My First Killmail

Yesterday afternoon I managed to free up some time to play Eve so I continued with The Ani Campaign, what I'm calling my time doing the high-sec COSMOS missions in the Ani constellation.  I had moved on to The Asylum in Lanngisi and started doing the missions from Godun Sakt, "Godun's Flunky".  As I've mentioned in the past, the Evelopedia entries for the Minmatar missions are not exactly the greatest sources of information.  If the entries were more accurate, the confrontation below probably would not have occurred.

The first mission is "Listen and Learn," which calls for obtaining four Angel Drug Addict Tags from rats in the in the Contested Minmatar Guerilla Base in Tvink. While the Evelopedia stated that they were found in the security post room, I discovered later that the tags dropped in other rooms as well.  But not knowing that, Wandering Rose hopped in her Hurricane and Rosewalker in a Cyclone and off I went to collect tags.

In the beginning, my lack of willingness to explore other rooms led me to stay in the first room, which was being worked over by a Hurricane/Drake team.  I came back a couple of times and finally found one Angel Drug Addict that had not been destroyed.  There were a couple of wrecks that I knew had the tags, but I was not going to take from a yellow wreck and set myself up as a flashy target.

Another pilot in a Rifter did not feel so inhibited.  At the time I believed he was baiting people, trying to be a ninja like Paul Clavet.  After collecting my first tag, the Rifter pilot decided to loot one of my wrecks and turned flashy.  I was a little frustrated by then and succumbed to the mindset, "see flash, shoot flashy."  I knew I couldn't kill the rugged Minmatar frigate unless the pilot was extremely dumb since I was equipped for PvE and failed to pack a point in my mids.  But I locked him up with both ships and fired anyway.  Sure enough, my alpha strike failed to punch through his shields and he warped away to a point on-grid.

He had a bookmark on grid?  It's a trap!  So expecting a gang to warp in at any second, I warped off to Tvink I.  At 0.  Pretty stupid, but what the hell?

Except, my move proved to be pretty smart, or more likely, pretty lucky.  About 2 minutes later, he landed about 30 klicks from my ships.  Okay, he was hunting me.  But he was way out of range and Rosewalker was sporting 650mm Artillery IIs and assault launchers.  Also, he was still at half-shields.  So since I had a free shot, I figured I'd scare him away and commenced firing.   His ship exploded.

I couldn't believe it.  My ships were not set up to tackle anything.  How in the world could I succeed?  Although I forgot to check local for any conversation, my wits hadn't completely deserted me and I warped off to the Republic University station in Nakugard to wait out the aggression timer.  The intrepid frigate pilot contacted Wandering Rose in a private chat.

Ninja > come out of the station
Wandering Rose > I don't think so
Ninja > coward that was not fare killing a frig
Ninja > using a bc

Actually, I used two.

Wandering Rose > um, you could have gotten away
Wandering Rose > actually, should have
Ninja > i tried but you had the range on me
Wandering Rose > I didn't point or web you

How could I?  He was out of range, even if I had a point fitted, which I didn't.  I left the Rapier back in the station.

Ninja > you used artiliry or autocannons?
Wandering Rose > both
Ninja > because i was like 25 km away
Wandering Rose > there were 2 ships

Hmmm ... I picked on a new character?

Ninja > i know
Ninja > and i could have killed you bouth you would give me one more sec
Ninja > it's a shame

Tough talk.  Of course, I'm the one hiding in the station.

Wandering Rose > you were going to warp in a gang?
Ninja > yeah
Wandering Rose > so you hanging out in the site was a trap?

I don't think he liked that, since springing a trap made it look like I wasn't picking on a defenseless frigate after all.  He tried a different tack.

Ninja > i will clean everything in the complex
Ninja > and you will have nothing else to do
Ninja > good luck
Ninja > see ya soon
Wandering Rose > have fun :)

Nothing else to do?  I was watching the Bears-Falcons game.  Did I mention that 2 more tags dropped from his wreck?  I only needed one more.  But since the site was busy, I went and found a contract for 5 more tags.  That completed the collection for Wandering Rose and if I ever decide to, Rosewalker can complete the mission as well.  Of course, if I had gone into the next room, I could have gotten all the tags I wanted.

After taking care of business, I looked up the killmail and tracked down information about the pilot.  I discovered that instead of being the new pilot I believed, he was actually one year older than Rosewalker and flew with an alliance in null sec.  I don't think he was too successful, though.  So far this year he has killed 3 ships and lost 19, including 2 Tempests, a Megathron and 4 Hurricanes.  And now a Rifter to a high-sec carebear who thought there was no way in hell he could destroy it.

Looking back on the fight, I don't really think he was trying to hunt me down.  I think what happened is that he needed to go AFK and instead of docking up (there are no stations in Tvink) he just warped to a planet.  He just had the bad luck of warping right into range of a ship that he was flashy to.  Let that be a lesson to you.  Make bookmarks.

The Ani Campaign - Moving To Lanngisi

I continued doing the COSMOS missions in the Ani constellation over the weekend.  I had to move on from The Glass Edge because the final agent, Dalkar Kersos, didn't have any work for me.  I'm not sure if that is because faction standings don't count for doing COSMOS missions or whether sometime in the distant past I had talked with the agent.  I'll probably find out later.

But before moving on to Lanngisi and the Sanctum Psychosis, I needed to take care of other business.  Specifically, building heavy assault cruisers.  The last order for materials I had on the market was finally filled and I just needed to take the haul back to the station and start building parts.  I'll be able to actually start the construction of both a Vagabond and a Muninn later today and I'll be flying one of the ships in Ani next weekend.

