Here follows a flight log of a pilot who flew a Titan for a certain group in the Omicrons, having joined them in December of 2007.
*Please note that the dates are accurate as to the time of the log entry. This REALLY happened.*
Some people mentioned may even remember, but then again...maybe not.
There are a few edits regarding screen shots, bad english and for the need of decency.
Note that at the begining, the pilot didn't know how to use his guncam so the screen shots come later on in the log.
I will start it with two posts and then one entry at a time to 'drag out' the experience, boring or otherwise.
I hope you find it as interesting reading it as he did experiencing it, the bad days and the good.
May 26th 2008.
Well I thought I'd start one.
Was on patrol in Gamma when I encountered an ID tagged policeman with a Universal IFF. "Yonster". He tried to get to O-94 to rob the Don Quixote tomb of any of it's valuables. I pursued and engaged. He fought briefly but having run out of bots and bats, it was only a matter of time for him.
Upon my return to Gamma, my patrol path crossed with that of Praetor Zavier, commanding the Talos. My shift was almost over so I decided to accompany him to finish the refit of our flagship. All went well with the weapon systems. There were no problems with the initial upgrades and so a little space trial of her abilities began.
We engaged in total, three Nomad battleships and their accompanying battle groups. They were dispatched with ease but during the last Nomad encounter, a Hacker gunship, 'Damalion' docked at Gammu right in front of us.
It was only a short wait until he re-launched and engaged cruise. I stopped him with a CD just as the Talos cruised up to me. He was challenged as to his purpose, his reply was stupid and fatal. He managed to engage his cruise engines and said that he could not be caught. It was at this point that he was again disrupted.
There was no escape this time. With the Talos right on top of him and me in close support, his ship was opened up like a over ripe melon.
I then returned in formation with the Talos to Crete.
+++CLOSE ENTRY+++
May 27th 2008.
Having done a quick round of the base, I took the 'Benitez Logistix' pirate transport out for a shake down. Went to Cambridge and intercepted United Traders Darksammy in the trade lane. He ran but fortunately ran into some other corsairs in O-5 (OPG) who stopped him dead in his tracks. I liberated 450 VIP's cargo. I upped it cos he ran.
I turned round to return to Cambridge and -WS-Blue Whale appeared. It was my lucky day so I let him fill me up with VIPS and I sent him on his way. Juan appeared then and escorted me to Planet Kurile where I sold the cargo.
Returning to Cambridge via O-41, we ran into L'Futile. A Zoner ID'd train.
Luis had appeared in O-5 and so the hunt was on. We caught him just as he docked at Leon. He refused to undock but the wait payed out. A Behemoth trader called Hydro appeared and promptly handed over $3 million credits to the Benitez fund. (That was $1 mill per officer present (A pat on the back for him)).
We moved on to Cambridge but again, was stopped. A military tagged fighter was buzzing Cadiz. Juan CD'd him and he and Luis explained his error by sticking a Supernova up him.
Finally we got to Cambridge but by this time, OPG had set up a block in O-3 so traffic was non-existant. We started to return to Gamma, our patrol finished when we bumped into a Zoner tagged trader carrying VIPS. Jura II was upset that I asked for 200 VIPS claiming that he supplied food regularly to Crete. I was unaware of this and as his cargo was not Crete bound, I continued to ask for the deposit. He paid grudgingly. Heading to Kurile again to sell my cargo, I was informed by an OPG senior officer that Jura II does indeed regularly ship food to Crete. I was unaware of this and his cargo was not Crete bound so i stand by my actions. I will however moderate it next time.
Sold everything I had and traded it for food. Returned to Crete and tallied up. $10,445,705 credits and 3400 units of food.
My thanks to my two wings, Luis and Juan. Excellent work hermanos.
*****
It would appear that now reparations are in order for a certain Zoner......
It is done...I have eaten too much humble pie today. Jura is satisfied.
Went on patrol and met with Jose. Explained to 'Edison Trent' (Order) that we do not stop artifact smugglers. Flt Adm Mira was disappointed when I informed him but as no harm was done, no foul I say.
