Throwing myself at a tower

All looks clear at home. A casual inspection of the signature count compares to the bookmarks I have, but checking the gas sites sees that two have dissipated. That gives me two new signatures to identify before I can safely assume the system is clear. Thankfully, we live in class 4 w-space and that means, as a general rule, we only see K162s, and those signatures are around as chubby as our static wormhole. A blanket scan is enough to show that the new signatures are not wormholes.

A lack of other connections is a good start, considering that I have finally remembered the four Gecko drones in the hold of my Proteus strategic cruiser. When did I steal them? Some days ago, that's for sure, maybe a week, and I've been flying around with them taking space since. With no one around in the home system I can drop them at the tower without being seen, so that's my first task, and easily accomplished. Now to scan.

Gas and data. I nearly warp to our static wormhole to start exploring, but realise that a slow start to the evening in an anomaly may be a better idea. Keep the ISK flowing, and all that. At least, as long as I don't lose the Golem. What are the odds? I warp back to the tower, swap to the marauder, and head out to the same old anomaly as always, for some smooth Sleeper slaughter.

All goes swimmingly, even if the clouds of blinding doom remain, and I bring home most of the loot in the Golem and what's left swept up by a destroyer. That's about ninety million ISK made, now for a quick poke around. Back in to my Proteus, warp to the static wormhole, and jump through. Updating my directional scanner on the K162 in the class 3 w-space system has a familiar sight, kinda, with a lone canister labelled 'Go away'.

Why should that can ring a bell? Ah, maybe because I was here only yesterday, when we had the same neighbouring system. I still have the bookmarks in my recycling folder, which I recover, apart from the wormholes which must be dead by now. I see two new anomalies and maybe a couple of new signatures, but I'm not counting. I just launch probes and perform a blanket scan. Hey, two ships, one fat, one skinny. Surely the Epithal hauler and Helios covert operations boat aren't still idling since yesterday.

I warp across to the tower, thankfully using yesterday's bookmarks to head directly to the tower with the ships and not the one with the bubble traps. Or so I think. I still end up in the bubble of the tower without the ships, which is dumb and confusing, and I realise that I actually labelled the bookmarks incorrectly yesterday. That explains why I kept going to the wrong tower.

I reverse carefully out of the warp bubble and head to the tower where I expect to find the ships, correcting the bookmark labels as I go. It takes three attempts. I'm not too smart sometimes. But I get the tower bookmarks ship-shape and land outside the tower where I don't see an idling Epithal and Helios, but a Kryos hauler and Taranis interceptor. They're both very idle, but they've at least swapped ships over a period of a day.

The pilots may be idle, but the tower is not. I see an ECM effect applied to my Proteus, which is a most curious sight when my ship is cloaked. It's a less curious sight when my ship isn't cloaked, which it isn't, even though it should be. Crap! What happened? Damn, I know. I suffered finger trouble when editing the bookmarks and hit the wrong button, dropping my cloak. Now a gun is shooting me, as well as the ECM continuing to jam me. I've got to get out of here, before a warp disruption effect hits!

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Tags: eve online, golem, kryos, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, sleepers, taranis, w-space

Black hole to black hole

Heading back home, I take a diversion in to null-sec. I ignore the K162 from null-sec in the first class 5 black hole system, because if someone opened it and came through then they would have done the same to any other wormholes. The outbound wormhole to null-sec in the class 6 w-space system is more appealing to me, as it may lead to a system with wormholes as-yet unfound by wandering pilots.

The wormhole takes me to Insmother, where one pilot leaves the system shortly after I enter. Two other signatures beckon to me, and I launch probes and resolve a combat site and wormhole. It's an N432, which, after the two crappy, messy, black hole C5 systems so far, doesn't look like a great option. It's still an option, though, so I take my Proteus strategic cruiser through.

My directional scanner shows me nothing from the K162 in C5c, the discovery scanner pings loads of anomalies. There's no black hole, which is something, and I find occupation around a distant planet. There are no ships in the force field, so no one to stalk, but with only three signatures I think I can afford the time to see where the static wormhole takes me.

The two unknown signatures, the wormhole I came through already known, are a data site and weak wormhole, which turns out to be a connection to class 1 w-space. How lovely. I poke through, hoping to find a soft target, but see only a tower and a pair of salvage drones. They're not fooling me, even with no wrecks in the system. That just means they've done their job, good drones, it's the lack of ships that makes me suspect nothing is happening.

I locate the tower and sift through the signatures. It won't take long, as they are mostly chubby. Naturally, nearly all of the signatures resolve to be gas sites, and the only wormhole is a static exit to low-sec at the end of its life. That's this direction exhausted, so back I go. To C5c, out to null-sec, in to C6a, back to our neighbouring C3a, and through it's static wormhole to low-sec.