While I was building the HACs, Wandering Rose finished training Shield Warfare V.  That meant that she can finally fit gang modules on her Hurricane.  I also discovered another reason for basing out of the Republic University station in Nakugard: skill books.  I needed skill books, and where better than a university station to find them?  So now Wandering Rose can fit siege warfare links.  And since she will now fill a buffing role, I don't want her warping out if at all possible, so I also increased the tank on her battlecruiser.

Rosewalker was in a bit of a spot over the weekend.  He's waiting on the HACs to finish, but he needed to upgrade from the Rupture he flew the weekend before but I didn't want to bring in the Maelstrom.  So he just used an old Cyclone I had sitting in the hanger.  Not the greatest ship in the world, but enough to get the job done until the fun stuff comes on-line.

With all the business out of the way, I proceeded to go to Lanngisi and do the missions for Beris Nitrus and Remy Ouche.  I have to be careful around Remy because he works for Eifyr and Co.  I can't let Rosewalker talk to him because Eifyr and Co. provide the corporation's jump clones and I do not want to get Rosewalker up to speed on getting the necessary faction to keep that access.

For those thinking about doing the COSMOS missions in Ani, I should warn you that the Evelopedia doesn't seem to have entirely accurate information.  For both agents the systems that I was sent to were different than listed in the articles.

I really wonder if the missions have been rewritten.  I'm noticing that a lot of the blueprints I received as rewards require knowing the Sleeper Technology skill.  The items needed to build these have the name "Sleeper" in them and can be acquired from the sites in Ani.  I really didn't think I would find anything like this outside wormholes.  Is this an effort to attract players to go into wormholes?

I had been recording everything about these missions.  I'm going to stop doing that because I'm running out of free time.  Let's just say that the missions I did were pretty easy except for Remy Ouche's mission "Extremely Unfortunate Incident".  That one required getting three refugees from the guerrilla base in Tvink.  For that, I'm glad Wandering Rose had a well-tanked Hurricane.  Rosewalker, even with his superior skills, had to warp out three times in his Cyclone because it just didn't have the tank to handle the incoming fire.  But with the Angels bouncing back and forth between Rosewalker and Wandering Rose, I was able to grab the refugees and get out of the site, 800,000 isk richer in CONCORD awarded bounties.

Oh, and I finished up the weekend with a mining operation while I wrote this post.  I needed to do it because while doing the COSMOS missions is interesting, it is not really putting a lot of isk in my wallet.  And while I like the blueprint copies, I do need a little cash to do some of the other things in game.  Thinks like buy the raw materials to build HACs.  Now those are going to be fun to fly.

The Glass Edge: The Ani Build-Up

Having helped out the Republic Security Service's Them Burkur, I moved on to the other level 2 agent in The Glass Edge, Penda Rakken.  But even with all my previous work, the Republic Rarliament agent still didn't trust me.  So off I went on "The Ani Build-Up - Extra Medical Supplies":

"Although I'm sure you're just itching to get into combat, I'd like to put you to a small test first... to see if you're really sincere about helping us out. there's this minor task that needs to be done, which involves ferrying a load of medical supplies to this system. You see, Nakugard has been hit by strange viral infections of late which have devastated a few outlying settlements here and put a scare into the local populace. Not only that but it's really having a negative effect on our efforts with bringing more Krusual tribe civilians here, a system with a viral outbreak is not exactly the first place on your list when you're thinking of relocating your family somewhere. The Vherokior Tribe were kind enough to give us access to their Zemnar supplies on Teonusude VII - Moon 1 - Vherokior Tribe Treasury. Zemnar has proven to be an effective antidote against this latest outbreak, and we desperately need a large supply of the drug to prevent any more deaths and more bad publicity. I would like you to pay a visit to the Vherokior station in Teonusude and pick up the shipment and bring it to me, I'll see to it that it's distributed to all the affected settlements in Nakugard."

A cargo run to Molden Heath?  Right up my alley, with both my pilots hailing from the Vherokior tribe.  Wandering Rose hopped in her Prowler and sped off earning both the 200,000 isk reward and the 50,000 isk bonus for completing the delivery within 3 hours.

Having proved my seriousness, I was then offered "The Ani Build-Up - Carrot on a Stick."

"As your second assignment, I need you to fetch a valuable Nefantar artifact from one of the Nefantar ruins through Ani. Most people consider the Nefantar ruins a lost cause when it comes to treasure hunting, as they were all looted for decades after the Rebellion, and are now either used as a hideout by pirate forces or guarded by local militia intent on saving 'valuable relics of the past' from looters. I would like to reverse this myth by proving to the people of the Republic that Ani is in fact still full of surprises, including treasures from the past. All I require is some evidence of this to present to the media, in other words our propaganda machine.

"To be more specific, I'd like some kind of Nefantar relic that will raise eyebrows. They were very keen on creating portraits and sculptures of their leaders, which were unfortunately mostly destroyed by the freedom fighters during the Rebellion, and I'm certain one of them would interest all sorts of people. The Krusual Tribe are renowned treasure hunters, so finding these Nefantar objects here would undoubtedly increase their interest in Ani.

"Now if you're completely clueless as to where to start looking, I'll suggest one promising spot. There are some Nefantar ruins in Barkrik which have been claimed by the Maru Rebels as one of their bases. Maru is a criminal organization that is not to be taken lightly, most of it's members are wanted by the law and can be killed on sight. And other than being prepared for a fight, I suggest you bring someone along that has experience as an archaeologist, you might need someone like that to dig up the artifact for you. Good luck."