'Camtheman' flying a Battlestar and hawking Nomad weapons was asked to leave Gamma as per Carlos' last request that no Zoner cap ships were to enter Gamma without invite. He claimed to have been invited by OPG Ivan. I later asked Asno about this. He said that while Camtheman was selling Nomad equipment ONLY to Ivan, it was solely for export to Liberty.
Asno also said that as far as he was concerned, the AW/TBH-OPG war was still on, although few shots had been fired recently. He suggested that we modify the 'No-go zone' to a '10K exclusion zone' around all Corsair bases in Gamma. I have agreed until I have further instructions.
A fighter pilot called Sir Fab, Navy tagged docked at Tripoli despite my instruction to stop. He gave no answer and as I had seen [CORE]Daedelus I left to engage the BH. Later, Sir Fab, refusing to answer other calls was shot down while trying to dock at Crete.
I engaged the BH alone. A Manta. I must learn Zav's trick of using comms and piloting because when I looked up from giving my location on a system wide frequency, I had been engaged. His first pass stripped my shields and damaged my Titan stripping off my CM dropper. I recovered and gave battle. We fought, he making liberal use of his missile launcher and we both needed to use nanos and batteries. I am sad to say it was I who ejected first, despite my rally. Fortunately, Luis had recieved my coms and was shortly engaging him. With late support from Fabiano and Sunkiller they despatched him easily. I do not know who made the killing strike. Luis?
Luis picked my pod up and had a good laugh at my expense on the way back to Tripoli for a replacement Titan. I'm taking the night off. I'm still a little shaken.
On patrol and nursing my bruises from yesterday, I was near Tripoli when Juan Benitez called in 4 Bounty Hunters that had entered Gamma. I met up with Juan at Crete in my bomber, along with OPG Torquemanda, OPG Lagrima, CologneShark Manni, Kurosaki (all Battleships or Dreadnoughts), TBH-Fabiano in a Gunboat and one other Titan. We gave chase and they entered Omi-94. OPG ordered the attack and so we went through. The independant Titan went through first and died instantly. Fabiano, then me then various others. We engaged 2 BH Battleships and 2 BH Battle Cruisers who were sitting there waiting for us. After a short time all the capital ships were spent, there remaining only a crippled OPG-Torquemanda, Juan, myself and a Battlecruiser. The battered OPG flagship withdrew and so we fought on alone.
The bounty hunter had expended all his nanobots and shield batteries and so with no shield up, I set to work on his hull properly. Juan and I dodged around him, Juan trying to draw his fire while I cut a big hole in him (approx 50% hull damage). Thats when a shot punched a hole in my ship, just behind the cockpit. That was the start of the end. I hit him again but he managed to do the same. I wasn't so lucky this time having already used my nanos and batteries and ended up sucking space dust for a second time in as many days.
With me gone, the BC concentrated it's fire on Juan. He fought for a bit but he knew he had no choice but to withdraw after the Torquemanda, picking me up as he went.
Fortunately, the battlecruiser was now too damaged to pose any significant threat to Crete and so withdrew.
Later, Juan, Luis and I (now in a Titan) encountered a Mercenary ID'd Police tagged BH gunboat in Gamma. I asked him to stop but he ignored me so I CD'd him. We pumped a few rounds into him to stop him and I asked him what he thought he was doing (as he hadn't shot anyone, I gave him the benefit of the doubt). He was slow to answer and it would appear that Luis 'twitched'.
It was only one supernova but as the GB had no shield and a slightly damaged hull, it ended rather faster than we had anticipated.....
Luis gets twitchy around hired guns.
Lastly, it is the third time I have warned 'Sir Fab' in as many days. A corsair of dubious taste, he has a problem with his IFF. It says 'POLICE'. I managed to convince him that the Liberty 'Havoc' bomber was not a ship fit for a corsair but he has some trouble understanding basic instructions/questions. My IFF also identifies him as a neutral but he has got a corsair ID tag. TBH-Global is dubious. Possibly a spy?
