The journey to COSMOS

In this galaxy I've come across some wonderful people who are very supportive, kind and generous. Thanks to their amazing generosity, I've been able to engage in anti-pirate activities for some time now, without needing to do anything else to bring the money in. However, that time is past, and I'm now forced to return to doing what everyone else does.

To start with, I've returned to my roots, so to speak, and sought out an agent who can give me a COSMOS mission. I've heard a lot about how much money you can earn from them, so I've taken the plunge and started the ball rolling.

Yes, that's right. I'm taking a break from hunting down pirates and dodging war enemies. I can't afford to sustain the lifestyle any more, and there's only so much generosity that one can take advantage of. It's time to get my hands dirty again, with the blood of various targets that are assigned to me by the agents.

It's been a long time since I ran missions, so I'm looking forward to it. I've got a Thorax set up for long-range combat with long-range drones. I think I'm set for taking out the targets without much risk to myself. Unfortunately, due to my lack of mission-running in the past, I have to start with a level 1 COSMOS agent and work my way up.

But I'm hoping the cash will start rolling in. I think I'll continue doing it until I have at least 200 million, and then I can afford to buy an Interceptor and go back to hunting those damned pirates again.

Speaking of hunting, I've come up with an idea for my corp, just to put a bit of fun into it during these times of war (thanks to the Alliance). The enemy that's at war with the Alliance is using superior guerilla tactics, which my corp members are finding difficult to deal with. So I think I'll help take their mind off the war - and help take them away from the battlefield - by organising a "Hunt The CEO!" event.

Yep, they can hunt me down and destroy my ship. If they can, that is. Their own ship might be destroyed in return, but hey, them's the risks! The rewards, obviously, should be quite substantial too, so I'll be offering a substantial monetary reward for the destruction of my ship, as well as a free cruiser.

I've left the battlefield and travelled far in order to search out a COSMOS agent, so it's not going to be easy for them to find me. It's going to be even more difficult for them to pin me down and destroy the ship I'm flying. But it'll give them something to do that they just might enjoy.

The war that the Alliance has against TNT (Trinity Nova) has been quite interesting. The enemy, as I mentioned, use guerilla tactics with stealth bombers and ships that fly over 5 km per second. Quite amazing to see them zipping about like that. However, the enemy has avoided small fleet engagements, preferring to attack 1 or 2 ships instead, and disappearing as soon as 3 or more ships turn up. Sensible tactics, but obviously annoying.

I was able to defend myself in 1 vs 1 or me vs 2 on a few occasions, reaching stalemate situations. That was fun, until they ganged up on me with 4 or 5 against my Celestis. That wasn't so fun, being ambushed. But hey, I don't blame them, as this is war.

I finished preparing my Thorax for the COSMOS journey yesterday, and this morning I set out to find the agent I was looking for. Along the way I ran into a couple of TNT members, Ffaide and Arkaiser (I think I have that name right) who tried ambushing me at a gate again. My bookmark wasn't perfect and dropped me 7km from the gate, so it was a little hairy as I was rushing the distance to the gate while they were swooping in on me. Just as they finished establishing a lock on me, I jumped through.

Then, on the other side it was a rush for me to get to a planet before they could lock me as they jumped through. I dropped a bookmark along the way which I warped back to as soon as I reached the planet. Then I warped to another planet and dropped another bookmark along the way, which I also warped back to when I reached the planet.

I then spent about 15 minutes warping back and forth between my two 'safe spots' until they gave up searching for me, and left the system. Happy, I continued on to the COSMOS agent, finally reaching him before shutting down for the day.

Tomorrow, I'll accept my first mission and see where it leads me.