Ghost and relics

Back to the tower to lurk. I'm not expecting much in a system where I've just ambushed a hauler collecting planet goo, but where else am I going to lurk? Besides, it lets me watch for new contacts and potential ship changes, to see if the system gets hot or cold. And it looks like circumstances start warming up, when a new contact in a Crucifier frigate appears, followed by another in a Navitas frigate, but it all cools down again quickly when they both disappear off-line together. The Bestower pilot too, presumably now that his aggression flag has dropped.

That just leaves the piloted Epithal hauler at the tower, no doubt asleep. I'll scan. I ignore one gas site, two more gas sites, and the Epithal pilot wakes up, swapping to a Bestower. I can't be this lucky, can I? I hide my probes, just in case, but, like almost every time I've asked that question, no, I can't be that lucky. It seems that the pilot just prefers to go off-line in the Bestower. Back to scanning. Or not. One last blanket scan, with my probes outside of directional scanner range, sees that a new ship, tiny, is somewhere in the system.

Core probes appear in the system. I am in a scanning race with a new scout, and me with a head start. Time to take it seriously. I sift through the signatures looking only for wormholes, and come up with three of them. The U210 static exit to low-sec probably leads to Molden Heath, from its colouring, a K162 comes from class 2 w-space, and a K162 from low-sec is perhaps from the Genesis region. Oh, and there's a fourth wormhole, clearly source of the new scout, perhaps because there is a ship sitting on top of the signature.

The ship stays on my probes when I reconfigure them back to a blanket scanning formation. It is likely a frigate bouncing between wormholes and not a covert operations boat. That may mean I can catch him, but only if he has poor reactions, as those frigates turn and enter warp quickly. I also have no idea where he is any more. I warp to the U210, that being the most likely wormhole a scout would actually jump through, as the ship drops off my probes.

Intuition confirmed, the wormhole crackles shortly after I land at the low-sec exit. I decloak, activate my sensor booster, and watch an Astero frigate warp clear without any trouble from my Loki strategic cruiser. They are pretty quick, those new Sisters ships. I imagine that's the last I'll see of him too, and there's little point in checking behind his K162 from class 4 w-space now that anyone in his corporation will be warned of my presence. Let me head to low-sec instead.

I jump to Molden Heath, as predicted, where there is a ghost site in the system and no pilots. Hacking that's got to be worth a shot, even with the Astero at large. He may be more scared of me than I am of him anyway. Decision made, I head back home, change the fitting on my Loki to withstand the inevitable explosion in the ghost site, add a relic analyser, and return to low-sec to see what kind of loot I can snatch and grab.

Entering the site I scan the containers in turn. There's nothing exciting, but at least I can pick the container with the greatest amount of nothing exciting. At least the lack of anything interesting makes the hacking relatively straightforward to accomplish. One can is cracked and looted, I move my Loki to the second-best can and crack and loot that, and Angel rats turn up to self-destruct their site. Fools. Then again, I am warp-scrambled and a new contact has just entered the system. It's no big deal, probably.

Nope, I'm fine. The other pilot moves on without investigating what I'm up to. I'm not convinced twenty-five million ISK in loot was worth the effort, but I suppose I shouldn't sniff at it either. And instead of returning home to refit my Loki I realise I may as well rat and scan in my current configuration. I still have probes and a cloak, I can see what's here and come back only if it's worth it. It's not, really.

Three extra signatures resolve to be two data sites and a relic site, and although there's no wormhole at least not refitting means I can take advantage of one of those sites, spending a little more time to make a little more ISK. Four canisters in the relic site have pretty standard loot, as scanned by my ship. One canister is tougher to hack than the others, giving slightly better loot—not that I have enough hands to grab it all. But I finish the site, and I think I'm finished for the evening too. Having ambushed a hauler and hacked a ghost site, I don't think I've done too badly.

Posted in Gaming | 2 Comments »
Tags: astero, bestower, crucifier, epithal, eve online, loki, low-sec, mmorpg, navitas, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Classic catch

More gas for the industrialists floats in to the home system. Big deal, I'm out of here. And hello Bestower in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, all alone on my directional scanner, without a tower in sight. Sense suggests the hauler is on a wormhole, because who collects planet goo in a Bestower these days? But, then, sense is an idiot sometimes.

