Little but empty ships

25th October 2011 – 5.14 pm

I have some time to myself, I'm going to take an early afternoon stroll through w-space. That means scanning my way through wormholes first, though, as I need to find the path before I can follow it. A couple of new signatures in the home system turn out to be only rocks, and I activate both sites as I resolve our static wormhole. Jumping in to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system has nothing interesting on my directional scanner, only the outer planet, letting me launch probes and perform a blanket scan. Three ships wait for me somewhere, so I warp off to find out what and where they are.

The three ships area Manticore stealth bomber, and Anathema and Cheetah covert operations boats, all sat inside a tower's force field. The Anathema is the only boat piloted. The pilot doesn't seem to be active, with no scanning probes visible on d-scan, so I set about scanning the system myself. The first hit is a wormhole, merely a boring K162 from low-sec empire space, and warping to it sees that the Anathema is in fact active, the scanning probes simply far enough from the tower in this big system not to be detected from there. I may as well ignore them for now, as my probes will also not be detected by the local pilot, and continue scanning.

I resolve a second wormhole, a K162 from class 4 w-space, and some rocks. A radar site gets ignored and I find a third wormhole, the outbound connection to class 3 w-space cropping up before the system's static exit to low-sec, which is the fourth wormhole I find. And now that I have the location of the static wormhole I am inclined to explore in to the second C3 ahead of the Anathema, wanting to keep the best opportunities for myself. Jumping in to C3b looks promising initially, with a Prowler transport ship and Noctis salvager on scan, either of them being valid targets, but locating the tower here finds both ships empty of capsuleers. That is, once I find the tower.

My notes put me in this system six months ago, and although the tower is around the same planet as back then the planet is missing seven of its moons if my notes are to be believed. I locate the tower, which is easy enough with a choice of only two moons, and correct my notes, settling down to scan the system. The four signatures present among the six anomalies are gas, gas, a static exit to low-sec, and a radar site. I exit through the wormhole to get the destination system and take a look around. Hello Aridia!

Goodbye, Aridia! There is no one in the low-sec system with me, and with another w-space system still to explore I don't bother launching probes to scan. I head back through two C3 systems—noting but ignoring a Buzzard cov-ops boat blipping on d-scan—and jump in to the C4. Two towers and a couple of big ships greet my d-scan interrogation in the class 4 system, the Orca industrial command ship and Chimera carrier sitting unpiloted inside one tower, an empty Helios cov-ops boat looking lonely at the second. Scanning reveals only two signatures, one of which is the wormhole I jumped through and the other unsurprisingly being a second wormhole.

It doesn't surprise me that the only other signature in this system is a wormhole precisely because of the lack of other signatures, as well as all visible ships being unpiloted. Wormholes don't open themselves. The K162 comes from class 5 w-space, jumping in showing me what looks like a familiar system number and ship configuration. But having two Revelation dreadnoughts, a pair of Iteron haulers, and a Crane transport ship must be more common than I think. I was last in this system five months ago, where nothing noteworthy apparently happened. At least in the first C3 we shot a Buzzard down to its hull when we were last there.

Like yesterday, the Crane manages to disappear before I see it at the tower, making me wonder if perhaps d-scan is playing up and showing me ghosts. I disregared the cloaky get for now and consider this C5 to be scouted. But maybe it isn't, as warping back to the wormhole to the C4 has it flare as I approach, a Buzzard appearing and warping away. Judging by the ship's naming convention the Buzzard is local, and pausing at the wormhole brings the Crane back on to d-scan too. And now the Crane is replaced by a Badger hauler, an eminently more catchable ship. But where is he going and where do I wait?

If the Badger is collecting planet goo I need to go to the tower to see which customs office he plans to visit. If, on the other hand, the Badger is heading out to empire space I ought to wait on the wormhole for his arrival. I head to the tower. I could cross the Badger's in warp, but it's unlikely a simple hauler would be chosen over a transport ship for transiting w-space systems and, besides, if I am quick enough I should be able to spot him heading for the wormhole, if he comes this way, and warp back to follow and engage. As it turns out, I am not quick enough, the Badger out of the tower before I get there. I try to give chase, guessing a customs office and sweeping d-scan around on a narrow beam once I get there, but I am too late. All I find is the Badger returned to the tower and stationary.

Maybe the pilot was using the Crane to collect planet goo but needed a bit more cargo capacity for one final trip. I could have caught him but my timing was a little off, both when deciding to leave the system initially and when trying to determine if I should monitor the wormhole or the tower. Never mind, there'll be other innocent industrialists I can shoot. Now I am definitely leaving the system, further ship changes here be damned. I'm hungry and want some food, so not even a new contact in a Pilgrim recon ship warping out somewhere will tempt me to stay. A Badger sitting in the tower in the class 4 system tempts me a little bit, but my will to eat food overcomes my blood lust, leading the stationary Badger behind.

The wormhole connecting the C4 to the C3 starts to die as I jump homewards, poor thing. That looks like effectively denying later access to the w-space systems in this direction later on, which is a shame, as they look like they could be active. But maybe new connections will open up, or the occupants of the C3 could wake up. Whatever the case, I will only find out later, when I return. For now, I get home safely and go off-line to grab some grub.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Little but empty ships
Tags: anathema, badger, buzzard, cheetah, chimera, crane, eve online, helios, iteron, manticore, mmorpg, noctis, orca, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, prowler, revelation, scanning, w-space

Running foul of rocks

24th October 2011 – 5.00 pm

Another day, another empty home system. Scanning my way out of here is simple as always but picking a direction is not as straightforward as usual, there being a second wormhole present today. Along with our static wormhole to class 3 w-space there is also a K162 from class 4 w-space. The system behind the K162 should offer more hope for activity than going through our static connection, as the wormhole must have been opened by a capsuleer, but as no one is in our own system and the C4 occupants, if there are any, are unlikely to pass through to the C3 to shoot Sleepers there instead, it's probable that there is no one awake in the C4 at the moment. Even so, I'm going to the class 4 system first, if only to exhaust my options in that direction.

Sure enough, the C4 is sleepy. My directional scanner shows me only two towers nearby and no ships, and launching probes and blanketing the system finds nothing more of interest. The four signatures present are few enough to resolve quickly, finding only rocks and a couple of magnetometric sites to go with the wormhole I jumped through, and apart from a couple of strategic cruisers appearing sequentially and briefly at one of the towers, there is nothing to see here. I imagine the two pilots were checking their skill queues or similar, which would account for their short stay. I'm not going to loiter with intent for capsuleers that aren't here and may not be returning, so I turn my ship around and head towards our neighbouring class 3 system.

