Fighting Sleepers by proxy

Actually, what's the harm in having a quick sweep of the system's signatures? So the static wormhole leads right back to deadly class 6 w-space, after I've just left C6a behind me for this class 5 system. There could still be K162s, and they are pretty chubby. I have a technique of taking the blanket scan results and ignoring any signature below a certain strength, which will leave me with just those signatures that can be identified with generally just a second scan and, more importantly, any possible K162s in the system. I would feel like I've wasted my time getting this far if I didn't at least take a couple of minutes to look for more opportunity.

Okay, there's a wormhole. The Z142 exit to null-sec looks neither like a K162 or the static connection, but that's okay, because the second wormhole I resolve does. The V753 connection to class 6 w-space turns out to be a fairly strong signature, which at least lets me poke in to another deadly w-space system, once I see what this third wormhole is. It's a K162 from class 4 w-space. That's even better, as the wormhole being opened from the other side is the first sign of activity I've found this afternoon.

Jumping to C4a is less than thrilling. I appear over six kilometres from the wormhole, which is rarely a good sign, and exploring the system shows it to be not only inactive but also unoccupied. But that's not so bad, really, as the opened static connection of an unoccupied system implies the presence of a K162. I launch probes to look for it amongst the six anomalies and eleven signatures. And as I'm looking explicitly for a K162 I use my technique again to make scanning quicker, ignoring the weak results and focussing on the strong.

Sure enough, I resolve a K162 without much fuss, one coming from class 3 w-space. And a second K162 pops up, this one from more class 4 w-space. Already I have options, and the possibility of activity. I end up recalling my probes when floating near the C4 K162, so head to C4b first, where appearing over eight kilometres from the wormhole makes me think that perhaps I've come the wrong way. But only for a moment. Punching d-scan shows me three Tengu strategic cruisers in the system, without a tower in sight.

The Tengus are accompanied by many Sleeper wrecks, having me activate my passive scanner immediately, and a Noctis salvager appears. I pick up and bookmark four anomalies in the system, but the Noctis appears to be in none of them, or indeed in d-scan range now, although the Tengus are still close. Opening the system map reveals one planet out of d-scan range of my position, and warping across finds the Noctis, as well as a lack of occupation. The salvager still isn't in an active anomaly, though.

Okay, so the ships aren't local. There is no occupation. This is good, as it makes interpreting d-scan results much easier. That the cleared anomalies have despawned is more awkward, as I will need combat scanning probes to locate a ship in one of the sites. That's not so much of a problem either, thanks to this distant planet. Once the Noctis finishes out here I can use the location to launch probes covertly. For now, I should keep an eye on the Tengus in the middle of the system. At least, I should, if they were still there.

The Tengu fleet has left the system, apparently leaving the Noctis alone. That works for me, thanks chaps. And it leaves me in the middle of the system out of d-scan range of the salvaging Noctis, wondering whether I have time to launch probes here. No, I don't, as the Noctis appears on d-scan as I am trying to decide. Good. I warp out to the distant planet, now bereft of ships within d-scan range, and launch my combat scanning probes, throwing them out of the system and cloaking my Loki strategic cruiser as quickly as I can. Now to hunt the Noctis.

It looks like there are two or three sites full of wrecks I can aim for, so I pick one clump of wrecks where the Noctis isn't and start narrowing down its position in space using d-scan. Hunting wrecks using d-scan is like hunting ships using d-scan, except you need a different overview tab and still can't scan until a ship actually appears in the site. Which the Noctis does, a little sooner than I'm ready. The salvaging ship is a quick worker too, so I either hurry up with finessing d-scan to find this site or switch to locating a different clump of wrecks. Or just be brazen about my intentions.

It looks to still be just the Noctis and me. The Tengus are gone, the system looks clear. The salvager is a fairly chunky ship too, and sweeping up a couple of dozen wrecks—tractoring each to the ship, looting, and working the salvager modules—can easily hold a pilot's attention. I'll assume he's not paying that much attention to d-scan and just go for a rough scan, hoping for the best. I call in my probes and, well, it's a pretty crappy result. My range is poorly gauged, and the Noctis is little more than a red sphere under my probes. But don't stop now! I pull my probes closer to me, scan again, and the industrial ship comes in to focus.

I aligned my Loki roughly in the direction of the Noctis, so am in warp moments after resolving the salvager's location, recalling my probes and bookmarking the scan result a second later. I ping d-scan whilst in warp, hoping that the pilot wasn't watching d-scan, and it looks good. Dropping out of warp near the Noctis gives me a warm feeling inside, although seeing the ship moving makes me wonder if she did indeed see me and is aligned ready for a quick escape. But I am in a good position, with the Noctis moving mostly towards me, so I get closer before decloaking, looking to nudge the salvager a little if necessary.

I easily get a positive lock on the Noctis. A nudge, an active sensor booster, and probably not being expected works wonders. With the salvager in my grasp, my warp scrambler holds it close and I get my autocannons chattering. I watch d-scan for any ships coming my way, almost as much as I watch the shields, armour, and hull of the Noctis get ripped to shreds. The ship explodes, and the ejected pod flees my continued attentions. Oh, that's a lovely sight. So much loot survives the salvager's destruction, all of it transferred in to my own hold for its protection. And there is more loot just lying around in these Sleeper wrecks. I'll have some of that too.