I open the system map and start poking at nearby planets with d-scan. Lo, there is the Bestower, no doubt actually collecting planet goo, as vulnerable as can be. Naturally, the hauler has gone by the time I am in warp, so now I have to work with what I've got. My notes are old, from eighteen months ago, but the tower listed from back then is better than nothing. I launch probes whilst out of range of anything, and perform a blanket scan as I warp to the potential tower.

My probes reveal anomalies, signatures, ships, but the blanket scan is mostly a formality whilst I have the opportunity. More importantly, I drop out of warp next to a tower still on-line, with an empty Bestower and piloted Epithal hauler inside its force field, along with other unpiloted ships. Has the discovery scanner pinged our K162 to the pilot, who has now wisely if disappointingly switched to the Epithal to collect planet goo?

Nope, a second Bestower is outside of the tower, according to d-scan. And now he's inside the tower's force field, according to my overview. Please don't be finished collecting planet goo, Mr Bestower. Judging by the way he's bumping off a mobile laboratory he's not finished. Good. I am able to see his next destination nice and early, as the Bestower aligns prior to entering warp, and I am heading towards the customs office before he is.

I'm ready and waiting when the Bestower arrives at the customs office, decloaking to shed the recalibration delay before the hauler has a chance to decelerate fully, and surge towards my target in case he has warp core stabilisers fitted. Making my tracking computers work harder has my autocannons graze the Bestower on the first hit, glance off for the second, but the third rips the hauler apart.

No wonder the Bestower disintegrated so readily, its hull integrity was compromised by a full rack of expanded cargoholds—as it should be. I aim for the pod in the midst of the explosion but it's already gone. I loot and shoot the wreck, and reload my guns and cloak when done. Job's a good 'un. I catch a cheap-as-chips industrial ship and rip it to pieces in my vastly superior strategic cruiser, just as technology intended.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Classic catch
Tags: bestower, epithal, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space

Short and sour

I've not much time tonight, but still enough to have a quick look around. Nothing new at home sends me straight to our static wormhole and the neighbouring class 3 w-space system, where I'm privileged to see both a tower and a ship on my directional scanner from the K162. It's just a Probe, though, the basic frigate named 'I'am alone', without a sic in sight, but it's something. And perhaps a something to hunt.

Interrogating the planets with d-scan in the system map finds the tower but not the Probe. It's still out there, as a broader d-scan shows, so I move to launch probes and scan its position. Warping across the system passes two more towers and a Buzzard, the cov-ops probably actually inside a tower's force field, but I ignore it all for now to concentrate on the wayward frigate.

As is usual, on launching probes I throw them out of the system, and as I do that I may as well perform a blanket scan to get a fuller picture of the system. Ten anomalies, eleven signatures, and the two ships. I'm only after the Probe, and as it is in empty space I assume it is sat incautiously in a safe spot, giving me a little wiggle room in resolving its position.

I get a rough bearing on the Probe, getting d-scan to a mere thirty degrees instead of the usual five, and place the ship between 3 AU and 4 AU distant. There's probably no need to get a finer result than that, I can let my probes do the work well enough. I call them in and, well, almost immediately regret my lack of precision. The frigate is in a relic site, and so is probably active.

My main hope now is that the pilot is concentrating more on hacking the containers than updating d-scan, although even a capsuleer paying little attention can easily see a new signature pinged on to his scanning interface 'thanks' to the discovery scanner. Never mind, keep going.

It takes three scans to get a 100% hit on the relic site. I recall my probes and warp to the site, aiming to drop close to the Probe. I doubt I need to be cautious in my approach, and speed is now probably of the essence, given my poor initial assumption. Sure enough, either my probes or the new signature was seen—perhaps the probes were seen because the signature was broadcast and the pilot alerted—and I drop out of warp to see the Probe burning away from the site, already tens of kilometres from my position.

My eagerness to engage the Probe immediately works against me too. I drop in to the site almost on top of the main structure, close enough to force my cloak to deactivate by proximity. That's enough for the Probe, who warps clear and bids me a good day in the local communication channel, dropping off d-scan moments later.

I suppose that serves me right for assuming the Probe was simply adrift. But given the size of the frigate and that it was in a relic site, both having weak scanning signatures, even a careful hunt for the ship would have required a second scan to get a warpable result to one or the other. But this is what happens when you think time is against you. Yeah, I still hate the discovery scanner in w-space. Never mind, the Probe is gone, the Buzzard is gone, but I found something to do with my quick session.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Short and sour
Tags: buzzard, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, probe, scanning, w-space

Not killing a ghost

The new signature at home is a new pocket of gas. We have people for that. Not me, I'm hitting the wormhole. It's adventure time! Jumping to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system and updating my directional scanner shows me a tower and no ships. Okay, not so much adventure time as scanning time, but that's cool too.

