Ethics

YC113.11.14

So, I’ve been reflecting on the activities of the last few days - specifically the medium defense platform that was left out, and that I “rescued” for safety - and it’s brought up an interesting dilemma...  Was what happened with the platform a crime?

To recap, Riyu (from WHEN) found the platform unanchored floating outside a tower’s force field in a neighbouring wormhole system I’d scanned down.  He let me know it was there, and I grabbed my Itty, headed out, and picked it up ASAP!  So again, was this a crime?

After much thought, I’ve come to a conclusion: unequivocally, unquestionably, YES, it was a crime.

I mean, if you’re going to own things, and then leave them lying around where anyone can get them - you deserve to be punished!  At the very least, having your goods confiscated will teach you a lesson.  But I think we should go even further, even out here in the “lawless” wormhole systems.  If you can’t respect property enough to even protect it, you should also have to pay a fine.

To whom, you might ask?  Well now, that’s an excellent question...  And since there’s no real law or CONCORD this far out, I’ll tell you what:  I’ll step up and make the sacrifice.  

So, it’s decided:  If you leave your things floating around where anyone can get them, then not only will I take them off your hands, but I will also assess a fine against you as an unfit owner.  

Line forms at the left, please take a number and wait your chance to pay your fine.

And remember, you’re why you can’t have nice things.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

YC113.11.14

Scanning = profit.  Who knew?

And it looks like the guys at WHEN may serve a purpose after all too!  We managed to work together to convince the wormhole in our system to collapse, which gave me a chance to prove my new worth.  Got the scan probes launched - those Sisters probes are certainly worth the few extra bucks.

Found a new hole that popped up, jumped through, and bingo - loot everywhere!  I started scanning the system, and found a few interesting things.  The WHEN folks jumped in too, and had a look at the locals living there.  They seemed to not be at home, since there was no response.  And bonus - there was a nice shiny medium defense system just floating there.  Riyu (the WHEN fleet lead) gave me the heads up, and out came the Itty to make a quick freight haul - boom, instant profit!

Even better, the system had rocks to chew on...  And I showed that I can learn too!  I remembered what the boss had said about Sleeper fleets often protecting the rock belts, so Mr Smartypants here remembered to bring out the Mrym and take care of business before rousting the Hulk crew and getting down to making some real money.

All this work with WHEN has me wondering though - just what’s their motivation for being out here?  

I’m still not sure why boss set up in the hole, and I know for damn sure I got no clue why Kyber is out here...  I wouldn’t be surprised if one followed the other, but I don’t know which order that would have been - which one is the ship, and which one the docking bay, as it were...

But WHEN’s a complete wild card.  I don’t know when they got here - before or after those other two.  And I don’t know why they’re here either - profit, hiding, just hate the confines of civilization?  Even more important, what do they know about Kyber and his friends?  When the asteroid dust hits the jet intake, which side will they be on?

And then there’s James...  All these new experiences and skills I’ve been learning out here has me wondering: is there anything I can do from here to help James and his agenda?  Is there anyway to help the Gallente while being this cut off?

A Scanner Darkly

YC113.11.10

I’m free!  I’m free!

Well, more correctly: I can scan!  I can scan!

I’ve managed to get the hang of scanning, and even found some new worm holes and rocks in them.  Better still, I made it to K-Space yesterday and picked up a new Imicus - Provence!

I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but it should be pretty hot - I even got it fitted up with some Sisters probes.  No sense in going cheap - it takes ISK to find ISK...

I also spoke some more with James...

Now that I can scan my way out and back in, it looks like I may have much better odds of getting some K-Space stuff going with him while still being with Advent.  Nothing like diversifying - don’t want all my rocks in one cargo hold.

And very interestingly, I haven’t seen any sign of Kyber since re-establishing contact with James...

Of course, could just be him and the boss are having a lovers spat.

…

Oh gods, please let me not be in the tower when they make up!

Now What...

YC113.11.08

Damn it!  I’ve finally run into James, and...  

Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself I think.

Life is the hole is slow right now, real slow.  In fact, I’m not sure if there’s enough here to keep me in the hole full time.  It may be better for me to spend most of my time in K-Space, and just pop in when there’s some action.  I dunno, it’s something I need to think about more.  No reason to leave Advent, it’s been pretty good to me.  I’m not sure if boss’ll go for me being a K-Spacer rather than in the hole full time though.

