Trying to count ships

All looks well. I launch probes and perform a blanket scan of the home w-space system as I warp to an arbitrary safe spot to place my Loki strategic cruiser in a more central position. At least, I think it's an arbitrary safe spot, one bookmark plucked out of the many scattered around, but I drop out of warp next to our static wormhole. It seems to have respawned on the same spot as yesterday. I suppose that saves my having to scan it. Now for that other, new signature.

Naturally, the other signature is a second wormhole. I feel the discovery scanner ticking, almost pulling me to the neighbouring class 3 system through our static connection. I can always get ambushed on the way back by today's visiting corporation. But, no, I am able to be pragmatic, and warp across to investigate the other wormhole first. After all, they've almost certainly opened our static wormhole and already triggered the discovery scanner's update in C3a.

The K162 comes from class 5 w-space, and exploring in to the system sees five towers and some inconsequential ships on my directional scanner. Sure, the Archon carrier isn't often called inconsequential, but with only a Buzzard covert operations boat and shuttle for support I doubt the Archon is up to much. I launch probes to perform a blanket scan of the system, and reveal eight anomalies, three signatures, and seven ships. Hmm, something's not adding up.

One of the extra ships is a Viator transport I failed to notice the first time, the others are probably out of d-scan range. My previous visit to this C5 was only four months ago, so my notes should be good, and I warp around the towers to look for the missing ships. Ah, my last visit was also after I popped a Noctis salvager in our home system, having seen a pair of Tengu strategic cruisers stealing our loot and a Purifier being not as stealthy as it could have been. I then wandered in to the fleet's home C5 system, got myself isolated, and left w-space via null-space to get home. Great days. I wonder if they remember me.

One tower has the Viator, Buzzard, Archon, surprisingly all piloted. Another tower is brought in to d-scan range, already showing me two Iteron V haulers, and warping across finds one piloted. I'll be watching this industrial ship for now. I don't know how likely it will be that the Iteron will move, or do so without an escort, or what the odds are that I'll end up polarised and dead. Let's find out!

Sitting and watching a hauler do nothing gives me a chance to examine the signatures in the system. I don't probe deeply yet, keeping my probes out of d-scan range of the system in a blanket-scanning configuration, and that's enough to see that neither signature is strong enough to be a K162. I don't think it's worth scanning. I also have no idea what's happened to that seventh ship, having only found six and now only seeing six under my probes. Maybe that's the cloaky Proteus strategic cruiser waiting for me.

I keep waiting, updating d-scan to see the Buzzard and Archon disappear. The Archon has almost certainly gone off-line, I can't say whether the Buzzard has done the same or has warped away cloaked. Fin keeps alert, having gone the other way to our neighbouring class 3 system, but all she sees is a Heron frigate unpiloted at the local tower.

An Anathema is around somewhere in C5a, I can't say where, and looking for it finds a third tower, this one with an empty Noctis floating inside the force field. I have no idea how this adds up to the scan results I've been seeing, but it's good to know all the same. The Iteron's still not moved, although he's brought a couple of mobile laboratories on-line. I hope he heads out to high-sec, through C3a, to buy some more. I doubt he will.

I'm not doing anything. Less than the Iteron, in fact. Or, rather, I'm not making anything happen. It's fine to loiter with intent when finding a target, but unless the target also shows intent, or is already vulnerable, there's often not much point hanging around for so long. Then again, you only find that out in retrospect. Either way, I'm not waiting for this Iteron to do anything, as it seems like he's done all he wants to. So have I. I'll make it an early night and try to be more active tomorrow.

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Tags: anathema, archon, buzzard, eve online, heron, iteron, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, scanning, viator, w-space

Looking out for a scout

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.

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.

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.

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Tags: cormorant, epithal, eve online, falcon, gila, hoarder, manticore, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, probe, scanning, tengu, w-space

Dipping through a dying wormhole

I'm here, and so is Fin. I think. 'C3a has a high-sec exit that's nine hops from Amarr, and a wormhole to a C5. I've not been to the C5.' So my glorious leader has scanned and is taking advantage of a fair connection in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, ignoring the one that heads in to dangerous w-space. That's cool, I can scout that. I'm even told that a Tengu strategic cruiser and Cheetah covert operations boat came from the class 5 system, one going to high-sec. Pilots and corporations are left unidentified, as they were warping as Fin reached the C5 K162.

