Calm before the storm

Hello, I'm a bit late. Poking through to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, after ambushing a pair of gassing ships and bagging me a cruiser podding, has an interesting sight on my directional scanner. There's not much unusual about a pair of towers, plus the Hurricane battlecruiser, Hound stealth bomber, Drake battlecruiser, or Claymore command ship. But the Minmatar elite frigate wreck and corpse in the system shows hostile activity, and recent too.

The two towers are also recent additions to C3a, although probably not within the last couple of hours like the wreck and corpse. There was no occupation seven months ago, but I suppose the static exit to high-sec made it inevitable that some corporation would move in sooner or later. I start looking for the towers at about the same time as the Hound is swapped for an Anathema, the covert operations boat then launching probes and presumably scanning. And sweeping d-scan around shows that the wreck and corpse are apparently outside one of the towers. Either that, or a nearby moon. I can check.

Warping to the right tower sees the wreck and corpse near the defences above the force field, and a Buzzard cov-ops outside of the tower. But before I can think about whether my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser could engage the Buzzard without getting caught by the tower, a Sabre interdictor and Hound decloak to do the job for me. Or, at least, try. The Sabre launches an interdiction sphere, but the short-lived warp bubble doesn't appear to have trapped the Buzzard too well. The cov-ops burns away from the Sabre, the Hound gives up and cloaks, and the interdictor crawls from its own bubble before cloaking too. That was... mildly interesting.

There's nothing else to see here for now, so I warp around, exploring the rest of the system. The Claymore sits alone in another tower, piloted but probably only providing lazy boosts to other ships in whatever fleet it has assembled. The pilot also belongs to the same corporation of the corpse and wreck at the first tower, which is peculiar indeed. Maybe I'm in the midst of a hostile takeover. And two more towers sit elsewhere in the system, as shown by d-scan, where a Hound and Drake float inside the force field, whilst the Hurricane is in empty space. If my hunch is right, I imagine the battlecruiser will be near a wormhole, where a warp bubble has also been anchored. Let me take a look.

I launch probes, blanket the system, and bookmark nine anomalies that are unlikely to see any action soon, and resolve the four signatures. Two ladar sites, the static exit to high-sec, and the K162 home. There is a bubble at the high-sec exit, but not on it. It's a drag bubble, positioned to catch ships warping from the presumably targeted tower to the wormhole, to prevent easy egress from the system. The Hurricane has moved on by the time I get here, though, but a Loki jumps to high-sec as I assess the situation, followed by a Manticore stealth bomber coming in and leaving again. It's all go.

I'm curious to see where the exit wormhole leads. A high-sec connection could easily bring support, or additional danger, given the ease of travel that high-sec affords. And I am not above sharing the information with anyone who would like to stir the hornets' nest. Woah, it's better than I thought. Or worse. I leave C3a to appear in Gallente central, the wormhole being in the market hub of Dodixie. That can't be good for someone. I'm not sure who at the moment, but I probably won't be doing a fuel run.

It's time for food. I was only meant to look for activity, but I didn't really consider what I'd do if I found any. Get curious and poke around, apparently. I'm happy with what I've uncovered, though, and there could be fun to be had later. All I need to do is get home, which shouldn't pose a problem on a high-sec wormhole. I return to C3a, see an Onyx heavy interdictor decloak and inflate its warp bubble, and give exactly zero shits as I speed invisibly away from the wormhole. I warp across the system, see no ships on our connection, and jump home to make myself a sammich.

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Tags: anathema, buzzard, claymore, drake, eve online, hound, hurricane, loki, manticore, mmorpg, onyx, penny ibramovic, sabre, scanning, w-space

Getting lucky with gassers

The early Penny catches the planet gooer, so the traditional saying goes. It seems to have worked out for me in the past, so I'm awake in the home w-space system, scanning for wormholes, to see if I can find an unawares pilot to ambush. And would you look at all those signatures. Six of them is quite a bounty, although three turn out to be new pockets of gas. That still leaves me with an extra wormhole, a K162 from class 5 w-space. I'm tempted to head in the other direction, through our static connection, to scan C3a out to k-space for an exit, but some days I like to live dangerously. I jump to C5a.

A tower sits proudly on my directional scanner from the wormhole in class 5 w-space. Along with the tower I see a Reaper, Inquisitor, and Ibis frigate each, which aren't really C5-like ships, and I suspect there's no one active at the moment. Locating the tower confirms my suspicion, and exploring the system finds nothing else of interest, which points to there being another K162 to find heading backwards. I launch probes to scan, revealing six anomalies and seven signatures, and a covert operations boat near one of the signatures. I have to assume that by the time my probes have detected the cov-ops the cov-ops will have seen my probes, so rather than try to conceal them I simply keep scanning, noting the presence of a pilot.

The only wormhole in C5a I resolve is a K162 from class 6 w-space, otherwise it's just rocks and gas out there. I suppose the scout came from C6a, or further back, and if he's seen my probes then any colleagues of his will be warned of my approach. So be it. I jump to deadly w-space, understanding it to be potentially more deadly than normal. But nothing greets me in C6a, at least on the wormhole itself. D-scan, however, shows me a Myrmidon battlecruiser, Moa cruiser, and jet-can, with no tower in sight. Not gooers, but gassers. And not only has a scout potentially seen my probes in the next system in the chain and warned these pilots, I am spat under a kilometre from the wormhole, leaving me a veritable chasm to cross before I can cloak. That's bad luck.

I move away from the wormhole, activating my micro warp drive, and cloak as soon as I can. Updating d-scan sees the Myrmidon and Moa still in the system, which is lucky. Now to get some probes in to space so that I can hunt them, but opening the system map shows this C6 to be tiny, with a distance of 9 AU to the farthest planet. I would say that's bad luck too, but just as I got clear of the wormhole with a bit of jamminess I warp across the system to see that the ladar site the ships are in is very nicely placed indeed. For me, anyway. I can just about get far enough away from the ships to drop off d-scan, letting me launch probes and get them out of the system without being seen.

With probes available, I return to be closer to the gassing ships, and start to hunt them. I narrow down their position in space using d-scan on a tight beam, and estimate their range at approximately 4·3 AU from my position. I get my probes arranged around where I think the two ships are harmlessly sucking, take a calming breath, and hit 'scan'. It's a good result. 100% on both ships, if not on the site itself, but a first-scan hit of 65% on an instrumental core reservoir ladar site in a class 6 system is probably pretty good. Besides, I don't want to warp in to the site, but to the ships. And that's what I do.

I warp directly to the ships, dropping only slightly short, not caring to reconnoitre the site this time. Despite what the situation has looked like, every step of the hunt has gone my way, and it has filled me with confidence. And it looks good. Not only do I drop out of warp next to a pair of apparently oblivious gas harvesters, but to my delight the pilots are reds. Hitting enemies of our corporation is always a more rewarding experience. This cheeky couple is even evading the Sleepers in this site, the sneaky bastards. Luckily, I'm sneakier than they are. I decloak, pick the Moa as the softer target, and pounce.

The recalibration delay is soaked up quickly enough, and my weapons systems are hot and locked on to the Moa before it has too much time to react. The Myrmidon bounces out of the site as I consider giving it a bump to try to keep it close, but that's okay. I doubt I'd be able to grind against it for as long as it takes to pop the Moa, and I'm happy with getting just one of the two. The cruiser's not going anywhere either. Prevented from warping, the pilot has little to do but watch with me as his shields, armour, and hull turn from white to red, culminating in the Moa exploding.

