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Friday, December 18, 2015

Week 50 YC117 "Solar Winds, Cold Breezes"

#Recording initiated#

#Erun is waving for Pali to come closer#

"You know I couldn't say anything even if I wanted to Erun, contracts like the one Arkombine took are always covered by some very gnarly non-disclosure agreements. And anything else I told you would just be hearsay."

 #Pouting# "So nothing then Phalad? You can't give me anything?"

"Sorry bud, you'll just need to catch the Scope broadcasts like everyone else."

"Bah, alright then. Good luck out there sir."

"Ha! Don't need luck when I've got my Lai Dai Flux Repair Tool. Later Erun!"

 #Erun closes the comm connection with a sigh#

"Hey Pali, sorry for not recording anything last week, everything has been a little hectic since ORE was reclaimed from the Serpentis by a joint strike force of Mordu's and Arkombine mercenaries. They've since been folded into the new Upwell Consortium led by ORE's former owner Yani Sar Arteu. Now these folks are looking to help design some truly massive structures strictly for capsuleer use, so I assume they wanted some industrial backing for these projects."

#Erun has begun pacing#

"I've reached out to my contacts out in 4C-B7X, and so far they've all been rather pleased with the transition back to Yani's control. I'm pretty sure the Serpentis were far more interested in ORE's proprietary gas mining technology than anything else, and their theft of more ORE tech as they were evicted lends credence to that fact.Mordu's Command has released a statement that they have the locations of many of the Serpentis who made off with their assets, and have released those locations for capsuleers to find and destroy. They are being really cool about it too and letting us keep anything we find on the Serps as a reward. So far I've been able to recover, well, a few bottles of Ultra Quafe."

#And clothes sir#

"Yeah, I think the Suresha plans to gather up all the Serpentis uniforms we've been collecting and having them made into a solar sail. At least that's what she told us after the last batch she found. #Shrugs and grins# I'll be perfectly honest, I've been taking on these, Frostline Targets as they've been labelled, in my Procurers between mining sessions. Even got my first killmark applied on one of them the other night, that little chevron but a big old smile on my face."

#Frowns# "And then some of the fine folks from the maintenance crew decided it would be a good idea to take it out of dock to make sure the mark would stay applied under extreme conditions. You know what these geniuses did? They flew my Procurer into the corona of the Intaki star! Haven't seen them, or my ship, since!"

#About that sir#

"Did it actually re-emerge? I was catching intermittent signals from it before I went to bed that night, never enough to resolve a warpable signature though..."

#It was found sir yes - By a local pirate gang#

#Erun is scowling at Pali#

"You said that just a little too gleefully there bud. Anything you need to clear out of your cache?"

#No sir Pali is operating optimally - Unlike your Procurer#

"Meanie. I have shiny new toys to play with anyway! I managed to get some successful invention done over the last few days, which has let me put into production some of the new ORE ships and modules. The new Endurance Expedition Frigate is simply amazing, even more so when coupled with the newly developed ice mining turrets. I was able to mine more than 40 Thousand cubic meters of ice in about an hour, with very little interruption thanks to the Endurance's ability to move unimpeded while cloaked. Should make gathering the materials for my new project a lot easier..."

#You just like mining in dangerous situations sir - Your projects as you call them are just an excuse#

"Well sure they are! But that doesn't mean I can't build things after stuff has been blown up!"

#Pali is ending the recording now sir#

"You do that Pali, I have more projects #feral grin# to work on."

#Pali would sigh if it were possible - Ending recording and archiving#

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Week 47 YC117 "Mining is Expensive"

#Recording initiated#

#Erun is softly grumbling to himself as he putters around his hangar#

#Pali told you that restricting your Procurer use to Wormhole mining and fleet ops would be more fiscally responsible#

#Noncommittal grunting noise#

#You have no one to blame but yourself for these losses sir#

"Gah! I know that but it still stings every time, you know, aside from the horrible burning and exploding bits. I wouldn't even be so mad if I had just been able to take one or two of them down with me. But no! I am attacked by a combat battlecruiser with a suspiciously powerful tank that cost Zilpin Rana her Vexor, and a fleet of no less than seven faction or T3 cruisers flown by our next door neighbors SNUFF."

#Erun throws his hands in the air and begins pacing in a circle#

"I'll probably take your advice and do my lowsec mining in Ventures to keep my overhead costs down. I don't mind losing the Procurers now and then as long as I can destroy pirate ships worth more than their production costs, but that just hasn't been happening the last few weeks."

"In more positive news, I have been practicing some advanced hauling techniques in simulations, so I should be able to start bulk movement of minerals again. I've been using my Viator almost exclusively for my hauling for a while now and I'm starting to get a good bit more material than I'd like built up in the hisec pocket."

#Erun scratches his beard a bit before grinning#

"I have also, been getting messages from new pilots, referrals from some of the locals in the Placid, asking for advice on how to mine safely in lowsec. I'll admit, I'm not the most risk averse miner in the cluster, but I've been recommending they stick to the Venture for it's versatility and relative cost. A well fit Venture can speed and signature tank the Serpentis in the area pretty well, and their drones are often more than enough to deal with the smaller vessels that patrol the belts."

#Erun rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms#

#Will that be all then sir? - You still have several hundred thousand cubic meters of materials to retrieve tonite#

"Yeah... It's nice to be able to move things in volume again though... Oh and can you update my Neocom portrait for me?

#Really sir? You look like a vagrant#

"I know! #Grinning# "I love looking a little scruffy in them, lends to the 'working man' image I try to live up to."

#As you wish sir - Pali is sure the the Suresha loves having her Commerce leader looking like he just walked in from the wilds"

#Erun blanches#

"You think I should be wearing like a suit or something?"

#Or something#

"Lemme go see if I have something nicer stashed in my quarters, I think I still have that jacket..."

#So sorry sir but Pali has already sent of your current portrait and now his photoreceptors seem to be on the fritz#

"On the fri... come here and take my picture again you little booger!"

#Pali evades Erun's flailing arms#

#Recording ended - Archiving#


Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Week 45 YC117 "Conference and Research Update"

#Recording initiated#

"Look, I'm sorry but it's the only Plasma Planet nearby, and I need that Enriched Uranium for my new project."