This is the first mission that offered the types of rewards I came to Ani for.  For fetching an old piece of art the Parliament agent would give me a 3 run blueprint copy to make 250mm Light 'Jolt' Artillery Is.  And a bonus of 180,000 isk if I brought back the artifact within 4 hours.

If I brought it back within four hours?  Having set up two Ruptures with analyzers for Ripple Effect, I was well-prepared for the run to the ruins in Barkrik.  I even found the sculpture in the first container I checked.  Having learned from my experience in Inder, I warped out as soon as I collected up the artifact.

Oh, and how much was the sculpture?  I didn't check.  However, the bpc was up for sale in contracts for 5 million isk.  A 5 million isk item for about 10 minutes of work?  I'll take that every time.

After turning in the sculputre, I was given "The Ani Build-Up - Strike'em Where It Hurts."

"The last mission I have for you is the most difficult. The heavy pirate presence in Ani has a very negative effect on our mission, as I told you before. And the Angel Cartel are at the heart of it. Their operations in Ani must be stopped, at all costs. As the saying goes, cut the head off the snake and you kill the snake. I'm not sure if this holds true with the Cartel, but it's worth a try. Their leader within Inder is Lagaster Malotoff, by killing him we hope to paralyze their forces for some time at least, and give the local populace a morale boost. This is the final task I have in store for you, once you have accomplished it my mission in Ani should be complete."

Given my past experience in the Inder site, I was a little hesitant about doing the mission.  But two Ruptures seemed to be a solution to all my problems so far, so I continued with that plan.  Especially since the reward offer was so nice.  One 3 run blueprint copy to make 1 MN Digital Booster Rockets and a speed bonus of 1000 units of Republic Fleet Fusion S.


The plan was another simple smash and grab.  Run through the first two rooms, tanking any incoming fire and then kill every named ship I could find.  The plan worked, too.  Will wonders never cease.  Wandering Rose is actually getting the hang of this combat business.  At least against NPCs.

Total ISK (mission rewards + bounties): 1,128,682
Notable Items:
1 1MN Digital Booster Rockets bpc (3-run)
1 250mm Light 'Jolt' Artillery I bpc (3-run)
1000 Republic Fleet Fusion S

Standings changes: 
Republic Parliament (unmodified) : increased from 3.63 to 4.71

Minmatar Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.81 to 2.17
Gallente Federation Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.72 to 2.01
The Servant Sisters of EVE Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.56 to 1.81
Caldari State Standings Loss (unmodified): from -0.52 to -0.60
Ammatar Mandate Standings Loss (unmodified): from -1.03 to -1.32
Amarr Empire Standings Loss (unmodified): from -1.17 to -1.37

The Glass Edge: Bottleneck

Having completed the level 1 missions for Kraimir Mork, I then moved on to the level 2 missions.  The first agent I worked for was Them Burkur of the Republic Security Services.  Once again looking at the background of the agent's corporation gives some nice information.

"The Minmatars learnt early on in their freedom that it can only be kept by wrapping it in secrets and deceit. The vigilance of the RSS has helped the Republic weather many storms that threatened to engulf the fledgling state. The RSS has strong links with the underworld elements in the world of EVE, the information exchange and black marketing strengthens both sides."

Them Burkur offers a 3-mission storyline called "Bottleneck."  The first mission, "Bottleneck - Dark Tidings", is an introduction and courier mission.

"As you may be aware, the Ani constellation is beset by smugglers as well as dealers in all sorts of illicit goods. Most of the merchandise that comes through here goes to the criminal organizations, who've had this place in their clutches for far too long.

"Our plan is to change that, but it's going to take a while. Every day, literally tons of arms, drugs, and even slaves are smuggled through the Nakugard ingress, whence they are taken to various parts of the constellation to be sold. Space is a big place, and hard to police, but we do what we can as we always have ― and any help from capsuleers such as yourself is much appreciated. 

"Yesterday, I received an encrypted message from one of my deep cover agents. It appears that one Atek Vandano, a notorious fixer loosely affiliated with the Angel Cartel's Gist division, has been establishing contacts in Ani. We're not sure what he's up to, but Command believes this is something that needs to be nipped in the bud if we're to be able to maintain any semblance of control over this place down the line.

"But first thing's first. I need you to take a copy of the brief down to some associates of mine at the Sisters of EVE Bureau in Inder. We need to make sure all our operatives in the region are informed of what's going on so we can begin formulating a counter-plan if necessary. Report back to me when you're done and we'll take it from there."

He offered 14,000 isk for making the one system trip, with a 16,000 isk bonus for accomplishing the task within 12 minutes.  I'm not sure the significance of the fact that the RSS has agents in a Sisters of EVE station.  Has the RSS and Sisters joined forces in the Ani constellation?

Finishing the mission, I returned to The Glass Edge and received the second mission, "Bottleneck - Human Traffic." 

"Well, we've found out what Atek Vandano's up to, and it's not pretty. Hold on to your seat ― if you're anything like me, this is gonna piss you off something awful.

"The good Mr. Vandano, it seems, is not working for the Gist on this particular occasion. Our agents have uncovered data that indicates he's helping to bring in slave labor from Amarrian colonies to the Joint Harvesting stations in this system. We think they might be here as part of the Insorum scare; our information shows that the influx of slaves to Amarrian facilities within Republic space has increased manifold in the past weeks. The holders are protecting their "investments" by bringing them to our turf under the guise of contract laborers. Vandano thinks he can do this right under our noses. We're not going to let him.


