There and back again

Rocks and gas are gone from the home system. Bye bye, rocks and gas. As are most of our anomalies. Bye bye, Sleeper loot. But say hello to two new signatures, gas and his brother, gas. That leaves no intruders to chase out, or any incoming wormholes to chase the non-existent intruders through, so I'll go to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system instead. Or as usual, I suppose.

A tower appears on my directional scanner in C3a, and the lack of visible ships to accompany the tower makes this system suitably hum-drum. My last visit wasn't, as I aimed higher than a salvaging destroyer to take on a Tengu, only to be chased away by the salvager swapping to a Blackbird cruiser and saving the strategic cruiser with ECM. That was five months ago, though, so I should take time to see what's changed.

Two towers remain in the same positions as before, although one other tower has been torn down, and the locals seem less inclined to engage Sleepers now. A blanket scan of the system reveals twenty-seven anomalies but only seven signatures, suggesting industrialist occupants, which would be great if only they were on-line and industrialising. As it is, I am scanning for wormholes. One gas pocket and two rock fields mingle with a single magnetometric and radar site each, leaving just the static wormhole to low-sec to empire space.

The static exit is my only option, so out I go to a system in Everyshore, where scanning shows four anomalies and two additional signatures. A magnetometric site isn't terribly interesting, and the weak second signature is not going to be a K162 wormhole. I resolve it anyway, out of a sense of completeness, already thinking that I'll need to collapse our static connection to keep moving forwards, only to be greeted with a wormhole after all. It's an outbound connection to class 2 w-space. How lovely.

Two towers are immediately obvious in C2a, but still no ships appear on d-scan. I still like this C2, though, as the dual static wormholes will give me more w-space to explore. At least, that's the plan. Seeing from my notes that the two static connections lead to class 5 w-space and null-sec k-space doesn't give me warm and fuzzy feelings, but they can keep me heading forwards and will do. Or would, but the wormhole to C5a is at the end of its life and could collapse at any moment, and even resolving a third wormhole in the system only offers a K162 connection from high-sec space.

Looking on the bright side, C2a's static exit to null-sec is in pristine condition, indicating that it's only just been opened. That could give me a fresh system to explore, and exiting w-space for an empty system in Tenerifis gets my hopes up again. I can not only scan, but rat and scan. Actually, no, I can rat, because scanning is pointless with no signatures in the system beyond the K162 I came through. And even ratting is proving difficult to achieve, as it looks like someone has been through here recently culling belt bandits.

Okay, here's a rat battleship, freshly warping in. Pew pew, pop pop. Done. And with an empty system and a little triangle of connected systems I may as well hop through a stargate and continue ratting and scanning. Or ratting, as still no signatures turn up, and a second stargate hop puts me in a system with enough other pilots to deter me from either activity. It's time to go back to w-space. C2a is still empty, the static wormhole to C5a is still there and wobbly, and crossing low-sec to C3a sees no change there either. Noodling in null-sec has taken its time too, so I won't bother collapsing our wormhole to start afresh.

But just as I am about to hide in a corner of our system and cause an intentional Penny crash, I spy a wreck on d-scan. It's not a Sleeper wreck either, but that of a Gallente rookie frigate. That's most peculiar. I wonder what it's doing at home, to which TG replies 'chilling'. That's a pretty good answer, and after launching probes and seeing no new signatures I can't offer a better explanation. Locating the wreck is straightforward enough, it being in an anomaly, and it must be recent because wrecks decay after two hours, but I have no idea how it got there or why.

The most I can find out is that its owner is a week-old capsuleer still in a state corporation. As the wreck is not on a wormhole, even a dead one, the pilot wasn't caught by other capsuleers. Perhaps he mistakenly thought Sleepers don't fire on rookie frigates, and came through a now-collapsed wormhole to see one of our sites. I dunno. And because the wreck's appearance is inscrutable I pay it no mind, and go back to my plan of getting some sleep. It'll be gone long before the morning gets here, and I'll have forgotten all about it.

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

Just another day in w-space

Could I be so lucky? Popping the gassing Moa cruiser and heading backwards to more unexplored w-space puts me in directional scanner range of seven Retrievers and a Bestower. But there is also a tower visible on d-scan in this class 2 system, and a quick check puts the hauler and all the mining barges where the tower is. I perk up a little on warping to the tower to see that each of the eight ships holds a capsuleer, but as a refinery is on-line and running, and two of the pilots drop from Retrievers to pods, both actions indicative of the end of a mining operation, I suspect I've arrived too late.

It's a shame I've missed the chance to hunt some Retrievers. But as I'd only probably have caught one, as evidenced by my recent ambush of three Procurer barges, this C2 being three jumps from home, and I've already successfully hunted one ship today, I don't really mind. I remain interested in the pilots at the tower who aren't steadily going off-line, though. One of them, in his naked pod, even warps away from the tower, returning a couple of minutes later. He drops off d-scan when he leaves the tower, and as there's not much space beyond the range of d-scan in this system, I imagine he's going to empire space. I could perhaps still catch a ship on a wormhole.

I warp out, to one of the few points out of d-scan range of the tower, and launch scanning probes, taking care to watch the pod come and go once more before decloaking. No anomalies are present, and only six signatures, which would be a better result if the local pilots were likely to continue mining tonight, but they're already down to five Retrievers and the warping pod. Four, even. It's not looking positive. Maybe I should scan. Three. I'll scan. Two.

Three wormholes and two gravimetric mining sites are dotted around the system. The pod has been coming and going through a K162 from high-sec empire space, which is apparently more convenient than the exit offered by the system's static wormhole to high-sec. And both are connections to Concord-protected space. But the second static wormhole is rather more interesting, being a connection to class 1 w-space. Maybe I can find something soft wandering around lost. I jump in to find out.

D-scan is disappointingly clear from the K162, and although one planet sits out of range, and my notes place a tower there from only three months ago, the system is unoccupied and inactive. Only a bubble trap remains, one that is no longer even monitored. My notes also indicate that the static wormhole will lead to more high-sec space, but with two anomalies and eight signatures in the system I think I can spare the time to look for other connections. Nope, just the static wormhole, which takes me to a system in the Derelik region. It's boring, but another safety net in case of trouble, I suppose.