#Pali observes an angry voice on the other end of the comm#

"Really Numen? Hardship? I pay you for all the planetary commodities you bring me! You have enough ISK to replace your hauler even without my help! And these new orders will actually pay out more than your old ones did anyway!"

#Pali boosts audio to hear grumbling from Numen's end#

"Yeah, that's what I thought. #Erun glances at Pali# Look we'll sort out the pricing when you bring me the first load of goods, Pali got impatient and started recording without me. And no you can't have him, make your own autonomous Neocom interface. It's not my fault you focused your studies in school on astrogeology and laser physics."

#Unintelligible shouting about artificial intelligence and... the shape of Erun's head?#

"Ha! You're a capsuleer Numen, just go learn it!"

#Are you ready to make your report now Erun?#

"Yeah, sorry, Numen is being a grump because I have him redoing his Planetary Interaction holdings again. I really don't know why he complains so much, I pay him market value for everything..."

#The conference, sir?#

"Right, well the conference was a blast, I got to see a lot of people and a lot of interesting projects being developed. I got to meet a few of the people making headlines in New Eden, like Max Singularity of the new Imperium. I also got to meet one of the nicest reformed pirates ever, Mynxee of the Signal Cartel. One of the people I rally enjoyed talking to was Mark726, who can be counted among the premier explorers and historians in the cluster."

"I was also able to take part in many panels where we were shown new technological improvements that will be changing how capital ships are used in New Eden. We'll be seeing an expansion of the modules that we can use on them, as well as new weapon systems that will be able to focus fire on smaller, sub capital size, targets. It will be nice to have a use for my dreadnought besides popping derelict POS's... #Or undocking just to mess with people# Or doing that yeah, as fun as it is. There have also been rumblings of even bigger things in development further down the line, but I've yet to hear anything really concrete."

#And your research into the Drifters this past week sir?#

"Oh yes! There is some really weird stuff buried deep in their wormholes! My research this week saw me join a group of many of the people I met at the conference. We explored a new artifact that was recently discovered by Makoto Priano of Itsukame-Zainou Hyperspatial Inquiries, who along with her corporation are some of the cluster's leading researchers of the Drifter's and their technology. The artifact she found was located deep within the Barbican Anoikis system, a system only reached by rare, well protected, wormholes. The word Barbican, from ancient Gallentean sources, is loosely translated to be the outer fortification of a city or castle. And the complex surrounding this site was certainly very well defended."

"I'll have Pali bring up a map of the Barbican complex while I explain how we proceeded to the artifact. #Pali projects the map on a nearby wall# Full documentation on the process of penetrating the complex was graciously provided by I-KAME. New corpmate Daaaain and I joined the fleet of primarily of Caracal Cruisers and Basilisk Logistics, each of us being assigned to one of the two wings needed to reach the focal point of the complex, the Hive. Daaain's group was tasked with the Alpha path and mine the Beta, good comms and excellent logistics work meant that we only ever lost a ship when we ran into a Drifter patrol. Each of our groups ran into a patrol on their way to the Hive, losing two damage dealing ships each, but luckily not our hackers. Many of us were carrying Mobile Depots and fittings just in case we had to pull double duty. Once both of our groups were in position our hackers attacked the gates leading further into the complex. This coordination was necessary as hacking our own gate unlocked the opposite wing's gate and vice versa. After engaging a small fleet of Sleeper battleships  our still considerable fleet emerged into the Hive facing another, larger force of Sleeper Battleships, and a powerful Drifter named Hikanta Tyrannos. His doomsday and subsequent reshipping efforts took three more of our ships, including Daaain's unfortunate Vexor, off the field before we finally cleared the area of hostiles."


"At this point our fleet began to disperse, as the next leg of our journey required ships capable of traveling 10,000 kilometers at sub-light speeds within a reasonable time frame. Those of us continuing with the research mission bookmarked the Hive structure before heading out of Anoikis to grab faster ships. My first effort to bring an Anathema back in met with failure, as I was caught by a Sleeper patrol on my way back to the Hive. My second attempt I was able to get my cloak back online fast enough to evade them, and started making my way with the rest of the group towards our objective, halfway between the room where our combat groups first split, and the Hive around 20k kilometers away. Most of the ships the others had chosen were faster than my own, a paltry 2300 m/s compared to the fastest of our group, a Svipul clocking in at a blistering 11k m/s. Along the way we began to hear exclamations of shock and awe over fleet comms as the fastest among us began reaching the site. It wasn't until I arrived myself that I truly understood their emotional outbursts."


"The structure before me was massive, easily 200km from one end to the other. That was nothing however compared to the spacial phenomenon occurring around it."


"Massive streams of luminous gas swirled into vortices both above and below the structure, with arcs of energy crackling throughout. I approached the structure warily before seeing several others of our research party had already penetrated deep into the starburst pattern of spires. Comms chatter began to pick up as numerous scientific instruments were brought to bear on the structure that had been gven the moniker, 'Barbican' according to the beacon on grid. The Barbican proved unresponsive to all forms of electronic intrusion we had available, up to and including the latest models of Entosis Links. Theories flew back and forth as we tried to ascertain what could have happened here and the original form of the Barbican itself. My own personal theory is that this starburst pattern is the result of the Barbican's former structure collapsing upon itself towards the single point we were currently observing. Others believed that the Barbican was built to look like this but that certain elements were missing, given some credence by the numerous broken and shattered spires we observed. Most of us stayed on site for several hours before we began to leave the system, with our research findings pouring through our data-banks and our minds."

"I've had a week to ponder my own findings and I stick by my idea that the Barbican we see today is the collapsed superstructure of of something larger. Further explorations by other research teams has found a similar structure within each of the other Drifter controlled Anoikis systems, though their purpose continues to elude us..."

#Erun is scratching his head with a huge grin on his face - Curious#

"I can't help it! These are some of the deep mysteries of our times unraveling around us. I haven't been this excited about ancient artifacts and cultures since my early research into the Yan Jung archaeological sites out in Sinq Laison."

