Twin Drakes from low-sec

With the threat of the harmless gas miner out of the way I can get back to scanning and exploration. Finding a wormhole in the neighbouring class 3 w-space system should be easy, as I got close to resolving one when scanning the ladar site holding the Ferox. I still have a bookmark to the wreck of the Badger hauler I popped, and positioning some scanning probes around that area indeed returns a wormhole signature. Naturally, it's an exit to low-sec empire space. But it is also pristine, not yet having begun its cycle of decay, making me think that perhaps the occupants haven't yet scanned their way out and the miner's new clone doesn't have a way home. That's a shame.

Apart from the system's static wormhole there are quite a few signatures in the C3. Most of them are mining sites, either gas or rock, and I don't consider them worthy of bookmarking, mostly because it would be an exceptional fool to continue mining in a hostile system, even if he could get back home, although I bookmark a few anyway out of sheer optimism. Only one anomaly is waiting to be found, and I resolve no more wormholes in or out. All that is left to explore is the exit to low-sec, which throws me in to the Derelik region, far from anywhere useful. The low-sec system is close to a couple of dead ends, though, and I visit them for red dots of exploration before returning home and taking a break.

A little later, I go back to the class 3 system, again in my Manticore stealth bomber. The Proteus strategic cruiser has gone from the tower, replaced by two Tengu strategic cruisers to sit passively next to the unpiloted Falcon. Both combat and core scanning probes are visible on my directional scanner, and a Drake battlecruiser is in the system outside of the tower. I can't believe the Drake is mining, gas or otherwise, but it is possible he is clearing a mining site of Sleepers. The lack of wrecks on d-scan suggests he has only just started, if that's what he's doing, but switching to the system map and sweeping d-scan around puts the Drake coincident with the exit wormhole. I warp at range to the wormhole to take a look.

The Drake is indeed at the wormhole, close enough to jump back to low-sec at any moment. He doesn't belong to the local corporation and may well be scanning. And although he's sitting on top of a wormhole, allowing him to flee, I could still engage him to see how much attention he's paying to his surroundings. But first I shall refit my Manticore, not needing a sensor booster or warp scrambler for this attack. I jump home, the connecting wormhole far out of range of the exit in the C3, and swap a couple of modules around, fitting remote sensor dampers with range reduction scripts. I can remain a threat for longer if the Drake can't target me and shoot back, although I am fully expecting him to jump to low-sec before he gets in to any real danger.

I return to the class 3 system and warp at range to the exit wormhole again. I manoeuvre to get in to an appropriate range, which I gauge to be about thirty-eight kilometres, and decloak and launch a bomb. I've put the Drake on the edge of the bomb's explosion radius whilst maximising my distance from him, and I follow with a target lock and damping its sensors, waiting for the bomb to detonate before launching torpedoes. It's a solid hit, fully catching the Drake in the explosion, and he doesn't return fire. But a second Drake decloaks and gets a positive lock on my Manticore. I could put a single sensor damper on each of the two battlecruisers, but as the bomb barely made a dent in the Drake's shields, and my torpedoes aren't going to be quick in finishing him off, I choose simply to warp away.

I make a clean break and reactivate my cloak, heading back to the wormhole to monitor the Drakes' reactions, bouncing off a planet first to be in a less predictable vector. In retrospect, I should have known there were two Drakes, as the pilot of the Drake I bombed is different from the pilot of the Drake I first saw, but it makes no odds. It looks like the two capsuleers are come from low-sec and looking for a cheap fight. They sit at the wormhole, close enough to jump away if presented with any real threat, and don't look to want to encroach in to the system any further. It's possible they were hoping to clear some anomalies in this system, and perhaps the two Tengu cruisers on d-scan made them think twice. But when the Tengus disappear the Drakes apparently get bored and jump out of the system, taking their scanning probes with them.

Excitement over, and with Fin now available, our best option is to collapse our static wormhole and look for adventure through a different connection. Our previous attempts cause us to ponder mass calculations and ship rotations again, coming up with a new schedule to cause the wormhole to dissipate. The calculations prove smooth and we have a new wormhole to resolve, Fin asking me 'please do not find the same system', as happened the last time we collapse a wormhole. The connection is scanned and the class 3 system beyond is thankfully different, although obviously contains an exit to low-sec empire space.