At least this downtime has been good for my studies.  I’m now qualified to run mining equipment at peak rates!  Plus, I’m good to go on the gas mining too - still haven’t had a chance to try it out though.  On that note, I’m even getting some practice in with the scanning probes.  Still not completely successful at it, but getting there.

Now if I can just get to K-Space and get me an Imicus, or even better get certified on a Helios!

Back to James...

Turns out I know where Ava wound up finally - James has started up a corporation supporting the Federation.  Looks like he’s found a way to generate profit while amassing power.  I’ve been chatting with him, and looks like he’s on to something good there...  I’m starting to wonder if there’s a way to get a piece of that pie - as part of Advent if possible, but this may be something to big to pass up.

I can’t believe it, but James may be right about politics being more important than ISK - I may be chasing the wrong thing!  It looks like politics has directly affected the markets - ice miners are being targeted, resulting in a severe shortage.  It may be a humanitarian crisis, but more importantly, there’s ISK to be made!

James also introduced me to someone that may be a worthwhile contact: Bastian Valoron.  He seems pretty heavily into politics, but that may be a good thing, if there really is ISK to make off it.

But the biggest news: I finally know why Kyber is always hanging out with the boss!  Turns out, while I’m out getting rocks to turn into profit, boss is back at the station getting his rocks off with Kyber!  Looks like I have nothing to worry about after all - Kyber’s not trying to steal my money, he’s just getting freaky.

Now I just hope boss is smart enough to make Kyber sign a pre-nup....

The Universe Shall Provide

YC113.10.27

Wow, I send my thoughts to the universe, and it provides!  Boss and I finally intersected last night, and even better, we had two separate K-Space links!  I managed to get out to the refinery and take care of things there - I’m really glad for that, it was starting to weigh on my mind.

Of course, I ended up breaking Lesson #1: always check the system security!  Since boss and I were out, we went on a shopping run too for our alliance mates.  I was nice and conscientious, made sure I got the best price on some study material.  Of course, there was a reason for such a good price - one hell of a risky system!  Trust me, I was white-knuckling the controls the whole time.  Made it safe, but still...

Even more disturbing, I had an extended conversation with Kyber.  He just...  well, he just isn’t like me.  ISK doesn’t drive him, he’s not interested in joining up with boss and me - at least he skirted my overtures about joining up and doubling Advent’s assets in the system.

That’s too bad too, it could have given us a tower to run some manufacturing at - expand our earning opportunities.

He seems driven by people, by relationships, by I dunno...  Not by ISK.  I still don’t know just what relationship is keeping him in our system, at our tower, closeted up with the boss...

One good thing: my jaunt to K-Space had no surprises this time!  All I could think of was the last time I left the hole: I got stuck for weeks outside, and return to a corp missing half its capsuleers!

Oh, and boss had a gift for me!  He picked me up certification materials for gas mining!  Once I get cleared, I’ve got the green light to use the corp ship and hit the gas clouds - even more ISK to catch!

Burning a Hole in My Pocket

YC113.10.25

Amazing where my mind is wandering right now...  There’s a bunch of unfriendly foreign types polluting our system right now, so I’m locked down in the tower.  The crew are all maintaining the defences, but there’s not much I can do; throw rocks at them maybe?

But I’ve come to realize, I’ve got a lump of ISK just sitting, not earning me anything at all.  And James is running around K-Space with a freighter...

And there’s plenty of folks who have no clue how to add value to ore...

I got some more thinking to do...

Wormhole Living Travels at a Worm’s Pace

YC113.10.25

Man, life is a slog right now.  With only two of us capsuleers left, there’s barely ever a time where we cross paths.  I’m either out in the belts, turning wrenches, or catching sack time; and I’ve got no clue what the boss is up to - important boss stuff I bet!

I’ve not even seen anything of Kyber - a brief flit in the local comms, but that was it.  

And James, I haven’t crossed paths with him at all since he left us.  Although it looks like he’s honoring his commitments to us...  boss was able to get a bunch of ore out to K-Space, and James hauled it to the refinery.  Of course, I have no way to get to it!

It’s very tough to adjust to the pace here in the hole.  In K-Space, I’d have market orders flowing all over, and taking advantage of those who forget to add to the value chain by refining first!  And during down time, I could check in with the guys over at Astral and see if they need any help with stuff - a little you-scratch-mine, I’ll-scratch-yours.