There were some additional signatures in this system in Kador, hence my return having found nothing of interest in the other direction, and there is even another pilot scanning who I'm hoping will venture in to potential data or relic sites. I need to scan them first, and hope he's not skittish about other pilots being in the system. Wormhole, skinny wormhole, data site, data site, combat site, and data site. That gives me decent options, and as I can't see another ship under my probes to suggest a data scavenger, I reconnoitre the wormholes.

The first wormhole is a connection to more low-sec empire space. The second is an outbound link to class 1 w-space. It's an easy choice to make, and I jump to C1b. It seems to be the night of the black hole. Two black hole systems behind me, and now this one too. Updating d-scan shows me a tower but still no ships, and the system is tidy enough that I launch probes to check the two anomalies and six signatures for further connections.

Two more wormholes. The O833 link to class 3 w-space is interesting, but less so given its EOL state, and although the static exit to high-sec could be convenient for someone it's not to me at this late hour. Maybe that scanner in low-sec has found a site to be vulnerable in by now. I head back to take a look.

The capsuleer remains in the system, easily visible in the local channel. I even see a Cheetah covert operations boat on d-scan, but pinging the data sites doesn't find him. He is skittish about other pilots in the system, as even a wider sweep no longer shows the Cheetah. He's cloaked. Good for him, but it means I'm not catching anyone tonight. I'll just head home.

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Tags: cheetah, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, w-space

Dangerous black holes are messy

I fear the home system may have stagnated with time, but it seems w-space continues even without me. My ego doesn't like this revelation, so I choose to ignore it. The new signatures have clearly only just appeared, thus prompting their need to be scanned by me and only me, so I launch probes to fulfil my destiny. A wormhole, three gas sites, and, oh, a second wormhole. Maybe some other capsuleers exist external to my reality. I think I can live with that.

It seems I have options. Bouncing between the two resolved wormholes, I find our static connection to class 3 w-space and, huh, empty space. The respective signature has disappeared too, so I must have resolved the wormhole during its death throes. That's a shame, as I like watching their final struggles, the very fabric of space holding them together getting ever more intangible, until the wormhole's collapse in to nothingness is punctuated by a last desperate gasp. I'm quite sane, you know.

It seems I don't have options. At least our wormhole remains healthy, either untouched by the unknown intruders or already suffered the churn of life-and-death and respawned for my exclusive use. Yep, the latter option is probably more likely. I jump to C3a and update my directional scanner.

D-scan shows me nothing, although there is only the one planet in range. I launch probes and blanket the system, being shown thirteen anomalies, five signatures, and two ships. One ship is fat, one tiny, judging by the signature sizes. My notes also point to a tower being in the general direction of the ships, so I think it's fair to say that they will be inside the force field. I warp across to see if that is the case, and if they are piloted.

I land outside the tower and on the edge of a bubble. I'm safe, but I notice that the ships aren't at the tower. They're still probably not out in space, though, as updating d-scan again sees a second tower along with the Epithal hauler and Helios covert operations boat. I locate the new tower, pop across, and see both ships piloted and quite idle.

I'll scan, starting with the wormhole home. That's not because I got flustered after jumping in to the system, pressing buttons and pulling levers seemingly at random, and somehow managing to move away from the wormhole and launch probes prematurely, warping away in a confused state without having bookmarked my way home. No, scanning the wormhole I just warped away from is standard procedure, obviously.

The signatures in C3a are a wormhole, a tiny wormhole, some gas, and some more gas. Fascinating. I'll hit the static wormhole first and get the low-sec exit before reconnoitring what must be an outbound connection. That's what I do too, because I certainly don't warp to our K162 so that I bookmark the wormhole itself and not its scanned result, but forget this mid-warp and wonder why I've managed to find a K162 to class 4 w-space and not an exit to low-sec. Obviously.

C3a's static wormhole takes me to a system in Kador, where a bunch of signatures could be interesting, but I've already found a potentially interesting wormhole. Back to C3a and across to an A982 connection. Okay, an outbound wormhole to deadly class 6 w-space is definitely interesting. The blood-red pulsating tear in space-time is about as welcoming a sight as you get in w-space too, so without hesitation I approach the connection and jump through.

Updating d-scan in C6a sees a tower and ships, but no wrecks, and the discovery scanner shows me a messy system. I locate the tower and find no pilots, and as the mess is mostly the twenty-five anomalies, not the seven signatures, I think I can spare the time to scan. Two wormholes are found, which seems like a good result until I warp to them. The static wormhole to class 5 w-space is only joined by an outbound link to null-sec. C5a, then.

