Space takes an afternoon nap
1st October 2013 – 5.53 pmNothing is new in the home system, beyond our static wormhole having been refreshed. I warp across to take a look and it looks good. Wormholey. But a wormhole has two ends, and I would be remiss if I didn't check that the other side is also in working order. I jump to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system to take a look at the K162, and that's good too. Just as I expect K162s to look. And, as I'm here, I may as well see what's in the system.
Updating my directional scanner sees a tower and two frigates, a Maulus and an Imicus. My notes tell me I was last here eleven months ago, when there were two towers and I resolved an exit to high-sec. The second tower sits outside of d-scan range, if it's still there, so I warp in a different direction to launch probes and, whilst performing a blanket scan of the system, head back to see the current state of occupation.
My notes guide my Loki strategic cruiser directly towards the moon that previously held the second tower, instead of pausing at the planet to interrogate each moon individually. This saves a bit of time, as the tower remains in the same place, but with no more ships to see, although d-scan shows me a third tower now in the system. I have to find that one manually, not that it's a difficult process. And, given that one tower is unmoved, I warp directly to the first tower too, where I see the Imicus piloted and Maulus empty.
The piloted frigate doesn't seem too lively. A lack of obvious probes in the system is a fair indication that he's not doing anything, so I ignore his presence and whiz through the two anomalies and five signatures. Two gas pockets, two wormholes. One is the static exit to high-sec, which leads me to a system in Sinq Laison close to Dodixie. Too close to Dodixie, really. But this is interesting, as the second wormhole in C3a is a T405 outbound connection to class 4 w-space. I've found me a bona fide w-space rabbit hole.
Seeing a tower with no ships in C4a is a little disappointing, but not much. The class 4 system will hold a static wormhole to further w-space, and the odds are fair that it will lead to more class 4 or even class 5 w-space, perpetuating the chain. For a late-afternoon expedition, this promise of plenty of systems to explore feels invigorating instead of enervating. The lack of activity in C4a is also good when considering the centrally positioned tower, leaving nowhere in the moderately sized system to hide.
With no one watching, I launch probes, perform a blanket scan of the system, and, cloak re-engaged, warp towards the tower. My probes show me seven anomalies and five signatures, and at the tower I see a piloted Loki. That's odd. What I want to know now is whether my timing was excellent and I got my probes and my ship hidden before the Loki saw anything on d-scan. Apparently not. The pilot is curious or careless enough to ask me in the rarely used local communication channel... something.
I suppose he saw me. Sadly, this looks like an early end to the chain, just as I was getting excited about it. I could press on and scan further, but it's possible the local pilot has already done that. Even if he hasn't done in his Loki what I'd do in mine, it still leaves a pilot aware of my presence in a system between home and where I'm going, and that isn't generally conducive to my returning home.
So I don't want to go further down the rabbit hole. There is still the high-sec system to poke for more wormholes. I head back to C3a, ignore the sleepy Imicus, and return to the system in Sinq Laison. One additional signature has my interest, but when it implodes the moment I launch probes I think that perhaps now is a good time for a sammich.
Sorry, comments for this entry are closed.