Luis and I returned to the hangers on Tripoli and I spotted Hanger 14 was open. Blubba was in. We took him a bottle of finest Cretian Brandy and persuded him to trade two ARCHANGELS with Luis. Thanks Blubba!
Luis' bomber is now even more dangerous....is that possible?
Jumped on a shuttle and picked up my Titan on Cadiz. Praetor Zavier had put out a call to arms for an attack on a bounty hunter battleship called Kuun Lan which was in Omicron Kappa. I undocked and engaged cruise for the Omi-41 JH.
Scanners picked up a neutral untitled IFF ship called 'Vegastar'. He had 3 corsair pilots in his hold and was engaging a fourth. Unsure of his capability, I demanded he drop the pilots. He refused claiming that it was for the Outcasts!
At this point he tried to run. My Mosquito put a stop to that and I told him that if he valued his life, he would drop the pilots. He answered....in laser fire.
I returned fire and the battle was joined. His Ravens Talon was a agile target but in the end, the superior Titan won through and I was able to liberate the corsair captives and left him to contemplate his errors in the cold hard expanse of space.
After this little skirmish, I made my way to Gamma. I was heading toward the Kappa JH but the combat group that the Talos had despatched consisting of a number of TBH pilots and Jose Benitez had destroyed the BH battleship. I had missed the glory and was a little disappointed so I landed on Crete and waved goodbye to the pilots I had rescued.
I then headed to the bar to toast our victory over the battleship and, I must admit, wallow in a little self pity that I had missed the big target. There will be others....
Well that could have gone a little better. The RoS attacked Gamma in an attack squadron of 7, soon to be 8. It consisted of both bombers but mainly heavy fighters. The Benitez were on patrol in numbers so there was going to be a coming together.
Praetor Zavier lead our attack. We were supported by some TBH. Our initial wing consisted of the CO (Zav), myself, Jose, Julien and Adriano. As we approached our targets, Juan and Mateo also launched from Crete. We engaged first, the TBH and some indies following in after us. I engaged RoS Silent Assassin and we fought some. Then several other corsairs joined in and it became a bit chaotic. I had depleted his batteries severely so I switched targets. I was becoming concerned that I would shoot my allies in the thruster exhaust in the scramble and he had no shield batteries. It was only a matter of time for him. I was proved right a little later.
I went after RoS Diavolo. He was a clearer target because it was just the two of us. We fought some (I notice the RoS pilots all use similar tactics) and again I came off the better. Juan joined this battle, only to see the Outcast vermin suck vacuum. I then turned my attention to Almando Mixel. An outcast I had not encountered before. I believe he was flying a bomber but again using similar tactics to his breathren.
Most don't carry CDs. They appear to use torps/Razors/S.Novas on the initial pass killing the shield and then drop a mine as they go through. Very effective. Sadly, Almando used it successfully against me.
Shortly before Jose picked me up, I saw Juan engaging Almando. He had more success than I. Almando will be sucking his dinner through a tube, if they ever manage to pick up whats left of him, for a long time. Well done Juan!
Only two Cardi sniffers remained of the eight. At some point, Juan had fallen but by then the RoS were running. Praetor Zavier was having problems with a ship malfunction (bad lag) but was baiting them constantly. Some indies had fallen as did Yanez. Zavier however was quick to retrieve their pods. As for Adriano, Julian and Mateo, I'm not sure. I don't know if they came through or not. I know they gave a good account of themselves either way. I was just too busy staring at the inside of Jose' cargo hold. (You need to get that thing cleaned Jose, it's filthy. I thought I was going to catch something)!
I myself was not injured, though my pride was. Looking back, I think I did allright. Scratch one, battered two.
Note to self:- Next time scratch two, batter one and fly home in my own Titan!
I am considering equiping my Titan with a Razor and possibly a Cannonball. Juan and I normally have Mosquito disruptors but in a straight head to head, I can see their weakness.
Got instructions from Custo to get over to Trafalgar of all places and pick up a Legionaire.
I bought an old used tatty one, cash being an issue and went on to equip it. I visited some friends in Kusari, the AFA and bought two Vulture cl4 weapons from them.