My first step is jumping to C3a, which I do moments after Fin returns to the home system. We're both in Loki strategic cruisers, so maybe our timing will confuse anyone watching. You never know who's out there, after all. No one obvious in C3a, anyway. My previous visit was only two months ago, but the occupying tower has moved since then. I press on, albeit backwards.

My directional scanner sees nothing when updated inside C5a, and the discovery scanner shows little more, with a mere three anomalies and two signatures, one of which I'm sitting on. I launch probes and perform a blanket scan of the system, checking for ships. None, and the second signature is too weak to be a K162. That implies occupation, and probably that the two ships seen earlier originate here, and a flick of a switch with my combat scanning probes reveals a whole bunch of tell-tale structure signatures out by a planet with a single moon.

Warping to the moon finds the expected tower, of course with no one home. It's good to know it's here, though, and that the owner corporation is red to us. Bastards. Probably. Out of curiosity, I scan the other signature in case it's an exit to k-space, but the strength is more indicative of a data site. Or a good gas site, apparently, not that I know what a good gas site looks like. That leaves me one direction to take, which is back to C3a, across the system, and out to high-sec.

Three extra signatures in the high-sec system mean I can keep scanning, and an anomaly lets me try to pop some frigates just to keep my Loki busy. I resolve two wormholes, one relic site, and the anomaly is cleared of ships without anything interesting happening. The wormholes are dull too, one being a K162 from class 3 w-space that's at the end of its life, the other an R051 connecting to low-sec.

I continue wormhole hopping, jumping to low-sec to look for more wormholes. This system in Sinq Laison holds one from two additional signatures, the other being a combat site, but again it's just a dying C3 K162. Dumb wormholes. What do I do now? Sod it, I'll poke the dying wormhole in high-sec. The worst that can happen is that I'll have to find a new static exit to high-sec.

D-scan shows me a tower and no ships, confirming that I am indeed in class 3 w-space. The discovery scanner shows me no anomalies and one other signature. It's almost certainly a wormhole. I launch probes and scan the signature directly, resolving a wormhole and warping to a K162 from class 5 w-space, curiously in good health. I can't resist a look, and jump through to see very little still, just some drones, no ships, no wrecks. Again, not much for the discovery scanner to show me, just two anomalies and two signatures.

I launch probes and blanket the system, not scanning the signature directly this time because of that planet out of range. There may be ships there, and pilots of ships. There are. I warp across to see five towers to accompany the four ships, a Helios cov-ops and Eos command ship at one tower, the Iteron hauler and Loki at another. I locate the industrial ship first, seeing both it and the strategic cruiser piloted. The Loki's obviously dozing, although the Iteron may have some life in him yet. Naturally, I sit and watch a while.

How long can I watch an Iteron doing nothing, knowing that my route home could collapse at any moment? Longer than I should, either way, and long enough for the Loki to go off-line and the Iteron to be replaced by a Nestor battleship. That's mildly interesting, but still the pilot does nothing, and I'm becoming ever more aware of the dying wormhole I jumped through. I'm going back.

The good news is that the wormhole to high-sec lives. I still don't know what to do with my time, however. That is, until my glorious leader suggests a trip to Amarr. I can't quite muster the spirit to do so, but I know how much effort she puts in to maintaining our operation, so I motivate myself to make this simple trip. I even load up a Crane transport with our loot to sell, made simpler knowing that there are traders of Sleeper loot in the Amarr trade hub.

Hey, warping around high-sec isn't so bad in a Crane. It's really fast! Selling a whole load of different items for the default price isn't, nor is working out what really big gun I should be buying, so the trip takes longer than I expect. Even so, by the end of it, our wallet is fatter than it was and, on returning to w-space, I vastly increase the damage output of our new toy. I'm sure it can go higher, if we add more guns.

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Tags: crane, eos, eve online, helios, iteron, loki, mmorpg, nestor, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Passing time poorly

I'm only two stargate hops to Rens. That's neat, maybe. I dunno. It's better than Dodixie, by default, but it also means that waiting half-an-hour for an Iteron hauler to make a return trip is probably too long. With that in mind, I do what any reasonable capsuleer would do, and open the market interface and check a few prices.

Hey, a skill book I apparently need is available in this very system. I can't pass up this opportunity to get it, so buy it, collect it from the station, and inject the skill in to my head. Still no oranges enter the high-sec system, so on leaving dock I warp to the other wormhole I resolved whilst waiting. It's a K162 from class 2 w-space, but one that's wobbling away at the end of its life.

