Today feels like a good day, even if it doesn't look it.

Today the weather is classic Britain. Overcast, cold and windy. The only way it could be more British is if it was raining. But regardless of the view out of the window in front of me I feel rather in tune with myself. I really need to eat some proper fruit or vegetables soon, I can feel the lack of essential vitamins starting to get to me and if I'm not careful I'll end up getting very ill again.

Last night proved to me once again that I am actually loved, as sad as that sounds. xD
So I put a film queue on to fall asleep to and chatted with Emma for a bit to stave off the shitty feelings of boredom and lonliness and it worked I guess. Slept well at any rate. I think I may have passed out about three-quaters the way through How To Train Your Dragon.
I woke up this morning in a panic at about half 6, just as Full Metal Jacket was finishing. I think the gunfire woke me up.

4 weeks on Thursday and I leave for my holiday in Oz land. 4 weeks! I actually cannot wait. It's gonna be awesome! I'll get to chillax with my new family, hang out with Jess and get up to all manner of craziness.
As Altair Ibn la-Ahad would say... Bitchin'.

Aaanyhow, I should probably get on with some work about now. Sorry for the lack of images, there will be more next time.

I promise.

No really.

Cheers,
Aldur

He who dares.

Chapter 3: CCP owns EVE Online. I own my original characters.

Here it is. Chapter 3. Enjoy it. Number four will be following closely behind it.
NOTE: Reference image of the ship can be found at the bottom of the post. Thanks

The familiar snap and hiss of the respirator module in her Hazmat suit seemed to carry much more sinister intonation than Chief Engineer Rayna Nurada was used to as she crossed the airlock’s outer threshold. She could see two other suited crewmen following in her rear view monitor, the HUDs projected onto the faceplates played their faces in varying hues of blues, pinks and yellows. The Airlock’s warning siren pulsed once and hazard lights flashed bright yellow down the dark, metallic corridor they were in, each pulse reflecting back dimmer and dimmer down the passageway until it was pitch dark. Three sets of shoulder-mounted floodlights snapped on simultaneously and filled the length of the ten metre long corridor with dirty white/orange light.

 Rayna clicked her transmitter once and she saw the others look at her expectantly.

“We’re gonna move out to the end of this corridor and take a radiation sample. Nice and slow, Copy?” She said quietly but authoritatively. She did not need anyone going bat-shit on this delicate a salvage operation.
“Copy Rayna.” Came the cool reply from Marrke Esra, the designated computer systems Chief Technician and second-in-command of The Little Fish.
“Gotcha” Daltfur’s voice broke slightly as the word came out.
“Stay with me honey.” Rayna encouraged. Daltfur nodded, his face cast in a mask of terrified determination.

They clunked their way nosily down the narrow corridor and had just reached the junction when there was a rumbling shudder under their boots. The deck vibrated noticeably for a few more seconds.
“Radiation spike!” Rayna shouted through the radio, her voice crackling a little. “Check your shields.”

The deck stopped vibrating and the radiation levels stabilised well below acceptable levels. Rayna saw the two men give her the thumbs up and was just about to open a channel back to The Little Fish when the main lighting snapped on with a muffled whump. They killed their floodlights.

“Rayna to Captain Berhuvian. The ship woke up.”
“We noticed. We experienced nearly a G of movement out here.”
Rayna blinked.
“What’s going on over there? The ship is all lit up like a Christmas tree and I’m getting readings of erratic power surges in the major power plants.”
“We don’t know yet. It seems like the ship either detected our presence late or a crewman or drone tripped a mains breaker in engineering.”
“Well get this all squared away gang. The increased power signature is making it hard for our sensor dampeners to keep this place hidden.”
“Roger that. Permission to utilise non-lethal defences for the remainder of the mission?”
“Granted Rayna, hurry. Local just got 3 pods too crowded.” The comms channel disconnected.

Rayna motioned them over to her and a 3D cutaway of the ship was projected in front of them.  