I return to w-space and in to C2b from C1a, where the two remaining Retrievers sit stationary in the tower. The convenient K162 from high-sec leads out to a pretty good system in The Citadel, only seven hops from both Jita and Amarr, but there are no oranges around and so no one to wait for. I still have more space to explore, however, with an outbound connection to class 5 w-space being in C2a, which I have been avoiding because of the potential of scanning deeper and deeper down a chain of C5s. But now's the time to do it.

I jump back from C2b to C2a, ignore the C6 K162 I've already visited, and jump to C5a, where I'm spat out over eight kilometres from the wormhole. That's not encouraging. Exploring the system also finds a lack of occupation, which could make for a cluttered system indeed in a C5. Thankfully, a blanket scan has only four anomalies and fifteen signatures, although at this time of night I still need to take a run-up to sift through them quickly. And my efforts are rewarded with three resolved wormholes. The outbound connection to null-sec will be one of those random wormholes that crop up to help space-mad w-spacers from time to time, the H296 static wormhole to more class 5 w-space is almost inevitable, but the K162 from class 2 w-space is a nice surprise, and my obvious next destination.

Fifteen shuttles and a Badger hauler is the weirdest mining operation I've ever come across. But there is no tower in d-scan range, and two cans floating around, so I'm not quite sure what else to make of the sight. I think it's safe to ignore the ships at the moment, so warp out, launch probes, and blanket the system. My probes reveal twenty-seven anomalies, fourteen signatures, and no towers, not even any off-line. I'm beginning to think the ships aren't piloted, and go looking for them to sate my curiosity.

Sure enough, none of the shuttles or the Badger are piloted, and as they are floating near a moon I would think that they are simply abandoned. Whatever corporation lived here tore down their tower to move and realised that taking all the shuttles with them was a waste of time and effort, so just left them behind. Now, I could artificially inflate my kill statistics and pop each of them, but even though I'm not averse to picking on unarmed vessels I can't find it in me to shoot so many empty and abandoned shuttles. I don't even care to peek inside the obviously empty Badger. I'll leave this gaggle of ships for other pilots to come across.

Leaving the abandoned ships also has me leaving C2c for C5b. A clear d-scan lets me launch probes, and blanketing the system shows me three anomalies, two signatures, and fifteen ships. I suspect occupation, most likely two towers or more. And it is more. Quite a few more. Four towers around one planet, holding a couple of empty industrial ships and a piloted Scimitar recon logistics ship; a fifth tower around a second planet; and another three towers where some active ships appear to be congregating. Combat ships too, according to d-scan, and they are moving around and adding to the ship count under my combat probes. More excitingly, the locals are reds.

The red pilots are exciting for the wrong reasons, sadly. There are many more of them than there are of me, and they are in ships styled for fleet operations, rather than individual combat. Mind you, it's the appearance of an Anathema covert operations scanning boat that has me most concerned. There are quite a few pilots active and available, they live in a class 5 w-space system where collapsing wormholes is a necessity for security, and there are big ships floating inside local towers that can be used for such security operations. With only two signatures in the system, the K162 I entered through will glow like a beacon to the Anathema pilot, and the locals may mobilise a fleet to kill it quickly.

I really don't fancy being stuck in a C5 chain of w-space so late at night, and particularly one where active pilots look to be roaming for kills. Backwards I go, at best speed. I make it to the K162 with no one obviously there or on their way, and return to C5a unmolested. Maybe the pilots aren't yet looking for stray signatures, or would prefer a fight to come their way. But I'm heading home. It's not far from here, with just a pair of jumps to C3a and then through our K162, where I can hide to go off-line. Hunting a gasser, stalking miners, and scouting through a dozen systems has made this a fun evening.

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Tags: anathema, badger, bestower, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, retriever, scanning, scimitar, w-space

Pulling a jape on a joker

It's just me and the static tonight, so here I go, looking for another adventure. Our neighbouring class 3 w-space system tonight has a Loki and Broadsword visible on my directional scanner, but only if I'm new to w-space and d-scan, and as easily startled as Sand People. I'm not, and so not fooled by the hangar and maintenance array's custom names. I'm used to d-scan results. All I see is SMA, CHA, force field. And so no ships, either. I warp out, launch my probes, and perform a blanket scan of the system.

As my probes are getting in to position I check my notes, seeing that this is my fifth visit to this particular C3, and as the last was only two months ago I'm expecting my notes to be fresh. That occupation is listed in the previous record as 'no' I can only assume that circumstances have changed. That means new arrivals. New and perhaps not quite settled yet. I hope some of the local pilots come on-line. As it remains quiet for now, I simply settle down to sift through the eight anomalies and sixteen signatures, looking for wormholes and sites for potential ambushes.

Three wormholes jump out at me immediately, mingled with one gas pocket, with two chubby and one skinny. The system doesn't have a static connection to null-sec k-space, so the skinny wormhole is going to be a random outbound link, which is nice and encourages me to speed through the other signatures. One more wormhole crops up in my results, as well as lots of gas, some rocks, and two magnetometric sites. Now to reconnoitre the wormholes I've found. A K162 from class 4 w-space would be neat, even one sitting at half-mass, if it weren't reaching the end of its life. Much better is an outbound connection to class 2 w-space, and that's not even the skinny wormhole. The other outbound link leads to class 5 w-space, which is also pretty nifty.

The final wormhole is the expected exit to low-sec empire space. I poke through to bookmark the return route, which today is in an empty system in Kor-Azor, before returning to continue exploring w-space. Rather than diving straight in to a chain of class 5 w-space I choose to see what's behind the I182, and jump to class 2 w-space to a clear d-scan result. The system is tiny too, and I think I'm in an unoccupied system until I notice that one planet is a few million kilometres out of d-scan range, and warp across to see that I definitely am in an unoccupied system. An empty C2 is a curious beast. I can only imagine its two static wormholes lead to a C5 and out to null-sec. Let's see if I'm right.

