Bait not taken is unfulfilled

'Some new signatures at home', Fin tells me as I come on-line, and she's not wrong. Seven signatures light up my combat probes where I'm expecting three. I'm hoping they're not wormholes for a change, because we could do with making some iskies from some of our anomalies. I would actually be happy to find rocks in our home system. And I suppose I do, but only one new rock field has drifted in, the other three signatures all being wormholes and putting paid to our plans to shoot some Sleepers. At least we have quite a selection of w-space to choose from, with K162s from class 4, class 5, and class 6 w-space all connecting in to our class 4 home.

Which way to go. Ever the bold, Fin jumps head first in to C6a. Ever looking for the soft option, I go to C4a. And the system looks pretty soft, with nothing on my directional scanner, and indeed nothing to see at all. The eight planets hold five moons in this sparse and compact system, which means I'm scanning for K162s. Unfortunately, I suffer from bad timing, and as I start to sift through the results the twenty-one anomalies and eight signatures are joined by one ship, a pod appearing in the system and getting a good look at my probes. On the positive side, I have a good idea of where to scan for a wormhole.

Two scans later and I am warping to what turns out to be another K162 from a class 6 system, making w-space quite deadly tonight. Deadly and connected, with two more K162s making this C4 a home away from home. The other two wormholes both come from class 2 w-space, giving me a warm and snuggly feeling of security, and I jump in to C2a to take a look around. Immediately there is more to see than in C4a, with a tower around the only planet in d-scan range, and there is plenty more space to explore. Notes from fifteen months ago show two towers in the system, which gives me a good second location to check initially. And I also know that the other static connection leads out to high-sec empire space, which could be handy.

There are at least four towers in this C2 now, with eight Orca industrial command ships split between them, joined by a tiny Crow interceptor. I find four Orcas at one tower, and four plus the Crow at another, none piloted, and nothing else of interest. Unsurprisingly for a system with so much obvious wealth, C2a is lacking in sites, with only two anomalies and four signatures, which turn out to be the second static wormhole, and a radar and ladar site each. I reconnoitre the exit system, appearing in the Essence region, before returning to w-space and heading back to C4a. Now I see a Hurricane.

The battlecruiser persists on d-scan in C4a, although there are no wrecks to be seen, and I narrow d-scan's beam to place the Hurricane on the wormhole from C2b. I warp in to take a look and see the ship sitting motionless on top of the connection. I alert Fin to the presence of the battlecruiser and she heads my way, swapping to a Legion strategic cruiser at out tower, as I manoeuvre to get closer to the Hurricane. After a short while the ship starts moving, but only in a lazy orbit around the wormhole. That's rather careless, I would say, as a stationary target looks tempting, but one entering a slow orbit looks like bait. But I suppose bait is there to be taken, so when Fin jumps in to the system, ready to warp to me, I decloak and engage.

As I engage the Hurricane, the Hurricane engages me. I can't say I'm surprised, having seen it enter the orbit, and I find my cloaky Loki webbed and warp-disrupted. That's only to be expected, and hopefully dropping a second strategic cruiser on top of the battlecruiser will give him pause for thought. In fact, he must see Fin coming on d-scan, as he jumps through the wormhole to C2b before my glorious leader lands. I follow behind, not wanting the Hurricane to escape should it not be bait, and to put my stealthy ship in to harm's way in front of the decidedly unstealthy Legion Fin's piloting. All looks clear, with only the Hurricane on the wormhole still, and I call for Fin to jump.

No, wait! Hold! The wormhole may be clear but d-scan decidedly isn't. I really should have checked before impetuously calling for Fin to join me, particularly as two more Hurricanes, a Harbinger battlecruiser, and two Guardian logistic ships are on d-scan without a tower in sight. It's too late, though, and Fin joins me, as I suspect the other ships are on their way too. I try to keep the Hurricane's attention as Fin appears and negotiates her way back through the wormhole, although as other ships drop out of warp it seems that I am the first to jump back anyway. I'm not terribly brave in the face of overwhelming force.

Back in C4a I move away from the wormhole and cloak. I know I'm polarised and won't be able to help Fin much, and although the baiticane appears before Fin's got clear it can't pin her down quickly enough, and the Legion warps away. The Hurricane doesn't give chase, perhaps unsure which of the wormholes Fin's returned to, leaving me monitoring the reaction of the fleet as Fin gets home safely. That was a bit lucky, and certainly luckier than it should have been. No matter how clear the wormhole itself looked, I should have punched d-scan before calling for Fin to join me, however fast I corrected myself.

All of the battlecruisers and logistics ships jump in to C4 and spend some idle minutes loitering on the wormhole, but there is nothing for them to see. They take another look in C2b, and on their return warp and jump en masse to C6b. I suppose it's good I didn't take the opportunity to explore that system whilst the fleet was back in the class 2 system. Now all is quiet again. At least, in this C4 it's quiet. Fin, on the other hand, swapped back to her scouting Tengu strategic cruiser, explored in to C5a, and found a careless Mammoth collecting planet goo. Now it's the wreck of a Mammoth and we have some more expanded cargoholds for our collection. Job's a good 'un. I think I should find a way to be productive too, instead of watching a wormhole slowly decay.

Posted in Gaming | 1 Comment »
Tags: crow, eve online, guardian, harbinger, hurricane, legion, mammoth, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space

Scanning for celebrity

I've a blank slate today. A tabula rasa, if you will. No bookmarks, no registered sites in the home system, and nothing on my directional scanner. Let's see what I can find out there. Rocks, a radar site, and the static wormhole is all that's at home, ignoring the slowly increasing pile of anomalies, but it's our neighbouring class 3 w-space system that looks exciting. A Retriever mining barge, Mammoth hauler, Probe frigate, and Badger hauler all look lovely and squishy, even if they're probably at the tower also on d-scan. I want to find them and see if they're piloted, because they may not stay at the tower.

I have no notes to guide me to the tower, but it's straightforward to find, being around a planet with a single moon. That's good, because instead of increasing my expectations it lets me realise my disappointment early, when I see all of the ships are empty. The tower's rather undefended, though, lacking anything but shield hardeners for protection, which is a little incautious but not as bad as some I've seen. But even I'm not going to lay siege to a tower in w-space by myself, so there's not much I can do but snort in derision for a few minutes.

Oh, hello. The tower is owned by INQ-E, the corporation of SynCaine and housing Cyndre. I appear to have stumbled in to their system, although I think it is now their secondary system, and if they are in the midst of moving it perhaps explains why there are few defences and no pilots. I can still hope to pop me a celebrity, though, so I explore and scan, finding a second tower still with no pilots, and my probes revealing ten anomalies and eight signatures. I think it's worth resolving all of them. Rocks, rocks, rocks, gas, and four wormholes is a decent result, although I don't suppose the rocks will be visited when the system is so connected. Or when there are no local pilots on-line.