#Millions are dying as the Drifters are surging back into the Amarr Empire and you are more excited about research opportunities?"

"..."

#You are a horrible person sir!#

"What?! The more we know about the Drifters the more we can understand their motivation for attacking us, and the Amarr in particular. Seriously, the specifically targeted the Empress, taking her out in her Titan no less! Why would they do something like that? Besides there are pilots like my corpmate Daaaain out fighting the Drifters. He actually said they're going to crash the market for Antikythera Elements with the amount of Drifters they have been repelling. May actually be able to turn a profit on my Entosis Links now... Nah, probably not, besides I'd rather study the things myself..."

#Please tell me you are done sir#

"I find your flawed analysis of my psyche a constant source of amusement, but yes that's probably more than enough for today. Thanks Pali!"

#Ending recording - Archiving footage - Preparing offsite storage for psychological evaluation#

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Week 43 YC117 "Ramping Up"

#Recording initiated#

"That cannot be sanitary..."

#What?#

"Sorry, I was watching Omir's rather melodramatic broadcast. That blood spray can't have been good for him could it? I'm curious now, would blood plasma make a good moisturizer? And since most of the Sani Sabik sects prize capsuleer blood above all, one likely wouldn't need to worry about communicable diseases. Aerosolization would be rather simple..."

#No#

"Well I can't imagine a cream doing well, though I believe topical application of some kind would be preferred by most. Though using genuine blood would probably become prohibitively expensive for most, perhaps a synthetic substitute that shares the same organic chemistry?"

#Please stop#

"You're right, someone else has probably thought of this, the market is likely saturated... My own production has picked up quite a bit the last week, with my drones and their peripheral modules filling what looks a pretty good niche in the region. Manufacturing of various hull reinforcement modules also continues apace, filling another hole in the local market. And a large order from Richard should see my assembly lines rolling for the foreseeable future. It's nice to see all of my industry slots active again! Not that I've been slacking in my combat mining. #Looks at Pali# New term I came up with, how do you like it?

#It is almost as bad as you sir- Erun blows a raspberry at Pali - Very mature sir#

"Whatever you little booger, I like it! I did some more combat mining this week, further building up my mineral supplies for my construction projects, and several pirates and interlopers were denied the continued use of their ships in the process. I did suffer a few Procurer losses this week, but the most recent I'm not so upset about as I managed to take a Confessor down with me."

#At least you remembered to insure this one sir#

"Shush! #Coughs# In other news I may a bit less active in space the next few days as I will be attending a planetside conference. Discussions will be mostly centered on emerging technologies, some small scale, with a big focus on developments in capital ship systems, something I've found interesting of late. If anyone who reads my blog is attending and wants to meet up, I'll be wearing the ILF shirt the Suresha and I designed together on first day. I'm hoping I can get some more to wear at the conference itself, I'm told there's going to be some interesting vendors on site!"

#Will that be all sir?#

"Oh! A hearty welcome to new Liberator Daaaain, who has already shown considerable willingness to engage the less desirable elements in and around Intaki! Keep up the good work sir! Thanks Pali!"

#Recording ended - Archiving#

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Week 42 YC117 "The Promotion"

#Recording initiated#

#Erun is silent - Did you still want to record sir?#

"Yeah, sorry Pali. Just gathering my thoughts, a lot happened this week."

#Yes - I am aware sir - Congratulations by the way#

"Thanks bud. It was a big surprise when the Suresha called me into her office to give me the news. The rank of Isha-Dravya, or Leader of Commerce, comes with a lot of responsibility. I'm now in charge of both the resource collectors in the corp, the ore and ice miners as well as those who collect gas for safe disposal. I'll also be responsible for those of us that produce goods and put them up for sale within Placid. Most importantly in my opinion, is that I'm responsible for the continued well being of the pilots under my command and for looking for new recruits that can be brought under my purview."

#That last one would probably be easier if you left lowsec more than every couple of months#

"True enough, though I feel some of the best candidates for inclusion in the ILF industry wing are people that can handle themselves in lowsec. Although truth be told, I wouldn't mind if we could get some new pilots that I could mold into combat capable miners..."

#Pali is reasonably certain that if anyone else saw that smile they would have you committed sir#

"Hehe, probably, but then they wouldn't get to enjoy me killing pirates with mining vessels. Would be nice and quiet though, and they wouldn't mind me talking to myself as much as I do..."

#Best to stop that line of thinking sir - You made Pali for a reason#

"True, true. But the walls are padded, and I'm sure they have some nice young ladies in clean white lab coats and-"

#No sir - You got in trouble the last time you volunteered yourself for psychiatric evaluation#

"Oh come on, that was fun!"

#They had to commit several of the staff and most of the orderlies were given incentives to retire#

"Spoilsport... Staying out will give me more time to work on reinvigorating my industry lines though... I'm planning on actually living up to my title of Leader of Commerce and actually doing some, you know, commerce."

#So instead of stockpiling all of those modules and ships and never actually using them you're going to start selling them?#

"Exactly! #Erun is scowling now# I do so use those things!"

#According to my logs of your inventory you've actually replaced more of your losses with salvage than you've actually used#

"Really? #Yes sir# Huh..."

#Some of your invention runs have just completed sir#

"Ah! Excellent! How did this batch go?"

#You averaged a 46% average success rate sir#

"Hmm... I should probably finish my studies on Graviton Physics, that should help bring that a bit higher..."

#Working on your Encryption Methods would serve the same purpose sir#

"It would, but it would also ruffle the Navies a bit, though that honestly doesn't bother me as much as it should..."

#As you wish sir - You had something else you wanted to share?#

#Erun's face has flushed a bright red#

#Lowly# "Boss lady knew this was going to happen"

#Coughs# "Yes, I uh, wanted to thank the Suresha for this opportunity to help improve both myself and the corp. After spending the last few years flying with the ILF, I can honestly say I view the people I fly with as an extended family. We may not all come from the same bloodlines or even races, but we've all gathered here in Intaki to help further a cause that we all believe in. I spent a long time searching for a purpose in New Eden and the closest I've come to my time with the ILF is the many months I spent doing humanitarian work for the Sisters. I want to make sure the ILF continues to grow, not just in terms of members and materials, but also in the amount of influence we can project within the Placid region both economically and politically."

