Soon they had made the aquaintance of a pilot named Maniac, and so new friendships were formed. Guardian soon enlisted a player named Wayfarer into joining the server, at the same time as Verminard contacted me, still trading blissfully in L I T H S.
And so it was that, along with Spartan & Evo, the foundations of our clan were layed, a rag tag group of new, and old, friends setting out on their adventure in Sirius.
We soon began to settle in a system known as Omicron Gamma, making planet Crete our base of ops. It was during these early days that this group of pilots formed a friendship with another young clan, the n*o, who also frequented the Gamma system, and for a time Crete was a place of peaceful union for both clans; the space around a training ground, training that would soon be put to the test.
Apart from the odd incursion by pirates looking to tax the fruitful munitions trading route that was based on planet Crete, Gamma and its adjoining systems remained relatively peaceful. And then one faitfull day, whilst on a trip to collect weapons for the clan armory, Maniac & Verminard were ambushed by pilots from the clan Bloodpac. Up until this point the clan BP had given no sign of any ill intent that they may of held towards the clan, but after this initial strike it was quite clear that further conflict was inevitable.
And so, we entered into our first full blown war. It was clear from the off that diplomacy would lead no where, and even if a dipomatic solution was desired by either side, the insult was too fresh in the minds of our pilots. Almost as soon as hostilities began, our friends in the n*o stepped up to even the numbers, thus beginning the alliance that still holds today.
However, for all the ferocity that marked the start of the Voids first true war, it was a short lived affair. The Bloodpacs leader Takashin semmed unwilling to partake in what promised to be a protracted war; whether it was the expense, change in attitude or fear of defeat that saw the clan vanish into the depths of Sirius, we will never know.
In the quiet days after the war we began to go from stregnth to stregnth. We had gained some respect through the conflict, and pilots wishing to join our cause and help bring peace to Sirius soon started to join our ranks. Pilots such as Spartan, Blue Ros, Fatguts, Blond Huntress, Mach and Merc helped to swell our numbers. Everything semed to be going well, or so it seemed.....
Apart from the lucrative missile run that helped to pay for our ships and weapons, we also made use of the readily available "jobs" on planet Crete. There were some who found it hard to swallow the fact that a so called good guy clan could be so involved with a group such as the Corsairs. People wandered how aparently law abiding pilots could fly out against the untouchable Bounty Hunters. But that was how it was, and remains so til this day. Our reasons are our own, and the tens of thousands of dead Bounty Hunter scum have been a testamony to our belief in our cause.
It was after a succesion of forrays against low life bh dogs that myself, Mach & Spartan were taking a breather outside of planet Crete. We suspected nothing untoward was unfolding around us. We were wrong!
As we sat in our Anubis' laughing at the ease with which we were able to dispatch the inept bh pilots, two ships approached from the direction of the Theta gate, flying under the names of Doom & Chaos Witch. The two strangers immediately began to hurl abuse. Although the attack involved nothing more than insults, Mach was quick to anger, and it was obvious that soon this encounter would turn to violence.
The final straw came when the strangers warned myself & Spartan to call our dog off, at which point Mach snapped & flew at them. Before myself & Spartan could fly to the aid of our clan mate, he was overpowered and gunned down. Needless to say, we went in guns blaising. The two attackers, however, had other ideas, and turned tail. After a pursuit that led across two systems, they tired & turned to face us. We hit first Chaos witch, and then Doom, killing them easily; afterwards we thought a little too easily.
The next time we were to see them they were tagged. The Shadows had arrived!
Before long, they had eblisted the notorious pilot Neuromancer, long time Freelancer and a pilot with more npc kills under his belt than any other pilot. And then the news that shocked many of us at the time, Doom and Chaos were none other than our own clan mates Fatguts and Blond Huntress.
Nowadays pilots with a long list of npc kills are little to worry about in terms of skill in the battle field. But back then, npc kills had to be earned in the Nomad killing fields around the corona of the infernal Poseidon sun in Alex, so the knowledge that the Wasted Warrior -aka Neuromancer- had been inlisted by the Shadows was a concern that we all felt. Confilct with the Shadows was a sure thing and the state of war promised to be a long drawn out affair.
These were the days before technique and elitism played any part in player versus player combat, brawling was a way of life. Pilots flew in either the Anubis or Conqueror, the Anubis with its triple torpedo capacity and the Conqueror with its added agility and speed. Fights were often short with kamikaze torpedo runs that could go either way. It was obvious that we would have to organise ourselves into a coherent fighting unit to stand any chance.
And so the clan council was born.
To start with, we held a meeting to asign jobs to the 5 members within the clan hierachy, and whilst we had structure within the clan, it was agreed that we would not have an appointed leader. Instead, as one of the founder members, Maniac took on the roll of figurehead. In all tis helped o bring a great deal of stability within the clan, and we went from stregnth to stregnth.