The wormholes are a handy K162 from high-sec empire space, a nifty K162 from class 2 w-space, the obvious static exit to low-sec, and a K162 from class 4 w-space that looks oddly familiar, as if I've recently been there. I check the exit to high-sec first, appearing in a system in the Bleak Lands with nothing interesting happening, before returning to C3a and heading in to C2a. Mining drones on d-scan almost get me interested, but even I realise that no ships means no mining. My notes put me here four days ago—that's three space days—when I diverted here looking for some C5ers' route to empire space, letting me know that the system has static connections to class 3 w-space and high-sec empire space. I also have the location of a tower listed, which is out of range of the two d-scan is showing me.

Much like a few days ago, the two towers in the centre of the system hold no ships, which is why I didn't care to find them before. But, unlike a few days ago, the farther tower also doesn't hold ships, and so I'm scanning again. Four anomalies and four signatures don't take long to sort through, giving me some rocks—where the drones are—gas, and the second wormhole, which leads to the Heimatar region and still nothing interesting. I jump back to C2a and return to C3a, where not much continues to happen. Let me make myself a drink.

Okay, anything? Nope? Okay. I don't mind, I have a drink to sup. I see Cyndre come on-line and, thanks to a neat safe spot I've created that lets me monitor both towers at once, I keep udpating d-scan in the hopes that he is in this system, but it looks like he's not here today. I give him until I finish my drink to appear and act foolishly, but there's still nothing when my glass is empty. Right, I'm going to low-sec to make my own adventure. Turn to the next paragraph!

C3a's static exit leads to a system in the Citadel region bereft of other pilots, letting me rat and scan. Or it would, if there were any rocks here. All I see is an ice field, although it turns out rats frequent rocks of ice as much as rocks of, um, rock, even if there are only some puny frigates floating around at the moment. It's the only rock field in the system so it will have to do. I pop, pop, pop the frigates and launch probes to scan, and despite four extra signatures being a promising start there are no more wormholes to find. I recall my probes and take one last look through the w-space constellation, but no pilots have woken up to blearily collect planet goo. It's just another quiet evening in w-space.

Posted in Gaming | 3 Comments »
Tags: badger, eve online, mammoth, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, probe, retriever, scanning, w-space

Seeing only a wormhole die

It all looks clear at home, and although I don't know yet what mischief I can get up to abroad it looks like I have a choice of direction. A second wormhole along with our static connection to class 3 w-space tempts me to stay with class 4 w-space for now, and I jump through the K162 to see if whoever opened the wormhole is still around. Apparently not. Exploring the system has two towers around two planets, but the only ships present are a bunch of frigates scattered haphazardly in a warp bubble, acting as part of a decloaking trap. It's different than the usual canisters, I suppose—or would be if there weren't also cans in the bubble. I'll come back and bomb these ships later, if there's nothing else happening.

There's certainly nothing else happening in this C4, what with the only other signature being a radar site, so I head home and across to our static connection. Jumping in to C3a looks far more interesting, with a tower, Drake battlecruiser, and a whole heap of Sleeper wrecks. If I knew I'd find this, I would have come sooner. The only disappointment is that there are no anomalies in the system, which a passive scan reveals. That, and there being nowhere to hide from the tower and Drake. And that the Drake appears to be coincident with the tower, according to my directional scanner, so she isn't creating more Sleeper wrecks. So three disappointments, then.

Despite having nowhere to hide, and the Drake not being in a site, I try to launch probes quickly before hiding them and me, as I hope the battlecruiser gets swapped for a salvager and makes herself a target. I loiter outside the tower, as the wrecks appear to be close enough for me to find them and I can watch the Drake as I do. Three wrecks are within 2 AU of the tower, and as there are only three I'm guessing I'll be looking for a ladar site. The rest of the wrecks, just over a dozen, are about 4 AU away and in a combat site, although the site may have despawned by now, which could be what the pilot is waiting for. If she's actually waiting for anything, as she's still not moved.

I really need to hold for the ship to move to the sites before scanning, so that I will definitely have a focus for my combat probes. If the sites have despawned then scanning will find nothing, as the probes don't detect wrecks, and if I get a negative result I won't know if I'm scanning nothing or missing the site. At least with the ship sitting passively in the tower I can hunt the wrecks using d-scan, and I narrow down their bearing and range until I can place a single probe roughly where I think the wrecks are. Now I really need the pilot to do something, as I am reduced to waiting again.

I'm not convinced the Drake made these wrecks, if only because a couple of them disintegrate after a while. Maybe she's looted them but doesn't care to salvage, but I am guessing she interrupted outsiders running the local sites. I can only assume her general level of paranoia is preventing her from salvaging the wrecks if that's the case, because it seems silly to let good iskies go to waste. Then again, if it is paranoia it is serving her well tonight, as my Loki strategic cruiser and combat probes are ready to pounce should the pilot twitch. But now that the wrecks are decaying, and there is not much chance of ambushing the pilot, I may as well scan and see what I can find.

I'm curious to see how close I got with my hunt, as practice is always worthwhile. I cluster my unused probes around what I suspect to be the ladar site, in case they actually resolve the site, whilst I leave the solo positioning probe by itself on the bunch of wrecks, not expecting to have a site left there. I'm wrong, as a radar site appears under that probe, but I'm also right as the cluster of probes resolves a ladar site in one scan. I'd say my hunt was pretty good, even without a target. I bookmark the ladar site and move my probes across to resolve the radar site. And now that my probes are well and truly in the system I scan the only other signature, which is the static exit to low-sec.

Swinging by the radar site has a Sleeper battleship still in the site and feeling lonely, which discourages me from trying to steal some loot. I could get away with it, but without battleship wrecks it isn't really worth it. And checking the exit to low-sec shows the wormhole to be at the end of its life, which stops me in my tracks. I'll be going back to blow up those frigates in C4a.

I return home, grab a Manticore stealth bomber from our hangar, and jump back through the K162. Warping to the strategic bookmark I made earlier places me in bombing range, so I line up the frigates, decloak, and launch, holding my position and re-activating my cloak when it's ready. The bomb explodes, taking out all of the canisters but leaving the frigates intact. That's not good enough, so I wait for my bomb launcher to be ready a second time and launch again. Still the frigates survive, and I'm not wasting any more expensive bombs on shooting unpiloted ships in a bubble.

