills made whilst piloting either the Bellicose or the Scythe class Minmatar cruiser hulls.

50 points for a kill in a Scythe.

25 points for a Bellicose.

The month ticked along and some interesting killmails appeared, as well as some lossmails too, which was absolutely expected and encouraged. But now the attention was fixed to a quiet safe spot in Auner where eight cruiser hulls more accustomed to a life of doddering around in asteroid fields were about to become entangled in a final thrust for points and glory.

Engines fizzed and popped as the Rebels sat idle in a stand-off before the hostilities began, a variety of weapon systems were seen charging and running heat ready for the start; lasers, autocannons, artillery, missile launchers and rockets were ready to unleash venom upon their foe.

The call was given and the fight was on, the sluggish cruisers sparking into life, shots echoed across the system, bullets ripped towards their targets, drones attacked and smoke began appearing from stricken hulls.

First down was Miura and his artillery clad Scythe oddball that had unwillingly chosen to land right next to three other kill-hungry Rebels, it was a quick death for the Rebel leader but one that was fully expected giving the banter that had been bandied around beforehand by the participants that had proclaimed the tag line 'Primary is Miura'.

Zumpff!

Following Miura out of the action a minute later was Judge Sarn, unable to repel the damage that was battering on the door of his autocannon fitted armor Scythe it soon shattered into multiple pieces, spitting Judge's whiskey filled capsule into the arena.

A couple of minutes later the fight was really brewing into an epic battle, Lao Mah and her shield Bellicose succumbing to heavy firepower.

It was now time for another Scythe to join the list of casualties, Joe Struck and his autocannon clad cruiser buckling under the strain of incoming damage from all corners.

FTOOM!!

Now down to the final four - three Bellicose hulls and a Scythe remained on the field. Some four minutes passed before the next explosion. Rocanegra's shield buffer Bellicose turning into wreckage and it was now down to the final three.

ZUGZUGZUG!!

Kaeda, Lhorenzho and Dong were the remaining pilots, the Rebel intercom systems were alive with chatter as this live fire exercise hotted up and shouts of ECM filled hatred filled the airwaves. Lhorenzho's Bellicose was now doomed and exploded in a bright orange light show as armor plating ripped through the remaining structure of the ship.

ZWOOON!!

It was now down to Kaeda Maxwell in her Bellicose and Dong in his Scythe. Dong was unable to do much as he was being kited by the Bellicose and was also jammed out of the fight, his only lifeline being his tank that was proving to be very stubborn, however, nearly twenty minutes after the brawl had started it was now over - Dong's impressive looking Scythe crumpled under the weight of one final wrecking blow and the winner of the brawl was declared. A quick glance at the killmail revealing the mighty Scythe had taken a heavy battering with 35,293 registered damage points taken.

Kaeda Maxwell basked in the glory of her victory, light-hearted whistles and jeers could be heard on the comms system as she looted the field. Dong Orson making a promise that her pod was fair game at some undistinguished point in the future, turns out he doesn't like ECM that much.

The winning fit.

[Bellicose, Kiting Faggotry Bellicose]

Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

ECM – Phase Inverter II
ECM – Phase Inverter II
ECM – Phase Inverter II
Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon I Microwarpdrive

720mm Gallium I Cannon, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium M
720mm Gallium I Cannon, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium M
720mm Gallium I Cannon, Republic Fleet Depleted Uranium M
Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket

Medium Ancillary Current Router I
Medium Ancillary Current Router I
Medium Ionic Field Projector I

Hobgoblin SD-300 x4
Hornet EC-300 x4

It was a great battle and a thoroughly enjoyable event. Afterwards we tried to suicide gank a Hulk with a bunch of Scythe hulls but sadly it didn't quite go pop, a few slithers of hull remained as the last Rebel cruiser succumbed to CONCORD's wrath.

Overall, after Black Rebel Command had finished totting up the kill count and points tally it was Kooba Kaundur who emerged as the winner of the competition. Kooba had taken to the art of baiting with her Scythe hull to the extreme with a flurry of killmails and even had the luxury of missing the final event and still beating off the competition. Well done Kooba. Second place was Kaeda Maxwell and there was a tie for third between Dong Orson and Lao Mah.

Prizes were contracted to the winners and the Rebels went off to raid Judge's whiskey stash.

Thanks to all who took part.

MB.

R1FTA Blog Pack

2011-09-01T17:45:00.000+01:00

It seems that the Black Rebel Rifter Club has attracted its fair share of bloggers, and whilst I did try to keep up with them all with a tab to the side of the page it has now become that long a list that it became too much to keep track of!

It's a good job then that fellow Rebel pilot Gul'gotha Derv'ash has catalogued all the Black Rebel blogs in a google reader pack, well worth subscribing to, if I do say so myself.

>>>>> subscribe here <<<<<

:)

MB.

Serving the Gun

2011-08-21T23:10:00.000+01:00

In some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the piece that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery. The actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called "serving the gun" or "detachment" by the gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire.

The Thrasher bolted away from the field, its bullet riddled hull almost buckling under the stress of initiating warp, moments earlier the Destroyer class vessel had landed smack on top of an Ishkur Assault Frigate. Quickly trying to pull range before the scram was landed the old Minmatar vessel's microwarpdrive sprung into life for a brief moment before spluttering to a stop.

Projectiles streaked across the sky slamming into the Gallente hull, bombardment after bombardment between the long pauses as the artillery recoiled and reloaded with a loud clunk. A race to the death was on as drone fire and blaster slugs reduced the Thrasher deep into hull, but then one last wrecking blow from the artillery and the fight was over, at 17% hull points remaining it couldn't have been any closer could it?

gfgf

Later that evening in the same solar system and after some much needed repair work another fight was stirring. An Enyo and a Taranis were lurking around the asteroid belts, the Thrasher slammed into the asteroid field and landed right on top of the Interceptor and Assault Frigate, which wasn't part of the master plan, nor was it an ideal place to be in an artillery fitted Thrasher. The incoming damage was heavy, aligning for the sun and concentrating first on the Taranis it was another one of those races again, although this time with more of that sinking feeling sprinkled into the equation. Then with a blinding flash the Taranis was no more, fully expecting the Enyo to continue the onslaught it was a huge relief when the Thrasher's warpdrive engines sparked into life and the Destroyer was spat out of the belt towards the sun. . . . with 6% structure hitpoints remaining.


gfgf

MB.

Meet the Rebels - Jack Dancer

2011-08-18T18:52:00.000+01:00

Jack Dancer

How did you become a Black Rebel?

I was mining to scrabble together some ISK for a six pack of Quafe (I had a seriously unhealthy Quafe habit back then) when my ore container was tipped by a Rifter. He grabbed my veldspar and just sat there. Smug. Disgusting. Arrogant. I took a shot at him with my mining laser just to let him know I didn’t appreciate his attitude. Next thing I knew I woke up in a clone bath. But there was a message for me saying that if I had the guts to shoot a rifter with a mining laser then I might like to join the Black Rebels. It sounded like a better life than mining veldspar to pay for Quafe – so I joined. It was a good decision.

What were you doing before you joined the Black Rebels?

Barely surviving. Waking up hoping that I had a cold Quafe (or any Quafe) next to wherever I woke up. Scrounging for ISK to keep my cheap ships together. It wasn’t a good time in my life.

What is a Black Rebel?

Black Rebels are free from rules or expectations. Friends when you need them, absent when you don’t. Noise, dirt, suffering (not us – our enemies), and chicks. Lotsa chicks – they dig the black leather and fast Rifters.

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

Nobody tells a Black Rebel what to wear, how to look, or what to do. Nobody. Next question.

The Rifter, tell me more?

A dream ship – fast, maneuverable, cheaper than any enemy. Nobody wants to see a Rifter on their d-scan. Nobody. Even when we lose we make ISK on the insurance. It’s a beautiful setup. Imagine screaming in from 12k with afterburners overheating, warp scrambler reaching out to it’s limit to grab at some petrified victim, the scream of the projectiles slamming into the barrels on their way to death and mayhem. Sweet Mother of Destruction! It’s the best! I hope to never fly any other ship. What’s the point when you’ve flown the best?

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as 'the enemy'?

Most are, but some aren’t so sophisticated – they can be an ugly bunch.

Tell me about your corpmates?

A famous man once called one of our local hangouts “a wretched hive of scum and villany.” That seems pretty close to the mark – but with some very nice moustaches too.

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

Hours of ennui followed by seconds of heart stopping adrenalin rush. It’s not as glamorous as the 3D’s might make you think – finding a target is hard work, but well worth the payoff. And for me there’s the weekly QA meetings. I’ve been clean for 4 months and 3 days now.

End of transcript ////

Electus Matari Pirates?

2011-08-15T17:22:00.000+01:00

Electus Matari Standings

From: Mikkel Lybecker

Sent: 2011.08.03 02:57

To: Miura Bull,

Dear Mr. Bull,

My name is Mikkel Lybecker. I'm a diplomat for Electus Matari. We are an alliance supporting the Minmatar Republic, and operate under NRDS (not red, don't shoot) rules of engagement.

This mail is to inform you that your corporation has been set to negative standings to Electus Matari, due to piracy.

As we are NRDS, this simply means that our pilots are allowed to open fire on your pilots. It does not mean that we intend to hunt you specifically. You can see our full list of standings here:

http://www.electusmatari.com/standings/

If you feel that this standing was set in error, please do not hesitate to contact me to correct this.

Regards,

Mikkel Lybecker
Diplomat, Electus Matari

_ _ _ _

Re: Electus Matari Standings

From: Miura Bull

Sent: 2011.08.15 16:14

To: Mikkel Lybecker,

Dear Electus Matari,

My name is Miura Bull. On paper I am the CEO of the Black Rebel Rifter Club. In reality, the Black Rebel Rifter Club is not run on paper or influenced by diplomacy of any kind and our corporate program (read - gang culture) does not hold sway for outside influenced ramblings of a diplomatic nature on any front. I am the Chief, the leading grease mechanic and father figure to my band of cavalier cutthroats and trigger-pullers - together our 'diplomacy' is decided by the way of the autocannon and smoking Rifter hulls, more often than not in a low-security asteroid belt or spacelane.

Being the sly dog that I am, I have reason to believe these standings were enforced after 'an unfortunate incident' in Lulm solar system out in the cesspit backwaters of the Huvilma constellation. A bunch of Rebel pilots were alerted to a suspicious vessel 'actively seeking to reduce the Rebel pilots of their vessels and assets' - This in the eyes of many is classed as an act of piracy and defending themselves in the manner that they know best, the Rebels reduced the EM Cruiser class vessel to dust.

Open discussions on a local communication platform were logged with our data control and are available on request. The EM pilot clearly stating his intentions. Identities will remain hidden out of respect for the pilot and your ensuing investigations.

We hope you resolve this matter swiftly.

More information and our very own twist on 'standings' can be found here:

http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=home

Regards,

Miura Bull.
Black Rebel Rifter Club.

Meet the Rebels - Sorn Nordvind

2011-08-13T13:54:00.000+01:00

Sorn Nordvind

Tell us a little bit about your background in New Eden.

Well, I was adopted into an Amarr familiy, don't know where I came from before that and I'm not in a hurry to find out either. What I sure as hell remember though, is how much I hated them all. Self-righteous bastards.
Anyway, I ran away as soon as I could and left life planet-side behind me as well. I travelled between stations along with a band of space gypsies in a beaten down industrial ship, we did some jobs in a station then moved on to the next one - and to be honest that's how I have spent the greater part of my life.
It was only a few years ago when I first got my pod-pilots license. I tried to get into the industrial business, but soon got bored out of my mind. I went back to working at a restaurant in a station in Wirdalen for a while until - for reasons I'm not even gonna try to understand - I got in bar fight. I got beaten to a pulp, of course. Luckily, the doctors found one of my old clones and activated that on the promise that I would fight for their militia. I lied.

How did you become a Black Rebel?

I saw one of the Rebels while I was out roaming, checked out the corp. By the description it looked like the kind of corp (or rather a band of pilots of questionable moral standing and reputation) I had been looking for. After spending a short while in The Autocannon, I decided to sign up.

What were you doing before you joined the Black Rebels?

I was a space-gypsy and a wannabe pirate. For all intents and purposes, I still am.

What is a Black Rebel?

A highly dangerous and unstable pilot, usually behind the controls of an equally dangerous and unstable spacecraft. Need I say more?

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

Yes, my skin is impervious to sharp objects though, so a tattoo wont stick on me. I paint Saftsuze`s face on the exhaust pipe of my Rifter instead.

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as 'the enemy'?

Let me summarize: All Black Rebels are highly dangerous and unstable unwashed scumbags of questionable moral standing and reputation whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as "the enemy" (everyone else) while fielding a fine selection of the most dangerous and unstable spacecraft known to man.

Tell me about your corpmates?

They are the kind of people you not only wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley - they are the kind of people you never ever would want to meet in your space stations shopping mall or in the queue at the pharmacist. Especially not there, they tend to get worse around drugs.

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

Reducing flashy ships to space dust while fighting impossible odds? Terrorizing pilots fresh out of the academy with a Gallentean exotic dancer on your lap? Something like that. My typical days lately has however consisted of dying horribly in a great ball of flame while trying to make it out of a gate camp.

End of transcript////

The Viewing Room

2011-08-12T15:20:00.000+01:00

Auner VIII - Moon 10 - Thukker Mix Factory.

Tiat Constellation.

Metropolis Region.

Littered amongst the old station's many bars and clubs down in the civilian quarter lies the establishment known as The Viewing Room, its main feature being a vast window to the outside soup of murky blackness. An upmarket venue but not exclusive to members, by day it is a restaurant and bar area, by night the mainly blue velvet interior is transformed into a vibrant nightclub and casino.

The patrons of the club vary wildly, from those of a criminal nature who have been turned away from nearby Hek's busy club scene, to loners, station-side workers, spaceship crews, gamblers, drop-outs, high-ranking corporate elite, starship captains and your basic every day civilians, all attracted to the blue lights of The Viewing Room.

The management turns a blind eye to the black market dealings that are rumoured to be brokered within the walls of the club. Narcotics, boosters, firearms and weapons of any kind are strictly not permitted inside the venue but that does not deter the smugglers, arms dealers and contraband specialists from drumming up business with the clients. Away from the main seating area and dancefloor, fourteen curtained off private rooms, each one with a security officer stood guard under a single deep-blue spotlight give away a tell-tale sign that business is good for those with access to the 14 Club.

~~

Behind the black curtain Duke Thunderhorse takes a deep drag of his cigar, leaning back in his chair he blows the smoke up towards the ceiling fans seemingly oblivious to those around him, lost in his own moment he stares at the rising smog as it is chopped effortlessly by the silver blades of the whirring fan. A crisp blue-white hanging lamp casts the centre of the room in glorious light, the borders of the room untouched and masked in their own mystical darkness. It is not yet noon but Judge Sarn clutches a bottle of Old Number 47 Tribal Whiskey, his hands shaking from the last session.

"The fuck are we doing up at this hour in some swanky disco?" Duke was now standing, he stubbed out his cigar and grabbed the bottle from Judge. The rest of the Rebels were sat watching a blinking neocom screen in the far corner. Before Judge had chance to make some sense of the situation Duke had took one hard pull from the bottle of brown liquor, he grimaced slightly as the fiery liquid attacked his throat.

