Not through null-sec
5th January 2014 – 3.38 pmThe wormhole is collapsed, it's time to make some ISK. Or, at least, it would be time to make some ISK had the wormhole not stubbornly collapsed with Fin on the wrong side of it. That's with Fin on the wrong side of the wormhole, after only just now returning to w-space from a short stint of being in empire space. And she just happens to be on the wrong side of the wormhole in our Orca industrial command ship that we only recently brought in to the home system. The timing for this error is impeccable.
My desire to make ISK from Sleepers is greatly reduced. With three pilots zooming around exploding ships the anomalies are cleared nice and quickly, and although we have done plenty of sites with just two pilots it just won't feel as snappy as I had expected. Plus I'm a little deflated from kicking my glorious leader out of the home system minutes after her return. I think we should scan a new entrance for her to come back through, and even more scanning this late in the evening is not appealing to me.
Fin has other ideas. The sites may be slow with two pilots, but we can at least clear one whilst she gets the Orca out to high-sec, the way she came in, and to Amarr, which is nearby. That will take a little while, because Orcas are slow, and then Fin will stuff the hold full of fuel and other supplies to make best use of this accidental trip to high-sec. So to continue that theme, we can make best use of our spare time by shooting a few Sleepers before scanning the entrance. I can't say no to that.
At least HR's Tengu-piloting skills are pretty good now. He's had a while to train, and he grabs one of the Sleeper strategic cruisers we have available and settles in to it nicely. Even so, I treat him like a newbie when it comes to warping in to the anomaly. I know he's helped us before, but that was in a Nighthawk command ship and with extra help, and rather than assume he knows what to do I spell it all out explicitly. Better to do that than have anything more go wrong this evening.
All goes well. The Sleeper ships are destroyed without a problem, and I return in a Noctis salvager to sweep up all the loot. It's not a good haul, though. The salvage is pretty useless, and as we clear just the one site we don't get to play with the averages. But never mind, we still bag around seventy million ISK of potential profit, which is better than nothing. Now to swap back to my scanning Loki strategic cruiser and find Fin a way home. Again.
Our new static wormhole leads to another class 3 w-space system with a tower and no ships lighting up my directional scanner. I hope this exploration remains as simple, I'm tired. But, no, my notes from a previous visit indicate the system holds a static exit to null-sec space, which definitely doesn't give Fin a good route to bring home an Orca full of supplies. Then again, I suppose it is pretty simple to realise there is no good exit and give up now, before even launching probes.
'Any other exits?' Oh, right. I'm not quite thinking straight. There could be other wormholes, K162s leading in from low- or even high-sec empire space that could easily get Fin home. I should scan, so launch probes and start sifting through all the gas in the system. I resolve what's obviously the static exit to null-sec fairly early, but it isn't until the final signature that I find a second wormhole. The first leads to Fountain, which isn't going to help us, and the second is, oh, a K162 also from null-sec, this one a link to Perrigen Falls.
This doesn't have to be the end. The null-sec systems could have additional wormholes in them, with a slight possibility of finding a connection to empire space. And even though it's more likely to find a w-space connection, those systems beyond may also hold K162s from empire space. But that way madness lies, as I know from experience. Just because scanning can find good wormhole connections doesn't mean you should rely on finding them for every journey. Sometimes stargates are the best option. So rather than bang my head against a wall, I abandon tonight's rescue mission for sleep instead. We can try again tomorrow.
Sorry, comments for this entry are closed.