Four anomalies and eight signatures make the system well-visited, if not settled, and I resolve three wormholes. The pristine connection to null-sec is unsurprising, both for where it leads and that no one before me has visited the wormhole. The wormhole to a second class 2 system is unexpected, but I'm putting it down as a random outbound connection and not static to the system. The third wormhole will be the other static connection, but it doesn't lead to class 5 w-space, surprisingly. No, it actually connects to deadly class 6 w-space. Well, it had to be unappealing.

The wormhole to C6 space is unappealing for most corporations looking to install a tower in a C2, and although I tend towards roaming the lower-class systems myself, I can't help but jump to C6a before C2b. Actually, it isn't my first choice of system to explore, but I remain curiously drawn to wormhole colours, and this C2/C6 connection is unusual. And my luck may be in, as d-scan shows me two towers, a Moa, and a jet-can. Is the cruiser gassing? Why, yes he is, as easily shown by narrowing d-scan's beam and sweeping it across each planet in range. The towers appear, the Moa does not. He's in space. And with a Bestower now, the hauler no doubt collecting harvested gas. I just hope the industrial ship doesn't herald the end of the operation.

I warp away from the two ships, make sure I am well out of d-scan range, and launch combat scanning probes. Throwing them out of the system, I return to where I got a rough bearing on the Moa, from where I can start to hunt the still-present gasser. I narrow down d-scan as I refine the Moa's position in space, until he's sitting in a tight five-degree beam. Adjusting the range gate gives me a curious result, indicating the ship is around 4·5 AU far from me, which is further than sites should get from planets, and has me wonder if he is still gassing. But pulling my view back in the system map shows me a planet that is probably a bit closer to the site than the one whose orbit I've chosen to lurk in. And if that doesn't convince me the ship is gassing in a ladar site, the Moa pooping another jet-can does.

I arrange my probes around the position in space I gauge the Moa to be, make one last check that he is still there, and hit 'scan'. 100% on the Moa, not quite resolving the ladar site. That's good enough. My cloaky Loki strategic cruiser is in warp as my probes are recalled, and I remember to bookmark the Moa's position as I prepare to ambush it. I drop out of warp slightly short of the Moa, who sits stationary and has gas harvesters still actively sucking, which gives me warm feelings about my probes not having been spotted. I decloak, lock on to the cruiser, and start shooting.

There's no escape from my attentions now. At least, not for the ship. My guns chew through shields, armour, hull, and the Moa explodes. I set my sights on the ejected pod but, even though I appear to get a positive lock, it warps clear a moment before it is cracked open. No corpse to add to my collection today, but I get some loot from the wreck before shooting it, and then turn my guns on the jet-can of gas as I align to flee the crime scene. At least there's nothing left behind to incriminate me. Well, except the witness, who turns out to be a member of the Surely You're Joking alliance. They sound a jolly bunch, though, so I'm sure there'll be no repercussions.

Having popped the Moa, I take a better look around the C6. I spotted some big ships on my way to and from launching probes, and I find a third tower holding an Orca industrial command ship, Chimera carrier, and Navy Raven battleship. I also relaunch probes and blanket the system, revealing a whopping thirty-seven anomalies and fourteen signatures. I suppose the locals aren't here for the Sleepers. They're also not members of SYJ, so the Moa came from a different system. Luckily, I still have that other C2 behind me to explore, so I can take the kill and turn around, instead of potentially scanning my way in to trouble looking for more activity. I think I'll do that.

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Tags: bestower, chimera, eve online, loki, mmorpg, moa, orca, penny ibramovic, pvp, raven, scanning, w-space

Waiting for nothing

New gas at home replaces the old. Maybe it just drifted half-way across the system, as we have been a bit slack with our industrialism recently and not really harvested any of the resources to be found in w-space. And because we've been lackadaisical, I activate the new ladar site almost as a reflex action, in order to keep the system clean and easy to scan. That just leaves our static wormhole, which takes me to today's neighbouring class 3 system.

My directional scanner is clear from the K162 in C3a, and launching probes and performing a blanket scan of the system shows a mere two anomalies and three signatures. The lack of clutter is a fairly good sign of occupation, so the two ships also picked up by my combat probes, and looking to be at a far planet, are probably at a tower. Yep, the Typhoon Fleet Issue battleship and Eos command ship may both be piloted, but they are also safely nestled inside a tower's force field.

The pair of unidentified signatures are out of d-scan range of the tower, letting me resolve some rocks and the system's static exit to low-sec covertly, but I don't suppose that will help me beyond giving me a system in empire space to look for opportunity. But warping away from the tower, to exit to low-sec, has me pause before the wormhole as I now see core scanning probes on d-scan. That's interesting. It's possible the scout has come from low-sec, when I wasn't watching, or that there's a new wormhole just connected to the system.

I didn't perform a final blanket scan of C3a before recalling my probes, which I sometimes do in a big enough system, or one with plenty of signatures, as a check to see I've missed nothing. But even my limited counting skills could keep track of three signatures. Even so, it's worth taking another look, in case I can find a connection to some obviously active pilots. I launch probes, blanket the system, and get a blank result. Nope, no new wormholes.

The scout is either local or from low-sec. His obvious directions are back to low-sec, or through the K162 to our home system. And as he's scanning I'm inclined to believe he'll want to take a look through the only other wormhole in the system, so warp back to our K162 and loiter with intent. And I loiter, and loiter, and give a newly arrived Aii a sitrep, and loiter some more. There are only three signatures, the scout almost certainly came through one of them, so what's taking him so long?

Finally the probes disappear. I wait to see if anyone will come my way, but after a couple of minutes have to concede that I've simply wasted my time. I warp across to the local tower to see if a scout has parked inside the force field, but it's still just the two ships. The low-sec tourist just wanted a look around, I suppose. Maybe I'll see what his low-sec system has to offer. I leave w-space to appear in The Citadel, and specifically in the den of piracy that is Tama.

I don't think I'll scan, or do anything in Tama. One active scout has probably already alerted residents of any other w-space systems that connect here, which will make my visit pointless. And watching the two ships in C3a proves less interesting when they both go off-line. So, with Aii, we collapse our static connection to look for a better constellation. A couple of paired round trips with massive ships kills the wormhole, and we're back in scanning ships to start again.

