A diamond amongst a pile of crap!

I think everyone who is in the pirate profession will tell you that life as a pirate is a difficult, and at times, boring one. You spend days on end looking for a good/fun fight. You lose countless ships to blobs and go 20+ systems without finding a suitable target. Every now and then however, you find a diamond amongst a pile of crap.

Null Sec Run
The day started pretty normal. Things were a bit slow around our home. Around 2100 Eve time, wensley came on and we made an unplanned (except for a quick chat about it the day before) trip into null sec. Wensley led a crazy band of 8 pilots into null sec in frigs as a suicide run. To spare you all the details...we engaged a hawk and quickly destroyed it. His fleet warped in and killed a few of us, including yours truly. Podded as well, I fount a quick replacement in a TD crucifier (they have quickly become my favorite EWAR weapon). In the meantime, Wensley was able to bag a crow (don't have KM as our boards seem to be down at the moment).
After refitting, we went again into low sec but ran into another fleet and I didn't last long (thanks to a bubble).
At this point, I left and went to attend to a RL friend of mine who had been asking for a tennis lesson...she can be quiet persistant!

Diamond among a pile of crap

Later on that night...realizing i had a clone and a nano-omen (most fun ship in eve...ever!) up at Kor-Azor, I decided to jump clone to it and head to New Eden system..somewhere I have never been to. Not much action on the way, tried to gank a hauler at a gate whichw as unfortunatley stabbed. Then I went into the beatiful system of Angur...my diamond!
With local up quiet a decent amount, I began to scout around. At first, nothing unusual...then as I scanned another set of belts...there it was, a MINING OP.
That is one of the most beatiful sights for a pirate, and this one made my eyes water. There was a number of ships on scan (around 6 or 7), including a retriever, myrmidon, and an ORCA!!
Cursing that I was so far away from home and away from friends to help me take it down, I quickly decided to have a go at some of the other ships doing some fly by runs. No guts no glory right!?
Some of the order of kills is a bit hazy, but I first targeted that retriever. Not lasting long, I began to try and target any of the other frigates. As they all warped, the only two ships left were an Ibis (or bantam cant remember) and a myrmidon. Figuring for some fun, I went after the myrm. As his shields and his armor started to drop, i realized he was either fit for ratting or mining, and with his T1 dones, he wouldn't have a very good tank.
Just as the last of his armor gave way to his structure, a pilgrim and dominix were brought in to try and help. Going guns hot, I overheated and stayed away from them both...fearing for a scram or the pilgrim's neuts..the myrmidon gave out in a big explosion and immidiatly after I warped away.
Looking at local, my eyes lit up. This was a mining corp that not only didn't bring the necessary protection to their low sec ops...but also loved to whine and talk smack!! They began to yell and call me all kinds of names in local. I kept my cool, and as we try to keep smack talking to a minimum in The Tuskers, answered the way I thought was appropriate. With them bringing in a maelstrom to join the domi and pilgrim (as well as a thorax that never tried to engage, unsure if it was fit for combat or mining), I had a real fun chat with them in local as I continued my drive-by's and attempted to get more of their ships. You could say I was tacking too big a risk, but how often do you run into opportunities like this? And so far from home? I almost preferred death as it would be doing me a favor.
In the process, I bagged a rifter, punisher, and Bantam. With their spewing in local, it was just too much fun.

