The Defias Blog

¶ What an interesting and eventful day this has been!

¶ Before I go any further, I would like to point out that you won’t always see me making an entry into the Defias Brotherhood’s Chronicles on a daily basis. In fact I didn’t intend to write today at all. But the days events were so extraordinary that their telling could not wait.

¶ Today, we continued our business relationship with Dryson Bennington and made a new friend in a pilot named Raven08.

¶ First, I’ll tell you about our dealings with Dryson.

¶ I woke up this afternoon just like every other afternoon. I had a smoke, took a shower, had a bit of breakfast with a nice cool glass of Quafe and made my way down to the hangar where my trusty Rupture was docked. And boy did she have her work cut out for her today! I climbed into my capsule and said hello to my brethren, then asked Aura to look and see if ol’ Dryson was logged in to the galactic communications system. Aura replied that he was, so I asked if anyone had seen him. Expecting to hear that he was currently being camped into a station, I was quite disappointed to find that he’d evaded us to this point.
¶ Well, time to track him down then.
¶ I was on my way to an agent I know in the Republic Fleet’s Surveillance division, keeping my eye on the local channels as I went, when to my pleasant surprise I stumbled across my quarry without having to pay a single ISK. Of course I alerted my brethren so that they could join in the fun of torturing this remorseless roid-thug.
¶ It took only twenty minutes or so for everyone to get in place, one pilot in an interceptor, myself in the ruppie, a Stabber-class cruiser, a Caracal-class cruiser and a couple of frigates. I gave the word and we jumped into the system, each pilot knowing his or her task. After a couple of seconds, we had both stargates out of the system covered with one pilot checking the stations and two others searching the asteroid belts. Finally the call came over our dedicated fleet commlink: He’s docked. Everyone proceeded to the station’s exit point and waited.
¶ Apparently Bennington wasn’t paying any attention to local, ’cause if he had been, I think he’d've set his ship up better than this:

2007.12.17 00:07
Victim: Dryson Bennington
Alliance: None
Corp: Democratis Unitas
Destroyed: Caracal
System: XXX
Security: 0.5
Damage Taken: 7541

Involved parties:

Name: Shel Norak
Security: -2.3
Alliance: None
Corp: The Defias Brotherhood
Ship: Taranis
Weapon: Taranis
Damage Done: 3730

Name: Havohej
Security: -0.3
Alliance: None
Corp: The Defias Brotherhood
Ship: Rupture
Weapon: Rupture
Damage Done: 2358

Name: Teskio (laid the final blow)
Security: -0.1
Alliance: None
Corp: The Defias Brotherhood
Ship: Kestrel
Weapon: Piranha Light Missile
Damage Done: 1104

Name: Corpii Reaver / The Blood Raider Covenant
Damage Done: 349

Destroyed items:

Widowmaker Heavy Missile, Qty: 30
Salvager I, Qty: 2
‘Langour’ Drive Disruptor I
Stasis Webifier I
Widowmaker Heavy Missile, Qty: 847 (Cargo)
Havoc Heavy Missile, Qty: 779 (Cargo)

Dropped items:

Heavy Missile Launcher I
Large F-S9 Regolith Shield Induction
Salvager I
Stasis Webifier I
Target Painter I
Type-D Power Core Modification: Reaction Control
Ballistic Control System I
Thunderbolt Heavy Missile, Qty: 710 (Cargo)

¶ Or maybe he thought his “One launcher with three webifiers” setup was so pwnage that he’d need the salvagers to clean up all of our wrecks after his heavy missiles ripped us apart - who knows? A few minutes pass and he undocks with that terribly equipped Caracal and a few seconds after that I’ve got a new dead clone in my cargohold, slowly thawing.
¶ To our pleasant surprise, though, his signature remains on the local channel, so again we post up on the stargates and search the stations. And again, the call comes over our fleet commlink announcing what station he’s at. For our convenience, he’d bought and installed his new clone right there in the same system. I collected my three medium scout drones and accompanied the rest of my brethren to the new station.
¶ Bennington wasted no time in trying to escape, undocking in the rookie ship his insurance company had given him. The bad part was that he managed to evade all of our targeting systems so nobody could put a point on him before he warped. The good part was that, in his infinite wisdom he had decided to ‘outsmart’ us. Seeing as there are only two stargates exiting this particular solar system, he warped first to an asteroid belt so that we couldn’t see where he was going, likely expecting us to chase after him directly. Instead, leaving one pilot at the station, the rest of us split up with one element going to one gate, a second element going to the other gate, and myself moving to an optimal scan post off of one of the system’s planets.
¶ Apparently thinking that he’d sent us on a wild goose chase through the asteroid belts, he made a run for the stargate and was quickly put down:

2007.12.17 01:06

Victim: Dryson Bennington
Alliance: None
Corp: Democratis Unitas
Destroyed: Velator
System: xxxxx
Security: 0.5
Damage Taken: 390

Involved parties:

Name: Shel Norak (laid the final blow)
Security: -2.3
Alliance: None
Corp: The Defias Brotherhood
Ship: Taranis
Weapon: Light Ion Blaster II
Damage Done: 390

Name: fluxkomensator
Security: 0.1
Alliance: None
Corp: The Defias Brotherhood
Ship: Punisher
Weapon: Warp Disruptor I
Damage Done: 0

Destroyed items:

Expanded Cargohold I (Cargo)

Dropped items:

Civilian Light Electron Blaster
Basic Miner

¶ Of course he starts up with the crying and pleading on the local channel for someone to help him, and you just know he went on a tirade, saying more and more terrible things, hurling the most ridiculous insults imaginable. But my brethren and I had things to do, so we decided he’d have to wait until tomorrow to die again and we went our seperate ways, each of us secure in the knowledge that should a need arise, there was a brother or sister only a few jumps away.
¶ Good thing, too. Later that night, our resolve would be tested.

An offensive gesture.

¶ A few hours later, while I was playing around in my Cormorant-class destroyer (Caldari ships have always fascinated me), two of our Brotherhood’s co-founders, Shalarai and Shar Vari inform me that their mission running in the Hrokkur system has run into a slight snag. Apparently, some wet-behind-the-ears pilot known by the call sign Raven08 had just bought himself a brand new Drake and had tried to kill one of them. Of course, my first concern was whether or not my brother had gotten his Caracal out of there and upon learning that he had indeed escaped, I told them to give me a minute or two to finish salvaging the Angel Cartel ships I’d just dispatched and I’d be right there. Always monitoring my communications, Aura plotted the course herself and sounded pleased (insofar as an artificial intelligence can be) to inform me that it would be only four jumps. Quickly transferring to my Rupture, I was there within ten minutes.
¶ I’d flown through Hrokkur before, and even bookmarked three ’safespots’ in the system, so the amount of activity on the local channel was surprising. My brethren informed me that there was a pair of pilots hunting this young Drake pilot for a separate incident and were having trouble nailing him down. I was reluctant to accept the invitation to help these two pilots, as they belong to an anti-pirate alliance and pilots like that, ones who think so highly of themselves as to presume to restrict the free movement of environmental protectors and label us pirates, are never to be truly trusted. As they brought me up to speed on the situation, I watched Raven08 bantering on local with the two pilots hunting him.
¶ In an uncharacteristic bout of impatience, I bluntly asked the pilot where he was. His first response was to ask me what I was flying, which after a moment I answered truthfully. A brief bit of friendly taunting later, Aura notified me of an incoming encrypted transmission from Raven08 - he wanted a convo! Excellent! I wasted no time in accepting, hoping to get him to spill some sensitive information, which he did:

[ 2007.12.17 04:56:16 ] Havohej > o/
?[ 2007.12.17 04:56:21 ] Raven08 > Howdy
?[ 2007.12.17 04:56:31 ] Raven08 > Well, i was about to
?[ 2007.12.17 04:56:34 ] Havohej > How do you do? :)
?[ 2007.12.17 04:56:36 ] Raven08 > but the huginn just warped in
?[ 2007.12.17 04:56:42 ] Raven08 > so gimme a second
?[ 2007.12.17 04:56:49 ] Havohej > huginn sounds like trouble.
?[ 2007.12.17 04:57:06 ] Raven08 > should be interesting
?[ 2007.12.17 04:57:23 ] Raven08 > yeah hes got me
?[ 2007.12.17 04:57:27 ] Raven08 > escape time
?[ 2007.12.17 04:57:31 ] Havohej > hehe
?[ 2007.12.17 04:57:38 ] Raven08 > Or is it you?
?[ 2007.12.17 04:57:44 ] Havohej > I’m in a rupture
?[ 2007.12.17 04:57:48 ] Raven08 > damn web - takes forever to warp out
?[ 2007.12.17 04:58:15 ] Raven08 > Damn - lol didnt get a chance to look at pilots names :D
?[ 2007.12.17 04:58:36 ] Raven08 > Oh
?[ 2007.12.17 04:58:42 ] Raven08 > yeah, the dommy warped in
?[ 2007.12.17 04:58:46 ] Raven08 > so I got out
?[ 2007.12.17 04:59:00 ] Raven08 > lemme recharge me shields and ill challenge ya - youll be able to escape if things get bad, but so will I
?[ 2007.12.17 04:59:06 ] Raven08 > So its pretty fair