I then ran on down to Gamma where I met with a weapon agent. I was torn between two Angelitos or just one and a Borocco. I went for the two Angelitos in the end. Threw some armour on her (MKII) and a mine dropper.
I then prepared for the long run back to Trafalgar. I only managed to get as far as Leon however before the old crate started playing up. That will teach me for buying second hand! (Crashed - had to get off anyway).
I wonder what that sly fox Custo is planning....
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June 7th, 2008
Took my legionaire out from Trafalgar and engaged some Mollies, Bounty Hunters and the Bretonian Military. I was having some fun with these poor excuses for pilots flying alongside Carlos when a Bretonian trade ship, 'EDWARD BLAKE' (Behemoth) grassed us up to the BPA. His card is marked. We managed to evade the BPA patrols however and contiued to straighten our ships out. Carlos had a technical problem and docked at Trafalgar to sort it out. I continued for a short while when Enrico turned up. I immediately dropped off the Legionaire and got a lift with him back to Cadiz.
We set off for Cambridge together, him in a Titan, me in the 'Benitez Logistix' transport. Here we intercepted 'OUTLAW Trader' with a hold full of trade lane parts. He tried to run so Enrico brought him down. I demanded half his cargo but he kept trying to escape so we killed most of his hull. He then said he would pay but contiued to stall. We lost patience at this point. I hope he likes it out there amongst the stars, he could be there a while.....
At this point the SA (I thought they'd disbanded?) turned up so we beat a hasty retreat to Cadiz to sell what we had. Then we went back to Omega 3 and intercepted 'Mr Smee'. A Bretonnian transport hauling berylium. He paid quickly.
By now, the word was out on us so we decided to retire. I left the Logistix at Cadiz and took a fast shuttle back to Crete. Here I picked up my Titan.
Enrico had called in two GMG ships in Omega 5. Carlos was on patrol in Gamma along with Custo and so they joined the hunt. I launched quickly and ran straight for the O-41 JH. Once through I guessed they would head for Theta, towrds what they call 'home'. They did.
I spotted GMG Achilles and plotted an intercept course at the Theta JH. She was already battered when I caught her. She made the jump with me on her tail. The others had already critically damaged her. I believe the other ship was a gunboat though I'm not sure and so they had chosen to engage it first as it posed the biggest threat. Meanwhile I killed the Achilles.
We then all met up in Omega 5 and, checking long range scanners, picked up the very same Bretonian trader, 'EDWARD BLAKE'. He was going to pay. At the jump hole to Cambridge however we were stalled by a trader called 'Severe Trinity' who offered to pay $5 million for four passages through Corsair space. The deal was done by Praetor Zavier and he was allowed to go free.
We then jumped through to Cambridge to begin the hunt but alas... NO!!
Carlos was called back. It seems there are political machinations going on in Gamma.
I jumped in our supply ship and decided to go for a run out to Leon. I went there because I know there is some good equipment there. I placed a purchase order there with the armouries for minedroppers and having loaded her up, I returned to Trafalgar.
With the new equipment, I tuned up and tricked out 'The Bucket'. I believe she's the best Legionaire based on Trafalgar. I had to try and prove this so I took on an operation against the Bretonian military. I was able to complete it, no easy feat, and returned to Trafalgar, having exchanged insults with a blind BPA pilot - Senor Roy Brown.
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June 12th, 2008
I was heading back to Gamma from Trafalgar on the shuttle when a call came in from Gamma that a small Corsair fleet was heading for Alpha.
"Damn it!"
My Titan was a whole system away on Cadiz and I was on the express shuttle to Tripoli, currently crossing Omega 41. Just my luck. I went down to the obsevation deck and checked my watch. Maybe I could pick up my Praetorian and still hook up with the guys......
On Tripoli, I sent a message to Jose and Luis and set off. By the time I entered Eta, battle had been joined in Alpha. I hoped there would be something for me....