Launching probes and blanketing the system reveals a messy seventeen anomalies and twenty-three signatures, so it's unlikely the locals will turn up any time this week, and I start wading through the signatures for wormholes. The first I find is from a weak signature and will be a disappointing outbound connection. I ignore it for now. The second wormhole is chubbier, and sadly that's it for wormholes.

Checking the static exit to low-sec sends me to Promised Land in Genesis, one hop from New Eden, the system that brought us all here. I've been there before, though, so I ignore any sense of history and launch probes to scan the three extra signatures instead. One combat site, one wormhole, one data site. That could be okay, depending on the wormhole type. It's a K162 from class 2 w-space. Yeah, that's pretty good.

Jumping to C2a has a clear d-scan, but my notes suggest a tower sits on a far planet. I launch probes, blanket the system, and warp across to see if the tower remains. It does, and has a piloted Astero frigate inside its force field. That's interesting, particularly as one of the dozen anomalies is a Superior Angel Covert Research site. Maybe the local pilot is working up the courage to foolishly take his frigate there. That is, if he's noticed the site.

I'm tempted to enter the ghost site myself, albeit after refitting my Loki, but not without checking for additional wormholes first. I could fend off the Astero easily enough, assuming the pilot even notices someone in a site out of d-scan range of the tower, but if other pilots are active nearby I could be in trouble, more so if they have also seen the ghost site and have eyes for it. I'd better scan.

Three more wormholes is not a good prospect for hacking an easily found ghost site in w-space. Maybe I'll watch the Astero a little longer, see if he does anything. Or, you know, reconnoitre the wormholes and find actual activity. The static connection to more class 2 w-space is okay, an outbound connection to class 3 w-space is just as disappointing because of the frustrating discovery scanner, and that leaves me a K162 from class 2 w-space that's fairly useless for being at the end of its life.

Sod it, I'll activate the ghost site out of spite and hit C2b. Updating d-scan in the new system sees an over-stocked tower but no ships anywhere. Scanning the three anomalies and seven signatures gives three wormholes, so hopefully I'm not stuck with just outbound connections again. And indeed I'm not, the two static wormholes to class 1 w-space and high-sec empire space being joined by, huh, a K162 from deadly class 6 w-space. Well, it's a K162, which by default makes it better than the other two wormholes. I'll go there.

Hullo, I appear on the wormhole in C6a moments before an Imicus warps in, the frigate jumping to C2b as he lands. There's little point in giving chase, as I'd be polarising myself, so I update d-scan to see a tower with an Orca industrial command ship, and a Tengu and Proteus strategic cruiser in the system. Checking the information on the passing Imicus shows it to be piloted by a capsuleer from Surely You're Joking. I've heard of them. I've also heard the wormhole crackle.

The Imicus is back, and although I try to react quickly, decloaking and getting my sensor booster active, the frigate is acting just as quickly. He's in warp before my sensor recalibration delay expires, and all I've done is give away my presence. Silly Penny. The Imicus didn't warp to a planet, though, so not to the tower here. I imagine that means there is another wormhole to further C6 w-space in the system, which I am happy to assume and not to look for, particularly as updating d-scan sees a Loki strategic cruiser new to the system. Maybe SYJ are already responding to a rogue pilot being spotted in their constellation.

I give up on this arm of the constellation and jump back to C2b whilst I still can, moving away from the wormhole and holding cloaked to see if anyone follows. Not for a minute, and even then the only ship that transits from C6a is a Buzzard covert operations boat, which warps away. Then again, another SYJ Loki warps to the wormhole from this side and jumps to C6a, indicating that the connection is probably hotter than I care to deal with solo.

I can still take a quick peak in to C1a, even if SYJ not swarming around it probably means nothing is happening there. Indeed, nothing is. A tower and a lack of ships shows up on d-scan. I declare C1a scouted. Back to C2b, and a return to C2a, where the ghost site persists. I suppose you have to actually interact with the Angel's gear before they throw a hissy fit and blow everything up. A check on the Astero shows the frigate to still be in the tower, still doing nothing. Time to go home.

