Chapter 3 – North by Northwest

Dax Jr. had disappeared. I stopped blogging. David’s contract history was bad enough for an intel leak coupled with the previous loss mail. An explorer should not handle module trades – leave traceable deals to alts. Better to have locals assume you’re afk cloaked denying them knowledge of your intent. Unfortunately the billboard sign I carried was screaming ‘kill me,’ thus there were numerous occasions when resident pirates took over complexes I was running. Tuberider’s T3 gang raided my 6/10 in Ihakana, DiamondDog brought a Bhaalgorn and Ishtar to another complex in Onatoh, and there were a host of Russians in Black Rise systems who thought they could catch me by logging off in front of acceleration gates. Despite these interruptions David was able to hoard billions before I burned out. The sweetness of instant riches left missions tasting sour. I was consumed by the idea that pilots beyond the boundaries of empire space were making more ISK in relative safety with less input.

In hindsight I didn’t put in enough effort to rent null sec space, nonetheless David found himself in Branch to do what he does best. Funnily enough I joined WI. while looking for a high sec corp. I placed ads for three of my pilots in the corporate recruitment channel hoping to find a group that will take me in. It soon became clear that people were interested in David’s service, sidelining Dax or an up and coming logistics alt. On one particular convo, Lynn Deniera offered a different choice. I was impressed at Lynn for personally recruiting pilots as head of the corp. The Foreign Legion corporation was a part of Wildly Inappropriate alliance that had sovereignty over UWRZ-2 constellation in Fade and KWCZ-A in Branch at the time. The interview was relaxed thanks to his mild manners and witty comments. According to him I could do everything that I wanted to do under the condition that I participate in ops – it will be so good that I’ll never see empire again. To me it was a ticket to the northern outreaches of space. For him I was another Drake pilot. We both agreed it was time to sign the papers.

Below is my application to STOLE dated Oct. 2, 2010.

            

APP 

General Information

1. Do you have an alt/s? 2 active

2. If so, how many, what are their names? David Vendetta(API submitted) and [redacted]

3. Please list the skillpoints for each active character you use.
Dax Jr: 9mil (API submitted), David Vendetta: 17mil, [redacted] : 6mil

About You

[redacted]

Ingame Info 

1. Do you have any long term goals in eve? 
I want a meaningful MMO experience, building relationships and helping others out. Although this may just be a game, I take mine seriously and know that it involves real people. Below are some goals for my online avatars.
Character development: Dax Jr's very long term goal is to field cap ships. In the meantime he will train for T2 cruisers, T2 battleships and related support skills. David Vendetta's mid term goal is to become the perfect Tengu pilot. He's on a 500+ day skill plan. [redacted]: Guardian/Basilisk pilot. Will see what he'll do after I'm done with that.

2. What type of ships can you fly?
Dax Jr: T1 frigs battleships. Gallente assault ships. David Vendetta: Cov-ops, Recons, Tengu, Drake (working on Assault Ships and Heavy Assault Ships at the time of writing) [redacted]: Guardian

3. Are you Isk self sufficient? 
Yes. I bought David Vendetta for 3.5b, then trained him up to rat in low sec earning 1b to 2b per week. I should be able to make more ISK in 0.0 space, granted I'm given access.

4. What is your main source of income?
Missions, LP conversion, DED complex and low sec combat sites/escalations, sales of loot

5. What do you like to do in EVE Online? 
PvE combat and eventually PvP.

6. What do you use your alts for? 
Dual boxing missions, exploration, and logistics

7. Can you fly a Capital Ship, and do you own one? 
No

8. Do you have an FC experience? - if so please tell us what kind. 
None

9. Are there any specific roles you have experience with? eg. Logistics/pos gunner/Black ops. If so please list them here, and your level of experience. 
None. Eager to learn and contribute.

10. What kind of Fleets do you enjoy the most? 
Small gangs, battlecruisers and below

11. Can you tell us about a memorable fleet/battle/campaign you've been involved in, and what you did? 
None

Past History 

1. Please list any alliances you have been a member of. 
None. David's previous owners were in some.

2. Tell us about some of the notable corporations and alliances you've been with for extended periods. 
Not worth mentioning.

3. Tell us about current/last corp & alliance. 
Currently all my characters are in NPC corps. Last corp was a laid back carebear corp. I left due to lack of activity and CEO's inability to display any form of leadership.

4. Why are you leaving them and are you leaving on good terms? 
Left my last corp in good terms. I am a regular at their public channel, and apparently they want me back.