Can I get the pod too? Yes, I can. I was expecting the pilot to be more alert and getting clear, but it looks like he was disorientated. Or confused. I think he was wondering why the two warp core stabilisers he had fitted were malfunctioning, perhaps already drafting a snotty letter to the manufacturer and demanding compensation for his Moa, and had given up on getting his pod clear. The confusion effect makes me glad that I finally made the change to fitting a Shadow Serpentis warp scrambler to my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser. The relatively close ten-kilometre effective range is made up for by the three points of warp disruption, instead of the single point I had fit previously. I would say that the swap has been worthwhile.

I scoop, loot, and shoot, then get the hell out of the site. The pilots were clearly not expecting me, but that's not to say they won't be back, and in greater numbers. Fin and I have been counter-ambushed in such a manner before, and gloating to myself works just as well when cloaked as in plain sight. And with the system now quiet I get back to normality, re-launching my probes and blanketing the system. Seventeen anomalies and twenty-two signatures would maybe make me pause, based on how much scanning I've already done, and what action I've been involved in. But as any wormholes heading backwards would only lead to pilots of the corporation I've already ambushed I have a different reason to ignore this system for now and head in the other direction. I think I'll just poke my nose through our static wormhole to C3a and then break for a celebratory sammich. Hunting can make me hungry.

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Tags: eve online, ibis, inquisitor, loki, mmorpg, moa, myrmidon, penny ibramovic, pvp, reaper, scanning, w-space

Leaving no Noctis for a Noctis

Two new signatures in the home system today could be interesting. And I'd say two extra wormholes are interesting. Our static connection to class 3 w-space is joined by two K162s, one from a class 4 system and one from a class 5 system. I end my reconnoitring by the C4 K162, so waste no more time warping around and simply jump through to see what I can find. Ships. And wrecks. But no anomalies. And now no Proteus, the strategic cruiser disappearing from my directional scanner to leave the three other strategic cruisers visible, all Tengus. As there aren't any anomalies, and it doesn't take four strategic cruisers to salvage wrecks, I am looking for a radar or magnetometric site, which will mean launching probes. If I am to hunt the ships—or, specifically, the following salvager—I need probes to locate the site.

I don't mind having to find a site under pressure of pilots potentially watching d-scan, as I have a fair bit of success doing that. But it often relies on launching probes covertly, which today is posing a problem. Warping to one side of the system has the Tengus in d-scan range, and crossing to the other side has the tower in range, and the Tengus. It's quite bad luck too, as the nearest planet from this position is 16·5 AU away, and the Tengus are 13·5 AU distant. There's not much I can do about the situation, and I should probably be more concerned about the disappearance of the Proteus than the proximity of the Tengus.

Talk of the devil, the Proteus reappears, just as the Tengus leave. I suspect the ships are not local to this C4, which I deduce from none of the missing ships turning up at the tower. I'm a detective genius. And as the wrecks start being whittled down, it looks like the Proteus is the salvaging ship, in place of a normal Noctis or an old-school destroyer. There's nothing for me to do here but throw my ship in to an unwinnable situation, so I turn around and head back home. I have two more wormholes to explore through.

The class 5 w-space system isn't much better. My notes listing a lack of occupation may be two-and-a-half years old, but they remain current. C5a must see its fair share of visitors, though, as it only holds three anomalies and eight signatures, sifting through which a K162 from class 6 w-space crops up. I resolve two more wormholes amongst the Sleeper noise, but only an exit to low-sec and a K162 from null-sec, neither of which interest me at the moment. Deadly w-space, here I come!

Damn these C6ers and their towers and ships. Eleven ships, comprising strategic cruisers, capitals, and industrials, sit on d-scan along with nine towers. Finding one tower is easy, as it is around a planet with one moon, but that tower lacks any ships. The other eight towers are all around one other planet, and it takes me a while to locate them all with certainty. A slight miscount makes me scratch my head, as I seem to have found nine towers around this planet, until I realise that one of the towers is off-line and can be discounted. And once I correct my mistake I locate all of the ships and realise I don't care a jot for any of them that are piloted. Rather than waste more time here, I head homewards and through our static connection.

Sadness overwhelms me in C3a, as I find myself in an unoccupied and inactive system. A well-trodden unoccupied and inactive system, however, with two anomalies and three signatures waiting to be uncovered, but unoccupied and inactive all the same. The static exit to low-sec is a surprise, the only one I imagine I will get, as I expected the wormhole to take me to null-sec, and as the other signature is a radar site I have no reason to stay in w-space now. I leave through the U210 to arrive in the midst of a damned Incursion, with its stupid additional comms channel, and stupid mixed-up colours. Apparently it's not bad enough that I'm in the stupid Placid region.

Scanning reveals four additional signatures, one of which is a wormhole, whose green sheen doesn't completely obscure the grey of a class 3 K162. I jump through, hoping for something better than C3a. Well, it's occupied, which is something, as a tower and Tengu—named WH-Tengu—appear on d-scan. And wrecks. Sleeper wrecks. A passive scan brings up the anomalies with little fuss, and I'd normally make a crack about there being thirty-one of them, but it looks like the Tengu is doing its best to reduce that number. Or maybe it isn't. I sweep d-scan around on a tight beam looking for the ship and the wrecks, and finally find the wrecks without a ship. I note the anomaly and bring d-scan back to a broad beam, to see a Noctis salvager replacing the Tengu. And in the cleared anomaly.

The Tengu has gone, but I spent a while trying to find the only anomaly with wrecks that I don't know if the ships were swapped or the Tengu remains busy out of d-scan range. I have warped in to the anomaly to line up an ambush on the Noctis, but I'd prefer a Tengu kill. If he's active elsewhere, and flying predictably, I probably have time to get a different ship across here. And as the Noctis is curiously crawling from one group of wrecks to another, some distance away from it, I have time to check the rest of the system. At least, I think I do. Happy with my strategic bookmark in the anomaly, for a quick return and strike at the Noctis, I cross to the other side of the system looking for the Tengu, but finding only a second tower, and maybe a third, with a pair of haulers visible on d-scan. No Tengu.

Back I go to the Noctis. I hope I haven't wasted too much time. And it looks okay when I return to the anomaly. The Noctis has made it to the other wrecks and is salvaging fairly efficiently, but his looting is a little lacking. Cans are scattered around the ship, flotsam from the salvaged Sleeper wrecks. Beacons for my nav-comp. I warp in close to the cans, close to the Noctis, decloaking as my warp engines cut out and getting my systems hot. Lock, point, shoot. I give the Noctis a nudge in case it's thinking about trying to escape, but it isn't really needed. The industrial ship explodes, throwing its pod in to space, a pod that flees without hesitation. That's a shame, but at least my sensor booster was active this time.

I loot and shoot the wreck of the Noctis, as I tend to do, and notice again all the cans scattered around. Cans of Sleeper loot, all nicely clustered close to me. D-scan looks clear, with just the escaped pod looking distinctly unthreatening, so I loot, loot, and loot, grabbing almost thirty million ISK of profit to go with the surviving modules of the Noctis.

I keep d-scan updated, as looting is not a particularly intensive process, and see the pod return to its tower and board a Manticore, the stealth bomber disappearing, cloaking, moments later. I wouldn't mind trying to provoke a counter-attack from a stealth bomber, but despite my best efforts of loitering in the site and, after that gets boring, taking my time approaching the wormhole to return to low-sec, I don't see the Manticore again. I imagine the ship is being used more for the stealth aspect than as a bomber. Still, I've had my fun, after a fair bit of exploration, and am happy to return home with my bounty. I don't even care to check the other systems for new activity, simply going off-line for the night after dumping my loot.