"Urghh, that's some strong poison right there Judge, good stuff man."

Judge nodded and then grabbed his bottle back before taking a swig for himself.

Grernandez entered the room with an unlit cigarette pursed in his lips, without hesitation Duke flipped open his lighter, the scintillant orange flame glowing in front of the Brutor's tattooed face and momentarily lighting him up like a beacon. A sharp drag later and the Rebel was also questioning his surroundings.

"Pfff, this ain't no Ingot."

At that exact moment Miura entered via the black curtain and the Rebels all turned to face.

"Indeed this is not The Ingot, but I hear the party is good around here and have you seen those poker tables?" Miura began to laugh, the rest of the Rebels coming to the realisation that maybe they'd be spending a little more time in the area and in The Viewing Room.

"Welcome to your new headquarters Rebels."

MB.

Dancing in the Darkness

2011-08-10T23:23:00.000+01:00

Isenan Solar System.

Planet VI.

Essence Region.

Gallente Federation.

22:15

It was a cold and moonless night planet-side, the cities dark and desolate, only the glow of the dimly lit street lights and a passing searchlight strafing through the skies and piercing the dark, offering the only beacon of resistance to the black.
The Rebels were in town, their spaceships littered the outpost that surrounded the city as crews loaded up their gear, in the distance a small squadron of security drones patrolled the docking ring menacingly.

The noise of the ships as they blasted off from the outpost and into the skies was tremendous, loud and brash, engines rattled and thrusters whistled. Three Rifters bolted at speed in formation, closely followed by a Hawk and then a stealth bomber. A Myrmidon then listed slightly above the platform as its engines reached peak power before it awkwardly blasted into space. Lastly, a Tengu followed the gang into orbit, the quietness of this craft much more obvious from its noisy gangmates.

Some cold nights are translucent by reason of their coldness, as the outpost fell silent again a lone worker on the platform gazed into the skies, the trails of the ships still visible to the naked eye. He could see the empty spaces between the stars, the lights of the craft getting smaller and smaller until his gaze falls farther and farther into the blue-black deadness of the beyond, and the stars themselves begin to sink away into the void.

But then, like some kind of ancient firework display the night sky is alive, the calm is pierced by the light show and a crackle of noise booms loudly. Distant spaceships in dogfight, tiny dots brawling for superiority, trails of missiles, rockets and lasers blitz the sky. The show is amazing but the city sleeps. The platform worker, now joined by the rest of his crew watch in awe.

The workers look on and the gut wrenching realisation of what is above them hits them hard as one by one, explosion after explosion, crews and craft are lost as spaceships burn and tumble in the sky like winter's first snowflakes landing on the surface of some black pond which has not yet frozen, and the spaceships spin down, like snowflakes, down into the water, so murky up there that no one can tell whether they will simply melt away or drift to the rotten edge of the galaxies.

Moments later the night is restored and the show is no more.

Isenan VI

MB.

Meet the Rebels - Taranfel

2011-08-09T14:08:00.000+01:00

Taranfel was a mean looking man, the kind of man who was spat out of the system and left to fend for himself. His evil glare hidden behind reflective black shades, he was snappy in the sentence and I got that gut feeling that I'd rather be somewhere a little more public than this sleazy ransacked excuse for a room, empty liquor bottles rolled around the floor and a grease and engine oil stench mixed with the recycled air.

Taranfel picked up a half-filled dark-brown bottle off the side and took a long glug before settling down in his chair, the bottle still clasped in his dirty unwashed hands.

Taranfel

Tell us a little bit about your background in New Eden.

My background? Who the hell cares about the past? Look to the future. Ain't nothing back there but used up clone whores and space dust.

How did you become a Black Rebel?

I fly Rifters for a living. I'm damn good at it, and I ain't a pansy.

What were you doing before you joined the Black Rebels?

Roaming mostly. Vandalizing, blowing stuff up, an' generally bein' as much of a pain in the ass as I could be.

What is a Black Rebel?

A pilot. In a Rifter preferably. Bad ass. That's a Black Rebel. Cross one an' best kiss yer ass goodbye.

How did you hear about the Black Rebels?

Me? I hacked an interstellar transmission by Concord. Heard a bunch of whiny nonsense about some fella's up to know good and makin' life hard for the fly-straight-or-die types. Soundin' like my kinda' people.

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

It damn sure helps. We ain't a bunch of pretty boys. We already got one of them. You want to be a pretty boy go be a lackey mongrel fer the damned Caldari State lugheads.

The Rifter, tell me more?

Heh, the Rifter? No ship faster or more fearsome. Ain't nothing like the scream of the comms when yer flying thousands of kilometers straight at yer target. Guns blazin', modules jammin', an' prayin' you ain't wakin' up in a clone vat any time soon. You show me a better ship an' I'll shove my boot in yer ass for lyin'.

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as 'the enemy'?

Nah, we ain't all unwashed. We got that one pretty boy I told ya, always hangs out in the hot tub. Scumbags? Some say it. Who the hell are you though, eh? Got our pride. Soon as turn you to spacedust as blink at you, but we offer ransom an' we mean it. Them pirates ain't honorin' ransoms? Might as well be good fer nothin' brainless drones.

Tell me about your corpmates?

What the hell you want me to say that ain't been said? Scumbags and n'er-do-wells. Tell you straight though, ain't never a dull moment. Ain't no two Black Rebels exactly alike. We ain't yer average group of glory hounds. We just don't give a damn. We want to kill you? We will.

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

Wake up. Scratch the lice from yer hair. Spit the mornin' scuz from yer mouth. Hop on board an' undock. Maybe you kill a few ships, maybe you wake up in the clone vat. Don't matter. I'm free, an' you ain't.

End of transcript////

Amamake Weekend Rebel Run and the Legion

2011-08-02T20:16:00.001+01:00

The call was given for a weekend of debauchery in and around the infamous Amamake solar system and its connecting neighbourhood of low-sec arenas. Rebels were spotted from all over the cluster loading up their Rifters and other craft with various essentials for the party; ammunition, missiles, rockets, chainwhips, smokes, narcotics, illegal combat boosters, beer, spirits and girls - quite a cocktail.

Whilst some of the Rebels were still on their way to the bash and some were sampling the insides of the fetid space station bars in one of Amamake's many, many stations, things were starting to hot up out in space. Starwalker had engaged a Taranis, the result was an Interceptor killmail to the loss of Starwalker's Rifter. The party had begun.

More Rebels were now out in space and next up on the killmail score sheet was a Thrasher that had been patrolling the belts and the kill-hungry Rebels needed no second invitation once a point was called. This actually avenged my Merlin loss from earlier in the evening. After warping to a military waypoint giving chase to an Imperial Navy Slicer which was reported inside, a Hurricane piloted by the Thrasher pilot landed about the same time as my frigate's on-board warp systems became entangled in the small field that was surrounding the gate, not being able to warp out or activate the acceleration gate meant an untimely death for my Merlin.

A little while later we pretty much suicided a whole fleet of frigates against a hostile Hurricane that was baiting in the notorious top belt. The battlecruiser easily picked us off one by one, but the Rebels don't turn a blind eye to bait and had great fun trying to score the kill and take her down. The battle report sprinkled with a few other assorted trinket kills for the Rebels.

Numbers were now swelling and with Amamake filling up with some potential trouble causers in fancy ships and gangs with numbers we had no chance of taking down we decided to take a twelve man gang down on a run towards the Gallente-Caldari border regions to see what we could find.

The journey down was actually uneventful but for some close calls and near misses. Lhorenzho scouted the first leg of the roam and then I took over proceedings as we edged closer to Old Man Star. A few jumps out from our target destination I spotted an outlaw stealth bomber landing on the gate, behind the gate the rest of the gang waited. I gave the word that the Hound was inbound to them, and whilst it had every chance of getting away, we should at least try to lock the bastard before he cloaked up. What followed was a bit crazy but provided the Rebels with a moment of humour - the exact details remain somewhat blurred but the Federal Sentry Gun Operator in charge of the stargate took exception to something Lhorenzho did and promptly relieved him of his ship. Ahem, and the Hound got away.

After a short regroup we had a little play in and around Adirain and Aeschee but for the most part it was generally quiet, much was the theme with the roam so far. Moving on towards Old Man Star I spotted Tusker pilot Kishin Hattori landing on the gate in towards Ladistier, unfortunately the skilled pilot that he is he managed to quickly warp his Interceptor away from our waiting gang. Tressin Khiyne was also prowling around and other Tuskers were in the area too.

In Old Man Star itself we came across a Hookbill which Ninyn Taq despatched with ease before any help was required and we generally chased multiple targets around with little success as we were in turn chased around by the Tusker fleet, which was now growing in size. It was like some kind of erotic spaceship gang food-chain cycle in full motion. I then gave the call that we were not going to get much luck out of this situation and would almost certainly end up on the wrong side of a beating with no spare ships nearby and we weren't ready to end the night just yet against a pirate t3 boosted gang of thirsty slayers, so we ran. Like the wind we ran, our warp drives overheating under the constant demand we were putting on them. It was an adrenaline rush and it is always good to know when turning your back on a fight is a good thing.

And what a good thing it turned out to be.

Reforming in Atlulle solar system the night was now dark and the system moon-washed, pale stars leapt out of the sky like lions from a crouch and all was quiet with the world. As I scouted out the neighbouring system of Isenan and Judge Sarn reported that he had hit the whiskey all hell then broke loose.

Overnauta had found a stealth bomber and he swiftly sent it to its grave. Right about the same time as the bomber exploded the backup arrived on scene as well as Black Rebel pilot Lhorenzho ......

Lhorenzho> Got a legion here xxxx and a Rapier too, hurry.

The Rebels kicked into action and warp drives whistled as they made their way to the asteroid field where all the action was taking place. Locking up and pointing the Legion I quickly sent out the order that the Rapier was primary and should be removed from the field, which it duly was in quick time - although it did take some of our gang away from the field in the process, it did not stop Drago Issier coming back to the scene in a Velator he stole from the station hangar. We then began working our way through the Legion's armour, the pack of frigates biting away slowly at the strategic cruiser, it seemed to be repelling our advances but was slowly losing the fight. Hearts were racing as we continued piling on the damage, fully expecting more backup to arrive to ruin our day or the pilot to self destruct or eject from his ship. Eventually the Legion succumbed and exploded with a mighty flash, the asteroid field now its final resting place. We locked up the pod and although the plan was to offer a ransom for a safe release and the chance of a payday we got a little trigger happy and the pilot was no more.

Excellent stuff and a job well done. We scooped up the loot and ended the night on a high. We also brought home our buddy's frozen corpse as the Black Rebels never leave one of their own behind.

Repatriation

----

Saturday was spent back up in and around Amamake, mainly in the bars and red light filled private quarters as the Rebels kicked back and relaxed after an epic Friday night of fun. We then ended the weekend with another action packed period in Amamake on the Sunday night.

Class of '11 - Amamake Pator Tech School Bar

The battle report painting a picture of how things went down.

Needless to say, all the Black Rebel pilots who went on the weekend run had a fantastic time, may there be more of the same to come and more stories to tell in the near future.

MB.

Conscience Killer

2011-07-28T21:35:00.000+01:00

I'd been roaming unsuccessfully around Syndicate in a Sabre, nothing too fancy just a quick burn around an old loop I used to roam in my Jaguar, nothing was out and the whole place was dead apart from the odd scout so I set my navigation systems back to Reblier and docked the Sabre up in the station.

A short while later I noticed the local communication systems flashing up in my quarters.

Roman TheWise > I think fk me there is a -8 sec dude in local, I presume he's the sort of dude who'd gank people?

traccat > he will kill u on sight

Roman TheWise > yeah no crap

traccat > so it would be nice to see outside the station b4 undocking lol

I saw this as a good opportunity to poke my nose around the system in my Hurricane that had been running some repairs down in one of the hangars. Nothing was on scan as I prowled the system hoping for something to let my Hurricane's autocannons feast on.

A short while later ......

traccat > he's outside somewhere according to star map stats

I had been checking all the stations looking for where the locals who seemed so afraid were hiding. Upon undocking from one of the stations I was joined by a Myrmidon right next to me, and so, for the glory of the broadside I opened fire immediately on my target. Flashes of cannon fire lit up the dark murky space outside the station, the sentry fire from the station's guns trying to halt me in my tracks and further adding to the light show. The Myrmidon was having nothing of it though and immediately requested docking permission, in half armor he disappeared from space back into the safety of the hangar. I warped off to a safe spot to regenerate some shields.

Later whilst sat near the high-sec gate I noticed a Manticore land nearby. Being a neutral pilot I assumed he would be going about his business and be jumping back into high-sec. Wrong. He began burning towards me, locking me up in the process, plucky little fellow hey? I returned the favour fully expecting him to jump on into high-sec, but to my surprise he let off a salvo of torpedos in my direction! Aggression, now this is something I live for and this was akin to prodding a tired and hungry sleeping killer-dog with a broom handle. Right about the same time I began unleashing death from my cannons the Myrmidon from previous landed right next to us.

He too locked me up and began shooting me with his tech 1 guns. The kill-switch was well and truly flicked now, the rush of bloodlust flowed, the red rag to the bull was flapping in a violent storm. The Hurricane made short work of the stealth bomber and began to bring about the demise of the Myrmidon. The end was near, the Hurricane blitzed through the hapless Gallente battlecruiser with ease. As is always proven to be the case in combat, a cap stable ship fitted in the way of the bear usually makes for a dead bear.

I scooped the loot from the two wrecks and was just about to initiate my warp engines when an autopiloting pod landed on the gate. Poor timing young fellow.

----

In other news.

During a recent Rebel roam around the Verge Vendor and Essence regions I broke formation from the fleet in Hevrice and stopped off at the shrine to the great Tusker pirate Mr Snypes, which is situated high above the Hevrice 5 Station. I dropped some cans full of ammo from the Black Rebel Rifter Club honouring the former capsuleer, who recently handed in his pilot's licence, no doubt he'll be on some tropical planet somewhere right now in the South sunning his fresh clone and kicking up some surf whilst telling stories of low-sec to some local beach dwelling punk kids. A million miles away from the black space lanes. Good luck Mr Snypes!

The Snypes Shrine in Hevrice.

MB.

Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, Marijuana, Ecstasy and Alcohol .....

2011-07-27T14:27:00.000+01:00

Lh-lh-lh-lh-Lhorenzho.

Just another ordinary day with the Rebels then?

Unnamed system.
Gallente Federation.

Girls, Girls, Rebels.

The dimly-lit establishment was in full swing, trashy pop music filled the shabby little bar area along with toxic smoke and the smell of stale beer and synthetic cheap spirits. This seedy outpost in the deepest corner of Gallente space was kept off the main track for a reason; dark dealings and shady goings on were the norm, always a loaded pistol at hand, always a junkie slumped over in the corner, his last fix perhaps? Away from the distractions the stage show was mesmerizing, eyes transfixed to the girls at the front.
Miura sat at the table with his band of Rebels around him, six of them in total all dressed in black like some kind of narcissistic army of scumbags. Duke, Gul', Joe, Grernandez and The Judge - a nice group of guys until you accidentally knocked one of their drinks over.
Whilst the Rebels took in the delights of their surroundings and enjoyed the intoxication that was running through their blood and muddling their minds, Miura sat back in his chair slowly smoking a cigarette, an untouched glass of weak beer in front of him, oblivious to his surroundings as he browsed the document before him.