"Obviously, to avoid an incident with the Amarrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we'll have to go about this in some fairly unconventional ways, and we'll have to use operatives not officially affiliated with us. You know where I'm going with this, right?

"Vandano has an associate, a lady by the name of Nanom Basskel. We have reason to believe she's one of the major architects behind this plan, and according to our intelligence she's in possession of documents detailing where they're keeping the slaves before final transport to the Joint Harvesting plants in system. She can usually be found at the contested military depot in Inder. Go out there, 'remove' Miss Basskel, and bring me these documents."

I already had experienced the pleasure of meeting Miss Basskel in the first room in the contested Minmatar military depot and looking through the wreckage of her ship.  I still had the documents in the cargo hold and was able to present the evidence to the RSS agent then and there, collecting not only the 297,000 isk reward, but a bonus of 354,000 isk for finishing the mission within 6 hours.

The final mission from Mr. Burkur was "Bottleneck - Liberation", in which I needed to destroy the slave containment facility.

"Thanks in no small part to the documents you brought, we now have the location of the temporary facilities in this system where Vandano and his cohorts intend to keep the slaves while their forged documents are being submitted to the Republic. According to our reports, they will then be brought to the Joint Harvesting Plantation in Barkrik. If you head out there now and destroy this outpost, our other team should be in a prime position to intercept the slave convoy when it comes in."

Running the mission in a Rupture was easy.  I received a 38,000 isk reward as well as a 32,000 isk bonus for completing the mission within 32 minutes.  In addition to the bounties from 5 frigates I also picked up 100 Sabretooth Light Missiles, 10 Cap Booster 25s and 10 janitors.  I'm not sure exactly what I am going to do with 10 janitors, but I couldn't just leave them out in space.

Running the Bottleneck series of missions was very profitable for the very short amount of time it took to complete.  Here is the haul.

ISK (mission rewards + bounties): 787,000

Standings changes: 
Republic Security Services Gain (unmodified) : increased from .38 to .81.

Minmatar Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.74 to 1.81
Gallente Federation Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.66 to 1.72
The Servant Sisters of EVE Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.51 to 1.56
Caldari State Standings Loss (unmodified): from -0.50 to -0.52
Ammatar Mandate Standings Loss (unmodified): from -0.97 to -1.03
Amarr Empire Standings Loss (unmodified): from -1.14 to -1.17

The Glass Edge: An Introduction And Gladiators - Breathing Space

"Nakugard is the entry system into the Ani constellation, ancestral home of the Nefantar tribe.  The constellation enjoyed great prominence while the Minmatars suffered under the Amarrian yoke.  The Glass Edge served once as a surveillance outpost for the Nefantars, but today it serves as a reminder of what the Nefantars stood for.  The tribe used its privileged position to gather great wealth here, sometimes by force, but more often through guile and veiled threats.  That is the glass edge, it may not be hard or obvious, but it will make you bleed all the same."

Having decided that dealing with Caldari isn't what I wanted to do, I decided to move to the next site in Nakugard, The Glass Edge.  The Glass Edge is home to four COSMOS agents: Dalkar Kersos, Kraimir Mork, Penda Rakken and Them Burkur.  The highest level agent is Dalkar Kersos at level 3.  I am fortunate in that both Wandering Rose and Rosewalker have the standings to do all level 3 missions with any Minmatar corporation, with Roswalker having the standings to do level 4 missions. 

I've discovered that doing a little research on the agents gives me some background that makes doing the missions a little more enjoyable.  But in true Eve Online fashion, a player really needs to dig into the background material to get the full enjoyment.  I guess the devs figure that most players don't read the quest text.  Well, I guess that's why they invented the Evelopedia.  For those who are interested in the lore, I'll run down the agents as I do them, especially since I am finding the Evelopedia entries to be either incomplete or a bit inaccurate.

First, I approached the level 1 agent, Kraimir Mork with The Leisure Group.  Not only does it make sense to do the only level 1 agent first, but The Leisure Group is a partner of the corporation Wandering Rose is closest to, Eifyr & Co.  The description of The Leisure Group might also give some insight into Wandering Rose's background.

"The enigmatic Kolvil Eifyr is a large shareholder in the Leisure Group and this ties the company in with the criminal elements so strong in the shady world of Minmatar power politics. The Leisure Group is an entertainment company that is known for its barbaric, yet stirring, pleasure nodes."

Ms. Mork gives the storyline mission Gladiators - Breathing Space.  The first part is a mission to deliver 150 units (not m3) of oxygen for a very basic business reason.

"I own and operate a portable arena of cyboerians, cybernetically augmented gladiators who fight each other for show, demonstrating a wide range of Matari martial arts. I was having problems generating revenue in my old home, so I relocated to Nakugard.

"Shortly after I got here, though, a problem reared its head. Obviously I'd underestimated the extent of influence wielded by the criminal element in this area. Within weeks, most of my fighters were strung out on various illicit drugs, and I've since had to close up shop. Can't have a show if you don't have performers. And to make matters worse, my contract with the Leisure Group is still in full effect; if I'm not generating my revenue they're not going to be happy, and we most definitely do not want the Leisure Group unhappy.

"There are a few things I need to be able to get my arena up and running again. Among these is oxygen; I can't very well run the place if no one can breathe, you understand. If you can go out and find me 150 units of oxygen, I'd be much obliged. "

She offered me 32,000 isk to pick up the oxygen and another 35,000 isk if I did it inside of 58 minutes.  Hmm ... with Hek only one jump away and Wandering Rose in a Prowler, what could go wrong?  This is Eve, but counting the ways would take too much time.  But in this case, nothing went wrong.  I picked up 150 units from a buy order for 100 isk/unit and went back to the agent.  Spending 15,000 isk to make 67,000 isk?  That was nice.  Even nicer was a second mission offer.