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Tags: eve online, manticore, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, proteus, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space

Scanning is the w-space equivalent of fishing

It's me in an empty system once more. Maybe we should think about getting another pilot or two in here, but I don't know how to go about finding other people. So I'll hide my head in the sand and, after scanning as usual, visit our class 3 w-space neighbours through our static wormhole. But there's no one to borrow a cup of sugar from, to disguise that fact that I just want some company, as a tower on my directional scanner is bereft of ships, and so pilots. I'm back to scanning. I warp out, launch probes, and blanket the system, showing me two anomalies, seven signatures, and a Fin. Hello, my glorious leader is on-line.

I give Fin a sitrep as I locate the tower in C3a, so I can loiter outside it and watch for new arrivals as I scan. And finding towers is generally a quicker process when I consult my notes, which hold information about every w-space system I've visited, but today I bear ahead forgetting that I have this information. And, coincidentally, the process is quicker than it would have been. Despite my most recent visit to this system being only three months earlier, and the tower ostensibly remaining where it was, there is a typo in my notes. I know this, and not that the tower has moved, because the planet I have listed as holding the tower doesn't have as many moons as it needs. I suppose I could have worked this out either way, but I dare say finding the tower manually has saved me time.

And with Fin up to speed and my cloaky strategic cruiser sitting outside the tower, I scan. The full spectrum of sites are recognised and ignored, not being interesting in an inactive system, leaving me with the static exit to low-sec as the only wormhole. The wormhole isn't even healthy enough to use, wobbling all over the place at the end of its life, which stops me poking through to see where it leads. But not fearless Fin, who dives through ahead of me to a system in Placid, saving me the rather unpleasant visit to Gallente space. I would say it's worth collapsing our static wormhole and taking a second shot at exploration tonight.

Home we go. Massive ships are thrust through our wormhole in a controlled manner, leaving us but not it in our home system as planned, and a new connection to resolve. Jumping through the replacement wormhole has us in a bare-looking class 3 system. D-scan is clear, with three planets sitting out of range in three different directions. Launching probes and performing a blanket scan of the system reveals fifteen anomalies and nineteen signatures, which makes me suspect we are in an unoccupied C3 with a static wormhole to null-sec. But we can all be wrong sometimes. Some structures are scattered around one of the planets, and there I find an on-line if inactive tower, and one owned by reds. Lazy reds, with a surfeit of sites. The worst kind, with 'not even enough respect to mine for us', says Fin.

Out of the many signatures are resolved five wormholes, two weak-ish and three chubby, which is plenty now that we are just roaming for easy targets. In no particular order, we have an N968 outbound connection to more class 3 w-space, a K162 from high-sec, a K162 from null-sec, a static exit not to null-sec but high-sec, and, finally, but resolved first, a lovely looking K162 from class 2 w-space. I land here last, so head to C2a, whilst Fin continues in class 3 w-space through the N968. J111011 is a neat number, but is it a neat system? Kind of, I suppose. It's neat in that d-scan is clear from the wormhole, but not neat because d-scan is clear from the wormhole.

Exploring finds no occupation or activity in C2b, which is curious for a class 2 system. Scanning, as Aii comes on-line to make our numbers swell to record levels for the month, has only one anomaly and eight signatures to sift through, so it seems that the lack of occupation has not slowed down site activation. And all that's left are rocks and gas, a super-stable static exit to high-sec, and, thankfully for my sanity, a second wormhole. Sadly, for my exploration, the other connection is merely a K162 from null-sec. Okay, that's enough for me. It's not that there isn't more to explore, as the k-space systems could hold more potential, but more that, after my recent luck in finding targets, a quiet night isn't such a hardship.

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

Getting more hangar space

I launch probes and perform a blanket scan. I don't care to hide my probes, as I'm assuming that podding two of their pilots in mining barges means the corporation in this class 3 w-space system know I'm here. Besides, the only capsuleer left to witness my scanning has swapped from the Orca industrial command ship to an Anathema covert operations boat. I don't care to chase him, if he even intends to scan, so ignore him and take a look around.

One anomaly and seven signatures are returned by my probes. I already know one of those signatures is a gravimetric site. The others are two radar sites, some more rocks, and two wormholes. A K162 connection from low-class w-space accompanies the system's static exit to low-sec, the latter in pristine condition and obviously not touched by the locals today. I pop its cherry, and exit to appear in Old Man Star, in the Essence region.

I've heard of Old Man Star. It's probably notorious for something, and I'm not entirely sure I want to be here, but I doubt much probing for wormholes is performed regularly. I can scan. Seven extra signatures crop up, the first one being a wormhole too weak to be a K162. The N432 outbound connection to class 5 w-space is neat, but not as neat as the second weak wormhole, which is an R943 to class 2 w-space. A third wormhole, and second R943, is almost giving me too much choice. But the system settles down, with the remaining signatures being a radar site, some drones, and finally a rock field.

I finish my scanning sitting outside of the wormhole I've labelled as heading to C2b, so I waste no time in jumping through to see what I can find. I won't get my hopes up, not when appearing 7·5 km from the wormhole, and a blanket scan doesn't reveal much to get excited about. No ships, no anomalies, and five signatures is all that I can see, but as the system is sparsely signatured I think I can spare the time to scan it. I locate a tower I can see on d-scan, and settle down to sift through the sites. Two magnetometric sites and two wormholes, both static connections, are all there is to resolve. I'm not exiting to high-sec, but the second static wormhole to class 3 w-space is worth a look through.

The J-number of C3b sounds familiar, and maybe it should be, as this is my fifth visit. The last was six months ago, however, and although I have two towers listed I can see on d-scan that one has gone. The other remains, but with no one home today, and as the static connection leads to high-sec I don't care to look for it. I return through C2b to Old Man Star, and back in to w-space with C2a. D-scan is clear, apart from a lonely canister, and launching probes reveals no still no ships, still no anomalies, and seven more signatures. One tower sits around a far planet, empty of course, so it's here that I loiter whilst sifting the signatures.

A ship. As I start to scan my combat probes detect a ship. I throw my probes out of the system, but it's too late. Whatever was here is gone, and has probably seen that I am scanning. Well, if they know, I may as well do it. I call my probes back and resolve rocks, a magnetometric site, and four wormholes, with one signature remaining. I warp around reconnoitring the wormholes, landing near a K162 from class 4 w-space, as I spy a Bestower on my probes. But where is the hauler from? And where is it going? Perhaps the K162 from high-sec that's reaching the end of its life, but if so I miss seeing the Bestower leave the system.

I resolve the final signature as I warp to the other wormholes, a second K162 from class 4 w-space, and a static exit to low-sec that is also EOL. And the last signature is the system's second static wormhole, leading to more class 2 w-space. The entrance to C2c looks good, but is the Bestower going out again? I should probably check the class 4 systems to see if there is any sign of the hauler. I pick C4b first, as the Bestower appeared as I was sitting on the K162 from C4a and not so not likely to have come or gone that way, and I have chosen wisely. I jump in to C4b to see the Bestower sitting on the wormhole with me.

Whether the hauler saw the wormhole flare I can't say. I would have to imagine he did, as industrial ships take a while to decelerate, and the ship jumps past me almost immediately. Maybe he's being smart, knowing that if I go back to give chase he can jump home again, presuming this is his home, and I being polarised won't be able to follow. But I've got to have a go. I praise the short session change timer for once, and return to C2a. The Bestower is aligning away from the wormhole, in a direction I don't care about, and I pounce.