Bouncing in and out of the site gets me close to the the Sleeper battleship wrecks, bagging me some decent booty without spending much time decloaked. Loot, loot, warp. I notice a Drake battlecruiser and Buzzard covert operations boat appear on d-scan. Loot, loot, warp. The Drake doesn't warp to the site of the ambush, so is either salvaging elsewhere or simply trying to be menacing on his K162, maybe waiting for me. I came from a different direction, sir. The cov-ops, meanwhile, launches probes to scan.

I already know where the static wormhole in the system is and, having grabbed the worthwhile loot, I head back that way to go home. I don't know if the Buzzard will lead the fleet this way, and I don't really care at the moment. I've almost two hundred million ISK in stolen loot in my hold and a Noctis kill for my efforts, and was going off-line for a sammich anyway. Let them look for me, if they want. And to think, I almost didn't scan further than C5a.

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Tags: buzzard, drake, eve online, loki, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space

Deadly to dangerous to deadly

Another early start for me today. Will I be mapping the constellation for later roaming, or chasing planet gooers between customs offices? I'll only find out after seeing what this new signature in the home system is. A magnetometric site full of Sleepers doesn't offer me a different direction to turn, but, then again, neither does not being able to find our static wormhole. I'll take another look.

Ah, there's the wormhole. It seems I was a little cavalier with the 'ignore' option when discarding known sites from scan results. Now I can explore our constellation more properly, and I jump to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system, where just a tower, no ships, on my directional scanner makes my session look like a mapping exercise. Warping away from the tower to launch probes instead finds two more towers, and still no ships. As a lack of ships occasionally means no one is watching, I launch my probes and blanket the system to reveal ten anomalies and ten signatures.

I'll only be looking for wormholes for now. Sites can be found later, if needed, and I'm already guessing that they won't be needed. Thankfully, three wormholes are better than the usual one, particularly as the signature of one of them is weak enough for it to be an outbound connection, considering the static wormhole leads to low-sec and will be fairly chubby itself. The U210 is, of course, present, and leads, of course, to Aridia. The other chubby wormhole is a K162 from high-sec empire space, a system in the Khanid region on the other side. The interesting wormhole turns out to be an A982. It leads to deadly class 6 w-space.

Dangerous, deadly, whatever. They're just terms. Probably. The A982 wormhole is in pristine condition, a good sign that I'm the first to discover it, which will make my getting caught on either side ridiculously unlikely. Not that I wasn't going to jump anyway. In I go, and to a class 6 w-space system with only an off-line tower visible on d-scan. Opening the map shows the system to be small too, so that's it. Seven planets, five moons. No occupation, no activity. And no previous visit either, so I have no notes about the static wormhole. I'll just have to find it to sate my curiosity.

Fifteen anomalies and twenty-five signatures will take a few minutes to sift through. But a small system means the signatures will be clumped fairly close together, and identification of chubby signatures in batches will happen. Gas and rocks are discarded as they are found, and a wormhole pokes out nice and early. The V911 connection to class 5 w-space looks fine to me, and is as likely to be the system's static wormhole as any other, so with no obvious K162s jumping out at me I ignore the rest of the signatures, recall my probes, and press on.

D-scan is clear in C5a, and performing a blanket scan reveals thirteen anomalies and nineteen signatures. Still no ships. I was only in the system three months ago, at which time it was unoccupied. It remains that way now. And, lucky me, the static connection leads right back to class 6 w-space. Okay, I think I'll call the constellation mapped for now. I'll head home, grab a sammich, and come back either to see a woken-up C3a, or to collapse our static wormhole and look for one that is.

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

An exit becomes an entrance

It's been a few days, and in that time we've made some ISK and lost some ISK. Glorious leader Fin found a battlecruiser engaging Sleepers, but could only get in position in time to catch the pilot salvaging in a frigate. A fair bit of loot survived the exploding Heron, which maybe covers a tenth of the cost of the Loki strategic cruiser Fin then lost, when idling in the home system, because of a defective cloak. I bet it was Gallente made. That was then, so what's happening now? Nothing at home, so I resolve our static wormhole and jump to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system.

The J-number of C3a sounds familiar, but the names of the hangars visible on my directional scanner don't, even though they are distinctive enough that I should probably remember them. Sure enough, it's my fourth visit to the system, and the previous visit six months ago had no occupation. The tower and hangars are new. It's just a shame there are no ships to go with them currently. Curiously, although the system is quite small, a mere 21 AU across, and there are options for anchoring the tower where d-scan would provide full coverage, the locals have decided instead to plant themselves on the most distant planet, giving themselves a blind spot. Whatever, weirdos.

I warp across the system to launch probes, out of d-scan range of the tower, and bump in to a Helios. Not literally, as space is pretty big, but I see the covert operations boat on d-scan. Now he's gone, so the cov-ops is piloted and not abandoned. It's possible the ship is local and has returned through their static wormhole, particularly as I saw no probes when entering the system and see none now. And with no probes and no ships on d-scan, I think now's a good time to launch my own probes.

Probes in space and performing a blanket scan of C3a, I warp back to the local tower to see if the Helios has indeed come back. He has not. I imagine there are more wormholes to find, in that case, and start sifting through the two anomalies and fourteen signatures. A bit of gas gets in the way first, then I resole a wormhole. I would say that it's in the general area where I saw the Helios, but that would be disingenuous considering that the volume of space the Helios was in covers the entire system except for the planet with the tower. As if to prove that point, I find a second wormhole, and a third, and a fourth and fifth, all in range of where I detected the Helios.