Jumping in to C5a has d-scan clear, a black hole looming ominously below, and even more mess. I'm not feeling positive about occupation or activity, even before I see that only one planet is out of range. Nope, no one here. I sift through the twenty-seven anomalies and fifteen signatures, again getting two wormholes as a result. My notes already let me know the static wormhole leads to more class 5 w-space, and this time the null-sec connection is a K162. Great. In to C5b.

Another clear d-scan, another black hole, another messy system. Even as I am presented with a striking visualisation of my optimism being red-shifted through the butt-hole of w-space, I launch probes and perform a blanket scan of the system. Twenty-two anomalies, twenty-two signatures, no ships, no occupation. No interest. I'm going back.

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Tags: epithal, eve online, helios, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Epithal escort

Heading home through a quiet w-space constellation, I can't resist poking out to low-sec. Our neighbouring class 3 w-space system holds a number of wormholes to other w-space systems, all occupied, none with any ships, but I've yet to exit w-space so far tonight. I'd be remiss if I didn't at least get the exit system to see if logistics are a possibility. Ha! Just kidding. I want to find a newbie in a frigate distracted in a data site. Or other wormholes where I could pit my strategic cruiser against a battleship. Maybe something in-between.

I drop on top of the U210 and jump through, appearing in a system in the Khanid region. There are a few pilots in the system with me, most with flashy skulls that probably indicate they want to be friends, but I'm interested in the four extra signatures. I launch probes and scan, resolving a data site, wormhole, some relics, and another wormhole. Looking good, Billy Ray!

The first wormhole in the low-sec system connects to a system in Lonetrek, which is obvious from the amazing greyness projected through the connection. I then notice the wormhole identifier, have no idea what it means, and open the information panel to see that it leads to more low-sec. High-sec may have been interesting, more low-sec less so at this point in the evening. The other wormhole is a K162 from class 2 w-space, almost worth a look through except for it being at the end of its life.

I check the Lonetrek connection anyway, just to discharge my responsibilities, and end up far from anywhere interesting, with one pilot in the system, and only one other signature that I can pretend is a combat site and safely ignore. Time to go home. Low-sec, C3a, home, and I would go off-line, but Aii appears. How can I not say hello?

Aii disappears through the K162 at home in to class 2 w-space, taking his Epithal hauler out to high-sec. In crossing C2a he calls out a new Manticore stealth bomber in the system, which piques my interest. I follow a minute or so behind Aii, and indeed see a Manticore new to the system, as well as the idle Venture mining frigate, and an even-newer Epithal.

I make sure the Epithal isn't Aii's, and set about to finding it. It's not difficult to do in a system with so few planets, even when most of them are covered with towers, but still the Epithal disappears before I can locate it. I think it was replaced by this Proteus strategic cruiser. It's as the system starts to get active that I feel I should remind Aii of our last visit to the system, with the bait Myrmidon and the ambush we fell too. He remembers where I don't, so I have to look it up. Dumb move, indeed. I blame myself.

Aii's out in his hauler and is coming back, and ships are building up in the bridging system. That's not a terrible position to be in. Sure, the Proteus will be a tough nut to crack, but if the Manticore can be tempted to attack Aii I'm sure I can discourage it by forcing it to explode under fire. If the locals are a little impetuous, Aii may even have a high-sec wormhole to flee through.

I locate the Manticore, which is in the tower with the inactive Venture, and watch as it aligns and warps to the high-sec wormhole. That's a lovely sight, seeing the stealth bomber maybe provide a target for us, and being able to watch the ship align again. I'm glad my crossed circuits have been fixed. I follow the Manticore, but stealth bombers are difficult to track, and I can't tell if he jumped to high-sec or is lurking cloaked. Or is now somewhere else. Either way, I'll sit and wait.

The Proteus drops off d-scan, replaced by a Flycatcher. That looks like a potential ambush being arranged for a hauler passing through the system, and one better for me to counter than having the Proteus available. Now to get Aii home and see what happens. But before he reaches the wormhole the Flycatcher disappears. I suppose a better place for it to wait would be on our wormhole, to catch its target on a connection with w-space on both sides.

I warp to our K162 to look for the Flycatcher, not really knowing what I'm expecting to find. It'll be on the other side, Penny, and you won't see it by peering through, no matter how much you squint. I wasn't really squinting, honest. Back to the high-sec exit, where Aii is ready to return home, and in he comes. His Epithal appears, aligns to warp, and warps. No stealth bomber, no Flycatcher. Fair enough.