Upon my arrival, I was able to engage any number of Outcasts. The cardi abusers had provided a lot of targets for us. I was in the thick of the melee when Luis and Jose turned up. The fight was intense and carried on for a long time. I don't think I landed a killing blow though I did force them to abuse their precious nanobots. Outcasts were falling fast and although we lost a few expensive pieces of Corsair hardware, all of our guys were picked up.
I'm sad to say that one lone Outcast survived that day. Zaviers old nemesis, Zavala. He must have lives like a cat.
With Luis and Jose for once enjoying the contents of my cargo hold, I returned via Eta, heading home. Travelling through Theta I was engaged by a BH 'Virage' fighter. Name of 'Metal Slug'. I fought a little and we both used bots but he ran for the Freeport 'no-fire zone' so, after a bit of abuse, I let him lick his wounds and carried on to Crete. Having left the ship with the ground crews, we picked up my fat cousin and headed down to the bar.
This time, the drinks were on Jose and Luis. It was my turn to smile....
Well, I got back in my ship and launched into orbit and ran smack bang into a Rehinland cruiser, ID'd military with a military IFF. He was being asked all sorts of odd questions by Grimly....
As I moved into range, Grimly asks for permission to fire.
For Zeus' sake, fire man, he's a rheinlander. I engaged the 'Commandant Boegnshultz' as soon as I was in range and then Grimly joined the melee.
The fight didn't take long and soon we were tractoring in the contents of her hull. Damn those rheinlanders coming to Gamma.
Later, I met Ronaldo and we decided to launch an attack on Alpha. Some TBH and a couple of indies came for the ride. We met up at the Eta jump hole but an ion storm moved in (crashed) and the fleet was blown to the four corners.
When the storm had passed we re-grouped and moved to Alpha where TBH asked us to hold off until more of their pilots and OPG Gentle had joined us. We had superiorty of 10 to 7 but by waiting we gave it away.
When we finally engaged the enemy they were 16 to our 13 and they had three destroyers, tag was S.O.B and never a truer word was spoken.
Suffice to say we lost our gunboat fairly early and they lost a destroyer. Then the battle really turned as the less experienced hands started to fall. I had my hands full with the outcasts military. They appear to favor me. It's the second time in as many engagements that I have attracted the attention of at least two of their pilots. This time it was a member of the 101st and the 66th. A Talon and a Sabre. I must be popular. I battered the Talon a bit before his assist arrived and then they slowly ground me down.
See you in the ICU on Crete amigos...
+++CLOSE ENTRY+++
2nd July, 2008
Out on patrol in Gamma and ran into Shepardi and a few new TBH pilots. He must of been showing them the ropes. We exchanged greetings and talked briefly. Then OPG Crucifx turned up shortly followed by Yanez.
Some plan had been hatched on Crete which I was not a party to, however I was invited straight away to join them. We small band were to launch an attack on Alpha.
One OPG, three new TBH, Yanez, Shepardi and me. We headed up to Alpha and waited for the massed Outcast fleet. Whilst waiting, three other TBH pilots turned up, another OPG and Juan Benitez.
The fight was joined. Outcasts, Hackers and Hessians. There were Hessian cruisers, Outcast destroyers, Hacker gunboats and numerous fighters and bombers. Juan and I decided to team up and engage the fighters. We were moderately successful.
We bagged two sabres, 'Smeagol' and 'HoS S3ri0us.ger' and then Juan decided to try our luck against a hacker GB. "Dennis Jameson".
Suffice to say Juans bravery is a credit but he needs to practice attacking capital ships. I tractored him in and continued to fight on. The gunboat had used all his shield batteries before an ion storm moved in and split the two warring factions.
We retreated to Eta to re-group and awaited the cardi breathers reprisal. It was swift and strong. Juan Zavala was happy to joust me. He appears to be a Benitez fan. Zavier must have made an impression.
It was all over very quickly. I was disappointed. On the third pass he introduced his unshielded ship to my nuke and 'poof'. He was toast.
I then went after another Outcast, an independent. He was busy exposing a new TBH pilot to the terrors of war when I did some exposing myself and started to peel his ship from him.