Back to loitering on the wormhole to C3a, wasted time be damned. I wait, wait, and wait a bit longer. Maybe the Iteron did actually go through the class 3 system's static exit to low-sec instead of this high-sec connection, even if the wormhole has been stressed to half-mass level in a way that makes it appear used. Or he could be sleeping one off in a station. To be honest, I'm not convinced he's even on-line.

I wait, wait, and wait a bit more. That's long enough, still without success. At least I scanned this high-sec system and picked up a skill book. That's progress, right? Time to make some more, perhaps by scanning the low-sec system on the other side of C3a. I jump back to w-space and update my directional scanner. The Punisher frigate has gone, the Iteron is not to be seen. That's something. I warp across to the U210 and approach it, updating d-scan as I do, and see a Typhoon new to the system.

The battleship appears to be on the high-sec wormhole. I wonder if that's the Iteron pilot returning in a ship I probably couldn't have popped in the couple of seconds it would take for him to reactively jump back to high-sec. Either way, it's a lot of mass to bring through the already mass-stressed wormhole, making me curious enough to warp back to it and see how the connection fared.

The wormhole lives, if you can call being in a critically unstable state 'living'. The Typhoon's missing too, although the Punisher is back on d-scan. A Helios covert operations boat is gone too, perhaps replaced by a pod. A pod that drops on to the wormhole and jumps to high-sec. Damn him, that only encourages me to wait for his not-at-all-inevitable return.

The Punisher leaves after the pod, perhaps unconnectedly. I could follow, but the wormhole's instability now doesn't guarantee its survival with even my Loki strategic cruiser passing through, let alone when following a ship back. I don't even have the alternative entrance from low-sec. I can correct that part, at least, and warp across to the U210, poke my prow through to bookmark the K162 in Derelik, and return to resume my loitering in high-sec.

My plan is the same as earlier, but now with different targets. Wait to spot an orange in the system, time my jump back to w-space, and hope to catch a ship on the high-sec wormhole. It wasn't the best plan when waiting for a hauler, to be honest, and now that I have no idea what ship will be brought back it's a pretty dumb plan. Still, it's a plan. A better plan—which isn't saying much—may be to collapse the wormhole. No kill, only minor disruption, but event altering. I pulse my micro warp drive as I jump to high-sec.

The wormhole lives. I loiter, looking for oranges, waiting for polarisation to not be an issue. I don't suppose it matters if the wormhole dies, as I'll be stuck in space regardless, but if the wormhole survives I'll be kicking myself if I get caught polarised. So I wait. Five minutes passes and I jump back, micro warp drive engaged to increase my ship mass. The wormhole is still standing.

I can try again to collapse the wormhole. I'm almost certain I could be doing something better, but whatever. Back out to high-sec, wait for polarisation effects to expire, and this time an orange appears in the system. The Punisher drops on to the wormhole and returns to C3a. At least he doesn't kill the wormhole. Now I can jump back safely. Well, safely-ish. The wormhole collapses on my return, stranding me in empty space, but also stranding at least one C3a pilot in empire space. Mission success?

I move and cloak, no one wise to my moderately malicious scheme and waiting for me, but within thirty seconds the Punisher returns to see no wormhole. Was he heading out again or did the discovery scanner tell him the signature disappeared? I dunno, but he turns away immediately, and a Navy Augoror cruiser follows up behind the Punisher a minute later, perhaps to confirm that this is indeed empty space and not a system's malfunction. I would rub my hands together and cackle, but I've not really done anything. No, that's not true. I injected a new skill. What an amazing evening!

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Tags: augoror, eve online, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, punisher, typhoon, w-space

Curious orange

New sites at home look tempting. It's a shame that the Sleepers sabotaged our Golem marauder, forcing it off-line shortly after it was warped in to an anomaly and reducing it to wreckage. Still, we can rebuild it. It just needs a few replacement parts. Until we get them, I scan the new signatures. A data site, some gas, and the static wormhole. All looks normal.

Jumping to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system and updating my directional scanner has all looking normal here too. A tower is somewhere, ships are nowhere to be seen, and one planet sits out of range. The odds of anything or anyone being out there are low, with occupation in range, so I throw caution to the wind by launching probes on the wormhole and performing a blanket scan before warping to investigate the far planet.