I follow behind Aii to the wormhole home, dropping short to maintain my cloak and wait on this side of the wormhole. If Aii is caught and has to run, I can engage here and chase back to our home system, where the ambushers will be polarised and I won't be. Or Aii can jump home and warp to our tower unmolested by any ships waiting, because there aren't any. That's a little disappointing.

Aii was noticed, though. The idling Venture wakes up to see the unfamiliar Epithal on d-scan, swaps to a Talwar destroyer, and warps to the wormhole to our home system. Not on top of the wormhole, though, but thirty kilometres away, and I only notice as he turns and warps away again, as clearly too late to ambush Aii's Epithal as I am in noticing the new contact to do anything about it. Never mind. I suppose it's time for bed.

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Tags: epithal, eve online, flycatcher, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, talwar, venture, w-space

Simple noodle around w-space

Just a quiet night noodling around will do for me, I think. I suppose it depends on what I'll find, but I won't force anything if circumstances don't look positive. It's also been a few days since I last left the home system, what with a fleet coming to us and then engaging Sleepers for a bit. Let's see if I can remember how to scan.

The previous day's bookmark sits underneath today's wormhole, so it has either remained closed for a while or has stubbornly refused to move. Mind you, as a bit of gas in the home system is joined by a second wormhole I think I can safely say our static connection is now open. The other wormhole is a K162 from class 2 w-space, and as it has opened in to us it has a better chance of holding activity than the system in the other direction. I jump through the K162 to C2a.

Nothing waits for me on the wormhole, and updating my directional scanner sees five towers and a single ship. Is the Venture mining frigate in or out? I open the system map and start poking the anomalies with a tight d-scan beam, moving on to the planets when I find no ship. The Venture is in, it seems, with it being coincident on d-scan with one of the towers.

The towers are straightforward to locate in the system. Despite there being so many of them, four more being brought in to range when looking for the Venture, albeit with no more ships, there are not many moons at all. I can note the tower locations without visiting most of them, which is handy, and warp directly to the Venture to find it piloted and quite inactive.

My notes for the system show that Aii and I were baited by a Myrmidon battlecruiser and subsequently ambushed on our last visit, both losing our strategic cruisers. I don't remember that, curiously. But, I suppose, I have lost so many Lokis. Nothing's happening in the system tonight, so I quickly poke the signatures. Quickly, because there are only six of them. Data, wormhole, data, relics, and the static exit to high-sec. Easy-peasy.

The high-sec exit leads to Sinq Laison, is five hops from Dodixie, and has three extra signatures. Thankfully, the wormhole is at the end of its life, so I don't feel any need to go to stinking Gallente space, and I return to C3a to reconnoitre the other wormhole. It's a K162 from class 2 w-space, and unfortunately also EOL. Fair enough, I suppose I'll head back the other way and look in to our neighbouring class 3 system.

The wormhole is clear, d-scan is clear, and just one planet sits out of range. I launch probes and perform a blanket scan as I warp to the far planet, which my notes suggest holds occupation. My probes show me seven anomalies, eight signatures, and no ships, and my overview shows me no tower. D-scan does, though, it's just not the one from my last visit. It's easy enough to find, conventionally anchored to a moon, so I settle down to scan again.

Wormhole, wormhole, gas, wormhole, wormhole, data, and data. That looks like a good result to me, and off I go to see what wormholes I've found. The static exit to low-sec is obv. That is, its identifier is OBV. There is also a K162 from class 2 w-space, an N968 outbound connection to more class 3 w-space—in fact, I think I'd best jump through that now, in case I've just opened it.

In to C3b, where d-scan shows me a tower and no ships, and the discovery scanner a messy system. I can't be bothered to sift through all of these signatures for potentially nothing, particularly with no change in the system since three months ago, so ignore it all and head back to the other wormholes in C3a. The last wormhole I warp to in C3a is, hullo, a V301 outbound connection to class 1 w-space.

I dunno why I'm so excited by the C1 link. I don't suppose the chance of finding activity is any higher, although maybe what activity there is could be easier to engage. But that's probably just a superficial assumption based on the class of w-space and has nothing to do with the type of capsuleer to be found there. Either way, I'm going in!

A tower, no ships. No notes either. It's a new system to explore, but that's about it. At least there are only three anomalies and five signatures, so I can make a note of the static exit without too much effort—once I squeeze my way out of a decent bubble trap around the tower. It goes to low-sec, and Kor-Azor in particular today. That's it for this system too, I suppose.

