Scanning forwards alerts the locals

25th July 2013 – 5.50 pm

I'm back from a break, and expecting at least one new wormhole to have opened. Not at home, though, and not even in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, but definitely connected to our constellation. Well, the extended constellation, as I'll need to bridge through a high-sec empire space system to find that new wormhole. Still, it's worth checking the systems on the way there too, as I could get lucky and find a ship to engage. Or unlucky, I suppose, and ambushed on my way.

There's definitely nothing to get excited about in the home system. C3a remains quiet too, with the same empty ships in the same towers. A new signature has appeared, but it resolves to be only a data site and not a new connection. The K162 from null-sec remains healthy, and poking out sees the same pilots no doubt skulking back to their tower as they did earlier when I entered the system. At least they haven't plotted some revenge for my destroying a dozen jet-cans of mined ore earlier.

Back to C3a and across the system to the static exit, which takes me out to high-sec and through the K162 of interest in to class 2 w-space. I podded a poor industrialist collecting planet goo earlier, before my exploration was halted by dying wormholes. One of the wormholes was the second static connection, leading to class 4 w-space, and it is this wormhole that I am expecting to have been replaced by a new one. Sure enough, the old has died, and, as there is also no sign of locals out to get me, I launch probes to resolve the new one.

There it is. Jumping to C4a gives me a clear result on my directional scanner, which becomes clearer when I open the map and see the system is 190 AU across. That's plenty of space to cover, a little too much, if you ask me, and I can only see the nearest planet to the wormhole. Launching probes to blanket the system takes a couple of scans to cover the system completely, highlighting nine anomalies, three signatures, and one ship. That lone ship isn't too hard to find, thanks to my probes giving me a rough position in this vast system, and I see the Loki strategic cruiser piloted but floating inertly inside a tower's force field.

I'm curious as to whether the Loki was alerted to a new wormhole opening in to his system. Searching for wrecks he has abandoned won't be quick, though, as my probes won't detect them and there are planets far out of range in a couple of directions. But it's worth a look. Nothing in one direction, and passing the tower to look in the other direction has the Loki missing from d-scan. A repeated blanket scan doesn't see the ship with my probes either, so the Loki has either left the system of gone off-line. Either way, he's not here. I'll scan those two unknown signatures.

A data site and static wormhole to more class 4 w-space system gives me an obvious route to take, but entering C4b doesn't offer much to see. A couple of towers with a notable lack of ships appears on d-scan from the K162, swiftly followed by a clutch of probes converging on my position. I hold and watch as the probes disappear and a Cheetah covert operations boat blips on d-scan. The scout clearly saw the new connection appear and resolved it quickly. I don't know what he'll do with the information, but I imagine I won't be catching anyone unawares in this system. I may as well scan my way forwards.

Sixteen anomalies and six signatures are identified as three gas sites, a data site, and the static wormhole, which I know leads to another class 4 system—plus, of course, the K162 I came through. Okay, it's getting late, but I can explore one more system looking for activity. Then again, maybe this will be my last system for the night, given that the static wormhole is at the end of its life. That's a better reason for heading home through still-quiet w-space systems than arbitrarily giving up.

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