Hey, ships! Six of them appear on my blanket scan, along with eight anomalies and six signatures. D-scan shows me a Punisher frigate, Myrmidon battlecruiser, Iteron hauler, Heron frigate, Helios covert operations boat, and Navy Augoror cruiser, plus a second tower. Getting closer sees that all the ships are piloted and inside the tower's force field. Oh, except for the Iteron, which seems to have disappeared when I looked away.

The hauler remains on d-scan for a short while, disappears, and is gone from my combat scanning probes too. If he left the system, is he coming back? My notes say C3a has a static exit to low-sec, so that could be good for catching the ship. Despite the presence of the other pilots, I call my probes in to scan. I ignore the weak signatures, knowing that the U210 and any K162s will be strong, and find two wormholes and one gas site.

Reconnoitring the wormholes finds the expected U210, but more promising is the K162 from high-sec that's been stressed to half mass. That looks like the kind of wormhole an Iteron would use. The red colours bleeding through makes it look like it comes from Metropolis initially, but getting a bit closer sees the devilman of Heimatar. That sounds a bit remote to me, but I honestly don't know much about empire space. I'll just sit on the wormhole and wait for the Iteron's return.

Sit and wait, wait and sit. No Iteron yet. No nothing, even. Sod it, I'll poke through to high-sec and watch from the other side. At least that way I can see the pilot coming and try to time my jump to make good use of my session-change cloak, which has no targeting delay when dropped. That should increase my chances of a successful ambush on a high-sec wormhole. If anything comes my way, that is.

No oranges are in the local channel, so I return to loitering. I feel comfortable launching probes and scanning the extra signature in the system as I wait, confident that no pilots from C3a are around to notice my strategic cruiser on the wormhole, and few pilots in the high-sec system will check d-scan for probes. It's a wormhole, but still I loiter on the X702, waiting for the—hello, an orange has appeared in the system.

Full alert, Penny! I don't know the name of the pilot of the Iteron, but no other ships have come out and surely this is the same one returning. All I have to do is watch d-scan for an Iteron getting close and try to time my jump back to w-space soon enough so that he doesn't see me but late enough to be covered by the session-change cloak. D-scan, no Iteron. D-scan, no Iteron. D-scan, no Iteron. That doesn't seem right.

I call up information about the orange pilot and check the corporation. It doesn't match the occupation of C3a, and the orange standings are set against our alliance, not corporation. This is just some random spotting of a pilot who we have some mild animosity towards, not a local of the C3 system. No wonder d-scan wasn't showing me the Iteron. Okay, I can relax a bit, and maybe do something other than sit on this wormhole.

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Tags: augoror, eve online, helios, heron, iteron, mmorpg, myrmidon, penny ibramovic, punisher, scanning, w-space

Gigs of 2014, part one

Not much seemed to be happening at the start of the year, but it all picked up with a flurry of live dates for good bands at the end of Spring. I can't even get to all of the gigs I want to, but I do my best.

The Men at Village Underground

I forget who the support bands were. That may say something about them. But that's okay, right, because The Men are the headline act, whose albums have so far been accomplished, whether raucous and raw or refined and musical, and whose previous London gig blew me away? Not today. I don't know what's happened to them. It's just a mess of noise coming from the stage, with little coherence. Occasionally there is a song that I recognise, but it feels watered down for some reason, maybe because of the lack of substance from the rest of the set. It just feels like an extended jam session with no real pattern to it, which is a real disappointment. The Men have diminished from being an amazing live act to humdrum in a surprisingly short time.

Bo Ningen, The Wytches, Younghusband at Heaven

Bo Ningen continue to be a favourite band of mine, and seeing their album-launch gig is to be supported by both Younghusband and The Wytches gets me rather excited. I'm a little surprised to see Younghusband play first, given that they have an album out and The Wytches don't, but I suppose The Wytches are closer to Bo Ningen's style and will have more appeal to a general audience. That's cool, as I am early enough to see all three bands play, and Younghusband are pretty good. It helps that I like the album, as they don't deviate from it much when playing live. Their guitarist needs to understand that playing live isn't the same as rehearsal/recording, though, and that the audience would really rather see his playing than his back.

The Wytches come out next and rip through their set with some keen intensity. There is some minor difficulty with a guitar strap, weirdly echoed during Bo Ningen's set, but the guitarist keeps his cool. Loud and vigorous, The Wytches show a lot of promise. Their album should be out at the end of August.

