Careless Caracal

A new signature in the home system catches my interest. I was about to head off-line, after not being able to interrupt the EVE University fleet clearing away Sleepers in our neighbouring class 3 system for more than five minutes, but maybe I can find more to do in a different direction. I scan the new signature, resolve the obviously-a-wormhole, and warp to see a K162 from class 2 w-space before me. Looks good, in I go.

Nothing appears on my directional scanner in C2a, but the black hole is pretty obvious in the background. Launching probes and blanketing the system reveals six anomalies, eight signatures, and a distinct lack of ships. One planet lurks out of d-scan range, and at that planet is a single tower, so I scan to see who opened the wormhole to our system. Was it someone local, or a scout from even further back?

I first resolve the static exit to high-sec, which clearly leads to Lonetrek, and, well, that's it for wormholes. I suppose a local pilot scanned, opened both wormholes, then went shopping. Except core probes are now visible on d-scan. That could mean the scout came back, that he hasn't yet finished scanning, or maybe it's one of the two EVE University scouts having come further back looking for the douchebag who interrupted them. If it is, I hope it's the Helios covert operations boat and not the Loki strategic cruiser.

I sit still for a while to monitor any comings and goings, and finally the probes disappear. A ship blips on my combat scanning probes, and switching to d-scan has my first, indirect viewing of an Astero frigate. That's almost interesting, made more interesting by the Astero appearing on the B274 with me. The Sisters of EVE frigate jumps out to high-sec and, anticipating his polarised return, I decloak my Loki and get its systems hot.

The wormhole crackles seconds later, bringing the Astero back. But, being a frigate, it's pretty agile, even under the influence of a black hole, and the ship evades my attentions easily. Never mind, I jink and cloak, and hold my position as the wormhole crackles a second time. An Ishtar heavy assault cruiser appears from high-sec, warping away to, well, somewhere. I don't know where the Astero went, nor the Ishtar, and there are no new signatures to suggest a new wormhole.

Drones are launched in C2a. That implies combat. I check the information on the pilots, seeing the capsuleer in the Astero belonging to a state corporation, the one in the Ishtar not. That likely means they are not affiliated, and probably came to this convenient high-sec wormhole by coincidence. Now d-scan is showing me a Sleeper wreck, as well as a Gallente frigate wreck. I imagine that second wreck has been in the system longer than the Ishtar, and that I only didn't see it because I wasn't looking for it. But its presence is interesting.

I locate the frigate wreck in a basic anomaly, its affiliation independent of both other ships somewhere in the system. It's just a hotbed of activity. But the only activity now is the Ishtar, who is most likely in a relic site I've already ignored. I've got nothing better to do, let me hunt him. A crappy mobile tractor unit has been launched too, which whilst meaning I will almost certainly see no loot at least makes for a fatter target for my probes. Or maybe I can ignore the Ishtar, seeing how the high-sec wormhole crackles a third time to bring in to the system a Caracal cruiser.

The Caracal warps to the anomaly holding the frigate wreck, which is probably his. I bet he misgauged the ire the Sleepers can mete, and has come back in what he feels is a ship more appropriate to the task. I'm not convinced, and as I have my probes positioned roughly where I think the Ishtar is, and don't think the Caracal will last long by itself, I decide to continue with my hunt for the HAC. Sadly, the lack of hunting opportunities since Odyssey has dulled my skills somewhat, and it takes two scans to resolve the site holding the Ishtar. By the time I warp in to the site the Ishtar has broken for the wormhole.

Never mind, the MTU is still there. Not that I care to try to crack open that solid chunk of unbreakium. Oh, and the Caracal is still wherever the Caracal is too. Not only did he return for more Sleeper punishment, not only was he apparently not concerned by the Ishtar in the same system as him, but he also hasn't been spooked by my combat scanning probes. Maybe I'll see what he's up to. I think I can revise my earlier consideration of his chances of survival too, when I realise the C2 anomaly is not a classic anomaly but an ore site. Yeah, okay, a cruiser should be able to handle the minor Sleepers found in a C2 ore site. But can it handle a Loki?

I almost consider waiting for the cruiser to clear the Sleepers and come back in a mining barge, just to remember the good old days when pilots mined openly in w-space. But I would rather shoot a ship that can shoot back. I warp in to the site from my perch, approach the Caracal, and skilfully manage to time my ambush so that the last Sleeper frigate pops the moment that I decloak to strike. Nothing unintentional there, nope.

The Caracal's shields are strong when I get a positive lock, barely scratched by the Sleepers, but not for long. My autocannons do a good job of stripping the cruiser's shields, and rake through the armour even more effectively, as I manage to keep my target close. It's only when the Caracal is taking structure damage that the pilot thinks to shoot back, but it doesn't really matter. The ship explodes. I aim for the pod, get a positive lock, and crack that open too.

It was simple fight against a simple ship, but at least it was a fight. Hopefully it illustrates the dangers of w-space to the pilot too. I scoop the corpse, and loot and shoot the wreck. Now to take a look at the MTU in the relic site. Yep, it's there. Yep, I'll be leaving it. I wander off to finally see where the exit wormhole takes me in Lonetrek, but the connection crackles before I get close enough to jump. The Ishtar returns to w-space, warping back to the relic site. Neat.

The HAC goes to finish the sole remaining Sleeper battleship and, not convinced I can engage him successfully, I get my probes ready to startle him again. They're not needed, though, as a new, full wave of Sleepers does that for me. And, just to end the evening, the Astero makes a final appearance, wandering up to take a look at the mobile tractor unit for himself. Had I expected this I'd have got my Loki much closer. As it is, I'm too far to reasonably engage the frigate, and certainly too far to stop the Astero from warping clear. Either way, the Sleepers look to scare him off after a few seconds, and once more all is quiet. The system has been subdued in to inactivity. It's time to go home, but I'm glad I stayed up a little later than planned.