“Right. Marrke, head to the bridge. It’s located here.” She pointed to the superstructure found just fore of the main engineering hull, extending out of the main hull before joining the secondary hull at a right angle. It glowed green when her finger touched it and the text “Main Bridge” Appeared next to it.
“The main transit elevator will take you to the corridor connecting the bridge to the ship.”
“Okay. I’ll get moving.” He said as he picked up his pack. “Keep in touch.” He tapped his helmet as he turned and flashed his cocky Gallentean smile at Rayna. She shook her head and waited until he had gone around a turn in the corridor. She transferred his comms channel to standby, so he could talk to her but he couldn't hear her speaking. Daltfur did the same.

“We’re going here.” She pointed to the main reactor and engine room which was swimming in scorching radiation. The room glowed orange with the main reactor highlighted in black. ‘Radiation critical’ appeared above it.

“There are already tools and repair equipment down there. All we have to do is plug the hole and vent the entire ship’s atmosphere to space and we should be good.” The hologram faded.

 They turned and headed down the brightly lit passageway in the same direction as Marrke and waited for the elevator to return.  The doors opened a few moments later and they stepped into the car. There was a soft ping as the doors closed and Daltfur felt his stomach rise in response to the rapid descent of the elevator.  The car changed direction, moving on a horizontal plane rather than vertical. The inertia stabilisers stopped them getting crushed against the walls but they hadn’t braced for the sudden change and they crashed into each other and fell.

“Would now be a good time to tell you I really don’t like lifts at all?” Daltfur asked before pulling himself off Rayna. She grinned at him as he helped her up.
“Hell, you’re scared of everything!”
“I am not!” He protested. Rayna just shook her head
There was a crackle over the radio before Marrke’s voice piped through.
“I’ve reached the bridge. Proceeding to take control of ship systems.”

“Copy Marrke. Drive plasma radiation is causing interference. We may lose you while we conduct our repairs.” Rayna replied. The was another burst of static.
“What about the boosters?”
“I’ll set them up Marrke,” Daltfur started, “But I can’t guarantee it’ll be enough.”
“Alright kid. Let’s do it.” Marrke disconnected.
 After checking each other’s suits for breaches they held onto the hand rails for the rest of the journey.

“Caution. Extreme levels of reactor plasma radiation detected. Access to engine room and main graviton plant not advised. Override is armed.” The computer played the warning in Caldari and Amarrian as well as Galactic Standard Language.
“Ready?” Reyna looked over at Daltfur as she clenched the override lever. He nodded, she pulled and their shields flared around them like miniature suns as the radiation flooded the elevator car.

Captain Tserrahan Berhuvian hit the transmit button so hard it nearly broke.
“Nurada!” He yelled, “Reglaasan!” He was answered by hissing and spluttering static.

The green and blue dots representing the two engineers aboard a holographic cutaway render of the Rokh had stopped moving at the entrance to main engineering and were flashing red indicating the computer had lost their transponder signals in the swamp of ionising radiation.
Tserrahan felt his ship move again, another impossible tremor resonating through the Rokh.
Some of the other crewmen glanced at the captain nervously.

Marrke was approaching the entrance to the bridge when he called down to Rayna.

“I’ve reached the bridge. Proceeding to take control of ship systems.” He said as he began working the emergency access hatch.
“Copy Marrke. Drive plasma radiation is causing interference. We may lose you while we conduct our repairs.” Rayna replied. The was another burst of static.
“What about the boosters?”
“I’ll set them up Marrke,” Daltfur’s voice buzzed slightly, “But I can’t guarantee it’ll be enough.”
“Alright kid. Let’s do it.” Marrke disconnected and closed a tiny circuit on the electrics board at the back of
the emergency access area. The bridge doors yawned open. Used to the cramped confines of the Thrasher-class destroyer he helped run, Marrke couldn’t help but stare at the cavernous space that was the main bridge. The entirety of the outer hull of the bridge was made of a transparent alloy that allowed for an amazing view of space and the starboard side of the vessel. Set back five feet from the transparent bulkheads were two rows of five pairs of consoles with a thoroughfare three feet wide between them. At each console terminal were highly reclined, wrap-around style seats for crew who were on the bridge at the time. They were reclined so far that the console interfaces were pointing slightly toward the deck. The captain’s chair and console was an integrated unit that was shaped a little like a giant egg. It was motorised to allow a 360 degree view of the bridge. This chair was built at a more conventional angle and had a holographic projector built into a slender, delicate looking arm that displayed a command interface for the captain to use to interact with the ship. The chair gleamed a sullen, fiery red in the glow of the surrounding space.
Marrke got to work unpacking his sophisticated computers to assist him in assuming control of the ship’s mainframes. He jacked into the command chair and the computer began the task of systematically rebuilding the control structure.