Something happens that delays Bo Ningen, causing all but Yuki to leave the stage for five minutes. All is sorted out soon enough and the false start is forgotten, Bo Ningen diving headfirst in to their screeching, wailing, windmilling set. There's obviously some new material included, although I have to admit it's not that easily distinguishable from the old, and apart from a long, slow song that loses my interest—it will probably be more fitting on the album than seen on stage—the energy levels stay high to the end of the set. Taigen gets carried by the crowd, Yuki plays his guitar jack, and it seems that nothing can top the finale, except we also get a high-intensity encore. Bo Ningen remain a force for live performance.

Slow Club at Village Underground

Seeing a Chinook drop smoking skydivers as we walk down Old Street is an impressive start to a gig, even if I don't think Slow Club arranged that. The actual gig starts with Charles manning an organ, adding another new dimension to Slow Club that you wouldn't think was missing until you hear his groove. It's an excellent opening song, one that bodes well for the new album, due out in July.

Most of the songs tonight are likely to come from the new album, which is a slight concern for me. I kinda prefer the familiarity of music in order to enjoy it, and being introduced to songs for the first time during a gig can be awkward. But this is Slow Club, who just keep getting better and better. It helps that they have Rebecca's effortless charm working for them. 'Who wants to hear a song about my feelings, things going wrong, and stuff?' she says, to a chorus of cheers. 'Well, come on in! Welcome to a Slow Club gig.'

As always, vocal duties are shared, instruments are swapped around, and the music is excellent. The only real problem seems to be the lack of air conditioning, Rebecca saying a few times that she's too hot. She urges us to 'buy thousands of the new album, so that I can pay for someone to fan me in moments like this. It's all I really want', she adds, quite humbly.

The audience is audibly upset when Charles announces the last song of the set, Rebecca reminding him to use air quotes for 'last song'. The delay between Slow Club leaving the stage and returning for the encore is mercifully short, probably because the whole gig is being streamed live, and they perform a couple more songs. For the last song, Rebecca asks for the lights to be turned down completely, so that 'everyone can have a dance and not be embarrassed'. Given that they then play Two Cousins, I don't think the lights needed to be turned down to encourage people to dance. Slow Club continue to grow and create beautiful music.

White Hinterland at Birthdays

Some good bands have played at Birthdays in the past year, but the venue is a little out of the way for me. I finally make the journey when White Hinterland makes a return visit to these shores, as there is no way I am missing this gig. I get there early and am a little too excited to see Casey Dienel before the gig, although obviously prepared for it, having my CD case ready to be signed.

Despite some collaborations on the new album Casey plays solo live, with her keyboards, a whole bench of electronics, and half-a-dozen pedals to play with. It's amazing to watch her perform, looping her vocals and keyboards, feeding beats in and out on cue. This could all be done in advance, so it's a marvel to watch White Hinterland create these harmonies and loops manually, all coming together to create her songs.

The songs are almost exclusively from the new album, available at the gig from the merchandise stand. 'I hope you can take my Baby home', she tells us, saying she called the album that just to make that joke. It all sounds really good too, and deserves to be played to more than a half-full small venue. Casey is having a good time nevertheless, sharing anecdotes about the tour so far with everyone in the audience, who are also having a good time. Great music and mesmerising performance, it's always special to get out and see White Hinterland live.

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Tags: birthdays, bo ningen, gig, heaven, slow club, the men, village underground, white hinterland, wytches, younghusband

Managing to kill a low-sec rat

The barely scratched Epithal hauler is back in his tower, where he sits for a moment before going off-line. I dunno why, his stupid ship will let him collect all his goo with little threat. But he's gone. The Helios covert operations boat returns from wherever, and is joined by a Leopard shuttle, but whatever. I'm leaving.

Through the U210, sending me to Metropolis, where a Buzzard cov-ops sits tantalisingly close to the wormhole. I pounce! Or I would, if I remembered that I have to move to shed my session change cloak. Instead, my targeting systems merely complain with every failed attempt of mine to lock-on to the Buzzard until the cov-ops moves and disappears under its own module cloak. It's a shame I didn't get to shoot it, as the pilot is an insulting dick.