It's not really going my way tonight. I swap back to my Loki and go to watch the Drake do nothing in the C3 again, only to have her go off-line. In a last attempt to have something happen, I warp to the where I hope the wormhole isn't any more, but it's still there. Oh, no it isn't. That sucking noise has the static connection die as I loiter nearby, which means I have a brand new wormhole to find in this system, which could lead to opportunity. I scan, resolve, and jump through the wormhole, to appear in a system in the Derelik region. Scanning the low-sec system has one extra signature which, in a dramatic turn of luck, is another wormhole, an outbound connection to more class 3 w-space.

In C3b d-scan shows me five ships and a tower, although there are no wrecks and no anomalies. I can get to the tower directly, having been in this system four days ago, which lets me confirm the two Legions as piloted, but, again there is nowhere to hide. C3b is looking as dreary as C3a, but with ships even less likely to explode to my solo cloaky Loki. With little hope of shooting the ships here I scan with little regard for my probes being visible, looking for new targets. But the fourteen signatures hold just the one wormhole, which is a static exit to low-sec at the end of its life. I'm flying in circles.

I leave C3b behind me and return the way I came, passing through low-sec to see the Drake pilot from C3a in the system. I suppose she was waiting for the wormhole to die before becoming active, but I can't say what she's doing here. There are no obvious probes on d-scan, and she soon enough leaves the system, although as we are many hops from civilisation I don't know where she would be going. Either way, that leaves our w-space constellation pilot- and target-free. I may as well call it a night.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Seeing only a wormhole die
Tags: drake, eve online, legion, loki, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Trapped but not chased

It's taken too long to uncover, but we are finally monitoring the route some pilots are taking between their class 5 w-space home and empire space. We should be able to identify passing ships early and, if good targets, intercept and engage them. We're in a class 3 system a low-sec system away from home, which holds the K162 to the C5 and exit to high-sec the C5ers are using. There is also a K162 from class 2 w-space, with its own connection to high-sec, and an outbound connection to class 3 w-space, but those are red herrings. Fin's watching the C5 wormhole, Aii is scouting the adjoining C3 for more targets, and I'm sitting in high-sec watching for returning pilots.

We may have missed all of the action already. It took a while to realise just which wormhole ships were being taken through, and both connections along the route have been stressed to be below half-mass already. The high-sec system has some capsuleers coming and going, but none of them are from the class 5 system. A Buzzard warps to the wormhole as I sit cloaked nearby, but he is unaffiliated to any of the w-space corporations in the constellation behind me, and has simply scanned the wormhole on his travels. The covert operations boat jumps to C3b without my following him, not seeing a big need to waste my time failing to catch an agile, cloaking ship on a direct connection to high-sec, and jumps back out again a minute later. That was exciting.

More exciting is Fin engaging an interceptor. The ship appears from the C5 and Fin pounces, aided by Aii returned from the empty C3c, but the interceptor burns away from the pair to evade their clutches. But now we've shown the C5ers that a couple of strategic cruisers are lurking maybe some bigger ships will come, as strategic cruisers make tempting targets. I jump back from high-sec to C3b to add my Loki strategic cruiser to our small cloaky fleet, but I am already late to the party. The C5 wormhole flares and a couple of Legions have jumped through to attack our Tengu and Legion, demonstrating how strategic cruisers are the ship of choice for w-spacers.

I'm warping to the wormhole as the assault begins, but don't even get there by the time Fin is suggesting we abort. I'm generally happy to pull out and not risk my ship, but I am aware of my risk-averse nature and decloak to add my guns to try to cure myself. One of the enemy Legions is the target of Fin's capacitor neutralisers, so I make him my primary target and start shooting. But the situation looks bleak, and not because we are outmatched, but because we are soon outgunned. The wormhole flares again and more strategic cruisers pour out of the class 5 system, three Proteus ships coming through to get a piece of the action.

I see Fin warp clear, which is surprising but a relief. I know that my cloaky Loki is far from resilient, and that without Fin's neuts my firepower against other, probably non-covert strategic cruisers will not be significant, so take my cue to leave. One of the hostile ships has my warp drives disrupted, leaving me one direction to go, and I jump through the wormhole to the C5. I waste no time moving away and cloaking on the other side of the wormhole, seeing it clear and not waiting to be followed and threatened, making me safe. Aii's Tengu, on the other hand, looks to be the primary target, and he's not getting clear. He manages to eject a moment before his half-billion ISK ship explodes around him, and my scouting has an escape route direct to high-sec available for him to use.

That was short and explosive. We spent a fair amount of time stalking and monitoring the systems, and the engagement was over in what seemed like seconds. Now Fin's in low-sec and looking to repair her depleted armour, Aii's in high-sec and heading to buy a replacement Tengu, and I'm in the C5 and watching even more ships pile on and through the wormhole. A Loki, more Legions, and even more Protei appear, followed by a Zealot heavy assault ship and Falcon recon ship for good measure. All of those ship transits have even stressed the wormhole so that it is critically destabilised. Getting back to the C3 would be tricky enough with so many ships around without having to worry about the wormhole's survival too.

I have to work out what to do. I am isolated from home, but there are plenty of ships waiting to catch me if I try to leave this system. And now there are ships ready to catch me on this side of the wormhole too, with a Phobos heavy interdictor, two Protei, a Loki, and an Oracle battlecruiser all looking to make my day worse. I can't say I care about the HIC's warp bubble, but having so many pilots ready to catch me doesn't give me a warm sense of survival. Thankfully, Fin has repaired and is in a covert Legion, happy to scout the other side of the wormhole for me. If it's clear, which I doubt, a dash through the wormhole won't be so suicidal.

Fin gets back to C3b and the wormhole to see three Legions and a Proteus lurking, although they start jumping back to the C5, which I get to see myself. It looks clear, but only because two Legions were cloaked, and they only decloak to jump home too. This extra mass through a critical wormhole can't be helping my return home either. Fin reports the C3-side of the wormhole as being clear again, so do I try to get home or do I lay low and play it safe? I've run the gauntlet before, and although I didn't make it that time the failure is not what is keeping me from trying again.

The last time I was in this situation the collapse of the wormhole would have isolated me from home. This time, the C5 is merely a branch off the main w-space constellation. The collapse of its static wormhole will only spawn another connection to class 3 space, which will hold an exit to k-space. Once out to k-space I can link up with the rest of the already-mapped w-space constellation that can guide me home, so I lose nothing by watching the wormhole die. And, sure enough, the wormhole is killed by the locals. As it implodes, Fin says that 'one of these days we will get Penny to stop making predictions'. Yeah, I suppose I did kind of say we'd catch something or die trying.

I'm not really in trouble yet. The pathetic attempts at smack-talk from the locals barely register with me, and I can't help but giggle at the offer of giving up my Loki for a way out of the C5. I've already made a safe spot out of directional scanner range of any planet, used that spot to launch probes, performed a blanket scan of the system, and returned to where the wormhole used to be so that I can monitor what's happening by the time they suggest I give myself up to them. They only don't realise that I've got probes because I know what I'm doing and have kept them hidden, whilst surveying the system and seeing a lack of anomalies and only four signatures to resolve to find the new static wormhole. I have only delayed scanning for it because I want to see how aggressive the locals are in guarding the new connection.