That's just great. I see a Hulk exhumer, mining drones, and a jet-can on d-scan and today's the day I am spat out less than a kilometre from the wormhole. I have a lot of distance to cover before I can cloak my Tengu, which will give the Hulk pilot enough time to see me. I could jump back home and return again, hoping for a better transit, but I'd rather not give the miner another four minutes of time to decide he's had enough of shooting rocks for the day whilst I wait for the polarisation effect to end. I make my move, burning away from the wormhole and cloaking as soon as I can, and once cloaked start refreshing d-scan to see what happens. It looks okay, as the mining drones haven't been recalled, so I may not have been spotted. That may also bode well for the pilot not seeing my scanning probes when I hunt him down like a dog.

I open my system map and find the farthest planet from my position. It is out of d-scan range of the wormhole but only just, and depending on where the Hulk is mining I may not be able to launch probes covertly. But warping out there thankfully finds it to be out of range of the Hulk and I launch my combat probes, returning to the wormhole where I start my search for the exhumer. Actually, first things first, I must locate the tower also visible on d-scan, as there is an Orca industrial command ship and Pilgrim recon ship also in the system and it would be good to know if either is piloted. Finding the tower is easy enough, where I see the Pilgrim piloted and the Orca not, and I think I should be safe enough to engage the Hulk, once I find it.

I narrow down the position of the exhumer, looking like I am close enough to get a decent bearing without angular errors creeping in, and I arrange my probes around where I think the Hulk is. I get myself ready and hit 'scan'. The probes warp in from their distant position, scan the space they've been assigned, and send me the results. They're good. The Hulk and its drones have been resolved to 100% on the first attempt, giving me a beacon to warp to even though the gravimetric site is still a little fuzzy. I recall the probes but hold my position for now.

The pilot may be paying attention and it would do me no good to warp in to an empty gravimetric site, potentially giving away my ship class, if he is already warping out. And judging by d-scan the pilot did see me, as the mining drones are gone, no doubt recalled as the exhumer aligns to warp clear. I remain sitting cloaked off the tower to see the Hulk warp in to its force field. My scanning is good, my hunt unsuccessful. I stay to see what happens next, the pilot curiously swapping to a Purifier stealth bomber and warping apparently towards a planet, which seems like odd behaviour. But he's back to the tower soon enough, where he changes in to a Mammoth hauler. That's more like it.

I would imagine the pilot is after the ore he mined, which wil be in the jet-can in the gravimetric site. And as the jet-can will be close to where the Hulk was mining my current bookmark to the Hulk's last-known position will serve me well now too. Of course, unless the pilot's a complete idiot, and his actions so far suggest otherwise, he will be fitting warp core stabilisers to his hauler, to counter a single ship's attempt to prevent his escape. That won't let him flee an Onyx heavy interdictor, though, and if only I were scouting for an Onyx that would mean something. The best I can hope for is that the pilot's a complete idiot. I sit and watch the Mammoth for a couple of minutes, and then he's off.

I already aligned my Tengu strategic cruiser to the gravimetric site and follow behind the Mammoth almost immediately. I drop a little short, in case the pilot is faking me out to see if I'm paying attention, giving me the option to remain cloaked if he decides to warp in at range. He doesn't, he's at the jet-can, so I decloak and, well, wait for my dumb systems to recognise and update my display with all the different rocks here. This seems like an activity that could be performed in warp, when the destination is determined and a pilot has little to do, not when dropping out of warp on top of a target. I try to get a positive lock on the Mammoth during the half-second windows when my ship is responsive to my input, and I manage to do so only for the hauler to warp clear almost immediately. I wasn't even able to burn torwards and bump the ship.

The next time I'm hunting in a gravimetric site it may be best to reconnoitre the site first, so that the visual display of all the rocks is cached and doesn't need to be loaded dynamically. Even so, the hauler was clearly warp-stabilised. Maybe I could have popped his fragile hull with two volleys of missiles, maybe he would have got free anyway. Either way, my opportunity is lost. Out of spite, I shoot the jet-can of ore the miner wasn't able to collect, regain my cloak, and warp out of the site. Back at the tower the Pilgrim wakes up and warps out—or maybe goes to sleep and warps out, it's hard to tell—but I ignore him and the Mammoth now and decide to scan the system.

Resolving a wormhole sitting out at the far planet makes sense of the Purifier's earlier actions, the pilot assuming the scanning probes he saw having come from the direction of this K162 from class 5 w-space, and I jump through to see what's there. A few ships are unpiloted at a tower in the C5, although a Crane transport ship disappears before I get there from the wormhole, and there are scanning probes in the system. It's odd that the probes are clustering around the wormhole to the C3, though, as the locals should already know its location to have opened it, suggesting either other pilots opened it or different pilots are scanning it. I'm guessing there's another K162 to find.

Fin's here! My glorious leader has returned. As she works out which way is 'up' in space I scan the C5 to find only two extra signatures, both of which are wormholes to more class 5 w-space. One wormhole is reaching the end of its natural lifetime, the other is in rude health, and I jump through the healthy connection for more exploration. I only find a tower holding an empty Bustard transport ship in this second C5, so I turn myself and head home to welcome Fin back to w-space. She's already found her way to the C4 connecting in to our home system and reported that the Tengu is back, and we think about luring it out of the tower in to an ambush. I warm up one of our killer Legion strategic cruisers and plant it ready on the wormhole whilst Fin warps to an obvious point in the system, decloaks, and acts as bait. Welcome back, Fin!

The Tengu either doesn't take the bait or doesn't even see it, leaving Fin making newbie mistakes for no audience. It's getting late too, and with occupied connections on both sides of our home system there seems little point in trying to shoot Sleepers, and too much effort to collapse both the wormholes. It's been an eventful evening, now it's time to get some rest.

Posted in Gaming | 4 Comments »
Tags: bustard, crane, eve online, hulk, legion, mammoth, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, purifier, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space

Gigs of 2010-ish

23rd October 2011 – 3.47 pm

It looks like back in 2010 I was still endeavouring to write a review for gigs the day after I attended them, the habit tailing off towards the end of the year. I find it difficult to be thorough and timely, particularly if I don't have much to say, probably because I think I prefer to write a more personal review than critical. The single-paragraph anthology format works well for me in this respect, certainly when I am reviewing a band I have seen more than once in a year. For those gigs I have already reviewed I provide links for completeness, for the others I finally publish my experiences, such as I remember them after all this time. Also, I am fairly sure the Dinosaur Jr gig was in 2009.