Here though...  At least the alliance folks are proving good company.  Smart thing boss did - hooking up with them.  They’ve even managed to get a Rorqual in system!  There’s no point even trying to claim I’m not jealous...  that’s even shinier than the freighter James got his hands on!

All I know for sure: if I don’t get a path to K-Space and the refinery soon, we’re going to have very thin paychecks this cycle!

Kyber

YC113.10.15

I got quite the shock yesterday.  Came back to the station from the belts (pulled in almost $75MM!) to find out we had company.  That chap Kyber was paying boss a social call.

He seemed...  all right I guess?  Better sense of humour than the boss, that’s for sure.  He doesn’t seem to get that pained look on his face like boss-man does when I talk.

Very interesting that they both were up front about James: 100% certain now that James left because of Kyber, and everyone involved knows it.  I just wish I knew why!

I didn’t spend much time talking with him, and I didn’t get much out of him either.  No clue how he earns his ISK, or keeps his tower running.  He claims towers are cheap to run, which makes me wonder why Kiruss needs to keep such a large cut of what I earn.  Of course, Kiruss claimed our tower was much larger, and therefore more expensive.  He could be telling the truth...

At least politics didn’t come up...

Housekeeping

YC113.10.13

Had a good talk with the boss today.  Got some answers, got more questions, but it’s a start...

Looks like Ava was a good loss of dead weight.  He couldn’t cut it in the hole, and I got no interest in supporting him if he isn’t willing to earn!

James now - that one’s got more questions than answers, still.  As boss put it, James gave an ultimatum: James or Kyber, boss needed to choose.  Kinda obvious which one he chose.  Big loss though, we’ve no longer got a trustworthy K-Spacer to ship and sell our goods.

I really don’t know what boss is thinking...

I guess James has agreed to still haul for us on contract.  Of course, now he gets to set the terms, and with there being no love lost between James, boss, and Kyber - who knows how much James is going to extort from us!

Speaking of extortion: I wish I knew more about these investors boss claims he has to pay.  We’re up and running now, can’t he just buy them out?

Or hell, even better - just stiff them?  We’re in a wormhole, how are they ever gonna find us to do anything about it?  Just stop giving them our ISK!

Some better news, at least he’s taking recruiting seriously now.  We may yet get some more capsuleers in here to help line my pockets.  And it looks like he’s open to hiring some manufacturers as well - I hate seeing all that ISK getting added to the value chain, and none of it coming back to me.  I suppose that’s why I can’t bring myself to sell unrefined ore...

One surprising thing: boss doesn’t oversee his own ship maintenance!  Apparently he trust the techs and drones to do it - something about having designed drones in the past.  I dunno...  If I’m using it to make ISK, I’m sure as hell gonna make sure I know exactly how it’s running.

Venting Hulls

YC113.10.11

Wow!

I’m a full-fledged wormholer!

Boss has done alright by me this time - found a system 1 jump over, no one around, but lots of pretty pretty rocks just waiting for me!

Based on experience, he knew Sleepers wouldn’t be far away - so no bringing in Nimes II just yet.  Instead, he told me to get Bruge prepped and ready to fight.  Finally, a chance for me to check out just what that baby can do.

As soon as the call came in, I got the crew rolling - and for non-capsuleers, I must say I’m impressed.  They’ve seen no combat action since relocating to the hole, but got spun up with no warning and ready to go just like practice.

Boss and I fleet up, make the jump, and it’s too late to turn back - even if I wanted...

We had to hold station for a few minutes, but just like predicted, 5 Sleepers warp right in on us.  We had the drones out and ready, and the guns blazing!  Next thing I know, there’s 5 hulls spewing atmosphere, and boss is telling me to get my ass in gear and start hauling rock.

Now if only I could figure out these damn scanning probes.

I just hope he remembers he had help when it comes time to calculate the salvage pay...

He’s Gone

YC113.10.11

James has left.  I don’t know why, I have some thoughts - but no knowledge.  I need to get to the bottom of this.

Meanwhile, boss is starting to give me more duties.  Could be because I’m the only other capsuleer left - but hey, this is how chances get made and fortunes get started!  Dead men’s shoes fit fine, and even better if I don’t have to get my hands bloody step into them!