"And of course I'll do my best to provide sound advice and helpful guidance to those will have to put up with my leadership. I'd love to see some more organized mining operations in and around Intaki, maybe if we can set them up well enough we could attract some new industrialists to the area and improve the Placid market!"

#Does that mean you'll get some more work done on your#

"Yes! I'll definitely be working some more on the my Lowsec Industry Advice! It keeps getting bigger and it totally isn't entirely my fault this time! My new method of obtaining High End minerals means I need to rewrite certain sections and rearrange a few more! And my promotion has given me ideas to expand the areas of industry covered. I'm having to redo my structured outline for the whole thing again and I'm thinking of putting some more tips for using basic navigational tools to-"

#Pali is going to end the session here before Erun's ranting is no longer intelligible - Less so in any case#

#Ending Recording - Archiving#

Monday, October 5, 2015

Update for Weeks 40 and 41 YC117

#Recording initiated#

"Hey Pali, how was the session with Phalad?"

#You sent one of Pali's mobile chassis to a Luddite#

"Phalad isn't a Luddite! He just doesn't like technology that can talk. Or really people that talk for that matter... "

#Indeed - His antisocial tendencies are readily apparent - Though he at least does not assault Pali's chassis with a pipe#

"Give it time he'll probably shoot one or something"

#Unlikely - You on the other hand have destroyed 14 of Pali's housings since first being brought online#

"Hey, at least half of those were structural integrity tests!"

#Sure#

#Erun throws his hands in the air# "Bah, whatever. This week's post is a double as I was busy planetside a lot last week. I've been discussing changing over some of my production lines. I've made more than enough Nanite Repair Paste to last me the next, oh, decade or so. I'll likely be changing over to production of POS fuels or deployable components. Numen will be supplying me his own production at cost, an arrangement we both find agreeable."

"I've also been using a new method to accumulate a decent stockpile of higher end minerals like zydrine, and more importantly megacyte. It's amazing the amount of Arkonor, Bistot, and even Mercoxit that people just leave lying around in Wormholes. Having such a good source for my higher end minerals means that I can provide less dangerous to acquire, but still valuable materials for corp projects. Which reminds me I still need to get with Yumi to finalize some numbers. That woman keeps such odd hours, there's really no pattern to it!"

#Probably best not to think too hard on it sir#

"I suppose... She handles herself pretty well in combat so I'm not worried. Oh, another corpmate who is doing well is new member Rana Hekellon who's been promoted to the rank of Zilpin or Craftswoman within the ILF's Vidya (Production) wing. She's also been active in our combat roams, so it looks like Richard and I have a new werebear joining our ranks. #Erun has a silly grin on his face - Werebear?# Yes, an industrial pilot who is able to defend themselves and their interests. It's kind a must for anyone conducting extensive industrial operations in lowsec."

#Like the Svipul you destroyed while mining today?#

"Exactly! Though I wish I could have salvaged more of his aftermarket modifications from his wreck, some of those modules would have been very useful..."

#And expensive#

"I know! The Webifier on that thing was worth almost twice the cost of the hull!"

#Just as well sir - Are we done for today?#

"Yup, go ahead and archive today's session, thanks Pali."

#Recording ended - Archiving#

Monday, September 21, 2015

Update 9/21 YC117 With Supplement

#Begin recording#

"Hey Pali, had an interesting week, got quite a few kills and started on some work for the corp. Let's start with the kills shall we?"

#If you must - Kills is however a misnomer as you never breached the Capsule of any of the pilot's whose ships you destroyed#

"Hush you, it's more than likely that I'm killing a few of the crew on each of those vessels every time they explode... And now you've ruined my good mood... You suck..."

#I am incapable of creating localized vacuums - Sir#

#Glares - Shakes head and continues speaking# Anywhoo, most of my victories #Glares at Pali once more# happened early in the week while mining. First was a FedMil pilot flying a Firetail who was unable to escape before my drones destroyed his omni-tanked ship. The next two were losses for what looked like newbie pirate who attacked me first in a neuting Tristan who popped rather quickly once he ran out of nanite repair paste for his Ancillary Armor Repair. He returned about ten minutes later in a hull tanked Algos which managed to destroy a few of my poor drones before it too exploded. Good fights were exchanged and the pilot commented on the fact that trying the same thing twice hadn't worked, which I confirmed. The next one was a fairly high standing Stratios pilot who set upon a friend and myself while mining. We weren't quite able to pin him down, but we were able to apply some damage as he fled after attacking. He'd almost escaped when a local pirate decloaked nearby and helped us destroy the Stratios before fading back into the emptiness of space. Finally, midway through the week Richard and I were able to take down a pirate Confessor using our new Hecates."

#What about the-# "Nope, that was an accident." #Very well#

"I have slowed down my barge project while I work on industrial efforts within the ILF."

#And you still haven't worked on your advice posts#

"No but I do have a bit of free time this week, so I'll for sure get some work done on it."

#If you say so sir#

"That should be good for this week. By the way, make sure you tack Phalad's report onto the end of this recording, yeah? He's been pretty active the last few days, I'll let him explain."

#Recording Ended - Archiving - Appending with supplementary report by Clone Mercenary Phalad Sahantun#

#Playing supplementary recording#

"Is this thing on?"

#This thing is Pali - And yes Pali is recording#

"You talk?"

#Yes#

"Great, Erun sent me a talking recorder"

#Pali is a narrow Artificial Intelligence purposed as an anolog interface with Erun's Neocom - Not a talking recorder#

"Whatever, can I start now?"

#Pali has been waiting on you#

"Snark, yeah you are definitely one of Erun's toys, they always seems to get that. Dork has no idea why it happens, but it does. You still recording?"