The document in question, regarding the current mental state of Rebel member Lhorenzho made for a fascinating read. The mindset of somebody with so much history intrigued the leader of the Rebels so much that he only hoped the other members had this kind of hidden backstory, some dark calling in life, something troubling them, a ticking timebomb waiting to go off, whether that be in some beat-up bar or in the throes of combat. A life on the run was what the Rebels were all about and for Miura, the more twisted and perverted these issues were then the better he felt, a volatile mixture of guys at his disposal would only keep him on his toes.

It was now getting late and Miura was expecting a delivery of frigates in a nearby system. Boot heels clipped the metal chequer plate flooring as he left the rowdiness of the bar behind him and made his way down the narrow corridors of the outpost towards the ship bays where his Rifter awaited him.

MB.

Campaign Review - Black Jackets on Tour

2011-07-23T22:21:00.001+01:00

Everyshore 101

(kill summary)

This is a short review of the Black Rebels' recent campaign that would encompass the mainly Gallente populated regions of Everyshore, Sinq Laison, Essence and Verge Vendor. It would also include a memorable visit to Caldari space too, but more on that later.

The campaign would run for 36 days and was intended as a group bonding session, (I said bonding, Lhorenzho) with all the new recruits and some pilots not accustomed to pvp, it was also something of a training exercise. Looking at the final total kill count of 300 to 257 losses we can look back on the whole and say that the campaign was a success.

Here are the memorable moments (and some not so) from our vacation ....

Red v Blue and the Pool Party Kid Incident.

We would kick off the campaign with a war dec against Blue Republic over in the Everyshore region, Bille solar system would be our base and we had nearly 200 all tech 1 fitted Rifters and Thrashers ready to roll. Unfortunately it wasn't to be an easy ride for the Rebels, after the first day of 'fighting' - I use the term fighting very loosely as we were always blobbed - we stood at something like 6 kills for 56 losses. Not great statistics!
But this wasn't about efficiency and elite combat, we were here in the cheapest, dirtiest looking tricked out Rifters that you could imagine. One of our guys even had a modified autocannon heatshield that he welded onto his meta 1 guns. Always complaining about the rattle during recoil making his teeth chatter he ripped one of the bins out of the ship bay in Bille, stuck it on and it did the trick. The Thrashers that we had purchased were also dodgy to say the least, I got chatting one night to an old scrapyard dealer who had a cargohold full of wrecked Thrashers to deliver for reprocessing, we got him drunk in the bar that night on Thukker Fire Whiskey and he sold us them dirt cheap. Result.

Due to a clerical mix up by one of our recruitment advisers we ended up accepting an application on the eve of the war going live to a member of Blue Republic. Needless to say when the war did go live they knew everything about us. Not to worry. In hindsight we should have kicked the guy but he did seem a nice guy so we gave him the benefit, bizarrely. But just as we were about to roll out in our first tech 1 Rifter gang with our resident spy master in fleet we heard the announcement that he had to leave to go to a pool party. Just after he logged we got blobbed by one well put together fleet with ECM support, good timing? I think not. From that day the guy was named 'The Pool Party Kid', much to the hilarity of the rest of the Rebels. Not long after the wardec ended a note was left in our offices explaining that 'The Pool Party Kid' had to leave the area to take care of some business. Needless to say he was booted from the roster in his absence and nothing has been seen or heard of him since.

Moving on .....

The Xenophab and the Dominix Navy Issue.

We then decided to have a few days to regroup, during this time I did a bit of research on some corporations that I thought might give us a chance to get our autocannons hot on a regular basis. Some random wardecs later and we were causing grief and doing what we do best.

One of the corporations - The Xenophabai - seemed to take the war to heart, the pilots bio's revealing some pretty threatening spiel towards the Rebels. This was great, just what we wanted! They even started rolling out small fleets looking for us, much cat and mouse ensued and we would snag the odd guy undocking in his mining cruiser. Then one day I randomly warped to a top belt and uncloaked an Ashimmu and a Brutix in my Rifter that were sat cloaked at zero. How odd I thought, knowing that these two ships could cause some pain to my Rifter I warped off and sent out the message to the rest of the Rebels that a fleet was needed.

A fleet was assembled and on a stargate in Vay solar system a great light show ensued as Rifters danced towards the enemy Ashimmu, Harbinger and Brutix. The result was that the Rebels had announced their arrival in the area, even though the Brutix managed to escape the field and the fits were somewhat questionable we felt good about our work. We retired to the bar that night to celebrate and not long after we received a ransom payment that ended hostilities.

Another corporation that we declared war against happened to turn out to be some really nice guys who in the end actually joined the Rebel roster. But first we had the Dominix Navy Issue moment to contend with.
Our scout had reported a war-target Dominix that was loitering in the system and the whole story can be found here in an earlier blog post regarding the event.

The next week or so was generally quiet, we had some wardecs that fizzled out and nothing much would be happening other than the usual Rebel behaviour of loot thieving and general skulduggery. One of the alliances that we had decced, Caveo Lupus, had been spotted running their operations over in Caldari space, away from the reach of the Rebels and their rusty killing machines. The Rebels loaded up some gear, some women, drugs and some booze and made their way over for a party. What followed was to become known as the Battle of Poinen, an event that will go down in folklore for the Rebels.

Battle of Poinen

The Infiltration of World Forge Industries.

Our final wardec was against another alliance - Limitless Inc. - which included the corporations World Forge Industries and Dark Fusion Industries, amongst other names I forget now and had little interest in actually. Weeks before this went live we had made use of our infiltration experts who had successfully entered one of the corps and were now filtering back a wealth of knowledge for our impending decalration. Most of it was pure comedy gold.

Most of the actual fighting during the war revolved around 1v1 combat situations and ganking miners and haulers and podding everything we could catch, no forgiveness. Actual fleet combat was few and far between, but the Rebels enjoyed this style of guerilla warfare and they excelled at it. Zodiac Black was making a name for himself and becoming quite a pain for the enemy to handle in his Rifter, he was loving the attention too and came away with a plethora of killmails from this part of the campaign.

After a while it was clear that World Forge Industries could not operate with the menace that was the Black Rebels stalking them, their chief exec sent out an urgent mail to all members.

_ _ _

WARNING: THIS MESSAGE IS ONLY FOR WORLD FORGE INDUSTRIES; IT IS BEING SHOWN TO LIMITLESS INC, SO THEY KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING.

Gentlemen of World Forge Industries,

So here's the war plan; it's fairly simple really:

-All pilots are required to join a channel that will be made after 24 hours of this mail.

-All pilots will be asked to leave the corp; this is not a question of if you decide to do it or not, you are being ORDERED to leave the corp. Exception: Pilots who are going to FIGHT.

-All pilots will communicate among each other within the channel, while also being in NPC corporations; NPC corps cannot be war dec'd, which is important because it means the enemy needs to use conventional means.

-All pilots will continue to sell materials to the corp to continue the war effort; I will build, en mass, products to keep the corporate wallet functional.

-All pilots will help the war effort through "safer supply lines," that is you will run courier missions to help us.

-All pilots will then rejoin the corp after the war is over; all pilots who rejoin immediately gain the ensign rank as a sign of their loyalty. Pilots who do not rejoin were never loyal to begin with, and I will not be sad to see them go; I may even be happier.

-BY DOING ALL THIS, YOU ARE DENYING THE ENEMY TARGETS, AND THUS MAKING THIS WAR USELESS TO THEM. THIS IS NOW OUR OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO ALL WAR DECS TO THIS CORP. I WILL NOT ALLOW PILOTS TO STAY DUE TO SOME DESIRE TO PROVE SOMETHING; YOU FIGHT OR YOU LEAVE AND BE SAFE.

Gentlemen, I have the utmost confidence in your ability to be part of a system so strong, not even the guns of our enemies can shatter it. Nothing can break us, nothing will.

Regards,
Vhankar
Chief Executive Officer of the World Forge Industries system and proud to have you as members.

PS: Let the spies see this, for there is nothing the enemy can do to stop us, short of suicide ganking their wallets to oblivion; and even then.

So that was it, the campaign was coming to an end and our target corporation's pilots were all in NPC corps and their own private chat channel..... Which all the Rebels who were online one fine evening gatecrashed and turned into our very own corp channel. We literally took it over with a Jita style fast flowing flicker of Memes, GIF's, Photos and other unsavoury items flashing before their eyes. I remember one of the first responses to our abrupt entry was

****> Oh God who let the spies in again.

The following day all Black Rebel members were flushed from the channel and our campaign was about to end. It was a great experience and one of the most fun times in my eve career to date, getting to know each of my new corp members and building on what I hope will be around for a long time to come I think we all had a blast. Here's to more campaigns of adventure, fun and bloodshed in the future!

Final statistics and prizes.

Top Killer with 52 kills Zodiac Black

The Snarling Dog - Zodiac Black

Zodiac is a ruthless killing machine it seems and for a top place finish he receives x2 Republic Fleet Firetail hulls a Dramiel and 100m ISK. Well done, I'm sure everybody would agree it is refreshing to see a pilot so young show so much disregard for the safety of themselves and their spaceships in combat.

:)

Runner up with 25 kills - Anxiir

Cool Hand Anx

Some great kills during this campaign, really enjoy looking out for your killmails. A Caldari Navy Hookbill and an Imperial Navy Slicer are your reward along with a token 25m ISk.

3rd place with 23 kills - Saftsuze

The man with the Golden Moustache - Saftsuze

Doing what you do on a consistent basis has enabled you to climb the campaign killboard to 3rd place. Your prize (or punishment - read Saft's Jaguar curse) ;p is x2 Jaguar hulls. Congrats, mate.

Top scorer with 2803 points - Zodiac Black

Well, it had to be really didn't it? Well done again mate. Your prize is a pack of Assault Frigates x2 Jaguar and x2 Wolf hulls. Enjoy.

Best solo kill - Tomba

Popular Black Rebel - Tomba

This was a difficult one to choose as there were so many good solo kills out there. This one has been chosen because of the persistence of Tomba to master the Arty-Rifter hull and then go out and look for some of the games top pilots and test his mettle against them on a regular basis. Well done Tomba, your prize is x3 Taranis hulls and 25m ISK.

Next up .....

Our next campaign will roll out in September. We are now recruiting new pilots for this, join us today!

MB.

Where Did All The Heroes Go? (Musings on Quitting EVE)

2011-07-21T22:41:00.000+01:00

The first time in space and the sudden realization of the endless adventure that lies before you is forgotten in that moment of despair as you walk away from the game. I'm sure everybody can relate to those first steps out into the harsh world that we know and love. Stumbling into low-security space for the first time in that toon that you rolled a few months before your 'main', when you didn't have a clue what you was doing and fitting up a ship was like dipping into the lucky dip bag of some corporation's junk hangar.

Frustrating, for sure, but back then the game grabbed you and hit you hard like a drug, you craved more, you wanted to learn and understand how the professionals did their business in such a mesmerizing fashion. I remember those days with fond memories. I hope some of you out there can relate to being the total noob and wandering around all starry-eyed, losing embarrassingly and trying to work out just exactly how that flashy guy in a frigate just destroyed your cruiser that had every type of gun and ammo type loaded. How was this possible you pondered. But still you came back and learned from the actions and experiences as the game continued to infest your inner being.

Those who quit the game through tiredness and boredom need to find that feeling again, that excitement that can flow, the adrenalin that can kick in and that rush of blood where your heart pumps so loudly that it feels like it is going to pop out of your chest right in front of you. If you've played EVE and haven't yet experienced the feelings above then you haven't really played EVE.

There are ways to grab that feeling back and to fight the burnout and come back stronger. A break from EVE can do the world of good, starting afresh can also reignite your passion, cutting loose from old friends (or enemies) and coming back as the new guy has been a proven formula in the past. Coming back to the game and doing something totally different to what you did previously can also boost your desires.

How and indeed if people go about getting the excitement back is their call and open to debate. There's a few famous names that need no mention in here, whether some of them return remains to be seen. Some have been gone that long the answer is probably already out there. Personally speaking, some names occasionally crop up and get me thinking about what they are up to now, some were close friends, some were enemies, some I didn't even know that well but we'd always cross paths, some maybe even still play but are far removed from my current in-game lifestyle that we have perhaps drifted apart.

Some were heroes, but where did they all go?

Biggerguns.

Biggerguns was the founder of Pyrotechnics Inc. A piracy corporation that accepted newbies and took them all the way down to -10. This guy was a really good pilot, a bad-ass mean looking Brutor guy with shades and a shaved head .... he'd just sit out in Amamake and take on everybody in his Rifter, he was, to me like a fucking daddy in that frigate and inspired me that much that I stole his bio tag-line of 'Mess with the bull, you get the horns'. That line just summed the guy up perfectly.
Then one day he bio-massed his toon, just like that. Nursultan who was a new director at the time took over the reigns and he is still running the corp to this day. I have fond memories of Pyro, living in Amamake and the fun that followed. Sadly I'll always remember the day that 'guns left the game.
I'd also add that I knew of a new character that he had rolled previously, however that character blocked all attempts at contact and although I occasionally looked out for his killmails and the corporations he was in, time lapsed and I stopped wondering. Out of respect I won't reveal his character name here.

Kaoticar.

Another of the original Pyro director crew. I was good friends with Kao and I remember him fondly, his deep Irish accent still rings in my ear from time to time haunting me. In real life he was a crazy looking tattooist, I can see him now on his website in the pictures he used to always link of his ink skills. Then one day he left Pyro to run an alt corp with one of my alts, and then never logged in again.
Spookily there is a guy who hangs around in Molden Heath, I heard him on vent and thought he sounded so much like Kao that it must be him! I never did ask if it was, it probably wasn't, but still.

Sadinshadow.

Sadin was again a member of Pyro. He was one of the newbs, and my god he was a newb. I remember one time he shouted on vent that he had pointed one of those Heretic guys in his Rifter ..... so in I warped to find his frozen corpse and a flashy Zealot awaiting me. Good times.
However, Sadin went away from the game for a few months and then returned a new man. He had learnt the ropes and he now knew what he was doing and he did it well. I encouraged him to join The Tuskers, and he did, he got accepted but real life issues cropped up and he kept saying he'd be back but he never did make it back properly. The last I heard he was fixing up his pc on vent and complaining that storms were in his area and his connection was poor. He got abruptly disconnected mid-sentence and that was it. Gone. Hope he's ok, lol.

In memory I have copy/pasted his bio as it always used to make me smile.

you cant see me, you cant see me, neither can he, no one can see me... O_O

Romeo Blakstorm.

Sold his soul to the devil to pay for a new life of crime. Makes me shudder looking at him now, he's not the old Romeo I remember. The dirty Amarrian that he was. Another ex-Tusker and Pyro guy.

Geaux Tiger.

This guy was a cool Tusker. I remember his old photograph, his ginger beard and grizzled appearance struck me in a weird kind of way. He just looked like a boss. This is real life not in-game. But in-game he also was someone I looked up to. I loved his blog and remember reading about his Tengu he purchased when they first rolled out and how he nearly lost it in an instant to Sleepers.
He doesn't have a bio picture now so I will assume he has left the game for good.