We Can’t Go On With These Suspicious Minds

YC113.10.10

I don’t know what to think right now...

The technical glitches are finally cleared up, and I can freely connect to my ships.  But now that I’m back in, up, and running - everything’s changed.

Ava’s gone.  Left us for other pastures - but I notice Kyber is still in-system, and freely visiting.

James is threatening to leave.  No one will tell me why, but again, Kyber is still in-system, and freely visiting.

While all this happens, I can’t connect to my ships, but Kyber is still in-system, and freely visiting.

I don’t know if any of this is connected, but recognizing patterns is what keeps the air on the inside of the ships...

Back Chasing ISK!

YC113.10.02

Finally, I’m back in and producing!  We got an entrance scanned down, I made it in along with Bruge - great to have my Myr in-system to clear out any Sleepers that may express an opinion about my deciding to chew on rocks.

Even better, pay day!  This corp lifestyle just may work out for me after all...  Sure, not seeing any cash flow during the month is kinda depressing, but that lump sum at the end more than makes up for it!

Hopefully we’re able to maintain a steady supply of belts to work...

Hopefully those technical glitches don’t reappear and keep me from linking with my ships...

Hopefully boss knows what he’s doing, and politics doesn’t get involved...

... I think I feel a headache coming on...

A Capsuleer Is Only As Good As His Equipment

YC113.10.01

I’m still stuck in K-Space, but it looks like we’re about to get an opening to get me back to earning.

In the meantime, it’s a good thing I’m here and not there.  I’ve been reminded just how dependant on tech we really are, and just how risky being in the hole can be - away from markets and easy ways to repair and resupply.

The boss asked to borrow a Tech 2 survey scanner from me - I guess he doesn’t feel he needs to bring in adequate supplies, that’s our job as underlings... but, I digress - so I pointed him at Nimes II and told him to pull that one.  

What does boss do but pop over a system and start gas mining - without bothering to set up a security perimeter!  “Oh, sorry, I forgot...  It seemed quiet so I didn’t bother”  Yeah, well, that’s great, but what about my scanner!  I’m glad you at least got your pod out and saved your clone - way to look after your own assets.

And now I’ve had my own reminder too...

I’ve been attempting to interface with my ship - hell, with any ship - for over a day now, and just keep getting “Router Interface Not Found”.  What the hell does that mean?  I can see the damn router right there - how can these stupid systems not find it?

*sigh*

I’ve got the technicians looking at it, hopefully it’ll get cleared up real quick.  I shudder to think if this had happened in the wormhole though - stranded out there with limited parts and unable to connect to any ship...

I need to check on my clone, make sure I’m current...

(Seriously though, why does my router hate EVE?  Just let me connect!  Hopefully I can get on tonight)

Sometimes I Just Don’t Get Management

YC113.09.30

This cannot end well.  There’s just no way this can end well...

Ava’s a great addition to the corp.  He’s toughened us up, and sure to bring us profit.  I just found out how he earned his combat stripes though...

These incursions have been plaguing K-Space for a while now.  Doesn’t matter to me - more ships in pieces means more people needing minerals, and I’m there to sell them at a healthy mark-up.

Thing is, the bastards behind the incursions are the same bastards our new system-mate is friends with...  The same system-mate boss is getting real chummy with...

I just can’t figure this out.  Either boss doesn’t know about Kyber’s friends, Ava’s politics, or he doesn’t care.

And I still don’t know where James fits in all of this.

This cannot end well...

Ava!

YC113.09.29

Great news!  We’ve hired!  Avalon Stormborn is now with us!

To be honest, I’m really glad boss has been able to grow the corp, get us another capsuleer on board.    Especially Ava - he’s Gallente through-and-through!

More good news about Ava - he knows which end of the turret to point at the bad guys.  That’s right, we got us a warrior.  Boss is great with a Noctis, cleaning up after people - but he’s not so great at creating things to clean up in the first place...

Plus, if Ava’s in the hole, he can fly combat cover while I’m mining; and if he’s out in K-Space, he can fly cover for James should he get that freighter.

Hopefully we can get some more folks on board soon, maybe some more rock-chewers.  There’s more than enough to go around!

He Works for Who?

YC113.09.28

Ah, popping rats was just what I needed!