The new class 3 neighbour has only one planet in d-scan range from the K162. Others are pretty close, but not close enough. My notes from eighteen months ago suggest two towers are in the system, and there are, but only one is in the same place as before. I find the persisting tower, Aii locates a new one in the inner system, but both are shipless. It looks a bit dull again, but we won't know for sure until we scan.

Scanning confirms dullness. The only wormhole resolved from the three anomalies and eight signatures is the standard static exit to low-sec, which this time takes me to a system in the Kor-Azor region. Six hops to Amarr would be convenient if I could ever remember what I wanted to buy, and a single additional signature turns out to be a magnetometric site. It's another quiet night, but one that's partly my fault. After all, if I wanted something to do, we did connect to Tama.

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

Simple scanning and ratting

A new signature in the home system is an exciting start to my evening, which is rather disappointing in itself. It's more disappointing when the signature resolves to be not a wormhole but a site, and full of rocks at that, particularly as we haven't been doing much mining recently. But the static wormhole always offers opportunity, so I resolve that, activate the gravimetric site, and jump to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system to see where it will take me.

A single container appears on my directional scanner. Tweaking d-scan's settings shows an off-line tower and associated defences are within range, probably making the container detritus and uninteresting. I ignore it and check my notes, seeing that I was last here around eleven months ago. I launch scanning probes near the wormhole, as I am in effectively empty space, and arrange for a blanket scan as I warp off to see if the tower from my last visit is still active. It isn't, although it would be hubris to suggest the corporation's departure was in any way caused by Fin and my popping a Bestower hauler as a diversion from shooting Sleepers.

The C3 may be unoccupied, but it doesn't look unvisited, with five anomalies and seven signatures making the system look relatively kempt. Sifting through the signatures resolves a radar site, a dull K162 wormhole from null-sec k-space, some gas, a standard static exit to low-sec, another K162 from null-sec, and rocks. I've run out of w-space to explore already. I could find more, and my best bet is probably through the static wormhole, even if the occasional null-sec system can be a veritable spaghetti junction for w-space.

Jumping to low-sec puts me in a system in the Metropolis region, where scanning reveals three extra signatures. A K162 from class 3 w-space is almost appealing, but made less so by it being at the end of its natural life; a magnetometric site is ignored as soon as it is identified; and a Dominix being a dirty bastard in an Angel Red Light District is mildly interesting, except the battleship pilot notices my probes and disappears before I fully resolve the site. There's nothing out here, and even an itinerant Iteron doesn't hold my attention for long.

I can always check the null-sec connections. The first one from C3a puts me in the Great Wildlands region, in a system empty of other pilots. This seems like a good opportunity to rat and scan, although I am very nearly proved wrong on both counts. Scanning finds no signatures beyond the wormhole I used to get here, and a single anomaly full of drones makes me expect to see drones populating the rock fields. To my relief, and thankfully in the first asteroid belt I visit, I find instead some Angel rats, and a pair of battleships flanked with frigates too. That'll do.

The rats are popped and I return to C3a to hopefully repeat the same process through the other null-sec K162. Actually, I'd rather find more w-space, but I'm not getting my hopes up. So it is interesting to see not only pilots in the Deklein system, but active pilots. A couple of strategic cruisers and a few carriers look to be out ratting, judging by the dozens of wrecks scattered here and there.

Sadly, my excitement fades quickly. There is no Noctis salvager sweeping up behind the combat ships, the Dread Guristas wreck is not in any basic anomaly my on-board scanner has found, and the system is too small for me to hide and launch scanning probes. There's nothing for me to do here. I don't even feel like collapsing our wormhole and looking again, as the prospect seems rather bleak. But that's okay, as I've scanned a little bit and popped a couple of rats. Sometimes that's good enough entertainment for an evening.

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Tags: dominix, eve online, iteron, mmorpg, null-sec, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Out to low-sec and back

The wormhole dies without fuss, much like the miner I popped in the previous connected system. I had my fun there, and now I'm hoping for another good system to explore in to. I resolve the replacement wormhole and jump to the new class 3 w-space system to see what it holds. Space. Plenty of space. My directional scanner is clear from the K162, with just one planet in range and the next nearest over 40 AU distant. I launch probes and blanket the system, looking for ships, and finding one. The Anathema covert operations boat is sitting empty inside a tower, and my hopes of interrupting another mining operation are diminished.

There may still be more to find. My probes also reveal two anomalies and eleven signatures. And, somewhat overlooked, a wreck is sitting just outside the tower's force field. I don't clutter my standard overview with wrecks, so they don't appear immediately obvious even when I'm close, or on d-scan, but the yellow triangles on the HUD shouldn't go unnoticed for long if I'm paying some attention. It's a wreck of a cruiser, nothing special, but unlooted. Or, at least, not fully looted. That intrigues me, more so because the tower has no defences that may discourage me from taking a look.

Of course, that there is a wreck just outside the tower is a warning sign in itself. Someone must have popped the ship, and as the wreck is still there it must have happened recently. Then again, it would be a patient capsuleer that pops the ship, forces the corporation to inactivity, and then waits to see if someone else would foolishly loot items of no consequence. I'm that fool today, and even though I really don't expect any consequences I am not going to be stupid about this.

I bookmark the wreck and, what with it being on the other side of the tower to me, warp to a different moon and back again to get me in to position. I approach the wreck slowly, not wanting to be visible for long, regardless of what happens, holding my cloak until it is deactivated by proximity. Now I move quickly, opening the wreck, looting the crap inside that really wasn't worth risking my ship over, and burning hard away from the force field so that I can cloak again. Curiosity will continue to be the death of me, just not today.

Now I'll scan. I'm looking for wormholes, and find two with the first two signatures resolved. Then it's just a magnetometric site, gas, rocks, rocks, gas, gas, and gas. I could have stopped early on, but you never know what's there unless you're thorough. The wormholes are the C3's static exit to low-sec, and a K162 from class 4 w-space. The exit leads to some faction warfare system in the Devoid region, which describes my interest here, and I head back to C3a to see what C4a holds.

I approach the wormhole and, with the wreck at the tower on my mind, wonder if this is one of those days where my probes were being watched whizzing around the system before disappearing, alerting a capsuleer, or fleet, to my intentions to keep exploring. I am often in that position, waiting for a scout to come my way, and it can be a bit creepy not knowing who may be watching you at any time. I try not to think about it, generally. Thankfully, no one obviously confronts me on the wormhole in C4a, although that doesn't mean they're not watching.