Posted in Gaming | 2 Comments »
Tags: astero, buzzard, eve online, imicus, loki, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, tengu, w-space

Getting pilots home

The class 5 w-space system fleet got their kill, not me but Fin, and also killed their wormhole. That leaves us with probably a stale constellation through our static wormhole—after all, they merely used it to transport goods, not to roam—and some colleagues to bring home. Still, a lack of activity in the w-space constellation will make the task of scanning an exit simple and quick.

I warp to our wormhole and jump to the neighbouring class 3 system where I see, of course, no activity. Even with a tower and no ships visible on my directional scanner I have no qualms about launching probes on the wormhole today, as I doubt there is anyone watching. A blanket scan reveals two anomalies and five chubby signatures, making scanning a quick prospect indeed.

Three wormholes are resolved: the static exit to low-sec, a disappointing N968 outbound link to more class 3 w-space, and a K162 from low-sec. I check both exits first to give my colleagues early options, the static wormhole being a poor exit to Pout in Khanid, and the K162 also being a poor choice in coming in from a system in Heimatar. There are other signatures to check in both low-sec systems, but the odds are that any wormholes will lead back to w-space. Best to check C3b and its static exit first.

Again, d-scan shows me a tower and no ships, and again I'll simply launch probes and scan. Seven anomalies, five signatures. Another three wormholes resolved, one from a weak signature. The devil man in the static exit to low-sec indicates another connection to Heimatar, so I'm already supposing that link will be poor. The second wormhole is a critically destabilised K162 from class 5 w-space, and despite the possibility of k-space connections in C5 space I don't fancy risking the critical wormhole.

I check the low-sec system in Heimatar anyway, and it doesn't provide a better route than the other connections. There are more signatures again, but I don't really have it in me to scan empire signatures right now. For completion, I check the outbound connection in C3b, and it's an N770 wormhole to class 5 w-space. Well, there could be empire links in there, but it could also lead to a chain of C5 space and lots of scanning. I think I'll leave it alone.

I'll concentrate on helping Aii and Fin get home safely, which seems like a good goal for the evening. Without a good route they've picked the best option and are heading to C3a's static exit, which reconnoitring a second time now sees it at the end of its life. It wasn't ten minutes ago, leaving it with plenty of time for my colleagues to get here and through it. I jump through to monitor the low-sec system, and whilst I'm here I may as well take the time to scan and possibly find a better route.

Three extra signatures give me wormhole—and I realise I'm in Pout in Khanid and not the Heimatar system, silly Penny—wormhole, wormhole. All three are K162s, one from class 2 w-space, one from class 3 w-space, the last from null-sec. The null-sec wormhole comes from Wicked Creek, the wormhole to C3c leads to a system over 160 AU across that I don't care to try to scan, and jumping to C2a sees a tower with no ships on d-scan.

I could scan further, but my idly passing the time has Fin now returned to w-space with Aii in tow. That's mission accomplished, and with nothing found to encourage me to stay up any later I head back home myself.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Getting pilots home
Tags: eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Returning to a cold embrace

Relics, gas, and a second wormhole. Which will give me the most excitement? Call it a hunch, but I'll try the K162 from class 5 w-space over the gas. Ah crap, I was right, but I wasn't really expecting to see a fleet waiting for me. Two Legion strategic cruisers, a Proteus strategic cruiser, a Tengu strategic cruiser, and an Onyx heavy interdictor are all lurking on the wormhole, the wormhole whose locus I'm less than two kilometres from.

I have a minute or so to consider my options. I could bail out, head back home, and hope to get clear. But I rarely like that option, as it forces polarisation effects on myself and gives me a single chance to evade capture. I also feel that fleets kinda expect people to run, and are focussed on the wormhole themselves. It's probably best to try to get clear on this side and wait, either for polarisation to end or longer, for the fleet to get bored.

My preferred method for moving away from a wormhole is to select it on my overview and use the option to 'keep at distance', where the distance is significantly greater than any escape attempt needs to be. My choice is sixty-five kilometres. This has the advantage of pushing my ship directly away from the wormhole and thus minimising the distance needed to cover before my cloak can be activated. The disadvantage is that I'm generally not aimed towards a celestial object I can warp to. But I'm okay with that, as jinking after cloaking is desirable anyway.

So I move, pulsing my micro warp drive, and—yes, I manage to cloak my Loki strategic cruiser, having covered 800 metres without being targeted. Nothing too agile is on the wormhole with me, so I am in the clear, but, again as a precaution, and as a third Legion drops on to the wormhole, I warp away. And I warp back at range, letting me keep an eye on the wormhole and any movements.