Warping around gives me a K162 from class 2 w-space, a K162 from low-sec empire space, a second K162 from class 2 w-space, and the static exit to low-sec, which I land on so exit through on reflex. I appear in a faction warfare system in the Placid region, and rapidly leave it again, making my way across C3a to the fifth wormhole, a K162 from high-sec. That's a good find, as it seems both Fin and Aii are currently locked out, and jumping through makes it even better. I appear in a system in The Citadel, which sounds convenient. I imagine my colleagues will be coming back this way.

Despite being a convenient entrance to w-space, I don't really care for the high-sec connection, so return to C3a and, ignoring core scanning probes now on d-scan, check the other wormholes. The K162 from low-sec comes from the Khanid region, which I only transit for reference, and, continuing to ignore the probes, whose source—system or ship—I don't know, pick a class 2 wormhole to poke through. C2a sounds like an obvious first choice.

An Orca industrial command ship, Iteron hauler, and Occator transport appear on d-scan, along with a pair of towers. My notes from seven months ago have two towers listed, although only one has a full planet/moon reference. Luckily, the two ships likely to be piloted are both at the tower with the full reference, letting me warp directly to it so that I can experience disappointment more quickly at seeing the hauler and transport empty. Well, I may as well find that second tower this time. My notes say it is around the fourth planet, but has a question mark for the moon. But, silly Penny, opening the system map shows that the fourth planet only has one moon. It's not hard to guess.

Naturally, the Orca at the hard-to-find tower is also empty, and as I have another C2 system to explore I don't bother launching probes to scan. I jump back to C3a and on to C2b, where four bubbles are all that d-scan cares to show me. Warping to explore deflates me, as the next-nearest planet to the wormhole is full of towers. Towers with silos. Well, nearly full, with nine towers around ten moons. I suppose that at least makes listing them all relatively easy, as I only need to find the moon without a tower, although I dread to think how many more towers the other planets have. But before I wander off in the direction of the inner system, I am keen to see what the Orca, Nighthawk command ship, and Noctis salvager are doing out here.

A lack of wrecks could mean nothing is happening, or that the Noctis is being efficient and, perhaps, the Nighthawk has been guarding it. Sadly, though, all three ships are simply sitting inside a couple of towers, even if they are actually piloted. That's not to say nothing's happening, so before I forget I warp back out of d-scan range to launch probes, and perform a blanket scan of the system. My combat probes reveal two anomalies, six signatures, and four ships, so something else is waiting to be found, if not much. I return to the clump of towers, if only because I saw the Orca moving, and watch as the industrial command ship merely warps between towers around the same planet, followed by the Noctis. I imagine the pilots are just updating silo jobs.

I'm curious to see what the other ship my probes revealed is. I warp to the inner system, expecting to bump in to a mess of more towers, but thankfully find just the one other tower. I suppose I got (un)lucky with the first planet I warped to. The other ship turns out to be a Rorqual capital industrial ship floating unpiloted inside this tower's force field, so that's everything accounted for. And I think I'm going home. There's a high-sec exit to find in this C2, from my notes, but as Fin is happy with the connection in The Citadel, and indeed has nearly reached it, there's little point in scanning for a different one. I turn around and head home, through a class 3 system where the probes have vanished and not been replaced by ships. It's all quiet.

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Tags: eve online, helios, iteron, mmorpg, nighthawk, noctis, occator, orca, penny ibramovic, rorqual, scanning, w-space

Content with scanning a way home

All looks quiet, and it probably is. My scanning probes show just some anomalies and our static wormhole in the home system, giving me one way to go to find trouble. Or get in to it. I warp to the wormhole and jump to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system. My directional scanner is clear from the K162 in C3a, and the tower that was present fifteen months ago is now gone, but a blanket scan with combat probes shows two ships elsewhere in the system. I warp off to find them.

D-scan shows me that the two ships are a Manticore stealth bomber and Enyo assault frigate, as well as a there being a tower out here. Locating the tower is straightforward and, surprisingly, I see the two ships piloted. They are both rather small and ineffective to be capable of much by themselves in a class 3 w-space system, particularly with the Manticore not being cloaked, but maybe they can be enterprising. I wait and watch them for a while.

The Enyo disappears as I focus what attention I can muster on the Manticore, probably the pilot having gone off-line. The Manticore pilot himself swaps to a Merlin frigate, back to the Manticore, and goes off-line too. Well, wasn't that fun. I'll scan the nine anomalies and twelve signatures my blanket scan revealed. Gas, wormhole, gas, gas, rocks, gas, gas, gas, magnetometric site, rocks, and rocks. I list them all because, unusually for me, I fully resolve each signature and bookmark every site. I'm sure that will become important.

So just the sole wormhole in C3a, which will be its static exit to low-sec empire space. I pass through it ostensibly to bookmark the K162, to aid Aii's return home from high-sec, but also so that I can scan for more wormholes. I appear in a system in Metropolis, which looks a bit crappy to me—but most low-sec systems do, I suppose—and launch probes to scan. Two extra signatures are both 'unknown' types, one resolving to be an Angel Outpost, the other a wormhole, which is good, or I'd bemoan again how stupid low-sec can be.