"I have three fighters on hand right now, but I need more to be able to run my show. I just received word that one of my best, Grace Tarsis, is being held by a group of Cartel thugs in a deadspace location here in Nakugard, on account of some unsettled debts. If you can find her and bring her back to me in one piece, I'll be a step closer to re-opening my arena and evading the Leisure Group's wrath. They're keeping her in a brothel in their lair, one that's not really that heavily guarded. If you kill the guards and blow up the brothel, you should be able to get her out and bring her back. If you can do that, you will have my most heartfelt thanks."

The offer for this mission was 23,000 isk, with a bonus of 21,000 isk if completed within 30 minutes. 
With news of the Cartel in the area, I called Rosewalker into the fleet, loaded up the Ruptures and made quick work of the 3 frigates guarding Grace.  I didn't bother to salvage, but did pick up 100 Seeker F.O.F Light Missiles and 1 Punk ID Slice, which might come in handy.  And the bounties for the three guards came out to another 22,000 isk.

My total haul for the two-mission storyline Gladiators - Breathing Space was:

ISK (mission awards + bounties - purchase of oxygen): 123,000.
Loot: 100 FOF missiles, 1 Punk ID Slice.

My faction standings changes were:

Minmatar Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.70 to 1.74
Gallente Federation Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.63 to 1.66
The Servant Sisters of EVE Standings Gain (unmodified): from 1.49 to 1.51
Caldari State Standings Loss (unmodified): from -0.49 to -0.50
Ammatar Mandate Standings Loss (unmodified): from -0.94 to -0.97
Amarr Empire Standings Loss (unmodified): from -1.12 to -1.14

Ripple Effects: Conclusion

Part 1

"Okay little sister, what's Plan B?" Rosewalker said looking at the holographic model of the old Nefantar stronghold.  "There are a lot of those Gist Angels hanging around there."

"Ruptures," Wandering Rose replied.  "We set up a couple of Ruptures with analyzers, park at the containers, deploy the drones, and kill all the scavengers and treasurer hunters until the interference ends and we get the blocks.  Easy."

"Easy, she says," Rosewalker said while rolling his eyes toward the ceiling.  "Did you forget we only brought one Rupture with us?  The other is sitting in the corporate hangar to be used to make a Muninn."

"Okay, so I go back to HQ, pick up the ship, go to Rens and do some shopping and come back," she said.  "No problem."

"Why go through so much bother to complete a 15,000 isk mission for a Caldari corporation?" Rosewalker inquired.

"I am not going to fail on the first mission I do in Ani," she replied, getting off the couch and walking over to her brother.  "More importantly, I gave my word that I'd do this," she continued, poking him in the chest.  "I keep my word, even if some know-it-all mystic thinks its foolish."

"Okay, okay.  Well, at least I get to shoot up more Angels," he sighed.

And shoot up more Angels they did.  They re-entered the debris field as a Thrasher departed and put the plan into action.  Each Rupture parked next to a container and once the opposition forces either scattered or died (mostly died) the pair gathered up the blocks plus some additional artifacts.  At this point Wandering Rose grew a little too confident and led her two-ship gang to do battle with the Angels at the other side of the field.  While battling that force, a new Angel force hit Wandering Rose and Rosewalker from behind.  While the pair worked at reducing the ships facing them, the Angels worked on destroying the siblings drones.  The Angels managed to destroy 7 of the 10 deployed drones before the remaining 3 made it back to the drone bay.  At that point, Wandering Rose called for a withdrawal from the field.

"Well, that didn't go too bad," Wandering Rose said as they landed at the Nakugard gate.

"It didn't go too well, either," Rosewalker replied.  "You had a good plan, but you didn't stick to it.  The plan was to do a smash and grab.  You should have pulled us out once we achieved the objective.  The amount of isk you're going to get for those blocks from that Caldari slimeball won't pay for the drones we lost."

"I know.  But at least I can say I completed the mission and my reputation won't be shot my first day in system," Wandering Rose said.  "I'll fly out to the site and drop off the merchandise.  See you back at the station."

A while later, Wandering Rose returned to the Republic University station.  She was not happy.

"Didn't go well, did it sis?" Rosewalker asked.

"No.  After turning in the blocks, he doesn't want to do business with me anymore," she replied.

"I believe it.  I don't know if you checked what those things are going for," Rosewalker said.

"No.  I was concentrating on fulfilling my end of the deal," she said.  "How much?"

"Well," Rosewalker began, "the buy orders are starting at 2.4 million isk each."

"Um," she stammered, "2.4 million?"

"Yep.  And you got 15,000 isk for them," Rosewalker pointed out.

"But I did fulfill the deal," Wandering Rose pointed out.

"Honor is fine, but most people would call you something," the mystic said.

"And what's that?" the CEO asked.

"Sucker."

---

Not the most auspicious beginning to the Ani Campaign.  But things can only go up from here.

Ripple Effects

The first COSMOS mission I chose to do was Ripple Effects, a level 1 mission.  I did some research but didn't find a description of the mission.  So I thought I'd do a write-up.  Then things got interesting and a "quick" write-up turned into something more...

