Completing what others started

23rd December 2010 – 5.19 pm

Our home system is not stabilising on my arrival. I expect to find Fin there as a result, but it's just me again. This means someone external has visited our system, and recently. There are no ships or probes visible on my directional scanner, which at least suggests whoever was here has since left. I begin scanning, looking for a K162 wormhole, but only find our system's static connection amongst the unchanged anomalies and mining sites. Perhaps Fin popped on briefly earlier, or the connection leading in to our own system was collapsed, for whatever reason. I have no explanation, but also no other direction to go but through to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system.

D-scan shows me two off-line towers in the C3. Although there are no convenient force fields to count, it is because there are no force fields that I take my time in finding the towers in my d-scan return. My notes also show me that I was last in this system seven months ago, and I am directed to one of the towers, confirming its change to being inactive. I suppose the corporation didn't move out conventionally. The only other sign of activity is a jet-can on d-scan, but not one that promises miners to slaughter needlessly. Instead, the can bears a sentence becoming more familiar with time, if not gaining any real meaning, stating that 'moosemen pumped your hole'. I can only suggest that another corporation has a static connection to a class 3 system and leaves calling cards as they travel.

But there is no activity in this C3, letting me launch probes and scan at my leisure. The lack of occupation is evident upon an initial scan, thirty anomalies waiting to have their profit ripped from them violently, and eighteen other signatures to sift through. With so many anomalies to entertain myself with, and no obvious signs of ships, I see no point in resolving any mining sites. At least, not unless I find a K162 in to this system. I make a perfunctory scan of the system, looking only for wormholes and finding just the one. I refrain from visiting the wormhole, hoping to keep it inactive, but only now do I realise that this C3 also didn't need to stabilise before I entered. Whatever happened, it looks like I've missed it. Maybe I can clear some anomalies, but later. For now, I take a break.

On my return I take a stealth bomber in to the C3, looking for any changes and finding none. It's time to make some iskies, taking the stealth bomber home and swapping it for my Tengu strategic cruiser. I am still fitted with heavy missile launchers, keeping me in range without having always to pursue, but it would benefit me more if I realised this and actually started shooting at range. It is only a hiccup and I am soon in to the swing of shooting Sleepers. But the first anomaly having just the one wave of ships pricks my senses. There should be more ships to face, which can only mean that other pilots have visited this anomaly before me.

A second anomaly confirms my suspicions, holding all three waves of Sleeper ships that the first should have, but still with one less cruiser in the initial wave. I certainly appear to be completing someone else's combat sites. But my consternation is balanced with the clarity of not having seen any wrecks on d-scan earlier, or indeed in the sites now, and that Sleepers tend to hang around in anomalies for three days after the first assault before abandoning them. There may have been earlier visitors, but they are several hours gone, if not a day or more. I should be safe from those who began shooting the Sleepers here. But that doesn't make me safe from others, and I still keep a vigilant eye on d-scan, for what good it does.

Glorious leader Fin joins me for some Sleeper combat, and we clear six anomalies in total between us, even if they aren't six full anomalies. We salvage the bits and pieces of wrecks scattered here and there, bagging almost three hundred million ISK. We don't quite manage to blitz through the thirty anomalies present, but we take a good bite at it. I take another break, wanting to bang some drums or I'll never be a good at it, whilst Fin heads through the bookmarked wormhole in the C3, naturally ending up in low-sec space. We need some more high-tech launchers and salvagers for imminent skill training completion, demanding a trip to market.

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