The lights flickered briefly on the bridge. He could see lights blinking on and off erratically down the length of the ship. A few did not come back on. He also noticed the temperature climb a few degrees. A sharp hissing snap from his comms unit made him jump. Marrke could make out words whispered just over the static.

“Thissss... Issss... My... Ssship!”

Starship history: The Catalyst

The Catalyst-class destroyer is a workhorse used primarily by Gallentean millitary forces in Navy operations through out the Federation and New Eden. The destroyers fielded by the various Navies of the New Eden cluster are generally percieved as effective anti-frigate warfare platforms. They are not very popular with capsuleers however.

The issue destroyers face is a large signature radius, almost the size of a cruiser, and frigate based defences. The large signature radius makes it easier for larger guns to track and hit the ship and missiles are likely to do more damage. This combined with their inability to mount heavy weapons and relatively poor defence capabilities mean destroyers don't often see use in capsuleer wars, apart from their Tech 2 incarnations: Interdictors.

The Catalyst itself is a potent blaster platform that is capable of getting in a frigate pilots face and overwhelming it's defences quickly and brutally, leaving no time for the pilot to call for backup or run before he's stranded in his escape pod. Destroyers can mount eight light weapons which is useful for engaging mulitple small targets like hostile drones or a pair of frigates but against anything larger than another destroyer it is unlikely to deal significant damage before it is destroyed by larger calibre weapons, against which, it cannot defend.

The Catalyst had a relativley trouble-free development with only one prototype vessel being destroyed during testing where a tear from a micrometeoroid developed into a fracture causing the outermost engine to break off under acceleration. The engine subsequently collided with the ship as it was attempting an emergency stop causing a massive explosion of unspent fuel and oxygen. Four crewmen out of the twenty aboard died in the accident.

After this incident, the progressive shield arrays were converted to more modern linear emmiters to eliminate the tiny "gaps" caused by progression pulses resonating at certain points on the shield bubble.

The Ion thrusters on most Gallente Navy Catalysts have recently undergone a massive overhaul as part of the destroyer upgrade scheme, costing the Gallente government mutiple billions of ISK. They produce significantly more thrust per ton than the last generation of thrusters and make the Catalyst fast and agile for it's size whilst retaining fuel and energy efficiency for weapons and shields.
Despite all of it's good combat qualities and millitaristic upgrades over the years, most capsuleers look on the Catalyst as well as other destroyers, with disdain. Most capsuleer operated Catalysts end up fitted with tractor beams and salvage modules to retreive valuable materials from the wrecks of other vessels. This task is now easily accomplished by ORE's new dedicated salvage vessel, the Noctis. 

The catalyst features eight high power slots for turrets. The vessel is specialised for blasters which are extremley powerful but very short-range turreted weapons. It has two medium power slots that allow for rudimentry electronic warfare or weaponry upgrades to be installed and three low power slots for basic defence and countermeasure modules. A basic Catalyst will cost just under a million ISK, but fitting it with top-of-the-range hardware will hurt your wallet.

Starship history: The Omen

The Omen class light cruiser is a new addition to the Imperial Navy. It is a medium-weight vessel, measuring in at a respectable 268 metres and with a mass of 11,650 metric tons; This ship is no doorstop.
The Omen was first proposed to the Amarr High Command nearly fifteen years ago but sidelined for nearly five years. It was deemed too weak for a cruiser and judged to be "Too independent to participate effectively in cruiser squadrons."
Imperial Navy commanders were looking forward to having a new multi-role ship to fill out the existing ranks of the stiff and inflexible cruiser groups and after four years of lobbying the Omen project was given the go-ahead and the first prototype chassis and hulls were built a year later


This ship caused a revolution in Amarr Navy battle doctrine. For the first time ever, ships were allowed full communication in battle and were able to receive updated orders on which targets to fire on. They were also given freedom of movement in the battlegrid. This also spurred the creation of logistics ships which assist friendly vessels that are taking severe damage.
In times gone by, Amarrian ship commanders had a docket of orders and a set of standard regulations which must be adhered to during every engagment, whether they were engaging pirate raiders or knocking down a space station. Eight cruisers screened every battleship and fifteen frigates formed a defensive perimeter of fifteen to thirty kilometers. If capital ships like Revelation-class dreadnoughts or Archon-class carriers were involved then there would be three battleships assigned to each vessel with the cruiser screens and frigate escorts.