Much like entering C3a, d-scan is clear from the wormhole in C4a, with just one planet in range. A tower is listed in my notes from a visit seven months ago, but has since been torn down cleanly. Launching probes and scanning sees ships, though, which I find at a replacement tower, and one of the six ships is piloted, a Rattlesnake battleship. More interesting to me is that the corporation of this pilot matches that of one of the pilots I saw in the low-sec system. I think I'll go back and see what he's up to, as he's more likely to move than the Rattlesnake.

The C4er is still in low-sec when I get back there, but I see no ships or probes on d-scan. Oh, hello, there she is, in an Anathema on the wormhole. The covert operations boat jumps to C3a, and I suppose I should let her go. My chance of catching the cov-ops is small, and it may be better to let her think the route is clear of ships in case she wants to start hauling this way. This assumes, of course, that she didn't see my Loki strategic cruiser cloak on the wormhole, or make me as a w-spacer from the local comms channel. Either way, I give her a minute to get clear from the wormhole and follow her home.

I find the Anathema back in her tower in C4a, along with her buddy in the Rattlesnake, but neither looks to be eager to do anything more this evening. I wait a little while, in case one's getting a drink before going out again, but I'm just floating in space. My best option now is to scan low-sec for more wormholes, even if it's perhaps a fruitless endeavour, as I can only assume the Anathema will have done that and already poked whatever it could. But you never know.

Back in low-sec, I launch probes and scan, happy to see four additional signatures. Rocks and two radar sites don't offer much for me, but the final signature is an 'unknown' type, right up until it is resolved, at which point it becomes a rogue drone asteroid field. This is why I hate drones. There is nothing more to be found in low-sec, and one final look in both C3a and C4a sees no change in occupation or activity. That makes it time to hit the sack. I can't complain. The miner skeet shoot to start the evening was fun, and a poke around quiet w-space has calmed me down nicely for a good night's sleep.

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

One in three

I won't get the same neighbouring class 3 w-space system three days in a row, so I won't see my new chum again. I can't say I'm disappointed. The corporation mostly did nothing. Even so, I'm always interested to see what I'll stumble across each day, so I launch probes, resolve our static wormhole, and jump to C3a. It's not yesterday's system, but it should perhaps be familiar, what with this being my sixth visit to this C3. Then again, my last visit was ten months ago, and I can barely remember what I had for lunch. A sammich, I think.

My notes point me towards a tower, which is potentially the one my directional scanner is showing me from the K162, and an exit to low-sec. There are no visible ships, but rather than launch probes in range of a pilot coming on-line or returning to the tower, I warp out to a distant planet. I bump in to no more towers or ships on my journey out, and I launch probes presumably with no one noticing. I throw them out of the system and arrange a blanket scan, warping my Loki strategic cruiser to where my notes suggest the tower should be.

The tower remains where I left it, and my probes show me a system that doesn't look regularly visited, with sixteen anomalies, eleven signatures, and a curious four ships. The ships are clustered around another planet on a different edge of this fairly big solar system, and it's possible a second tower has been installed. I warp across to find out, but instead of finding a second tower with some empty ships I see a Retriever and three Procurer mining barges. And here's me with combat scanning probes already covertly launched. How convenient.

I narrow down the bearing of the mining operation using d-scan until the ships are in a tight five-degree beam, and then gauge their distance from me. I put them pretty much 1·5 AU distant, and almost on the ecliptic plane, which makes it easy to arrange my probes. I align one probe with a 1 AU range between me and the miners, and a second with a 0·5 AU range with its sphere slicing the first probe's box. The miners should be right in the centre of that second box. Most of them, anyway. It looks like the Retriever's retreated.

That still leaves three Procurers mining away. I go for a scan and get a perfect result. Later examination of the scan reveals just how deliciously good it was, with the ships lit green right in the middle of the central probe, with their ranges reported as 1·50 AU. But all I need to know is that I can bookmark and warp to their position, as I recall my probes to get them off d-scan as quickly as possible. Warping in, I aim to drop a little short of the miners, as I know my systems will have to adjust to the sudden appearance of big rocks, and I'd prefer to control my appearance. And all looks good.

The Procurers are clumped together, stationary, acting like there isn't a cloaked miner killer ten kilometres away. I'll have to correct that. I start to approach, pondering how best to disrupt the warp drive of one and hopefully bump one other, to see if I can pop more than one of the three ships. I have no web module on my Loki, so my technical demonstration of holding two ships with one point won't work today. And I have to accelerate my plans a little early, as a big rock between me and the barges interferes with my cloak, revealing me, so I accelerate my Loki accordingly, burning towards my targets.

I lock on to the ships, pointing one to keep him from running, and ramming a second, to knock him out of alignment. The third flees a few seconds later, ignored by my attentions. My guns pepper the first ship's shields as the second no doubt continues to try to run, and he enters warp before my too-tentative attempt at ramming him again makes contact. I suppose it doesn't really matter, as my guns are taking a while chewing through the trapped Procurer, and I doubt I could have kept bumping the other ship long enough.

I have one ship in my grasp. It is a formality to pop it, although I keep watchful eye on d-scan in case help comes to free him. No one comes, and the Procurer explodes. I aim to catch the ejected pod, only for me to realise that my impromptu decloaking disrupted my normal operating procedure, and my sensor booster isn't active. Damn, the pod warps clear a split-second before I am able to crack it open. It would have been really close had I remembered about the sebo.

Never mind. I loot and shoot the wreck, and the canister nearby that probably holds rocks, because I can, and reload and retreat. I feel good about the hunt for a few minutes, as I realise that the miners aren't local to the C3, then realise that I only got one of the three ships, and not even the pod that came with it. In earlier days, I would have swapped boats and dropped an Onyx on the small fleet, the heavy interdictor's warp bubble preventing all ships and pods from fleeing, giving them plenty of time to relish their inevitable slaughter and reactivation in a new clone.