Warping to the wormhole in low-sec is a disappointment, though. The K162 from class 3 w-space may not offer much in itself, perhaps already being a dead end, but that it's also at the end of its life makes it pretty much useless for me. So now what? I could head home and crash our static wormhole, looking to start again. Of course, this would erase all the scanning effort it took to fully resolve all the sites in the current C3a, which is generally why, along with my being able to hunt effectively with d-scan, I rarely do that any more.

Either way, I'm not doing anything else in low-sec, so I return to w-space. In C3a, I bounce off the tower but see no one new having come on-line, so head homewards and consider killing our wormhole. But Aii halts me, saying that the Metropolis connection works for him. That sounds like mission accomplished to me. And with nothing more to do tonight, I hide in a quiet corner of the home system and go off-line.

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Tags: enyo, eve online, manticore, merlin, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Quietness in scanning

It's all quiet on the edge of space. It's all quiet on my combat scanning probes too. A single cosmic signature in the home w-space system, our static wormhole, probably accounts for our anomalies remaining, and it's that lone signature that interests me more than the Sleepers in the anomalies for now. I jump to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system to see what, or who, is next door.

My directional scanner shows me nothing from the K162 in C3a, which isn't necessarily a bad sign. There are planets beyond the range of d-scan, so that I can covertly launch probes and hide them outside of the system is actually good. I do that, and perform a blanket scan, revealing eight anomalies and five signatures, but no ships. My notes from six months ago suggest occupation, though, and warping across sees that the tower stays in the same place. Naturally, no one's home, so I sift through the signatures.

Two wormholes, rocks, and gas is a decent result from the few signatures in the system, at least on paper. The static exit to low-sec is joined by, how sad, an N968 outbound connection to more class 3 w-space that's at the end of its natural lifetime. To low-sec I go, appearing in an uninteresting system in Molden Heath. At least, it's uninteresting until I blanket the system with my probes and see eight extra signatures.

The system becomes uninteresting again soon enough, as I resolve a dirty site, four ladar sites, rocks, some Angel rats, and a rogue drone infestation. Three 'unknown' signature types and not one wormhole to show for it. Low-sec is stupid. My best option now is to crash our static wormhole and hope for a better constellation beyond its replacement, so that's what I do. A bit of to-ing and fro-ing with massive ships collapses the wormhole without issue, but rather than dive right through the new static connection I pause for a deserved snack break.

I get back to see my glorious leader on-line and active, having resolved the replacement static wormhole but without yet opening it. We could clear some of the anomalies of Sleepers, and we could use the potential profit in our wallet, but instead we choose to look for other ships to shoot. We warp to the wormhole and jump to a new C3a, where d-scan again is clear from the K162. There may be a tower around the fourth moon of the sixth planet, I say to Fin, before opening my system map and seeing that the sixth planet is the only one in d-scan range. Never mind.

Exploring the system after launching probes and getting them in position for a blanket scan finds new occupation, but no pilots or ships. I update my notes with the tower's position before scanning the ten anomalies and eight signatures, starting with a wormhole, working through the usual sites, and, thankfully, ending with a second wormhole. But, again, a second wormhole only looks good on paper, as this one is merely a K162 from low-sec.

I exit C3a through the K162 to appear in Aridia, naturally, where scanning finds exactly nothing. Dumb, stupid Aridia. Fin goes through C3a's static connection, also to low-sec, and appears in a rather less remote system in Domain, one with an actual second wormhole in it. The K162 comes from class 3 w-space, and, on exploring through it, Fin sees a 'tower, 5/1. Probe, Buzzard, Vengeance at the tower, piloted'. Good-oh, I'm on my way.

Sure enough, a tower sits at the designated planet/moon, with a piloted frigate, covert operations boat, and assault frigate, but there's not much actual activity. There's also nowhere to hide in this small system, so what we can see on d-scan is all there is to see. That makes it awkward to launch probes covertly, but as the local pilots don't appear to be conscious I don't think it will make a difference if I drop my cloak for a few seconds.

I picked up twenty anomalies on a passive scan of the system, which made me fear for the number of signatures my probes would reveal, but there are only seven. I suppose the locals are industrialists by nature. There is even a K162 amongst the seven signatures, although it turns out to come from low-sec again, which is a disappointing motif to the evening's exploration. I exit through the K162 anyway, out of curiosity, to appear in Domain again, eight hops from the wormhole leading in to the other side of C3b.

The two wormholes in Domain linking to the same w-space system is a fancy coincidence, but I'm more sleepy than impressed. It's time to go home and off-line. Crossing low-sec and returning to C3a sees probes visible on d-scan, which is mildly interesting. Fin sees them too and, being a few seconds ahead of me, sees the probes first, relaying along information of the what and where. Sadly, 'I said it in local', which kinda gives our presence away. We're probably best sticking to our plan to go off-line.

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Tags: buzzard, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, probe, scanning, vengeance, w-space

Low trading

There have been no invasions for X days. Super! Aii tells me that we have our static wormhole and an inbound connection that's at the end of its life, but that he hasn't been further than that yet. That's cool, although the corporate bookmarks look like yesterday's. Then again, that's also cool, as it gives me an excuse to gently wake myself up by scanning the home system. By the time Aii's made his way to our static wormhole so that I can warp to his position, I have resolved both wormholes, the only two signatures in the system, and am on my way to the static connection anyway.