As Fin finds the connection to low-sec I explore the C3 itself, finding a couple of towers anchored to a moon of an outer planet. There are no ships in the system, though. Three anomalies and six signatures makes scanning quick, which is as much a relief as resolving a second wormhole, giving us more to explore. The wormhole is a K162 coming from a class 5 w-space system, the C5 turning out to be occupied but inactive, and although the connection we passed through is the system's static wormhole Fin's tenacious scanning finds a further wormhole in the system, another K162. We jump in to the class 4 system, heading deeper in to w-space, but find no occupation, suggesting another K162 waits to be found.

The K162 is resolved, leading in to the C4 from a C2. The class 2 system is occupied, three towers each holding piloted ships, but nothing fancy. An Iteron hauler is at one tower, a Drake battlecruiser and Buzzard covert operations ship at another, and Heron frigate at the third. None of them appear active, though, and it looks like nothing is going to happen. It is also getting late and we are far from the home system, so we turn around and head back the way we came. We may not have found much activity in our exploration but the extended constellation makes a decent change from the normal connection to a single class 3 system leading out to low-sec.

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Tags: buzzard, drake, eve online, falcon, iteron, low-sec, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, proteus, scanning, tengu, w-space

Mining in a Manticore

The home system is empty, w-space is mine to do as I please. As glorious leader Fin bought me the gas mining skill training book, and it took less than a day to get to level IV, I suppose I'd better collect some gas. Or I could scan and explore the constellation. And resolving the system's static wormhole soon puts me in our neighbouring class 3 system for today. My directional scanner is clear, but with only one planet in range I suspect there is more to find. I bookmark the wormhole home, launch scanning probes, and warp off to see what's here.

Getting closer to the inner system reveals the rest of the planets on d-scan, along with a tower and a few ships. A Ferox battlecruiser, Falcon recon ship, and Proteus strategic cruiser are all somewhere, but the presence of a jet-can makes me wonder if perhaps the Ferox is mining in a ladar site and using the can for storage. A quick sweep of d-scan puts the ship and can together, and apart from the tower. I quickly move my scanning probes out of the system—even though they were out of d-scan range back at the wormhole—and look for the local tower. Before I begin hunting for a ship in w-space, I want to know how many ships here are piloted.

Both the other two ships are sitting inside the shields at the tower, but only the Falcon is unpiloted. The Proteus has a capsuleer aboard, although there is no way to determine how alert he is. The strategic cruiser presents a danger, but I decide to hunt the Ferox anyway, knowing that I should have some time to engage the target whilst the Proteus is in warp, at the very least. I warp away from the tower to a planet closer to the Ferox, to make locating him with d-scan easier. I narrow down the d-scan beam and adjust the position until I have a good bearing on the ship, then find its approximate range.

I think I have a good position for the Ferox and move my scanning probe boxes accordingly. I warp back to the tower to check on the status of the Proteus and, finding him still there and stationary, hit the scan button. My probes warp in to position and search for any signatures. I am expecting a ladar site to be found, as I am using core probes, whereas combat probes could find the site or the ship itself. But I get nothing returned, not even a vague signature. My first scan is a resounding failure.

I quickly move the probes out of the system again, not wanting them to appear on the miner's d-scan for longer than necessary. I can't even flounder at a fuzzy signature, so don't try to guess where it may be. Instead I use d-scan again to try to get a more accurate position of the ship. But it looks like I may be too late, as the Ferox is back at the tower, perhaps having spotted my probes and returned to safety. I'll re-scan anyway, looking for the ladar site in the hopes that the pilot will convince himself he was spooked by nothing and feel safe again.

My second attempt using d-scan is better, to locate the jet-can this time, a good hit coming from the first scan with probes and the ladar site fully resolved with a quick adjustment and a second scan. I warp in to the site at range, making my second mistake by flying directly in to one of the gas clouds, decloaking my Buzzard. The covert operations boat doesn't quite live up to its class right now, but I warp away after quickly bookmarking the position of the jet-can, and re-activate my cloak. If the pilot of the Ferox has been watching d-scan there is little chance I haven't been detected. But there's nothing gained in assuming competence on the part of your target. I warp back home and swap in to my Manticore stealth bomber, returning to lurk in the class 3 system.