I leave this horrible system alone and head back in to w-space, across the class 3 w-space system to a K162 from more low-sec, and get a second exit. This system is in Verge Vendor, and is also home to faction warfare, like the one in Metropolis. So that's that, then. I have a couple of wormholes to more w-space available to me in C3a, and I think I'll poke through the K162 first, which takes me to a class 4 system.

Updating d-scan once inside C4a sees towers and ships, but no wrecks. I doubt the Tengu strategic cruiser and Devoter heavy interdictor are up to much, but how about the Bestower hauler, Prorator transport, or Buzzard? Opening the system map to start prodding planets with d-scan also lets me marvel at the discovery scanner again, showing me a mere two anomalies and two signatures, all without doing anything. I just have to live with it.

One tower is easy to find, and it holds the Tengu, Devoter, and Buzzard, all of them piloted. TEST pilots too, which is probably good to know. The second tower has the two industrial ships floating inside its force field, empty of capsuleers. Okay, I'll scan that other signature. It won't take long. It's a wormhole, a K162 from class 3 w-space. That's mildly interesting.

I warp to the K162 but spot a Venture on d-scan before I jump. I pause, point d-scan at the towers, and see the mining frigate is with the three piloted ships. Is that of any significance? I head back to find out, at which point the Venture is swapped for an Anathema, at which point I lose interest. The Anathema warps, but I don't care. I take my Loki strategic cruiser to the K162 and jump.

Updating d-scan in C3c doesn't show me much from the wormhole, and although the one planet out of range holds occupation the lone ship inside the force field is an empty Imicus frigate. I think I've seen all I need to. Back to C4a, in to C3a, and across to the N968, taking me to C3b, where first impressions are much like those from C3c. D-scan is clear and, oh, opening the system map sees that nothing is out of range. What I see is what I get. I probably shouldn't have launched probes.

I did launch probes, though, somewhat reflexively, so I may as well use them. I sift through the nine anomalies and nine signatures, all fairly close to each other in the small system, and resolve a single wormhole amongst the gas and one data site. It's the static exit to low-sec, perhaps to Kador—I've not quite got the hang of low-sec region identification through wormholes. Poking the U210 takes me to Khanid—it starts with a K—where I'm alone.

It's too late to scan the two extra signatures, I tell myself, but maybe I can find a clone soldier to pop for pocket ISK and security status. Nope, but this rat battleship will do nicely, if I don't panic and warp back to the wormhole the moment I engage it when a new pilot enters the system. D-scan shows he's only in a shuttle, though, and he passes through in seconds. Okay, back to the battleship, pop it without interruption, and turn to head home, happy with causing one minor explosion.

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Tags: anathema, bestower, buzzard, devoter, eve online, helios, imicus, leopard, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, prorator, scanning, tengu, venture, w-space

Banging my Loki against a customs office

We still have a clean, minimalist system at home. That suits me just fine. I'll go next door. Updating my directional scanner on the other side of our static wormhole sees four towers and two haulers in the class 3 w-space system. Core scanning probes are also already out, no doubt having picked up our wormhole's appearance. There's not much we can do about that.

My notes for the system put me here ten months ago. Back then we popped a Retriever mining barge, and five minutes after that caught a Badger hauler collecting planet goo. Maybe there's hope for activity still, even if our wormhole has been spotted. There are three ore sites in the system, which has me feeling optimistic, until I realise they are all in range and no mining barges can be see on d-scan. In that case, I'll look for the haulers.

The towers are different now than they were during my previous visit, the new ones straightforward enough to locate. An Epithal is at one tower, a Tayra at another, and I warp across to see that the Epithal is piloted and potentially active. I sit and watch him for a minute. An Astero frigate warps in to the tower shortly, probably the scout, and the Epithal blinks off-line. Whatever. Let's see what the Tayra is up to.

The second hauler is in a tower around a planet with plenty of moons, so I have to get cracking with d-scan to find him. It's a simple enough process, just somewhat time-consuming, and I am soon enough warping away from the tower with the empty Tayra to continue watching the Astero at the first tower. I'm not sure why I'm doing that, but it's the only visible piloted ship in the system.

I get back to the Astero just in time to see it too blink off-line. At least I know that it has gone off-line rather than warped and cloaked. I suppose I'll scan. All seven signatures are nice and chubby, which will make scanning quick, and there are wormholes everywhere, just one gas site propping up the results. I've resolved a K162 from class 4 w-space, a suspiciously pristine static exit to low-sec, a K162 from low-sec that obviously comes from Verge Vendor, and the Epithal is back on d-scan.