¶ “…but so will I?” That statement told me two things. First, he was a liar, for Shalarai had already told me Raven08 had scrambled his warp drive and he was only able to escape due to the fact that the positioning of their ships at the time had allowed Shalarai to escape the Drakes scram range. Second, it told me that he was using warp core stabilizers. That made the first tidbit more logical, as WCS modules hurt your ship’s targeting range. Still, best to confirm, so I did:

[ 2007.12.17 04:59:13 ] Havohej > using wcs’s?
?[ 2007.12.17 04:59:23 ] Raven08 > Unfortunately, yes
?[ 2007.12.17 04:59:33 ] Raven08 > I hate relying on them
?[ 2007.12.17 04:59:38 ] Havohej > Ah, when your ship’s expensive, you do what you gotta do
?[ 2007.12.17 04:59:40 ] Raven08 > But a ship this slow I dont really have a choice
?[ 2007.12.17 04:59:43 ] Raven08 > True
?[ 2007.12.17 04:59:56 ] Raven08 > Id be dead right now if I didnt have one
?[ 2007.12.17 05:00:00 ] Raven08 > But it still sucks :D
?[ 2007.12.17 05:00:32 ] Raven08 > Shield will be done soon

¶ “Shit, he IS using WCS,” I thought to myself. Suddenly, the idea of working with the two anti-pirates didn’t seem such a bad idea, especially as Raven08 had revealed that one was in a Recon Cruiser and the other was flying a Dominix. Their extra scramble points would be helpful, ’cause we knew a Drake has four low-power fitting ports so he could have as many as four points of warp core stabilization in play. But his shield would be at full strength soon, so there wasn’t much time. I had to stall to give everyone a chance to get organized.

[ 2007.12.17 05:02:00 ] Raven08 > Meh - good enough
?[ 2007.12.17 05:02:16 ] Raven08 > You wanna tell me your pos or the other way around?
?[ 2007.12.17 05:02:29 ] Havohej > I’m sitting on a safe atm, so you tell me yours :P
?[ 2007.12.17 05:02:35 ] Raven08 > haha same here
?[ 2007.12.17 05:02:40 ] Raven08 > okay hold on ill move
?[ 2007.12.17 05:02:57 ] Raven08 > Warping to planet V………
?[ 2007.12.17 05:03:04 ] Raven08 > You can scan to be sure - but gimme a second to get there
?[ 2007.12.17 05:03:28 ] Havohej > I’ll need to get in scan range of v - I’ve got 3 safes in this system :)
?[ 2007.12.17 05:03:37 ] Raven08 > lol ive got 6
?[ 2007.12.17 05:03:46 ] Raven08 > Im there
?[ 2007.12.17 05:03:52 ] Havohej > k, just made warp
?[ 2007.12.17 05:03:56 ] Havohej > ruppie is slow as hell =/
?[ 2007.12.17 05:04:00 ] Raven08 > haha
?[ 2007.12.17 05:04:07 ] Raven08 > My drake is too….

¶ I was able to stall him out just long enough for Shar Vari to invite the other two pilots to our gang. I told them to wait for my signal then warp to me. I dropped out of warp nearly on top of the Drake, a mere 3km away. We locked each other simultaneously as I sent the signal over our fleet commlink and my drones screamed out of their bay. I kicked the microwarp into high gear to deplenish my capacitor energy so that the two energy vampires I had fitted would be a problem for the drake’s active shield tank - maybe not a big problem, but a problem nonetheless. Within seconds, the Drake had five ships’ weapons bearing down on it with a three-point strong warp scramble keeping it in place. The encrypted channel started blinking, but I was too busy monitoring my ship’s key systems. As soon as my shield dropped, on the third volley, I shut off the microwarp and hit the button to activate my armor repairer. A little too late, it seemed, as my HUD showed over 40% of my armor had been torn away before the repper did anything. Still, word is you’re supposed to disengage below 20% so I was in good shape. When the repper brought me back up to 80% in just a couple of ticks, I knew I was in good shape. Now my eyes were glued to the overview, waiting for a capsule to appear while I had Aura giving me an audio on the fleet commlink.
¶ Once the domi got its weapons systems fully engaged, the Drake’s noteworthy shield tank didn’t last long at all - of course not, this Raven08 could probably scarcely fit the modules to begin with and I noticed immediately there was no invulnerability field running on the Drake. What’s the old adage? Just because you CAN fly something doesn’t mean you SHOULD? This was a perfect example, and a hard-learned lesson for a young pilot to the tune of 30M ISK.
¶ The Drake’s armor melted away like chocolate on Valentine’s Day and I was more than ready for the appearance of the pod, which popped quickly under my four autocannons:

2007.12.17 05:10

Victim: Raven08
Alliance: None
Corp: Southern Cross Empire
Destroyed: Capsule
System: Hrokkur
Security: 0.3
Damage Taken: 391

Involved parties:

Name: Havohej (laid the final blow)
Security: -1.6
Alliance: None
Corp: The Defias Brotherhood
Ship: Rupture
Weapon: Dual 180mm Carbine Repeating Cannon I
Damage Done: 272

Name: Shalarai
Security: -1.4
Alliance: None
Corp: The Defias Brotherhood
Ship: Caracal
Weapon: Widowmaker Heavy Missile
Damage Done: 119

Name: Nagareya
Security: -1.4
Alliance: Blue Sun Trust
Corp: Illudium Space Products
Ship: Huginn
Weapon: Stasis Webifier II
Damage Done: 0

¶ Only after I made my way back to one of my safespots to wait out the global criminal countdown did I notice the encrypted channel flashing.

?[ 2007.12.17 05:07:48 ] Raven08 > you bastard
?[ 2007.12.17 05:07:51 ] Raven08 > pals for yours?
?[ 2007.12.17 05:07:54 ] Raven08 > so much for honest challenges
?[ 2007.12.17 05:08:09 ] Raven08 > bastard
?[ 2007.12.17 05:09:28 ] Raven08 > Silent all of a sudden?
?[ 2007.12.17 05:09:45 ] Raven08 > Theres a shocker

¶ I decided that, as Raven08 was also a pirate (which was how he’d incurred the wrath of the Huginn and the Dominix), I should at least tell him why I led him on the way I had, making it seem as though I was meeting him for a one-on-one fight. He still wasn’t pleased…

?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:04 ] Havohej > Sorry, I was in fleet chat, wasn’t watching this convo
?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:19 ] Raven08 > lolol wow
?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:25 ] Havohej > He just told me you’d attacked him
?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:28 ] Raven08 > you and the caracal are both douches
?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:34 ] Havohej > Perhaps.
?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:36 ] Raven08 > Yes, I attacked him - and no, I didnt claim to kill him
?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:49 ] Havohej > I wasn’t here in local to see if the claim of having killed him was true or not
?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:51 ] Raven08 > He warped out, and the dommy found him according to my scanner
?[ 2007.12.17 05:11:58 ] Raven08 > allow me to copy/past?
?[ 2007.12.17 05:12:01 ] Havohej > But when corpmates call, we respond if at all possible.
?[ 2007.12.17 05:12:02 ] Raven08 > YOu fucktard
?[ 2007.12.17 05:12:06 ] Raven08 > Hahaha
?[ 2007.12.17 05:12:09 ] Raven08 > That didnt sound lame.
?[ 2007.12.17 05:12:19 ] Havohej > You can copy/paste if you like, but it’s not as personal to me as you seem to be taking it.
?[ 2007.12.17 05:12:37 ] Raven08 > Sorry, I still believe in honesty - I like honest challenges
?[ 2007.12.17 05:12:59 ] Havohej > The only thing my corporation is honest about is ransom deals.
?[ 2007.12.17 05:13:01 ] Raven08 > If you were to just say the truth, say that you were pissed, and then all come attack me with your ideas known, id be saying GF
?[ 2007.12.17 05:13:02 ] Havohej > We honor those.
?[ 2007.12.17 05:13:07 ] Havohej > Everything else is just words.
?[ 2007.12.17 05:13:35 ] Raven08 > I see that
?[ 2007.12.17 05:15:57 ] Havohej > I’m not sure how long you’ve been playing, like, if this is your first toon or whatever. But I get the impression we’re both into the same thing. We’re both pirates. And we both learned something from our encounter tonight that will make us better at
?[ 2007.12.17 05:15:59 ] Havohej > what we do.
?[ 2007.12.17 05:16:05 ] Havohej > Fly safe.

¶ And now, the thing that made this night so interesting… surely you know that ganking up with three cruisers, a recon ship and a battleship to kill one battlecruiser isn’t noteworthy, nor was killing the incompetent Dryson Bennington again. The thing that made this day so special for me, and so important to be recorded immediately, is the 1,000,000.0 ISK bounty that I now have on my head. It wasn’t there earlier in the day, but I didn’t notice it until late in the evening. So, while I have a hunch that the 1M ISK was put on my head by Raven08, it could just has easily come from Bennington.
¶ Either way, it doesn’t matter. It’s the highest bounty of any of my brethren, and as I am their CEO, that is as it should be I suppose. The first bounty a privateer like myself receives is an important one. It marks the day when that pilot’s efforts to thwart those who would do him or his people harm have been so thoroughly effective as to make a person willing to pay any sum of ISK on the off chance that some other random capsuleer might relieve you of your current clone.

-Havo out.

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