I am NOT lunch!

I've just been having an amazing week so far. Most of my runs have finally been turning up something useful and I have been able to get some of my tools back in shape, hopefully soon I'll be able to do more but I'm doing my best to go slow and take my time, when I rush I tend to lose more than I want to. Anyway, yesterday was no different from the last few days, I head out and shortly find myself getting a claim large enough to make me excited. But what was different yesterday was where I was mining was full of atrax and armax and later a few other things, but the atrax and the armax seemed to be very hungry or pissed off because I had to run away from a few of them that decided I looked threatening or like a good meal. Luckily my Sleipnir gets me out of a bad situation pretty well, otherwise I would have been spending a good portion of my time trying to get them far enough from my claims to not come after me again. After the first few good claims were up I moved beyond their territory, freeing me to go about my business in relative peace, though I was extra caution for the rest of my runs. Lucky for me, beyond their range was some better mining. So in the end all I have to say to these blasted creatures is, "I am not lunch! But thank you for pointing me in the right direction."

Gone Fishing

The other day I did something a little different. Recently I followed the people who took me in and taught me how to survive here to a new society. Since then I have been slowly learning who the other people are, which is difficult when you spend most of your time out on your own looking for resources. But as I was listening to them talk from their remote location I decided I wanted to see their activities first hand. So, using my hover pod I took a trip from Fort Cayuze out to the middle of nowhere in the water where they were hunting Leviathan. I've seen these fish before, but it never ceases to amaze me at how big they actually are. I'm surprised anyone can fight them as they should just be able to gobble them down in one swift motion. However, the fish seem to be unaware of that and instead try to kill you before thinking about eating you. Luckily the revive system keeps them from actually making a meal of us, or else I'd think they'd stop fighting and just swallow us whole as they might actually like our taste. Anyway, I watched them kill a few and thought, that looks like fun, but I opted to continue my normal activities and went off to a land area filled with those giant spiders that live on this planet. The run went poorly and I thought again about joining the hunt. Since my runs had been so bad lately I decided that would be a good idea and went back to Fort Cayuze to prepare.

Now, handling a weapon of any type is rare for me, especially guns. Plus, with a limited budget, I couldn't afford much. So with my little Kiwio and some ammo I found my soc mates again and started shooting with them. My pathetic gun didn't do much, but every little bit helps I'm told, so when we (them mostly) killed the big fish we were shooting at and activated the processing function of our handhelds I was pleasantly surprised that I got a small share of the fish. Those around me were quite excited, so I figured we must have gotten a much fatter one than they had been getting before. They equaled out the oils that were extracted from this behemoth really quick, giving me a little extra for my pathetic effort and then we continued on. It didn't take me long to see that the first fish had been quite good compared to the normal ones, but we got at least one more good one before it was time to head in. It was definitely a bit different fishing in this way, but it was quite enjoyable and I got to relieve some loneliness for a change. I'm back to my normal task of mining now, but I'm thinking some more fishing trips with the guys will be in my future.

The New Rig

There are just so many robot conflicts that have happened over the years on Calypso. Some areas you just avoid because of the robot activity, at least I do. Without proper weapons and armor against them I have to make sure I don't encounter them while I mine up the resources we need to continue the fight. One area in particular was burnt up by the robots, which is a shame. The black burning scar that once had other life living on it was pretty nice, if you could avoid the wildlife. I mined that area a few times, but once it had been destroyed I stopped going. It was the fear of getting shot down by the robots, which I know isn't a huge deal with the revival system in place, but it still hurts like you wouldn't believe. Recently, however, it came to my attention that the robots in the area had been wiped out and in their place we found a nice reserve of oil, much like the one in the middle of the desert, though not quite as rich. They placed a pump on this one as well and if you're lucky enough to be there at the right time you might find a few barrels that didn't get sent to the right place. These barrels can sure help in getting through some rough times. The only problem with the arrival of the new rig is that they no longer patrol the area to keep you safe. It seems they know they can't stop the conflict and so they don't even try. So when there you are competing with others to get what little you can and some of them won't hesitate to shoot you down, knowing full well it isn't murder if you're going to revive again shortly after they take you out. So the new rig isn't much different than the old except in that the new one drops so much less than the old that less people will spend a lot of time there defending it, so I have a much better chance of getting a few drops once in awhile when I need them.