Ignoring the other two signatures, I make a bee-line back to the tower with the Epithal. Or an Epithal. I really need to write the pilot names down. Either way, will the pilot be curious about all these new signatures, or just go wild? Maybe he'll sit entirely inert inside the tower's force field, until a Helios covert operations boat turns up, at which point the Epithal blinks off-line again. Okay, I'll reconnoitre the other two wormholes. An N968 outbound connection to more class 3 w-space and a K162 from null-sec.

Time to get the exits then hit the C4 K162. Or I can warp to the U210, update d-scan, and see the Epithal once more on-line. To the tower! The Helios is gone and the hauler is moving. Only to a hangar, where the pilot swaps to a Nereus hauler. An honest-to-goodness hauler, not some silly abomination of a ship designed to be everything it shouldn't be. How exciting for me! The Helios returns, maybe from the K162 from Verge Vendor, and, balls, the Nereus is swapped back for the Epithal.

The Helios disappears properly this time and the Epithal moves once more. Specifically, the hauler aligns for warp, heading towards a distant planet. It's a planet with a tower, I think, but I'll assume he's going for the customs office and follow behind, full of dreams of popping another planet gooer. Yep, the Epithal is by the customs office when I drop out of warp, so I drop my cloak on deceleration, activate my sensor booster, and get a positive target lock.

I take no chances. I overheat my high rack, start my guns shooting as hard as they can, and surge forwards to give the Epithal a solid shunt. But it's no good. My guns merely graze the hauler's shields, and he turns and accelerates in to warp as I close the gap, away from my three points of warp disruption as if he had to compromise his hauling capacity to increase his survivability. Of course, we all know he had to make no such choice. The ship design is ridiculous for the ship class.

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Tags: astero, epithal, eve online, helios, mmorpg, nereus, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, tayra, w-space

Nothing out there

I'll get out of the home system this evening, just you watch. Huh, a new anomaly has appeared, a good one too. But what's that new signature? 'Incoming C3', says Fin, which means no anomaly for us. Good. Now, which way first? Through our static wormhole for me, with my glorious leader having gone through the K162, so I jump to one of the neighbouring class 3 w-space systems for today.

Updating my directional scanner sees nothing of interest from the other side of the wormhole. It's a fair-sized system, though, with 50 AU to planets either side of my position. I launch probes and perform a blanket scan to get an idea of what's out there, and it reveals a single ship to go along with the nineteen anomalies and four signatures. I think I'll find out what that ship is.

The sole visible ship in the system is near a planet with two moons. As it's almost certainly inside a tower's force field I aim for one of the moons, and choose poorly. D-scan at least shows me the Epithal and tower as I warp to the right moon, and reaching it sees that the hauler isn't piloted. Never mind, time to scan, as I check my notes.

My last visit to C3a was over three years ago, when we popped an Iteron hauler carrying subsystems for a Proteus strategic cruiser. That must have been rather exciting back then. Nothing to do here today but look for wormholes, and there are two of them, plus a pocket of gas. Sadly, the second wormhole is only a K162 from null-sec Providence, with pilots in the system and only one extra system. I'll consider scanning it if I find nothing better elsewhere.

Back to C3a and across to the static exit to low-sec, obviously leading to Domain by the golden nebula colours seeping through. The system itself is vast, has a bunch of pilots in it, and holds five extra signatures. It is also two hops to high-sec and nine to Amarr. I'll scan. Three combat sites and two wormholes. The X702 outbound connection to class 3 w-space isn't great, but neither is the N944 that links this low-sec system to another. To another system in Domain too.

That wormhole being Domain-to-Domain piques my interest, and I jump through. Now I'm only one hop to high-sec and six to Amarr, and four to the other low-sec system. Okay, it's not so bad after all, but I'm still not going to use it for much, not with a Deimos heavy interdictor and Taranis interceptor on d-scan, perhaps patrolling the system. Back to the first low-sec system and through the X702.

D-scan is clear, one planet is in range, and a blanket scan reveals nine anomalies, twelve signatures, and three ships. My notes from over two years ago remain valid, but warping directly to the tower only helps in finding three empty ships more quickly. My last visit was again more interesting, popping a gassing Brutix battlecruiser and narrowly missing a Mammoth hauler warping in to the ambush-in-progress, before getting isolated from the home system and mucking up my return through null-sec. Great days.