The Onyx heavy interdictor is generally a good choice of ship against miners, as the warp bubble traps their pods automatically, and miners aren't renowned for their firepower. But if the Proteus pilot is awake the Onyx could be a poor choice, and leave me with a loss greater than that of a simple gas mining battlecruiser. I still aim to catch the pod, fitting my Manticore with a sensor booster and scan resolution script. Even if it may not make my systems quite fast enough to lock a pod it gives me a chance. Except the Ferox has now disappeared, as he is not at the tower or on d-scan. I warp in to the ladar site, at range, but there is only the jet-can there too. It looks like my clumsiness has thwarted my hunting.

As I sit in the ladar site, wondering why I can't get the gas cloud bracket to appear on my display,¹ a Badger hauler warps in directly to the jet-can. It's the Ferox pilot collecting his mined gas! If only I weren't a hundred kilometres from him. I have little option but to warp back to the tower, where I can see if he makes another trip. And back at the tower the Badger returns, moves to the corporate hangar array, and warps out again. I prepared for this by aligning to the bookmark I made to the jet-can in the mining site, letting me follow quickly.

I decloak whilst in warp, aiming to land next to the jet-can and so not planning to launch a bomb, and get my warp disruption and weapon systems hot. I drop out of warp almost on top of the Badger, gain a positive target lock, and start pounding the fragile hauler hull with torpedoes. It doesn't take much to reduce a Badger to rubble and the pilot's pod is soon ejected in to space. I act quickly, targeting the pod and getting a point hot, and I am quick enough! The pod is stopped from warping out and, once I snap out of my surprise, I shoot that too. I scoop the corpse, loot the Badger, and warp out as rapidly as I can, concerned that the Proteus could be swooping down on me at any moment. But checking the tower sees the strategic cruiser to be just as active as it has been so far, sitting inertly in the shields.

I'm not convinced that the Ferox pilot saw my probes, or my Buzzard, and just happened to be finishing as I started looking for him. I don't think he'd make multiple trips in a vulnerable Badger otherwise, even though the Badger happened to be fitted with a gun and ECM. Taking some time to monitor the response sees no reaction at all, the Proteus pilot looking to be asleep in his ship, which gives me the opportunity to retrieve what little gas was left in the wreck of the Badger, the final trip emptying and dismantling the jet-can. I swap the Manticore for my Crane transport ship, quick to align and capable of warping cloaked, and it is simple to pluck the Badger's hold clean. I get home safely and desposit the loot in our hangar. And, I suppose, collected some gas after all.

1. There isn't one.
Return to post.

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Tags: badger, buzzard, crane, eve online, falcon, ferox, manticore, mmorpg, onyx, penny ibramovic, proteus, pvp, scanning, w-space

Slight return

I start scanning early, hoping to resolve suitable sites for later ambushes. Our neighbouring class 3 w-space system is somewhat of an oddity today, though, holding nine anomalies but only one other signature. I suppose the occupants—as there is a tower in the system, but no ships currently—are more keen to mine than shoot. The sole signature is, of course, the static wormhole, leading, of course, to low-sec empire space. Checking the exit puts me three hops to high-sec space, eight to Jita, and seven from The Hub. That's fairly close, and maybe our third, recently joined member of the splinter group can bring more of her ships in that just a scanning boat. But, having exhausted exploration, I take a break.

There is no change on my return. The C3 occupants are still sleeping and there are no new connections to explore. Our new colleague is indeed bringing ships in to our home system, which leaves Fin and me free to shoot Sleepers in all the anomalies carelessly left unattended. We both board a Tengu strategic cruiser, load up on missiles, and head out. Combat is relatively relaxed, our Tengus more than capable in the class 3 system anomalies, and the only ships punctuating our checks of the directional scanner are those of our colleague. She eventually gets everything through the C3 and comes to join shooting Sleepers in her own strategic cruiser, a new Loki.

We are blasting through the anomalies, but I leave shortly after we enter the ninth, aware that enough time has passed for the wrecks in the first site to soon start disintegrating. I need to get salvaging. D-scan remains clear, more so being I am out of range of my colleagues. But the ninth and final anomaly in the system is cleared of Sleepers and two more salvaging boats come out to help recover the loot. We leave the class 3 system behind, taking everything with us that wasn't anchored, amounting to a little over four hundred million ISK. That's a pretty good haul, and now we can collapse the wormhole to look for more opportunity.