Back to C3a and across to the C2 K162, for one last chance of finding ships. I jump through, update d-scan, and see the standard empty tower in the system. The two unsupported mining drones aren't fooling me, there's nothing happening. Of course there isn't, look at the system: two planets and one moon! It's a bedsit, making it no wonder the locals aren't home. I would bemoan the lack of activity, but I got what I wanted, which is a bit of noodling around w-space for an evening. It'll do.

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, venture, w-space

Clear two, clear a third free

I look to be alone to start the evening. But, then, I did yesterday too, and there turned out to be a substantial fleet in the middle of our system. Launching probes and performing a blanket scan doesn't return any ships, but that doesn't mean there are no ships. Not that I'm paranoid, but I can't help wondering if my interrupting the fleet's plans caused enough resentment for them to plant a ship or two in the system to interrupt me.

I know how to find out if there's anyone out there. As it's just me, some gas, and our static wormhole, I warp to our tower, swap my scouting boat for the Golem marauder, and take it out to the one good anomaly we have available. Nothing so far, but I have only just got here. I target the Sleepers, start shooting missiles, and launch the silly mobile tractor unit in preparation of raking in the wrecks.

New signature alert! The discovery scanner pings another anomaly at me, similar to this one, in fact. Damned discovery scanner, encouraging me to continue making ISK when I just wanted to start the evening feeling productive. I can't ignore the opportunity, though, although I can accidentally ignore my weapon timers. I think the blinding cloud my Golem is sitting in has something to do with that.

The first anomaly is almost clear when a new contact appears! It's okay, it's just my glorious leader turning up. Fin should help speed this up too. I finish the final Sleepers, drop the gathered loot at our tower, and warp out to clear the second anomaly whilst we're on an isk-making roll. No interference yet. I'm not even interfered with by a Tengu strategic cruiser, Fin suffering from the same problem I had when looking to take one of the Tengus to the neighbouring system recently. It seems neither of us can remember how to fit it for local repairs.

It's just me and the Golem in the second anomaly, not even a blinding cloud to obscure my presence. I'm exposed! But the Sleepers are converted to wrecks without problem. A bit of minor sweeping up in a destroyer and I've finished my ISK-generation for the evening, bringing back a tidy 180 Miskies. Or so I think. Fin has accidentally taken her Tengu in to a third anomaly, thinking we'd be continuing. Well, never mind, we're not always in control of our destiny.

Back in to the Golem and to the third anomaly. We're getting more familiar with this type, and although the Sleepers seem tougher than in the previous anomalies the combat is just as straightforward. Pick a target, shoot a target. Fin cleared the frigates before I got here, which was thoughtful, although doing so has left a bundle of wrecks on the other side of the anomaly. That's okay, the MTU can sweep up the new wrecks and we can loot and salvage the others afterwards.

The third anomaly is cleared of Sleepers. We wait for the guns to evaporate and I head back in to the site in a Noctis salvager. It's been a while since I've used one, and in doing so I realise that it really is a shame. The range of the tractor beams, the cycle time of the salvagers, it really is a salvaging machine. The mobile tractor unit now feels even more of a travesty to w-space life, after just five minutes in a Noctis. But whatever.

I get home safely, all the wrecks looted and salvaged, the third anomaly pulling in about cool hundred million ISK for us. That's over a quarter-of-a-billion ISK in potential profit collected this evening. Maybe we didn't leave our home system, and neither did I yesterday, but there are still activities to keep us engaged.

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Tags: eve online, golem, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, scanning, sleepers, tengu, w-space

Stalking stealth bombers

The Hound eludes me. The stealth bomber is far from the cluster of rather larger ships and their drones that are shooting the off-line tower in our home w-space system, for whatever reason, but I can't get myself close enough to catch him. Thankfully, other options have turned up. More stealth bombers have appeared, one Nemesis and two Manticores, and the Nemesis looks to be getting a bit close to some of the defences.

I think that makes the Nemesis my new target. The defences can be bookmarked, making them easy to approach by warping, and are far enough from the rest of the fleet that I should be able to engage the ship without repercussions. That is, if I can catch it. Either I'm really bad at gauging ships' vectors, or my Proteus strategic cruiser accelerates in and out of warp like a freighter. By the time I bounce off a moon around this same planet and return to the tower, the Nemesis is nowhere near my estimate.

They're all moving too quickly. That's my excuse. I think I get lucky when a Manticore pauses, but he's just faking me out, moving again when I try to drop on top of him. But, finally, after far too long, I get close enough to feel positive about an ambush. I get a good bounce and am not only close to one of the Manticores but our positions are converging. Twenty kilometres, nineteen, eighteen. It's looking good.