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Tags: astero, caracal, eve online, helios, ishtar, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space

Trying to be a disrupting influence

What's out there today? A tower and no ships in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, how novel. Scanning the seven anomalies and five signatures resolves three wormholes and a bit of gas, and as the first wormhole I warp to turns out to be the static exit to low-sec I decide to get the exit system before checking the others. I jump out of w-space to appear in a system in Molden Heath under the oppression of a Sansha incursion, which unfortunately forces an unwanted communications channel on me. I incorporate and hide the channel as best I can in my interface and return to C3a to see what the other wormholes are.

I've resolved two K162s from class 2 w-space, one healthy, one dying. I'll make use of the healthy connection, where w-space communications will remain blissfully silent. Or maybe I'll hold on the wormhole instead of jumping through, as it crackles with a transit on my approach. Could this be activity coming my way? Well, it's a Loki strategic cruiser that appears, so it is activity of a sort, but perhaps not the sort that I will be able engage directly.

The Loki aligns, cloaks, and, presumably, warps away. I head towards the low-sec exit to see if it's leaving w-sapce, but instead the other ship spews probes in the system and presumably starts scanning. Interrogating the pilot information, which I managed to snag, shows something interesting: the pilot belongs to EVE University. I wonder what resources he has behind him, and where they are. The probes disappear quickly, but I don't see the Loki again and nothing else passes through the C2 K162. Maybe I should jump through to see what's happening.

Yep, that did the trick. As I threaten to transit the wormhole myself it crackles again before I reach it, this time bringing multiple ships in to the system. I guess these are the Loki's colleagues in the Legion and Proteus strategic cruiser, Myrmidon battlecruiser, and pair of Guardian logistic ships. The fleet warps as one to what at first looks like empty space, but opening the system map and checking with d-scan shows to be an anomaly. That fleet's overkill for a C3 anomaly, but I suppose combat will be quick.

Warping behind the fleet to see what they are doing, and if there is a possibility of an ambush, sees the ships killing the site guns. That's a waste of time, but whatever. A Vigilant cruiser warps in to join the fleet, not flown by the Loki pilot who remains notable in his absence, as does a Navy Issue Brutix battlecruiser. Adding more ships just makes it harder for me to ambush them in my one, and on top of that the damned Proteus is salvaging as they go. I've got no shot here, particularly as my own colleagues only have null-sec routes out of their system currently.

Even though I have no ambush opportunity, I could still be a disrupting influence. I warp out of d-scan range of the fleet and launch combat scanning probes, throwing them out of the system to start with so that I can get back closer and watch what happens. The first anomaly is finished and the fleet has moved to a second. I call my probes in to the system to start scanning and, well, nothing much happens. At least, not to start with. Eventually someone updates d-scan and notices the probes, the fleet warping out of the anomaly and back to their K162.

Mission accomplished, I hide my probes again. The strategic cruisers jump out of the system but the others remain, holding on the K162. An Astarte command ship comes back with a Helios covert operations boat, followed by the return of the salvaging Proteus, and the fleet resumes its Sleeper combat, apparently happy that they can take on whoever happens to drop on top of them. That would be me, I suppose, which isn't much of a threat. But I did my best to make w-space life interesting. Maybe I'll just have an early, if unexciting, evening.

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Tags: astarte, brutix, eve online, guardian, helios, legion, loki, mmorpg, myrmidon, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, vigilant, w-space

Diverting from a collapse

Aww, man. All our home anomalies are gone, either plundered by parties unknown or activated in spite. If I could have been bothered to clear them myself I'd be upset. Instead, I'm more concerned about my ship staying responsive in space. It feels good so far! Let's see if jumping through our static wormhole keeps this run going.

Yep, still all good, although I'm greeted by a clear result from my directional scanner and, holy crap, a blanket scan reveals only two anomalies and two signatures. That's not much. Our K162 is obvious from its chubbiness, and the other signature's being skinny as a rake puts it as a K346 exit to null-sec. I can only assume that occupation floats around the one planet out of range, but warping across finds nothing. That's unusual, for a system so clear to also be free of occupation.

Okay, I'll resolve the K346 and head out to null-sec to continue exploring. Or the signature will disappear and have a new one blink in to existence. Have I mentioned recently how I despise the over-simplification of scanning in w-space caused by the idiotic and unnecessary discovery scanner? But never mind, I resolve the fresh signature and warp across to see a K346 that looks like it leads to the Outer Ring region. Or, you know, Syndicate.

A system in Syndicate with no extra signatures. This is a minimalist constellation indeed. It sucks. I'm going home to kill our wormhole and start again. But that plan goes a little awry when the first Orca industrial command ship thrown through our connection drops the wormhole to half mass. It shouldn't do that. Still, it confirms my suspicions that perhaps a marauding fleet swept through our anomalies and then, not quite sated, continued through to our neighbouring C3 system. I bet they made a bit of a profit.

My dislike of the discovery scanner grows too, as a third signature now appears in C3a where before I'd have been oblivious. I liked being oblivious in w-space, that was the point of being deep in unknown space. Still, I'd be foolish to ignore the information forced in to my interface with no interaction, so jump home, swap back to my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser, and, well, lurk with intent on our wormhole as I wait for polarisation effects to dissipate.