Andy Derbyshire.

Remember me mentioning that toon that we all experimented with? Well Andy Derbyshire was a good friend of my original toon, we set up this really bad corporation together, and I mean really bad. We would have our own security wing which when I look back now is everything that sums up a noob corp in this game, badly fitted bc's in week old toons and bad, bad fits. We got smoked mostly, well all the time but Andy was a cool guy.
He emailed me some corp details once and I was very surprised to notice that his email address was from the school down the road from mine, we went to 'enemy' schools in the same town, for the want of a better description. I never did mention that we lived in the same town. I should have done really but didn't want a situation where this crazy dude might turn up at my house one day to talk about spaceships and I guess he might have felt the same way. He was another who never logged into the game after going on a break.

Sinferis.

Back in the early days with that toon again. Sinferis was the veteran player who joined our nooby corp along with his friend who never ever spoke. Looking back now I think it was his alt. How funny that the noob doesn't pick up on these little things at the time.
Sinferis was this really cool French dude who would fly around in Navy Megathron's and he would just give off this aura of being a really good player, he talked the talk. Then one day I looked at his battleclinic record and it read 10 kills to 11 losses. It was a sad realization and I kind of felt duped somewhat. I also remember he was in the French Army and I always had to resist from cracking the obvious jokes to him.
Another pilot who has no portrait and hasn't logged in for months, perhaps years.

There are perhaps more out there, I can't think too hard about it as it would turn into an epic journal of sorts. All I'd say is to those who get that feeling that they might want to walk away, don't become another name lost in the murky waters of bio-massed toons and blank faces. Stick with it and become the hero and stay in that place.

That place is logged-in.

MB.

Black Rebel pvp Video Plug

2011-07-18T18:08:00.001+01:00

Black Rebel pilot Anxiir has recently been busy getting into all kinds of mischief in his Tristan and Raptor. It has been bad news for the Rifters that he has laid waste to but good news for the masses as he has produced an excellent video that I'm sure you will all agree is top notch crystal clear quality with great audio a welcome bonus.

Head on over to his blog on the link below and check it out!

Highly Addictive 2 - Rifter Genocide Edition

MB.

-2.19

2011-07-18T00:20:00.000+01:00

Having spent the last few months carefully keeping an eye on my security status and living the life of what seemed like a high-sec pvp mormon, it was now time to cast away the chains and set fire to the low-sec spacelanes and anything that I should come across.

Whilst at times I found can-flipping and ore/loot thefts fun I always hungered for the low-sec style of 'all guns blazing no holding back' style of combat - engineering kills in high-sec and finding war targets could at times be tedious. I sold up all my high-sec stock and rolled out into low-sec.
My first bite into my sec status happened soon after undocking in Parts, I spotted a Vexor at an asteroid belt and my Jaguar was soon pouncing for an easy kill - whilst not much of a challenge by any stretch of the imagination it was just what I had craved and the adrenaline kicked in and I could feel my heart pumping.

Later that same evening I went on an uneventful roam up through Black Rise and on towards Ishomilken where I lost some more sec-status after engaging two Punishers at the sun. Both put up a good fight, landing on them at zero I was surprised to see both of them web me. They were tanking my damage quite nicely and dishing out a bit of pain of their own but I was confident that once I sent one packing the other would soon follow. However, in a moment of fail I burnt out all my guns and was left to scamper out of web range and burn away with my tail between my legs. Drat.

Next up I managed to actually get aggressed so no sec loss this fight. A Sentinel followed me to an asteroid belt and the fight was on. I was quickly neuted and struggling to manage my capacitor with my cap booster injections not timed very well. Drones were hurting my shields and I decided to make a run for it as the Sentinel was keeping range from me quite well. I managed to get off a quick double boost of the cap booster and I overheated my afterburner and aligned to the sun, the Sentinel gave chase, the ground I had made quickly turned from 12k to 15k to 21k .... the Sentinel's microwarpdrive spun into life and as he began to gain on me I slammed on the brakes and turned to face the oncoming Electronic Attack Frigate. Landing the scram on him just as we crossed paths was a great feeling, I fired up my Nosferatu module to gain a little more capacitor and overloaded my guns. The Sentinel exploded in a glorious fashion and I escaped with 15% structure remaining. I scooped loot and docked a few systems out for repairs.

clicky to make biggy

Not long after this I watched as a novice Thorax I had crossed on the stargate entered warp towards a belt, following as fast I could I landed smack bang on top of him and unleashed the pain as the cruiser crumpled into a wreck.

My next adventure involved fitting up a dual-rep Republic Fleet Firetail and heading down towards Amamake to see what was on offer. After noticing a huge fight taking place in the top belt I warped on in to what I thought was a pounce point to survey the scene. Sadly I had warped directly into the fight and was soon sent packing by an angry looking Loki.

Not to be put off I returned in a trusty Rifter and this time warped to my pounce. I noticed an Archon taking heavy damage so I warped down and fired off a salvo of autocannons before warping back out to watch its demise. Sadly the pilot initiated self-destruct and we missed the killmail. However, a Naglfar Minmatar Dreadnought was now taking heavy fire so I warped on down to the belt again and fired off a few shots. In the safety of my pounce spot I watched as the huge ship shattered the sky with a thousand shards of high-end space rust.

Welcome to Amamake!

Later on I headed over to Egghelende where a Thorax landed on me in the top belt, we started an intense dogfight but my mistake in not concentrating on the cruiser's drones backfired and my Rifter was no more. Again, I was in the mood for destruction so jumped into a Jaguar I had in system and undocked under sentry fire to race back towards the belt, sure enough the Thorax was still there and this time I overloaded everything, ignored the drones again and laid siege on the cruiser. With no damage control fitted to my Jag it was a relief to see the Thorax pop as I hit half armor.

So that was the first stage on my quest back towards my -10 badge. I purposefully didn't engage in any poddings, to prolong the wait and obtain more fights before I go flashy.

Watch this space!

MB.

The Solo Combat Pilot's Guide to Good Roaming #6

2011-07-17T15:58:00.000+01:00

Hek to Eifer

This 14 jump roam starts in the high-security space system of Hek, a quality trade hub and also a can-flipping and 1v1 haunt, for those of a more darker security status you should start this roam in low-sec Resbroko.

Setting our auto-pilots to prefer less secure and an initial waypoint of Hadozeko and then our final waypoint of Eifer we undock into the bright lights and busy traffic lanes of Hek.

Hek 0.5

Hek is a fantastic system to base out of, the market is excellent and always chocked full of goodies, the local services are all exemplary in standard and it even has the added appeal of being a good system to flip cans and arrange 1v1 combat.
The more time you spend in Hek the more you will begin to get a feel of who the genuine 'good guys' looking for a gf are and who the 'bad guys' are - the dudes and dudettes who never leave the perimeter of the station undock and who never fight without back-up or remote reps and other nasty little surprises.

Leaving behind the station huggers with their lack of talent trailing in the wake of their overheating remote reps the best place to engineer fights in Hek is the 12 asteroid belts, all of which should at any given time be bustling with miners, ratters and genuine dogfighters looking for a duel. During quiet periods, drop some cans, rat a little and leave the wrecks, patrol the belts and watch out for those who take the aggression.

As mentioned previously, all services are catered for in the system's 5 stations - Hek VIII - Moon 12 - Boundless Creation Factory is the main market station. Although there is no medical facility in this station it is noted that three of the four other stations do have cloning services available with new clones produced on a regular basis for those with the correct insurance bonds.

Hror 0.5

This system has no stations or outposts. Perhaps you might be able to find a lone miner to harass or some local Angel pirates to shoot in one of the 7 asteroid belts but for the purpose of this exercise we skip through Hror on our way to our first low-sec system.

Resbroko 0.4

Checking our ship insurance is valid and our clones updated we make the jump into low-sec.
Resbroko is an odd system, one station, 4 asteroid belts and a massive cross-warp of nearly 150AU from our in-gate to our out-gate. Exploring this system can take a good while.

150 AU warp? Warp sickness tablets at the ready!

It can be bountiful though as opportunistic ratters seek the higher bounties of low-sec rats and brave miners try to grab some higher end ores before being spotted by hunters like us.

The Republic Fleet Assembly Plant offers the basic services of repair and refinery but little else. The market is mixed, it usually has a good mix of ships available but fittings and ammo can be hard to source.

Hadozeko 0.4

Hadozeko is an important traffic system on the Heimatar-Metropolis low-sec route. Those continuing further afield and those branching off through Resbroko towards Hek and the safety of high-sec all have to pass through Hadozeko, for this is sees a lot of traffic flow.
Some of this traffic can be attracted to the 26 asteroid belts on offer, a quick D-scan check from our in-gate reveals all of the XI cluster. Moving on to the star will reveal all of the other asteroid belts in the system, apart from the X cluster. Three warps around the system and you get a good picture of what, if anything is on offer.

Hadozeko also sees its fair share of faction warfare traffic, often camping the gates in large gangs of battlecruisers but nimble frigates shouldn't have too much of a problem in the area avoiding these camps. Another worthy note is these systems are often a favourite haunt for roaming EVE University gangs. Engaging a solo EVE University pilot will often result in a cascade effect of opening up a sewage pipe full of .... you get the picture. Engage at your own risk.

The system has 4 stations with a mix of services from medical to repairs. The top station - Hadozeko II - Tribal Liberation Force Logistic Support is where the clone vats are harvested and this station also offers a good repair facility.
The market is just above average with a good mix of ships and fittings available, although it does not contain all the mod cons for fitting up a ship from scratch it certainly has fittings to help put part of a ship together. Moderate supplies of ammunitions and drones can be sourced in some of the stations too.

Klogori 0.3

4 asteroid belts that are all on scan from the entry gate should determine whether or not you will get a fight in here from the off.
Klogori is a system that contains no fewer than 9 stations, all services are therefore available but the market is usually poor, as we stray deeper into low-sec and away from the supply lines.

Orfrold 0.2

Orfrold was an old cloning system for the Minmatar Republic, both its stations still serve this purpose. The market is poor, traders have been put off by the low-security rating of the system and the spacelane robbers who await passing caravans hoping for rich pickings.
Orfrold has an abandoned feel to it, haunted by the ghosts of those who perished here in the past, its 5 asteroid belts usually swarming with local Angel patrols.

Egmar 0.3

Thermals recommended.

The harsh environment of Egmar with its 15 asteroid belts, one of which is the Egmar Ice Drift can be a system where those foolish enough to wander into its belts often become another statistic.
Another system that is an important traffic flow system, on the elbow of the Anglis constellation, its fair share of traffic usually pass the system unnoticed with the occasional stop-off for weary travellers in one of the 4 stations. The Republic Justice Department Law School at planet XII - Moon 10 offering clone bays with the other 3 stations offering ship repair services. The market is poor.

Arnher 0.2

This system has no stations or outposts but it does have 19 asteroid belts. A fairly large system with the belts spread over the entire system, if somebody is active in here it might mean an opportunity for a fight - or on the downside, could mean they are nestled under the protective shields of one of the system's many POS's that are present.

Evati 0.2

The system of Evati with its multicultural mix of Caldari and Minmatar stations and even the presence of CONCORD has for time been known as an infamous haunt for pirates and those who seek the bounties on offer.

Yarr!

Long time home to The Bastards pirate corporation it often sees gangs and solo pilots passing through or loitering looking for fights, a quick warp around the 7 asteroid belts and the gates should determine what is on offer, just remember to keep a close eye on the D-scanner. An abandoned battlefield also adding to the mystique of the system.

The market in Evati is good, a steady stock of ships and a good selection of goods and ammunitions mean plenty of options should you need a quick refit and the 9 stations offer all the expected services that a busy low-sec system should offer to its dwellers.

Todifrauan 0.1

7 asteroid belts including an ice field mixed in with a low security rating can make for a system where those who venture into the depths are blinded by the bounties on offer and the Glare Crust and Dark Glitter that lights up the murky-brown backdrop.

Planet VII - Moon 19 - Pator Tech School offers all the facilities including a medical suite but the market is stagnant, unless of course you are after a new skillbook.

Arnstur 0.1

Another bleak system, no stations makes for little signs of life. It does however have a strong industrial element and the system is often littered with industrial ships of various sorts, unfortunately in most cases they are hidden behind a POS shield.
The 8 asteroid belts are always worth a quick warp around.

Gultratren 0.3

Entering the dark-blue skies of Heimatar we reach the system of Gultratren. 17 asteroid belts to explore and a high-sec entry point can mean the few quiet systems before us might now entertain us with the delights that the high-sec gate can bring.
Patience is required, you will need to sort out what is POS junk and what is a genuine target. Ratters can often go unnoticed within the clutter, once you spot something, don't waste time, I've found all sorts of oddly fit targets in this system in the past. The key factor is the clutter that hides them on the D-scan also hides the hunter.

The 4 stations offer all the usual services, 3 of which offer medical bays. The market is pretty average and I wouldn't expect to fit up a complete ship from the offerings.

Ingunn 0.3

A fairly large system consisting of two stations (all services offered, market poor) and 6 asteroid belts spread out over the entire system. It is usually quiet in here, but there is always the chance of a stray ratter to hone your cross-hairs at.

Gusandall 0.4

A system of pvp opportunity. The Angel Creo-Corp Mining, Minmatar Contracted Bio-Farm and Ruined Minmatar Outpost sites are all magnets for small ship pvp. Spend long enough lingering around them and you're sure to grab the attention of a passing ship.

The only station in system offers cloning and repair facilities and the market is good for ammunition supplies.

Eifer 0.4

Our journey ends in the system of Eifer. Whilst there are no stations in Eifer it is often found to be a system of opportunity for some bloodshed - the 10 asteroid belts are your hunting zone.
Two jumps from the starter system of Pator it is often the first taste of low-sec for budding pilots fresh from graduation. Because of this you might sometimes find the gates camped, especially the high-sec ones. On more quiet days you might be the only pilot in here. But as the stories of those who have been slain will prove, Eifer is never a place free from horror.

Eifer welcomes careful miners!

___

Happy Hunting!

MB.

Meet the Rebels - Lhorenzho

2011-07-16T12:56:00.001+01:00

The Autocannon is not just the name of the public channel in which the Rebels hang out and talk dirty over spaceships with anybody and everybody who is plugged in, it is also the name of a bar that some of their members frequent on a regular basis.
Lhorenzho had asked me to keep the actual location of the bar private, he didn't want riff raff invading his local when he and the Rebels were kicking back and letting off steam, whatever that would entail.

As I entered the bar I was immediately searched and frisked by two large security guards of Caldari origin. As this was happening, Lhorenzho, himself a man of Deteis birth, signalled with a nod to the two guards that I was good.

"Drink, sir?" .....

Lhorenzho

Tell us a little bit about your background in New Eden?