Dinosaur Jr at Koko

Dinosaur Jr are back, and with Lou Barlow on bass. This would probably be of more significance to better fans than me, although I certainly appreciate knowing I am here to watch the original line-up. In truth, even though I'm no Spring chicken I am not old enough to have been fans of Dinosaur Jr from the beginning, although I have a few albums, and I remain impressed with the latest one, Farm, which is why I am happy to nab a couple of tickets for tonight. There are plenty of aging rockers in the crowd, and king of them all is J. Mascis, with his fabulous mane of white hair. Mascis has himself semi-surrounded by three double-cabinet-and-amplifier racks, the guitarist at the focal point of the arrangement, all the better to hear himself play. We can hear him just fine, riffs and licks powering out of the venue's systems, although it all gets a bit quiet between songs. Barlow occasionally barks randomly towards the audience, but otherwise we are simply treated to a collection of songs from the new album, followed by what I can only assume are tracks from early Dinosaur Jr history. It's all good, making for a loud and solo-filled night of very fuzzy rock.

Slow Club at the Garage

Already reviewed.

Fuck Buttons/Factory Floor at Koko

I've reviewed this gig already, but this seems like a good place to share an anecdote that may not translate so well to text.

I was buying some tickets at my normal agency, Stargreen on Argyl Street, which was having a fairly busy Saturday morning. It's only a small place, so it doesn't take much to make it bustle. A couple of telephone operators were taking orders, another assistant was serving one person, and the lovely manager was dealing with me. There was even a small queue waiting to be served. I was happily buying tickets for my gigs, almost pleased that there was sufficient murmur to disguise asking for the last request. But all went still, a rather coincidental silence suddenly dropping as I was about to speak. 'It's all gone a bit quiet', I say, before continuing to ask, 'and a ticket for Fuck Buttons, please'.

I wasn't embarrassed, I knew what I was going to be asking for when I left my house, and that I've uttered ruder phrases in my time. But the atmosphere had gone from busy bustle to pin-dropping quiet only a moment before, and the haphazard arrangement of queueing meant that I had to ask diagonally across the desk, speaking across another customer and the two or three behind me. I could help but be amused, and neither could some others. I could see the chap behind me stifling the giggles at the absurdity of the circumstance. It is a silly band name, and it led to a silly situation. I left the agency a couple of minutes later, tickets bought, still a little tickled.

Blitzen Trapper at The Borderline

Already reviewed.

Holy Fuck at Heaven

Already reviewed.

White Hinterland at The Social

Already reviewed.

Rolo Tomassi at Camden Underworld

I'm always a bit dubious about liking Rolo Tomassi. I have to wonder if I like them because they're obscure or if I do actually like their music, if only because I'm not a fan of screamed vocals. But when I listen beyond the screaming I find interesting and complex music, which I suppose is only to be expected from a band who perform maths-core, as it's called. I take the opportunity to see them live in a small venue, and they are impressive. They all have a lot of skill in playing their instruments and are really tight as a band, even if I'm still not sure about the screaming. Still, the music's good and they have a lot of dedicated fans who appreciate it all. During the encore, one of the band says they'll give a prize to anyone who can plant their feet on one of the air conditioners on the ceiling, which results in lots of stage diving and other ways of being thrown around. No one manages quite manages the challenge, but the mayhem is certainly entertaining to watch.

Slow Club at Koko

Already reviewed.

It Hugs Back at The Borderline

Already reviewed.

School of Seven Bells at the Scala

I'm beginning to dislike the Scala as a venue. It seems nice enough and I've seen a bunch of good gigs here since it opened, but the layout is beginning to irk me and the sound quality seems to be suffering. Maybe it's not helped by the support act being a man playing a harp and wailing in to a microphone. Because he's on a harp he has to sit, which means unless you're in the front row of the audience or over six foot tall you won't see a thing, and as he only has a harp he relies on backing tapes for accompaniment, which makes the whole experience not much different from listening at home on a stereo, except surrounded by a bunch of sweaty people who are constantly talking and without a comfy chair to sit on. That his singing is mostly wails is simply the icing on the cake to make me return to the lobby to sit this act out, and even then I plug myself back in to my iPod because the venue pipes the music back to the bar too.

Support act aside, I like School of Seven Bells and am really looking forward to seeing them. I enjoy both their albums, this tour being to promote second album Disconnect From Desire. Unfortunately, seeing them live doesn't quite live up to the promise of the recordings. Maybe I'm standing in a flat spot in the venue, which would be disappointing in itself, particularly as I have a good view of the band, but the instrument mix seems flat. On top of that, or maybe because of it, I have no idea what most of the band are doing. I can hear the lead vocals okay, and can relate them to the singer, but the guitarist at the back is strumming away vigorously apparently to no discernable effect, the keyboard player may be hitting keys or not, I can't really tell, and although the drums are coming through loud and clear they are being augmented by a backing tape too, so I can't be sure how much of the drumming is live and how much is being played back. Sure, the music's good and it's nice to be out of an evening, but the performance is lacklustre because of the disconnect between what I'm seeing and what I'm hearing. School of Seven Bells are a good band, but I don't think I'll see them live again.

Part Chimp at the Luminaire

Already reviewed.

The Joy Formidable/Chapel Club/Flats/Wilder at Koko

An NME night at Koko, four bands are playing. And a screen is lowered between acts, showing a looped montage video of three of tonight's bands, so short that it plays out many times between each act. Flats look interesting, I'm seriously bored with Chapel Club before they come on stage, and I know all about The Joy Formidable already. But first, Wilder. I know nothing about this band, and they all look young and terribly trendy, so it's probably not my scene. But the drummer is so fluid in her playing that I'm mesmerized, enjoying the whole set. I don't know if I'm just smitten with how cool the drummer makes drumming look or if I actually like the music, but I'll definitely be checking out Wilder again.

Flats come out next, and their video snippet makes them look interesting. It's a shame, then, that they are juvenile prats. The music's okay but the lyrics are childish, much like the band. When there is a technical difficulty and the set pauses for a couple of minutes the bass player huffily drops his instrument on the stage and strops off, which is only made amusing because he has to come back as if nothing happened a minute later to continue the set. Flats come across as being about as edgy as flicking the Vs to the camera when having your photo taken.