[05:01:03] Joc > but its how you look at the GAME
[05:01:09] Joc > see..i see it as just pixles and coding
[05:01:13] Senen Forsworn > Yes destroying new players
[05:01:14] Joc > you look at it like its the end of the world
[05:01:15] Celestius al'Rhaytian > hey jock where you at?
[05:01:21] Senen Forsworn > That why you're crying your eyes out at getting owned?
[05:01:27] Joc > I am?
[05:01:33] Joc > i havn't gotten owned
[05:01:34] Joc > im still alive
[05:01:38] Senen Forsworn > Well every recent attack you've made has failed
[05:01:46] Joc > lol
[05:02:05] Joc > but its fun
[05:02:08] Joc > and thats the point of the game
[05:02:31] Joc > remember...GAME
[05:02:37] Senen Forsworn > You have no idea the guy who's coming your way.
[05:02:50] Senen Forsworn > And man, he is pissed...
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[05:03:19] Joc > so you would be doing me a favor actually
[05:03:31] Senen Forsworn > Finally accepting death, awesome.
[05:04:10] Norsk Maelstrom > i did that in a shuttle once 30 jumps out oim 0.0 i just rather they kill my pod than have to fly it back
[05:04:29] Senen Forsworn > Shit he just gave me some pounding.
[05:05:36] Joc > ah finally caught me
[05:05:39] Senen Forsworn > Yet failed to kill me, nice one matey ;)
[05:05:41] Joc > the only one of u who has any sence
[05:05:48] Senen Forsworn > Here comes the boom buddy
[05:05:55] Joc > good for ya nuean
[05:06:13] Senen Forsworn > And our best isn't even there, but trust me they're headed straight for you
[05:06:13] Emius Darkrunner > bye bye
[05:06:23] Joc > they are?
[05:06:26] Celestius al'Rhaytian > Cov ops for the win
[05:06:28] Senen Forsworn > Yup
[05:06:29] Joc > cuz ill come back...
[05:06:36] Senen Forsworn > Hows the pod feel?
[05:06:45] Joc > oh and btw if you want to visit me, or my corp...we are always willing to accept visitors
[05:06:47] Joc > we live in Hevrice
[05:07:01] Senen Forsworn > We've got friends, I don't advise coming back.
[05:07:01] Celestius al'Rhaytian > why the hell would we want to come to that shit hole?
[05:07:17] Senen Forsworn > That raging pile of filth somewhere in the middle of your universe.
[05:07:41] Joc > wow I may have to come back here more often then
[05:07:47] Joc > i rarely come here..but if im guaranteed a fight...

Simply some of the stuff I got from them, pure comedy. In the end, I was caught by a combination of a covert ops with a scram (good tactic) and the nuets of the pilgrim. The damage from the maelstrom was there, but it was over the course of something like 5 minutes, and what really did me in was the pilgrim's neuts...as without them and his scram I coulda warped out at my discression.
It should be noted that the pilgrim pilot is the only one who had a real sense of what this game is about. I chatted with him privately throughout most of the ordeal, and he was the only one that understood that this is the nature of the game, that they were in low sec system and simply had lost. A good guy, and possible new recruit to the Tuskers.
The rest? Well to be honest they were a bunch of players who made it to be the end of the world when their ship got blown up. It was everyone's fault BUT theirs (and in particular it was my fault) when it blew up, and they simply did not understand that they had gotten caught this time. Fellas, remember, IT IS A GAME....its just pixels fit aorund a certain way...jsut because your frigates get blown up does not mean you have to fill buckets of tears. I mean sure, its entertaining for me, so I appreciate it, but it can't possibly be good for you in the long run.
All in all, after they were done spewing all kinds of things at me (as well as the usual "we have friends coming, you better RUN!!!), one of them may have finally gotten it:

[05:19:30] Emius Darkrunner > ok lets just say this... you got us... we got you end of story

And it is true, we each had gotten each other. You win some, you lose some...It's all about the enjoyment we got out of the experience. The maelstrom pilot confessed to me that it was the first time he had shot at someone, and that he had fun. I feel I have done a little good in New Eden today...
In the end, I was left in my pod, and wondering if I should jump back the 20+ jumps home, I decided to simply destroy it and make the quick trip back home. With so much fun, you can bet I will be back to this system at some point, perhaps with some friends in case that orca is still out here...after all, I still have to visit the New Eden system!

NOTE: Sorry for the Battleclinic killmails. I generally will link to the Tuskers Killboard, but it seems to be down at the moment and I wanted to write this down before I forgot much.