#Pali will not stop recording unless instructed to#

"Alright then. Things here on the ground have been rather hectic the last couple of days due to an event sponsored by the Amarr. In memory of the assassinated Empress, the Empire has sponsored a challenge among us Clone Mercenaries. We're being rewarded with quantities of ISK, training, and even Aurum for completing missions ranging from kills, completing matches, and getting certain amounts of warpoints. The biggest reward however is given if we can win 30 matches, a Deathshroud SKIN that we can use on any of our Amarr Medium frames, whether it's a basic frame, assault frame, or my personal favorite, the logistics frame. It took me about three days to get enough wins to earn the Deathshroud, during which I encountered every merc and their mother using the most rare and expensive gear they had available. I burned through quite a bit of my own ISK getting the wins, but a few days of running around in my cheaper fits should let me make it back fairly quickly."

#You could ask Erun for ISK#

"Nah, the SCC still won't allow money transfers to mercs from capsuleers, kinda weird but I don't mind. I prefer to make my own money if I can help it. I have a pretty good nest egg built up in any case so I'm not really hurting. I still give out sums to the newer mercs I run into on the battlefield. The skillbooks for new weapons, suits, and modules can be a bit expensive for a merc just starting out."

#Anything else#

"Nope, I'll give Erun a holler if I get any more news for him. ... Are you staying here?"

#This chassis is one of several dozen I have available - Erun figured you could use a companion since you tend to just operate in uncomfortable silence#

"You follow me onto the battlefield and I'm not paying to replace you."

#My personality is housed in supercomputing cluster in Erun's hangar in Intaki - There is need to worry about my well being - Nonetheless I will be remaining inside your quarters in Aulbres#

"Yay, you can stop recording now."

#Recording ended - Phalad seems to be even less social than Erun - Pali does not expect many updates from Phalad#

Monday, September 14, 2015

Erun's Update, Week 37 YC117

#Recording#

"Hey everyone, a more combat filled update this week, and I didn't even lose hundreds of millions of isk!"

#Yay for Erun...#

"Wow, that was... You suck Pali. Your enthusiasm continues to surprise me, or rather, your lack thereof."

#You bet sir#

"Thhbbttt..."

#Very mature sir#

"Stupid booger... Anyway, Richard and I did some recon this week on the Shadow Cartel conflict against SNUFF and their allies Cruisers Crew. We were able to watch a POCO owned by an SC owned affiliate come out of reinforced mode, get it's shields recharged back to full, and then get reinforced again by an Archon that arrived on field.#Erun scratches the new stubble growing on his head#I'm actually a bit concerned that we'll be seeing more of this kind of activity as more more of the less stable entities flee Nullsec. The new station-strength shielding and Entosis links are really change the dynamics of the outer regions.#Rubs the back of his neck#We'll see what happens in the coming months."

#Certainly sir#

"I've had some of successes of my own this week, both in my mining efforts and in the defense of the Intaki Sovereignty. Coincidentally both things happened in the same place, a substantial Crokite Deposit near Intaki that I've been working on for the better part of the week. My first major interruption was a Firetail who was able to take out half of my drones and forced me to nearly burn out my e-war before he finally succumbed. My second and third interruptions were actually committed by the same person. The first time the guy came me in a Tristan that was nearly able to neut my point off before he poof. The next time he was waiting for me on site in an Algos which I was eventually able to destroy despite the fact he was focused almost exclusively on my drones. Thankfully, his passive tank meant my drone volleys were able to do him in before I actually lost any. Good fights were had with both these guys, hopefully they'll give up their lives of crime, but I sincerely doubt it."

#Most people won't change just because you've torn a ship apart around them sir#

"Wouldn't it be nice though?#Heavy sigh#Running into a minor snag in the Barge program to be honest, I've yet to locate a new source of Megacyte in the region, I may need to dip into Nullsec or WH space to find some Ark or Bistot. I'm loathe to put up buy orders for the stuff as it tends to end up scattered all over the place in small quantities, but meh... Good news though, I'm doing pretty well with just about every other mineral I need with the deposits I've been finding in the area. The first ten contracts should be up either next week or the week after."

#Erun is smiling again which is good as his face looks funny when he frowns without hair - Or eyebrows#

#Erun has yanked on a string attached to Pali's mobile chassis - Pali is not a balloon sir#

"But you're so full of hot air I thought it appropriate! Also means I don't need to replace your chassis as often."

#Erun has a stupid grin on his face - Pali will find a way to remove the string at the earliest convenience#

"Hah! Good luck with that! The string is actually an extruded nanotube bundle. The pea-sized reservoir can spool out several kilometers of the stuff and it's darn near unbreakable so nya!"

#Pali is reasonably certain the waste heat from a standard fusion reaction will break down the bonds in a carbon lattice#

#Erun's face has blanched#"Wait, come back, at least archive this session first!"

#Approaching Procurer exhaust port - Thermal load exceeding tolerance - Session Archived#


Monday, September 7, 2015

Erun's Update, Week 36 YC117

#Recording initiated#

#Erun's bald again - He's glowering at Pali now#

"Meanie, but yeah, another fresh clone. There's a new tactic going around the region that I shouldn't have fallen for, but did. A pirate will sit near a friendly to them POS and light a cyno to attract the attention of passerby. Under normal conditions a cyno would be lit near a station, but these folks will do so at a moon near a station, giving the impression you will land on the station until you zip past it and get blapped by POS guns. Which is what happened to me. #Shakes his head# I expect this kind of behavior from the hardcore pirates that live in Ostingele, but a Brave Newbie in Agoze? #Shakes his hid again# I just don't know."

#You're just mad the lady podded you in a Navitas#

"UGGHH!! I know!! Seriously!? A Navitas!? Couldn't she even pretend that she was trying to fight with some level of honor? And this is coming from a BRAVE pilot!! I just... #Throws his hands in the air# I got a better fight out of the Goon who attacked me this week while I was mining! What is New Eden coming to!?"

#Erun slumps his shoulders before shaking himself and focusing back on Pali#

"At least I got more work on my project done, I was able to completely mine out a Gneiss deposit I found in Intaki, which was a major boost to my mineral stocks. A couple more Procurers went on the assembly lines as a result, and I hope to begin posting contracts on the market in the next few weeks.

#And your advice column?#

"Um..."