My reminiscing says I have an exit to null-sec to find. That the K346 is the weakest signature should make it easy to pick out of the noise, but it still takes expert-scanner Penny two attempts. Are there any K162s too? I sweep through the chubby signatures and resolve a crappy K162 from low-sec Lonetrek that's at the end of its life, a null-sec K162 that isn't terribly interesting in itself, and a T405 outbound connection to class 4 w-space. Well, the T405 is my best bet for w-space activity, being the only wormhole to w-space, so in I go.

There's still not much to see. D-scan is clear, and although the one planet out of range holds a tower there is no one home. Notes made a year ago detail an H900 static wormhole to class 5 w-space, which is not a fun wormhole to scan for, and as this constellation has gone nowhere so far I'm not inclined to continue it. I'll just head back the way I came, checking the null-sec systems for rats as I go. Or I could poke this C4 system for K162s. Nope, none. Okay, back I go.

In to C3c and through the null-sec K162 to be alone in a system in Catch. Excellent. I warp to a rock field to look for rats and, well, launch probes to scan that extra signature. It's an addiction. Thankfully, the signature resolves to be a combat site and I ignore it with ease. I pop a rat, go back through C3c to the K346, where I am not only alone in the system in Detorid but there are no other signatures. Phew, just ratting for me. I pop a battleship, return my Loki through the inactive w-space constellation to our home system, and go off-line.

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

Clearing a couple of Sleeper sites

There's almost nothing to see at home. The tower's still there, thank goodness, but precious little else. Two anomalies and the static wormhole are all the discovery scanner and my probes show me, and two good anomalies at that. Actually, this is a pretty decent-looking system I've got here. It would be a shame if something were to happen to it.

I think I'll make something happen. A (probably) closed system and a couple of good anomalies is an opportunity to make some easy ISK, particularly now that we have our Golem and the (silly) mobile tractor unit working in harmony against the Sleepers. We can sweep through a site or two with little effort. It is far from a chore, and I can explore for different opportunity afterwards.

I warp to our tower, ditch my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser for the marauder, and head in to the first anomaly. Drop in to bastion mode, drop the MTU, and start shooting Sleepers. Pew pew! Laser missiles! Keeping a watch on both the discovery scanner, trying to force updates regularly, and my directional scanner should keep me safe.

The second wave of Sleepers hurts a bit, what with the heavy energy neutralising they try to inflict on me, but the cruisers are weak and soon despatched, and after the first battleship explodes most of the strain is removed. The Golem handles it all quite well anyway.

The third wave is mostly target management. Sleeper frigates are first. Their warp scrambling is an annoyance more than anything, given that I can't move in bastion mode, but it's good to get rid of them just in case. I try setting my drones on them—more management—and it almost improves on the damage done by cruise missiles and target painters. After that, just cruise missiles on the cruisers and battleships.

I loot and salvage as I go, occasionally transferring all the MTU has collected in to the Golem's hold, and salvaging all the wrecks it pulls in. As done previously, I leave the last couple of wrecks, grabbing the MTU and leaving rather than waiting like a lemon for the long tractor time. I can come back for them. As a precaution, I warp my Golem back to our tower and dump the first site's loot and salvage in our hangar before aiming for the second anomaly.

The second site is the same as the first, and is cleared in much the same way. A couple more drones die to frigates, but they were partly damaged to start with and I was probably just putting them out of their misery. Otherwise, the site is cleared without fuss, and I return to our tower with more loot and salvage.

Out of the marauder and in to a destroyer, going back to clean up the last two wrecks in both sites. It's cheap, easy, and safer than leaving the Golem in space longer than necessary. Two sites cleared, piece of cake, and we have 150 Miskies of new booty in the hangar. Still, if it really was so simple and easy, why do I now have a headache? I don't much fancy exploring any more.

With impeccable timing, here's my glorious leader. I tag out and Fin warps to the static wormhole, opening it to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, and jumping through. I hold on for a little longer, in case I'm needed, and when Fin relays the system number to me it seems awfully familiar. I suppose it should too, as I was only there a couple of days ago. No occupation, a static exit to null-sec. It sounds boring already. Fin confirms there is no activity, so I bid her good hunting and go off-line to lie down.

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Tags: eve online, golem, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, sleepers, w-space