---

The first location Wandering Rose assigned Rosewalker to check was the reactor factory in Nakugard.  According to the listings from XXXX, it had a bit of history:

"The Nefantar, also known as the Amatar, channeled a great amount of ill-gotten Amarr wealth into the Ani constellation.  Though much of the money was wasted on the extravagance of the Amatar elite, some of it was actually put to good use.  One such use was the construction of this reactor factory, which was the first space-based industrial complex to be operated by the Amatar."

If finding something useful built by the Amatar was unusual, so was what Rosewalker found once he adjusted his overview settings.  He opened up a comm link to Wandering Rose and calmly said, "Little sister, you're not going to believe this..."

With Rosewalker not having the, to put it kindly, best of relations with the Caldari, Wandering Rose soon found herself flying to the factory site to meet with the Poksu Mineral Group's Tzumi Pokkolen.

"Hello there," the Caldari mining agent began, "you're interested in a little bit of work, yes?  For many years I've been making a brisk business selling Nefantar artifacts on the black market.  The buyers are all kind of people, mostly Ammatars looking for lost heirlooms or idle-rich Gallenteans looking for something unique to flaunt at the next gala showing.  I long since decided to outsource the gathering of artifacts to other, more capable pilots."

"Ah, yes I am," Wandering Rose replied.  She was looking for shady characters and this one was perfect.  Shady, lazy and/or incompetent and the way he was running his mouth, innocent.  That's a pretty bad combination in the business world of New Eden.  "But there can't be that many people out there willing to buy a load of old Nefantar junk."

"It's not just Nefantar artifacts.  Lately the pilots working for me have been returning with more and more of some strange artifacts that I'm beginning to suspect are not of Nefantar origin.  I've seen these items on occasions in the past, but now a lot more are coming in," Tzumi said.  "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, for I've always had an easy time shifting them.  It's getting so easy, in fact, that I'm on a constant lookout for more pilots to collect for me.  It is my understanding after having talked to my other pilots that a contested complex over in Inder is the best place to find the times I want.  If you do well you can always get more work from me.  Might even provide a steady income for you.  To locate the right items you need the right knowledge and equipment, naturally, "

Knowledge and equipment, she thought.  That meant archeology and analyzers.  Both she and her brother could handle that.  So she made the deal, two sleeper foundation blocks for 15,000 isk, with a 10,000 isk bonus if she returned within an hour.

"Here's the plan," Wandering Rose told Rosewalker when she got back to the station.  "You take the Jaguar, take out anyone who tries to get in the way, and I follow along in the Rusty Broom.  Once we get to the wreckage or whatever is in the area, I use the analyzer and we get out of the area as soon as I have the blocks.  Any questions?"

"Are you sure one assault frigate has enough firepower to handle anything?" Rosewalker asked.

"Not really, but with the pay Tzumi is offering, getting the blocks can't be that hard, right?" she reasoned.

In the beginning, Wandering Rose's logic looked correct.  After jumping through the first acceleration gate into the contested Minmatar military depot, Rosewalker made quick work of a gang that looked like it was led by a Amarrian national, Nonom Basskel.  Although her ship was destroyed, Basskel got away.  Wandering Rose found some interesting things as she salvaged the wrecks.

"Well, well, " she murmured as she went through the ship's logs.  "Our Miss Basskel is a slaver.  Figures.  This might come in handy someday," she said as she tucked the logs into a safe place.

The problems began after the pair passed through the second acceleration gate.  Rosewalker charged into a huge pack of scavenging ships hovering around an ancient site.  One on five the treasure hunters were no match for a capsuleer in an assault frigate.  But as fast as Rosewalker could destroy a ship another would take its place.  But the scrum eventually drifted away from the site and Wandering Rose snuck into position of one of the pieces of debris.  The analyzer did its work, but when she went to withdraw the block...

"Bad news bro.  Looks like these guys are smarter than they look.  You'll have to clear the area for the analyzer to finish the job," Wandering Rose concluded.  And with that transmission, she came under file and had to beat a hasty retreat.

Some time later, Rosewalker had to tell Wandering Rose the bad news.  "This isn't going to work, sis.  The rocket launcher is dry and I don't have much ammo left for the autocannons.  There are just too many ships out there."

"Okay, let's get out of here.  Time for plan B."

"You have a plan B?" Rosewalker asked.

"Not yet," she replied.  "But I will by the time we get back to Nakugard."

To be continued...

Deploying to Nakugard

Having decided what I wanted to do the COSMOS missions in the Ani constellation and done some preliminary intelligence gathering using the Evelopedia and Dotlan, the next step was to actually deploy my ships to the Republic University School station located at Nakugard V.  Why there?  Four reasons.  The first is that Nakugard is centrally located, not only just one jump to 6 of the 7 other systems in the constellation but also one jump from the trade hub system of Hek.  Next, the Republic University station is the only one in the constellation with manufacturing facilities.  Third, out of all the corporations in Ani that own stations, I have the highest standing with Republic University.  Finally, while the Krusual are Matari, they also have a reputation for being sneaky and I just don't trust them.

The next step was determining what to bring.  I'm planning an extended stay lasting at least until I go to Bulgaria at the end of September, so I needed to bring a lot.  I brought everything from assault frigates to battlecruisers to do the COSMOS combat missions and a Prowler to quickly do courier missions.  I didn't spot any mining missions, but with the abundance of asteroids in Ani, I figured I'd bring my Covetor, if for no other reason than to replace my mineral stocks with all the ammo I plan to use.  And because I saw one COSMOS mission that requires scanning down a site, I brought my Cheetah.  In total, I brought 12 ships in addition to large amounts of projectile ammo and missiles to Nakugard.

