A New Eden Christmas

T'was the night before Christmas all through FMD, FWS and F-Taci
Not a pilot was stirring, not even Kreatus, or Ceribus in his Mackie
The ships were docked in their stations with care
In hopes that Christmas soon would be there

The miners were nestled all snug in their beds
Dreams of ice mining filling their heads
And I in my battleship, snuggled up to the controls
I'd just settled in Jita on a trip from Merolles

When suddenly in Firestorm Pub there arose such a chatter
I quickly switched chat tabs to see what was the matter
And what would I see as the public tab flashed
Nine pilots active, all sudden and brash

Nine pilots at once? There's only one man that could be
Why it's Kern and his alts, come to spread Holiday glee
And in a flash they emerged straight from the wormhole
Each one given fleet boosts, logistics and role

Go Fretman! Go Madame! Go Steve and Recondo!
On Doakke, Destiny, Chaotic and Leo.
To Sobaseki, to Funtainen we'll scare up a noob
Have Ruby start recording and put this stuff on YouTube!

Even Kreat stirred from his painkiller induced slumber
He'd hopefully prevent Kern from making this blunder
Into the station he stumbled and threw open the door
"Dammit Kern I told you we're not going to war!"

The man was dressed head to toe in combat gear
He craved PVP he'd been waiting all year.
"Calm down Kreat these noobs won't bother you in Hek"
"Hurry the hell up and prepare that War-Dec"

He hopped in his ship and to his team he gave a cry
"Off up to Sobaseki boys, we have some noobs to fry!"
He warped off in an instant and out of my sight
But I saw him in local "Merry Christmas to all and to all Good Fight!"

A poem by Ruby Steele, a member of FWS, Firestorm Federation

Opportunity only knocks once

So as I was mining with Ceribus, a war was raging on the other side of the belt. Now normally, I wouldn't even cast a sensor in the direction of a fight. But this one had my attention pretty quick when I noticed it was a Sansha Nightmare and a Gallente Navy Comet wrecking an Orca. The Orca pilot must have realized he was beat and ejected hoping his Beloved ship would go down in a blazing glory. It did not. Rather, the attackers held their final shots and ran the pilot off with drones. The attackers then began a search for a buyer for the now abandoned Orca. Eventually the time to ask me came around. I was flying my own Orca at the time so I was hesitant to accept the comm line. They were asking 250 Million ISK for the Orca not knowing how it was fit. I said no thanks at first but then I remembered that the Alliance has a new member that would be needing an Orca soon. I asked him if he wanted it and he said he would love an Orca. I quickly began searching through my money reserves for the right amount. During this time the attackers had begun negotiations with another pilot for purchase of the capital ship. I pulled another 25 Million ISK bringing my offer up to 275 Million ISK. The attackers said it was mine if I could get there before the other pilot did. I pushed the engines on an old shuttle I had to the breaking point to get there before the other pilot. I beat him by mere seconds winning the prize. I paid the captors, and took delivery on the Orca, and did a quick inventory on what the ship had fit and what was in the holds. Turns out the 275mil ISK ship was actually worth about 350mil with the mods that were fit on it and the cargo it held. I never did tell them about that. I just took it back to station and prepped it for the long journey out to Minmatar space for the Alliance member. In the end it was a sound investment. I can only hope this happens again someday, but with an Apocalypse Imperial Issue. One can only dream.

The Sleepers have risen....

Suddenly we realized it was just an illusion that there were sleepers on our sensors as we found ourselves amidst the wreckage of immobilized assault class vehicles
While the sleepers thought they had a firm grasp on the solar system the relentless team of firestorm operatives penetrated the immense sleeper stronghold and let loose a fury of scourge missiles with the precision of the finest snipers in the galaxy.
Not one sleeper ship survived as the squadron which called themselves the Firestorm swept across fortress to fortress leaving nothing but rubble in the wake of the unknown cosmos without so much as a scratch on their hulls.

