Joe Phoenix > and yet with all these griefers on your side you still cannot break me... and its driving you instain...

Last night I failed, big time.
Not so much in the way that Damien McCandless Esquire ME OBE IDST hasn't failed before mind, I have often been trapped, killed reborn, walked into another slightly different trap and been killed again.  Its par for the course.  It helps me understand people better each time.

No I failed because I did not take my own advice.
"Never listen to what your opponent says but pay close attention to what he does."

It wasn't Joe.  I would like to make that clear.
CVA Security have been hounding me for a few days now.  Its a rarity that I wake up, check the local and not see such wonderful people such as my friend CrimsonWar waiting for me in camp or in station. 

Last night, I went into Providence to look for Joe, and was followed for the best part of an hour.  Dodging from safe spot to safe spot, cloaking, uncloaking warping again, claoking and then sitting for ages unmoving in my Kestrel S Boat 13, CVA's Torpedos finally decided to head me off at the pass.  It only took them an hour and a half to fighure out I was heading to see Mr Joe at his local hang-out at the Casino ROAL.

When I got in system, I issued my standard local greetign to Joe so he knew I was in .
"HIYA JOE!!!!"

About ten minutes later, I was commed by one of God's Holy (Bag)Rollers (I can't remember which one exactly).
"Do you want Joe?"
Heh who wouldn't?
"Come to and you can have him.  He annoys us now"
Yeah, he'll do that.
"Im only in a Kestrel." I say honestly.
"Thats okay," says the Torpedo, "We will kill him."

Alas, dearhearts, at this time, Macca's legendary greed and avarice kicked in.  My voices screamed at me it was a trap, that this was stupid, that it was clearly total bollocks.
ITS A TARP ITS A TARP DONT GO DONT BE A MORON YOU WILL REGRET IT
But I so dearly wanted to see CVA kill Joe, I let a child-like sense of smugness enter into the equation.  I was sitting in a 30,000 isk ship, with about 10,000 isk of kit on it and an unaugmented clone body, I didn't feel I would lose anything of value.  Plus I would wake up in a nice Amarrian clone tube in Empire.

Five minutes later, I woke up in a nice Amarrian clone tube in Empire.

Pros:  I saw the gang who was waiting, presumably most of the group assigned to patrol for IEEE Investigators.  I know that they will happily do anything to protect a guy like Joe from his creditors.  And I know that they are very matter-of-fact about their killing, evidenced by the lack of smack talk of any kind at all.  I learned a lesson.

Cons:  I was very very stupid.  I got angry not at being killed but because of how they must have laughed at my stupidity and greed.  I lost about 150000 isk, which isn't much but is a loss so it goes here.  Most of all though, I acted like Joe. 

And that is now my cross to bear.  Perhaps there is something to this Amarrian God Image deal, perhaps not.  It was an extremely minor incident in a very very tiny war in a corner of not very important space, but it is informing my attitude to how this place works.  And has caused me to rethink that line of advice from earlier;

"Never do what your opponent does but pay close attention to how he does it."

Plus, I was inspired to build a new ship.
A nice little Rifter fitted for unsupported piracy in deep space called Flagellant 13.  She will be my hair-shirt :).