Any deviation was met either with destruction of the ship in question and a dishonorable mark against the commander's house and family or immediate dismissal from the military and a public shaming of the commander's house. Recently, this tactic has made the Imperial Navy predictable to the point of impotency and many high ranking navy commanders have called for a change in procedure. The Omen was the beginning of this change.



When the first prototype was launched it was immediately put on rigorous space trials. And, as most first generation prototypes do, it showed up a serious flaw in the design. The flaw was so serious that the ship actually broke up during a turn. It was later shown that the armour plating was too heavy and the chassis had sheared in several locations leaving the vessel vulnerable to a breakup. The other prototypes had three layers of heavy armour removed and a layer of lighter ablative and refractive armour was installed to reduce mass to acceptable levels.

The ship performed like a dream and within five years it had passed all of it's space trials. The weapons testing went badly for two ships. The advanced cyclic capacitor banks that build up the power to fire the guns and massive heat-sinks that stop them overheating were designed and installed especially for the Omen-class. These upgrades managed to fail in spectacular fashion on O-522 and O-498.

O-522 was towed back to dock for scrapping after a bank of capacitors blew out the entire side of the ship. There were no survivors. Most died from the initial explosions, others died from exposure to vacuum and few died from the fire that blazed through the ship's internal structure at several thousand degrees.
All that was found of O-498 was the forward command superstructure and fire-control tower.

After the microleaks causing the problems were repaired on all other Omens, the upgrades worked perfectly.

Weaponry aboard the Omen is conservative but potently compensated for by fast cycle times and long range bonuses. The Omen sports five high power slots for heavy beam or pulse laser turret armaments. Three medium slots provide basic coverage for warp scramblers or target painters. five low slots allow for armour hardening and repair systems to be installed and increase the vessel's survivability under fire or to add special modules that further increase the range of the guns to turn the Omen into a long-ranger laser sniper. A drone bay was added as well to further increase the ship's adaptability.

The Omen is a relatively cheap ship to buy new, a modest 8 to 9 million ISK for the hull. And it is a tough vessel in a fight, it will not easily fall to enemy fire. If you are looking for a good all-rounder, then look no further.                

Starship history: The Tempest

The Tempest is a widely used vessel and a staple in any long-range fleet engagements. It's tough shields and resilient armour make this ship a valuable asset.

The mighty Tempest class Battleship has seen many alterations and refits since it's birth by fire. The first true dedicated Battleship design forwarded by the Minmatar Republic, at the time more commonly known as the Minmatar Rebel Alliance. It was quickly and quietly deployed en mass to repel the slave-hunting invasion of the Amarrians.

The Amarr Crusade Warfleet were extremely surprised and the High Command had no available response to the powerful and potent warship. The Amarr fell back under the onslaught of literally hundreds of thousands of massive 1400mm artillery shells. The first design was little more than a scaffolding structure with a boxy habitat section occupying the mid-section and an engine bolted to the back. Then guns and missile systems were added.

The power-sail arrays were fitted during the third refit, which also included the addition of uprated armour and a shield grid that rivaled those manufactured by Caldari engineers. The engineering and habitation decks were redesigned to provide more structural support and create a larger internal volume for subsystems. The fourth refit was launched two years ago, replacing the aging systems on the older models. This was seen as a necessary move by the Republic Feet as some of the original third refit Tempests were over 100 years old and still in service. 

The fourth refit is a  powerhouse. Sporting 8 high power slots with mounting points for 4 super-heavy missile launchers and 6 heavy turrets means this ship is never lacking in firepower. It also allows for a lot of pilot flexibility in loadouts.
5 medium slots allow for either shield upgrades, sensor boosters and warp scramblers to be fitted. The choice of low power slot modules can really make this ship reach out and touch people. There are 6 slots and they can be utilized to extend the already staggering range of the the guns to truly epic distances. Gyrostabilisers are a popular choice to equip on this ship as they increase the effective range massively.