I would like to tell you I was a sad-eyed orphan in tattered clothes who never knew his father and was raised by a woman who worked as a downtrodden hooker in some seedy joint on the wrong side of the station but I would be lying. The truth is I was born into a life of opulence to a well-known family of wealth and influence in the richest enclave of the Caldari state. My crib, I have been told, was inlaid with gold and diamonds, real diamonds not those synthetics sold on the streets by gallente transients. To say I had a leg up in life would be an understatement. Incidentally, I am forbidden by court order to divulge the family name so please don’t ask.
My future as a corporate ladder climber, financier and enterprise mogul was all but assured and I had only to follow the blueprint laid down by my father to bring my pre-destined life of privilege to fruition. To my father’s deep shame it was soon apparent that there was something terribly different about me. There was a screw loose somewhere (to use the vernacular of the street) that always made me take the wrong turn when presented with a choice. I guess I was a loser and I was certainly operating with a dysfunctional moral compass. I also impregnated the youngest daughter of my father’s business partner, a comely young lass who I hear turned out to be a fine mother. I don’t know my son’s name.
My “studies” at the Elite Caldari business University also ended as I had channeled the tuition money sent to me into more interesting venues (A pyramid scheme involving clone vats for one), plus I preferred watching the co-eds on the dormcams over participation in my study groups.
It wasn’t long before I was summarily pruned from the family tree and found myself homeless, iskless, and strung out on an assortment of illegal substances. With no help from my blood relations on the horizon (we are a proud family you see and they wanted the blight gone), I joined a mining concern who mistakenly believed my bold assertions that my one university course in inventory management theory would help them increase profit margin. When it didn’t happen and after they noted bookkeeping irregularities they dumped me and left me stranded on some hellish outpost whose name I can’t even remember. At this outpost, I met a distinguished cadre member, a Master Zeuth from the famed Waffles (Sniggwaffe) warrior group who took a shine to me and encouraged me to apply as a pilot.
I did subsequently apply and due to some smooth talking on my part and despite my lack of PvP experience was able to convince them to accept me.
A week later I was ignominiously purged. The waffles, a group known for making vicious anti-social behavior a lifestyle found me unpalatable.
My life continued to spiral downward. In and out of drug abuse facilities, station brigs, and mental health hospices, I finally ended up working as a backroom cleanup man at a social club called the Popped Pod, a seedy joint of some repute known to occasionally welcome infamous patrons. It was here that I got to know the great Flashfresh, who like others in my life caught a glimpse of the remnants of an earlier potential and mistook it for more than what it was. Perhaps in a moment of weakness he asked me to apply to the training arm of the Bastards called the Meatshields. The application was rejected. No reason was given.
Where is our fucking waitress?

How did you become a Black Rebel?

While spending some time housed in a “facility” operated by the rehabilitation arm of the Minmitar Republic, I became acquainted with an ominous, brooding young fellow who exhibited the most chilling singularity of purpose I had ever known. He possessed, I was told by those who had the misfortune of crossing paths with him, an almost superhuman desire and ability to foment death and destruction and the prospect of not being able to wreak havoc while confined literally sent him into a deep funk. He was only happy when he was on the hunt. Mayhem was his mistress. Needless to say, the confinement was devastatingly unbearable to him and in turn made me uneasy as he often looked at me with a devilish grin that I was certain meant I would be found dead in the morning. Since I had plenty of time on my hands I listened to the lad and was thus able to get into his good graces and became the closest thing a chap of his malicious disposition could have to being a friend.
The young guy had just joined a corporation whose sole purpose was to literally unleash the dogs of war on our already battle weary sector of space. No rules, no discipline, no structure, and no control. He talked excitedly of being able to join his comrades as soon as possible. Of course, hearing the scary young lion talk of his new life piqued my interest and I was able to convince him to provide the name of the architect behind this organization. After my unauthorized “early release”, I contacted the CEO, a congenial but menacing looking rogue with a reputation for blowing up spacecraft named Miura Bull, and after undergoing a screening process was accepted into the Black Rebels. Incidentally, I won’t mention any names but the killing virtuoso I refer to above can be found at the top of the Black Rebels Kill board.

What were you doing before you joined the Black Rebels?

I was in my own way, although I did not know it at the time, laying the foundation needed to forge a successful career as a Pirate in this universe of ours. I was achieving what one would call a critical mass of embarrassing ineptitude and failure in my earlier life in New Eden as I have already alluded to above. I was undergoing my own version of the Trial by fire.
The brutal Eve universe is a harrowing crucible that can forge an amazing array of dangerous and unstable personality types. They are a natural byproduct of life in New Eden.
I think you will find that many of the Rebels can relate similar tales to you of a badly misguided youth littered with bad decisions and inappropriate behavior. There is certainly a big dose of angst, anger, brutality, resentment, sadism, and pain in the mix of ingredients that go into forming what we know as a Rebel. Since I had been unsuccessful in having a corporation accept me, I went ahead and formed my own one man corp. I may have been diagnosed at one time as a social misfit, but I was never a loner. I craved the camaraderie of like minded people. Given that fact, you can see how I might have been unhappy in a one man outfit. It was providential that the opportunity to join the Rebels occurred when it did. I am not a religious man, but I still thank my lucky stars that I stumbled into this bunch of maniacs.
How much do they charge for a lap dance in here?

What is a Black Rebel?

A Rebel is a suspicious, cagey, cunning, devious, intelligent, focused, and clever creature, born with a natural affinity for frigate combat, who will keep you at arm’s length until you prove yourself trustworthy at which point he or she will become your most loyal friend. I have been all over this big universe of ours and I don’t trust anyone but my Rebel mates. Well, I still lock up my good booze and hide my collection of ancient earth slide rules, and I may make it a point to sleep on my back especially when we are on long roams, but you know what I mean.

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

Yeah. You can ask your old lady about where they put mine.

The Rifter, tell me more?

She is the “pimp’s fave HO”. No more. No less. The only bitch I trust.
I have a trust fund with billions of ISK that I can now access due to the legal maneuverings of a drug addled lawyer with an unhealthy appetite for nubile young girls. Let’s just say I had at my disposal some photographs that helped me convince him to successfully undertake the process of breaking what my parents thought were ironclad agreements whose sole intent was to lock me out of my rightful inheritance. My point is that I can purchase just about any ship available in New Eden, but I invariably always return to my Rifter. It is the only ship where I truly feel complete while at the helm. The damn thing is like an extension of my being. She fits the Rebels and their combat philosophy like a glove. She is front and center when we go looking for trouble. She is our go to girl. The one who is always there when you need a Saturday date.
Do I need to say any more dude?

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as the enemy?

Your question has a disapproving tone to it. You got a problem with unwashed scumbags? We terrorize our enemies both before and after we have washed our asses, what is your point? You want another drink man? Oh by the way, do you think I am a pretentious prick?

Tell me about your corpmates?

Well, I have already described one of them earlier. They are a rare breed. They are unconventional and uniquely non-conformist and resistant to authority. The Black Rebels are a collection of square pegs in a universe of round holes. They are a mass of conflicting impulses to be sure. They will fly into certain death to help you during a brutal combat engagement one moment and then take your last ISK from your wallet when you pass out on your bunk after a binge. They will screw your woman but will at least give you the courtesy of using protection so she won’t get the Sansha clap and pass it on to you. You will find them chaotic and unpredictable during downtime in station, but almost indescribably focused and driven when piloting a ship in combat and they are loyal to a fault. They will slap you silly if you are a fool. Never a dull moment with those fuckers. Yeah, you have to stay on your toes around them but I would not want to fly with any other bunch. Did I mention they are mean fuckers? Jesus are we ever gonna get served in here?

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

Another glorious day in the Rebels! A day in the Rebels is like a day on the farm. Every Meal is a banquet, every paycheck a fortune, every formation a parade. I love the REBELS!
Ok, I pulled that quote from my memory. A line I heard somewhere once. But really, your question is inane dude. What do you want to hear, that me and the corpies sit around and discuss Heidegger or that existentialism shit. The template for our lifestyle is simple man.
It’s basically, wake, undock, scan, lock, scram, web, fire, pop, pod, ransom, rinse and repeat.
Ok, the above is a gross oversimplification. In between the rinse and repeat there is eat, drink, fight, kill, puke, piss, screw, slap da bitch, and sleep…..maybe.
Did I mention screw?

Where is our f@*&$#g waitress?

End of transcript////

Point the Proteus, Point the Proteus !

2011-07-15T22:37:00.003+01:00

Last week I rolled out with the now famed Penis Fleet. Altotheix, a former alliance mate of mine who has fingers in every pie and some sinister connections to boot sent the invite, and I was soon heading down to Assah in the deepest depths of Derelik in a new autocannon Thorax to join the form-up.

Having plugged into the Heretic comms channel we waited for the late-comers to arrive before our journey into Providence. Fleet was hovering around the 19 mark and the call was made that anybody wishing to join now would have to play catch-up.

We undocked in phallic glory .... Thorax, Stabbers and, erm, a Tristan. Our scout flying a cyno-Kestrel.

The first few jumps were uneventful, we cross-jumped a couple of ships on a few occasions, most notably a Drake, but the general theme for the roam was 'hard, fast and a quick death'. At this point we were being tailed by a nosey interceptor, always landing some distance from the angry looking fleet. We kept burning .....

Then we got the call from the scout that a Harbinger was about to jump through to us. We waited as the gate flashed ..... And then unleashed all hell on the poor bastard. True Sansha Web in the hold too, that guy well and truly got a slap across the face from the Penis Fleet.

Moving on ......

We were now quite deep into Providence, or at least we were further in than some had expected, a bet had been placed on our final destruction system pre-roam with the winner taking everybody else's insurance money. I had lost as we had gone further than the amount of jumps I had put my money on.

Then our scout reported multiple ships in the next system. Some were dicking around on the station and some appeared to be running anomalies or other tedious activities. One ship in particular caught the eye, a Proteus appeared to be in one of the belts. The call was made for one of the guys to jump in and try and snag him in the belt, unfortunately mid-warp he seemed to move away, had we lost our prey?

Waiting on the other side of the gate for what seemed like an eternity, at first thinking that the Proteus was spooked and had gone safe, we were alerted that he was showing up at another belt. At this point the fleet commander gave the call for everyone to jump in and go rush the belt in question and that is what we did, only .....

We all landed nearly 40 clicks off of the faction cruiser. Microwarpdrives burning, fully expecting the Proteus to warp off into the distance, however, he did not. Was he going to hold firm and slay the invaders or was he just stupid? Stupid would be the best guess - a well executed over-heated point from Vj Gunter and the Proteus turned into a feast for the hungry fleet.

Sadly it was to be the last kill of the evening, just out of HED-GP we ran into a Darkside gang. All the power of the Penis was pointed towards the enemy Lachesis but as Scimitar's, Command Ships, Tech 3 cruisers, Battlecruisers and Heavy Interdictors started to show up on grid we overheated everything and waited for the black-out.

Boom!

I warped off in my pod quickly towards the sun and then on to a safe. After the Darkside gang had left I made my way back to the gate in my pod where I was then chased into HED-GP by three locals in two inties and an Electronic Attack Frigate. As they gave chase I warped to a pounce point I had just off the high-sec out-gate, as I landed at my safe on grid I watched with a smile on my face as the chasing threesome became tangled in their own alliance's catch bubble. I warped down to the gate and waved as I left local.

A great roam and definitely one I will take part in again. Watch out for the next one and come join in the fun!

MB.

Durzo Smith Looting/Flipping

2011-07-15T20:47:00.002+01:00

Engineering fights in high-sec can be an art form well worth mastering for the up and coming pvp'er.

19:57

Black Rebel pilot Durzo Smith has penned a great guide, head on over to his blog and find out more by clicking the link below.

LINKY

MB.

Meet the Rebels - Grernandez

2011-07-09T23:37:00.000+01:00

The Ingot over in Hek was my next port of call in my quest to get the scoop on the Black Rebels. In what I could only describe as a 'dive' and a not very welcoming place to be, I ordered a drink and made my way over to Grernandez, a Rebel who looked every bit the stereotype I had these guys down as. Scary.

"Hey, Grernandez here, nice tie" ....

Grernandez

Mate I hope you know for the duration of this interview all drinks are on you.

*waves down a waiter*

another whiskey on the rocks thanks.

Tell us a little bit about your background in New Eden / What you were doing before you joined the Black Rebels?

Well I suppose unsurprisingly I started off in the military. Got my training from them and eventually they offered me a commission as a podder. I jumped at the chance. That’s when I really got my taste for combat. I served out my commission then left.

Headed out to null sec after that, better pay out there and either way you’re fighting another man’s war. But eventually all the ridiculous times ops were scheduled at got the better of me, not to mention I got tired of dealing with the politics that go on in a coalition of that size. So decided to work for myself let the others do the hard work for me...

How did you become a Black Rebel / How did you hear about the Black Rebels?

When I hit low sec I hooked up with another group of like minded fellows, flew with them for a while, but see I had heard of Miura before and when I noticed the headlines on the news feed about the Rebels I thought I’d look them up, a short while later I was chucking on a black jacket.

What is a Black Rebel?

Suppose a rebel is whatever they want to be. We are regarded as criminals but it’s a life of freedom. Loyalty to your wing mates and slight bit of honour on the field is something we all share though.

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

Ahahahahhaha, no it isn’t a hard and fast rule but, take a look at my face I think you can tell I like ink.

The Rifter, tell me more?

In my opinion by far one of the best ships out there. A joy to fly handles brilliantly and combines survivability speed and the brute force of a custom autocannon. I do all the work on mine myself modified engine housing, adjusted thruster jets, remade gun mounts and ammo feed and I add a bit of special boom to my ammo but that’s not something I’m going to tell you about.

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as 'the enemy'?

Terrorize whoever is tagged as their enemy, yes for sure, its rather amusing really and can be very profitable. But nah most of us take a shower daily. Except for Miura that is...

Tell me about your corpmates?

Aaah the guys they are a good bunch for sure. There was this one time, two thorax class cruisers in a belt and me in my rifter. Well suffice to say that is a mighty uneven fight, basically suicide. But I engaged anyway to make sure they couldn’t escape, then I gave Meatbix and Haerod a yell and they came to my rescue and we even bagged one of the thorax's.

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

Get up, get in a ship and start flying towards the nearest fight in a sea of stars.

End of transcript ////

Black Gloves

2011-07-07T22:55:00.001+01:00

Deep inside the belly of the Minmatar Mining Mineral Reserve in Hek solar system lies a club frequented by some of New Eden's most rotten individuals and cast-offs. Drunken workers waiting for the next shift in alcoholic stupor, the same clothes stuck to their backs from weeks long gone. Right through to missing crew members, nutcases, thieves, drug pushers, skinheads, punks, whores, fetishists and other lost souls - all drawn to the golden-brown liquids and what spawns from the demonic aftershocks of the devil's cup.

Cold rusted steel is the décor, the only heat present coming from the bodies of those inside and the low-slung orange lamps that glow hesitantly from above. The place has a sinister feel to it and those who stray into the darkness by accident always perform a sharp turn and head straight back for the exit, no doubt with that feeling of fear creeping down their spine. No music is played in the bar either, chatter fills the air as many tales are told and dirty deals struck.

The Ingot is not your typical station-side bar and club. Over by the far side of the room a dark-grey curtain hides away the extension room. Behind the curtain a narrow corridor leads to an old boiler room where some hundred or so people have gathered in what has become known to Hek's residents as the Black Gloves Club, an exclusive makeshift arena where those who wish to let off some steam meet up and do just that - 1v1. A mechanical terror of a small modified gatling autocannon looks down on those who are trying to gain entry from the corridor into the ring area, occasionally spooling up as if ready to kick into life at the first sign of any real trouble.