5. Please provide a link to a killboard with stats on you - we don't mind if it's a public board. 
Dax Jr http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/combat_record.php?type=player&name=Dax+Jr David Vendetta http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/combat_record.php?type=player&name=David+Vendetta

6. Have you ever been a member of any of the current WI corps, or a member of an ex-WI corp? 
No

7. Have you been a member of any corp currently 
Currently? No

Lynn suggested I liquidate assets in high sec, giving me a few days to dispose of what earthly belongings I had. A prudent friend advised me to keep a home that I could return to should things not work out. Dax Jr. would stay behind clearing the hangars of excess items that I would not need in Fade. David moved what he could carry to Torrinos, the last bastion of high security strip that laid way to NC.

I was in. Little did I know that David would be mistaken for a RED.Overlord titan pilot to come under suspicion of treachery.

Chapter 2 – Business trips to low sec

Exploration in low sec, like all things in EVE can’t be defined in a singular term, but I think my friend came close when he described it as “high-strung.” Every pilot in local pose a threat, especially pirates and null sec scouts. Choke spots are often camped. No one is innocent in low sec – that young pilot could be a probe alt. The directional scan window becomes a permanent component of one’s screen. Combat probes are parasites you loathe and fear. Then there’s that exhilarating thrill in receiving an escalation, finding the best drops from given loot tables when opening a faction wreck or objective can. As a vulnerable prey that is seeking treasures in hostile space there is never a dull moment.

In the summer of 2010 my pilots were always short on ISK. My mission ships were a hodgepodge of meta 4s sprinkled with tech 2 modules. Dax Jr. could really use a faction fit Navy ship. Hardwirings needed upgrading to 5% variants. My wish list was filling up rather quickly as did my patience. So why not go out there and find juicy deadspace stuff by myself? I already had the skills and tool for the job. It only lacked a few key components. Limited resource led to sacrifice. The Dominix Navy Issue was sold to finance an all-in-one exploration Tengu.

I headed out to low sec with simple goals and minimum knowledge. Thankfully beginner’s luck was predominant as I kept hitting gold during the first week. A Pithum C-Type Medium Shield Booster and numerous Low-grade Crystal implants were my main source of income at this point. I spent all the ISK I earned. Albeit not prudent, when you’ve made over a billion in a span of short time, an inexperienced pilot can feel like he’s found an untapped faucet of wealth. In my naivety I thought I would be able to buy anything if I toiled on. This was easy money for manageable risk.

David was still in the infant stages of exploration and I wasn’t utilizing all the resources that were available to me. The only map I had opened then was Ombey’s 2D maps. Slowly my methods progressed as I began referencing statistics on star map and cross checked those figures with dotlan. I learned to use various methods to distinguish the nature of pilots in local. Checking their kill records on battleclinic or eve-kill returned information on their capabilities, cohorts, and most importantly whether they could probe. Summoning contract histories of pilots that had positive security status was one way to know if they were potential competitors. Instead of relying on my memory I listed all the known scanners and their ships on my notepad and gave them bad standing. Yet it’s a brief lapse in judgment that leads to loss.

There are only four things that can kill a cov-ops ship in low sec. In the order of possible encounters here’s the list. 1) A sensor boosted tackler that can lock you instantly before you initiate cloak, 2) an MWD fit ship that can decloak you, 3) an officer smartbomb-fit battleship sitting atop a gate, or 4) your utter stupidity. Well, it’s always #4. Here’s my account.

In mid August I traveled to Taisy and scanned down a Provisional Gurista Outpost. Although it’s the easiest low sec combat site in Caldari space, the acceleration gate in the first pocket and objective structure in the second pocket takes a while to reach. I haven’t had a decent drop all day and headed in despite local bursting with pirates and null sec roamers. Those familiar with the region will know that Taisy is the entrance to MM controlled Tribute. Everyone except me and an alt had GCC on them. A smart person would leave. I didn’t. Strike one.

When I cleared the first pocket, directional scanners revealed five combat probes. I narrowed the range to see if those probes were on me. Yes. So I warped out and got back to my Provisional Outpost at 100km and watched who would visit. It was Kel Katrina in a Sleipnir. Since I was cloaked all Kel saw on d-scan were wrecks. I waited until the Sleipnir left system and returned to complete it despite having my spot jeopardized. Strike two.

Sure enough I saw the pilot in local again. Taking advantage of my covert-ops cloak I decided to play hide and seek. Only this time she wouldn’t leave. If a Tengu pilot was dumb enough to come back to a compromised plex for the second time, there’s a chance he will get caught. Feeling the heat I warped to a gate to leave. In a moment I discovered that I accidentally warped to M-OEE8 gate at 0. Even at this point I had very good probability of survival as the out gate was empty; however in my panic I warped to another spot at 0km. The damned Provisional Outpost. Strike three. Guess who was waiting for me? Out goes my first Tengu.

Expensive lesson learned. Gradually I recovered from my loss and made more money. By October I grew hungry for bigger prizes and contemplated renting null sec space to explore freely. In the meantime I wanted to get Dax Jr. into a new corp.