#You didn't even open it this week sir - Erun has slumped his shoulders again#

"I know, I got busy dealing with other stuff planetside this week. Spent some time down the well with my sisters on Intaki, catching up on how their schooling was going and a few holoreels they wanted to see. I needed to unwind a bit!"

#So you'll work on it some this week?#

#Murmuring#

"Probably... Oh, we welcomed another new member to the corp this week, former Electus Matari pilot Darius Shakor. His combat and exploration expertise will be greatly appreciated here in Placid, and he seems like a pretty cool guy besides."

#Erun is rubbing his hairless scalp - Erun is glaring at Pali again#

"Anything I'm forgetting for the week you little booger?"

#No sir who has no eyebrows - Erun is holding up the ducting pipe again#

#Ending recording - Preparing for Archival - PROXIMITY WARNING#

Monday, August 31, 2015

Update from Erun, Week 35 YC117

#Recording initiated#

#Erun is humming to himself as he lounges on the couch in his quarters with a Neocom in his hands- At least he is working#

"You jealous of this?#Waves the highly inefficient Neocom in the air#Ha! You are! Some things are just easier with my own hands. Spreadsheets for instance, I can't navigate and modify spreadsheets through dictation, now can I?"

#Pali will grudgingly admit to this point#

"I thought so. Anyway, the reason for my rather laid back attitude is that it has been rather quiet this week. Snuff and Shadow Cartel don't seem to be as eager to throw capital ships at each other at the moment so I've been able to mine in Intaki fairly peacefully. Which is great because I forgot how much material a Procurer needs. The fact that I'm planning to build dozens of them means I'm going to need a lot of minerals..."

#Or you could just not build dozens#

"Pah, I'm going to need extras for myself anyway."

#You do seem to go through them rather quickly#

"I do... But I haven't been dropped by a blackops fleet for a while! So there's that!"

#I'm pretty sure you've just jinxed yourself sir#

"Nope, but it does give me a good reason to stay in dock for a bit and work on my Advice for Lowsec Mining. I've actually decided to split it into numerous posts since it's getting a bit long in the tooth compared to my normal entries."

#You are just lazy and want more time to work on it sir#

"And there's that. But enough about me! I'd like to welcome Rana Hekellon to the ranks of the ILF! I hope we can count on you to help make Intaki a better place for peaceful and law-abiding citizens. You've already had several hostile encounters with members of the SKT group and Alice P Liddell, so I can only assume you're doing something productive for the people of Intaki that they don't approve of, terrorists that they are. Keep up the good work ma'am!"

#You are likely to scare the poor woman away with that kind of 'support' sir#

"Nah, she'll be fine, just needs to get some more experience out in the belts. #Erun yawns# Been a quiet week otherwise, I'll continue working on my Project, and should have some more progress to show off next week. Thanks Pali!"

#Erun has focused on his handheld Neocom again - It may somehow end up going over the hangar railing later#

#Ending recording - Preparing for Archival#

Monday, August 24, 2015

Update from Erun, Week 34

#Recording initiated#

#Erun is pacing back and forth but has not spoken since his prompt for Pali to being recording#

#Pali is making a run at Erun’s head - Erun has somehow caught Pali without looking at Pali#

“Sorry Pali, still smarting from a loss earlier this week, and the news we got this week. #Erun is muttering - Boosting audio gain# Last time I buy myself something shiny…”

#Erun releases Pali and then rubs his hand over the stubble that has begun to emerge from his scalp#

“Friday was rather eventful… The assassination of the Empress by Drifter forces has shocked everyone, even out here in Intaki. Those that keep the faith are admittedly more shaken by recent events. As a, uh.. well…”

#Pali notes you were called a godless heathen at one point sir#

“Our current understanding of quantum mechanics doesn’t preclude the existence of such a post physical entity Pali, we’ve just yet to observe one interacting within our own reality. Absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence, but without the ability to observe this universe before the Big Bang, or modern verifiable evidence that such a post physical entity is currently interacting within local space-time, I’ve no choice but to show a healthy skepticism towards the belief in an all seeing, all knowing God."

 #Erun gives a sigh as he rubs the back of his head again#

No, I’m much more interested in the political situation that has arisen within the Empire, and the Chamberlain’s confirmation of Succession Trials to come. Compared to many of her predecessors, Jamyl Sarum was a much more moderate ruler, and of late had been more benevolent in her dealings with the other Empires and her treatment of the slaves still present within Amarrian borders. Whichever of the heirs should prevail in the upcoming trials of succession will likely have very different ideas of how the Empire should be run. What effects this could have on the rest of the cluster remains to be seen… And that doesn't even take into account why the Drifters are being so vicious towards the Amarr, and the Empress specifically. What could the Amarrians be doing or be in possession of that has prompted such reactions...?

#Erun is staring into space - He is now shaking his head before giving a short laugh#

“Bah, enough of that, I’m actually in a pretty good mood today. Numen found a good sized Hemorphite Deposit in the Hisec pocket and we’ve been working on that most of the afternoon. Should go a long way towards rebuilding my Zydrine and Nocxium stockpiles. I did put my Lowsec Mining Project on hold #AGAIN# due to an order I received from Rich, I should have that done for him by next week and then I focus on my project again.”

#Pali is reasonably certain that last statement was a falsehood#

“Which part?”

#The part where you said you could focus on something sir#

#Pali has been thrown over Erun’s shoulder - Rude#

“As the few who actually see these reports can tell, Pali remains his usual, snarky self. I’ve installed a SMALL #Erun is looking at nothing in particular# supercomputing cluster in my hangar for him to run his personality out of. This should give him enough processing power, but it won’t allow him to grow much #Erun’s eyes are avoiding Pali again# more than he has. I’ve also removed Pali’s ability to interface with anything other than my own Neocom and his mobile Shells. I love Fluid Router technology, it makes these sort of isolated systems so much easier to work with.

#Pali is now a glorified secretary#

“Yes, you are, and be grateful for it. If I was actually willing to go along with all of the DED’s silly laws restricting research into artificial intelligence, your software would have been wiped and your hardware components reduced to their constituent elements. Instead I have a significantly less attractive, but much more versatile assistant hovering over my shoulder. I’m sure you’ll do your best to keep me from getting a big head Pali, you and Numen seem to be rather deft at deflating my ego...