I break the session change cloak, and even though it has no recalibration delay I activate my sebo—now that I can—to help ensure the Bestower doesn't go anywhere. And he doesn't. The pilot doesn't even go back through the wormhole to evade me. Perhaps he's still suffering from polarisation because of his quick turnaround. Whatever the reason, he practically sits in front of my guns and explodes. And I may have my sebo active, but this pilot is prepared to get his pod clear, and I miss gaining another corpse for my collection. But I may have a new corporate hangar array.

The CHA has survived the Bestower's destruction. That's pretty good. It won't fit in the hold of my Loki strategic cruiser, though, and I'm loath to pop the wreck without at least trying to recover my spoils. The pod's gone, and the pilot may be spooked enough not to try to recover from the wreck. I may have time to pick up the CHA. I dash home, out of C2a, across Old Man Star, and through the earlier crime scene of C3a, swap my Loki for a Crane transport ship—having checked that the CHA will definitely fit—and return to C2a.

I warp to the wormhole where the Bestower once was, dropping cautiously short of the wreck whilst still cloaked, to see that the wreck remains unlooted. I should be okay. The Crane is agile, can cloak, and has a nearby wormhole to jump through if I need to evade unwanted attention. But even though paranoia serves you well in w-space, it is just that right now. No ships appear, no ambush awaits, and I simply transfer the CHA from the wreck of the Bestower to my Crane. My only regret is that I can't destroy the wreck now that it is empty.

I return home in the Crane, stow the CHA in our own CHA, as I heard I like that, and get back in my Loki. I have a bit of time left, I may as well scout the two class 4 systems properly. C4b turns out to be a repeat visit for me, and although there are ships in one of the towers, with a piloted Hurricane battlecruiser, not much is happening. I can confirm that this is the home of the Bestower pilot at least, and jumping back to C2a has me shooting the wreck and clearing up after myself. That's better.

C4a has a Minmatar shuttle appear on d-scan, but without a tower. At least, not an active tower. I can only assume it is abandoned, as I doubt the shuttle is of much use in w-space, and it doesn't come my way or drop off d-scan as I check some unhelpful notes from over two years ago. The wormhole brings me a ship whilst I'm distracted by old notes, and I approach and prepare my systems in case it is another soft target, but instead remain cloaked and watch as a Tengu appears, aligns, and warps away.

The strategic cruiser disappeared to an empty point in space, suggesting another wormhole and more activity to discover, but my time has run out. I head home, happy with the fun day all round. Hunting and podding miners, plenty of scanning and exploring, and ambushing a Bestower and recovering his haul. And there are still more systems to explore. W-space can really feel vast and alive on occasions.

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Tags: anathema, bestower, crane, eve online, hurricane, loki, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space

Gigs of 2012, part three

My final set of gigs for the year had a busy month of November, which turned out to be not quite as busy as I expected, thanks to illness. I still managed to squeeze in a bunch of gigs, and had some good nights out. There were a couple of duds too. But I have managed to review them all before the year ends. Roll on 2013!

Eyes on Film, The Vex, The Wholls, at Underbelly, Hoxton Sq.

Heading to the London EVE meet-up has me receive a text inviting me to a gig. How can I refuse? It's even in the roughly the same area as the meet-up, close enough to walk north and get to Hoxton Square with time to spare, even after getting a little lost. We get in, get a sofa, and wait for the bands and people to roll in. First band is The Wholls, who start out strong and confident, and although they continue confidently they stray away from strong quickly and almost irrevocably. Instead of catchy guitar pop, the band indulge themselves in sparse almost hip-hop songs, with lyrics that are distinctly personal but without employing the metaphor and simile that widens their appeal. Unless you have an ex-girlfriend called Emily, you are probably not going to connect with the song. The Wholls looked to have potential, but are probably limited to amusing only themselves.

Next on stage are The Vex, and not The Vets, as my friend thought they said. A more conventional band than The Wholls, thankfully, and pretty good. I kinda wish I'd jotted down some notes closer to the event. I mostly remember being behind a sea of bodies and not being able to see much, despite wanting to. I got to the front for The Wholls and didn't fancy wasting my time for a second band, but that plan backfired. On top of that, main act Eyes on Film end up running out of time before they even get on stage. The first band are on a little late, the second take a little longer to get set-up as a result, and by the time Eyes on Film are able to set up there is only fifteen minutes left before curfew. As if that weren't frustrating enough, problems with the keyboards mean that they don't even get to play before the curfew hits, and I have a train to catch. It's a shame, because NME mention Eyes on Film twice in the two weeks after the gig, so I would liked to have seen them.

Bo Ningen, Race Horses, Blue on Blue, at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen

Back to Hoxton Square, and just down the road from the Underbelly, for another chance to see Bo Ningen. This time, it's an album launch gig as part of their first full UK tour, so it promises to be a good gig. I wish the venue were a bit better. Having to queue in the bar/kitchen to get in to the back room is exhausting, thanks to the really high humidity of the room, but thankfully the venue itself is cooler. But I'm hot and sweaty, and pretty much the only light in the room is being reflected off a mirrorball, which in my dizzy state almost makes me want to vomit. I manage to calm myself, though, and cool down, as well as keep my lunch down. However, the lighting doesn't change much during the whole gig, support bands and main act. The main source of light being a spot shining on a mirrorball leaves the acts mostly in shadow, and the audience disorientated. It's a pretty shoddy set-up.

On to the bands. Blue on Blue are quite blue. The duo make delicate soundscapes with a violin, bass guitar, and sequencers, all until the last song where they get a little raucous, but it's too little too late for me. I can see myself relaxing to the music at home, but standing in a venue watching a couple of people do very little, with slight variations of subtle sounds, is not particularly entertaining. I could be interested in picking up a recording of the music, but I find it tedious live. Not quite so tedious as Race Horses, who are a particularly average and bland indie band. They don't really do anything wrong, but I find myself caring so little that I head outside for some fresh air.

Bo Ningen seem to be affected by the low-key support acts, as they start with a curious take on Koroshitai Kimochi, but they soon hit their stride. Plenty of material is played from the new album Line the Wall, which is not only to be expected for an album release party but shows just how much they have weaved this new material almost seamlessly in to previous gigs throughout the year. The tempo picks up, as does the energy of the band, until they are flailing around wildly and windmilling the guitars around their heads. A slow-burning ending becomes raucous, segueing to a climactic finale with more endings than Return of the King, and prompting an old-fashioned mosh pit, bursting with energy of the like I've not seen in years. Seeing the chaos in front of him, Kaigen jumps down to the mosh pit, bass and all, to end the night swamped by fans.

The Joy Formidable at KCLSU

Before Bo Ningen came The Joy Formidable. Fresh from supporting Muse on an Arena tour, and two days after playing with them at the O2 Arena in London, TJF are in the Kings College Student Union playing to a tiny audience. But as Rhyds said to me back at their album launch at The Borderline, and paraphrasing Stephen Stills here, a gig is a gig is a gig is a gig is a gig. It's not the size of the venue that's important, but the music. The Joy Formidable play like this is just as important as an arena. And I have to admire any band that can open with a song as powerful as The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade, which could easily close most sets, even as the encore. But to open with such a song sets the tone for an amazing gig.

The gig continues with fabulous versions of A Heavy Abacus, I Don't Want to See You Like This, and the lesser-heard Ostrich, which just roars from the speakers. Ritzy is impressed with the audience participation during Austere, which gets going almost before the song itself begins, although she has some trouble trying to get us to shut up for a quieter refrain half-way through the song. It's not just us failing to be quiet, as drummer Matt interrupts a couple of times, causing Ritzy to threaten 'don't make me get a drum machine'. He can't even give any stick back, as Ritzy points out that 'I give him shit, and he doesn't even have a microphone'.