Twelve ships?  That took a lot of time, right?  Wrong.  The 12th ship is my Orca.  Between loading up the industrial command ship to the gills and Wandering Rose scouting ahead ferrying a couple of additional ships, I managed to bring everything in three trips.  I should have only needed two, but I forgot to bring the Covetor on the second trip.  I think my sub-conscience was trying to tell me something.   And moving the Orca in a fleet getting the fleet agility bonus makes the trip go much faster than the Orca moving solo.

So now I'm in Nakugard and doing the COSMOS missions.  I finished the first one on Sunday.  I'll get to that story tomorrow.

The Ani Campaign - The Ani Constellation

The Minmatar high-sec COSMOS missions are found in the Ani Constellation.  But the Ani Constellation offers more to players than just a chance at rapid faction gains and a chance to get some meta-level 3 blueprint copies.  Here are some additional reasons why I looked at the Ani Constellation as a fun place to spend the next few weeks playing Eve.

Security: The Ani Constellation is a bit unusual in that all 8 systems have a security level of .5.  This is a plus in that the systems are high-sec, although the response from CONCORD will be slow, so tanking against suicide gankers is warranted.  Some distribution missions from local agents can easily send unsuspecting pilots into low-sec, so pay attention to your low-sec warnings.

Politics:  The relatively low security levels in the constellation, while under CONCORD control, has led to some interesting people inhabiting the area.  The major players in Ani are:

Joint Harvesting - Interestingly enough, the Amarr raw materials corporation is the biggest player in this Minmatar constellation.  Holding 5 stations, Dotlan lists 10 agents, including 3 level 4 agents, Joint Harvesting has the biggest footprint in Ani.  Galnet reports that:

"Joint Harvesting was formed a decade ago when several agricultural and mining companies joined together to form one giant company. One of the largest raw material companies in the world of EVE, Joint Harvesting conducts a wide variety of resource gathering and operates both inside and outside the Amarr Empire."

The one interesting fact about Joint Harvesting is that of the four station-holding corporations in Ani, it is the only one without medical facilities located in the constellation.

Krusual Tribe - The second biggest presence in Ani is the Krusual Tribe.  The Krusual hold 3 stations with 7 agents, including 1 level 4 agent, in the key system of Nakugard.  The Krusual have a reputation as sly and cunning, shrouding its ways in lies and secrecy. It is isolationist by nature, but lately it's been becoming more and more involved with the power politics of the Republic, staking a claim for its mastery.

The juxtaposition of the Krusual and the huge Amarr corporation Joint Harvesting is interesting given the Krusual's history:

"The Krusual tribe initially inhabited the mountainous region of the upper Tronhadar-valley on Matar. The other tribes regarded the Krusuals as the most barbaric of them all, but that stemmed more from a lack of knowledge about the intricate culture of the secluded Krusuals rather than being an actual fact. The Amarrians had real difficulties subduing the Krusuals during their conquest of the Minmatars and the unruly Krusuals in their mountain bases were always a thorn in the Amarr side."

Sisters of EVE - Given its history of providing humanitarian aid during the Minmatar Rebellion and the possibility of conflict between the Krusual and the Amarr industrialists, few should find it surprising that the Sisters of EVE have a presence in Ani.  The Sisters maintain 4 agents as well as medical facilities in 3 stations in the constellation.

One does have to wonder if the organization has more than a humanitarian interest in the area:

"But the Sisters do more than just come to the aid of those in need. They are also devoted practitioners of their religious beliefs, which center around the EVE gate. The Sisters belief that this ‘relic from god’, as they call it, holds the key to the universe and are determined to unlock it, in order to bring ‘everlasting peace under god’s guidance and guardianship’ to the world of EVE. The Sisters maintain that god resides at the other side of the gate and from his domain he guides the lives of those that belief in him and keeps them out of harms way. The Sisters have large followings in all the empires (even some Jovians) and the organization is mostly run on donations from those followers, as well as from some limited commercial enterprises and tariffs levied on those visiting their stations."

Republic University - The final entity with a station presence in Ani is Republic University.  While only having 1 station and 4 agents in Nakugard, the Republic University boasts not only cloning facilities but the constellation's only manufacturing facility.  While the manufacturing facility is not critical given that the Hek trade hub is located one system away, it does fit in with the school's mission:

"The Republic University (from where future Minmatar industrialists graduate) was founded by Minmatar emigrates as a show of support for the fledgling republic shortly after its inception. The school is modeled after the University of Caille and based on the Gallentean education system."

In addition to the four corporations listed above, the Ani constellation is also home to a large contingent of the Angel Cartel as well as COSMOS agents plying their trade at locations in space.

Moons and mining - The low security levels of all the systems in the Ani constellation are conductive to economic activity even with the presence of only one station with manufacturing facilities.  The constellation boasts 283 total moons with 60 alone located in Nakugard, one jump away from the Hek trade hub.  But that is not such an advantage as 180 of the moons are withing 2 jumps of Hek.  And the .5 security level is the lowest bar to anchoring a POS in high-sec, meaning the bulk of industrial activity like manufacturing, research and blueprint copying takes place in POS, making the numerous capsuleers who call the area home a potential big power bloc.