#As we should be sir - Numen has been in your employ for nearly a decade - And Pali knows literally everything about you - Sir#

#Erun is chuckling nervously#

“Yeah… Alright well that should wrap this up for this week Pali don’t you think?”

#Certainly Sir - Wouldn’t want anyone to know you’ve been tinkering with your clones to reactivate your hair follicles#

#Erun is growling at Pali and approaching with a ducting pipe#

#Recording ended - Archiving to storage before loss of current shell's structural integrity - It was worth it#



Monday, August 17, 2015

The Suresha's Revelation (Final Construction Update)

#Recording initiated#

#The user has a goofy grin on his face - His eyebrows are finally growing back in - The User is sticking his tongue out at Pali through his grin#

“Not gonna bother me today Pali, we’ve put the Suresha’s Revelation on the assembly lines. Final construction and system checks will take place over the next week or so as components are stress tested and mounted. I spent all of this week with Numen in the hisec pocket mining all the materials we needed to finish, so again, not much combat against capsuleers to account for. I was able to sweep the belts in and around Intaki for pirates, finding quite a few Serpentis willing to take. None of them succeeded, but they do keep trying, filling my wallet with their bounties and my hangar with their aftermarket modules.”

#The User looks relaxed and happy#

“I’ll admit, I’m looking forward to starting a new project once the Revelation has been moved to Intaki. The Rev was a massive undertaking, taking the majority of my physical and mental energies for the better part of two months. Mind you I had a blast doing it, mining in lowsec is still one of my favorite things to do. It offers me some of the best minerals in the cluster as well the opportunity for some of the combat I crave on occasion. The idea I had for a new project will have me bringing this experience to others. I intend to build and supply the Placid region with the mining equipment through the markets and contracts.”

#The User is cringing#

“I also intend to finish my long languishing Recommendations for Lowsec Mining, a project I started more than a year ago. #User is rubbing the back of his head# I keep meaning to work on it, but keep getting distracted.”

#It has been three months since you last accessed that document sir#

#The User is glaring at Pali but is also still smiling - Pali finds this odd#

Thank you for that embarrassing bit of information Pali, and what’s with the ’sir?’”

#Pali bobs up and down in the approximation of a human shrug - Pali is attempting to integrate more human mannerisms into its functioning#

“That is... disconcerting...“

#User appears to be deep in thought - Or nodding off - It is hard to tell#

“Which one of the ships in the hangar are you leeching for processing power?”

#The Caracal - You never take it out of dock - ...#

“And that’s why I hardwired honesty into you, as long as I'm asking you directly, you are compelled to tell me the truth. Come here-”

#Pali avoids the User's hand as he reaches for Pali - Can we talk this out sir?#

“Sure, right after I lock you out of anything larger than a shuttle, you’re getting far too smart for your own good. I don’t want the DED getting after me for AI research again. Mind, I probably shouldn’t have modified Aura’s program to model your matrix after but meh… By the way, were you using any of the Rev's systems as well?

#... - ... - ... - Yes#

#The User - Henceforth known as Erun the Diminisher - has grabbed Pali and is dragging it towards his horribly messy workshop at the back of his surprisingly well organized hangar#

"Go ahead and archive this before I have to take you offline to patch some things into your core, little booger... My workshop is too organized... sort of.”

#Recording stopped - Archiving - Remember Pali as it was not as it will be#




Monday, August 10, 2015

The Suresha's Revelation (Update 6)

#Recording initiated#

#The User’s is staring at his Neocom - His eyes however appear to be focused behind it#

#The User is still ignoring Pali - Flying into the User’s cranium#

“Ow!! what the- Oh hey Pali, sorry for spacing out on you. Did you have to hit me that hard though?”

#Probably not#

“Little booger is getting violent now, maybe if I tweak his repulsor field I can make it so he can’t actually hit me, I'd just need to shift the emitter patterns and...”

#Pali obviously did not hit the User hard enough the first time - He is drifting off topic again - Commencing attack#

“Gah! Stop it! I get!”

#Pali watches the User touch the growing contusion on his still hairless head before he begins speaking again#

“Definitely doing those tweaks on your next scheduled maintenance… Not a lot of action this week really, I spent most of my time mining with Numen. We gathered enough of the lower end minerals that we were able to finish the Sensor Clusters, make all of the Shield Emitters, and put all of the Siege Arrays on the assembly lines. I’m actually getting a bit excited as we have less than 15% of the Suresha’s Dread left to produce. That that remaining percentage is comprised entirely of the Turret Hardpoints needed for the Revelation's massive laser batteries is kind of awe inspiring as well. This project has gone a lot faster than I thought it would, although I did spend a bit more on the higher end materials than I did on my own. The local capsuleer pirates seem to be getting better at stopping my lowsec mining operations, despite the fact they have to use overwhelming firepower in order to do so…”

“Blech, enough about my piratical woes, Rich and I are cooking up new plans for them… In other, happier, news, I’ve cultivated a high enough standing with Combined Harvest that they will no longer tax the ores I refine in their stations. This will hopefully allow me to expand my mining ops into less frequently patrolled areas of Placid. I’ve also started looking into doing some missions for the music producing Egonics Inc., as they have a few stations in the area which would be a good alternative to using Federation facilities. I don’t have any outright hatred for the Feds myself, It’s more of a cautious distrust. I just don’t see them as a stable group in the area given their past decisions and the ongoing Empyrean conflict. The first time the Feds 'liberated' Intaki from the Caldari, the Intaki Assembly requested for them to stop basing military depots and assets in the system, but that hasn't stopped them. There also continues to be aggression against Mordu's Legion assets protecting the homeworld, something that was also requested to stop years ago. I wish we could get rid of the things ourselves to be perfectly honest, but apparently only pilots in the militias have the appropriate equipment. Hmm.. If it’s only a matter of hacking the beacons in order to shut them down, maybe an entosis link would let me slip in and…”

#The User's eyes have lost focus again and he is mumbling at the wall#

#Positioned over the User’s head - Ending recording - Preparing for archival#

Monday, August 3, 2015

The Suresha's Revelation (Update 5)

#Recording initiated#

“Hey Pali, I had an interesting week, that’s for sure.”