It takes another minute but eventually scanning probes appear on d-scan. I suppose they are looking for the new wormhole after all. I'll scan for it too and see how safe it will be for me to leave tonight. I pick the signature near the outer planet to resolve first, as that will keep my probes hidden from d-scan for longer, and as luck would have it I resolve a wormhole. Warping and dropping short shows it to be the new static connection, and it looks clear. Clear? How can it take so long to resolve one signature? There are only four signatures in the system and I can only assume that bookmarks for the three other signatures are already held in a shared corporation folder. The locals should already be swarming around this wormhole looking for me. Damned amateurs.

I approach the wormhole and jump, appearing in a class 3 system with no one around. D-scan shows me a tower and four ships somewhere, and the complete lack of threat from the C5ers has me even considering ambushing one of the three haulers if they turn out to be piloted. My notes from ten months ago point me towards the tower, where I find none of the ships have capsuleers and so I have no targets. Okay, let's get myself home. I warp out, launch probes, blanket the system, and return at range to the C5 K162, and only now has a Legion jumped through from that system and cloaked. After their show of force and subsequent bluster, it's rather embarrassing for the C5ers to see that they can barely scan their way out of their own system.

I would say 'the race is on' now that the Legion has entered the system, particularly as he warps away and launches probes, but I'm feeling no tension here. I sift through the twenty-one signatures with a slight sense of urgency but only because the evening's getting late and I have no idea where I'll be spat in to k-space. I resolve one wormhole that turns out to be a K162 from null-sec, and a second that is the static exit to low-sec. I note that the Legion's probes aren't anywhere near the wormhole, recall mine, exit w-space, and move away from the wormhole in low-sec and cloak. It's a shame that the C5ers can't just throw as many ships as they have available to become effective at scanning, to match the simplistic way they fight.

My exit has brought me to the Black Rise region, two hops from high-sec and then seventeen to the entrance to C3b. I'm not going to bother scanning for possible short cuts, as the high-sec route is simple and easy. I don't even look behind me as I warp away from the wormhole, curious only about whether the C5ers are still talking to me in their home system or not. It wouldn't surprise me if they were. Hop, hop, hop. High-sec passage is nice and uneventful and I soon make it back to the system the C5ers were using to move ships between empire space and w-space, only now I make use of the connection to get closer to home. In and out of C3b, across low-sec, in to C3a, and home. Even if, ultimately, I was in no real danger, it's been quite a night.

Posted in Gaming | 2 Comments »
Tags: buzzard, eve online, falcon, legion, loki, mmorpg, oracle, penny ibramovic, phobos, proteus, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space, zealot

Finding the right hole

Mission: find targets continues where it left off yesterday. I have no support from Fin or Aii at the moment, but that just lets me scout ahead and get in to position for their arrival. I scan the home system, activate a new ladar site, and jump through our static wormhole. The neighbouring class 3 w-space system gives me a dull start, with a tower to see but no ships, and a couple of crashes adds frustration to the dullness. I am able to keep my ship running long enough to ignore rocks and gas, twice, to resolve only the one wormhole, which is a static exit to low-sec empire space.

Leaving w-space puts me in the Solitude region, where scanning holds two extra signatures. Please be kind, low-sec. A ladar site is distinctly uninteresting, but the second signature is thankfully a K162 from more class 3 w-space. That'll do, pig. I'd even jump in and take a look, if my ship didn't crash on approach to the wormhole, and when I get my systems back on-line I hold to check a new contact in low-sec. The capsuleer is from a wormhole corporation and, sure enough, appears by the K162 in a Legion strategic cruiser and jumps to w-space. I give him a minute to get clear of the wormhole, and follow.

All is clear in the C3 on the connection and on my directional scanner. The system map shows me plenty of empty space, so I make a safe spot and launch probes before checking to see if the towers that were here a year ago remain. One does, and it holds a Thanatos carrier and Exequror cruiser, neither piloted. However, four ships light up my combat probes, and I want to find these extra ships. What extra ships, my probes say, after I perform a second blanket scan. I've missed whatever happened, but maybe whoever it was went to low-sec. I plant my ship on the exit wormhole and start to scan.

I ponder the three anomalies and nine signatures in the system and consider the likelihood of there being K162s. I would say so, given that the Legion I saw isn't local. Here's a wormhole now, and a ship sitting on it too, of all the luck. No one comes my way to low-sec, though, and they most likely saw my probes, which is pretty bad timing. And now there are lots of probes on d-scan, which stops me exploring beyond the K162 to class 5 w-space, just in case whoever is scanning happens to be sitting on this connection as they do.

A pod appears on d-scan and, if the pilot's name is accurate, she's local. I warp to the tower to see the pod there, and boarding an Apocalypse battleship. With no second thoughts, the battleship is in warp to low-sec. I wonder if the pilot is moving ships out of w-space, and if we can catch her next export, particularly as Aii has turned up, but before I wonder too much I notice the Legion has reappeared next to me on the exit to low-sec. I suppose he saw the Apocalypse too, which may scupper our attempts at a clean ambush. Then again, we could strike the Legion itself. But as we are trying to get Aii in to a suitable ship the strategic cruiser warps away and cloaks.

Well, I can still hold on the U210 and wait for the pilot local to this C3 to return and hopefully export another ship. Hey, look at this, I've found a new way to wait for nothing to happen. I don't know why it takes so long, as nothing's already happening, but still I wait. I should have my 'mission accomplished' banner raised and be going home by now. But, nope, I continue to wait. And here's Fin to wait with me. Actually, she can make waiting more efficient. Fin comes to monitor low-sec as I check what's happening in the C5.

Jumping in to the system has me unmolested, and d-scan shows me two towers and a Legion. Locating the tower has a Bestower hauler appear, and warping closer to more planets shows there to be at least six towers in the system. The Legion is not the one I've seen already either, so there are certainly a few pilots floating around, and more when an Iteron hauler and second Bestower appear in a different tower. I warp to the wormhole, hoping to catch a hauler heading to empire space, but I see instead a pod of another new contact jump in to the C5 and warp away.

More towers, more ships, more pilots. And more movement. None of it I can reliably follow or catch. It's difficult to see what's happening with nine towers split across three planets, at least one of the three being out of d-scan range at any one time. Fin's moved in to C3b and is sitting on the wormhole to C5a, and she sees a Guardian logistics ship and Legion jump past her, at which point I note that they warp to different towers. There is lots of movement, and we should be able to catch something, but it isn't until a Helios covert operations boat jumps to C3b and warps not towards the exit to low-sec that we realise that perhaps there is another wormhole to find. I should go back and scan again.