Around this time there was an influx of new clans to the server. Two clans in particular became close allies with us, The Kiwi Battle Alliance and Stargate SG1, and together with the n*o we formed a core of law enforcement within Sirius.
Meanwhile, the war with the Shadows conitnued unabated. Hostilities escalated one day when myself and Stargate O'niell were exploring the furthest reaches of Alex. After mapping the area around Darius, we decided to move into Theta. Upon our approaching the jumphole, we spotted Shadows Doom in close proximity to the Jump and decided to take him out. As soon as we came within firing distance he made the jump, and not wanting to miss the oportunity of taking Doom out, we layed in a pursuit course. However, as soon as we exited the jump into Theta, we were met with an amush. Doom had been the bait, leading us into a trap, Neuro & Chaos Witch waiting for us on the other side. We fought as best as we could, but they prevailed and we were forced to respawn in Alex.
not wanting to make the same mistake twice, we called for back up, luckily Wayfarer and Merc were nearby and arranged to join with us at Free Port 9. Unbeknowenst to us, the Shadows had also called in backup, in the form of Dark cloud and Sid and were expecting more support from the newly formed merc clan the Rolls. And so began one of, if not the, longest battle Sirius has ever seen. As the day went on more reinforcements arrived on both sides, the fighting bloody and ruthless. Nothing but no holds barred brawling. Time after time pilots on both sides were blown out of the sky, all returning to spwn within FP9, space was litred with the remains of Anubis' and conquerors. For nearly 4 hours the battle raged on, until weary and unable to see any end to the conflict pilots began to disperse. Although no clear victory was won, we kept control of the station, a strategic point next to our beloved Gamma.
The war moved on. Strategic points were won and lost on both sides.The Shadows were joined in battle by their new allies Syndicate, a breed of cyborg hatched in the darkest depths of Sirius. the Rolls clan also asisted the Shadows from time to time, until the Rolls clan leader Ace was vaporised by Cadfael; his atoms cast into oblivion. It was during this period that the first glimmer of hope came in the Shadows conflict, when during the final days of the Rolls leaderships lunacy, the leadership of the Shadows joined forces with our clan to hunt Ace down. This joint action brought about a kind of uneasy peace between our clans, and the hostilities virtually ceased, diplomacy rather that weapons fire becoming the order of the day.
With the disolution of the Rolls clan, we were approached by one of its number, one of the small number who had spoken out against the stupidity of Ace, a pilot named Tracker who eventually became a valued member of the council.
A change was coming. Those of us who knew were able to prepare in some way, for the coming of 2015. Exploration at this point was at a high. The days of dranw out conflict had ended and a sense of adventure and discovery had blossomed in the peace that followed. New systems were discovered, technologies developed, trade routes opened up and clans formed. This is what for many, was a golden age. But as with all golden periods in societies, there was a counter developemnt, a nemisis that would change space forever was approaching...
During the early days, piracy had remained small scale, often no more a threat than lone pilots wishing to make a quick buck. The missile runs were short and readily available, but not all that lucrative. This showed in the amount of pirate activity. But one day, a discovery was made that changed everything. The name of the pilot who first dicovered the shield run is now lost to history, his only trace the impact made by the implemantation of this trade route. It was a simple run, first pilots would even out their Nomad reputation to neutral, enabling them to dock at the base in the newly discovered wander that is Dyson's sphere and the Nomad base in Omicron Delta. In Delta pilots would fill the hold of their Anubis' -the run was so profitable that freighters were simply not needed- with Nomad shields for next to nothing, and then transport them to Dyson sphere to sell for a huge profit. In the space of days, pilots hit the level ceiling. Billions were made as the word eventually broke out about the run, I can remember talks being held within the council regarding how best to keep the whole thing a secret. But in the end, we were unable to prevent others from discovering the route.
Then came the pirates. A slow trickle at first. But then came the XEF. It was the first time that pirates had ever banded together to form a coherent fighting unit. The clan, formed by Master & Entropy Slayer, soon started to attract members from other clans , both lawful and corrupt. The promise of untold riches to be found in the taxing of greedy raders was too much for some to ignore. As you can imagine, many were not happy at the thought of having to hand over their hard earned money to these new kids on the block, and their was an outcry against such nefarious activities. But it was obvious that the x tag was here to stay.
Amidst all the new discoveries, one newly found system was eized upon by some of the more established clans, what was to become known as the clan system. Consisting of a number of planets set out in a radial fashion from a central hub, the only gate into and out of the system, each planet was claimed and named to be used as a base of operations. Our own planet, planet Kress, lay nextin the arc to the Shasows home planet. At first we thought this may prove troublesome, we expected an escalation in old quarrels. But this proved to be the least of our worries.