Jumping to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system has a tower visible on my directional scanner, along with a Scorpion battleship, Orca industrial command ship, and Archon carrier, which I suspect are all empty of pilots. The tower looks to be in the same location as from my previous visit of a year ago, so I warp out, launch probes, and perform a blanket scan of the system, returning with the aim of landing outside of the tower. I do, and confirm the ships are indeed lacking pilots, as my combat scanning probes reveal seven anomalies, nineteen signatures, and just the three ships that are currently on my overview.

There's so much gas in this system, and just the one wormhole. At least scanning is quick with only chubby signatures to sweep over. I go forwards the only way I can, exiting w-space to appear in a low-sec system in the Lonetrek region, where I launch probes to continue scanning for wormholes. Seven extra signatures look promising, and I sift through them to see a ladar site, wormhole, some Guristas, rogue drones, another ladar site with added Hurricane, a third ladar site, and, finally, a second wormhole. The wormholes interest me, obviously, but so does that battlecruiser.

I don't think there's much point aiming for the Hurricane at first, as I've not exactly been subtle with my combat scanning probes, but he doesn't seem to be running to make me chase him. Then again, he's not been ignoring my scanning efforts either, as he tries to strike up a conversation in the local communication channel. Now, talking in w-space is generally frowned upon, and I tend to carry that attitude over to k-space, even if my mug is apparent in the channel. I don't really want to advertise I've come from w-space, even if my corporation kinda announces that well enough. But it seems the Hurricane wants to make a deal.

It would be rude not to at least find out what the low-sec pilot is after before I shoot him, so I reply as Aii and a newly on-line Fin get some ships to the other side of the wormhole, ready for me to tackle the battlecruiser. Minerals. The pilot wants some minerals. He may be in luck, as we have them. I pass the message to Fin, who comes back with a price for me to offer, which she got direct from Jita just yesterday. Nope, the price isn't low enough, according to a colleague of the Hurricane's, saying that they can get it cheaper in Jita. Well, in that case, maybe they should.

I am still watching the Hurricane clear the ladar site. He says we don't have to fear his corporation, which is jolly decent of him to say, considering the ships we're thinking of dropping on top of him. But I'm conflicted. He seems friendly, but he's flying a ship. Do I shoot him or not? I am aware of the two-to-three colleagues he has in the low-sec system with him, here or there, but that will just make the fight more interesting. Saving me from having to make an immediate decision, my glorious leader drops the mineral price a little, letting me make a second offer. This one is accepted. Will there be explosions when we bring a ship to deliver the goods?

The exchange is all quite honourable. Fin swaps to a transport, brings the minerals to a specified station in the system, and we get a chunk of ISK in return and some thanks. I feel dirty. And the Hurricane's gone, although I really would feel guilty shooting it now. But a Venture mining frigate is now on d-scan, and looking to be in a standard rock belt. I warp in to take a look and see the Venture looking quite vulnerable indeed, just as a Condor frigate drops on top of the Venture. There's no shooting, and I think I have a twofer until I realise the Condor pilot is who we've just contracted the minerals too. I probably ought not to shoot him, or his colleague in the Venture. It's good that I resolved a pair of wormholes in this system.

Back to w-space with me to look for targets, as Fin and Aii aim for Sleepers in C3a's anomalies. The first wormhole I found in low-sec is merely a K162 from more low-sec space, which doesn't work for me, but the second is an X702 outbound connection to class 3 w-space. Jumping to C3b puts me almost six kilometres from the K162, with only a can visible on d-scan. It's not looking good, and my notes from a year ago indicate no occupation then and that the system holds a static connection to null-sec. It's not looking good at all.

Three anomalies, nine signatures, and no occupation indeed. I pull my probes in from their blanket scanning configuration to sift through the signatures, resolving what looks like the static wormhole, some rocks, a pair of gas sites, a K162—but only from null-sec—another gas site, and a second weak wormhole. That is interesting. The first does turn out to be the K346 static exit, and the second is an N770 outbound link to class 5 w-space, continuing the constellation nicely, and potentially indefinitely through class 5 w-space.

A visit to C5a two-and-a-half years ago doesn't give me hope in finding my notes relevant, but knowing the static wormhole leads to class 4 w-space is encouraging. One of the two towers listed is in the same place too, although that could be coincidence, and launching probes to find the second tower and the Moros dreadnought inside it turns out to perhaps be a mistake.

Standard operating procedure for locating towers is to warp to the right planet, then sweep d-scan across each moon. It's also possible to concentrate combat scanning probes on the planet and resolve the position of the tower directly, which would work really well for finding multiple towers too. Using probes makes your presence somewhat obvious, though, so I tend not to use this method often, particularly as using d-scan is quick enough in most cases. Having a dreadnought as a target for my probes is about as easy as it gets to scan a ship, so I take the short-cut route in finding the second tower today, only to warp to it to see the Moros piloted. How was I to know? It's the only ship in the system.

Revealing myself to the Moros via my probes probably doesn't matter anyway. It looks like the capsuleer is simply trying to control his dreadnought after bouncing off a structure, as he disappears shortly after the ship stalls. That leaves me with a straightforward scanning task, with just four anomalies and two signatures in the system, which will be the K162 I came through and the static wormhole. I warp to the E175 connection and jump to C4a, which turns out to be unoccupied and inactive, and rather unvisited with twenty-three anomalies and nineteen signatures. It's getting late too, so rather than waste time scanning I head back the way I came, passing by Aii and Fin exporting more goods to low-sec, after having cleared a few anomalies for a little under two hundred million ISK in profit. At least some of us have been productive tonight.