This evening a group of about thirty or so outlaws all clad in black are calling the shots, bodies jostle as money is exchanged, pistols and even spaceships offered as payments pending for the upcoming fight. Cutmen and wannabe coaches mingle with the crowd as words of knowledge are shared. The challengers are expectant, excitement fills the air as the carnival is about to begin.

A giant of a man, an Amarrian slugger with a cold look about him and a chiselled jaw stoops under the ropes and stands gamely in the ring as a flurry of activity around ringside begins to take shape. The man is a known journeyman fighter in the circuit. One of the outlaws tosses in a pair of gloves and the man is helped into his weapons by one of the 'coaches'. The other outlaws give a nod to the back of the room and from the shadows of the crowd steps one bad looking and angry Brutor, his lip pierced by a spike of metal and sporting a scar clearly visible on the side of his face like a slash from a slaver hound.

More money is being bandied around as more and more people from the main bar area begin filtering through as word of the next fight spreads. The Brutor, black gloved and bare chested, torn combat trousers and sports boots steps into the ring as the outlaws cheer on their gang mate. He stands much smaller than his opponent but what he lacks in height he makes up for in width, 5 foot 11 high and seemingly five-eleven wide, a back built from bricks and arms the size of jackhammers.

The referee, decked out in what looks like an old faded CONCORD officer's uniform with the badges torn away tosses a can into the ring and this signals the start of the fight.

Let the thunder and lightning sing, the Amarrian swings wildly at the Brutor in the middle, hoping to land a lucky shot. The man of Minmatar blood counters this with an in close barrage of intense flurries, an uppercut lands firmly, quickly followed by a smashing right hook, as the slaver reels back another blow is landed, a sharp jab to the side of the head strikes a glancing blow. The Amarrian comes back as he takes a shot low to the ribs, the crowd cheer as he wobbles slightly before planting his own jab, but the outlaw strikes back with another quick fusion combo that shakes the Amarrian to the core as another punch lands sweetly.

The aggression is clear and a fight scheduled for 10 rounds is about to end not long after it started as a sweet big bomb lands and the hulking challenger bounces off the ropes as the crack of his nose depleting like a spent uranium rod echoes about the hall. The big man wobbles, he's hit by blow, after blow, and the last blow, another uppercut, is too much. The referee stops the fight and Miura Bull is victorious, his early career in the low-security boxing circuit certainly helping him on this occasion.

As the outlaws head to the bar counting their winnings and the crowds begin to follow suit, a lone janitor begins the task of mopping up the devout blood that has spattered the canvas.

GFGF.

Miura Bull wears Brutor Tribe Issue Black Boxing Gloves (Rebel Edition)

MB.

Meet the Rebels - Duke Thunderhorse

2011-06-30T17:02:00.000+01:00

The smell of lingering smoke was overpowering and the floor was sticky under foot. Even though nobody was around other than a lone bartender and the Rebel I was about to interview, I could tell that this old State bar had seen its fair share of eventful nights over the years. To describe the place in one word, 'weathered' sprung to mind.

Duke Thunderhorse, a man of Caldari roots who if it wasn't for his trademark black leathers and semi-sozzled appearance could easily have passed for a militia man, swivelled on his stool to face me.

"Who the f... oh it's the guy from the papers"....

Duke Thunderhorse

Tell us a little bit about your background in New Eden.

I was given an early release from prison to participate in the Caldari State’s Capsuleer Program under the condition that I enlist in the Militia and fight for the State’s independence. The corporate leaders and politicians thought it was a good idea to unleash an army of vicious immortal murderers upon the Gallente Federation. The arrogant bastards thought they could control us…

How did you become a Black Rebel?

Looking for trouble, I stumbled into a dimly lit bar where I met some crazy a** pilots in black jackets kicking the sh*t out of a newspaper reporter... Just f*ckin with ya. Drugs, booze, hookers, and bullets, sounds like home. How could I not sign on the dotted line?

What were you doing before you joined the Black Rebels?

Before joining the Rebels, I served in the Caldari Militia as part of my court-ordered rehabilitation. Apparently the Caldari Militia doesn’t take kindly to assaulting their officers so I had no choice but to get the hell out of there. Somehow, my drunkenness led me to the Minmatar Militia where I was once again reminded that I was fighting for someone else’s agenda. I went AWOL again and became a Rebel. Now I fight for my own cause, whatever that might be on any given day.

What is a Black Rebel?

What is a Black Rebel!? A Black Rebel is someone who would punch you in the face and tell you to go f*ck yourself for asking something like that. A Black Rebel is that flashy red icon on your overview that makes your a**hole pucker up. A Black Rebel looks out for himself and his fellow Rebels and that’s it. A Black Rebel is everything you are not Mr. newspaper man.

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

Such a thing would constitute a rule and BRRC has none of those.

The Rifter, tell me more?

According to Evelopedia, “The Rifter has a wide variety of offensive capabilities, making it an unpredictable and deadly adversary.” The same can be said for a Black Rebel and therefore the two are made for each other.

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as 'the enemy'?

Would you rather be murdered by a cleanly shaven scumbag?

Tell me about your corpmates?

The Black Rebels are the most vile, disgusting, bloodthirsty, pieces of sh*t New Eden has to offer. You’ll find none finer.

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

There is no typical day in the life of a Rebel. It all depends on the target(s).

End of transcript ////

Meet the Rebels - Durzo Smith

2011-06-26T13:03:00.001+01:00

I had been loitering in the access bay at hangar C77, as instructed, for some time now, the next Black Rebel I was to meet went by the name of Durzo Smith, a Brutor. I wasn't sure what to expect but I had been told by some senior technician checking over a smoking Rifter hull that he was running a little late after getting 'held up' during a combat run.

Not long after, Durzo emerged from the locker rooms over in the corner, striding meaningfully towards me, a giant of a man he looked menacing but as he drew closer he offered a faint smile and a quick nod, after a very firm, strong handshake we were soon in business.

"Hey, lets make this quick, there's a bar stool upstairs with my name on it" .....

Durzo Smith

Tell us a little bit about your background in New Eden.

I was born to fight among the stars so rather than spend my life planetside I joined the capsuleer programme and entered a whole new world of space exploration and immortal life. In order to gain the skills I needed for combat I starting looking for a pirate corp that could teach me the ways of combat.

I eventually joined The Black Rabbit Academy which gave me an understanding of living in low sec (the bad lands) and combat. I took part in some gate camps and managed some solo kills but due to politics the corp had issues and I moved on.

I then spent some time in high sec running missions to repair my reputation with Concord before suffering from the withdrawal of 1v1 combat.

I decided to move away from "home" and started engaging in solo combat wherever I could find it.

How did you become a Black Rebel?

I write a blog about my life and Saftsuze eve mailed me, suggesting I join the comms channel used by the Rebels. Around the same time I "bumped" into the CEO of the Rebels in Arnon and challenged him to a duel. His Rifter destroyed my Punisher and that was it, I applied to the corp and that's where I will be staying.

What were you doing before you joined the Black Rebels?

Denying myself the thrill of combat by running missions for "the man" in high sec areas.

What is a Black Rebel?

Black Rebel's are rifter loving combat pilots that ignore the stress and pressure of "performing" and take pleasure in the art of solo combat in whatever form it takes. However we are not opposed to fleeting up and causing mayhem when necessary so watch out.

How did you hear about the Black Rebels?

Did I mention I have a blog?? The Durzo Chronicles and I was contacted by Saftsuze who suggested I pop by for a chat (yes, yes it's a shameless plug for my own blog).

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

Yes afraid so, it's a tradition that you have a picture of SaftSuze tattooed onto one arse cheek, this is there as a reminder to always check your "six" in combat (nothing to do with his sexual preference).

The Rifter, tell me more?

Ah the rifter, ugly compared to some other ships put there isn't a more robust, agile and deadly frigate than a Rifter. Yes it might be held together by duct tape, leak fuel like a bitch, but even when your cap has been sucked dry those AC's will still keep firing laying waste to ships larger than itself. Not many people know that a Rifter is actually suppose to have flames coming out of it, and if it doesn't then you're not flying it properly.

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as 'the enemy'?

Unwashed? That's a matter of opinion, as for the other bit not sure what point you are trying to make?? An enemy is anyone that returns your target lock and doesn't leave in a pod.

Tell me about your corpmates?

To be honest these guys are awesome, chilled back, no politics, it's all about the combat, rifters and having fun. Solo or in a fleet you are never alone and the people I've flown with are all in it for the same thing, COMBAT, and flaming Rifters.

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

Ship up, undock and find someone to shoot. If you can't find it, create it. Targets are all around it's just about being clever.

Durz.

End of transcript ////

Rebel Recruitment Post

2011-06-25T12:21:00.000+01:00

A quick pointer towards the direction of our recruitment advert as we have opened the doors again after a few months of 'bonding' (for want of a better word).

We have 38 members currently, 38 fantastic guys, every single one of them adds a unique twist to the corp and to fly with them for the first couple of months since recruitment began has been an absolute blast and I look forward to calling them 'mates' for as long as they choose to wear the colours.

But there's room for more.

To push forward our next phase we'd like to add to the roster. There is no set limit to how many applicants we are looking for but after this recruitment period is over we will be closing the door for this year while we all settle down and get our cannons overheating and our 'Rebellious Yarr' on.

Don't miss out!

If you think you want to be part of this growing corporation that has an exciting future then drop me or Saftsuze a mail or come and have a friendly chat in our public channel - The Autocannon - where we'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

See you in space.

MB.

8-Track Active (She Wants Revenge)

2011-06-25T01:06:00.000+01:00

Inspired by fellow Black Rebel pilot Duke Thunderhorse and his insistence that all stock corporate issue Rifters should have an 8-track player installed into the in-flight comms systems, I will now be periodically showcasing what is spilling out of the on-board speakers.

As the lyrics boomed meaningfully and the beat quickened we jumped into the three enemy ships flashing away before us. We made short work of first this rather painful looking Ashimmu and then a Harbinger that was overdosing on too much of the good stuff. Sadly, the Maller managed to slip our grasp, not knowing what surprises might have been waiting for us upon reading the killmail.

Oh yeah I subconsciously did a doodle whilst composing this post.

MB.

The Edge

2011-06-23T22:31:00.000+01:00

New look. Bite me.

It was always late at night, like some kind of frenzied werewolf, that I'd find myself taking out the Rifter for an honest run through the high-sec space lanes. I'd start in Arnon or Hek, thinking to only do a few jumps, but before long I'd be multiple jumps ahead of myself, the noise of the engines gunning in my ears, the next can-flip and the next destination my only thought. I get this addictive feeling in my gut when I go out flipping, one more can, one more aggression timer, just one more wreck to loot. Shoot me, come on!

Sure, the grip is exciting and the chase can be good. On these nights there'd be no limit, take all and face the consequence, the only thing to stop me would be some other werewolf loony who might be out to get his fix. Biting off slightly more than you can perhaps chew, the armor reppers singing a sweet tune, bits of armor streaking off into space, hull damage bringing you closer to the black void, pressure build up on the eyeballs like jumping into water off a high board.

Spiralling out of control, a tight orbit you failed to negotiate as you dodge the incoming fire, there's no sound now, but for a wind like rush biting at your ears, the pressure builds. The needle on the warning lights is blipping ever faster, the rush inside is kicking in, the adrenaline, the fix you crave, you are the junkie and your hedonistic delight is in full flow.

There is only the barest of margins and no room at all for mistakes. It has to be done right .... kill now or be killed, and that is when the strange music starts, you have stretched your luck so far that fear becomes pure unadulterated exhilaration that vibrates through your body, along your arms and down your spine. Howling by an asteroid at an uncomfortably close range, letting off the throttle, easing the turn as you face your enemy again, another few seconds on the edge ... The Edge ... There is no honest way to explain it to the mortals, the only civilians who really know where it is are the ones that have gone over. The others - the living - are those who pushed control as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, slowed, did whatever they had to decide between Now and Later.

The Edge is out there, the immortals, the capsuleers, the barmy, the brave, the stupid and the wicked all know where it is at and visit it all too often as they seek their next thrill.

MB.

Meet the Rebels - Starwalker Shikkoken

2011-06-21T19:28:00.000+01:00

Jumping into the mind of New Eden's criminal combat pilots, the Black Rebel Rifter Club has decided to distribute into the public domain a series of standardised press interviews that were recently conducted at various locations across the cluster. The following short transcripts are in the words of the journalist who conducted the meetings and their identities have been hidden by request.

MB.

___

Having never met a 'Black Rebel' before this first meeting I must admit to being swayed towards the stereotypical image that had been building in my head. I had heard of their reported dislike of all things that are clean and in good order, and of their unwashed ways and bad habits, their fondness for the demon drink and narcotics. Generally speaking, the tales I had heard so far had also led me to believe that the Black Rebels are some kind of fanatical Minmatar splinter group, big and nasty Brutors, gunslingers and brawlers, not the kind of guys you want to be meeting with in a dingy station-side bar in some region of space you'd never been to before.

Security to the bar consisted of a walk-through weapon scanner, as I passed through the light above my head blipped green illuminating the dark hallway for a brief moment, the large metal and somewhat weathered heavy door in front of me slid open gracefully. The bar was not busy by any stretch of the imagination, the capsuleers in the establishment were easily noticeable, their God-like status resounding around them like an aura. Civilians mingled with these heroes, day-shift workers chatted between themselves after their hard day at the pumps and everything felt calm for this time of day, early evening. The room was full of noise, chatter droned into one uniformed noise.

I spotted a small group sat around a digital gaming table, one nearly empty bottle of brown liquor the centre piece of their conversation, the game of miniature electronic frigate combat long since finished and fading before them. I knew these guys were the Rebels from the moment I set eyes on them, four of them, all capsuleers, three very distinct looking Brutors and a Caldari, possibly of Civire caste, at the time I couldn't be sure. Clad in heavy black clothing they stood out from the rest of the clientèle but I wouldn't have on first glance fobbed these guys off as dirty, they seemed to me, stylish. Stylish killers.

The Caldari guy was the first to notice my presence. Tall and with striking coiffured blonde locks that wouldn't have looked out of place in a movie, he was cleanly shaven but for a well trimmed goatee beard and he was walking towards me. A single bead of cold sweat ran down the back of my spine as he offered out his hand.

'Hi, we've been expecting you. I'm Starwalker and I'll be first up for your questions'......

Starwalker Shikkoken

Tell us a little bit about your background in New Eden.

Starwalker Shikkoken is a pilot with an unknown past and uncertain future. He emerged from a clone vat only 4 months ago with two distinguishing marks: a penal colony tattoo and a scar on his forehead. Starwalker doesn’t know how he got those marks but he knows it must be related to his desire to kill things.

How did you become a Black Rebel?

Starwalker started running missions for his corporate Caldari masters to earn ISK but he soon became bored. He quickly found that he liked to kill things but wanted to choose his own targets, to not be told who to kill and where to kill them. Killing on command was good but killing on his own command would be better so Starwalker simply left the corporation he was contracted to. He wandered down to Essence and found a bar fight in progress where some black jacketed scumbags were causing trouble with the locals. Starwalker looked at his own black jacket and felt an affinity as these punk-like black jackets beat the locals into submission. The leader of the black jackets looked at Starwalker and paused... after an appraising look he said “We are going to Everyshore looking for a fight – do you want to come?” The answer came in a heartbeat – yes.

