Back to Zero

So this high sec exploration day job seems to be providing some rewards. With my trusty Rupture I now, at least on paper, have regained all the isk I have lost since I first entered New Eden nearly three months ago. The big caveat being this is a theoretical postulate and not a practical, isk in the bank, reality. The significance of this cannot be overstated. The value of loot I have in my hanger now exceeds all my losses (mostly through incompetence but also from buying new ships and modules) in theory. Whether or not this will pan out to be true by the time I can actually sell my goods, or whether I will even be able to safely transport these goods to Jita remains a rather large question.

Yet my future begins to coalesce. I am in the very early stages of my capsuleer career. My goal, Eve domination, seems laughable at best and delusional at worst. My most prized possession is a lowly cruiser but with this cruiser I have proven to myself that I can make a living. Not a wealthy career but enough to move on to the next level and purchase my first covert ops frigate. Wait another frigate? I just worked so hard to move from my nimble and quick Rifter frigate to my Angel Cartel murdering Rupture cruiser, why go back to a lowly frigate, a mere step up from a free noob ship?

As mentioned previously, the Cheetah can cloak. Lots of ship can cloak but the Cheetah can warp cloaked. This basically means that I can travel long distances quickly practically invisible. This will   in theory allow me to make a journey to Jita, the largest trading hub, and sell some goods at what I hope is a fair price. This will also allow me to scout systems nearby with much less risk. This is the bridge to my two ship high security exploration gig. I could certainly do this now with my trusty Probe (another scouting frigate) fitted with a cloak, but in wartime  with war targets buzzing around I would feel more secure in a true covert ops ship. I don't want to think about the twenty plus jump trip to Jita, even in coddled high sec space without the ability to warp cloaked. Call me afraid but since my Eve induced paranoia (brought about by quickly dying several times) I have a streak going of not getting popped. My seamanship (spaceman-ship) skills seem to be improving. Plus I want to learn how to be a scout in our noob fleet. So this little Cheetah will provide me the next few adventures on my journey.

Having said all of this let me bring myself back to my true purpose here in New Eden and that is to prove myself against the best. This means other capsuleers. My goal aside from continuing to fly in the noob fleets (as a tackle frigate, scout and damage dealer [thus learning new roles in fleet warfare]) is to learn pvp (capsuleer pilot vs capsuleer pilot). For this I need isk as I expect to lose quite a few more Rifters in this education. As a member of the Uni there is a system called Libold that is a tech 1 frigate (read cheap frigate) dueling free for all. If you have been following my confessions you will of read how I ingloriously lost a Rifter already in this manner. I hope to learn about all the different tech one frigates and how to kill them. I will continue to learn the basic mechanics of this game but I need to be a successful combat pilot if I am ever going to progress in my dream of being able to challenge other capsuleers.

So the next few weeks I will continue to finish training salvaging 5 so that I can progress to a tech two Salvager (read bad ass and hopefully really fast salvager) then the fork in the road. I already confessed my desire to abandon the logical skill training sequence of filling out my basic skills and instead moving directly on to learning the other high sec exploration skills and the skills needed to fit out and fly the Cheetah. I still haven't figured out how long this might take, something I really need to do. I think I might need to look in buying some implants to speed up my training as I am a bit inpatient in regards to waiting two weeks for example for the ability to use a slightly faster salvager. But the distant goal remains.

So what of my confessions? Baring a major catastrophe, which is almost imminent in wartime, what will I write about? My Rupture can already seemingly handle everything the Angel Cartel seems to be able to throw at me, at least in my protected corner of high sec. I must admit the pace of this progression seems a bit too slow but at least I am back to zero financially. Sadly my greatest triumph to date since my arrival in New Eden. So I won't feel too guilty splashing the isk for a Cheetah and fitting her out well. Also buying the new gear for my Rupture once trained up in my exploration skills and perhaps a few flights of tech 2 drones once my drone skills improve.

Yet I still can't shake the feeling that I should be in null sec throwing it around with the major alliances in an all out war. I suppose I could learn the game that way. It is tempting especially since I haven't really found a niche in the Uni but I will hold my course a bit. There is still so much more to learn and that is the reason why I am here. Null sec war will come in time.