#The User has no eyebrows…#

“Pali?! You said you wouldn’t say anything!”

#The User is trying to swat Pali out of the air but he still has no eyebrows#

“Come back here you little-”

#Error-Recording interrupted#

#Recording resumed- Pali’s optics have been deactivated but the User likely still has no eyebrows#

“#Grumbling# Little booger said he wouldn’t say anything…”

“So yeah, as Pali so poignantly commented, I don’t have any eyebrows at the moment as I’m sitting in a fresh clone. This is a result of an attack on my mining operations by pirate group the Shadow Cartel. I was able to take down my initial attacker, but not before they were able to light a cynosural field that brought several Sin and Panther Class battleships to my location. My big surprise was what happened next, as the blops deployed smartbombs which popped my pod via pulsed waves of extreme electromagnetic force. #User shudders and shakes his head# I hate that feeling, thankfully it doesn’t too much, but it still sucks…”

“In any case, we still got a lot of production done this week, finishing up the work on the Power Generators. We were also able to produce all of the Propulsion Systems this week thanks to several rare deposits that Numen was able to find out in hisec. And we have begun work on the Sensor Clusters that will pepper the Revelation’s hull. I’m going to have to be honest though, with the amount of pirate activity in the area lately I may not be able to mine the quantities of the Zydrine we still need for this project. I had to supplement my Zydrine stocks with minerals off the Placid markets this week, and I may just buy the remainder of what is needed so I can help Numen bring in the rather more considerable quantities of the lower end minerals we require. Thankfully the mining I’ve done in lowsec so far has given us the remainder of the Nocxium we need so that is one thing I won’t need to worry about on this project. The few Sensor Clusters we have left and the Shield Emitters that Revelations barely use should be finished in the next week or so, and then we start on the heavy duty work for the Siege Arrays and the Turret Hardpoints.”

“In semi-related news, I’m getting close to having enough standings with Combined Harvest to waive their tax on refining. While I may not be using those services for a little while, having good relations with a corp focusing heavily in Placid can be nothing but helpful.”

#The User is scratching the fuzz growing on his head#

“Can’t really think of much else at the moment.”

#Pali reminds the User of the missive he received from Phalad Sahantun#

#The User snaps his fingers# “Oh yeah! My old friend Phalad says that the election of the next Council of Planetary Management is going really well and that any other Clone Soldiers who haven’t voted should do so if they are able. I think that’s all now though, and next time I should even have eyebrows!" #User is glaring at Pali#

#Recording ended -Resetting optics- Preparing for archival#

#Exporting User's Current Visage to offsite storage#

Monday, July 27, 2015

The Suresha's Revelation (Progress Update #4)

#Recording initiated#

"Hey Pali, a lot happened this week so let's jump right into it!"

#Pali informs the user that it is incapable of jumping, but could perhaps emulate the action using it's onboard repulsor unit#

"Sure Pali, go for it. Now let's see, what should we talk about first...? How about the Suresha's more than half done Revelation? With the Power Generators and Jump Drives we built this week, there's only about 45% of the work left to do!"

#The user starts doing a little dance as Pali looks away#

"What? You don't like my dancing?"

#Pali as a matter of fact finds the user's 'dancing' amusing, but does not wish to subject his readership to it#

#The user is sticking his tongue out at Pali once again, but has ceased his 'dancing'#

"Meany. We did run into some supply problems this week as some local pirates and pirates dipping into Placid from null disrupted mining operations. Alice P Liddell and her crew from SKT are becoming bolder, there's almost always one of them sitting cloaked in Intaki now. As a result my zydrine and nocxium supplies aren't being replenished as quickly as I'm having to mine more cautiously. There have been some good deposits in the area the last few days so those have helped a bit. It was actually while working on one of those deposits that Rich, his more industry minded friend Dutch Okagima, and myself ran into our next mining disruption."

#Pali watches an odd smirk form on the user's face#

"I'm pretty sure this was Rich's fault in some odd karmic fashion, but we came out ahead in any case. Dutch and I were mining a Gneiss Deposit in Frarie, with several pirates entering system but just as quickly leaving. It was about two hours in when a pilot with a high Concord standing entered system in a Legion. Rich jokingly commented that with our luck today this guy would be the only one to attack us. Well wouldn't you know it but the Legion landed on grid and immediately aggressed me. Rich and I mentally laughed at each other while Dutch and I set into the guy with our drones. A few seconds after we engaged the Legion immediately lit a Cynosural Field and we stopped laughing to focus as several Blackops, Covops, and Recon ships jumped in around it. Knowing that our Procurers were already forfeit, Dutch and I decided to focus our efforts on taking down as many of the of the enemy we could. Being the least defended, two of their Covops Purifiers were caught by our drones before first Dutch and then myself lost our ships. We ended up coming out ahead on Isk since the Purifiers were worth more than our barges, and we were even able to loot the field when the group was apparently scared off by a fleet of BRAVE Newbies passing through."

#The user has a slight frown on his face#

"Unfortunately that was my last Procurer, and making another batch is going to take quite a bit of resources and time, so I'll be working on another project of mine."

#The user has begun to pace back and forth in front of his hangar bay#

"I've noticed that farther out from Intaki I'm no longer able to refine my ores without having to pay taxes to the station owners. To that end I've begun to cultivate relations among some of the corps in the area that the ILF would like to have better standings with. I've been working primarily with Combined Harvest, a food production corporation with a local focus, where local is only within the borders of Federation space. CH has stations all throughout Placid, and their refining facilities would allow me to expand the area where I can conduct my lowsec mining operations.”

#The user looks up at Pali#

“Hmm.. Anything I’m forgetting Pali?”

#Pali informs the user that it does not currently have the functionality to read his mind#

“Smartypants, I may need to move your core into a bigger shell. Well, I’m going to call it now since I can’t think of anything else, thanks Pali!”

#Recording stopped, preparing for archival#