Cradle sounds as fantastic as ever, and has a drum solo to appease Matt, who says that 'drummers have feelings too' in to his snare mic. The set ends with Whirring, but it's not the end of the gig. Rhydian comes back on stage and picks up an acoustic guitar, leaving Ritzy to sing vocals on new song Silent Treatment, from the second album, due out in January. Matt then returns to the stage, is given the microphone to get his own back—'Hello', he says, to rousing applause—and TJF finish the night with The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie. It's an amazing gig from an impressive and sincere band, who are genuinely thrilled to be playing every gig.

And So I Watch You From Afar at The Garage

I saw And So I Watch You From Afar supporting The Joy Formidable at the Forum a while back, and it's fair to say I was really impressed and entertained. I was happy to pick up a ticket for their own headlining show at the Garage, but the gig itself was a disappointment, if only because it was cancelled. I've had better nights out than heading in to London, walking up to a closed venue, and heading back home.

BEAK> at the Lexington

Poor me, being ill. I have been looking forward to seeing Beak> for a while, but having coughing fits and a headache whilst standing in hot and cramped conditions would only make for a terrible evening, regardless of the music. I stay at home and groan quietly all evening instead.

Eyes on Film at Koko

I miss seeing Eyes on Film when set overruns and technical difficulties prevent them coming on stage at the earlier gig, and, only a couple of days after the Beak> gig, I am still not feeling great. It probably wouldn't have mattered, though, as the band are on stage as part of Club NME, and aren't due to appear before midnight. Midnight! I'm no student, and I can't be dealing with night buses, silly NME. I still want to see Eyes on Film at some point.

Menomena at Cargo

I'm not missing Menomena, rhymes with phenomena. Last year's Mines remains an impressive album, and follow-up Moms sounds almost as good. I didn't get to see Menomena when they toured last, so now I drag my recovering body down to Cargo to see them play. I am keen to check out their drummer too, as he does some really interesting things with the drums. As I find out, he also sings on half the songs, which is amazing. I think what I like most about the drumming is that the drums are used as a separate instrument, rather than merely a time-keeper, and so become integral to the songs instead of interchangeable. And before we get to the gig proper, I should remind myself that Empty Pools play support. I don't have much to say about them, but their enthusiasm and good tunes make me want to keep an eye out for the band again.

Most of Menomena's set is from current album Moms, with a lot of the slack taken up by songs from the first album, which I can only assume as I don't own the album and don't recognise the songs. But there are a few tracks from second album, which although probably wouldn't be the ones I'd choose as my favourites definitely come across well live. That is, when they are played as intended. 'Matt just played the start of the wrong song', says Paul, as the guitarist halts after a short intro. 'I don't know if you want to boo him...', which is all the encouragement we need to boo. 'Okay, you do feel that way', because we are almost in pantomime season, sir, 'but you can maybe cheer him when he plays the right one'.

'The problem is', says singer/bassist/saxophonist Justin, 'Matt doesn't actually start the next song', so there will be no cheers for him. And, to play along, drummer Danny then intentionally plays another wrong intro, to more boos, and Justin does the same, although he admits he did it badly enough to deserve the boos. But Menomena get their act together again and play Five Little Rooms. It's a great set, and the audience really appreciates seeing Menomena. When they finish the set with Taos, there is far more consistent applause for an encore than I've heard for a long time, and it seems warranted for the band to come back to play two more songs. Menomena are a fine band, and great to see live.

Suuns at Village Underground

I really like Suuns, and they are great live, but I went to kung fu class instead. I'd already missed a month of classes, thanks to gigs, and if I'm not careful I won't be able to follow in the pawsteps of my hero, Tigress. Still, it was Suuns and, being Canadian, they don't exactly play London often. I hope they visit again suun.

Slow Club at Koko

'This is Slow Club from 2009', says Rebecca after the duo's initial acoustic offering. A couple more songs from their debut album follow before the pair leave the stage, returning a couple of minutes later with their expanded line-up and changed in to identical white shirt, black trouser outfits. 'We thought it would be fun to dress up like the cover of the first album, then change', she says, explaining her earlier comment. 'Did it work?' It certainly shows the progress Slow Club have made in a few years, and the growing confidence they have in creating a show. Slow Club don't just play songs, they perform.

This is the band's annual Christmas gig, which they have done for several years now. The past few have been at the Union Chapel, giving it a more festive feel, but this year Camden's Koko plays host. It feels more like a regular gig because of the venue, and perhaps why it feels more subdued. But the Union Chapel gigs were the same, offering respectful hush to better hear Charles and Rebecca's harmonising, and it's just that this kind of reaction seems more apt sitting in pews in a church than when in a venue that hosts regular club nights.

Nevertheless, Slow Club serenade us with quiet folk tunes from the Yeah, So debut album, more upbeat and brasher tracks from second album Paradise, and introduce a few new songs that indicate further progression. And, of course, as it is their Christmas gig there is not only the inevitable encore, but an encore full of songs from Slow Club's Christmas EP, Christmas, Thanks for Nothing. As always, we are encouraged to sing along to the refrain during Christmas TV, and after an excellent version of Two Cousins the night ends on Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) with both support acts, including a brass band, coming on stage to bring the evening to a suitably merry climax.

Posted in Audio | 3 Comments »
Tags: and so i watch you from afar, beak>, blue on blue, bo ningen, cargo, empty pools, eyes on film, garage, hoxton bar and kitchen, king's college, koko, lexington, menomena, race horses, slow club, suuns, the joy formidable, the vex, the wholls, underbelly, village underground

Faking a long point

I'd like to see if I can sneak up someone successfully today. The cautious salvager of yesterday was a nice find, and gave me a hunt, but didn't have the satisfying explosion at the end. A new signature in the home system is merely a magnetometric site, so I resolve our static connection and jump to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system. Oh, this is looking pretty good. My directional scanner is showing me a tower, an Orca industrial command ship, and two Covetor mining barges, ten mining drones, and three canisters. Whee, active miners!

I would be happier about spotting miners if I weren't in a position where they could spot me. Not only is our K162 in range of their operation, but I am spat in to the system under two kilometres from it. I have a little distance to move before I can activate my cloak, but I suppose it doesn't keep me visible for much longer than normal. And once cloaked and updating d-scan it looks like the Covetors are still mining. Or they are so panicked that they have left their drones behind in the rock field. I'll assume the former, and warp out to launch scanning probes.

Warping to the edge of the system shows a second tower on d-scan, but one without ships, so I take the opportunity to launch probes and throw them out of the system. Returning to the inner-system has an interesting sight. The Orca is with the Covetors. He's only there to retrieve the ore, though, as the whale returns to the tower within a minute or so, and I can't say I'm too concerned about that. There is not much chance I'd be able to pop one of the Covetors before the Orca could escape, and if I leave two pilots to return to their tower the chances are I'd have strategic cruisers or ECM boats headed my way long before my Loki strategic cruiser could chew through an Orca's shields.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to find the miners first, and get the drop on them. I start narrowing down the position of the two ships, using d-scan to get a decent bearing and range estimate, and position my probes in a pocket of space where I think they are. I call the probes in for a scan. It's good. Not perfect, with the gravimetric site only resolved to 71%, but that's not what I care about. The two Covetors are both resolved to 100%, as are their drones, and it's the ships I'll be warping to, not the site.