I push my Proteus to lead the stealth bomber, trying to keep our ranges closing. I don't even need to get on top of the ship, as my targeting systems will suffer a recalibration delay, which I can use to pulse my micro warp drive and zoom in close. As it turns out, I don't really need to do that, as I get within ten kilometres when cloaked, but I do it anyway. It's now or never, and I decloak and get my systems hot.

Pulsing my micro warp drive I close the range to the Manticore quickly, gaining a positive lock when I can. I've got him. Now, if only I could hit him with my guns. I'm a little nervous, what with a substantial fleet sitting fifty kilometres away, but that shouldn't affect my targeting computers. My speed does, and my blasters are having real trouble tracking the tiny target. I cut the MWD and slow my speed, at which point I start getting good hits. Well, maybe one good hit. The Manticore isn't known for its defences.

The stealth bomber explodes in a flash that blinds my space vision. I aim for the pod, not really wanting to hang around too long, but it seems to be lingering for longer than it should and I notice ships are warping out rather than heading my way. But something is stopping me from getting a positive lock. Ah, a Falcon recon ship has decloaked and is jamming me. Time to bug out. I align to a nearby moon and accelerate in to warp, reloading my guns and cloaking.

I warp back to the tower, wanting to see what's left. All the drones, plus the wreck of the Manticore. No ships are left, although they all remain in the system, as visible on my directional scanner. That shows they are uncertain of who is out here. That works for me, seeing as they've left half-a-dozen Gecko drones behind, plus loads of faction drones. I'll have some of them, thanks.

Grabbing some drones isn't worth losing a strategic cruiser over, and I approach the task of scooping the Geckos with some caution. I align to a pair of the drones and then set manual control to ensure my ship doesn't stop when reaching the drones. I decloak, grab one, two, three Geckos, and re-activate my cloak. All looks good, so I aim towards another pair. Decloak, scoop, no scoop. My hold is full. Never mind, burn away from the drones and cloak. I'm safe, with four new Geckos for me.

Now to reconnoitre the ships' new position. My probes are still available, and it's a simply matter to resolve the signature in the system with the ships on it. The pod sits elsewhere, almost certainly as bait. I've seen ships come and go, strategic cruisers mostly, so I won't be suckered in to anything overly foolish. I merely warp to the wormhole to see a K162 from class 2 w-space pulsating from being stressed to half mass, with some ships on it.

The fleet hasn't quite given up, as more ships come and go, including the bait pod going back. Naturally, given the state of the wormhole, the battleships don't return, but battlecruisers and strategic cruisers come in and warp to the off-line tower. I think they are here only to claim their drones back, which they do, but they start shooting the tower a bit more. I still don't understand why they want to.

I can't do much more. I'm almost tempted to stay and find out what they do when the tower explodes but I have no idea how much longer they'll be. As luck would have it, as I am about to head off-line the ships all leave. Well, I think they all do, but I haven't been counting. I also get a conversation request, from a charming fellow in the fleet.

We have a pleasant chat about why they didn't see me, what I didn't see that could have ruined my evening, and that my interruption caused them to find a wormhole they were using was now at the end of its life, hence their departure. I don't quite get an explanation of why they were shooting the tower, but that's okay. I don't mind a little mystery.

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Tags: eve online, falcon, hound, manticore, mmorpg, nemesis, penny ibramovic, proteus, pvp, scanning, w-space

Trying to catch a Womble

Fresh in space, all looks clear. Our gas site has been swept away, and although a new signature has popped up I wouldn't be surprised it if were just replacement gas. I launch probes, perform a blanket scan, and, huh. There are a dozen or more ships along with clouds of drones in our system. That doesn't seem normal.

I'm cloaked and warping to the inner system, from one of my safe spots at a far edge of the system, at which point I update my directional scanner. Yep, ships and drones. Three Dominix battleships, a Rattlesnake battleship, three Vexor Navy Issue cruisers, and enough drones to make a hive. Now I'm pretty sure they aren't ours.

Thieves! I think! I poke our anomalies with d-scan, expecting to find the fleet, but I find nothing. I do it again, because where else would the fleet be? I've got no notifications about damage to our structures. I still can't find the fleet, neither can I see any wrecks. But why the ships, why the drones?

Okay, I've narrowed down the fleet's location to a planet. I warp across to the customs office, dropping in from high above the ecliptic plane just in case they are at an odd range, but they aren't here. Of course they aren't, I just told myself I'm not receiving damage notifications from our structures. They are around this planet, though.

Finally, there they are. I poke each moon with d-scan, not knowing what else to do, and locate the fleet. They are gathered at the off-line tower in our system, the one we've been too lazy to tear down since displacing the owner corporation when we moved in. Well, I say 'too lazy', I more mean that destroying a faction tower under the influence of a class 4 w-space pulsar is a bit too tedious to contemplate under normal circumstances. That just makes it weirder that this fleet, who don't even live here, are doing just that.