The fleet sits and waits on the wormhole. I sit and wait far from the wormhole, and I check my directional scanner. Four towers are in range, plus a couple of extra ships, nothing especially interesting, particularly as they already appear to have enough. Or maybe they don't. I got away, after all. Of course, that's assuming they're actively waiting for me, and it's awfully coincidental that they were formed on the wormhole a minute after I came on-line. Still, even if they aren't after me in particular, I don't know many fleets that would ignore a secondary target.

There are no jumps so far, just circling, waiting. At this point I would normally warp away to launch probes, but the idiot scanner shows me just the one signature, just the one way to go. I probably have a wait on my hands. And in warps a second Proteus, because six strategic cruisers and a HIC sometimes just aren't enough. Mind you, one warps away from the wormhole. The same one? I dunno, I'm not paying that much attention.

A Legion leaves the grid too, and still I sit 250 km from the wormhole, waiting for my opportunity to leave. Someone's got to get bored at some point, and I've got nothing better to do. I've been in similar positions before too, so I'm not exactly worried. I'll just spend the night here if it comes to it, and that would give me an obvious start to an adventure tomorrow.

Hello, I'm told I have a free route home. Do I really, Mr Proteus? I would like to believe you, but the fleet loitering on the wormhole is still not a welcoming sign. Then again, spying the wormhole crackle with a transit—from this distance that's quite impressive, even if I say so myself—and seeing a Viator transport jump through suggests that the fleet are merely waiting for a colleague or two to come home safely. Maybe I do have a free path home.

The waiting fleet is now down to two Legions and a Proteus. It seems like a good time to test the Proteus's promise. I warp in close, get a clear path to the wormhole, approach, and jump. Done. No problems. No one follows, nothing waits for me on the other side, and I move and cloak easily enough. And with me out of the system and their Viator returned, the C5 fleet starts collapsing the wormhole, just as Aii arrives. I give him a sitrep as big ships are pushed through the wormhole, and what's this? It's the glorious return of Fin!

I finish my sitrep and welcome Fin back to w-space, but apparently our timings are a bit off. I finish explaining my daring escape from the C5, embellishing it rather so that it comes across more of an escape and less a simple, unthreatened jump through a wormhole, as Fin decloaks near the K162 to engage an Orca industrial command ship being used to crash the wormhole. It seems the staggered arrivals of my colleagues means Fin missed the part of my sitrep where I mentioned the waiting fleet and its composition.

Of course, the Orca isn't by itself. As soon as Fin's Loki appears so does the support fleet. Fin is tackled, webbed, trapped. More ships jump through to start applying damage, and two HICs appear to ensure Fin's pod doesn't get away either. Fin had the right idea, just the wrong time. I also would have made it much clearer that attacking would be a bad option had I an inkling that Fin was considering doing so. Sometimes circumstances get the better of you. So it is that Fin's Loki gets the crap blown out of it, and her pod is ripped apart to send my glorious leader back to a clone vat in empire space, minutes after her return to w-space. Um, welcome back, Fin?

Posted in Gaming | 5 Comments »
Tags: eve online, legion, loki, mmorpg, onyx, orca, penny ibramovic, proteus, pvp, scanning, tengu, viator, w-space

No one and nothing, even in null-sec

Holy crap, there is no one around. Rarely are there times like this. I hope it's not a general indication of w-space activity, but let's find out. It's even just me and the wormhole, Aii having sucked up yesterday's gas quite efficiently, so I am soon jumping to the neighbouring class 3 system and punching my directional scanner for an update.

Clear. Has there been a mass exodus? Nobody tells me nothin'. A blanket scan has anomalies and signatures all over the bloody place, but no ships. My notes suggest occupation, my probes thumb their probe noses at my notes and point towards a different planet with structures scattered around it. But warping across that way shows that notes and probes are both wrong, as the tower here is old and off-line.

I start sifting through the thirty anomalies and sixteen signatures, unfortunately only with an expectation of resolving the weak wormhole signature of a K346 exit to null-sec. There it is, about 7 AU from our K162. Are there others? Why yes, a chubby wormhole too. Maybe there will be adventure tonight after all.

Checking the null-sec exit first throws me out to a system in Insmother, where there is one extra signature and a handful of pilots who are just leaving. I can't resist looking for a rat to pop in the now-empty system, changing my mind moments later when a new pilot wanders in. Okay, whatever. Back to C3a and across to the other wormhole. Ah, a K162 from null-sec. That's funny.