I recall my probes, surge my Loki in to warp, and bookmark the position of the two barges whilst in flight. It's not too long ago that I had a choice of three targets in a rock field, and impetuously let two of them evade me, by not considering swapping ships. In this case, because our K162 is in d-scan range of the targets, I don't want to risk my Loki being spotted on its way home and lose two ships for the sake of trying to get both. One will do today. And it seems like I wouldn't have had much option anyway. I drop out of warp in the gravimetric site ten kilometres from one Covetor, and fifty kilometres from the other.

The miners are chomping on different rocks. Whether this is for safety or for personal taste I don't know, but it limits the amount of destruction I can achieve. So be it. If I can only have one, I'll make sure I get one, particularly as I have already been decloaked by a nearby rock. I burn towards the Covetor within range and start shooting. The mining barge doesn't much like being raked by projectile ammunition and explodes without much encouragement. I aim for the pod and, despite my sensor booster not activating again, I snare it. I prise the pod apart, but I ignore the perished prize of the corpse inside.

The second Covetor is still with me, albeit a little distant, and its drones still working away. The corpse can wait. It will only get a little colder and preserve itself better. Instead, I turn my Loki towards the other mining barge and burn hard towards it, closing the distance at over a kilometre a second. What do you know, I've got myself in range. Even though he may not be paying attention, I disrupt the second barge's warp drive anyway, and start shooting. Again, my target puts up little resistance, and a second pod is thrown in to space. My sebo is obstinately refusing to activate, stupid module, but as the miners are obviously not paying much attention I manage to crack open the second pod, moments after the pilot wakes up and acknowledges me in the local channel.

That was easier than I expected. Sure, the pilots weren't exactly watching d-scan carefully, or their overview, but I couldn't have known that from any moment up until the ambush. And now that the only pilot left sits in an Orca at the tower, I can scoop, loot, and shoot, burn back fifty kilometres, and scoop, loot, and shoot again. I would say that two corpses in my hold is a good start to the day. Now I can settle down and explore a bit.

Ah, there is just one tower in the system. I didn't realise how lucky I was when I first launched probes. I didn't see a second tower, but the first without the Orca. I was able to warp far enough away from the mining operation, but not far enough away from the tower, so it was good that the Orca chose that time to collect the mined ore. I suppose he probably wouldn't have been watching d-scan when in the tower either, but it's always better to definitely have no one watching. I also see from my notes that we have been here before, three months ago, where Aii and I pop two Covetors whilst racing against a hostile Legion strategic cruiser with presumably the same intentions. I must say, I like this system.

I also find out why my sebo is malfunctioning. It isn't. An external application has rewired my console and is activating instead of the sebo. The same probably happened yesterday when trying to target the Noctis, and it wasn't my fumbling the controls. Now that I know the cause, I cut the offending application off and return the wiring to connect to my sebo once more. Problem solved. I feel positive about finding more targets now. But my hold is pretty stuffed with mining equipment and putrefying flesh. I should drop it off at our tower before heading further out, in case I can't loot more flotsam I happen to come across.

Posted in Gaming | 2 Comments »
Tags: covetor, eve online, loki, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space

Countering counter-counter measures

It's just me in an empty system. Even our twin gas clouds have buggered off to give fluffy hugs in another system. I should have appreciated the company of those useless bastards more when they were here. But what's this? A new signature in the home system? What will it be? A chance to meet new people, it seems, as it's a wormhole. A K162 from class 4 w-space, specifically, which will make anyone there my kind of people.

Sadly, C4a looks empty, with only three warp bubbles and two large containers visible on my directional scanner. It feels empty too, as my ship is unceremoniously spat over six kilometres from the wormhole. And my instincts are good, as a previous visit from two months ago lists a lack of occupation, and opening the system map shows the C4 to be tiny. There's nowhere to hide in here. Launching probes to look for further K162s almost poses an uncommon problem too, as I have trouble keeping the probes far enough apart initially. The system's clean, though, with only five anomalies and ten signatures.

One signature far out of the system is an obvious wormhole, resolving to be a K162 from class 5 w-space, and that's it, as a brief poke around the other chubby signatures finds no more. Jumping in to C5a is as dreary as my entrance to C4a was, with my Loki strategic cruiser thrown over six kilometres from the wormhole and with a clear d-scan result. I don't think any capsuleer has travelled the route to our home system for hours. But I'm not giving up yet, even if I also notice that my ship is almost sat on the wormhole's deadspace signature. I've been proved wrong about that intuition before. Not this time, though.

A blanket scan of the system reveals nine anomalies, twelves signatures, and zero occupation. Further wormhole discovery uncovers a K162, naturally from more class 5 w-space, and I find myself going backwards through a C5 chain for once. But jumping to C5b has occupation! Ships! My ship less than five kilometres from the wormhole! I can make it sound exciting, but I doubt I can do much to the Phoenix dreadnought, or catch the Buzzard covert operations boat. That is, if there are even pilots.

I warp out to launch probes before looking for the towers, only to bump in to four more towers with added Orca industrial command ship and Incursus frigate. It's nothing particularly inspiring, but I still continue with my scouting. I find somewhere to launch probes, then locate each of the towers, finding the Phoenix empty and the Buzzard not, and the Orca empty and the Incursus not, and revealing three anomalies and six signatures. I may as well scan, I suppose, as there isn't much to resolve, only for an extra ship to appear on a consequent blanket scan. That's interesting.

The what and where of the new ship turns out to be a Thanatos carrier in the tower with the Incursus. That's not particularly squishy, and as it seems like pilots are waking up I think I'll delay scanning for now. It may be best to leave the capsuleers thinking they are alone in the constellation for now, let them get settled, and return later to see if I can spring a surprise on them. I still have our neighbouring class 3 system to explore too, and beyond if needs be. I turn my Loki around and head homewards. I pause briefly in C5a at the sight of core scanning probes whizzing around, but ignore them quickly when I consider how unlikely I am to catch the ship, if I even get to see it.

C5a to C4a to home, across the home system, and in to C3a. Damn, and over seven kilometres from the wormhole, sitting on the deadspace signature. This isn't a good sign. But maybe someone will wake up now. And maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt. Even so, I launch probes, blanket the system, and scan. Hello, ships. Five ships, along with four anomalies and eight signatures. And Sleeper wrecks? My intuition definitely is flawed, but I don't know how. But never mind that for the moment, it looks like I have some ships to stalk.

The ships in C3a are two Tengu strategic cruisers, a Vulture command ship, a Blackbird cruiser, and a Badger hauler. A tower appears on d-scan too, which is handily in the same place as almost eighteen months ago, making it straightforward to see that the Vulture is piloted there, the Tengus are elsewhere, and the other two ships are empty. And, assuming the command ship is providing boosts for the Tengus, they are all reds. Catching one of them will be the sweeter for it. There's no sign of a Noctis at the moment, and there are plenty of Sleeper wrecks on d-scan, so I would say I have a chance of ambushing a salvager soon. Or maybe one of the Tengus. Let me see.

The Tengus are in the basic anomalies, so even though I have probes launched I won't need them. I find the current anomaly the strategic cruisers are in and start to get an idea of what's happening. I see immediately that the two ships are not carelessly sitting still near the cosmic signature, and are actively moving, so I won't be able to drop a non-cloaky ship on top of them easily. That pretty much rules out engaging the Tengus directly, leaving me holding and waiting for a salvager to appear. Until it does, I simply follow the Tengus between anomalies, which poses no difficulties, making strategic bookmarks in each.

Three anomalies are cleared, slow and steadily, curiously leaving the fourth and last untouched, before the two pilots return to their tower. One pilot swaps Tengu for Noctis, warping the salvager enticingly out of the tower, but the second swaps Tengu for Blackbird. The cruiser's ECM will thwart most ambush attempts of a single hunter against a single target, showing that these pilots aren't taking w-space lightly. Damn them. But I know what they have, so maybe I can take that in to account.