I'm rather ambivalent about this action. On the one hand, who cares if the tower is removed? It gets rid of some clutter, and hardly changes our landscape. On the other hand, I was kinda hoping it would serve as a good target dummy for my Revelation dreadnought, if we ever get it fully armed. On the gripping hand, why destroy a valuable piece of hardware if we may be able to unanchor and sell it for ISK within the next six months?

I don't know why they are shooting the tower, and it's not like I can do much about a fleet as big as this. However, although most of the ships may be hugging the column in a rather suggestive manner, a lone Hound stealth bomber is orbiting at a healthy distance from the rest of the fleet, lobbing torpedoes as it goes. That's a ship I can pop, hopefully without the fleet being able to interfere in time. I just need to catch it.

Piece of cake. I can't warp directly to the ship, but there is the tower slap bang in the middle of the grid as a focal point, the defences above and below the tower give me some z-axis reference points, and there are planets and moons all around I can bounce off to get in to range. This shouldn't take more than a couple of tries. I make a bookmark of a defence, check the Hound's position and vector, and bounce off a suitable moon, returning to be, well, nowhere near.

Nil desperandum. That was my first effort, and I at least got closer. Now I can better see how the Hound is moving and get the jump on him with the next bounce. So confident am I that I ignore a newly arrived Nemesis stealth bomber and warp away to come back, uh, nowhere near the Hound again. Third time's the charm, obviously. I use the tactical overlay, gauge the right distance and vector, bounce off a moon, and bloody hell, what am I doing wrong?

I bet the old saying is fourth time's a charm, and it must have got corrupted by people who were clearly more skilful than me. I bounce my Proteus strategic cruiser off a moon and back to the tower, and get my best result so far. I am still around forty kilometres from my target, though, and I'm pretty sure my weapon systems don't have that kind of range. Plot an intercept course, Mr Data.

I try to crawl cloaked to get closer, but the Hound is booking it, and although the speed suggests an active afterburner and not micro warp drive, he's heading away from me again. Balls to it, Mr Data, let's just bounce off a moon again, because obviously that's going to work this time. I get back to the tower once again around forty kilometres from the Hound, once again on a diverging course. You know, at this point, I think I'm just wasting warp fuel.

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Tags: dominix, eve online, hound, manticore, mmorpg, nemesis, penny ibramovic, proteus, rattlesnake, vexor, w-space

Stale wormholes leads to Sleepers

I'm following behind Mick's scouting again today, seeing what he's found. Ah, our static wormhole. Good man. Jumping through and updating my directional scanner sees nothing in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, and checking my notes has my last visit twenty months ago. Since then, two towers have been torn down, and either one remains or the new occupiers have erected it in the same place as the old one.

I find the remaining tower after launching probes and performing a blanket scan of the system, which shows me two ships along with fifteen each of anomalies and signatures. The ships are an unpiloted Crane transport and Rapier recon ship, floating inside the tower's force field, giving me nothing to watch. I suppose I'll scan.

The signatures mostly disguise gas and relics, with the wormholes present being those Mick scouted earlier, the only exception being that the dying K162 from class 4 w-space is now collapsed and gone. That's a shame, as the other two wormholes are merely k-space connections, one the static exit to low-sec, the other a K162 from null-sec. I'll make do with what I have.

Warping to C3a's static wormhole sees the familiar colours of The Citadel shining through. At least, it had better be The Citadel on the other side, with the number of times I've mistaken The Citadel for The Forge recently. They also aren't so much shining through as wobbling like jelly, as the wormhole is at the end of its life.

I poke through to low-sec anyway, if for no more reason than to check that it is indeed The Citadal, which it is. The system is close to Jita, but the journey would involve travelling through faction warfare systems, a route I'd rather not take. Back to C3a and across to the null-sec K162, where the 'A' of the Malpais nebula signifies Perrigen Falls on the other side. I'll take my word for that, as this connection is EOL too.

Dying wormholes everywhere. What to do? Kill our own, I suppose, out of kindness. I head home, wait for polarisation effects to dissipate, and start the process of destabilising our static connection. It takes a few trips with massive ships, but the process is straightforward. The wormhole collapses on schedule, without interruption, and with my ending in the home system. Job's a good 'un.

Our system is isolated. I think I'll take this opportunity to clear a couple of anomalies and make some iskies. I drop my scouting ship at our tower and swap it for a Golem marauder. I check I have enough ammunition, and warp to an anomaly to engage the Sleepers. It all feels a bit weird, too. Considering home system Sleeper slaying has been the norm for so long, spending just one day in a C3 magnetar system has corrupted the experience a curiously significant amount.