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Tags: archon, condor, eve online, hurricane, low-sec, mmorpg, moros, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, scorpion, venture, w-space

Ratting's no substitute for adventure

What am I going to find today? Bookmarks for both sides of our static wormhole, for a start, but let's hope it gets better than that. A quick scan of the home system sees no changes in the hour since the bookmarks were made, by colleague unknown, so I jump to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system to look abroad for activity.

This is my fifth visit to the system, the last being the best part of a year ago. My notes point me towards a tower, and indicate the static wormhole will exit to low-sec empire space. So far, so nothing special. A measly canister appearing on my directional scanner hardly sets my pulse racing either, and opening the system map shows that the tower I have listed should be in range, so that occupation has gone. I launch combat scanning probes to take a better look around.

Thirteen anomalies, nine signatures, no occupation. The signatures get whittled down to a magnetometric site, rocks, gas, and a single wormhole. A second wormhole almost gets me excited for a moment, until I realise it's our K162, leaving me with nonsense sites and an exit to low-sec. In fact, an exit to low-sec that's at the end of its natural life. I'm not about to risk the wormhole dying just so that I can find myself in some crappy Gallente faction warfare system, so take myself home instead.

My night's not over yet. Pausing for polarisation effects, I throw an Orca industrial command ship through the wormhole and back, followed by a Widow black ops ship. The wormhole isn't fazed by my massive ships, not even shrinking to a half-mass state. This is good, as the wormhole is now guaranteed to survive an Orca going out, back, and out again. The final jump coming back should then collapse it. A bit of tedious waiting for polarisation to dissipate proves my maths, and I warp the Orca away from space now lacking in a wormhole.

A new wormhole awaits. I resolve its position, warp to it, and jump through to a different C3a. This new system doesn't look much better than the previous one, with d-scan clear from the K162 and a passive scan throwing up eighteen anomalies. That doesn't look like a positive sign for occupation, although my notes from a year ago indicate a tower out of range. A blue tower, mind you, so that doesn't really help me out. But warping across finds that tower gone and a new one elsewhere, and even though the new occupants aren't allied to us this doesn't magic ships in to space. The system is occupied but inactive.

Scanning the new collection of eleven signatures again gives me just the one wormhole, without the false excitement of nearly resolving our K162, this one leading to high-sec empire space and healthy. Exiting w-space puts me in The Citadel, equally close to both Jita and Amarr, and again I can't think of a single item I want to buy from either market. It's weird. I know there are items I want to buy, but whenever I hit empire space my mind draws a blank. I'll fall back to scanning.

My probes are spread thinly in this vast system, but a single extra signature is picked up, which resolves to be merely some Gurista rats. There are more rats in a pair of anomalies too, and, for some reason, I'm tempted to pop a few of them instead of hopping to an adjacent system to scan again. The 3/10 DED site is my first choice, in case a special rat ship appears with better-than-usual loot. But wading through frigate after frigate, in deadspace where my micro warp drive is ineffective, in a ship fit for close-range combat, drives me slowly mad.

Hitting the third deadspace pocket, with twenty frigates in small waves spread all over the place, after having already dealt with two similar pockets, has me questioning my decision to come here in the first place. Quite rightly, too. I see no benefit in spending minutes crawling between non-threatening rats to insta-pop most of them, on the off-chance that I'll loot a module that may actually pay for the ammunition I'm using. I turn my ship around and, finally accepting the quiet nature of space tonight, head home to go off-line.

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

Spoiling gas sucking by collecting planet goo

A new signature in the home system doesn't have me scurrying backwards through w-space looking for activity, what with it resolving to be some rocks, leaving me pressing forwards to our neighbouring class 3 system as usual. A tower with no ships appears on my directional scanner from the K162, and, judging by the names given to the hangars, the locals are Russian. I imagine they're asleep by this time and unlikely to come out to play. My notes from five months ago also suggest the Russians are red to us, and warping directly to the listed tower confirms they are still here, and still red.

Performing a blanket scan of the system reveals four anomalies and four signatures. The anomalies are our favoured type, but rather than dive prow-first in to them it would be prudent to check for K162s, which won't take long given the lack of signatures. I find one too, coming from high-sec empire space, to go with the static exit to low-sec and some rocks. Given options, my glorious leader and I split up, Fin going to high-sec and me heading to low-sec.

I exit C3a to appear in a faction warfare system in the Placid region. No one's around currently, so I warp to the nearest rock field—holding rocks of ice—to rat whilst I scan, only to bounce right back out again as the local channel spikes a little. It's soon clear again, though, with the small fleet just passing through, so I bounce back in to the ice field, and right back out again as eighteen pilots enter the system a few seconds later. Fine, I won't rat. I'll just scan.

Seven extra signatures in a low-sec system sound promising, but they are mostly ladar sites, with a radar and couple of magnetometric sites. The final signature resolve to be a wormhole, which is a reassuring sight, even if it is a K162 from class 3 w-space and probably already a dead end. It's better than nothing, though, so jump to C3a to see what's there. D-scan shows me nothing from the wormhole, but my notes, indicating this being my fifth visit, point me to a tower present four months earlier. I warp off in that direction.