The mining opportunities are as good as it gets in high-sec.  The constellation boasts 80 asteroid belts containing Plagioclase, Scordite, Veldspar and Omber.  In addition, Ani contains not one but two systems with ice belts.  Those with loyalties with the Minmatar will enjoy Nakugard's refining facilities along with its 23 asteroid and 1 ice belts.  The Amarr are not far behind with Joint Harvesting possessing good refining facilities in Barkrik with its ice belt and Hjoramold with its 12 asteroid belts.  The Caldari and Gallente, if not wishing to gain faction with either of the other two rivals, can always use the Sisters of EVE facilities in Inder with its 16 asteroid belts, although the Caldari don't really do more than tolerate the Sisters.

Exploration - I'm not sure exactly the exploration possibilities in Ani, but with every system having a .5 security level, bringing along a ship capable of doing some serious scanning is probably warranted.

This concludes my initial look at the Ani Constellation.  I'm sure I will find more as I explore all the mysteries that this interesting area of New Eden holds.

Playing In The Sandbox - The Ani Campaign

On Friday I decided I could have fun running COSMOS missions.  But I definitely needed to know more about COSMOS missions.  I'm glad I checked, because these missions are a bit different than the normal ones found in stations.  First off, the agents are found in space.  That's actually part of the reason I want to do the missions; agents in space is different.  Next, COSMOS missions come in two flavors, mini-profession and storyline.  Given CCP's record of not iterating on features, I'm hoping this information I found on Grismar's EVE Wiki (last updated during the Empyrean Age expansion) still holds true:

Mini-Profession Missions

Mini-Profession missions require you to obtain items which can be obtained through the use of one of two special skills, Archeology and Hacking. In each case, the skill needed will be mentioned in the mission briefing. Mini-Profession missions will always appear as single missions, never as part of a storyline. If you decline a Mini-Profession mission, you will not lose standing with the agent, and you may continue to talk to the agent.

• If a mission requires Hacking, you will need to fit a codebreaker module to your ship.
• If a mission requires Archeology, you will need to fit an analyzer module to your ship.

In each case, the general flow of a Mini-Profession mission is that your agent will tell you to go to a specific historic site. Once there, you will encounter a number of NPCs, which guard special loot-containers, which may only be opened through the use of the appropriate module. After dispatching as many NPCs as is necessary to reach the loot cans, lock the can, activate the module, and scan for the components inside.

Alternatively, it is possible to obtain the components through other means. Often, they may be found on the market, or on Escrow. It is also possible to contact other pilots in space and arrange to trade or buy these special components. So if you do not have the Archeology or Hacking skills, it is possible to complete these missions, though it may cost you additional money to obtain the necessary components.

Storyline Missions

Storyline cosmos missions, like traditional storyline missions, will always come in a sequence, which will be shown as part of the title, for example: "(1 of 4)". Storyline missions will always end in a mission which will affect your faction standings, based on your success or failure. Storyline Cosmos missions are also unique in that you always get only one shot at them. If you fail or decline any mission in the sequence, the storyline will terminate and the agent will no longer talk to you. Once you have completed the storyline, you are done with the agent, and they will no longer talk to you. Storyline missions come in three basic types.

• Courier missions, which require you to transport items from one place to another.
• Acquire missions, which require you to find items and bring them to the agent.
• Kill missions, which require you to destroy a group of NPCs as specified by the agent.

Basically I can only run through the COSMOS missions once on each character, so I really needed to put some thought on how to approach doing the missions. 

Speaking of putting thought into running the missions, I decided to spice up the experience a bit by making up my own story.  Why not?  Eve is a sandbox game in which players create their own content.  Why couldn't I come up with my own storyline?  I've done some light roleplay with the way I play Rosewalker and Wandering Rose so I just needed to expand on the concept.  So I came up with the concept of "The Ani Campaign."


The story is simple.  Wandering Rose, the CEO of a small corporation operating in the Minmatar Republic, is looking to expand her business.  Her research has indicated that the Ani constellation in Metropolis is a promising place to do business.  Not too far from her planetary interests and adjacent to the Hek trade hub, rumor has it that business is not just conducted in stations but out in space as well.

In addition, this effort marks Wandering Rose's first major effort to lead both the business and military activities of her corporation, the Khumaak Flying Circus.  Throughout the first year of the corporation's history, Wandering Rose has handled the business aspects while Rosewalker led military operations.  Now Wandering Rose is feeling confident enough in her abilities to lead in all aspects of the corporation.  But is that confidence justified?

Out of character, I have 3 main goals in The Ani Campaign.  The first is a bit of character development.  I think the whole campaign will provide interesting events to spice up the character histories of both Rosewalker and Wandering Rose.  In addition, the faction and corporation gains should be very nice.  Currently Wandering Rose's standing with the Minmatar Republic is 3.36 modified and I would really like to get that up to 5 by the time that all ends.  If at the same time I can raise faction with The Servant Sisters of EVE up to 5 (currently 3.19), that would be a bonus.  Raising Rosewalker's standings is also important, as he has an unmodified standing with the Minmatar Republic of 4.28.  If I can get that over 5, I can start anchoring structures in high-sec.

The second goal is economic.  The COSMOS storyline missions give out blueprint copies and faction ammunition.  Sure, the blueprint copies are for meta-level 3 items, but until CCP gets around to their revamp of high/low/null sec, this is the only way I know of to make named items.  And I do want to make them.  In addition, getting my faction up will allow access to better R&D agents.  I'm really looking to find agents a bit closer to home, although there really aren't many.  And if I run into any business opportunities (like courier contracts) I'll snap them up too.

And the third goal?  To have fun.   I know that internet spaceships is serious business, but I guess I never did play this game right.  Then again, Eve is a sandbox, so I'll play the way I want.  And if that causes anyone to QQ, well, that means I'm actually playing the game right.