It feels like my shield repairer isn't as efficient, but the C4 pulsar gives the Golem a considerable boost to its shields, so the amount repaired is the same and it's the percentage repaired that is lower. The incoming damage is perhaps greater too, even from C3 magnetar Sleepers to plain C4 Sleepers, making the repairs seem less effective. The strangest change is that I appear to be using less ammunition to pop more ships. That I can't explain.

I shoot and let the silly mobile tractor unit loot. I occasionally transfer the loot from the MTU to the Golem's hold, and the first time I do that I wonder who left this salvage in here. Surely I was the last one to use the marauder. And I was, but I have also been salvaging more wrecks, like right now in this site. That's where it's come from, Penny.

Mystery solved, I turn my attention to watching my scanners and shooting Sleepers. The first site is cleared, I fly past our tower to drop off the first haul of loot, and move on to the second site. As an added precaution, I park the Golem in a fog bank, somewhere no one will think to look for me. And they don't. Two sites are cleared without problem, letting me bring back 175 Miskies in loot and salvage for the evening.

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Tags: crane, eve online, golem, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, rapier, scanning, sleepers, w-space

Scuttling a Skiff

I'm heading home, through a really convenient wormhole from high-sec to low-sec, when I remember the other wormhole I scanned. It's in this low-sec system, and I haven't reconnoitred it yet because it's an outbound wormhole, not wanting to open it immediately if it wasn't already open. It's a long shot that it remains unopened, perhaps, but it's worth swinging past in case anything interesting is inside. Just a peak.

Dropping out of warp near the cosmic signature sees an R943 wormhole, leading to class 2 w-space. That's not a bad option, although this late in the evening I doubt I'll be diving too far down a new constellation. I approach, delcoak, and jump through, updating my directional scanner once back in w-space to see what's out there. Three towers, an Orca industrial command ship, and a Skiff exhumer.

Is the Skiff out of the tower? Is it bait? Poking the visible anomalies with d-scan sees that the exhumer is indeed out of the tower, and as the discovery scanner is only showing me three signatures it is possible this system is closed, the wormhole I'm sitting on only just having been opened. Of course, that means the discovery scanner will be showing the new signature to the Skiff soon, so I ought to make best use of my time.

I warp in to the ore anomaly, dropping short in an attempt to make a perch as I head in, and get a decent result. The Skiff is almost two hundred kilometres from me, quite happily chewing on a chunk of bistot. It's a high-end ore, the system looks clean, and the wormhole has either only just been opened or been open for ages. The probability that this Skiff is bait is fairly low.

I doubt anyone would be able to scramble bait and hide a fleet in under a minute, or that a bait ship would want to chomp on rocks for more than the half-hour our logistics run has taken. I'm going in. My good position allows me to warp in closer without any additional manoeuvring, saving some time, and getting closer makes the circumstance look just as good as from afar. Better, really, as I now I am almost in range to strike.

Just a few kilometres to cover cloaked, and I decloak, lock, and start shooting the Skiff. I disrupt the exhumer's warp engines, unleash my blasters at the boat, and set some drones free, all whilst nervously watching my overview and updating d-scan for any surprises. All looks clear.

I'm getting some hits in but the Skiff feels tough. I think that's a result of my cautious range giving my blasters a hard time. As this seems like a straightforward ambush I get closer, drop my speed, and watch the Skiff wake up. He launches his own drones, although combat drones seem a poor choice. As much as I dislike the ECM mechanic, ECM drones against a single attacker would be a much better option for survival.

The Skiff's drones try to get my own drones down, and when that fails go for me instead. I'm in a Proteus strategic cruiser, though. They're not going to have much effect. Indeed, my blasters and drones drop the Skiff's shields and rip through its armour and hull before my own shields are in trouble, and I don't even rely on them.

The Skiff explodes. The pod flees easily enough, and I move to loot and shoot the wreck, taking a whole bunch of mining crystals and leaving the ore. It looks like I've got time, so I grab the drones that have stopped shooting me, before reloading my guns and warping back to my perch. That was a lucky catch, and a good, opportunistic kill, estimated at a little under two hundred million ISK.

I orientate myself, locate the towers, and find the pod in a force field with the Orca, which itself is piloted and was no doubt providing boosts to the exhumer. With no ship to boost, the Orca suffers a minor crisis and blinks out of existence. I'll disappear too. I wasn't intending to be long anyway. ISK, fuel, and ambushing a miner. I think I can reward myself with a well-deserved sammich.

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, proteus, pvp, skiff, w-space