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#

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#

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#

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#

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#

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#

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#