Chapel Club are on stage half-an-hour later, and by this point I'm ready to burn that stupid projection screen. I must have watched the same video looped a hundred times. Chapel Club aren't helping, being awfully maudlin and slow and boring. It's all so dreary. I can't even entertain myself watching the drummer, who makes even the simplest beats look like hard work. I want to watch Wilder again.

Finally, The Joy Formidable, the band I've come to see! If only I could watch them, instead of constantly being barged by someone who, apparently, is the flatmate of drummer Matt. She tells me this as some kind of justification for wanting free movement right in front of the stage where everyone is crammed in. Personally, I just want to watch the band. I'm all up for a bit of jostling, and have moshed plenty in my time, but I never like idiots who just pushed people to get their jollies, and this person, barging her way to one group of people and then another, comes close to being as rude and inconsiderate. Still, The Joy Formidable bring out Paul Draper, of Mansun fame, to play guitar and sing on Greyhound in the Slips, which was awesome, and the band are excellent as always.

Part Chimp/Torche at the Garage

I turn up to see favourite band Part Chimp play a support set at the Garage and bump in to the Power Armoured Beard, who is here to see main act Torche. I honestly can't remember much about the gig. Part Chimp were incredibly noisy and completely brilliant as always, and I always love hearing their huge album-ending Starpiss. I know nothing about Torche but am happy to see PAB here, as it gives me confidence that they'll be good. And they are, in perhaps a more traditional way than Part Chimp but still off the mainstream track. Very heavy rock, tight compositions, and an enthusiastic and appreciative band always make for a good performance, and I much enjoy the whole evening.

Wilder at the King's Cross Water Rats

No sooner did I want to see Wilder again than they play a smaller headlining gig at the Water Rats, in Kings Cross. I snap up a ticket and head across. The audience looks vibrant tonight, and I wonder if Wilder are actually quite popular, but apparently they are all here to see the support act. I forget their name. Once the support gets off stage everyone disappears back in to the pub, and few of them return when Wilder get on stage, which is a shame. I try not to get lost in the drummer's smooth technique this time, listening to the music instead, and they are pretty good! They have some tunes and good songs, as well as a decent drummer. I'll be keeping my eye on Wilder.

Autolux at the Garage

I've been a fan of Autolux for a while, enjoying their debut album but not during a time when they toured for it. Label disputes delayed their second album for a couple of years, but eventually it is released and the band are back on the road again, making their way to London. The Garage may not be a big venue but it is packed with Autolux fans, and the band themselves are happy to see such enthusiasm. We're happy to offer it, getting a rare opportunity to see Autolux perform live, and they don't disappoint. Mixing new songs from second album Transit Transit amongst tracks from the first shows the newer nuanced Autolux contrasted against their older rawer style, and it's all good. I hope I get to see them play again before too long.

Slow Club at Union Chapel

This is the second Slow Club Christmas Show I've been to, again at the Union Chapel in Islington. And, again, I should probably have made notes closer to the event as I can remember little, even who the support bands were. I remember slightly disappointing someone checking the guest list when they lost a bet that the real P J Harvey would be turning up, but I still got a sweetie for being me. Slow Club were in familiar form, awed by again playing to a packed house, although Charles was a little put out that the person who put in a request for a particular song at last year's Christmas Show hadn't come along to hear him play it. The band play old favourites, new tracks, and their Christmas songs, and everyone has a merry time indeed.

Posted in Audio | Comments Off on Gigs of 2010-ish
Tags: autolux, chapel club, dinosaur jr, flats, fuck buttons, garage, gig, koko, part chimp, rolo tomassi, scala, school of seven bells, slow club, the joy formidable, torche, underworld, union chapel, water rats, wilder

Probing for a planetary popping

22nd October 2011 – 3.02 pm

With only a little time planned to spend in space today I'm not expecting to do much more than take a short look around, starting with the home system. An unexpected signature has appeared which when resolved turns out only to be more gas, leaving me just the static wormhole to explore through. I activate the ladar site, resolve our wormhole, and jump in to the neighbouring class 3 w-space system, where a tower, Noctis salvager, and Buzzard covert operations boat all appear on my directional scanner. There are no wrecks or combat ships visible on d-scan, so it doesn't immediately look like I've stumbled across some action, and although the system is big enough to hide activity outside of d-scan range the only two anomalies a passive scan reveals are both close enough that I now expect to find nothing happening.

Locating the tower is a simple enough matter, where I indeed find both ships unpiloted. That's a shame, but not unexpected. Warping to the outskirts of the system to launch scanning probes accidentally finds a second tower, but this too is empty of pilots. So with no one home I launch my probes and perform a blanket scan of the system, sending my ship back to monitor the first tower, as at least there were some ships there. Hullo, my combat scanning probes have picked up three ships, and unless I'm more vastly mistaken than a man who believes that Hilaire Belloc is still alive the Noctis and Buzzard add up to only two. And there is the third, now nestled inside the first tower's force field, a Badger hauler piloted and looking nice and squidgy.

I'm glad I was cautious when blanketing the system with my scanning probes, positioning them far enough out of the system so they remain out of d-scan range of any ships here. Even though I wasn't aware of the arrival of the new ship my caution has let me remain undetected, whilst still having probes out. I don't think I'll need them to catch a Badger collecting planet goo, though, so I keep my probes in their blanketing configuration for now, requesting the occasional scan for them in case more ships appear, and sit and watch the hauler for movement.

I don't think disappearing in a puff of disconnection smoke counts as movement, but there goes the Badger. Never fear, though, a third ship still appears on my scanning probes, so it looks like it is only pilots that have been swapped. But if only that were the case, as the new pilot turns up not in a simple hauler but a Crane transport ship. Those are buggers to catch, being cloaky and agile. Even so, I'm not going to give up before even trying, so I continue to sit and watch the piloted ship. And I sit and watch, and watch as I sit. He's not doing anything, and there are only seven signatures in the system to scan, I may as well look for wormholes and hope for more activity elsewhere. I bring my probes in to the system and start scanning.

Now he moves. Or, rather, now the pilot changes again. The Crane poofs out of existence to be replaced by a Bestower hauler, according to d-scan. Again, I was cautious, starting my scan on the outskirts of the system where my probes would be out of d-scan range of the tower, which lets me fling them back out of the system hopefully without them having been detected. And I would be sitting and watching the Bestower, but it hasn't appeared at the tower yet. Still it lingers on d-scan, so it is around somewhere, I just need to find it. I narrow d-scan's beam and sweep it around, looking like I find the Bestower at a nearby customs office. I kick my Tengu strategic cruiser's warp engines in to life and zip across to try to catch him.