Collapsing our static wormhole is smooth this time, the connection being engulfed by the void on the schedule we set. I board my Buzzard covert operations boat and scan our home system for the newly spawned wormhole, replacing the one just killed. It is a simple matter to resolve the connection, and I warp to it and jump through to... No fucking way. I feel like I am in a Scooby Doo cartoon, walking out of the corridor through one door only to come in to the very same corridor from a different direction. There is no need to scan the class 3 system the new static wormhole connects us to, as I know there are no anomalies and only an exit to low-sec empire space to find. We need to collpase this wormhole too.

At least the wormhole collapse should be textbook material this time, with a pristine connection and only a couple of Buzzards pushed through it. But apparently the Sleepers built engineering tolerances in to wormhole construction, and we have a bit of mass left over, even when we think the final Orca trip through should have exceeded the wormhole's total mass limit by a hundred million kilogrammes. We can't push the industrial command ship through again, as the wormhole at least is critically destabilised now, but we also have no reason to keep the wormhole as it is.

We decide to send a puppet through the connection in a Bustard transport ship, which is a decent enough mass without being excessive. I ask for the Bustard to be filled with loot, so that if the ship gets isolated it can at least head to market and realise us our profit. But we can't even lose a billion ISK of accumulated loot, the wormhole collapsing on the Bustard's fourth jump, as it returns to our home system. At least now we can look for another new wormhole and, hopefully, a new class 3 system to explore. And we do, ending up in an unoccupied C3 with an off-line tower, fifteen anomalies, and six other signatures.

We aren't going to enter more anomalies for now, so instead all the signatures are checked. The only wormhole is the system's static connection, this one for some reason leading out to null-sec space. It must be because Fin found it and not me. The exit system is in the Tribute region and is unclaimed territory. But, more interestingly, there is only one other pilot in the system and a Rorqual on d-scan. I go looking for the capital industrial ship and find it in a tower with no defences, although the force field is active. It looks like the Rorqual is configuring the tower and installing defences.

I'm not the only one curious about the Rorqual. A new pilot enters the system and his Rifter frigate is soon dropping out of warp near the tower. The Rifter zooms around the edge of the shields where the Rorqual is sitting tantalisingly close, angling to bounce off the force field near the massive ship, like a beast unable to get to its prey behind a window. Fin comes to the null-sec system in a Pilgrim recon ship, remaining cloaked and landing near my position at the tower, but is too late to catch the Rifter, which has since given up and left the system. We watch the Rorqual a little, understanding that it won't leave the tower whilst there is any hint of other pilots in the system. We too turn around and leave it alone, jumping back to w-space and our own tower, where we get some sleep.

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Tags: bustard, buzzard, eve online, loki, mmorpg, null-sec, orca, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, rifter, rorqual, scanning, sleepers, tengu, w-space

Then there were three

Scanning is done. We have a connection to low-sec empire space through our neighbouring class 3 w-space system. I could have guessed that much. The low-sec exit is only one hop from high-sec, and seven from Amarr, making it convenient for shopping, but I have none to do. There is a chance that a pilot in the C3 can be caught, as he is scanning in a Helios covert operations boat, but Fin thinks otherwise. She reports only two signatures in the whole of the C3 system, and either the pilot is really slow at scanning or not putting his heart in to it. The Helios pilot's disappearance soon afterwards scuppers any thoughts of a scrap, and instead we decide to collapse our static wormhole and hope for a more fruitful connection.

As we manoeuvre massive ships to start stressing the wormhole Fin ponders the position of many class 3 w-space system occupants. 'Exits to high- and null-sec I can understand, but why would anyone want a static wormhole leading out to low-sec?' It's a good question, my only answer being that maybe they want to set up in a C3 but can't find a single one with anything but a static exit to low-sec. My sample size so far suggests that any exit not leading to low-sec from a class 3 system is a rarity, and maybe it is the compromise for settling in a C3. For us, having a static connection to a C3, that almost inevitably leads out to low-sec empire space, mostly means that we rarely have much more w-space to explore than a single system, limiting our options. But at least we can collapse our connection to start again. At least, that's the plan.

We manage to destabilise our static wormhole, but aren't quite able to give it that final shove in to oblivion. But that's okay for now, we can finally get started on clearing the Sleeper presence from our home system, hopefully with little threat from the anyway-empty neighbouring system. We have eight anomalies locally, which offers plenty of opportunity for profit, and our twin Tengu strategic cruisers will be able to blast through them, shields bolstered by the pulsar phenomenon present. As we begin combat, our third splinter group member finally wakes up and asks if we've settled yet. As she is in empire space I give her the name of the system the C3 leads out to, pointing out that she will probably have to scan her way in to us. If we go out to guide her in the destabilised wormhole could collapse behind us. She's okay with that, and starts moving her scanning boat in our direction.