I warp back to our K162, where I see the Noctis and Blackbird are within d-scan range, sweeping up a site that despawned before I got here. That's fine, and in this case I don't mind the Noctis collecting more loot before I take my shot. More may survive an explosion and give me more to steal, and striking later rather than sooner may cause the pilots to relax and not react quite so quickly. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I wait for the two ships to finish clearing the wrecks and warp out of d-scan range, then jump home. I dash to our tower, find and slap an ECCM module on to my Loki, handily having one available, and return to C3a to see what difference that will make. I suspect none, but it would be more foolish not to at least try.

In the time it's taken me to refit the Loki, the second site has been cleared, but only just. I warp to the third to see the Noctis appear a few seconds after me, and the Blackbird a few seconds after it, and I start to think about my ambush. The Noctis is moving, though, and not in a good way. He doesn't appear to be manoeuvring towards the wrecks. I warp in to take a closer look, and see that the pilots are being really careful. The Noctis is aligned to his tower, which will let him warp clear within seconds of a threat appearing. My recalibration delay after decloaking will give him enough time to escape. I won't be able to catch him now. At least, not in this anomaly. But maybe in the next.

The next anomaly is also the last, but I suspect I will only get one shot anyway. I need to pounce on the Noctis before it can align itself out of the site, which will be in the first few seconds of its arrival, and as I don't know which point in the anomaly it will appear at I have to cover my options. I get myself in position, at a point in space where I can warp to any of the wrecks, and get my Loki aligned and moving in the right direction. Now I just need good reactions. And if I pounce early I may be able to get a few shots in before the Blackbird appears.

Here comes the Noctis. Its path looks fairly obvious, so without delay I surge my ship in to warp in to the site. I am perhaps a little hasty, as I warp as close as possible, although I could perhaps have dropped short to try to give the salvager a bump. But it's done now. The Noctis comes to a halt before me and starts to align out, but I have decloaked and activated my sensor booster, and think I still should catch the rather bulky ship. I annoy my targeting systems by trying to get a lock before they have recalibrated, but finally they are ready and get my warp scrambler and guns hot. But it's all for nought. The Noctis warps clear, back to his tower.

As the Blackbird is here now and proving that the ECCM doesn't appear to be doing much, I don't feel quite so bitter than my sebo apparently didn't activate. The Noctis would have got away anyway, but I'm disappointed that I mucked up my decloaking routine. I'm normally pretty good with that. With no targets and ECM active on me, I warp out and reactivate my cloak, as the cruiser warps clear too. The Noctis pilot is rather pleased with himself about evading me, which he should be, considering the caution they took whilst both fighting Sleepers and salvaging, but turns out to be a rather pleasant chap once the adrenalin wears off.

We chat for a bit, which is distracting enough to let me steal the loot from the battleship wrecks, but there's not much else to do. Scanning in one direction and stalking these pilots has taken all my time, so I wish the locals well and take a little over twenty million ISK in Sleeper loot back home to leave the pilots alone. It's not a great result, but the journey is more important. Stalking the pilots and trying to adapt for a non-standard ambush made for an interesting evening. I may have been unsuccessful, but it's all good experience.

Posted in Gaming | 5 Comments »
Tags: badger, blackbird, buzzard, eve online, incursus, loki, mmorpg, noctis, orca, penny ibramovic, phoenix, pvp, scanning, tengu, thanatos, vulture, w-space

My first Rifter

Oh my, that's a lot of signatures. Granted, it's not so many when I revert my filter to not show structures, and when I'm no longer looking at all of the many parts and defences of our tower I'm left with just one new signature. That's about right. And, hey, it's a wormhole. Will I make new friends? No, probably not, as all I've found is a dying K162 from class 5 w-space. I've resolved our static connection too, and as that's healthy I think it's a better choice of direction for me. I jump to our neighbouring class 3 system.

A Bestower and Badger is an alluring sight on my directional scanner in C3a, even if they are probably both in the tower also visible. They may not be soon, so I'd like to find them quickly, and turn to my notes. I was last here seven months ago, but interrogating the planet where the tower was sees nothing, and I'll have to take time to locate the new one. It shouldn't be too hard, though, as opening the map shows the system not to be particularly crowded with moons. I've soon found the right planet, and I choose wisely when warping to one of its two moons, so that I'm floating near two piloted industrial ships sitting snuggly inside a force field.

Make that one. I was hoping the haulers would go somewhere, but I didn't really mean to include 'off-line' in my wish. Goodbye, Mr Bestower, but the Badger hangs around a bit longer, and so shall I. Or maybe I could warp out and launch probes in preparation of scanning, in case the hauler heads to a wormhole. I can do that and still maybe not miss the Badger collecting planet goo, by warping to a distant customs office to launch probes. If he comes this way, I'll catch him. Or I'll find a second tower around one of this farthest planet's moons.

Normally, a second tower would make me think twice about launching probes, and I suppose this one does too, in its way. There aren't any ships keeping watch, but it's more the lack of force field that has me transfixed to d-scan. Ship maintenance array, corporate hangar array, no force field. It looks like a legitimate find, and I don't need to launch probes to find it, so I swing my Loki around and send the strategic cruiser over to a nearby moon. Yep, sure enough, that's an off-line tower with intact hangars. And, yet, there is a piloted Badger sitting in an on-line tower deeper in to the system. How rum.

I check the owner corporation of the off-line tower and warp back to see what the Badger's doing. Not much. The pilot is in the same alliance as the off-line tower's corporation, but not the same corporation itself. Maybe that will mean he won't get any alerts when a certain someone starts shooting the structures. I could ponder how such a circumstance as this arises without it being corrected, but I'd rather not waste time. There could be a hauler headed back this way with emergency fuel already. I warp back to the off-line tower, decloak, and start shooting.

I destroy the SMA first, keen to see what ships will be ejected. After a couple of minutes of watching d-scan intently a Drake battlecruiser and Rifter frigate are thrown clear of the explosion. That's not much, but at least it's something. The CHA is next, but just one can of unwanted goods survives, containing a single skill book, some fuel products, and a few rounds of ammunition. Either the tower has already been looted, maybe by the other corporation present, or the owners knew they were leaving and couldn't be bothered to tear down the tower, merely taking most ships out with them. I may as well take the others, now that I've released them.

I drop my Loki back at our tower and make a couple of journeys to collect the Drake and Rifter. The battlecruiser is a decent enough ship, fitted with Tech II modules and missiles. The Rifter is a little more exciting, as I think it's the first one I've ever owned. Or stolen. Or flown. But jumping on board is something of an anticlimax. The frigate is fitted with three warp core stabilisers, two analyser modules, and no weapons. I'm not sure why so much fuss is made of these ships, as I don't see how they can do much damage. Maybe this one is defective. I take it home anyway. One last trip has me collecting all the loot in the can, although 'all the loot' is a bit misleading, and certainly not worth of taking the Bustard transport ship. I could have thrown it in the back of a Crane and still had it rattling around.

All this time, the Badger has been sitting silently in the tower in C3a. I swap back to my Loki and think about watching him, but decide instead to scan. The Badger's not going anywhere. Five anomalies and six signatures give me just the one wormhole, which will be the static exit to high-sec, and I leave w-space to appear in a system in The Citadel, six hops from Jita. I should probably think about what I could buy from the market, but my mind is dull. I'll scan again. Nineteen anomalies? That's a lot for empire space. I could use a suitably fit Drake here, if I had one handy. But the K162 from class 1 w-space catches my attention more than do minor rats.