The system’s quiet right now, and still no wormhole back in.  I may have done something stupid though.  I used the quiet time to go digging into Kyber, and I’m not at all sure about what I’ve found...

It looks like I can’t avoid politics any more.

Dammit.

Am I working for the enemy?

Am I gonna end up stuck back at the bottom of some gravity well?

I think I’m gonna go waste some more ammo - life’s a bit too complicated right now.

Something’s Not Right

YC113.09.27

Well, I’m stuck in K-Space without my barges...  I guess I’ll be popping over to Arraron and seeing if there’s any work Astral needs doing.

In the meantime, this gave me a chance to get on the comms with the boss.  I asked him about the other guy that got popped by the tower crew and his visits.  Turns out his name is Kyber, and the boss says he’s a good guy, recommends I get to know him better.  Boss had no trouble answering questions about him, but the answers didn’t seem to contain that much actual information, ya know?

Apparently Kyber just drops in to visit, looks like he has his own tower in the system - and that’s news to me!  I though it was just us and the alliance out here; no clue who Kyber’s with, it seems real expensive to me to maintain a tower all by yourself...

Good, at least Astral has some work for me.  I think I’ll go take care of some trouble makers that have been hanging around - sometime’s it’s good to turn off the brain and just shoot stuff.

Wait, Where’d It Go?

YC113.09.27

WOW!  This hole mining is great!  So far we’ve pulled about 130 million ISK outta these belts.  I’ve even got some “raiding” experience now - the grav sites are pretty rare right now at home, but the alliance got lucky out scanning.  

That belt one system over they found was perfect - high value stuff and no one at home in the local tower.  And let me get some stick time on the Covetor; leveler heads prevailed and I left the Hulk at home.  It’d be kinda embarrassing to lose two in such short time - even if one WASN’T MY FAULT!

Ahem...

In an example of lucky timing, just as we were finishing up with that belt, a high-sec exit popped up.  After a short rest break, it was time to strap into Nice II and haul all that pretty pretty ore to the refinery.  (And man that took a while.  I hope James can save up and get that freighter soon!)

And of course, I just had to get over-confident.  Things were going so well, I figured it would be the perfect time to hop in a shuttle and get Bruge in-system.  Out I go to start the 20+ jumps, already thinking about how nice it would be to have a fighter on hand for those times I need to clear out some Sleepers before I can make money.

Back I arrive at the high-sec with the way home, all set to dock up hit the bunk and... um, where’s the entrance?  Whaddya mean the wormhole collapsed?!?  Now what do I do?

And more importantly, how do I make any money?

Chasing Rumors

YC113.09.26

There hasn’t been much ISK to catch lately, but I’ve been making good use of the downtime getting to know the tower staff.  The guy at the top may not always know what’s going on, but the guys actually responsible for getting it done almost always do!

So like I said, getting to know people - and I’m starting to hear things.  Sounds like that chap that got popped a few weeks ago has been visiting more - and is also no longer showing red on the scanners...

I still don’t know just what’s he’s doing here, or why he was showing red in the first place.  Apparently he spends most of his time here in the boss’s quarters.  All I can say is: boss better not be holding out any ISK on us.  The last thing I need is to be cut off from the markets out here, with downtime like this, and have a boss that’s skimming off the books.

Speaking of downtime - the alliance has just found a belt one system over!  Time to make some money; now, Covetor or risk the Hulk...

Pattern Recognition?

YC113.09.25

I think that may have been a mistake.  Of course, I’m not sure what that is:  going snooping, or joining up in the first place...

Turns out I’m not the first guy to get friendly’d out here: some of the guys manning the defences tell me they got royally chewed out over popping someone a few weeks back.  So some cowboy drops outta warp right on top of us, showing red on every scanner in orbit.  What the hell else were they supposed to do?

Only after they’ve done their job, looks like the boss man forgot to let anyone know he was expecting company.  Who this yahoo was, or why the boss was getting a visit from someone squawking red...

But yeah, an alliance with itchy trigger fingers; tower defence chewed out and jumpy; strange company in-system.  

I mean, I’m not above a little dealing with the shadier elements of life - their money’s just as good.  Hell it’s often better - what the tax man don’t know, the tax man can’t take!

But it if means I’m gonna be getting my ass shot at every other week.  Oh shit, did I remember to insure Nimes II before coming out here...