Scanning does indeed find another connection, and a promising one at that. The K162 from class 2 w-space will hold a second static wormhole, this one to k-space, and it may well be in that direction the pilots are heading. Not only that, but there is a tower holding a Drake battlecruiser, Kestrel frigate, and Buzzard cov-ops, all piloted, hiding on the edge of the system, so we could even see some action here. I sit on the wormhole to C3b, Fin sits on the other side, and between us we should be able to intercept a C5er. The C2 Drake appears on d-scan and vanishes, perhaps through the same k-space connection, which likely goes to high-sec. I should scan here too.

Four signatures take no time to resolve, giving me two ladar sites and the expected exit to high-sec. No wonder the C5 pilots are coming this way instead of to low-sec. We even have a new contact in a Thrasher destroyer in the tower of the C2 and a Heron frigate scanning. There is plenty happening, we just need to be in the right place. And I don't think we're quite there yet. No obvious contacts are in the high-sec system, the C2 pilots refuse to do anything, and checking the connection to C5a has Fin see a Loki strategic cruiser jumping through the wormhole. We're still looking in the wrong direction!

Another contact in a Legion jumping past Fin and warping away doesn't have it jump to me in the C2, so there must be another wormhole in C3b. I return and scan properly this time, dammit, made easier by warping in readiness to the C5 K162. Not only do I see an Oracle jump in to C3b, but I see which direction the battlecruiser warps away from the wormhole. I've got you now. I position my probes in the direction the Oracle went, and resolve a wormhole in two scans. Curiously, it turns out to be an N968 connection to more class 3 w-space, so either there is a better high-sec connection in C3c, the C5ers don't know about the C2, or there is still another wormhole I haven't found. Spolier alert: it's option c.

Right above the N968 is the missing link, yet another wormhole, this one a K162 leading in directly from high-sec empire space. Fancy that. The connection has even been stressed to half-mass, just as the C5 wormhole now is. The good news is that we've finally found the wormhole the C5ers are using to move ships, no thanks to my lackadaisical scanning. The bad news is that we have no intermediate system or wormhole we can use to ambush them away from their own static connection. Even so, now we know where they are and where they are going. We're going to catch something or die trying.

Posted in Gaming | 1 Comment »
Tags: apocalypse, bestower, buzzard, drake, eve online, exequror, guardian, helios, heron, iteron, kestrel, legion, loki, mmorpg, oracle, penny ibramovic, scanning, thanatos, thrasher, w-space

Wormhole crashers

Right, let's find a target or two to shoot. Positive thinking will get us a kill, I'm sure of it. There are no ships and no K162 wormholes in the home system—and I double-check this time—so I head outwards to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system. My directional scanner showing me a tower with no ships is not a great start, but maybe this C3 is simply a stepping stone to where the action is, giving us a staging zone. I'm sticking with this positive thinking malarky, at least until my notes show that I was here four months ago and that the static exit leads to low-sec empire space, at which point I automatically assume I'll find myself in Aridia. No, stop it! I'll find some targets.

My notes also point me towards the tower in the class 3 system, but they really needn't have bothered. Opening the system map to warp to the tower shows the system almost bereft of moons. Only two of the six planets have a moon, and even then it's just the one each. And with the entire system covered by the range of d-scan there really isn't any difficulty in warping directly to the tower. But before I do, I launch probes and start scanning. Sixteen anomalies are bookmarked, in case the locals turn up, and seven signatures are resolved, to give rocks, gas, a radar site, and two wormholes. As the second wormhole is a T405 outbound connection to class 4 w-space, circumstances are improving already.

It just gets better. Jumping in to C4a has a couple of battleships on d-scan, along with a tower and some core probes. I start a passive scan of the system whilst adjusting d-scan to look for wrecks. There are no dead Sleepers yet, and now the ships are changing. A pair of heavy interdictors and a Pilgrim recon ship are somewhere in the system, with no battleships to be seen, and seconds later there are two recon ships and the Onyx. It's all activity, but just nothing I can tackle alone, so I cloak and hold my position on the wormhole for now.

No ships head my way initially, letting me see that my notes for this system are probably useless. My last visit was over two years ago, and it was me that time in the heavy interdictor as I podded a mining Hulk exhumer. It's all change now, and more changes are occurring, presumably at the tower, as nothing has come to this K162 yet. The ships drop off d-scan, so I could take a look around, as it seems that the locals have found something. Probably me, in fact, as an Anathema covert operations boat appears near the K162 and, after a minute's reflection, jumps to C3a.

I don't try to catch the cov-ops this time, trying desperately to learn my many lessons from before about not revealing myself to a slippery target so I can try to catch a stickier one that remains oblivious to my presence. Hoping the Anathema will report back and get some ships in to the C3 to fight the Sleepers, I locate the tower in C4a. And I find it just in time to see the cloaked fleet return, at which point the pilots all swap back to battleships. The Tempest, Armageddon, and Megathron head straight back out of the tower towards the K162. Maybe they are going to shoot Sleepers, and all I have to do now is wait for the Anathema to return and slip in to a Noctis.

W-space life is rarely so generous, and tonight is not an exception. A Scorpion is the last ship to leave the tower, and I follow it to the wormhole only to have the rest of the fleet pass me on their way back to the tower. No Sleepers for them, it looks like, but rather crashing the unwelcome wormhole. This is pretty much confirmed when the Scorpion jumps to C3a, destabilising the wormhole to half-mass, and returns immediately. This isn't much of a threat, as I can leave now and not be followed, with all of the pilots polarised, but maybe we can be a threat to this collapsing operation. 'We', because my glorious leader has arrived.

I give Fin a sitrep, which is quite a burst of information to take in, and we try to work out what we can do. Sadly, it seems we can't do much. If one set of round trips has reduced the wormhole to its half-mass state, then a second set will collapse it. We won't be able to engage the ships on the C3-side of the wormhole, and if we followed we wouldn't be polarised but we would be trapped if the wormhole collapses. Fin has the best suggestion, which is to try to disrupt their mass calculations by passing through a ship or two of our own, and she readies our wormhole-collapsing heavy interdictor to throw a spanner in the works. Our timing may just be a little off, though, as here come the ships again.

The wormhole flares and the Megathron appears before jumping back. Another flare and the wormhole destabilises to critical levels. The Anathema seen earlier takes his cue, and decloaks and returns to the C4, after which an Armageddon sheds its session-change cloak and jumps home. But the wormhole remains. Fin is coming to the C3 to put our plan in to action, maybe now with a chance of isolating one of their ships here, but when the next ship through the wormhole is the Broadsword HIC it looks not only like they know what they're doing but that pushing our Devoter through would only help them in their task.

