Two incursions in Matari space in a row last week, none in Caldari or Gallente space for at least the last fortnight or so, maybe a month, but they keep pounding away on the Amarr like a drunk husband.

Okay, there are more constellations in Amarr space than in the other empires, so if they're picking their targets at random there's a statistically higher probability that it'll be an Incursion into the Empire, but still, the number of constellations under the Imperial banner don't outweigh the number of constellations with somebody else's flag on the border checkpoints.

But the number of Incursions is drastically lopsided. I can think of three occasions at least where there were three or more Incursions in highsec, and all of them were targeting the Amarrians. Once, happenstance. Twice, coincidence.

Three times... well, I guess by default ANY Incursion is "enemy action". Why is the enemy so focused on that one target though? bigger population? pre-existing slavery culture might make for more docile subjects to True Enslave?

The fact that the Holy Amarrian Imperial Navy are the least capable at rapid-response and tactical flexibility? They're not renowned for their subtlety after all. Could just be a strategic failure in the Navy that the Sansha are exploiting.

But all things considered, I don't think it's safe to just write off the frequency of Amarr-space Incursions to that. Any angle of investigation should be pursued, see where it leads us. Because if the Amarrians aren't renowned for their subtlety, Sansha manages to turn subtlety into a blunt instrument.

Save. End.

Journal: yc113.05.22

It frustrates me just how few of the world's problems can be solved by punching them.

It's even more frustrating when the problem in question is a person who would REALLY deserve it.

Save. End.

Journal: yc113.05.14

Nation hit the Ani constellation, six jumps from Gulfonodi. Re-Aw responded with commendable enthusiasm.

For me, it was a classic example of that old adage "There's no substitute for the real thing." I'm proud to say that between the briefing and training exercises, our guys were at least prepared enough to not make any stupid mistakes, and brought along ships which were appropriately outfitted for Incursion warfare.

But when the torpedoes are slamming into your armour plating and the lives of your crew and the success of the mission hangs in the balance of everyone doing their jobs right... well, that's the real test. It's all about remembering what to do, when, and how.

I'm especially proud of Cia. She's not the coolest under fire, but I'd rather have her in my fleets than some of the gung-ho morons who were showing up and wasting lives and hardware with bad planning and worse execution. I'll take jittery competence over rock-solid stupidity every time.

Save. End.

Journal: 113.05.10

the ROTY awards are done and dusted. They've been remarkably good fun, and very un-Caldari of me.

Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

Save. End.

Journal: 113.05.02

So, the rear of the year voting thread got off to a dramatic start.

I'll admit, I took a certain malicious glee in disqualifying one of the Sansha pilots who had entered. I'd have quite liked to do the same to both of them, but Crucifire didn't give me an excuse to, unlike Niraia.

Her disqualification came because one of the three poses she adopted in her application image involved being shirtless and wearing only her bra, violating the rule that all contest submissions must be fully clothed images. The first rules post only explicitly mentioned trousers, the second clarified it to mean ALL clothing. I took the view that I was under no obligation to warn pilots of rules violations, and that it was their responsibility to ensure their entry was legal under the contest rules.

It seems like petulant egomania is a trait common to both Kuvakei and his followers. Niraia's response, beneath all the whining and fixation on how the first version of the rule about staying completely clothed only specifically mentioned pants, seems to boil down to "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

The ironic thing being that if she'd taken it gracefully, I might have felt guilty. As it is, she's opened her own alternative version of the contest out of spite and has made dark hints about "consequences". She's gone into a spectacular sulk, in short. 

Funny how Sansha's Nation, an ideology that's all about surrendering of personal interest to the will of somebody else, or else having it forcibly taken by him, could attract somebody with such a wicked and easily bruised sense of pride.

Cia, bless her, thinks it's hilarious that we might potentially soon be fighting "The Battle of the Buttocks" and has given me her blessing to handle the situation as I see fit. I think her decision might be partly based on having no sympathy at all for Nation sympathizers. 

I can't blame her.

Save. End.