Tirelessly the Firestorm crew pushed into the unknown poking every rock and turning every stone until the sleepers scurried from their hiding places and bits of space dust filled the void where they once slept.
The crew celebrated and cheered while the newest member took notes. Writing in his journal how every detail of the expedition turned at every corner on their route to glory. Picking up the Melted Nanoribbons scattered amongst the scraps.
Perched upon the galactic summit of sleeper carcasses stood the firestorm flag as it waved in the floating space dust that once was neural networking of sleeper drone brains. Now a silent gap of space like the gap in the pizza box they left behind.
The sleepers could not withstand the barrage of kinetic damage as the elite missiles breached their hulls. The unmanned space bots charged in with the courage of Leeeeroy Jenkins and it was a mistake that sealed their fate.
Deep on into the night the firestorm officers laughed and told stories of old during combat. The sleepers had no way to communicate or surrender as the attackers had their communications closed to outside signals. No one could hear their screams.
Little did the sleepers know their stuff was already being marked for order to the highest bidders and fences in the galaxy.
-Firestorm Wrecker Service
-F.W.S. BuzZBladE

You gotta be kidding......

So as I've been working in other parts of New Eden, my son and the crews of our mining vessels were on "shore leave" in Mitsolen. I usually don't have a problem with this, they keep out of trouble and always keep me informed of whats going on. But this last one is something that will be keeping these guys and gals station side for some time. As most know, the Orca and Hulk have a large crew on each ship. They all were enjoying the sun and surf of one of Mitsolen more tropical planets when one of them spread the idea to head to a much cooler planet for some skiing. Trying to be the good boss, I allowed it. I gave instructions about behavior and what not. But I forgot one little line, DON'T GET SICK!

As luck would have it, they all got sick. All 328 crew members had a horrible case of the Ytterbian Cold. Nobody said anything about it and more to the point, they tried to hide it. After reviewing reports, filing paperwork, and paying bills I figured it best we relocate the mining team back to Muvolailen. So my greeting as I disembarked my shuttle? One tipsy Ceribus with a look in his eyes that said "You're about to kill me."

I took Ceribus to the Medical Clinic and they gave him a check-up he will never forget. They told me best thing to do is give him the "peanut butter" shot and hope for the best.

"I'm sorry, the what?"
"The Penicillin shot, sir. It's all we can really do at this point."

Now I've done my history and after 23,000 years still the best we can do for the cold is a shot that feels like concrete being injected into your butt. I could hardly believe my ears.

The nurse then added, "Sir, how long have you been with your son?"
"Just a day, been checking on my crews and such. They are all sick."
Judging by the look on her face I could see what was coming.
"Sir, you are gonna need the shot as well."
Bummer.
"Alright, what needs to happen from here?"
"I will need a full crew manifest and locations of all crew members. We will administer treatment in their quarters. You will then need to wait a day or two for the shot to take effect."

Two days, and one painful shot in the butt for every crew member later, we were cleared for flight. We boarded our ships and left. Upon arrival in Muvo, I cut the crews loose again but let them know that planet side leave has been pulled until further notice. I had a long talk with Ceribus about dumb ideas and he needs to be the team leader when I'm not around. I gave the station Commissioner permission to jail any of my crew if they violate my orders and left for Paara to jump clone back to Isinokka.

All I could think in my head as I undocked was,
The Peanut butter shot? You gotta be kidding......

UPGRADES, UPGRADES, UPGRADES!!!

So as I was doing missions for Spacelane, it became apparent that they were learning how to fight me and beat my tank. I needed an upgrade. I began the hunt for a better tank design that would give me the edge once again. My last mission left my poor Blade of Deceit in shambles. It came down to a complete revamping of my low slots on my ship. Dropped some gear and installed better hardware than I've ever had before. It's also some of the most expensive gear I've ever put on my ship. Total value of my ship now is about 3 Billion ISK. God help me if it explodes! On a side note, my good friend and sister-in-law, Amanda Halsley, has left Firestorm Mining Division in my hands and started a hauling company all her own. Amanda's new corp, Firestorm Hauling, is still a part of the Firestorm Federation. Which is good for all of us. She is getting lots of business now and making a ton of money. That is the sum of the adventures since my last post. Catch you all on the flip side! Fly safe!