I do some wormhole-collapsing maths whilst I wait, just in case I need them, which takes up the few minutes of polarisation. Once over, I return to C3a, re-launch probes, and scan the new signature. What a lack-of-surprise, it's a wormhole. A K162 from class 4 w-space, in fact. I wonder what the scout thinks of this constellation. I poke through to find out, appearing in a system with no one waiting for me on the wormhole, and nothing visible on d-scan. Maybe there's nothing in this direction either.

A blanket scan and bit of exploration reveals eleven anomalies and fifteen signatures, and a Buzzard covert operations boat floating unpiloted inside a tower's force field. I'm not entirely convinced this is the boat that opened the wormhole to C3a. I scan for more K162s, nice and easy in class 4 w-space with a resolved static wormhole, and find one. The K162 comes from class 2 w-space, which is nice, but jumping through still doesn't find much. D-scan is clear, one planet is in range, and a blanket scan doesn't reveal any ships, just thirteen anomalies and six signatures.

A Navy Megathron passing on d-scan as I float outside the tower in C2a confirms that the locals probably didn't open the wormholes and that I've got more scanning to do. As the battleship has already disappeared from my probes I look for those wormholes, and find three amongst the gas. The static exit to high-sec is a good candidate for ship movements, a dying K162 from high-sec may also have been used, but the K162 from class 2 w-space pulsing in its half-mass state has obviously seen ship transits.

I approach the K162 and the wormhole crackles, as an Arbitrator cruiser, piloted by a red, drops out of warp and jumps through. Reds! Our enemies are generally enemies for a reason, and I have no back-up right now. I should probably leave them alone. Another crackle from the wormhole drops it to critical mass, and a Drake jumps back. That's one heavy battlecruiser. The imminent collapse of the wormhole also seems that the reds will probably leave me alone by themselves, not that they know I'm here.

I'm also tempted to poke through the critically destabilised wormhole, in case the reds consider the state of the wormhole enough to keep them safe, but I don't. I doubt it's worth the risk, either from being isolated, jumping in to a fleet, or finding more than I can bite off anyway. And it's good that I don't, judging by the Paladin that blips on d-scan as I warp towards the stable high-sec exit, the marauder obviously finishing the wormhole's collapse smoothly.

And no wonder the wormhole was being used, the exit dropping me four hops from Jita in The Forge. It's a shame I can't think of anything to buy, or I'd use it to. I really should write down a shopping list for opportunities like this, as I generally only remember what we really need at our tower when we have an exit to deep null-sec. I've probably touted the shopping-list idea before too. Still, I think I've explored as much as I care to and the diversion has taken its time. That's okay, as I've had my fun exploring, which has got to be better than spending it crashing a wormhole.

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Tags: arbitrator, buzzard, drake, eve online, loki, megathron, mmorpg, orca, paladin, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

No Mammoth, no ghost site

Two new gas sites should keep Aii happily busy for a little while. Let's see if our static wormhole can do the same for me. Jumping to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system looks pretty ordinary, with a tower and no ships visible on my directional scanner, so I do the ordinary and warp out, launch probes, and perform a blanket scan. Four anomalies and eight signatures, which I soon identify as three wormholes, two gas sites, and a data and relic site each.

One wormhole is the expected static exit to low-sec, which looks like it leads to the Tash-Murkon region, judging by the colours bleeding through. A K162 from class 2 w-space is healthy, and probably where I'll be heading to explore next, once I've swung past the third wormhole, where I see—hello, these colours are unfamiliar. Is that the Cloud Ring in all its glory? Hell yes! Jumping through the K162 from null-sec puts me in the middle of the extraordinary nebula, which is a good find and an amazing view.

I look around for a bit, just taking in the vista, before jumping back to C3a, happy to now have one of the few remaining wormhole colours I've yet to capture. Back to the original plan, but only once I've bounced off the U210 to get an exit that isn't in null-sec. The wormhole indeed takes me to Tash-Murkon, where there are some extra signatures if I need them. Hopefully not, and I return to w-space and warp across to the C2 K162 to look for activity.

A tower and a ship wait for me in C2a, but there are no wrecks to accompany the Ferox on d-scan, so I doubt the battlecruiser is in one of the nineteen anomalies. My notes from nine months ago list three towers in the system, two of them out of range. Wondering if the Ferox is in the third I warp across to see a tower but no ship, but, then, the Ferox has dropped off d-scan completely. That's a shame.

I warp out, launch probes, and blanket the system, picking up seven signatures and a ship somewhere. Exploring finds the other two towers dismantled, and returning to the extant tower holds the ship under my probes, the Mammoth hauler warping away as soon as I manage to get it on to my overview. Where to? Somewhere out of d-scan range, apparently. I take a punt at it warping to a distant customs office, if only because I'd kick myself if it went there and I didn't, but find nothing. Updating my probes, still blanketing the whole system, has the ship gone.

I suspect a wormhole. A quick scan resolves one, and out by the planet the Mammoth warped towards too. It could be the static exit to high-sec, and it could have a Mammoth coming back polarised. What are the odds? I warp across to find out, landing by what turns out to be the static exit to high-sec, leading to somewhere in the Metropolis region most likely, so approach and loiter just in case the rest of my prediction holds true.

The wormhole crackles with a transit, and a Mammoth decloaks! How about that. I decloak my Loki strategic cruiser, get the sensor booster active, and aim for a positive target lock. I get one too, so I—nope, the lock drops. I try again, get him again, and the lock drops again. The Mammoth warps clear. I have no idea what just happened but I suspect haxxx. I've also blown my chance at catching the hauler. Never mind, nothing more to do here.

Well, there is one more task to do here, and that's to get the high-sec exit. I may as well. I jump out, bookmark the wormhole in Metropolis, and see a Manticore stealth bomber lurking distinctly un-stealth-like on the wormhole. Whatever. I jump back to C2a and hold my position for a minute, but the Manticore doesn't follow. Who'd've thought the stealth bomber wouldn't want to take on a strategic cruiser? Weird.

