Tales from the spacelanes...

[Diziet Sma]

Dialling back on the brute strength, but keeping the cunning, seems like the way forward to me.

Seconded! (and, my point exactly, with my remark above)

[Aycheff]

Got my first kills today! (Well, not counting the ones who had friends who made sure I didn't live to tell about it)

It seems as though the Violet Star has turned into a package courier. I look for high paying, long but not too long routes to let me see the galaxy, trading computers and furs along the way. (I really need to investigate the precious metals and jewels market sometime.) I mostly outrun the assassins, and sometimes the pirates if I don't feel like dropping cargo. If it's just a group of two, I'll try to fight, but I haven't survived any of those yet. So I'm saving up for the military shields to help me last longer in a fight.

Every once in a while I'll stay in the space lanes for a little light bounty hunting. I've encountered four lone offenders and went in to attack. The first two times they ran off, one dropping some contraband along the way (I know it's a crime to leave the station with it; is it a crime to pick it up in space and bring it on station?) But the last two times I was patient, got close, and without much effort (to my surprise) managed to get them. Being able to hit save felt really good

So I'm still Harmless, but Harmless(2) looks a little better than Harmless(0). So until next time, this is Aycheff in the Violet Star taking Ab Onle's weapon designs to Veale (and looking to pick up anything else that needs delivered along the way).

Aycheff

[Diziet Sma]

(I know it's a crime to leave the station with it; is it a crime to pick it up in space and bring it on station?)

Nope.. that will not cause you any problems.. (though I believe there may be an OXP around which might change that - don't recall which, though)

[Disembodied]

(I know it's a crime to leave the station with it; is it a crime to pick it up in space and bring it on station?)

Nope.. that will not cause you any problems.. (though I believe there may be an OXP around which might change that - don't recall which, though)

I think it's the [wiki]Illegal Goods Tweak OXP[/wiki].

[Malacandra]

(I know it's a crime to leave the station with it; is it a crime to pick it up in space and bring it on station?)

Nope.. that will not cause you any problems.. (though I believe there may be an OXP around which might change that - don't recall which, though)

I think it's the [wiki]Illegal Goods Tweak OXP[/wiki].

That's the one. No problem as long as you honestly hand the stuff over, with a worthwhile chance that you will get a reward or an interesting subplot some way down the line if you return slaves.

[Bogatyr]

CmdrLuke was having a jolly good time racking up obscene amounts of Cr quickly at the Feudal Hunting Lodge, right up to the point where he got dead.

Luke's vast dogfighting experience years ago in the "Oolite simulator" meant his actual dogfighting skills far exceeded what his recorded official kills hinted at. At the lodge, Luke got high odds fights against opponents who were not a match for his awesome skills, and won duel after duel, easily. Apparently, some of the Feudal Lords didn't like getting their asses handed to them by this outsider, repeatedly losing their 10K Cr bets to this barely "Competent" little upstart, so they hatched a plot to put Luke in his place (into the cold, hard vacuum of space).

Luke, clueless to his impending doom, checked the bulletin board, dismissing the offers of low odds duels, focusing on finding a 10:1 that would bring in the big money. These feudal "lords" are weak and easy, what a great way to make money, he thought. After accepting the duel and placing his bet, Luke quickly launched. Targeting and approaching the opponent, Luke vaguely made note that there was a second ship in addition to his official opponent hanging around the tourney buoy. Probably just some randomly generated ship, Luke thought, already licking his chops at the thought of another huge winner's purse. Luke paid the 2nd ship no further thought.

Luke made his typical sneaky approach to the duel area to suddenly and overwhelmingly dominate his opponent right from the start, and indeed managed to fire his military laser to the point of overheating into this opponent's shields and positioned himself directly on his opponent's tail, waiting for his fore laser to cool down enough to win the duel. "Easy," Luke thought.

But all of a sudden, the horrible sound of high power energy weapons slamming at a rapid rate into his shields flumoxed him entirely. "Wwwwwhat?" Luke thought. "Aft shields are gone, I'm taking damage!" Luke checked his scanner and found a red dot there. Where'd that guy come from? Flailing in a panic with his advanced targeting systems (which are very slow to find the right settings since Luke had so many extras installed on his Cobby Mk III), Luke tried to spin around on injectors to lose the harbinger of death stuck to his tail. After making several runs and attempting to take out the surprise attacker with both front and aft military lasers, something hit him hard ("a missile? They're NOT ALLOWED in duels!?"), his ship vaporized, and as he was tossed out into the merciless black void, in this final thoughts before the last curtain fell, he finally figured out what had transpired:

Apparently those tricky Feudal Lords had set it up so that a friend of the official opponent would place his ship directly next to the duelist's. As Luke approached the opponent, firing first, the proximity of his fire to the unofficial ship counted as aggressor/pirate fire against the 2nd ship, marking Luke as an attacker and freeing the second ship from any legal issues of engaging with Luke directly, but without any limitations of being a duelist ship, including the use of missiles!

As he desperately twisted and turned to avoid the incessant incoming laser fire from the 2nd ship, the official opponent must have re-engaged the fight, and now Luke had 4 military lasers trained on his doomed Cobra, ensuring victory for the crafty Feudal lords.

[Amah]

not really a tale but some random encounter that makes one go uhm....

Testing the noshader yelloo cab start choice I was taking two passengers on board and took over a parcel contract lying on the way. On my way to the parcel's destination I was jumping from Reorte to Begeabi(Feudal/Poor Agri).