The Broadsword returns through the wormhole, draining the connection of its remaining mass, and I watch as the implosion leaves nothing for Fin to warp to but empty space. That was almost exciting, I suppose. It was certainly quick. And even though I found some targets I now need to find some more. Sadly, the exit to low-sec leading to the Khanid region doesn't provide any, as the ratting Drake battlecruisers are protected by an acceleration gate, and the system holds no more wormholes. We try to start again, collapsing our own wormhole, but connection issues have Fin struggling to return home from the C3, and if we can't change systems reliably we probably shouldn't be getting in to any fights. We abort the operation for tonight, knowing we'll have a fresh wormhole tomorrow.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Wormhole crashers
Tags: anathema, armageddon, broadsword, devoter, drake, eve online, megathron, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, scanning, scorpion, tempest, w-space

Appearing at the end of a mining operation

I've got myself confused. A rogue Anathema appeared in the home system with no apparent source, and we collapsed our static wormhole to keep out the covert operations boat we assumed we'd seen lurking before. Now I've scanned the home system to continue the evening's adventure and I'm seeing a new signature. I know I occasionally have troubles counting, even small numbers, but I like to think I can tell the difference between three and four signatures in the scanning interface. I'm also confident that I know how to blanket a system with my probes, so surely I didn't simply miss this second wormhole with my previous scan. It must be new, even if it's weirdly coincidental. I'd better take a look to find out.

A Probe, Covetor, and cans, oh my! There are also two towers, but the numerical names of the jet-cans have me hoping that the mining barge is active, and spinning my directional scanner around to find the towers finds the frigate but not the Covetor. There's mining happening, and I want to disrupt it. Fin's holding in the home system on the K162 in case any ships pass her way, and waiting to see what she should bring to ambush the Covetor. That is, if I can find him. An empty planet lies far enough away to let me launch probes covertly, after which I head back to, well, I suppose to the tower. I know the Covetor is near the tower, which gives me a good enough starting point to locate him, and the tower looks to be where it was almost a year ago, so I can monitor other ship movements whilst I hunt.

It looks like the hunt is off. I warp to the tower, having launched probes, to see the Covetor now inside the force field. I know he was out previously, I'm not space mad, and to prove it the pilot swaps to a Hoarder hauler, no doubt to collect the ore from the jet-cans still on d-scan. It looks like he's finished for the evening. Even so, he will be collecting the ore, and I see that the ship warps out of the tower above the ecliptic plane and to the right of the seventh planet. A few hasty adjustments to d-scan's range gate puts the distance to the cans under 3 AU away. I have no time for finesse now, nor even much concern for whether my scanning will be seen.

I arrange my probes near where I approximate the jet-cans to be, call for Fin to ready a heavy interdictor, and perform a rough scan as the Hoarder returns to the tower. I won't be able to get a hit on the ship, but the gravimetric site that appears must be where the Covetor was operating. The Probe has now become a Badger, making me wonder if we can get two haulers at the same time, as a second scan gets the site resolved to 100% strength. Two scans and I'm done. I recall my probes and warp in to take a look. I make a strategic bookmark on the way in to the site, as well as bookmarking the site itself, and ask for an update from Fin. She's having trouble accessing the hangar, preventing her from getting the Onyx prepared. Damn, we could really use the HIC's bubble for this, in case the hauler has warp core stabilisers. But I'm not going to pass on a kill if I can get it.

I retreat to my strategic bookmark and watch the jet-cans in the site. It doesn't take long for the Hoarder to return to pick up more ore, and, with Fin still not available, I warp in to say hello. I decloak a little early, which looks to panic the Hoarder somewhat, but my targeting systems lock on to the hauler and prevent its escape. It doesn't take much for my guns to rip the industrial ship apart, and although I think I trap the pod it warps back to the tower to leave me with only an expanded cargohold to loot from the wreck. And some ore, I suppose, but I shoot the cans, as I shoot the wreck, to leave nothing left worth collecting.

Re-activating my cloak, I return to the tower to watch the pod, noting that the Badger remains elsewhere, although that elsewhere is not the mining site. When the Badger warps in to the force field again it looks like he came from a customs office, but I've not been reading d-scan well enough, as there is another tower in that direction. I'm also not entirely convinced I should have destroyed those cans of ore. It's not that I want the ore for myself, but I really ought to give miners a reason to keep on mining, even if they lose their ships. Feeling entirely unproductive may eventually have me running out of soft targets to keep me in practice. I'll ponder this.

At least I remember seeing a third tower—what I took to be a second tower to start with—when I first tried to launch probes, one with an Archon carrier and Enyo assault ship also on d-scan, so with the ambush complete I should reconnoitre that. I find the tower with the two ships, and two more, Mammoth and Bestower haulers also inside the force field, and all four piloted. But I suppose these pilots may share information with each other, particularly about a covert Loki strategic cruiser roaming their system, and I'm unlikely to see any more action here.

Ah, yes, I remember now. I came here ostensibly to see if the system was the source of the Ghostathema or not, but as I didn't get a name or corporation of the pilot as she flew past me that was pretty much a lost cause from the start. I don't suppose we'll find out, not unless we have another sighting of the mystery covert operations boat, which seems unlikely if we did actually manage to get it out of our system.

Posted in Gaming | 6 Comments »
Tags: archon, badger, bestower, covetor, enyo, eve online, hoarder, loki, mammoth, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, probe, pvp, scanning, w-space

Performing an exorcism

I'm looking for someone to shoot. Maybe Fin's found a suitable target already, but unless they're in the home system I suspect not, as there are no new bookmarks created today. It looks like my glorious leader has arrived at the same time as me, so we can share tonight's adventure together. Let's hope we have one. Rocks, gas, and a wormhole are all as expected at home, and we resolve the static connection and jump to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system to roam for some action. For once, a tower visible on my directional scanner also has some ships with it, but the eclectic mix of industrial command ship, frigate, and command ship makes me think nothing is happening.

I locate the tower before launching probes, if only so I see what ships are piloted and assess the likelihood of activity. And having only been in this C3 two weeks earlier I warp directly to the tower, where I confirm that none of the ships are piloted. That's a shame, as I suppose we won't get another opportunity to ambush a battleship crashing our wormhole, but with nowhere to hide in the system a lack of pilots means we won't be noticed when scanning. Two anomalies and sixteen signatures gets reduced to rocks, gas, one magnetometric site, and one wormhole. That looks good for Sleeper combat. But, hold on, one last signature is being coy far from a planet. Yep, we've got a second wormhole, and more exploring to do.