Scanning the C2 more thoroughly finds a mass-stressed K162 from class 5 w-space, which could be interesting. Jumping through to see a tower and a few ships piques my interest, and although the black hole is not enough to drag my spirit down, locating the tower and finding a lack of pilots is. Back to scanning, and the one anomaly and seven signatures in the system give me four more wormholes to investigate. Sadly, they are just three K162s from null-sec, one at the end of its life, and a K162 from deadly class 6 w-space, also at the end of its life.

Checking the null-sec connections isn't terribly exciting, at least not until I poke through to a system in Malpais where I see a ghost site. That's nifty, and worth exploiting to give meaning to my evening. Sadly, having my Loki lock-up three times on my way home to refit for the ghost site should be taken as the omen of instability that it clearly is. I persevere, though, the vague promise of riches encouragement enough.

On my way back to the null-sec system I even see a Crane transport jump from C5a to C2a as I cloak and move away from the wormhole, but there's not much I can do about that. My warp scrambler has been removed for the ghost site, and the transport is agile and cloaky anyway. I press on, getting to the null-sec system and warping to the ghost site, where I scan the cans to see what goodies they hold. Well, the first can I scan, the second refuses to divulge its information. Yep, my Loki has jiggled its wiring out of place again.

Knowing that time is of the essence in ghost sites I rush to get my Loki back on-line, but it's not quite fast enough. My ship is back in space and reappears in the ghost site just in time to see all four unhacked and unlooted containers explode in unison. That's just great. At least my ship is in one piece, I suppose. Well, as much as any Minmatar ship can be considered to be in one piece. But I'm a little frustrated. I'm going to home to hide in a corner of the system and whimper.

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Tags: crane, eve online, ferox, loki, mammoth, manticore, mmorpg, null-sec, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space

Not sucking on an empty siphon

Exiting our neighbouring class 3 w-space system through its static wormhole puts me not in the wasteland that is high-sec Aridia but a system in the Kador region. I'm actually glad that I managed to mis-identify that wormhole colouring. I'm also glad that there are five extra signatures in the system to scan, which hopefully will give me more wormholes to explore through, maybe even find another target to shoot.

Scanning the signatures resolves relics, a sadly weak wormhole, a normal wormhole, relics, and more relics. Whatever, relics, warping to the chubby wormhole finds a good-looking K162 from class 1 w-space. I'm going to see if anyone's home. Nope, not according to my directional scanner, although there is occupation. Nothing is out of range, though, so to find activity I'll be scanning again.

Twelve anomalies and eight signatures get sifted down to three more wormholes. A K162 from class 2 w-space is good, and it would be churlish to consider a second K162 from class 2 w-space as anything but also good, but the third K162 from class 2 w-space definitely isn't as good, being at the end of its life. In another of my genius ideas, I'll check the first C2 K162 first. I know, I don't know how I do it.

D-scan shows me three towers and one ship, a Crane transport, which I hasten to locate in case there's a pilot. There is, as it turns out, but he may not be entirely active. Can I be bothered to wait around to see if the Crane goes somewhere? For a few minutes, apparently, even though I wouldn't have much hope of following him in this unscanned system. But I come to my senses soon enough and realise I have another system to check for activity.

Hold on, though. I spy a mobile siphon unit in this C2, and out of range of the Crane pilot too. But do those units work in w-space? Is there anything to siphon? Maybe, but probably not in this case. I suspect a trap before I even drop out of warp at the tower to see the siphon unit neatly nestled amongst some active defences, tempting capsuleers to try to sneak a peak inside. That the siphon unit has a visible indicator to its filled capacity, and this one is clearly empty, means the trap will only work on those more greedy and ignorant capsuleers. That's not me, not today.

Ignoring the siphon unit sends me back to C1a, where a new ship is in the system. The Myrmidon battlecruiser is merely at the local tower, but his appearance is still interesting enough to monitor for now. I call Aii to come across in case the Myrmidon actually does something, and he reports the wormhole connecting C1a to high-sec flaring. It's a Helios covert operations boat with a pilot belonging to the C1 corporation, the scout taking the briefest look at the system in Kador before turning around and returning to his tower in w-space. I see him now.

'Okay guys, do something', says Aii, urging the pilots not to waste our precious time. And they actually do something, although going off-line wasn't really what we were hoping for. Ah, but the Myrmidon returns a minute later, perhaps only having minor stability problems with his ship. Hah, that must be frustrating! And, yeah, it kinda is, as I find out when my Loki strategic cruiser locks up. I can do nothing but turn it off and on again, flicking the switch incidentally cutting the power from my cloak. I see him, but he sees me. Oh well, it was getting late anyway. When my Loki starts responding again, I merely turn it around and head home.

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Tags: crane, eve online, helios, loki, mmorpg, myrmidon, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Crow on Hound

I'll just have a relaxing pootle around tonight. Unless space has other ideas for me, of course. An extra wormhole in the home system could give me options, but only if I fancy diving through a dying K162 to deadly class 6 system without a current known entrance back in to w-space. And I don't, just to be clear. Hey, I hope whoever came this way didn't touch our stuff, like our static wormhole. I warp across to take a look and, thankfully, the connection to class 3 w-space is looking healthy. Good.

Jumping to C3a and updating my directional scanner sees a tower, some ships, and probes. The Heron frigate and Cheetah covert operations boat look benign enough, but the Raptor interceptor feels a bit menacing, even from this distance. But never mind that. Checking my notes sees that I was here nine months ago, when I found a tower and a static exit to high-sec, and the tower turns out to be in the same place. That saves some time. All ships on d-scan are inside the force field, only the Cheetah is piloted, and I can probably assume it is him who is scanning.