Three towers and a Raven grace d-scan in C1a, and the mass limits to class 1 w-space mean the battleship must have been built locally. It's not fighting above its weight currently, as d-scan places it coincident with one of the towers. Worse still, the bastard's blue, so I would have ethical difficulties if I wanted to shoot it. Even if he's not now, the Raven has probably been busy, as there are no anomalies in the system, and six signatures don't take long to scan. A K162 from class 2 w-space is a good find, as is a second K162 from class 2 w-space, although a K162 from high-sec at the end of its life isn't quite as appealing.

I go to C2a, as I found it first, but only to see a piloted Hurricane battlecruiser floating inertly next to an Ishkur assault frigate inside a tower's force field. Rather than scan, I go back through C1a to see what C2b has to offer, but that only uncovers a Drake inside a tower, and this battlecruiser isn't even piloted. Still eschewing scanning further, a second look in C2a only has the Hurricane swapped for a Jaguar assault frigate, with still no signs of movement. I think I've had my fun for tonight. It's time for bubbles. Hot and soapy bubbles, not the kind that disrupt warp engines.

I head home through the blue-occupied C1a, across the high-sec system and in to C3a, where the Badger resolutely stays inside his tower. A fly-by of the off-line tower shows it still off-line and getting no loving attention, and I warp back to our K162 and jump home. But it seems we have a visitor. Having abandoned an operation gone awry, a colleague from our sister C5 has popped across to say hello. 'Come to the wormhole', he says. I decloak to welcome to our system his Proteus strategic cruiser, accompanied by a Pilgrim recon ship and Onyx heavy interdictor. But I get this nagging sensation that maybe it was a mistake to do so. It'll pass, I'm sure.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on My first Rifter
Tags: badger, bestower, bustard, drake, eve online, hurricane, ishkur, jaguar, loki, mmorpg, onyx, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, proteus, pvp, raven, rifter, scanning, w-space

Scout in a pod

I have limited time, so I'll employ some blitz scanning to take me through today's constellation. A new signature in the home system resolving to be a second wormhole is a good start to my exploration, and I may as well jump through the K162 from class 3 w-space to look for some early activity. But appearing over seven kilometres from the wormhole in C3b is a poor omen. At least my notes from a mere five days ago should give me pertinent information about the towers in the system, saving me time having to look for them using my directional scanner, and I indeed locate the two towers in my notes where I left them less than a week ago.

There are, naturally, no ships in the system, either in the towers or vulnerable in space, but that could simply mean that whoever opened the wormhole to our system came through another wormhole to get here. I would say it's worth a poke around the ten anomalies and nine signatures for K162s, and I find one too. Sadly, the K162 from class 5 w-space is not just small and sending out a pounding pulse like an idling steam train, it is tiny and on the verge of collapse. It may take the mass of my Loki strategic cruiser, or it may collapse as I jump through. And as my combat probes sensed no ships whilst scanning, it would appear the wormhole has purposely been left in this condition. Even if the connection survives my transit, there is no guarantee I'll find pilots on the other side.

There's no point getting trapped in a C5, particularly when I don't have an independent route home, so, with the static exit to low-sec also resolved in C3b, I head homewards to see what's happening in the other direction. C3a has an Orca and Badger on d-scan, along with a tower, and although the industrial command ship is almost certainly empty I'm keen to see if the hauler is preparing to collect planet goo. My notes may help with finding him quickly too, as my last visit to the system was only two months ago. I have two towers listed, one of which is out of d-scan range, so I train d-scan on the planet for the one in range and see nothing. Look harder, Homer.

I locate the replacement tower and, whilst in warp, am reminded that this system is where I nearly pop a Daredevil frigate waiting for something on the static exit to high-sec, after I was chased out of a C5 by pilots keen to keep their system free from outsiders. I'll have no such engagement today, as I reach the tower to see neither ship piloted, but curiously orange. Our alliance doesn't much like their alliance, although I can't say why. And with no activity I am back to scanning. Two anomalies and eight signatures hold a wormhole too chubby to be the high-sec connection, as well as a second wormhole that's just right for it. I warp to that one, and exit to appear in a system in the Tash-Murkon region, where a mining operation is in progress but no w-spacers are present. I'll look at that other wormhole.

I return to C3a, warp to the chubby wormhole, and find disappointment in a K162 from high-sec reaching the end of its life. I've run out of w-space, but not scanning opportunity. I return to Tash-Murkon, do my best to ignore the miners, and scan for wormholes. Four extra signatures sounds like enough to hold another wormhole, but I get only a gravimetric site, a Sansha Lookout, Sansha's Nation Occupied Mining Colony, and a radar site. That all sounds fairly dull, but I can't help but take a look at the mining colony. What I find in the 4/10 DED site are rather more petty frigates than I care to handle at one time. I turn my Loki away from the laser show and return to w-space, even if it's just to pass through the constellation and emerge in a low-sec system through C3b's static wormhole.

A faction warfare system in Gallente space isn't particularly thrilling to me, but it's another system to scan, so I launch probes and take a look around. Three extra signatures look... hello, Mr pod pilot. A capsuleer warps to the K162 from C3b and jumps through. I let him go, because pods are almost impossible to catch on wormholes, but note the name. Curiously, he's not orange, which marks him as separate from the corporations whose towers I've encountered in the constellation. He could be from the C5 with the nearly collapsed wormhole, or from a system newly connection to the constellation. Either's possible, but as I have probes in space I may as well scan this system before... hello, the same pilot is back in low-sec. Maybe he's getting rid of some ships from w-space. I should get ready to help.

I shed my cloak and activate my sensor booster. I don't know what I'm facing yet, but I'd rather be prepared and run away than miss a fat target from staying hidden for too long. Unfortunately, and rather bafflingly, the pilot returns to low-sec from C3b in his pod which, naturally, evades my attentions quite easily. Well, it's back to scanning cloaked. Whatever the pilot's doing, he's uncovered my position and knows my hull, so I won't surprise anyone now. Not the Buzzard covert operations boat that jumps from C3b as I'm resolving a magnetometric site, or the Tengu strategic cruiser that follows shortly afterwards, as I resolve a radar site. The Buzzard warps clear immediately, the Tengu lingers a while, but both disappear in the direction of the Dastryns stargate. I can ignore them, though, as the third signature is another wormhole.

An X702 to class 3 w-space is quite a nice find, even if the system on the other side is a standard occupied-but-inactive C3. Four anomalies and ten signatures give me a static exit to low-sec in pristine condition, and a second wormhole that doesn't show up when I warp to it. Never mind, ghost wormhole, as an N968 wormhole to more class 3 w-space has appeared nearby. That'll do. Or maybe it won't. Jumping in to C3d doesn't look promising when all that is on d-scan is a canister labelled 'sucky place'. Maybe the system isn't quite as interesting as the last time I was here, when we chased a Dominix battleship between several wormholes it was trying to collapse simultaneously, but I have run out of time to find out quite why it sucks now. I must get home.

Returning through C3c to low-sec, there doesn't appear to be anyone lurking in wait on the empire-side of the wormhole to C3b. Jumping through sees no ships either, although when I move away from the wormhole and cloak the pilot from earlier, still in his pod, warps to the wormhole. He's not trying to intercept me, though, and simply jumps back to low-sec. Is he scouting? I have no idea. Whatever weirdness he's up to, and I am intrigued, I don't really have time to loiter to find out. I turn my boat to warp to the wormhole home, jump through, and hide before going off-line.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Scout in a pod
Tags: badger, buzzard, eve online, loki, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, tengu, w-space