The K162 comes from Syndicate. I know this because I was there only recently and recognise the colours. Jumping to the null-sec system sees a bunch of probably active pilots, which is encouragement enough to head back through C3a to Insmother and launch probes to see what this other signature is. It's a combat site. How dreary.

What to do. I suppose I may as well hop a stargate. It seems to be all the rage in Insmother at the moment, as the intermittent flow of pilots in and out continues to deter my ratting. Yes, I'll go with the flow, and pick a direction and see where it takes me. It takes me to a system with nothing. No anomalies, no signatures. But no pilots, enough time to find and pop a rat battleship, and more stargates.

Another hop to a different null-sec system and still no signatures. I'll try one more. Hop. Alone and two extra signatures! Launch probes, find a rat, and scan. The rock field I warp to has two battleships with a frigate escort each this time, but sadly the signatures resolve to be a combat and data site. Oh well, at least I looked, but home I go. Space feels a bit empty today.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on No one and nothing, even in null-sec
Tags: eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Why am I scanning?

There's bountiful gas for Aii to harvest, my colleague coming on-line shortly after I do. But the one other signature that requires checking in the home system resolves to be a second wormhole, which isn't good. Well, it isn't good for Aii, who may not want to suck gas in an insecure system, but it's—oh, actually, it's not good for me either. The K162 from class 2 w-space is wobbling away at the end of its life.

So we're in an insecure system, and without any assurance that our own static wormhole remains closed. In fact, not only has it definitely been opened, but it too is sitting at the end of its life, limiting our options in both directions and in staying home. It's not the best start to an evening we've had of late. Maybe I'll just take the night off.

No, let's try to kill our static wormhole. It should be safe enough. Aii boards an Orca industrial command ship, I get the Widow black ops ship out of the hangar, and we both make a round trip through the wormhole. I pause for long enough to take note of the system designation and to check my directional scanner, but it all looks rather ordinary. Nothing in my notes, nothing on d-scan.

Returning home in our massive ships doesn't drop the wormhole to its half-mass state, making the final pair of trips easy and relatively safe. Aii goes out and comes back in the Orca, we swap boats, and I make the same trip in the same Orca. The wormhole collapses behind me on my return. Job's a good 'un. Even better, Aii is happy to wait for the C2 K162 to die of old age whilst I go exploring. Okay then.

I resolve the replacement wormhole, and jumping through finds this second class 3 w-space system as uninspiring as the first. A blanket scan doesn't even make it look better, with five anomalies, six signatures, and no ships. My notes suggest red occupation under a year ago but warping to where the tower should be finds them gone. No stalking hatred enemies of ours tonight. I'll be scanning for wormholes.

Gas, data, gas, wormhole, and a nice little surprise at the end with a second wormhole. The static exit to low-sec takes me to The Bleak Lands, where faction warfare putters on and extra signatures beckon me to scan them. Maybe in a bit, extra signatures, I have a second wormhole in C3a. And it looks welcoming too, being a K162 from class 4 w-space. But it's welcoming facade is only visible from this side.

Jumping to C4a has my mourning the mystery of w-space again. D-scan shows me three towers and no ships, and the idiot scanner reveals just the one signature in the system, the wormhole I'm sitting on, without my even having to launch probes. Fine, have it your way, I'll look elsewhere.

Back through C3a to low-sec and launching probes to scan the seven extra signatures. The first is a combat site, it doesn't take probes to identify the fool in the local communications channel, then back to scanning another combat site, data site, relic site, combat site, data site, and a final combat site. If only someone had warned me I was wasting my time in scanning.

That's my options exhausted. It's time to go home. Rather than hide and go off-line immediately, it's only polite to help Aii collapse our wormhole a second time. The process goes as smoothly as the first time, leaving us both in the home system and the wormhole gone, and by the time we finish the C2 K162 has withered in to oblivion too. That's good. Aii can huff gas in peace, and I can get some downtime.

Posted in Gaming | 2 Comments »
Tags: eve online, low-sec, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space, widow

Outbound to an ore site

Two gas sites have floated away from the home system, and the two new signatures only replace one of those sites. The other signature is a wormhole, a K162 from class 3 w-space, making it the same as our static wormhole but with a different direction. That's a good excuse to shake the routine up a bit, so backwards it is. Sadly, jumping to C3b is a bit of a disappointment, appearing as I do over six kilometres from the wormhole and with nothing visible on my directional scanner. Still, it can only get better, right?