I'm tempted to loiter on our wormhole in my own interceptor, but how many other wormholes are in this system, and how curious the Cheetah? If there are multiple wormholes, the scout could be sucked down a different set of connections before even considering our K162, and that's assuming that the pilot wants to scout instead of simply categorising the signatures in his system. I think it best to scan first. Launching probes and blanketing the system reveals a mere eight anomalies and eight signatures, and that won't take long to sift through.

The high-sec wormhole is obvious enough, and the rest is just gas. I still won't get in an interceptor just yet, though, but a stealth bomber seems like the right choice of ship today. Small and agile, fully covert, and no recalibration delay on decloaking. Unlike an interceptor, I can shadow the Cheetah in its own system and actively give chase, rather than having to lie in wait where I can't see and don't know what's happening. I take my Loki strategic cruiser home and swap it at the tower for a Manticore, feeling strangely pleased with myself for not sticking with the Loki for once, and return to C3a.

I bounce off the high-sec wormhole, so that my rough bookmark made from the scanning interface can be made more accurate from the wormhole locus itself, before loitering with intent at the tower. It's good timing for Aii to come on-line. I give him a sitrep and he grabs an interceptor to sit on the wormhole. I can be the eyes in C3a whilst he sits in the deadlier ship. Even if the Cheetah pilot is only interested in their high-sec connection—and it looks like it leads to Aridia, of all the luck—I can see if he goes that way and call Aii in to warp to that wormhole for his return. Space becomes easier to cope with when there are more of you.

The probes disappear from d-scan. And the probes return to d-scan. The probes disappear, and the probes reappear. I don't know what method of scanning this pilot is using, but it doesn't seem particularly efficient. Ah, movement! The Cheetah only swings around towards a hangar, but when the cov-ops is swapped for a Hound stealth bomber, the bomber then aligns towards the high-sec wormhole and warps, cloaking on leaving the tower. Naturally, I follow behind, not quite sure why I'm shadowing a Hound and not a Cheetah, updating d-scan to catch a wormhole transit should it occur before I land. It doesn't.

I stick to the high-sec wormhole, almost sure the pilot will want to at least record the exit, but he doesn't. The Hound appears not on my overview but on d-scan. It doesn't look to be at the tower either. There's a reason for that. 'Our wormhole, flare', says Aii. That'll be the Hound. Catch him if you can, Aii, I'm heading your way now. I decloak en route to our K162, as Aii tells me that he's 'got him, come'. But I stay, stealth bomber decloaked and ready to catch a Hound fleeing back the way it came. There's no need, though. Interceptors really are the natural predators of stealth bombers, and the Hound melts to Aii's Crow. The ejected pilot's pod warps star-wards, back to our wormhole, and jumps, easily evading my attention on his return to his tower.

That was a good result. I ignore the pilot and jump home to see the lovely sight of a fresh stealth bomber wreck, which I loot and shoot. Aii's a happy bunny too, getting a good kill within a few minutes of coming on-line. He was a little nervous about piloting the Crow, not having had much experience in an interceptor. That's fine, and I would say he's gained a bit now. I take our well-earned booty back to the tower and drop it in a hangar, swapping my Manticore for the Loki once more, and head back to C3a. The pilot may be gone, which is fair dos, but I have that high-sec wormhole to continue my pootling around.

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Tags: cheetah, crow, eve online, heron, hound, loki, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, raptor, scanning, w-space

Enemies of your enemies are your friends

Following the successful ambush of the Noctis salvager, somewhat unexpected by the fleet who thought our system was clear of pilots, I warp back to their C2 K162 to monitor the situation. The only surprise in seeing the pod of the Noctis jump through is in how long it took him to get here. A Helios covert operations boat appears on the wormhole too, which catches my attention if only because he's not orange. I saw a Helios on d-scan earlier, so it could be him, and some corporations share w-space systems, so I pay it no mind. Otherwise, the five Dominix battleships warp out of the third cleared but unsalvaged anomaly and jump back to their home system, halving the mass of the wormhole as they do.

The Helios makes a return and jumps to the class 2 w-space system, and when a scout returns it's a fair indicator that the mass-stressed wormhole will soon be fully collapsed. That seems to be the case now too. I have a short wait, but one Dominix makes a round trip through the connection, followed by another solo battleship. I suppose they are being cautious. But not cautious enough? The wormhole drops to critical mass levels as two battleships appear in our system.

I suppose there could be enough mass to take both ships back to their home system, but it seems the pilots didn't quite expect this circumstance to occur. They both sit and think about the situation for a bit, before both jumping, and both—oh, both don't make it back. One does, the other remains in this system with me, now also with a Sleipnir command ship and Drake battlecruiser appeared from nowhere. And now without a wormhole any more.

The two new ships open fire on the two battleships. That's pretty cool. The lone Dominix melts pretty quickly, almost too quick for it to even think about retaliating, and the pod gets caught and cracked open too. Hah, I enjoyed that vicariously! If I could have caught the fleet I would have, but being by myself limited my options. I'm perhaps a little too pleased that some other pilots came by and taught this ship a lesson for stealing our anomalies.

Scuffle over, the Sleipnir and Drake, well, just mill around a bit. I check their information and see they both belong to Anomalous Existence, a corporation in the Surely You're Joking alliance. I've heard of them. It also matches the information of the Helios pilot I paid too little attention to. Clearly the Dominix fleet was being watched. And if it was being watched, and lined up, I imagine the Helios didn't carelessly throw scanning probes around. We have no new connections in to our system, so the Anomalous Existence chaps must have come from the C2-side. Does that mean they got themselves stuck in our system?