Dropping out of warp at the customs office finds no Bestower. My first reaction is that I missed him at this collection point and start sweeping d-scan around to find his next port of call, but he doesn't appear to be at any other customs offices either. On a hunch I reduce d-scan's range to a mere 1 AU and make another 360° check. Sure enough, the Bestower is visible, putting him around this planet. I narrow d-scan's beam again and point it directly at the planet, and there is the hauler. Time to warp in to greet him.

I can't really extend much of a greeting from a hundred kilometres away, not with my ship's configuration, but I can get closer. I bookmark my spot and turn my ship around to bounce off the customs office again, to warp back in a further hundred kilometres away and put enough distance between the two ships for my warp engines to be useful. It seems like a good plan until I realise only after I bounce out that my nav-comp won't be able to use the neutral ship as a beacon to warp to, and only leave me more distant from my target. But maybe I can rely on the ship being a beacon, as I also remember I have combat scanning probes launched and that a successful scan of a ship can be used to warp to its position. Scanning a ship sitting on a planet is trivial too, and as I bounce off the customs office I cluster my probes on top of the planet, ready for a scan.

I am now far enough away from the hauler to be able to engage my warp drive. My probes are in place. I manually align towards the Bestower to save a few seconds, and call my probes in. A 100% scan is inevitable, allowing me to warp directly on top of my target, decloaking my Tengu as its engines start to cut out. My systems are hot and locking on to the Bestower before he can even react, missiles ripping through shields and armour in a few destructive hits. The pilot's pod is ejected in to space from the wreck of the industrial ship and I am quick enough to catch that too, preventing its escape and cracking it open to give me another corpse for my macabre collection.

I scoop, loot, and shoot the wreck. I can't carry the planetary command centres the Bestower had in its hold, so they become space dust, contributing to the rings around the planet. Job's a good 'un. It looks like the pilot was configuring this planet for goo creation, which perhaps explains why he was out here and not collecting at the customs office, and why he was slow in reacting. With all evidence of my crime collected or destroyed I cloak my Tengu once more, throw my probes back out of the system, and return to take a look at the tower. Ah, another Bestower is piloted inside the force field now, maybe a relation of the corpse I'm carrying. I would be amazed if he was careless enough to wander outside of the tower now.

I sit and watch the Bestower for a while, although I'm not giving it my full atention. I deal with some paperwork whilst listening for the Bestower's engines to fire up but nothing happens, unsurprisingly. Paperwork complete, I've got no reason to stay here any longer and head homewards, recalling my probes shortly before they were due to expire in the void. I didn't even find out where the C3's static connection leads. Maybe I will next time I'm there. To end the night I drop off the corpse and expanded cargoholds in to our hangar, and prepare some bubbles to relax in.

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Tags: badger, bestower, buzzard, crane, eve online, mmorpg, noctis, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space

Simple scanning in w-space

21st October 2011 – 5.22 pm

Yet another evening starts with an empty home system, which is a little saddening. I shall have to look elsewhere for company again, scanning and resolving the static wormhole easily enough as the sole stray signature I don't have a bookmark for. Jumping through the wormhole presents me with a clear result from my directional scanner, but the system's big and could have plenty to hide.

My previous visit to this class 3 w-space system was fourteen months ago, making any information I have on it unreliable, but exploring out to the farthest planet shows the tower still to be where I last saw it. I don't know if this is the same tower as when we popped a Nighthawk command ship and Drake battlecruiser, maybe it's simply an attractive spot to anchor a tower, but my notes stay surprisingly relevant. Even so, there's no one home.

For great justice, the wormhole with the signature 'zig' is quite chubby. And amongst the usual assortment of rocks and gas, radar and magnetometric sites, is a second wormhole, and, hullo, a third. The chubby signature turns out to be the static exit to low-sec empire space, the other two a K162 from null-sec k-space that's reaching the end of its natural lifetime and a K162 from class 4 w-space. Sticking to w-space, I head in to the C4.

Two towers are visible on d-scan, along with a Thanatos carrier, Sleipnir command ship, and Orca industrial command ship. Despite my expectations, the Sleipnir and Thanatos are both piloted, although the Orca is empty. I find out this information nearly at the cost of decloaking in a bubble trap around one of the towers, which I really should have anticipated given the number of containers d-scan is showing me. I also discover a third tower out of d-scan range with an unpiloted Dramiel frigate floating inside its shields.

The Thanatos and and Sleipnir, the only piloted ships I can see, are conveniently in the same tower, letting me watch both of them at the same time. I watch and wait, wondering if either ship will do anything, the Sleipnir answering my question by logging off within a couple of minutes of my arrival. I suppose that's doing something, but it's not quite what I had in mind. And I doubt I can do much to a carrier by myself, so I head back to the C3 and out to low-sec to continue exploring.

The low-sec system I find myself in is part of the Tash-Murkon region, a busy system that forms a triangular low-sec dead end to an arm of a high-sec constellation. Scanning reveals four extra signatures, three of them magnetometric sites and the fourth another wormhole, which collapses even before I reach it, giving me nothing new to explore. It looks like another dreary evening for me. Jumping back to w-space shows the C3 still quiet, and one last look in the C4 has no new ships visible and the Thanatos still in the tower. Home, James, I'm taking an early night.

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Tags: dramiel, eve online, low-sec, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, sleipnir, thanatos, w-space

Topping up the tower is as good as it gets

20th October 2011 – 5.58 pm

Like a shark in Chinese waters, I'm missing a Fin. Whilst exploration can be an end in itself, I prefer scanning through the w-space constellation when it's more of a precursor to action. And whether it's shooting Sleepers or surprising other pilots who are shooting Sleepers I cannot do much on my own. Ambushing salvagers and haulers is a fun activity to pass the time but there are bigger targets out here. I don't think I can continue much longer just poking soft targets, so something will need to change soon.

Alone in our home w-space again I scan, noting that four of the sites I previously activated have now decayed leaving only five expected signatures, including our static wormhole. I resolve the connection to class 3 w-space and jump out to look for action. Spotting a Dragonfly on my directional scanner has me scratching my head about its ship type, and finding out it is a fighter drone has me less interested, particularly as there is no carrier visible on d-scan to accompany the drone. D-scan also shows me a shuttle and three towers, as well as some core scanning probes which have probably spotted our wormhole opening, perhaps ruining my opportunity to surprise anyone before the evening's roaming has started in earnest.

