Refuelling the tower
31st January 2013 – 5.40 pmI've been away for a few days. What's changed? Glorious leader Fin's brought some more fuel in, so she tells me in a mail, saying that 'we were nearly out'. That's odd, as I'm sure we had over two months' worth of bricks to keep us going, although I have to admit that I can't remember the last time I checked. I don't think it was six weeks ago, anyway. Let me take a look at the fuel bay, once I've taken a look at our system. I don't want to rashly appear inside our tower without having an idea who may be watching.
Our anomalies have been stolen. I blame blues. Otherwise, there is just the one signature in the home system, which will be our static wormhole. That makes us about as secure as we can guarantee, so I warp to the tower and pop open the lid to our fuel storage hangar. Sure enough, there's loads of fuel bricks in there, just as I thought. I was sure we kept it away from the loot and fittings, specifically so that we would not lose the fuel amongst the other items. Maybe that system isn't working as well as it could. Or maybe I've just found the fuel overflow that Fin brought in, which she tells me later, and it isn't the same bricks that I put there a while back.
So we're good for fuel, either way. Now I am ready to jump through our static connection and explore the w-space constellation. SUP, wormhole? It may offer a suitably witty rejoinder, based on my own signature, but my combat probes never seem to be able to spot my own ship. Never mind. Entering the class 3 system has little of interest appear on my directional scanner, and the sole planet out of range doesn't offer any occupation to stalk. It all looks a bit quiet, unlike our previous visit, when we popped a Drake battlecruiser from null-sec engaging Sleepers in a magnetometric site.
I'm looking for a static exit to null-sec today. That doesn't sound like fun, and I'd rather find a K162. Actually, a K162 from w-space, and not the K162 from null-sec that I first find. I need to be more careful with what I wish for. A second K162 also appears under my probes, but again I lack in w-space connections, as the wormhole comes from high-sec. At least a high-sec exit gives me a safe route home, should I get in trouble, but only if I bookmark the other side of the wormhole. With the only other wormhole in C3a being the static connection, I exit to high-sec.
Appearing in Sarum Prime, in the Domain region, doesn't just give me a relatively safe way home, but an opportunity probably too good to pass up. Being only one jump from Amarr is persuasion enough to pick up some fuel for our tower. Fin may have got some a day or two ago, but we can never be sure when our next decent connection to empire space will appear, and we ought to make the most of them when they do. That includes today.
I return through C3a to the home system, ditch my scanning boat for a chubby Orca industrial command ship, and head out to high-sec. A single stargate hop in the whale is hardly onerous, and I'm soon stuffing the hold and corporate hangars with as many fuel pellets as will fit, bringing back another month's or so worth of fuel to keep our tower running. I add my pellets to Fin's, making sure the tower is kept full too, and swap back to my Loki strategic cruiser to see what lies behind the other wormholes in the class 3 neighbouring system.
Exiting through C3a's static connection puts me in a system in Curse. A populated system in Curse. I don't much care for other pilots, so ignore the system and try my luck in the other null-sec system. But as I return to C3a a Venture mining frigate appears on d-scan, disappearing moments later. He didn't go past me, and doesn't appear to be hiding in a corner of the w-space system, so have no idea what just happened. Still, it's closer than I've got to a miner in what seems like a while.
Sticking with my plan, I jump through the K162 to appear in the second connected null-sec system, this one in the Delve region. But, again, there are pilots mingling in space, and I don't feel like advertising my presence even by launching probes to scan. I think I'll take the fuel run as evidence that I've been productive today. You have to admit the small accomplishments, particularly when in a dry spell, to keep your spirits up. For now, I'll take a break, and maybe collapse the wormhole later, time permitting, to give me a different constellation.
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