It would be most unfortunate for daring pilots to be stranded in w-space, particularly those who give me such fine entertainment. I open a conversation with one of the pilots to find out what's going on and, sure enough, they got a little carried away. That's no problem, I say, I can scan you an exit out of here. In fact, it will be my pleasure. We form a small fleet, I warp to our static wormhole, and I jump to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system to start getting these pilots home.

It's not a great start. The system has a static exit to null-sec. There may be other wormholes, though. And as I'm focussed on getting the ships out of w-space I don't much care who sees me launch probes on the wormhole, although given that there is a tower and no ships visible on my directional scanner I'm guessing no one does anyway. The static wormhole is obvious amongst the four anomalies and seven signatures, and warping to it sees a dying connection to Perrigen Falls. A second wormhole crops up too, but this is only a K162 also from null-sec. At least it's stable, I suppose.

The K162 leads to Vale of the Silent, where there are pilots and one other signature. The static exit from C3a does go to Perrigen falls, where no one's home and there are no other signatures. It's not ideal, and I don't feel like I've helped my temporary pals much, but they assure me they have their best men out and scanning from the other direction too. They even send me a little thank-you, which is sweet of them, and later I get a mail telling me they made it safely to high-sec.

As if a successful rescue weren't a good enough end to the evening, I get back to our home system and check the clock to see that the wrecks left in the third cleared anomaly should still be around for a little while. Given that there is no more fleet—the Anomalous Existence fleet was working both sides of the wormhole, popping all five Dominices and bagging four of the pods—and the wormhole is gone too, I should be safe enough in claiming back some of our Sleeper loot.

I grab a Noctis, warp to the anomaly, and start clearing up the mess. And what's this? A canister is floating in space, and as all of these wrecks are empty there is no loot to be left. Ah, happy days! The fleet scooped the mobile tractor unit, but failed to remember to grab the loot it scooped. Their forgetfulness is my gain, to the tune of about a seventy million ISK. All in all, it's been a rather splendid night.

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Tags: dominix, drake, eve online, helios, loki, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, sleipnir, w-space

No loot for me

A new signature in the home system isn't much to get excited about, but performing a blanket scan and also seeing a ship is, particularly when it looks like I should be alone. Warping to get within directional scanner range of the ship has core probes visible but no ship. My keen intuition suspects a wormhole has opened in to our system. I reckon I can scan quickly enough to resolve the new wormhole before the scout realises what's happening. It's a good plan, if it weren't for the Dominix sitting on top of the wormhole as I resolve it. Still, the battleship gives me a fat target for my probes to aim for, so I find the wormhole quickly anyway, recalling my probes as I do. I doubt I'll need them again any time soon.

The Dominix, and his pal in the Helios covert operations boat now visible on d-scan, have probably seen my probes. Even so, I warp across to see what will happen, and, indeed, there is the Dominix on the wormhole. Two Dominices, in fact. No, three. Dammit, people, make up your bloody minds. Okay, four. Four Dominix battleships just kinda ambling around. They're a little spread out from the wormhole too, which is a bit odd. They clearly aren't trying to kill the wormhole. Are they looking for trouble? Or just trying to provoke it? Of course, that all assumes the first one updated d-scan on entering the system and saw my probes, instead of relying on his scout.

The wormhole crackles again, but it's not another Dominix. This time a Zephyr exploration boat appears. Oh, okay, and a fifth Dominix, appearing moments after the Zephyr. The first ship warps away, the battleships a minute later in the same direction. With an anomaly in that direction, I suppose the Zephyr is getting a decent warp-in position for the battleships. I also suppose they either didn't see my probes or don't care. And as I warp in to the anomaly to shadow the fleet, it is quite possible that they don't care that they saw probes. One of those stupid mobile tractor units has been dropped next to the huddled battleships.

MTUs are really tough to kill, relatively speaking. They are harder to destroy than your average Noctis salvager, which seems to be a reasonable comparison, and that they will be guarded by the rat-killing fleet makes them pretty much untouchable. An MTU may be a fine idea in empire space, where loot perhaps needs to be made easier to collect or it will just be left, but it's the only source of reliable income in w-space. Sleeper wrecks are never left to decay, not unless one pilot actively stops another from collecting them. The role of the MTU to bundle everything up in to one convenient package just makes stealing other people's loot difficult-to-impossible in w-space.

At least the Dominices don't appear to be fitted with salvager modules in a utility slot, or I'd just give up now. The ships aren't moving, so they are probably collecting all the loot as they go. The best I can hope for is popping a ship coming to salvage the wrecks, and even then it won't give me much beyond the explosion. It won't lose the other pilots much either. Forgive me if I see the MTU as another good idea that doesn't work in w-space.

The first site is cleared and off the ships warp, leaving the looted wrecks and the MTU behind. No salvager enters the system or site yet, so I follow the battleships. A second MTU is deployed in the second anomaly. It looks like I have a wait ahead of me. Whilst I bide my time, I make a perch in the third anomaly, where the Zephyr is just milling around. It's just a matter of watching and waiting, shadowing the fleet and making perches where appropriate. It's a little boring, to be honest, so when I see the Zephyr scanning whilst sitting in a rather easily found position around the first planet, I can't help but consider taking a shot at the tiny ship. It's not much of a prize, and will bag me zero loot, but at least I could ambush something. I'm still unconvinced an unescorted salvager will come this way.