The static exit to low-sec leads me out from C3a to the Black Rise region, the less-deformed cousin of Aridia, whilst Fin sticks to w-space and heads through what turns out to be a T405 connection to a class 4 system. The low-sec system is used for faction warfare, and the anomalies here reflect that, but one additional signature breaks the mould and resolves to be a K162 wormhole, from class 1 w-space too. I get a little excited and jump in to the C1 to appear eight kilometres from the wormhole, which probably means I'm sitting on the cosmic signature and that no one has been in this system since the great galactic reboot.

Sure enough, I can't cloak until I have manoeuvred my way off the invisible but still interfering cosmic signature, and, despite there being a Buzzard covert operations boat in one of the two towers here, there are no pilots to be seen. Still, scanning for further K162s won't take long, not with a mere three signatures in the system, but all I resolve is a ladar and radar site each. There's nothing to see here, move along. Jumping back to low-sec has the one pilot from before gone, so I pop a rat in a rock field before returning to C3a. Fin, meanwhile, has found nothing in C4a besides the dreaded H900 wormhole to class 5 w-space. So what now?

We could crash our wormhole, engage Sleepers for profit, or scan our way down a chain of class 5 w-space. Or we could compromise, and shoot some Sleepers before crashing the connection and looking for targets in a new neighbouring system. That sounds all well and good, until warping back through C3a has me notice the Wolf-Rayet phenomenon present, which I actually remember from the last time that it limits our shield boats and bolsters the Sleepers' armour. Let's just collapse our wormhole.

Hullo, scanning probes in our home system gives us another option, to wait for and ambush a scout heading our way. We don't have much time to think about this, as the probes vanish and an Anathema cov-ops appears on our static connection. He jumps and I follow, but he's quick and cloaks as I appear in C3a. Assuming he's coming back, Fin plants a Flycatcher interdictor on the wormhole, but shared bookmarks means the cov-ops can relay route information back to colleagues without having to return. We'll have to watch both sides of the wormhole. Actually, that's a good point, as I should probably scan the home system for the new wormhole, so that we can have as much information as possible before it hits d-scan.

I jump home, scan, and find no new signatures. That's rum. 'Maybe it's the Ghostathema', says Fin. Good point! And now that we know he's out of our system it may be a good idea to collapse the wormhole and keep him out. I stow my scanning boat and board an Orca, pushing the massive industrial command ship through our static connection a couple of times, with Fin keeping watch in her Flycatcher. With one round trip remaining, Fin swaps roles with me to avoid the polarisation delay and speed the process along. The wormhole dies, with Ghostathema out of the system.

Our guest didn't seem too bothered about being isolated from our system, though, if he was even paying attention to what we were doing. I don't suppose he was a scout for another corporation, particularly as we haven't seen any sign of other ships loitering with intent, even when we have been careless enough to mine rocks or harvest gas. More likely the capsuleer is a simple wanderer, roaming from system to system as his scanning takes him, but it's better he's gone than continuing to loiter in our home system. That's some kind of accomplishment for the evening, I suppose.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Performing an exorcism
Tags: anathema, buzzard, eve online, flycatcher, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Scan and rat and scan again

Empty space is good space, at least in the home system. Scanning holds no unexpected surprises or opportunities, leaving me with a static wormhole to class 3 w-space to jump through. Empty space is less desirable space when roaming, and a mere four bubbles appearing on my directional scanner in C3a doesn't bode well for adventure this evening. A blanket scan reveals thirteen signatures, six anomalies, and no ships, which isn't a bad result for a system that remains unoccupied since ten months ago. Maybe the static exit to null-sec k-space accounts for no one moving in.

Scanning for an exit to null-sec in class 3 w-space can be frustrating, if only because the signature is weak enough to be easily mistaken for radar and magnetometric sites. I can still discard most of the rocks and gas easily enough, but it takes two or three scans of each weak signature before I even know what I'm looking at. As it turns out, I just needed to look above me. Maybe 5·5 AU above me, but I've got good eyesight. And, somehow, I also miss a fat K162 signature during my initial scanning, picking it up only after I've resolved everything else.

The K162 comes from class 5 w-space, which seems a better system to visit that exiting to null-sec, so I jump through and update d-scan. I see nothing, and only one planet is out of range. There could be occupation, but probably not activity. Warping to the distant planet finds three towers, in fact, with a piloted Oracle at one of them. I doubt the battlecruiser will be active in this system, or indeed C3a, and even a Cynabal cruiser appearing at a second tower doesn't increase the odds of the pilots doing anything, so I leave them for now and head out to scan null-sec.

I appear in a system in the Malpais region by myself, which will let me rat whilst I scan. The region's full of drones, which used to make ratting pointless, but now drones have bounties and so, presumably, will increase my security status. I launch probes and see only one extra signature in the system as I hop around rock fields, which luckily resolves to be a wormhole. One rat battleship is popped and I'm warping to the wormhole, which turns out to be an outbound connection to more class 5 w-space. I don't fear scanning, not tonight. In I go.

C5b turns out to be an unoccupied system, and one with a more typical accumulation of signatures than the C3 behind me. My probes pick up a wormhole within the first handful of the thirty-one signatures in the system, but it turns out to be a K162 from low-sec empire space. I may not be an expert, but I suspect that isn't the system's static connection, so I keep looking. Another wormhole is another K162, this one from even more class 5 w-space, and scanning continues to the depths of the signature strengths. This third wormhole must be the static connection, or at least lead outwards. Either way, I'm recalling my probes before I reach it, as I'm not staying in this system any longer.

The last wormhole I resolve in the system probably is the static connection, as it leads to class 4 w-space. On the other side of the wormhole is an occupied system holding a tower with two sadly unpiloted Iteron haulers, and a rather scant number of signatures. It's worth a poke through the five of them to see where they lead, which turns out to be to class 3 w-space. Maybe I can finally find some action there. But no, all C3b has to offer is a system with a tower and no ships visible, and I don't care to scan for the exit to low-sec I know will be here from a visit six weeks earlier. It's time to head back.

I divert from my homewards course in C5b to peek in to C5c, where occupation is obvious from an anchored territorial control unit. The Rorqual capital industrial ship, and Revelation and Moros dreadnoughts are not particularly interesting to me at the moment, not with the tower on d-scan too, and even less so when my notes tell me that the system is occupied by blues. Then again, my notes also say that there were twenty-one towers a month ago, and I can see only one now. That's almost, but not quite, worth investigating. Back, back, back.

I pause in null-sec to rat again, popping another battleship, before returning to C3a and taking a last look in C5a. The Oracle and Cynabal have been joined by a Helios covert operations boat and a second Oracle, but this is hardly exciting when all the ships remain planted in the towers. I'm glad I didn't hang around to watch this dazzling transformation of two pilots in to four, as there is still nothing happened despite a 100% increase in capsuleers. I'm going home. And I'm going home with the same security status as I left home with. What the hell, drones, what's your problem?