Coming out of witchspace, I just encountered one lonely Krait lurking near a witchpoint. Having a bad feeling about it I set it for target of one of the hard head missiles and set course to avoid encounter as much as possible. Waiting for the blip to turn red any minute I tried to maintain as much distance as possible.

Something odd happened, the Krait followed any changed course and kept steady distance like a shadow. Getting desperate because it constantly masslocked me I charged it to see what it would do, it passed and turned after a short while and continued to follow me again. Still uneasy I set course again for main station and it escorted me all safely to Begeabi System station where I delivered the parcel (some mineral surveys,iirc) in time.

Think, I owe the Krait's commander a glass of space brandy or two for the good company.

[Rorschachhamster]

So, after a long absence I started a new Jameson just for the fun of it. I jumped without greater trouble from Lave to Zaonce, invested a few bucks into a towbar, and saved a medi-moray, wich earned me injectors and some cash. So I bought a load of Computers and jumped to Isinor. Took the scenic route, when I saw a freighttrain. I wanted to look at it, just because . So I fired my last few drops of engine fuel into the injectors to get a little nearer. As soon as it was empty, really, the exact second it was empty, three red dots appeared. At least one of them a MK III with military lasers... Oh, joy. So I started to fly head on towards the freighttrain and it's escorts... but that damned cobra hit me a few times, so my energy drained - really fast. And the escorts don't care. I tried to make it hit one of the escorts or the freighttrain, but no, even though I flew between the train and it's containers, the bastard hits me, not the train. I had to pass three times just very close (and it was either dead from collision with the train or from laser, or so I thought) until finally one of the bastards hits the train. Hah! I gleefully await slaughter. But, no, "This is a setup! Fall back and regroup!"... Damn. Anyway, I survived, and lost only one crate of computers and a lot of cash for the repairs (a lot for a beginning jameson, at least).
It's fun, to be back.

[Fatleaf]

Heh, rookie Jameson making a rookie mistake Rorschachhamster. Ooniversal rule No 1: Though shall always have fuel for the injectors! NO exceptions!

[Yah-Ta-Hey]

Was winging my way out in Gal 1 when it struck me: Today is Thanksgiving here in the US. so I sat down and listed what I can be thankful for while out here in the vastness of space:

1. thankful for the dedicated people ( players and developers) that have made OOlite what it is.
2. thankful for the way our community gets along and for their tolerance in the discussions.
3. thankful that we are not consumed by the pettiness as shown on another new forum.
4. thankful that as a community that is truly global we share a common love of this game.
5. thankful for the new people who are coming onboard are made to feel part of the group.

if there is more... I will have to think about it while this pilot sits back, picks his teeth, belches and looks at the remnants of a poor turkey(?) that didn't make it to his final destination.

Happy thanksgiving

[Cody]

Happy thanksgiving

Aye, and to you, my sky brother - well said!

[Falcon777]

I recently made deadly and decided to see if I could get past those idiotic customers that demanded to have someone with a better combat rating transport their parcels. I nearly tore into one of them, trying to explain how a truly fast ship with powerful shields can just ignore all combatants and race to the station. He wouldn't have any of it. Rather than getting into a fistfight that would have landed me in jail, I chose to blow off some steam by going and hunting for the nearest bounty hunter's bar. What's strange is that when I got there....well, there was a renegade navy station right next to it. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. What's funny though is all those vipers never stood a chance.

Had I had the capability to destroy the station, I would have, but since I didn't I chose to blow off my steam by draining my lasers into it. 'Twas cathartic. Then I docked and got myself a bounty to go hunt. At least those people recognize a seasoned hunter when they see one.

[Diziet Sma]

Happy thanksgiving

Aye, and to you, my sky brother - well said!

Seconded.. we all have much to be thankful for, with our little community here..

[Diziet Sma]

... I chose to blow off some steam by going and hunting for the nearest bounty hunter's bar. What's strange is that when I got there....well, there was a renegade navy station right next to it. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. What's funny though is all those vipers never stood a chance.

I've had that happen once.. quite spectacular, isn't it?

It doesn't pay to go messing with bounty hunters on their home turf..

[Falcon777]

Hey grandpa, grandma! Sorry that it's taken so long to write to you all. I'm still alive and doing well. Even well enough to send you a thousand credits back as thanks for helping me get this ship! I know, I know, the farm is probably doing well and you would prefer that I keep it for myself. But, honestly, I can afford this gift. I've made a lot of trips between Isinor and Ensoreus. They're both fairly safe worlds with higher profit margins for me than Diso and Leesti. I've even visited the navy station over at Isinor a few times.

I'm sure you all remember my story about fighting the thargoid. Well, I've had a few more encounters since then, all pirates. It's helped my ego that I've managed to make some kills in this here treasured rust bucket, at least enough kills that I'm no longer considered harmless or even mostly harmless. More importantly, I've earned enough credits trading goods that I've fixed up the ship with a few nice things. Perhaps at the top of the list are the fuel injectors and large cargo bay. The former has kept me alive quite a few times and the latter has allowed me to actually make a profit. Naturally I've fitted the Adder with some other things as well: Fuel scoops, ironhide armor, docking computers, and an extra energy unit, just to name a few.

Indeed, things are starting to really look up for me. I may never become filthy rich like those python and anaconda captains, but your investment into my having a ship has easily payed large dividends already. I hope to eventually move on up to a Cobra Mk 1 since the base ship has twice the cargo capacity of this Adder. In any case, I probably ought to get back work.

Your addicted to wormhole travel and commander of a no longer broken down Adder grandson,

Commander James Thompson

P.s. Really, honestly, I can afford to give you those credits. Keep them.