The Rescue: The Story of Artemiz Entreri

   Hello, Everyone. It's time my story was told. When Kreatus Started this log, he said there is a reason behind the life debt I owe him. I was a Minmatar trader hauling from Rens to Jita. I had a steady job that paid the bills. As I was flying to Jita, a major fight broke out between the Caldari and Gallente along the border zone. Concord deemed it best that I take a new route through Amarr space. Being Minmatar I knew this wouldn't go well. The Amarr have a Special hate for the Minmatar people. They deem us to be "sub-human" and not the people to be friends with. I had a contract to finish on time and I had no choice. I did my best to not look Minmatar but it didn't work out. I was scanned down by an Amarr Slave Party, they were on contract to gather "lost" Minmatar or runaway slaves. I kicked on my tank and began fighting back with my one artillery pair on my ship. It was a futile fight but I'd rather go down fighting than give up. They knew it wouldn't take much to destroy my ship and they didn't want to loose the cargo I had so they took careful shots to slowly wear me down. Just about the time they were about to destroy me, Kreatus came out of nowhere and warped to between myself and the Slavers. He began to take the brunt of the damage and began fighting back. He sent me a message via short-range com pulse saying to warp away and meet him at the sun. I kept track of the fight with my sensors. By the time I had arrived at the sun, Kreatus had already destroyed three of the six Slaver ships. He had only a single Cruiser and two Battlecruisers left. When he had destroyed a Battlecruiser, the rest broke away and disengaged the fight. I waited patiently for his arrival hoping he wasn't going to show up in a pod. He arrived in his trademark, and I must say ironically convenient, Amarr Navy Issue Apocalypse. We began a chat and he offered to escort me to Jita to finish my contract. Of course I accepted the help, I was gonna need it for the five jumps through Amarr space I had left until Caldari space. I told him that in my family that when someone saves a life, the rescued has a life debt to the saver of said person. Kreatus said he would prefer not to but also didn't want to offend my families customs. He said that he would allow it until I had the opportunity to save him from harm. Ever since then, I have been working for a Corp he works with and sending him a share of the money as I make it. I am very grateful for the service he did for me and I will probably continue my work for him even after I save him when the chance arrives. And now you know the story of the life debt.

INTRUDERS!!!!!

So after the beginning of the new year a squatter thought it was ok to build a home within my Alliance territory. Our Alliance Leader sent out a call to arms and to which we responded quickly. I myself flew about 12 jumps in my best ship, the Abaddon, to help. We pounded mercilessly upon the POS. The owner had Strontium in his POS though so we had to wait for that to burn out. Strontium is a very special molecule that allows a POS to become invulnerable. Fortunately though, it takes up a lot of space and is fairly expensive. I was able to assign my camera drone to record the even, but it had a malfunction and could only take photos of the event. I was able to compile those photos into a video for others to watch. Enjoy.

A Rockin Good Time

I should have told this story earlier but I've been lazy. Couple of weeks ago I worked with my Corpies, MeanMaddix, Ruincapero, and my son Ceribus. We cleared a belt that night and it provided a substantial amount of ore for us. Belt 5-1 in Muvolailen is a very resource rich area. Between an Orca, Hulk, and 2 Covetors, we were able to clear the belt in only a couple hours. We collected over 600k m^3 of ore. Having the mining implant and command modules I have bought helped a great deal with the mining op. the local variety of belt pirates would occasionally attack but all of us had drones which made work of them. Sadly, after a belt is mined out it takes some time for that particular gravity well to collect more roids. Usually about 4 days for it to return to normal. I hope we can do more of these. The profits are huge.