Scouting in a strategic cruiser is a much more flexible arrangement, particularly when scanning takes me several systems away from home and changing ships becomes impractical. But they are not the best ship for every situation. Dropping short in front of the Procurers, I could have taken a moment to see they were all blissfully unaware of having been scanned, and not running, and safely gone to swap for a HIC. It may not have worked, perhaps having the Onyx spotted in warp on its way to the miners, but it would have been more exciting.

Still, I'm giving myself a pat on the back for the successful hunt. I shouldn't take that away from myself. Now I pop probes out again and scan the system properly, finding five more rock fields, two gas pockets, a static exit to low-sec, and a K162. I was already thinking about leaving any K162 alone, on the assumption that it brought the miners here, partly because of the threat of repercussions, but mostly because they would be expecting me and probably not come out to play again. But warping to it sees that the K162 comes from low-sec empire space, and warping to the static exit shows that to be at the end of its life, which narrows down my options.

I poke out to low-sec through the K162—halved in mass from the mining operation—where I see two of the three miners in the local comms channel, and one more capsuleer in the same corporation. Maybe he's the Retriever pilot. But they are not on the wormhole or visible on d-scan, so I ignore them and consider scanning for more wormholes. No, I won't scan. My time is now probably better spent crashing our static wormhole and uncovering a new constellation. I've had my fun in this one.

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Tags: eve online, loki, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, procurer, pvp, retriever, scanning, w-space

Connecting with a new contact

How odd. I've been added as a contact with terrible standing by a pilot whose name I don't recognise. Normally, fans set at least a neutral standing with me, but most often plumping for a good standing, hoping that I won't shoot them as a result. Maybe this fellow simply doesn't enjoy my stories. Actually, reviewing my records, I see that he is the pilot of the Bestower hauler I saw in yesterday's neighbouring class 3 w-space system. I really don't know what his problem is. All I did was pod one of his colleagues flying through their own warp bubble covering their exit to high-sec.

It's always curious to be sent a notification of someone setting negative standing towards you, as if it's going to make me realise what a bad person I am and change my ways. 'That's the thanks you get for teaching them how to properly use bubble mechanics', says Mr Skimms, upon hearing of this development. That's true. Maybe I should bill them too. But it really doesn't matter. I'll continue roaming w-space and popping pilots in peril, and I doubt I'll see that corporation again for months, if ever. Which makes it something of a surprise when I resolve today's static wormhole and jump to a familiar-looking class 3 w-space system.

I'm in yesterday's C3a, with yesterday's boats in yesterday's tower, all in range of my directional scanner. The only ship that's missing is the gas mining Rokh battleship. And the Mackinaw, I suppose, but that disappeared under suspicious circumstances. I restore the discarded bookmarks from my holding folder, assuming most of them apart from wormholes remain relevant, and warp directly to the tower. Mr Bestower isn't in his hauler today, but a Drake battlecruiser, but Mr Harbinger is in his battlecruiser as if he hasn't moved in the past twenty-two hours.

It's unlikely that either pilot will move. They didn't yesterday, and the contact notification was sent to me almost twelve hours ago, so it seems safe to assume we are out of their active period. I can still take a look around. Two new anomalies pop up on a passive scan of the system, with the others still being present too, and the second tower sits empty on the outskirts of the system, with no Rokh, Condor, or Raven warping around. So, what to do? Scan, I suppose.

A blanket scan of the system reveals eight signatures to go with the anomalies, which is more than yesterday, and eight ships. Eight ships? I see seven at the tower, and none outside of it. Well, except for that Huginn recon ship now on d-scan, and now gone. And now there are seven ships on a subsequent scan. Okay, I have activity to find somewhere, even if I may not want to fly headlong in to it. I start sifting through the signatures, just as my new anti-chum in the Drake starts moving. Nice timing, Drake. He moves to a hangar, pops a Heron frigate in to space, and... nothing. Back to scanning.

I ignore the sites that I scanned yesterday, and resolve some extra gas, the new static exit to high-sec, a K162—the Huginn's?—another K162—the Huginn's?—and a third K162. Maybe that's the Huginn's. With no change at the tower, I warp around to reconnoitre the wormholes. The exit to high-sec isn't bubbled today, which makes me again consider invoicing the locals. The second wormhole probably doesn't connect to the Huginn's system, being a T405 outbound wormhole to class 4 w-space, and it's a toss-up between the K162 from class 3 w-space and half-mass K162 from null-sec as to where the recon ship came from.

I pop out to high-sec before sticking to w-space, so that I have a way home should I get jumped. I exit to a system in The Forge that is a mere three hops to Jita, which is handy, although I don't personally have any shopping to do. There is one orange out of the ninety pilots in the local comms channel, but he's not from C3a, so I ignore him, return to C3a, and jump to C3b. I get no hugs from a Huginn on the other side of the wormhole, and d-scan shows me a tower and a Blackbird recon ship. Locating the tower shows the Blackbird to be piloted, as well as revealing a second tower deeper in to the system, holding a Proteus strategic cruiser. I'd better find that too.

Before I can get to the second tower the Proteus becomes an Orca industrial command ship, showing actual activity. I locate the right moon and warp to the second tower to see the Orca moving apparently without purpose, but enough to prompt me to launch probes. And by the time I warp out, get probes launched, and return to the tower, the Orca has gone. He's still on d-scan, and I know the Orca was aligning mostly downwards, so I get my combat scanning probes nearby and go for a scan. My word, the Orca's a big ship. A rough scan using probes set to 4 AU gets me a 100% hit on the whale, which looks to be near a weak signature. I imagine the ship is helping collapse a wormhole.

I bookmark the Orca's position, throw my probes out of the system, and warp to where the Orca was, not is, as the big ship returns to the tower before I get my ship in gear. But the situation is as I suspect, as I drop short of where the Orca was to see the system's static exit to null-sec, as well as a Manticore stealth bomber. That's not much of an escort for the Orca, but I suppose it's something, and I wouldn't mind it trying to stop me. But I doubt I'll get the chance now, as I am late to the party. The wormhole is not just pulsating but tiny too, destabilised to critical levels. Only an idiot would fly another Orca through there.