The tower remains and holds a piloted shuttle inside its force field. I doubt a shuttle will do much but evade me, so I warp out, launch probes, and blanket the system. A lack of anomalies but eight signatures suggests the locals aren't too industrious, and that all the signatures are beyond d-scan range of the tower should let me scan them without the shuttle being any the wiser. Gas, gas, and more gas. The locals really don't care for clearing ladar sites, but maybe a few more periods lacking anomalies will change their minds. Or force them to move. I know what I'd do.

I also resolve a pair of wormholes in C3b. One is a K162 from class 5 w-space stressed to half mass, the other a K162 from high-sec. Checking the empire space connection puts me in the Derelik region, which isn't as convenient as the link in C3a that Fin is now using to export loot and import fuel and other goods. I think I can ignore high-sec, particularly with another wormhole in C3b to explore beyond, so jump back to w-space and, well, I hold on the wormhole as a Loki blips on d-scan. The strategic cruiser disappears within seconds, so I move from the wormhole, cloak, and warp to the tower to check for activity.

Something has changed, but nothing to do with a Loki that I can see. Instead, a Probe frigate sits where the shuttle was, and it could be the same pilot, I dunno. I should start writing their names down. The Probe gazes longingly at a hangar for a few minutes before swapping to a lovely looking Mammoth. The hauler turns, accelerates, and warps out of the tower seconds later. Before the Mammoth enters warp I've got my Loki pointed in roughly the same direction, and although I can't quite tell exactly where the hauler is heading I make a best guess as to its destination and, hopefully, follow behind.

My best guess looks good, and I drop out of warp near a customs office with the Mammoth. I am a little unsettled by the appearance of a Vagabond cruiser on d-scan, particularly after having seen an unidentified Loki not too long ago. I wonder if I am about to ambush the Mammoth that's already been targeted for an ambush. But the Vagabond doesn't seem like a typical ship for this task, so I mostly ignore him for the moment and shed my cloak, activate my sensor booster, and aim for the hauler.

The Mammoth explodes with little encouragement from my guns, probably half-shaking itself to bits in a violent bid to align back to the tower. I target and catch the pod too, ripping it open to get to the fleshy centre, and scoop, loot, and shoot the remains. The Vagabond has disappeared, and I can only assume that he saw what happened remotely, using d-scan. Judging by the ship names, the Loki and Vagabond are allied, but whether the Loki scanned for gas sites that the Vagabond wanted to harvest, or both ships were simply passing through the system, I can't really say.

I could probably get an idea of what the ships were up to in C3b by visiting C5a, through the mass-compromised K162, but if my ambush was witnessed by the Vagabond pilot I'm not sure I want to. The tower local to C3b is now empty and there are no new signatures in the system, and I think I'm happy to leave C5a unexplored. I have a new corpse for my tea parties and it's getting late, so there's little point risking my ship flying in to a fleet expecting me. It's time to head home.

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Tags: eve online, loki, mammoth, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, probe, pvp, scanning, vagabond, w-space

Wombles of w-space

Transmission Lost have collapsed their connection to our home system. Now what to do. 'We could mine the gas', suggests my glorious leader, seeing how we stopped TL from grabbing it. Thankfully, her added laughter indicates how likely she thinks I'd want to do that. Through our static wormhole it is, although even that doesn't hold hope for much opportunity.

I poked through to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system earlier, finding it empty and unoccupied, and with an exit to null-sec. Scanning revealed little more, and even the static wormhole was useless, being at the end of its life. That was a few hours ago, though, so the wormhole will definitely have died by now, at least giving us a null-sec system to explore. And that's it, it seems, as a blanket scan shows no change to the overall number of signatures, just the wormhole having refreshed.

Exiting C3a puts me in a system in the Detorid region. The local channel shows no other pilots, so I pick an asteroid field at random and warp to it so that I can rat whilst I scan. I chip away at rat battleships as my probes pick up oh so many anomalies, and a single extra signature. 'Should we make an adventure of the anomalies?', says Fin, reading my mind about taking a break from w-space drones to see what null-sec rats can do. It's a good idea, except for the other signature resolving to also be a wormhole. That, and there are now four other pilots in the system.

I really should have been paying more attention, but knowing that local would show me changes so that I wouldn't have to constantly update my directional scanner kinda made me relax a little too much. Luckily, I pop the rat and am in warp to the wormhole before any of the pilots manages to find or catch me, but I still reprimand myself for being a little too casual about my safety.

I drop out of warp next to an N432 outbound connection to class 5 w-space. As I bookmark the wormhole's location the other pilots in the system leave, and not through the wormhole, so it seems I won't be followed. I jump in to C5a. A single bubble appears on d-scan from the K162, so I launch probes, perform a blanket scan of the system, and warp to one of the planets out of range. As my probes show me ships I am already switching to d-scan, where d-scan lets me see the interesting sight of a tower lacking a force field. Oh, except there isn't a tower.

Finding the four Venture mining frigates, five shuttles, and corporate hangar array is easy enough, but why they are in space when they are lacking a tower is a little odd. Normally, the flotsam is created from a tower running out of fuel and going off-line. But not having a tower means that either the owner went to the trouble of packing it up and removing it, or a fleet went to the effort of destroying it without then taking a moment to complete their carnage. Perhaps the owner didn't have room for the inexpensive ships and abandoned them instead of making another risky trip through w-space.