I may as well scan this C3 if I've already been indirectly spotted, so that I can head further abroad. Ignoring the eleven wasted profit's worth of anomalies, the sixteen signatures in the system are quite a few to sift through, and it's even possible that a scout not quite so methodical enough to count all the signatures on an initial blanket scan may not notice a new wormhole appearing. Even so, with no active ships visible on d-scan there's little point in waiting here to ambush someone, and I start resolving the signatures.

I ignore rocks and gas as usual, and find a wormhole that turns out to be a K162. This doesn't surprise me, on reflection, as it is likely to be the source of the other scout in this system. Not many pilots sit cloaked in a safe spot whilst scanning their own system when they have their tower's force field for safety. Even so, the incoming wormhole is only from null-sec k-space and isn't of special interest to me, and I keep scanning to find the system's static exit to low-sec empire space, the only other signature of interest.

Jumping out of w-space puts me in the Kor-Azor region, in a system that is quiet but not empty of pilots. I launch probes to take a look around but end up not straying from the K162, it being the only signature in the system. Now there is only one other pilot in the system with me, and he appears to be scanning too. With this wormhole being the only signature to resolve I find myself in a good position to monitor his progress, and perhaps surprise him, but the probes disappear and no ship visibly warps in or jumps to the C3 before I find myself alone this low-sec system. I suppose the scanning pilot didn't want to find a wormhole.

I take a few minutes to pop some Blood Raider rats in one of the few anomalies here, mostly just to feel productive, as the bounties are hardly worth the effort. Low-sec remains empty now, and heading home sees only the scanning probes gone as a change in the status of the C3, making it quieter than before. I get back to our tower and top up the fuel levels, noting that we'll need to get some more fuel at some point, to state the blindingly obvious. There's not much else for me to do, so I get an early night.

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

Getting a second shot

19th October 2011 – 5.07 pm

Nothing's new in the home w-space system, letting me jump early through our static wormhole. Nothing appears to be happening in the neighbouring class 3 system either, with only a bunch of warp bubbles visible on my directional scanner. They could indicate occupation somewhere out of d-scan range, or they could be an accumulation of space debris. I launch scanning probes to find out, although my notes beat the probes to the punch. I was only in this system some ten weeks ago and warping to the location of the tower finds it still to be there. I also know I'm looking for an exit to null-sec k-space, which will be amongst the four signatures my blanket scan reveals, along with one anomaly.

But who cares about static wormholes when there is a piloted Mammoth hauler and a piloted Retriever mining barge sitting inside the tower's shields? I could have a shot at a pilot collecting planet goo or a miner shooting rocks. And it takes a little while of waiting but the Mammoth finally stirs, firing up its warp engines and heading to what must be a customs office. This could be a good start to the day! Unfortunately, at this distant position in the system, the angular separation of some of the inner-system planets is too small to determine where the Mammoth is heading, but I make my best guess and rush off hopefully behind it.

I drop out of warp near the customs office by myself, the hauler not here but on d-scan. I spin around searching for the Mammoth's current location and try to catch up with him, but flying behind a pilot collecting planet goo can be a losing game, which it is today. He's pretty quick at each customs office and I may have been better served waiting at the first one I landed at instead of rushing off. Once the Mammoth's off d-scan again I return to the tower to see him nestled back inside the force field, probably finished with his rounds and unlikely to go out again. The Retriever hasn't moved either.

Thinking that neither pilot is likely to move I take another look at the results of my blanket scan of the system. There are only four signatures present, one of which being the K162 home, and they all look to be clustered near the inner planets, which could be far enough away for me to resolve them without the pilots being able to detect my probes on d-scan. I give it a go, resolving a gravimetric site and two wormholes without my probes getting within d-scan's range of the tower, now giving me an advantage should the miner want to shoot some rocks. The second wormhole doesn't offer more opportunity, being a K162 from null-sec and reaching the end of its natural lifetime.

I may have missed an initial opportunity but the C3 is starting to wake up. Two new contacts appear in short succession, one in a Manticore stealth bomber and the other in a Drake battlecruiser. The Manticore warps out of the tower, maybe checking the null-sec connections, but even though I follow him I don't see what he's up to, which isn't surprising when considering the ship can cloak. I return to the tower, as does the Manticore shortly afterwards, in time to see the Drake warp out. It looks like he's heading for our K162, but again I see no trace of him when I get there. He drops off d-scan, and although I wonder if he's scouting our home system it could just be that he logged off, his ship warping to safety in a coincidental direction

Nothing is happening here. A few boats are swapped for other boats, but none of the pilots want to leave the tower, until a Buzzard covert operations boat wants to launch scanning probes. If they are going to find our K162 I may as well take a break for food and come back later when they are not so paranoid about a new wormhole. And I do return, but only to find even less happening in the C3 than earlier. That's okay, I have the null-sec connection to explore beyond, jumping out to the Syndicate region where nine of the ten pilots in the system must be marvelling at their legs in a station, or staring at a door, as there is only one ship for my combat probes to reveal.

The null-sec system has four extra signatures to resolve, and although I find a wormhole amongst the Serpentis bases and fortress it is reaching the end of its life, making me less interested in exploring the class 3 w-space system the K162 comes from. Space is all a bit dull at the moment. I head homewards, pausing to reconnoitre the tower in our neighbouring C3, where I see an Osprey cruiser has arrived. Oh, please go mining in that boat! But the pilot isn't sure, maybe having trouble talking himself in to mining in an Osprey, or deciding that staring at a ship maintenance array is more fun.

Before I give up on willing the Osprey to shoot some rocks two more pilots arrive at the tower. One is in a Worm faction frigate, who makes a few cursory orbits of the tower inside the shields before settling down, the other tantalisingly in an Iteron hauler. I am encourage to wait and watch a little longer, focussed on the Iteron now, and my patience is rewarded. The long and skinny hauler turns and points quite nicely indeed towards a planet, and a customs office. I have aligned my ship in preparation and enter warp before the hauler, landing outside the customs office in good time to see the Iteron arrive too.

I drop my cloak, suffer the interminable recalibration delay, and target the Iteron. I get a positive lock and start shooting, ripping the industrial ship to shreds in quick time, but not so quick as to disorientate the pilot. The ejected pod flees my attempt to snare it. I try to loot and shoot the wreck but end up shooting and looting it, which turns out to be not quite as profitable. Those expanded cargoholds can't be added to my collection now. The kill is clean and quick, and no ships are rushing to shoo me away. I fly past the tower to see a complete lack of reaction to the attack, the pod pilot not getting a new ship, the Worm and Osprey unmoved. And I have work to do, so I leave the pilots to stew in their new-found paranoia and head home.

