Going deeper in to w-space

20th December 2009 – 3.34 pm

The man with the scanner finds an opportunity. A wormhole leads to a class 4 w-space system that itself holds a static wormhole to another class 4 system. Having access to a wormhole that leads to an arbitrary class 4 w-space system is a big improvement from our current situation, living in a class 4 with a static wormhole to a class 3. We currently clear the anomalies and other signatures in our class 4 system quickly, and then we are left with either class 3 anomalies or a longer journey through multiple systems to find something better. Moving in to the system newly opened to us will give us constant potential access to class 4 signatures, and the challenges and profit that comes with them.

Moving from one w-space system to another can be awkward. We need as many people available as possible, not so much to move ships and equipment but to ensure that no one is left behind. Returning to your pod to the discovery that the corporation tower is no longer anchored in the system will come as a bit of a shock, particularly if you are in a ship that has no capability of scanning for an exit. Luckily, we have nearly every wormhole engineer on-line and ready to help with the move, and a scanning alt is volunteered to remain in the system to help the one or two stragglers.

All of the arrays, batteries, and other defences need to be taken off-line and unanchored from the tower. The corporation hangar needs to be emptied and have its contents moved. The ship maintenance array needs to be emptied, the ships moved, and the array and hangar repackaged and taken to the new system. And the tower itself needs to be taken off-line, unanchored, and moved. We have a second tower lying around, which helps with getting everything transferred, as this second tower is anchored and brought on-line in the new system whilst the first tower is being torn down. Moving ships and modules is easier when a coporation hangar can be anchored at the other end of the move, and there are tower shields offering protection to unpiloted ships.

The move almost forces us to take loot back to New Eden, as it seems rather a waste of effort to drag Sleeper salvage and loot, and tonnes of ore, to the new system for it to be put back in to a hangar. And whilst the loot is shipped out, the hauler may as well pick up some fuel on the way back to keep the new tower running for a while. The trip back to k-space is complicated a little by the wormhole exit leading to low-sec, but a suitable protective fleet is formed. The man-power is better suited to protecting our assets, as moving equipment to the new system is hardly intensive, and a few of us manage to transfer the modules with a Crane and Bustard, whilst also having the skills needed to pilot most of the ships across.

It takes a little while, but we move ourselves in to the new w-space system with little fuss. The connecting wormhole holds up to the mass passing through it, the low-sec journey isn't interrupted by pirates, and the capsuleers unfortunately left behind in the old system are eventually guided out by the scanning alt. We even start to refill the hangar, although it is with rather unprofitable gas. But Fin's mining of the ladar site lets me get the first wormhole engineer Sleeper kill in our new system, as I protect her Exqueror from the Sleeper rats that inevitably arrive. I think we're going to settle in fine.

  1. One Response to “Going deeper in to w-space”

  2. Thank you for not mentioning the part where "Fin managed to fly out in an Exequror and come back in a pod" gas mining experience.

    Whoops. Doh. Stop reading this comment.

    By Kename Fin on Dec 20, 2009

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