Launching probes and performing a blanket scan reveals fourteen anomalies, eighteen signatures, and no ships, but exploring at least finds a tower. Checking for more wormholes isn't a positive experience either. All the chubby signatures are gas sites, meaning there are no K162s and that the static exit will lead to high- or null-sec. I resolve one, its lack of strength indicating it will be a K346 to null-sec, and given my disdain for outbound connections these days I'll treat it as the only wormhole of significance unless prompted otherwise. I recall my probes and warp to the wormhole.

It's a K346 all right, but before I can see where it will take me a final update of d-scan sees there are other probes in this system, two sets even. Have the scouts come from C3a? Whatever, if they resolve every signature I could be waiting here for a while, and they are only core scanning probes and so won't detect my ship decloaking, so I'll check the null-sec system anyway.

I appear in a system in Tenal, no one around, seven extra signatures. I launch probes and scan, but today I'm preferring not to rat and instead lurk on the wormhole in case the scouts in C3b come this way. Resolving the signatures instil a sense of a pattern in me, identifying as I do a relic site, gas site, relic site, gas site, relic site, but stumbling on a weak wormhole and data site makes me think it was mere coincidence. I recall my probes with no one having come past me, and given that I have an obviously outbound wormhole to explore I make the best use of my time. I wait on this K162 for a bit longer.

The wormhole crackles, once then twice. A Proteus strategic cruiser appears first, followed by a Pilgrim recon ship. I don't quite fancy my odds against either of them by itself, let alone the pair of them together. But, weirdly, rather than jump back to w-space the two warp towards a stargate and leave the system. Well, they're gone, so that's good. I may as well see what that wormhole is.

I drop out of warp next to an X702 connection to class 3 w-space. It's either this one or the other in the home system, and I'm already here, so I jump to C3c. There doesn't look to be much to see. D-scan is clear, the idiot scanner is already showing me four anomalies and two signatures—this K162 and the static wormhole—and launching probes and blanketing the system indicates the other signature will take me straight back to null-sec.

My probes also reveal seven ships in the system, all no doubt having this K162's signature blinking at them by the dumbscovery scanner pretty obviously, given the general dearth of signatures. Then again, there may be no pilots, or maybe the X702 was opened hours ago and it doesn't register as new any more. I may as well check. Locating the tower finds two ships piloted, in a Helios covert operations boat and Venture mining frigate, the combat ships empty. But I only count six at the tower. D-scan confirms the seventh is elsewhere, a Retriever mining barge. Could I be so lucky?

If the miner isn't paying attention he must be punished. The ore site is easy to find, more's the pity. I much preferred the days of having to actually hunt ships, and being given the time to do it. But now's not the time to reminisce. I warp towards the site and drop short of the Retriever by just over 150 km. It's almost perfect. Without wasting time, I get my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser closer to the mining barge and get ready to wake the pilot up.

Still the Retriever doesn't stir, making it a simple matter to decloak and execute the ambush. There are no surprises as I lock on, disrupt the warp engines, and start shooting, the mining barge exploding without having moved. The lack of any stirrings makes me think it a formality to also catch the pod, but the shield, armour, and hull alarms must have got the pilot's attention. The pod warps clear.

I loot and shoot the wreck, and, well, I'm not going to loiter, in the site or in the system. All that's left here are potential repercussions. I'll call this a win, despite the lack of skill involved, and head back the way I came. Out to null-sec, across to C3b, and still no one is in the tower in the w-space system. I am close to jumping home when updating d-scan sees a golden pod in the system. The pod drops on to the wormhole with the previously seen Pilgrim behind it, and I recognise the pod pilot as having been in the Proteus. Is he now in his pod on purpose, or did he get a surprise in null-sec?

Both jump to our home system, followed by an Anathema cov-ops. It looks like we're being used as a bridge. I give the ships a minute to get clear, rather generous of me, I think, and follow. Scanning the home system finds a new signature, and it resolves to be a K162 from class 5 w-space. Despite already being in my pyjamas, I can't resist a peak through. And it is just a peak, after updating d-scan sees thirteen towers—that are in range—and a handful of combat ships. No wrecks means no Penny interest, although I am curious as to what Tenal holds for these pilots. I suppose I won't find out, not if I yawn, jump home, and go off-line.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Outbound to an ore site
Tags: anathema, eve online, helios, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, proteus, pvp, retriever, scanning, venture, w-space

Polarisation without purpose

Let's go! Out to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, where two drones are all that my directional scanner cares to show me. No tower, no ships, no wrecks. Those poor little drones, left all alone in space few pilots will pass through. At least there are two of them, maybe playing a perpetual game of I-spy that cycles through 'planet', 'star', and 'nothing'.