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Tags: buzzard, drake, eve online, iteron, mammoth, manticore, mmorpg, osprey, penny ibramovic, pvp, retriever, scanning, w-space, worm

Heading home has a hauler appear

18th October 2011 – 5.11 pm

Seven bookmarks for the home system, eight signatures revealed when scanning. Including today's unresolved static wormhole that seems about right to me, until I realise one of the ladar sites I activated has dispersed now, giving me an extra signature to investigate. It turns out to be more gas, or the same gas moved to a new location to throw me off its trail, which doesn't give me any more connections to explore through, so I simply head to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system to see if I can find anyone to shoot.

The C3 looks clear from the wormhole, and a blanket scan of the system reveals no ships. A tower is on-line but empty on the outskirts of the system, initally out of range of my directional scanner, and with no one home I start sifting through the eight signatures here, ignoring the seventeen anomalies as more profit going to waste. Scanning finds gas and rocks, rocks and gas, wormhole and battleship. Hold on, what were those last two again? Sure enough a battleship appears on my combat scanning probes, which means my combat scanning probes appear on his d-scanner and he's probably seen me.

'Don't worry', he says in the local channel, at least according to my translation software, 'I'm a professional Russian'. I centre my probes around the battleship and find a second wormhole, but by the time I have resolved the wormhole and warped my Tengu strategic cruiser over to take a look both he and the connection are gone. No doubt he was finishing collapsing the wormhole, confident in piping up in the local channel because the connection was about to be severed. That may be the only interesting occurrence to happen this evening, and I just missed it.

I have three more signatures to resolve, finding more rocks, gas, and a third wormhole. The static connection is an exit to high-sec empire space, but reaching the end of its natural lifetime and mostly useless, the other wormhole being an outbound connection to more class 3 w-space and worth exploring. Jumping in to the second C3 has only one planet within range of d-scan, which is unsurprising for a system around 110 AU across. I stretch my probes as much as I can to try to blanket the system, just about managing it, to see that it looks even quieter than the previous one and with more anomalies.

A mere six signatures are easy enough to resolve, the first one probably being the C3's static exit to null-sec k-space, which I know will be here after my last visit to this system ten months ago. Apart from the usual sites I am pleased to see another wormhole present, and even happier when it turns out to be a V301, an outbound connection to class 1 w-space. That low-class system may offer some squishy targets for me, but jumping in finds nothing of interest within d-scan range, and a blanket scan again reveals no ships. It's awfully quiet out here tonight.

I scan my way out of the class 1 w-space system, exiting to a region I've not been to for a while, even if I remember the stench of Aridia quite well. Exploration can continue from here, the four signatures turning up one further wormhole, a K162 from more class 3 w-space. But jumping in still has no ships in sight! I am tempted not to scan the system, not wanting to waste time looking for a K162 that may not exist, but a lone signature right on the edge of the system looks suitably suspicious, and as I have probes out I can take a quick look. My hunch is right and I resolve a wormhole, but the K162 only comes in from null-sec and doesn't interest me.

I turn around and head homewards, seeing the system in Aridia fill up with pilots, perhaps some weirdo capsuleers re-enacting Battlestar Gallactica, and continue back through still-empty w-space. I poke my nose out through the exit to null-sec in C3b, turning up in a system in the Paragon Soul region where there are no further signatures. I give up on exploration for tonight and warp back across the C3, but with a stutter, as I look at my atlas and realise I could make a quick circuit of some systems for more red dots of exploration, which I return to null-sec to do.

I pop a few rats whilst in null-sec, just a few loitering on a stargate in an otherwise empty system, before returning to w-space to head home to sleep. But w-space is no longer empty, our neighbouring class 3 system now holding two Bestowers somewhere. I move away from the wormhole and cloak, warping to the tower to see what's happening. But sluggish controls look to thwart me again, as my cloaking device activates then de-activates, then on re-activation it appears that my ship isn't cloaked, which I only realise when I reach the tower where the two Bestowers are piloted.

My Tengu's several-second blip on the overview of the locals as I adjust my cloak has probably ruined my chance of catching these pilots unawares before I even get a chance to ambush their defenceless haulers. It's just not fair. I sit and watch them briefly anyway, as one Bestower disappears and returns, only for the other ship to start moving! I have my focus on the wrong ship, but I zoom out to get a bearing on where the first Bestower is heading, and as it looks like a customs office I follow behind.

I drop out of warp to see the hauler land at the customs office, so I decloak and get my weapon systems hot, locking my target and disrupting its warp drives as soon as I can. Popping the hauler is trivial, and it turns out to be my lucky day after all when I also manage to snare the pod and stop it from fleeing. My missiles permanently prevent the pod from going anywhere, and I scoop the corpse, and loot and shoot the wreck, bagging me four cargo expanders for my efforts. They always come in handy. I warp back to the tower to see the second Bestower floating stationary inside the force field, which I imagine is where he'll now stay.

Maybe the first pilot was getting himself a drink when my Tengu inadvertantly became visible for a few seconds, which was unfortunate for him but good for me, but I doubt the other pilot will have missed the more obvious screams of his colleague as he became a corpsicle. Besides, it's late, and I could use some sleep. It still may be only another soft kill for me, but it's an evening's successful exploration and stalking, and I can be pleased about that. I leave the C3 behind me for our home system, where I store my newly collected corpse and settle down for the night.

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Tags: bestower, eve online, mmorpg, null-sec, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space

Scanning and selling

17th October 2011 – 5.46 pm

Blimey, eight signatures light up in the spheres of my scanning probes today. I'm still only expecting three after yesterday's double-wormhole blip, so I wonder how many visitors we have today. Considering the home w-space system was stabilising as I arrived, indicating it being empty for hours, I'm guessing not many. Maybe the Sleepers are starting to come back again.

I confirm that the two sites I already have bookmarked are still here, then resolve a radar site, two ladar gas sites, and a gravimetric site full of rocks. That accounts for all the extra signatures, leaving our static connection as the only wormhole present. No visitors today. I activate the new mining sites, so that they'll disappear in a few days' time, and go exploring in to our neighbouring class 3 system.

There is a tower visible on my directional scanner, but no ships. Hopefully with no one around to watch, I launch probes and perform a blanket scan of the system, revealing a healthy eighteen anomalies and seven signatures. Those anomalies represent a lot of profit, which could be more quickly realised given the magnetar phenomenon present, but I ideally need help to shoot the Sleepers. So far tonight I'm still by myself out here.