The pirates, until now keeping to the trade routes, began to make forrays into the clan system, in the hope of disrupting our base of ops. Master, Entropy and Stoertbecker (formely of the lawful HK clan) launched several attacks into the clan system, and many hours were spent in keeping the pirate menace at bay.
As a clan we remained the closest, and although some saw us as nothing more than a bunch of fat cats corrupted by our riches, we stayed true to our ideals. We gained new and much valued members in Kodiak & Fire Fox, and whilst other members came and went, the core of our clan slowly grew.
During these attacks, a new form of fighting began to evolve. Instead of the guts or glory brawling that we had all become accostomed to, pirates began to make use of tactics such as using cruise disruptors to interfere with the use of missiles and torpedoes, and instead of fighting til the bloody end by aby means available, they shyed away from the use of nano bots and shield batteries; a watered down form of pvp which prevails to this day.
This new epoch signalled the end of the glory days of battle in Sirius, and the start of the pvp culture that is still with us. Gone were the days of clan pitted against clan in long drawn out conflicts. Here to stay, the one-up-manship of individual glory for pilots. Things would never be the same again.
Throughout our time we had seen many members come and go, some contributing more than others. Tracker had made sure that we would want for nothing in regards to funds, surely the greatest trader the server has ever seen. We had a handfull of fighters who were able to hold their own, and with the decision that we would each have only one clan tagged pilot, the rest remaining untagged or tagged as pvp or war, we shot up through the global ranks. It was at this point that we decided as a clan to aim higher within the global list for npc kills. The main reason was our simply wanting to see the Void and our clan recieve some recognition, whilst at the same time weeding out any who might not wish to contribute; we set up a rule where members were asked to gain 200 kills a week. Many saw this as a bad thing, and we were labeled by some as a clan of red dot killers, a stigma which stayed with us for some time. But, in the end, we achieved about as much as was posible, reaching 3rd position in the global list; at which point we eased up on the kills per week regulation as there was no way we could keep up with the top 2 clans in the list.
Members came and went. During the period after the war with Colours our membership numbers leveled off, and apart from Asmodeus, his lovely lady wife and Dark Angel, the core of the clan has remained pretty much the same.
Through the next mod, many hours spent killing Dorks and the pasta pirates in Tohoku, through the lull that came about after 2015 we kept going.
I'm sure that I've probably missed stuff out here and there, as the title says its been a long 5 years, so I'm sure I'll be forgiven for anything, or one, I've left out. Its now come to the point where, looking at the global listing -we're still in 5th place lol- I see only 3 of our original members are left from the 104 mod. In game things seem even worse. The last time I logged in, just over a month ago, I didn't see one character I knew.
So, to who ever is left, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Sam aka Travesty/Esias/Waerloga/North Wind/Cu Chulainn/Badba/Sedanta
The BBB/Busty Blonde Babes/Brothers By Blood
Maniac
Verminard
Wayfarer
Evo
Spartan
Blue Rod
Blonde Huntress
Fat Guts
RyanMC
Metroid
Mach
Merc
Tracker
Kodiak
Fire Fox
Enchantress
Reaper
Underdog
Monkey Lord
Asaka
Bird
Iceman
Asmodeus
Asmodeuses Wife
Dark Angel
Mystic
Kiwi
And a big thanks to all our friends over the years
Leader
Dawy
Pol Sam
Richy
Sky
Lucky
Salgado
Bersercer
Hell Krusher
My lovelies...
Fracture
Tiods
Durango
Kid
Kiwi
Obone
Yeti
Para
Nephilim
Iceman
Kurt Dog
Foulest Pig
Sholto
Stargate SG1
Carter
O'Neil
Hammond
Selmek
Shadows
Doom
Chaos Witch
Neuro
Dark Cloud
Deutrix
Boyster
Hell Raiser
Pie man
And all these folks
Jonny Kat
Admiral
Ram
Dragonblade
Lemmy
Cletus
Ez
Karragin
Nightstalker
Stoney
Vector x
Master
Raistlin
entropy
Stoertbecker
Gabba
Pres
Constantine
Sidhe
Suzzy
She Devil
Shiba
Amrod
Steeb
Tusken
Ashta
P.E.
Mat
Zach (R.I.P.)
Wez
Billy & Butch
Jesse James
Babeika
Coyote SANGREEEEE!
And last but not least the guys behind the scenes (as many of the Voids and admins have already been mentioned, these are the guys who have done nothing but run this ship called Void)
Strail
Clavat
Elessar
Kahless
hehe that was sooo damn long ago man, good effort.
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