A blanket scan of the system only adds anomalies and signatures to the d-scan result, fifteen and nine of them respectively. My last visit, twenty-one months ago, was good. Mick and I first podded a Mammoth hauler, quickly following that up with a pair of stealth bombers. Great days. Today looks somewhat barer, without even any occupation in the system.

Scanning at least gives me a gentle start to the evening, particularly as there is just the one wormhole amongst the gas and data sites. I don't care to interrupt whatever the drones are doing, and simply warp to the static exit to low-sec and jump through to be alone in Solitude. Alone suits me fine, I'll rat and scan.

Five extra signatures give me two more wormholes, the good scanning result making up for the crappy rats in the rock fields. Both the K162s look appealing, and I'm drawn to the one from class 1 w-space over the other from class 3 w-space. Jumping in to C1a doesn't look any better than C3a, though, with a clear d-scan result and lots of empty space. A blanket scan reveals an occupation-denying thirty-five anomalies and fifteen signatures, but there's probably another K162 waiting to be found.

Two K162s crop up in my scanning results, from class 2 and class 3 w-space. I'll hit the C3 first, and finally I see occupation, if still no ships, on entering C3c. A blanket scan says more this time, with nineteen anomalies, three signatures, and sixteen ships, although that many ships are probably just floating free in a tower on the other side of the system. Warping across C3c confirms this, with one more tower holding all sixteen ships inside its force field, only a Magnate frigate piloted.

The Magnate looks idle, there are only two unknown signatures, I'll scan. They're both wormholes, the outbound connection to class 6 w-space being Plan B, and a static exit to low-sec that crackles as I approach. A Viator transport enters the system and promptly cloaks. He doesn't reappear in the local tower, though, giving me a minor mystery to uncover. The C6 system is worth a look first, I suppose.

Jumping to C6a doesn't see much, just a tower and Zephyr exploration ship on d-scan. I think I can disregard this system as the destination of the Viator, so return to C3c, go back to C1a, and head to C2a. Just as I jump through the wormhole to C2a an Executioner frigate warps to the wormhole in C1a, dropping short by seventy kilometres. That's rather rumbled any attempt of mine at staying covert. Still, the Executioner has a name similar to that of the Viator I saw, and indeed of the Viator now on d-scan in C2a, along with six towers and some other ships. Mystery solved, I suppose.

Well, I've been spotted, and time is drawing on, it's probably a good point to call it a night. I sit on the wormhole waiting for polarisation effects to dissipate, during which time the Bestower hauler in the system doesn't accidentally come my way, although a Magnate drops out of warp a hundred kilometres from the wormhole. I watch and wonder what the frigate will do, and see the ship turn towards a distant planet and warp away. Curiously, a Cheetah covert operations boat jumps through the wormhole from C1a and looks to follow the Magnate. That piques my interest.

Scanning is easy, I can do it with little effort. Clumping my probes near where the two scouts disappeared to finds a weak signature, a weak wormhole, a weak wormhole with a Magnate on it. I resolve the signature as the Magnate drops on to the wormhole I'm still sitting on and jumps to C1a. Well, that's easier than going to the other wormhole, so I recall my probes and give chase.

On the other side of the wormhole, in C1a, I don't know if it is my jump that causes the Magnate to pause, or the Executioner still being seventy kilometres from the wormhole. Either way, when the frigate decides to make his move it is only to head straight back to C2a. Somewhat unwisely, I immediately follow, polarising myself again, and naturally don't manage to stop the agile frigate from warping clear.

Oh well, the frigate's evading me was almost inevitable, and there is probably little point in chasing him to the next wormhole. But, then, I am polarised. I may as well use the time to reconnoitre the wormhole I cared to resolve. And it's an outbound link to class 5 w-space, one with an Apocalypse battleship jumping through and Dominix battleship cloaking on. It's probably sensible to leave it alone. I'll just wait for this polarisation effect to end and head home.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Polarisation without purpose
Tags: apocalypse, bestower, cheetah, dominix, eve online, executioner, magnate, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, viator, w-space, zephyr