The locals aren't idiots, more's the pity. The Orca is stowed and the pilot returns to his Proteus, which, as it drops from d-scan briefly, must be covertly configured. The Proteus pops out to null-sec and returns, killing the wormhole, and denying me the chance of an Orca kill. I follow him back to the tower to see what happens next, only to miss another new contact in an Anathema covert operations boat launch probes near the dead wormhole. Still, at least I am getting an idea of the number of active pilots here, and it's more than I could handle.

I scan for the replacement static wormhole in C3b, which I find with relative ease. I have my probes in a blanket scan, update the scan, and watch for the changing signature. Somehow, the locals don't know this trick, as I am sitting by their K346 for a couple of minutes waiting for a potential ambushing opportunity, before giving up when realising that I have little chance of catching the cov-ops, or of popping the probably built-like-a-brick Proteus. And I have another w-space system to explore, with the class 4 system connected to C3a. I'll look there instead.

Swinging past the tower in C3a sees a predictable lack of change, with the Drake pilot still not having done anything with the Heron he ejected, so I warp across to the T405 and jump through. A tower with no ships lights up d-scan, and a blanket scan reveals a manageable six anomalies but messy twenty-three signatures. I don't fancy trawling through all of them this late at night, as I've been lurking and stalking ships for a while, and am getting sleepy. The lure of more w-space will have to wait for another day. I turn my ship around and head home, a little sad that I didn't get to say hi to my new chum two days in a row.

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Tags: anathema, blackbird, drake, eve online, harbinger, heron, huginn, manticore, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, w-space

Bring your own bubble

Just sitting outside a tower, watching some ships. I procrastinated too long over ambushing a gassing Rokh battleship, so missed that opportunity to explode embarrassingly, and am now hoping that the Harbinger battlecruiser or Bestower hauler will become active in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system. I don't hold out much hope, though, as neither ship has budged an inch since I entered the system, and hunted and stalked the Rokh. But what I do notice is that the two ships, along with the other four unpiloted ones, are all pointed in the same direction. That's rum. As nothing continues to happen, I launch probes and scan, to see if there is any significance to that vector.

I've bookmarked eight anomalies already, and resolved one of the signatures as a ladar site when hunting the Rokh, leaving me just four to scan now. I resolve a radar site and three wormholes, one feeling outboundy, and with still no movement occurring at the tower I make my own movement, reconnoitring the wormholes. The system's static exit to high-sec has a big bubble encompassing it, as does a K162 from high-sec that's at the end of its life. It seems I'm not the only overly cautious pilot in this system. The third wormhole must be new, or considered less of a threat, as the K162 from null-sec is bubble-free. I suppose high-sec can pose more of a threat in some ways.

I return to the tower with a view to continue watching the ships do nothing for a little longer, but am stirred to action sooner than expected by the appearance of a Mackinaw appearing on my directional scanner. It's possible the pilot has just come on-line and the exhumer will shortly warp in to the tower, but it's rarely a good idea to wait for ships to come to you. I open the system map and interrogate each wormhole using d-scan. It still isn't easy to tell which wormhole I'm using d-scan to look at, given that I've visited each one to give them the 'Unstable Wormhole' label that still obscures the context menu and bookmark information, despite the outstanding bug report that remains inexplicably unprocessed, but at least I can tell that the Mackinaw is on one of them.

My best guess is that the Mackinaw has entered the C3 through its static connection to high-sec. That would make sense. It would also mean the exhumer is stuck crawling through the warp bubble. What a perfect opportunity. If I react quickly enough, the Mackinaw will be too deep inside the bubble for it still to be unable to warp, whilst far enough from the wormhole for it to be unable to flee back to high-sec. I throw my cloaky Loki strategic cruiser in to warp towards the bubbled wormhole, having no fear of the bubble itself thanks to the fitted interdiction nullification subsystem, hoping that I haven't reacted too slowly.

I drop out of warp to see the Mackinaw in the dreadful position I had imagined. Dreadful for it, that is. I approach, closing the distance slowly, but only for the second or two it takes me to remember that the exhumer is already trapped. There's no need to be coy about this. But I make a sanity check, noting that the Mackinaw is local and coming from high-sec, so probably is returning from high-sec and not bait, before I drop my cloak and burn towards my new target. Sure enough, the Mackinaw has no option available but to try to keep calm and carry on as he sees a Loki decloak whilst he's slowly approaching the edge of his own corporation's warp bubble.

I gain a positive lock and start shooting, adding my point of disruption to the bubble's encompassing effect, in case the Mackinaw gets clear. He won't, of course, but there is merit in his continuing to try. The ship is effectively a goner, but if he can just get to the edge of the bubble then maybe the pilot can save his pod. He nearly makes it, too, but the Mackinaw explodes when still a couple of kilometres inside the warp bubble, ejecting its pod in to deadspace. It's a formality to crack the pod open and corpsify the pilot inside. I scoop, loot, and shoot, cloaking once done.

That was fun. Catching a miner on a high-sec wormhole caught in his own warp bubble is a rare moment, and one to be savoured. The return to continued quietness in C3a helps me with this, and I smugly return to loiter outside the tower, watching the Bestower and Harbinger still sitting stationary. But I can't stay here long. Now I'm curious as to where the wormhole to high-sec leads. I warp back, ignore the bubble, and jump to appear in a system in the Everyshore region. I'm quite close to Dodixie, but I don't suppose I'll see that Mackinaw pilot again. It's not so much that he won't want to risk taking another ship through that bubble, I just can't see anyone wanting to store clones in Gallente space.

I'll scan. Two anomalies and two extra signatures resolve to some Serpentis rats and a wormhole, a wormhole from class 1 w-space too. That's nifty. Jumping in to take a look around has nothing appear on d-scan, at least not until I adjust the settings and see two small Sleeper wrecks. Is there more gassing? I suspect not, as I probably won't get lucky twice in one night, and perform a passive scan of the system to pick up the anomalies. Thirteen are in the system, and one holds the wrecks. It looks like someone was interrupted, although I can't say by what. I should explore the system.