What were you doing before you joined the Black Rebels?

It doesn’t matter.

What is a Black Rebel?

Starwalker was home: Black Rebels had no rules, no commands to do anything or be anywhere. Black Rebels make their own rules, choose their own path and do what they want where they want. Starwalker wants to hunt, to kill and to make ISK for killer ships.

Is it true you need a tattoo to be considered for entry?

There are no rules but the Rebels share a common trait – they rebel against rules, no one tells a Rebel what to do, including whether to have a tattoo or not. They want the freedom to do what they want and where they want but more than that – they take it. Like-minded Rebels will naturally find each other and some of them may demonstrate a liking for tattoos.

The Rifter, tell me more?

The ship of choice for a Black Rebel because it is fast, flexible and expendable. It is a cost efficient killing machine that will give great service and repay the pilots love and attention. Everyone remembers their first love, there will be other loves but the Rifter will always be the first.

Are all Black Rebels unwashed scumbags whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as 'the enemy'?

No. Some Black Rebels are cool and sophisticated scumbags, whose only goal in life is to terrorize those they tag as ‘the enemy’.

Tell me about your corpmates?

Going around New Eden alone is good and there is a time and place for that but also going around with other Black Rebels is cool; it is like being part of a brotherhood. To share in the search for the next kill, the excitement of the hunt or the delight of a kill, to share ideas or to discuss the fit of your next killer ship or simply to chat about recent events such as the Alliance Tournament 9 finals.

Describe a typical day in the life of a Rebel.

Rebels are often out hunting in either a small gang or solo, looking for war targets or for a fight in lowsec or anywhere else for that matter. There are no restrictions so fun can be had can-flipping, ransoming, stealing or ninja salvaging or even doing something more mundane like taking care of making some ISK or adjusting security status via ratting. Life is good – do what you want where you want. Ernest Hemingway wrote: “There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.”

End of transcript. ////

Throwing Fire at the Faction Garbage Wagon

2011-06-17T19:03:00.000+01:00

Jaguar, Rifter, Dramiel, Dramiel, Rifter kicked into warp and set off at full-throttle for the out-gate. The chase was on, the Rebels had been waiting patiently for their prey to make a run for it. Their scout had been watching the Dominix undocking, warping around and generally getting spooked as the Rebels were getting into position ready for the green light and the pounce. The signal for the launch of death and destruction.

This was it, the prey had bolted and the hungry Rebels were not going to sleep that night until they had feasted on it. The target was a member of a local salvaging company, who for no doubt some reason or another had probably pissed off a Rebel gang member somewhere down the line. Even so, this guy was flashing like a beacon to the Rebels just by the fact he was in a ...... wait a minute, a Dominix. We had just landed scrams and webs when one of the Rebels yelled over comms.

"It's a *#!!*#* Navy Issue, what the!?"

The scout hadn't noticed, perhaps didn't think it possible that a pilot barely two months out of capsuleer training could command this hulking faction battleship. There wasn't any time to ponder the ins and outs and all the details, right now five demonic frigate pilots were blasting this beast of a hull out of the sky right on a busy stargate. The first thought was bumps and webs, but soon it was clear that the Domi had sent out his drones and had aggressed, the formation of frigates turning for a tight orbit of the stricken vessel, pounding away and evading drone fire in the process.

Rockets and bullets filled the area, passers-by jumped out and generally got out of the way of the menace that was disrupting their routine, it's not every day you pass a Dominix Navy Issue on fire and leaking gases and throwing burning crew members into the emptiness of high-security space. And then, with a flash the Dominix succumbed to its killers. A once magnificent ship now a smouldering mass of twisted metal and floating dead.

The Rebels had their kill, the amusement at the killmail etched on their faces as they raced away from the scene before the press and other security forces arrived on the scene, into the darkness they sped, looking for their next victim.

MB.

Black Jackets on Tour - Everyshore 101 -

2011-06-05T21:30:00.001+01:00

Campaign will commence in -4 days. The message flashed along the electronic display in front of me in a bright green glow. The new temporary office that we had rented for our upcoming jaunt into Gallente space had a distinct whiff of chemical cleaning solution that stung the back of the nostrils, it was clean, sure, but the whole place had an air of quirkiness about it. The place looked like it had been vacated in a hurry, on one side of the main room the chairs that were once bolted down to the floor were tipped over on their side and on one of the desks was a loaded laser pistol, buzzing with its charge.

An orange ambient light filled the main rooms, it was a soft welcoming light, not too dark, just about right. In sharp contrast, a blistering blue-white light over by the showering facilities and locker rooms pierced into the orange hue. Inside the locker rooms was a sense of calm, all the lockers had been emptied and their contents long gone, but for a lone combat helmet that lay toppled on its side on the floor. As I stood by the helmet I sensed the camaraderie that was no doubt once present; pilots and crew readying themselves for a patrol deep into enemy sectors, not knowing what waited ahead but bonded by the echoes of laughter and the spirit of togetherness. But for now it was almost silent, the ventilation system buzzing at a low hum.

Our campaign will stretch around the regions of Everyshore, Essence, Sinq Laison and Verge Vendor. There will be some roams into low-sec for the pilots who have a less than favourable relationship with the law but the main focus of this campaign will be the high-sec areas, wardecs, thefts, can-flipping and general mischief will be the order of the day. We don't expect super-efficiency but we do expect lots of fun and shenanigans.

The fitting of hundreds of cheap, mainly tech I Rifters and Destroyers was under way down in the hangar areas below our new office. The team of mechanics and fitting crews were cursing and sending back error reports at an alarming rate.

'Oh man, where did you get these 150mm cannons from again? The barrels look bent, hope you're not planning on shooting anything in a straight line'.

'The rocket launchers don't fit on these missile mounts'.

'We're having trouble linking these cannons to the targeting system Miura, it looks like they were wired up by an Amarrian'.

'These shield extenders keep fading out when we hit the power, where did you get these cheap Rifters from again?.

Looking down on the making of a fleet, 150 Rifters, soon to be ready for battle, last preparations and tests, it seemed eery knowing that in less than a week we'd be out in the space lanes hunting down our enemy. Knowing that these ships and some of their crew would be lost for ever in the black fog of space didn't faze us right now, it was a thought firmly in the back of our minds but we all knew the risks. Some of the pilots were making last minute arrangements for their own personal stockpile of ships and commodities to be delivered to the new staging system. A short briefing via comms link was playing in the background of the office, reminding pilots to update their medical insurance and clones.

Jet Kargan, a newer member with the Rebels was just docking up after testing out his latest Rifter fit against a new recruit who was sitting out his corp stasis. The friendly pre-arranged duel the perfect prep work for the coming months. The Rifter was smoking in the hangar, the station's extraction system getting to work and removing the toxic fumes to the black space outside as a repair drone magically plasma-stitched the armor plating back together.

The Black Rebels are growing in strength and will soon be touching 20 members, the roster of names in front of me a healthy mix of some experienced and some keen, younger pilots. The next few months of combat will be the making of this band of pilots; there will be good fights, ganks, losses, dirty dealings and poddings, loss of wealth and rich pickings. We will fight bravely for the badge which we wear with pride on our Black Jackets, we will in turn become a special group of fighters, form a bond that only exists from the stress of combat, we will share our knowledge and help each other and offer support when the chips are down and we will rejoice together through the good times.

Then we'll move on, we'll clear out our lockers and start the next adventure, and before I turn off the lights I'll toss down my flight helmet onto the floor and chuck my pistol onto my desk.

Roll 'em boys.

MB.

Rebellious Rifters

2011-05-31T19:01:00.000+01:00

Most pilots who choose the Rifter as their weapon of choice will be quite familiar with the basics of their ship, they know how it will handle and what to expect of it in combat. Taking this into consideration we'll skip through an introduction to the Rifter. We'll assume at this point that we've all read the excellent guides available out there.

The 'cookie cutter' Rifter - the standard fit - is a wise choice for budding pilots, and rightly so, after all it is a popular choice for a reason - it does the job in most combat situations. However, there are other flavours out there and often these fits go unexplored, this short document takes a look at some of these more exotic and niche Rifter fittings.


Rifter catching fire often? You're doing it right!

[Rifter, Cookie Damage Control is For Wimps]

Gyrostabilizer II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Small Armor Repairer II

Warp Scrambler II
Stasis Webifier II
1MN Afterburner II

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket

Small Projectile Locus Coordinator I
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I
Small Projectile Metastasis Adjuster I

Not really a lot to say about this particular fitting, the only difference from the 'cookie' being the omission of the Damage Control now replaced with a Gyrostabilizer for extra bite. The basic principles of this ship being to kill before your loss in ehp takes its toll. Extra range, pinpoint tracking and damage from the rigs - but these can be swapped around to suit. Perhaps two Ambit Extensions and a Burst Aerator for more fall off and increased rate of fire. Fly this as you would your normal 'cookie'. You can also go with a Nosferatu module in place of the Rocket Launcher, should you wish.

[Rifter, Shield Buff]

Damage Control II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Gyrostabilizer II

Medium F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
1MN Afterburner II
Initiated Harmonic Warp Scrambler I

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket

Small Core Defence Field Extender I
Small Core Defence Field Extender I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

This can be described as the 'standard' shield Rifter. It is becoming more and more popular within the frigate circuit and can easily catch your opponent off guard. Most pilots about to engage a Rifter will assume that it is an armor version and load up on Fusion ammo, use this to your advantage and let them fall into the trap. If you're out of range, don't give your opponent any clues by burning towards him at full speed, keep your speed down to the average speed of an armor Rifter and he will be none the wiser. You will then have an advantage when his Fusion is having a tough time breaking your shield.

The obvious disadvantage to flying the shield Rifter is the lack of a Webifier which means you lose the ability to dictate range, especially against something with a web. Because of this you are relying on your buffer which will hopefully give you enough time to complete the gank before your opponent realises what is happening.

In the lows we've gone for a Nano to give extra speed and manoeuvrability, the Shield set-up is already naturally fast and should your opponent not have a web then you will be able to in most situations outrun them if needed. The Damage Control needs little explanation and the Gyro is there again for the added kick in damage.

I wouldn't recommend tangling with blaster boats in this fit. If they get you in range they will hurt you quicker than you can hurt them.

[Rifter, Tracking Scratch Rifter]

Small Armor Repairer II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Damage Control II

DDO Photometry Tracking Disruptor I, Optimal Range Disruption
Initiated Harmonic Warp Scrambler I
1MN Afterburner II

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
Small 'Ghoul' Energy Siphon I

Small Projectile Burst Aerator I
Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I
[empty rig slot]

The tracking disruptor fit Rifter can be a menace in the right situations, whilst it again loses out to the fact that it has lost its webifier it can be great when fleeted with a ship that does have a web. It also does have its role in solo combat situations where your opponent is relying on his range. Definitely worth experimenting with.

[Rifter, Explosive Hard Man Riffy]

Armor Explosive Hardener II
200mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Small Armor Repairer II

Small Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 150
Warp Scrambler II
1MN Afterburner II

Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S

Small Projectile Collision Accelerator I
Small Trimark Armor Pump I
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I

Slow but an absolute devil for taking explosive pain. You're basically relying on your opponent shooting the usual Fusion ammunition types at you, when he does and you overload your Hardener you will get an armor explosive resistance of around 78%. That's quite a mean tank to break. You need to manage your cap carefully with your booster and watch for burning out your modules. Always set your cap booster settings to auto-repeat off. Auto-reload should be on. And don't forget to load your hold with spare booster charges to avoid any embarrassing moments mid-fight. A fun and often unknown flavour to fly.

[Rifter, 400 Beast]

400mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Armor Explosive Hardener II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

Faint Epsilon Warp Scrambler I
1MN Afterburner II
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator

'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S

Small Trimark Armor Pump I
Small Trimark Armor Pump I
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I

Again, another damage magnet. Will take some breaking as the 400mm plate provides us with a substantial armor buffer. You will need to slam on that web and hold your opponent in place as this overweight Rifter won't be winning no speed trials. With this fit you want to be 'keeping range' of about 3-4 km of your opponent. If something tries to orbit you or kite you it is going to make for an interesting engagement, if you do find yourself being kited try to counter by loading up barrage and hoping for the best or driving this beast into rocks.

[Rifter, Dual Prop 400]

Damage Control II
400mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
1MN Afterburner II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
[empty high slot]

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Trimark Armor Pump I
Small Trimark Armor Pump I

Another fitting from the 400 plate family and whilst full-fat it does have the extra speed boost from the microwarpdrive. If the MWD is disbaled by a Scrambler we then fall back on the afterburner and we then rely on the armor buffer in a straight shoot-out to the finish.

The lack of web is again a problem and limits this ships capabilities, again we don't want to be kited to death so 'keeping range' is an important tool, 3-4k should work fine. I've not personally flown this ship much but I do feel it might prove useful in some situations in null-sec where perhaps another lone frigate or interceptor races in for an easy Rifter kill. Give it a try and see how you fare.

[Rifter, Can Flipper 400]

400mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Adaptive Nano Plating II

J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator
X5 Prototype I Engine Enervator

200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
200mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet EMP S
Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I
Small Trimark Armor Pump I

This is a specialist ship which should be used in one role only. Can flipping on stations or where you know your enemy can't run. It lacks a propulsion module but you won't need it, it punches with 200mm autocannons and has a Rocket Launcher for added dps. This ship can make a mess out of any frigate, intie, assault frigate and faction frig. Once the pilot has worked out what is going on then often it is too late.

You will notice that there is no Damage Control in the lows, here instead we've opted for a an EANM II to increase the time it takes our opponent to chew through our armor plating. It is further enhanced with a Nano Plating - this giving a good armor resistance spread of around 74% EMP - 57% Thermal - 51% Kinetic - 55% Explosive.

So we've landed the dual webs on our opponent. Now we need to keep transversal to absolute 0. We do this by 'keeping range' the magic number again being somewhere between 3-4k. We don't orbit and we don't want anything orbiting us - the 200mm cannons will struggle to track anything but the high damage that they can kick out is a deciding factor in the strategy. Before your opponent realises he needs to get out it is usually game over. One more thing, don't even think about using this Rifter in any other role than it is intended for, it will get laughed at.

[Rifter, Arty Rifter]

Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Pseudoelectron Containment Field I
Gyrostabilizer II

Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
J5 Prototype Warp Disruptor I
'Langour' Drive Disruptor I

280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
280mm Howitzer Artillery II, Republic Fleet Fusion S
[empty high slot]

Small Ancillary Current Router I
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
Small Auxiliary Thrusters I

The Artillery clad Rifter, once it has you in its hold it is often hard to break away from. It is also a fast variant and gives you the option of getting out should you need.

The 280mm Howitzer's can hit for some mean volley damage. With an optimal of around 7k and a fall-off of 11k your main tactic here is to land your Disruptor and start dishing out the pain, once you land an overloaded web you can flirt around this range whilst your opponent (hopefully in an afterburner fit ship - 98% of the time he will be) struggles to get close to you and in the confusion doesn't know whether to keep going for you or to make his escape. By the time he has worked it out he is usually dead.

Any frigate with an afterburner should be fair game to you whilst flying the Arty Rifter. Even assault frigates should be taken on and faction frigates if you're sure they aren't packing an MWD.