By this time, all hell was breaking loose. There were even two nomads getting involved. Thats when another ion storm moved in. It was getting difficult to see, let alone fight so Yanez sounded the retreat as did the RoS.
We retired to Gamma and said our farewells. Back on Crete, I pulled Juan out of my hold and he was ginning from ear to ear. "We got two, we got two but that gunboat....".
We grabbed a few beers and joked about the evenings fun.
Juan Zavala....hehehe. Now thats a scalp.
Went down to the hanger bays and met up with Rosendo. He had decked out his ship but I knew we could do better. I just had to get passed the security on Blubbas private hanger.
Got him some kit and we launched. Did a patrol and who should turn up but the cardi breathing Reapers. The indies had already engaged them but being "cap-happy" they engaged in the roid field. It was a disaster for them. Very soon, not one of them was left. Obi Wan was destroyed and somehow managed to get another cruiser and re-engaged.
Suffice to say, their bombers had done their dirty work and disengaged via the Theta hole. I was able to tear up RoS-Juan(V) but couldn't finish him off before he ran.
I can't help but think it's a lesson these cap commanders won't be learning any time soon.
Rosendo aquitted himself well, and we both flew back to Crete together.
+++CLOSE ENTRY+++
9th July, 2008
Another eventful shift in Gamma today. I met Ferono down in the hangers today. Poor hombre looks in a bad way. Those blue jellies had done a number on him. Lost both his legs. Anyway, with some modifications to a Titan, he was back in the seat and desperate for action.
Blubbas stores have been hit hard recently so I did what I could for him and we launched. Mateo and Rosendo launched seconds after us and all hell broke loose.
Three Outcast destroyers had been sighted headed for the shipyards.
Action straight away!!
We engaged them, along with two OPG pilots (one of whom appeared to have coms problems) and two elite TBH. Sunkiller and Ivanoff. There were a couple of indies along for the ride as well.
The destroyer 'Dismiss' was the first to go down, followed by 'Werewolf'. The third, 'OC something' Took a beating and then ran.
Juan launched in his GB then as the Outcast decided to try to run through the corona to lose us. It was at this point that I decided to try a little imagination. I knew he would try for Alpha, but the Theta JH was covered. Instead he headed for the O-41 JH. I guessed he would come back through O-41 to Theta, and on to Eta and eventually Alpha.
I peeled off from the chasing pack, along with Mateo and headed for Theta. Sunkiller came after us and caught up as we entered Theta. Meanwhile the others had given up the chase except for Juan.
I gave Juan his orders which were to 'entertain' the destroyer with his gunboat while me, Mateo and Sunkiller came in from behind through Theta.
It worked like a charm. The destroyer was happy to engage a lone gunboat but with two Titans and Sunkiller in a bomber coming in from the rear, he was toast quickly and we all cheered as the cardi scum sucked on vacuum.
Upon our return to Gamma, a call went up that a Core fighter had been spotted. Crucifix was chasing but his comms unit was playing up again and he would not give his location.
Instead, I guessed, luckily again from the snatches of conversation that I heard, his location.
I first locked onto to Crucifix, and then [CORE]Daedelus. Sunkiller had stuck with me as had Mateo and gradually we closed. When I was in CD range, I disrupted him, (me being the only one with Mosquitos). I fired a dozen or so at him. Eventually his flares failed him and we were upon him.
I have had two run-ins with this individual before. The first left me in the hospital (Luis picked me up after destroying his ship), the other was a withdrawal (ion storm).
For some reason this time, he targeted me specifically. Maybe it was because I was the one who could stop him running?
We fought for a short while. He took my shields, we reciprocated. Then he started firing missiles at me. Lucky for me I had left my flares on!
As we passed, I used the old Kamikaze technique and introduced him to a nuke. He didn't take the introduction well. It's an experience he won't forget in a hurry!
We returned to Crete. With my patrol over and Mrs (Deleted) waiting, Juan and myself bid farewell to the rest of the wing and went home smiling.
Another good patrol hermanos. Well done and a big pat on the back for all involved.