There's only one place ships could hide in C1a. From the anomaly, two planets are out of d-scan range, and only one has moons. I warp in that direction to see a particularly prickly tower for a class 1 w-space system, one that shares a position with a tower from over two years ago, joined by a second, less-intimidating tower around the same planet. There are no ships, though. It could be worth a poke for K162s. I launch probes and start sifting through the eighteen signatures, resolving a wormhole on the third signature, and, on seeing it as a K162 from class 2 w-space, feeling happy enough to recall my probes and continue system hopping.

C2a has two towers visible on d-scan, but no ships. Oh, and the wreck of a Gallente industrial ship a few kilometres from me on the wormhole. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that nothing more is going to happen in this system this evening. I sit cloaked on the wormhole, waiting for potential polarisation effects to dissipate—on the outside chance that someone is watching and waiting for me, and wants to engage my Loki—before jumping back to C1a and heading home. The systems remain quiet, the same ships sitting motionless in C3a, and I make it home safely, where I dump my booty and go off-line. Stalking a gasser, podding a miner trapped in his own bubble, and w-space exploration. It's been a good evening.

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Tags: bestower, eve online, harbinger, loki, mackinaw, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space

Between a Rokh and a hard vacuum

I'm out looking for activity, and hoping to find more than yesterday. I suppose that shouldn't be difficult, as a single moving ship will do the trick. A second signature in the home system isn't going to offer any help, being a mere ladar site, so I resolve the static wormhole and jump to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system. A Rokh battleship visible on my directional scanner is interesting, but a tower and lack of wrecks makes it less likely to be active. The battleship blinking off d-scan a moment later shows how little I know.

Of course, the Rokh could have gone off-line, but let's stay positive and warp towards the inner system to see if it's still around. Yes, yes it is, and so are other ships. Two more towers light up d-scan, along with a second Rokh, a Retriever mining barge, Hulk exhumer, Bestower hauler, Nighthawk command ship, and a Drake and Harbinger battlecruiser. And a corpse. That gives me pause. If someone has been caught and podded already, it seems less likely that more will happen. Or that I'll be outnumbered by prepared locals, or sucker-punched by a roaming gang. Still, I don't know the details, and the least I can do is continue as normal for now.

All of the ships appear to be at one of the two towers, which is simply found as being around a planet with a single moon. I see the Harbinger and Bestower are piloted, and that not all of the ships are here. The first Rokh is elsewhere, and not at the other tower. I still see no Sleeper wrecks appearing, and a passive scan for anomalies shows the battleship isn't in one of them, which leaves me pondering whether the Rokh is in the process of collapsing a wormhole, perhaps a result of the corpse in the system. Let me launch probes to see what's out there.

Eight anomalies, six signatures, all ships accounted for. Now to find the Rokh. The battleship isn't dropping off d-scan, so it's not jumping, cloaking, or warping to and from the first, out-of-range tower, and there still are no Sleeper wrecks. I would say it's gassing. And as I have combat probes out I may as well see if I can find him. This is simple enough, as I've had a fair bit of practice, and get the Rokh within a five degree d-scan beam and at a range of just under 2·5 AU. I arrange my probes appropriately, wait for the disappeared Rokh to presumably return from unloading some gas at its tower, and call my probes in to scan.

It's a perfect scan result, but a battleship is a fat target. I would be embarrassed to miss it. And now that I've found the ship, indeed in a ladar site, I need to work out what to do about it. Can my little Loki successfully engage a battleship? Are the other pilots awake, and willing to scramble to catch me? I suppose there's one way to find out the answer to both questions. I haven't wasted time whilst thinking this through, and have reconnoitred the ladar site in the meantime, where the Rokh is seemingly happily gassing away. Seemingly.

Now that I am ready to take a shot at the battleship I see that it is moving, slowly but steadily, which suggests to me that my probes were spotted and the pilot is aligning her ship ready for warp. If I got my approach even the littlest bit wrong I would not be able to prevent the battleship's escape, so I had better get it right. This shouldn't be too much trouble, although it's not as simple as ambushing a stationary ship. First, I warp in close enough to get my camera drones directly on the ship. This lets me see that the ship does indeed appear to be aligned, back to its tower, and probably ready for warp. That's okay, as I can account for that. I just need to be in a different position.

Knowing that the Rokh will flee to its tower is good. Rather than approach from the side and allow the ship to warp clear, I just need to realign my approach to be head-on, which is simplicity itself when I know the direction the Rokh is heading. I warp out to the distant planet, find the tower for reference, and return to the ladar site from the tower, making a new monitoring point on my way in. Now I am directly between the Rokh and the tower. I can warp in close, set a collision course whilst still cloaked, and have the Rokh nudge itself out of alignment on my prow, whilst my sensors recalibrate from being cloaked.

It's a good plan, but the plan somewhat relies on the Rokh remaining where it is for just a little bit longer. Sadly, it blips out of existence rather abruptly, leaving me wondering what just happened. It looks like the ship cloaked, as I'm sure I would have noticed it warping straight through my ship. I suspect it has been taken unexpectedly off-line, which is unfortunate for the both of us. But if that's the case, then she'll be back, so I align towards the gas cloud in preparation. And a few minutes later I warp to the tower to watch the Harbinger and Bestower, hoping they'll do something, whilst watching d-scan for the Rokh's reappearance.

Okay, there she is. I warp back to my monitoring point in the ladar site, but the Rokh is gone. Assuming she's recovered from the crash I head back to see the battleship at the first tower, but only for long enough to swap to a Condor frigate, which warps away, and not to the ladar site. She's not gone quite long enough for me to decide to launch probes again, and on her return the pilot swaps ships again, this time to a Navy Issue Raven battleship, before going off-line intentionally this time. Damn, I missed my shot because I was too cautious.

I found the Rokh using d-scan, and got its position with one scan of my combat probes. I knew what was in the system, and my scan confirmed my suspicion that the Rokh was gassing. Even though reconnoitring the site showed that the battleship had weapons as well as gas harvesters fitted, I probably should have just gone in hot, with the element of surprise. My caution allowed more careful stalking, I can't deny that, but it cost time that I ended up not having. Still, I gained more practical experience which could come in useful, even if I don't get the kill today.

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Tags: bestower, condor, drake, eve online, harbinger, hulk, loki, mmorpg, nighthawk, penny ibramovic, raven, retriever, rokh, scanning, w-space