[Rifter, Crazy Dual Rep Rifter]

Small Armor Repairer II
Small Armor Repairer II
Damage Control II

Small Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 150
1MN Afterburner II
Warp Scrambler II

150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
150mm Light AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Phased Plasma S
Rocket Launcher II, Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket

Small Nanobot Accelerator I
Small Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Small Anti-Explosive Pump I

Last of all on our list of exotic Rifter fits and one that really is a hair-raising edge of your seat experience to fly, the Dual Rep Rifter. It has about 30 seconds of base capacitor to play with on paper with all things running, however, we don't fight on paper.

First you need to get comfortable with how it is set-up and what to expect. In the lows we've got the two reppers and a damage control. The DC II gives less resists on paper as opposed to an EANM II but there's one very important thing you need to remember with this ship. You WILL be fighting in hull, if you've got no damage control fitted you will explode due to structure bleed, ignore this at your own peril.

Your armor repairers should be set to auto-repeat off and should always be overloaded and once you start receiving damage a good tactic is to stagger the reps slightly. Your cap booster is also an important tool - this should be set to auto-repeat off and auto-reload on. You should inject cap just before you're about to hit empty and then again if needed, this should give you enough cap until the next reload cycle is completed. You remembered the spare booster charges in the hold right?

This is by far the craziest Rifter I think I've ever flown but it is great fun. You will need fingers like lightning to micro-manage all the modules and keep an eye on range, what your opponent is doing, how much damage you're soaking up, any drones that may need killing, keeping an eye on that structure bleed ready for the mail man to deliver the bad news. It really does make for a fantastic experience and you should give this frigate a try at least once. I've taken down a Taranis before in this and scared the living daylights out of other inties and assault frigates. It is like a little necromancer bringing itself back from the dead. Popping an Exile can also add to your survivability.

I've also used a Nosferatu module (in place of the Rocket Launcher) for added cap and even an Energy Neutralizer which gives you about 12 seconds of cap to play with. Have a little flight time with it, you'll lose a few but you'll have fun in the process.

These fits are by no means the be all and end all, they're probably a little raw in places and somebody will always have their own version and tweaks that give an extra edge. These are just a guide and should be used as such. Happy hunting!

MB.

Black Jackets and Chain Whips

2011-05-31T13:40:00.000+01:00

Spare drive chain parts from the Rifter's deadly autocannons have been known to be stripped down and used as 'belts' on the Rebels' clothing . . . Always at hand when a bar fight turns ugly. - - Gallente Police Training Manual.

Kicking for a fight?

In some circles the Black Rebels have become known as the Black Jackets, the term most probably coined by the local civilian populations who have to put up with their unwashed ways and bad habits. Their uniform or 'colours' as they like to call it usually consists an all black style; heavy black boots, black or similarly dark coloured combat pants, an unwashed dirty looking sleeveless denim shirt or vest underneath a black jacket - usually a flight jacket or similar, leather is always popular. Their emblem is always visible somewhere on their jackets. An embroidered patch of a winged beast on a white circle.

R1FTA club emblem.

In addition, members have been observed wearing various types of loyalist Minmatar insignia and anti-Amarrian garb. Some of the members also have a strong liking for tribal tattoos and piercings, whether just an earring in a single pierced lobe or a full face metal stud show adorned on black tribal artwork. Menacing to face in the flesh for the average civilian.

We get treated real good here, man. Most other outposts we get thrown out of town. - Black Rebel member Tomba, speaking to a reporter not many hours before the Rebels were 'thrown out of town'.

Saftsuze, a Gallente born outlaw with dark hair and a striking ice-cold look about him, self proclaimed King of the Moustache and collector of frozen corpses is one of the Rebel leaders. He prides himself on the way he goes about his business stalking the low-sec asteroid fields and space lanes.

Saftsuze.

Reports were filtering through of a Hulk crew that had been lost on a dangerous mining operation in what they thought was their 'safe system'. Saftsuze had spotted the barge and needed no invitation to commence hostilities. Later that day in a station not too far from the original incident, some of the surviving crew members from the Hulk were awaiting rescue, milling around the station facilities looking bored and with their CEO in tow. Perhaps it was bad timing when at this same station some of the Rebels, Saftsuze included headed to their local haunt to shoot some beers.

Surprisingly, nothing happened in this encounter, the Rebels who were present enjoyed their beers and the Hulk crew left the scene not long after. 'When you walk into a place where people can see you, and you know they're looking, as if mesmerised by your presence, you want to look as repulsive and repugnant as possible,' said Saftsuze. 'We are complete social outcasts - outsiders against society. That's the way we want to be. Anything good, we laugh at. We're bastards to the world and they're the same to us, we expect that.'

Another Rebel, known to the gang as Overnauta, a menacing man of Caldari blood, shaved head and often seen wearing trademark black shades joined in the conversation. 'I don't care one jolt if people think we are bad. I think this is what keeps us going, pushes us on and keeps us on the edge. We fight society and society fights us.'

Overnauta.

There are very few Rebels who won't go far out of their way to lay a bad hit on a civilian or some other punk from another crew - preferably to the extent of unbalancing their metabolism and causing them to shriek in their sleep for a few days afterwards - but there is also a certain amount of humour involved. But not everybody digs the Rebels' sense of humour .... which ranges from silly little jokes about the Amarr to the quiet giggling at the sight of a man's face torn to shreds with a broken beer bottle.

MB.

Stripped-Down Rifter Hulls

2011-05-28T15:56:00.001+01:00

Aedald VII - moon 5 - Vherokior Tribe Bureau.

With some rare exceptions the outlaw ship of choice is the standard Rifter, spat out from industrialist production lines en masse, in its normal form it comes out of the factory full-fat and whilst still a 'nimble frigate' to some, the Rebels like to customize their rides to their exact needs and specs. The Rebels get to work by stripping down the hulls and 'chopping' parts that they don't need or want on their rides.

Basically it is the same machine that would be sported by Minmatar fleets in their homelands, but the Minmatar issue could be likened to an accessory-loaded elephant compared to the lean, custom fit dynamos that the Rebels fly. The Rebels refer to these 'standard' Rifters (and any other bog standard ship for that matter) as 'garbage wagons' and no Black Rebel pilot worth his wings would be seen piloting one of these with his colours showing.

A 'chopped Rifter' or 'chopper' for short is nothing more than a heavy hull, a minimalist interior, usually with the lightest armor plating and sometimes in a different form can be fitted with even lighter shielding systems, usually when they have to outrun something or dodge customs officials the shield version is the ship of choice. Both can spit out some heavy venom though and can't be underestimated with their heavily modified autocannons and hard-wiring systems.

The stripping alone makes a big difference in performance but most Rebel Rifters are also power-jumped with hot thruster and engine modifications, larger valves that increase the bore and stroke, custom flushed aerodynamics, half-size custom designed cap tanks that still hold the same charge and some even fit their ships with a 'suicide clutch navigation system', so called because it requires exceptional skill and timing to operate the thrusters and air-braking system during combat.

A 'chopper' is often a work of art, costing the Rebels a hefty chunk of ISK to build, not counting labour. From the highly-polished chrome thrusters to the super-light balanced flywheels and feather-lite gearing systems, it is a beautiful and graceful machine and so nearly perfect mechanically that it is sometimes hard to imagine it screaming along some midnight space-lane in the hands of a drunken, sometimes drugged up combat pilot who is hell bent on finding his next 'good fight'. This is one of the many paradoxes of Rebel lore. Whatever these guys lack in personal grooming, they make up for it in spades with their frigates. These guys will sleep on grease-caked beds in the slummiest of stations but their frigates will always be spotless.

Rifter Flywheel

There is not a Rebel out there who hasn't woken up in the medical facility at his station of choice and one of the natural results is that their fear for death is well tempered by a cavalier kind of disdain and swagger towards personal injury. Outsiders might call it madness but the Rebels inhabit a world in which violence is as common as spilled beer, and they live with it as easily as ski-bums on frozen ice planets play daily with the risk of broken legs. This casual acceptance of blood-letting is key to the terror they inspire to the civilians in the regions where they are active.

It is a simple matter of accumulated experience, of having been hit or stomped often enough to forget the ugly panic that 'nice' people associate with a serious fight. A Rebel who has had his nose smashed three or four times in a brawl will risk it again with hardly a second thought. No amount of instruction in any lethal art can teach this mentality.

In spite of this sinister immunity and disregard for pain and danger, they occasionally overextend themselves and get badly worked over by people who either don't know the score or choose to disregard it.

Which brings us nicely to our next chapter, published soon, where we look at the Black Rebels and their liking of a good bar brawl.

MB.

Can YOU fly a Rifter?

2011-05-24T23:23:00.000+01:00

Just a quick plug and pointer towards our new recruitment post.

R1FTA RECRUITMENT

Artwork by Saftsuze

MB.

Beat The Devil's Tattoo

2011-05-21T21:18:00.000+01:00

Things are looking good for Chapter II in the history of the Black Rebels and we've not even placed an official advert yet. A small number of pilots are asking about membership and what the corp will have to offer, which is positive. I'm also pleased that one of my good friends in-game has accepted a directorship role and will be joining shortly along with his corp mate. I look forward immensely to working with both.

So what will the corp have to offer?

As a small band of predominantly frigate flying combat pilots we offer you a home in New Eden where you can enjoy your play style with no political restraints, no blues and no strict rules. What we offer is camaraderie and friendship.

Each pilot will be encouraged to play the game how they wish and where they wish. Whether that is as a -10 pirate patrolling the low-sec space lanes, taking part in high-sec harassment and small scale mercenary work, roaming the lawless null-sec regions or spending their time hunting in wormholes - every play style will be catered for and each member will be free to choose what activities they wish to be a part of.

There will be no skillpoint limit and I for one am particularly keen to hear from potential recruits who are maybe new to pvp, have decided the Rifter is a cool ship to learn in and want to try frigate combat first hand. We can help with sharpening skills and teeth should this be the case.

But you don't want to spend all day in a Rifter? Right?

That's cool. Neither do I. The Rifter is a fantastic little ship and although we will have fun roaming and fighting in this trick hull we'll also have a strong taste for other variants. Our pilots will be proficient at flying any race of ship they like. Interceptors, Assault Frigates, Recons, Bombers, Heavy Assault Ships right through to Battlecruiser and Battleship hulls - all will be at our disposal.

All pilots will have a solo edge to them, communications facilities will be available for when a gang is formed but pilots won't be expected to 'be on comms at all times' - if at all should they wish. Heck we all have RL duties and I for one enjoy roaming to a soundtrack.

I didn't actually start this blog post with the intention of turning it into a recruitment spiel but seeing as I now have I would welcome anybody interested in joining to contact me in-game or hang out for a chat in our public channel The Autocannon.

-----

Above I mentioned roaming to a soundtrack. Well last night I loaded up a trusty Wolf and set my navigation systems to Great Wildlands.

After a few weeks of no luck on the kill count I was just a few jumps into my roam when I jump into my next system and notice a Sabre cloak up on the gate some 10 clicks off of me. Just as this happened the next track on my in-flight entertainment system strikes up and I prime myself for combat - holding cloak ready for battle. The words of the music send a tingle up my spine .....

You have forsaken all the love you’ve taken
Sleeping on a razor there’s nowhere left to fall
Your body’s aching every bone is breaking
Nothing seems to shake it it just keeps holding on

I drop my cloak and begin to burn back towards the gate, the Sabre now appears on my overview and drops his bubble. My autocannons fizz, pop and whistle as they begin to spit fury at the shields of the Interdictor as my Wolf now makes a turn for its foe. The 200mm autocannons of my enemy rip my shields away in an instant and I'm left with a race to break the Sabre before my own buffer is depleted.

26% armor left.

Then in a flash the Sabre is no more. As soon as the shields were breached the rest of the ship folded in on itself leaving a glowing hot wreck. The escape capsule of the pilot sitting trapped in his own bubble is quickly locked and then slain. No mercy is shown for those that wish to tangle with the beast that is the Wolf.

MB.

Rubbing out the Bad Guy

2011-05-19T21:21:00.000+01:00

The last few weeks have been full of change and this is a brief summary of what has happened and the outlining of future plans, hopefully it's not too boring a read and if I'm totally honest I'm mainly writing this for my own reference.

So you can stop reading now if you like.

Still here? Ha.

A few weeks ago I decided to leave Gunpoint Diplomacy and head back into null-sec and rejoin -A-. I had been sensing there was some unfinished business out there after my last stint in the lawless lands. It was with a heavy heart that I left behind some awesome people, I didn't really tell anybody in advance as I was blinkered with what I wanted to do. I'd like to thank all the RANSM peeps for being fantastic corp mates and genuinely nice people during my stay.

I missed the roaming gangs of null and had hoped that going back to -A- would spark some pretty epic gangs, in reality I didn't go on a single roam or bag one single kill. Bad timing in parts and lots of CTA's didn't help matters. I fitted up a few battleships in preparation for the CTA fleets but when I looked at the fit in detail and with my limited skill in battleships I often found myself deciding not to take part for the fear of a pretty lame looking loss mail. I wouldn't have minded losing a pimped Cynabal whilst roaming but the thought of a Tempest with tech I guns scared me somewhat. I just didn't feel comfortable.

So what did I do out there? Well, I went on a bookmarking roam which was pretty epic. Did I just say that? Well I mapped out some nice routes that I hope to run on my own in the near future. Bookmarks are cool. I spun my ships some more in some nice surroundings and I read the -A- forums in quite some detail, it was an interesting read for sure.

Then one day I decided to hop into a Vagabond load up the cargo with ammo and do a bit of ratting. The result some 24 hours later was a fatter wallet and I went from -10 to -1.8 in one day. I think that's quite impressive going, I don't know what the going rate is for ratting up sec status but I can tell you this - I don't want to see a damned Sansha rat for some time thanks. My eyes were nearly bleeding when I logged off after that session.

The future.

I'm back in my project corp - Black Rebel Rifter Club - and I plan to stay put in here now playing the game how I want and when I want, flying what I want and where I want. I am unsure at the moment whether or not to open up recruitment again. The last time I ran R1FTA (cool ticker huh?) we had 7 or 8 members and for the short time it was active it was great fun. I'm certainly now in a better position than back when I was a n00b and I have some great ideas for the corp but I need to find the willpower to push them into reality.

I'd need to recruit four or five members to form a strong directorship but I understand that those people I'd like to ask (they probably know who they are) are otherwise engaged right now with other duties, off having fun elsewhere or probably not interested in the project or indeed institutionalized in the world of starter corps.

Hehe - all that is cool of course but if anybody is interested in my project then please get in touch and we'll talk small gang pvp, the art of solo combat, rifter hulls and fittings, narcotics and boosters, wormhole ganks, high-sec harassment, null-sec roams, black ops drops and other nice things. Oh I best stop now I'm exciting myself and sounding like a whiny recruiter. I also said this was going to be brief so best cut it short.

Oh yes, that -1.8 security status will be part of an upcoming blog feature I have planned. I've got to reverse fix my security status and I'll be documenting every single drop in sec as I go about ripping up the space lanes and restoring my -10 badge. First I'd like to have a little peek around the high-sec neighbourhood and roam the null-sec regions before I do - I must have literally hundreds upon hundreds of fitted ships dotted around the place that I really should start trying to lose.

See you in space.

MB.