I explore and find the local tower, which would have been quicker had I consulted my notes sooner. I was in this system six months ago and the tower is in the same position. At least, one of them is. My notes indicate a second tower was here, but it has been torn down since then, cleanly too. And apparently Fin and I popped and podded a Cheetah covert operations boat that came from low-sec empire space the last time we were here, so I also know I'm looking for a static exit to low-sec.

Scanning finds a wormhole, radar site, a second radar site, a third radar site, a ladar site, and a fourth radar site. My goodness, but that's a boring result. I head out to low-sec to look for something, anything to keep the evening going. I exit to the Everyshore region, with a small group of pilots in the system. Launching probes and scanning is dreadfully disappointing, the K162 I'm sitting on being the only signature in the system. I think I've run out of space tonight.

I check my atlas to see where I am in relation to other systems. It may be possible to risk a stargate or two in order to look for more wormholes. What I find is that this system is actually a one-system low-sec island, one hop from contiguous high-sec. That makes travel a little safer, although the stargates may be camped by opportunistic pirates. I also see that there is a buyer of Sleeper loot a mere two hops away, and market-hub Dodixie is not much further. It's time to sell some loot.

I head back home, dump my scanning boat for a Crane transport ship, load it up with all our loot, and hit the market. Getting to high-sec is straightforward, there not even being any ships loitering with intent on the stargate in low-sec, and I am soon selling all our Sleeper loot. The salvage and artefacts need to be sold separately, though, which complicates matters. I create a contract with our buyer of Sleeper salvage, and even though I'm told she hasn't been seen for a while I'm happy to use this contract to see if she's returned.

The artefacts I put on the market. I haven't been an industrialist for a while, and working out the prices and paying the pilots involved is a little time-consuming and error-prone. But I get it all done, even if we have to wait to see if all the loot sells and plumps up the corporation wallet. Putting our loot up for sale on the market has taken a while but I still have some time this evening, which would be useful if only the C3 wasn't deathly quiet as I pass back through it in my Crane. I think I'll just settle down with a good book.

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

If at first you don't succeed, shoot something else

16th October 2011 – 3.45 pm

We've taken two shots at a pilot exporting ships and missed the kill on both attempts. The first attempt had the battleship warp clear, probably thanks to warp core stabilisers. The second had a Proteus strategic cruiser turn up to spoil our fun. It looks like our target is one step ahead of us. Even so, whilst she's taking her current ship out to empire space I feel safe to finally take a look in her home system, a class 5 w-space system that today connects in to ours.

There haven't been many other pilots passing through our system, so I'm not expecting a welcoming party when I jump in to the C5. Indeed, the wormhole is clear of obvious threats, even if my directional scanner shows me a bunch of ships somewhere in the system. I suspect they are all sitting inside the tower also shown by d-scan, but I can't tell how many are piloted without locating them, so I warp off to do just that.

Of the seven ships at the tower five are empty, with only the Loki strategic cruiser and Badger hauler piloted. The Loki we saw earlier, apparently acting as escort for the exported ships but now it looks like he's probably eating his tea and unavailable to act menacing. The Badger is a new contact and although not a threat he could be a target, if he hasn't yet collected planet goo today. The Badger is now the focus of my attention. At least, he is until the pod of our previous target warps back in to the tower and collects yet another ship for export.

Shev and I haven't quite given up on our attempts to successfully ambush the exporting pilot. The two previous attempts occurred in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, and the target may not know that we originate closer to her home system, or that we have the location of the wormhole leading to her C5. The Proteus guard hasn't jumped out of the C3 yet, which means we can engage on the connection between this C5 and our home C4 hopefully without interruption. But not this time, as the pilot boards another Harbinger battlecruiser, a ship we decided not to engage the last time. Maybe it would be good to let it pass too, letting the pilot think we've given up.

The Harbinger warps out, Shev watches it zoom across our system, and I switch my focus back to the Badger. And the hauler's starting to move. I'm already taking a close look at the Badger and I am confident I know where it's going, so I surge my own ship in the direction of a customs office and get ready to engage if I've chosen wisely. I have. The Badger's here and under ten kilometres from me. I decloak as I drop out of warp, soaking up some of the sensor recalibration time, and get my systems hot. I target the Badger, activate my warp disruption module, and watch as missiles fire in to empty space.

The Badger's warped away from me. I know I got a positive lock, as my missiles wouldn't fire without a target, and I know my warp disruptor was active. Maybe these pilots put warp core stabilisers on every ship. That's disappointing. All I can do is cloak again and head back to the tower to see what happens next. And what happens next is that the Badger pilot swaps to a Manticore stealth bomber and warps out of the tower, disappearing from d-scan as his cloak activates. That's interesting, but not much of a threat. I warp across to the wormhole home, thinking I'm following the Manticore, but I see no jump and Shev doesn't see it enter our system either. Maybe he's cloaked here, who can tell? I think it's safe to ignore the Manticore for now.

Our friend is back in her pod and has jumped past Shev in to the C5, where I pick up the contact and watch her warp to the tower. I don't follow but instead monitor her next ship selection using d-scan. An Omen is an interesting choice. A basic cruiser sounds squishy enough for us to pop before help can be warped across a system, and we are both in position to ambush it on a different wormhole than before. Shev's ready and willing, and I call the Omen's jump through the wormhole in to our home C4. Once more, Shev locks the ship, prevents it from warping, and this time he starts doing significant damage to it uninterrupted.

I hold in the C5, decloaked and ready should it jump back to try to evade Shev. She's not running, though, so most of my time is spent updating d-scan and watching for the missing Manticore. The Omen's knocked down to half its armour now and the pummelling continues, and I'm happy for Shev to get the kill alone if he doesn't need help. But he announces he's jammed, his positive lock dropped meaning the Omen can escape freely. I take this as my cue to jump in to help, hoping that I can stop the Omen warping and that it won't be able to split its ECM between two ships, but I'm too late. I get through the wormhole only in time to watch the Omen warp off, leaving its ECM drones behind.

I think it's time to call it a night. The pilot has successfully evaded us three times now, using a different strategy each time. And I even failed to pop a hauler collecting planet goo. Still, it's been a fun game of cat-and-mouse and it was an interesting hunt for the pair of us. We have no kills but also no losses, and I think Shev has had some fun attacking battleships.

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Tags: badger, eve online, harbinger, loki, manticore, mmorpg, omen, penny ibramovic, proteus, pvp, w-space