Whatever has caused the ships to be abandoned they are still worth something, either some easy ISK on the market or useful as disposable ships. Fin prepares an Orca industrial command ship back in the home system, as I start shooting the CHA. There may be more to steal inside the CHA, and if whatever operation has caused this mess isn't quite finished I would rather call attention to myself before our Orca gets here. But the CHA explodes and no one comes, and nothing else gets thrown in to space. It's just the Ventures and shuttles, then. Oh, and the defences. Without a tower, the defences are all ready to be scooped too.

I stand watch as Fin brings the Orca in to C5a and chomps the ships, then bounces off the planet to get close to the defences quickly and chomps them too, making the most of my time by scanning the three anomalies and seven signatures. The Orca warps back to null-sec, Fin reckoning we've nabbed about sixty million ISK of assets, and I warp around the three wormholes I resolved. A K162 from null-sec isn't terribly exciting, and neither is a Z142 outbound connection to null-sec, but hello static connection to class 1 w-space!

It can't be much fun living in a C5, which can have dreadnoughts brought in through the right wormholes, but have a static wormhole that doesn't allow even battleships through. Maybe that's why the locals moved out, and no one followed. I'm okay with it, though, as there may be soft targets to find. But jumping to C1a puts me in an empty if occupied system, where the nine anomalies and six signatures resolve to hold a single wormhole, the system's static exit to high-sec empire space. That's game over for today. But with hunting, exploring, ambushes, and a little ransacking, it's been a good day.

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

Sharks follow bait

I'm back again, to see what potential invaders/lodgers are up to, if Transmission Lost are poking through their static wormhole in to our home system some more, and what, if anything, is happening in our unoccupied neighbouring class 3 w-space system. My glorious leader updates me with TL's movements, which had them return to try again to steal some gas from one of our ladar sites. Shooing the Sleepers from one of the sites had TL bring in a Noctis salvager too, but Fin's Loki strategic cruiser going off-line and dropping its cloak may have alerted them to our returned presence.

Fin suspects the Noctis has a cloak fitted too, and that it hasn't left the ladar site despite the Venture mining frigate having returned to TL's class 2 w-space system. As she warps in to the ladar site in the hopes of bumping in to it rather haphazardly, I head in my own cloaky Loki to the C2 K162 to monitor movements. I see one, too, as the wormhole flares. Whatever has come through the wormhole is taking care to hold its cloak for as long as it can, but eventually a Drake battlecruiser decloaks, aligns, and warps away.

The Drake is easy to find, considering previous activity, in a minor ladar site in our system. A couple of Sleeper cruisers are there, and it seems that the Drake wants them not to be there, perhaps so that the Venture can return to suck up the gas in peace. But probably not. This is Transmission Lost we are dealing with, and they are not to be taken lightly. Earlier, I tried to ambush a Venture of theirs, and now Fin's Loki may have become apparent on one of their pilot's directional scanners. That's not to say the Drake isn't innocently clearing Sleepers from a ladar site, but rather that there is more here than meets the eye.

I stay on the wormhole, Fin monitors the Drake. All looks normal for now, the Drake innocently engaging the Sleepers without making a big deal of it. Not one to pass up an opportunity for a kill, Fin warps in to catch the Drake. But just in case the Drake has been told to act casual I stay on the K162. Fin gets close, decloaks, and goes for the Drake. It's looking good so far, with the K162 staying quiet, so I align towards the ladar site, ready to join the fray as required. But just as Fin grabs the Drake, so does the Drake grab Fin. Sure enough, within a few seconds, the wormhole flares, as in jumps a Loki.

The TL strategic cruiser warps to the ladar site to spring the counter-ambush. Is that all? I'm almost disappointed, and rather than warp to the ladar site for a two-on-one with the Drake, I throw my Loki in to warp to our tower to get a ship-killer Legion strategic cruiser instead. We should win the two-on-two quite easily as well. Except that the K162 flares behind me as I enter warp, d-scan showing me a second Loki entering our system. Not that we don't stand a chance with one more strategic cruiser pitted against us, but the staggered jump of the first two ships makes it difficult to know how many more will follow, particularly as a Devoter heavy interdictor is also now on d-scan. Fin, bail out. 'Trying.'

I land inside the force field of our tower, now unsure as to my best option, shortly before Fin announces that she's clear. That clarifies matters. My best option now is to return to the K162 to monitor further ship movements. I watch as the ambushing ships return to the wormhole and jump home, and get a conversation request from one of the pilots. It turns out that Resilan Bearcat recognised which system they had connected to and wanted to say hi before leaving. It's a shame we didn't have a couple more ships to throw at them today, but it was a fun little engagement all the same.

We were right to suspect bait, and my sitting on the wormhole to watch for counter-ambushers perhaps saved Fin's ship today. I was in the right position to gauge early any reaction to our aggression, whilst remaining available to provide support if it turned out to be straightforward combat between two ships. I'm back at the wormhole and watching as Transmission Lost crash the connection, resetting their options for the evening. That will make our home system safer too, even if it leaves us only a potentially dull neighbouring class 3 system that leads to null-sec. Maybe we can do something about that.

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Tags: devoter, drake, eve online, loki, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, pvp, w-space