Don't be fooled by it's fragile appearance, this ship can hit hard and gives no quarter to those unfortunate enough to be its pilot's target. The Fleet Issue and Tribal Issue Tempests feature even greater shield and armour upgrades, as well as an advanced power-sail system that can boost main power production by up to 50% in emergency but in normal operation provides main power to life-support and secondary computers.


A fourth refit Tempest Battleship would probably set you back a good 80 to 90 million ISK, just for the ship hull. The modules would add up to around the 130 million mark, but it is well worth the money to see Amarrians instinctively flee before it!

Starship history: The Drake

The Drake is one of the most popular and widely used Caldari starships in the New Eden cluster. Praised for it's heavy shield optimizations, ease of use and high damage output. 

The initial design for the Drake class Battlecruiser was submitted to the Caldari Navy High Command in
YC 094. YC stands for Yulai Convention, the years are counted from the year that CONCORD was formed. CONCORD are the peacekeepers of the spaceways and are made up of patrol ships built by all four spacefaring governments and manned by personnel from every corner of the galaxy.

The Drake was the first ship larger than a cruiser to rely exclusively on missiles. As such it was often maligned during trials for it's lack of ability to deal significant damage against small, fast targets like the frigates and fighters often manned by pirates and outlaws. During its initial weapons trials several prototypes were destroyed by missiles touching off through overheating in the launcher bays. This caused massive blowouts usually spanning several decks and often detonated the remainder of the missiles stored in the auto-loading system. The destruction of the ship was assured and the loss of all hands aboard was not uncommon. This has been fixed by running cryogenic coolant through the launchers.
Another prototype was destroyed by a malfunctioning shield upgrade that collapsed the shield bubble back into itself , crushing the ship and leaving it a twisted, shattered wreck with personnel trapped within.

Extensive research and development work was carried out on the remaining two prototype vessels. One was designed in an asymmetrical manner, to keep the tradition of Caldari starships being unique in shape and form. This idea was scrapped to make it easier to mass produce and to simplify the installation of different launcher hardpoints. This was an unpopular move, many saw the adoption of symmetrical starship hulls as conforming to galactic pressures but it later proved invaluable when converting the ships to interface with a capsuleer's command pod.

A quick overview of its performance in battle and in tests shows us that this vessel can hold it's own in a fight, even against mighty battleships, which are half-again as large. It has seven missile bays that can fire in 360 degree arcs, a spare high power module slot for anything the pilot chooses to equip, like an energy neutralizer.
6 medium power slots allow for almost unlimited customization and hardening of the ship's shield system, or to equip a plethora of electronic warfare and inhibitor systems like warp scramblers and sensor jammers. 4 low power slots allow for expansion on the already tough shields or power distribution system. and a 25m3 drone hanger was added to allow the pilot to deploy scout drones, small robots about the size of a large Transit van, to assist him or her in engaging smaller, more nimble targets like interceptors.



In it's twenty years of service, this ship and it's many forms are probably the most widely used in New Eden, after the humble Ibis class frigate. It will see action and reaction on battlefields for a long while and is likely to remain a staple workhorse in the Caldari Navy.

If this doesn't convince you to buy one, then perhaps this will. A Drake could be yours, fresh off the assembly line of Jita IV Moon 4 - Caldari Navy Assembly Plant for just 39,098,464.99 ISK. Order one with your nearest starship procurement broker and sail the skies with Gods...

Captain's log, Stardate: 64512.2

I'm back to make a new post. I can't say much of interest has occurred.
I've attributed my sleeping disruptions to stress-related insomnia, and it will pass with time. Or so I have been told.

I made peace with the girl who used to be my life and, all in all, I think it was a good move. I feel much better now there is very little hostility compared to last month or so. It's still like trying to get blood from a stone when we talk sometimes but hey, I expected as much. She only puts kisses when she wants something :)

Ah women... You are a mystery. If a man ever claims he knows a woman's mind then he is a fibber and will get ulcers on his tongue. I understand the fundamental workings of fictional starships more than I understand females and I'm not ashamed to admit that.

One of my fish died today as well so I'm a sad panda :( His name was Oscar and he was about 3 years old and he will be missed. Clive took control of his estate after he passed away. So on that sad bombshell... It's time to end. Goodnight.