Decision made. The Zephyr warps before I can make up my mind. It's back to following the fleet, who bounce in to the first anomaly to pick up the MTU before they continue in to the second cleared anomaly and scoop the MTU there. The probes disappear, as does the Zephyr from d-scan, and although I fully suspect the third MTU to be scooped before the fleet leaves that doesn't happen. I warp to the wormhole and watch using d-scan, but when a whole lot of nothing happens I drop on to my perch in the third anomaly to see the Dominices just kinda staring at the MTU for a few minutes. Ah, I see. A Noctis is on d-scan now, come to salvage all the wrecks, neatly collected in to salvaging range so he doesn't even have to move. Remember when salvaging was interesting? Yeah, me too.

I'm expecting the Noctis to warp in amongst the Dominix battleships. After all, what's the point of having five big, powerful ships available if you don't use them to guard your squishy industrial ship? Well, I suppose if you think the system you are in is closed and has no one home you may get lax about security. Chalk another one up to going off-line in a safe spot far away from the tower. The Noctis is actually in the first cleared anomaly, according to d-scan. I first think I should wait in the second anomaly, but reconsider. It may be better to see what he's doing in the first one, see how he operates, so that I can be better prepared for my potential ambush. And he's sitting perfectly still in the middle of the cluster of wrecks. Perfect.

Now on to the second anomaly, where I lie in wait. The Noctis warps in, the Dominices remain in the system but not with their salvager. I get closer and wait for the right moment to strike. I have to assume that any wrecks he doesn't salvage will be wasted, so even though some loot will be lost in an explosion it is probably better to let him sweep up as many wrecks as possible. Yes, even the large Sleeper wrecks, you tool. Salvage them, dammit. There they go. Okay, go for it. I decloak, lock on to the Noctis, and start shooting.

I overheat my guns immediately. A Noctis isn't exactly a hard target, but I am well aware of the Dominix fleet just a short warp away. They probably aren't fitted with warp disruption modules, and will take a while to lock on to me, but I'd rather this ambush be as clean as possible. My overheated autocannons do the job nicely. The Noctis is going down. And when he goes, he goes with a beautiful explosion.

The pod flees from my further attentions, sadly, but that still leaves the wreck. I draw close, open the wreck, and loot it of the surviving salvage just as the Dominices warp in right on top of me. The sight of five giant space potatoes is enough to instil a certain sense of immediacy, as well as a little panic. I even miss the perch in this anomaly and instead warp to a different perch. Never mind, I get clear.

That was nice. It could have been better, had all the loot not been collected by the mobile tractor unit for the lazy and risk-averse. I just get a bit of salvage. Not the good stuff either. That all got destroyed in the explosion. And, sure, it was a fine explosion, but bagging the loot always made the afterglow of the ambush more enjoyable. I have to wonder why the Noctis didn't just warp away, though, given that it had three warp core stabilisers fitted.

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Tags: dominix, eve online, helios, loki, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space, zephyr

Aiming for an Armageddon

Jumping to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system isn't anywhere near as interesting as finding the dash system connecting behind us. One tower, no ships, one salvage drone, no wrecks. It isn't inspiring, but you can't judge a system by its d-scan result. I warp out to launch probes, but hit a second tower instead. There are still no ships, so I ignore it and launch probes anyway, blanketing the system to reveal three anomalies and eight signatures. My notes say a high-sec exit waits for me in this direction too. Let's find it.

The high-sec wormhole is pretty obvious from its signature strength, and I resolve two more wormholes as well. The devil man seen in the exit tells me the connection leads to Heimatar, and the other two are both w-space connections, one a K162 from class 4 w-space, one a K162 from class 2 w-space. A K162 from class 2 w-space with an Anathema covert operations boat appeared on it, in fact.

I approach him, he approaches me. That's curious, because my Loki strategic cruiser is cloaked, which I'm pretty sure makes me at least a little bit difficult to see. And, like Jaws, the Anathema cloaks a few kilometres from me. Also like Jaws, I don't think I want to do anything about it. I'm almost given no choice, when the cov-ops resurfaces a gnat's chuff from decloaking me. He turns and burns to the wormhole, and jumps through, which is curious indeed.

I loiter by the wormhole, wondering what, if anything, will come through next. The connection crackles. It's just the Anathema again, who warps clear and launches probes elsewhere in the system. I wait for a short while as the scout scans, and when his probes are recalled the Anathema returns to C2c, his system. I wonder if he'll hit Heimatar. I can't resist taking a look through the wormhole to see if I can determine his intentions.

My directional scanner shows me nothing on the other side of the wormhole, and my notes tell me nothing but that this is my first visit. Even so, a C2 with a wormhole to class 3 w-space will have its own connection to high-sec, so either their own exit is poor, the scout is merely scouting, or this C3 connection is random. For the moment, I merely hold on the wormhole, not daring to wander away. And for my efforts, nothing happens.

And nothing continues to happen, right up until an Armageddon battleship appears on d-scan. As there appears to be nothing else in space around here, it's perhaps no surprise that the Armageddon soon drops on to the wormhole where I wait. Is he going to engage Sleepers in C3a, or is he taking the ship out to high-sec? I have no idea. I also have no idea if I can feasibly prevail in this encounter. The Armageddon jumps. I quickly check the time, and it looks like my polarisation timer is almost reset, so—what the hell—I follow.

The battleship is sluggish, still on the wormhole even after my slight prevarication. The battleship is also fat. I gain a positive target lock in almost no time, letting me disrupt its warp engines and start shooting almost immediately. I aim to get my Loki in to a tight orbit, hopefully inside the battleship's guns, but my plan goes a little awry when the Armageddon chickens out and jumps straight back to C2c. I would follow, of course, but I am actually still a little polarised, by thirty seconds. I dare say even the Armageddon can comfortably enter warp in that time.