Posted in Gaming | 4 Comments »
Tags: cynabal, eve online, helios, iteron, mmorpg, moros, null-sec, oracle, penny ibramovic, revelation, rorqual, scanning, w-space

Bringing Aii home

A whole host of exploration bookmarks is waiting for me today. A K162 from class 5 w-space is still here, still in a critically unstable state, but now it's also reaching the end of its life. It's pretty sickly. Our static wormhole looks fine, however. But before I explore I have prudence looking over my shoulder again, telling me the bookmarks are older than yesterday's were, so I scan the home system briefly. Since the earlier scout was active, only some new gas clouds have popped up, almost sensing Aii's arrival and desire to suck them in to his harvesters. I can even explore ahead to sate my exploration itch whilst making sure no one is coming his way as he collects the gas. Or I could, if Aii weren't in high-sec empire space at the moment.

I'll still push ahead, only now I'm scouting to get Aii an entrance to w-space. That should be easy enough, as the bookmarks point a way through our neighbouring class 3 system and to a class 2 system with an exit to the Tash-Murkon region. That sounds high-seccish. But looking closer shows the wormhole bookmark to be tagged as 'EOL', and if that was made around ten hours ago I can't expect the connection to remain. I swing past to take a look and, sure enough, the wormhole is dead. It wasn't a static connection for this system either, so there won't be a replacement. But there is a static connection in the C3, and Aii fears no low-sec, but reconnoitring the wormhole shows that too to be EOL and perhaps not long for this constellation.

I'm no fan of stale constellations. All is discovered, everything is dead or dying, and as a result I have little to do. A quick scan of the C3 has no new wormholes appeared either. If I want to do anything, or get Aii home, I will need to collapse our static wormhole and start again, which is always an option. But collapsing a wormhole takes time and entails some level of risk, particularly solo, so it's not really an action I want to take as a matter of course. To exacerbate the circumstances, our static wormhole is not fresh, so I have no reliable measure of what ships have been through so far, adding their mass with each jump. The C5 K162 in our home system could also be a source of ships passing through the wormhole, adding more uncertainty. This could end badly if I don't take care of the numbers.

One return trip with an Orca goes as expected, but the second outbound trip in the industrial command ship stresses the wormhole to half-mass. That's a little early, and so unexpected. But rather than think about how much mass I have pushed through the wormhole, if I now consider how much mass can potentially still be pushed through I get a better idea of what I need to do. It doesn't matter than I've taken 900,000,000 kg through the wormhole with three Orca trips, what matters is that it took between 650,000,000 kg and 900,000,000 kg to destabilise the wormhole. That means the wormhole has between 950,000,000 kg and 700,000,000 kg of its mass allowance remaining, give or take.

On my subsequent return to the home system, the jump adding another 300,000,000 kg, there remains between 650,000,000 kg and 400,000,000 kg of mass allowance left. Viewing it this way gives a much clearer estimate of what needs to be done. I can push the Orca through again with negligible risk of the wormhole collapsing, and bringing it back may even collapse the connection. If not, I can use our crashing heavy interdictor to finish the task. It seems easy given the right perspective. One more trip with the Orca has it pass both ways through the wormhole safely, and although the wormhole doesn't collapse it does become critically unstable. My numbers were good enough. One trip with the Devoter, bubbling to exit light and burning its oversized reheat to return heavy, kills the connection. I can start the evening afresh.

I scan the home system, as I float near the still here, still dying C5 K162, and have my probes return one signature less than expected. But the gravimetric site from a few days ago hasn't disappeared, the K162 has. It's no longer on my overview, even though the pulsating throb of the connection's weakened state persists in the vacuum of space for a little longer. Now I am really isolated and alone. And I just made myself a little sad. Maybe I can find some new friends to shoot in the fresh constellation. I resolve the static wormhole and jump to the new neighbouring class 3 system.

A well-equipped tower but no ships appear on my directional scanner in C3a, and opening the system map shows there to be nothing else to see. Scanning finds even less, with a single anomaly and two signatures, which will be our K162 and the static wormhole. I imagine the anomaly is brand new and not long for this system. I resolve the static connection and, naturally, it's an exit to low-sec. But, in this most basic of constellations, does it lead to Aridia? No, disappointingly not. I exit to be in a faction warfare system in Essence, a few hops from high-sec. That should be good for Aii when he gets back, but maybe I can do better.

Scanning the low-sec system reveals a bounty of signatures, but I'm not sure if they will be useful or related to faction warfare. Resolving them finds out. I have a wormhole connecting low-sec to low-sec, some rocks, a magnetometric site, some more rocks, an outbound connection to class 3 w-space, a K162 from class 2 w-space, another magnetometric site, an outbound connection to class 5 w-space, and some Serpentis rats. I'd say that's a good result. If only initial scouting and collapsing the wormhole hadn't take so long, as I could then do more than poking my nose in to each w-space system. But here I go.

C2a is my first destination, where a tower floats somewhere, bereft of ships, and with nothing more to see. That's one system explored. Back to low-sec and in to C3b has me out of d-scan range of all but the furthest planet. I launch probes and blanket the system, if only to get an idea of what's out there, and see three ships in the direction I'm warping. D-scan updates me to show them as three haulers: a Bestower, Iteron, and Hoarder. I start tingling with expectation, only to find the tower and see none of the ships are piloted. And that's it for this system. Back to low-sec and in to C5a. I know from ten months ago that the static in this system leads to more class 5 w-space, so I'm certainly not about to go looking for that, and even though a corporation has now moved in no one is currently home.

Without scanning further I have only one more wormhole to check, and that's the intra-low-sec connection. I may as well take a look, as it could be more convenient in bringing Aii home. I jump through and, ah, here's Aridia! I knew I'd find it somewhere. Okay, so this isn't better for Aii, but I am alone in a low-sec system, so I may as well take a minute to pop a rat. In fact, I'll scan and rat, because ratting alone is likely to bore me silly. It's a good choice, as the nine bountiful signatures keep me occupied as I bounce between rock fields in a vain search for a rat battleship. I find only a couple of cruisers amongst the frigates, and only a single wormhole from the nine signatures.

The wormhole is a nifty outbound connection, and holds an occupied but inactive class 2 system behind it, which will have another link to k-space. But if I don't have time to scan C3b, from the first low-sec system, I don't have time to scan here. That's okay, as Aii reappears and is more than happy with his simple eight-hop journey to the entrance in Essence. With Aii happy, I'm happy, as bringing him home means I have accomplished something this evening. Given what little else was out here tonight, it's good to know my efforts haven't been wasted.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Bringing Aii home
Tags: bestower, devoter, eve online, hoarder, iteron, low-sec, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space