Looking out for a scout

29th May 2014 – 5.32 pm

Look at all of these anomalies popped up! I don't fancy them solo, but could use a Fin to sweep through them as a team for lots of sweet ISK. Maybe she'll arrive shortly. I scan the home system as I wait, resolving our static wormhole but leaving it unvisited, then update my skill queue, check my wallet, etc. Hey, the Ascendancy blueprint sold! I must have vastly undervalued it. Still, it's more ISK for us. And my glorious leader hasn't appeared. I shall explore.

Jumping to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system and updating my directional scanner sees a tower and ships. I won't get my hopes up for activity, though, as the Cormorant destroyer, Epithal hauler, Falcon recon ship, Hoarder hauler, Manticore stealth bomber, and Orca industrial command ship don't make much of a coherent whole. Locating the ships is easier than locating the towers, as the towers are all around different planets but the ships all at one tower. That makes it easier to see only the Falcon be piloted. It's not too interesting.

Maybe there's more to see elsewhere in the system. Three planets are out of d-scan range, though two are moonless. Warping to the one with moons has a tower with a Tengu strategic cruiser and Gila cruiser, both piloted, both idle, and a bunch of bubbles. The bubbles aren't a problem for me, unlike the lack of activity, and I warp to one of the distant moonless planets to launch probes and prepare to scan.

Bubbled tower in w-space

I perform a blanket scan as I warp back to watch the combat ships, and settle down to sift through the three anomalies and seven signatures. Gas, wormhole, gas, wormhole, relics, and wormhole. That should give me options. The first wormhole is an N968 outbound connection to more class 3 w-space, the second a K162 from null-sec, which, from its signature strength, leaves the third as the static exit to high-sec.

Poking out to get the high-sec exit lands me in a system in Devoid, close to Amarr. There are also three extra signatures in the system, but I have more w-space to explore behind me already. Back to C3a, across to the N968, where the wormhole is now wobbling away at the end of its life. That's fine, as it still leaves me plenty of time. I jump through and update d-scan, seeing a tower and a Probe frigate in the system. That's not too exciting, not like the orange Tengu appearing on the wormhole.

Tengu jumps through a wormhole

The scout from C3a jumps home. Did he see my entrance? Perhaps more importantly, will he now look for our newly spawned K162 in his home system? I wait a minute, checking my notes for C3b as I do—my last visit was a month ago, all looks the same—and jump back to C3a to see if the Tengu scout notices the new signature. Yep, probably, as core scanning probes are now visible on d-scan. No one is obviously waiting for me on the wormhole either, which lends support to my not having been spotted.

I warp to our K162, wondering if the Tengu's curiosity about the new wormhole will extend to jumping through it, mostly because Fin has now turned up and is warming up a ship to welcome the Tengu to our home system. The probes have gone, within a short enough time for them to have been scanning just the one signature, but there's no sign of the scout. We sit and wait, me cloaked near the K162 in C3a, Fin in the home system. No one comes.

Maybe the Tengu is bored of scouting inactive systems and doesn't fancy ours. That would be a shame, but I don't supposed jumping in to an ambush is the kind of activity he's after. I speak from experience. I warp to the tower at the distant planet to see if the strategic cruiser has joined his idling colleagues, telling Fin to shoot anything that jumps through whilst I'm gone, but it's still only the original Tengu and Gila idling out there.

Back to the K162, back to waiting. There's probably no point to this, though, and we both agree that as we've not seen the Tengu so far we probably aren't going to see it at all. Fin clears the wormhole, I wait a minute longer on the K162, just in case the Tengu sneaked in early and has been watching all of this. If he did, he's cautious enough not to bail out immediately. Either way, we have no target. I wind-down the evening by heading through the K162 to null-sec and popping a rat in a system in The Spire.

Engaging a drone rat in null-sec

  1. 2 Responses to “Looking out for a scout”

  2. Just because a blueprint sells does not mean you undervalued it. I hope you know about EVE ISK per Hour? If not, get it. Great tool for valuing blueprints.

    In the same lines, manufacturing Ascendancies is a bit fiddly but not that bad. Of course, to do it you need to know it is profitable (so, back to EVE ISK per Hour). And it may not really fit your lifestyle, since you seem to only operate one character.

    By Von Keigai on May 29, 2014

  3. Sure, it was mostly a glib comment about how quickly it sold. I don't think anyone hummed or hawed over dropping the ISK on it.

    By pjharvey on May 31, 2014

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