I jump back when I can, not entirely sure I want to engage the ship when polarised anyway, and see the battleship a hundred kilometres from the wormhole. I suppose it has a micro jump drive fitted, and has been waiting to see if I'd come back. Now that I have, the Armageddon aligns towards a planet and enters warp. I follow, covertly, to see the battleship appear far below a local tower, trying to avoid his own corporation's warp bubbles. He does so, enters the tower's force field, and swaps back to the Anathema. Yep, I'd say that's it for me for tonight. Still, I'm pretty pleased with myself on my way home, because at least I tried to take on the battleship.

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Tags: anathema, armageddon, eve online, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space

Return to the dash system

One new signature at home today is a second wormhole, how exciting! And for a signature with the three-letter identifier ISO it is quite apt that the K162 connects our class 4 w-space home with more class 4 w-space. Jumping through sees—hey, it is exciting! No mere hyperbole in pursuit of a interesting hook today, as I find myself in the dash system. My last encounter with the locals of this system was awfully enjoyable, and profitable, and although no one appears to be around at the moment I am still happy just to be here.

Both towers are out of directional scanner range of the wormhole, but checking their presence shows that they are still here. A blanket scan also reveals eight anomalies and four signatures, which I'll check for further connections. After all, maybe the locals didn't open their wormhole to our system. Scanning finds some gas, the wormhole I came through, a data site, and a second wormhole. The K162 from class 2 w-space looks good too. Jumping to C2a still sees nothing much, with d-scan clear, and a blanket scan revealing no ships, just two anomalies and five signatures.

One, two, three wormholes, plus a bit of gas to round out the results. Got to have something to tempt the industrialists out. A K162 from class 5 w-space has potential, the static exit to high-sec could be convenient, and an outbound connection to more class 2 w-space should be more exciting than the discovery scanner makes it. I'll get the exit first, jumping out of w-space to appear in a system in The Citadel, a mere six hops from Jita. That is pretty convenient. But what catches my eye is that orange pilot in the system, who appears to be from the dash system.

Even more interesting, if you can bear it, is the orange pilot dropping on to the wormhole in his pod and jumping to C2a, as I hold my session-change cloak. That's pretty neat. But what's he going to do next? Well, he's going to be followed, for a start. I give him enough time to get clear of the other side of the wormhole and return to C2a, warping across the system and jumping to C4a to catch up with the pod. I don't quite manage that, as I see a Bestower on d-scan as I warp towards the towers, but thankfully I haven't completely misgauged my timing.

I drop out of warp at the tower in the dash system in time to see the hauler warp back the way he came. I expected as much, and as soon as my warp engines deactivated I aligned back to the wormhole to C2a. I am back in warp seconds after the Bestower, and as the industrial ship accelerates a little slower than my Loki strategic cruiser I can expect to catch up. I know where he's going, I know what he's in, and it seems obvious that he's ignored our part of the constellation thanks to the near-Jita connection. Because of this, I warp-to-zero on the wormhole, not feeling a need to be covert any more.

He's on the wormhole and jumping as I land. That works for me. I jump through too, decloaking my ship as early as possible to get my sensor booster active. He's making a break for it, also as early as possible, because I do declare that he's got himself polarised. Me too, of course, but I think the simple industrial ship is in a worse position than me. I gain a positive lock, disrupt its warp engines, and start shooting. I stop shooting pretty quickly, if only because the Bestower disintegrates after a few rounds of autocannon fire. It's a beautiful sight. It could only look better if we were flying off the shoulder of Orion.

The Bestower's gone, and the pod's gone even more quickly. The pilot flees towards the high-sec wormhole without a moment's hesitation, leaving me a wreck containing a couple of expanded cargoholds and a whole load of oxygen. I daren't blow it up, because finding oxygen in the depths of space always strikes me as a good result. It's normally in such short supply. Even at the minor risk of losing a ship myself to pick it up, I've got to try to recover the oxygen.

I hold on the wormhole for a minute, waiting for polarisation effects to end, and head backwards. To and through C4a, in to the home system and towards our tower. The core probes visible on d-scan in C4a give me pause for thought, but never mind that now. I grab a Bustard transport ship from our hangar and go back to the wreck on the wormhole in C2a. Hey, thanks, Mr Wormhole. I like being spat in to the system on the opposite side of the wormhole to the wreck when piloting a transport, now having to cross some twelve kilometres quite slowly.

I urge the Bustard on and we make it to the wreck, where I grab as much of the oxygen as I can fit in to my hold. About 80% of the gas is transferred. Now, do I go to high-sec to sell this immediately, or do I head back to our tower and dump it there. On the one hand, selling it now would mean we wouldn't have to haul it again later, which seems like a good plan, considering how much volume it's already taking. On the other hand, adding time for other pilots to find this route, as well as notably travelling along the route the originally ambushed pilot must have taken, could make me much more vulnerable. I'll take it home.

Jumping back to C4a and warping away from the wormhole see an Anathema covert operations boat blip on my overview. I doubt he can stop me, but a different ship could, and the scout could bring them this way. I make it home, dump my booty, and swap back to the Loki, heading once more back to the wreck on the wormhole in C2a. I want to pop it, just to see it burn. Core probes are in this system now, so the Anathema almost certainly wasn't looking for me. On top of that, he's not even affiliated with C4a. I should have noticed his lack of orange hue, but I'm not always that observant. He asks me in local about the wreck, and I tell him. And that's that. I leave the Anathema alone, taking myself back home. I have another arm of the constellation to explore.

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Tags: anathema, bestower, bustard, eve online, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space