Sleeper combat goes smoothly enough to start with, until Fin's Tengu starts armour-tanking in the second anomaly. She warps out before it gets any more serious, flames licking the hull dramatically. We're not quite sure what happened, and Fin makes sure to repair all the damage back at the tower before rejoining me. I handle three Sleeper battleships whilst Fin repairs, but the scrambling frigates in the final wave of a frontier barracks unsettle me. Webbed and unable to warp away, my Tengu crawls along unable to mitigate much of the damage from the larger ships, and I am glad to see Fin warp back in and fire barrages of precision missiles at the smaller ships to destroy them.

We clear three sites of Sleepers, and loot and salvage the wrecks. Hauling almost four hundred million ISK in loot to the tower makes the combat a good investment of our time. And our third member makes it to the low-sec system and scans a K162 in to w-space, but thinks it the wrong system. She goes back out to empire space and looks again, this time definitely ending in the wrong system, the blue colours of w-space indicating a class 1 or 2 system instead of the class 3 that bridges to our home system. It turns out she was in the right system the first time. Fin sends her pod out through the static connection to act as a beacon to warp to for our missing colleague, shortcutting the scanning process a little. And, with that, we become three independent pilots in the pulsar system.

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Tags: eve online, helios, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, sleepers, tengu, w-space

Spooking a salvager

I am left a single bookmark, pointing to our home w-space system's static wormhole. I shall take advantage of this act of generosity and explore what lies beyond. Jumping in to our neighbouring class 3 system shows promise, as there are sisters core scanning probes and some armour maintenance bots visible on my directional scanner, although closer scrutiny reveals no sign of any ships. I wonder what the bots are doing by themselves. I have a wander around the system, thinking that perhaps the bots were left behind by active capsuleers, but all I find is a tower on the outer planet where only a Helios is piloted, the covert operations boat likely responsible for the probes in the system.

The Helios isn't the only boat at the tower, merely the sole one piloted. A Chimera carrier not only attracts my attention but deflects it from all the other ships. It surprises me, then, that launching combat scanning probes reveals loads of anomalies present in the system. I don't quite see the point of having a carrier if the indigenous Sleeper population isn't then culled regularly. But the reason I launch combat probes and not core probes is so that I can find the bots in the system, which I do. I warp in at range to empty space, the bots floating completely separate of any anomaly or sentient presence. I make a note of their location and return to monitor the Helios at the tower.

I would monitor the Helios at the tower if it was at the tower, but now it has disappeared. Continued scanning of my own finds a K162 wormhole coming from a class 4 w-space system, and I suspect the Helios pilot of going out to explore. Sensing an opportunity, I jump home, swap the Buzzard cov-ops boat for my Malediction interceptor, and head back to the C3. On returning to the system I see I am too slow, the Helios again on d-scan. I warp to the K162 anyway, but not in time to see the Helios. I jump back home again, loitering on our static wormhole in the hopes that the Helios pilot picks up the new signature and jumps in to take a look, but I don't expect much.

I wait until I get bored and jump my interceptor back in to the C3. The probes have gone, as has the Helios. Never mind. I board my Buzzard again and continue scanning, pausing to collect the nine maintenance bots idling where someone left them. I only have one more signature to scan in the C3 now, making it the static connection. And, what a surprise, it leads out to low-sec empire space. Checking the destination puts me in the Aridia region again, the same dead-end system as before and hopelessly far from any system of interest. But there is another system to explore, so I warp across the C3 and jump in to the connecting class 4 w-space system.

The wormhole leading in to the C3 is the system's static connection, so I am not expecting to find another one here if there is occupation. And a Tengu strategic cruiser indicates activity, although it disappears from d-scan promptly. Warping around finds two towers, and it looks like the Tengu has retreated to one, joining a Nidhoggur carrier and Vargur marauder amongst other ships. But by the time I locate the tower and warp to its moon most of the ships have gone. I return tentatively to the wormhole leading to the C3, dropping short by a margin, and hold position. Sure enough, a flare comes soon, the Tengu appearing and warping in the direction of the tower I just left.

Not quite knowing if the wormhole is clear on the other side, but assured that at least the Tengu—the only active ship I have noted—is not there, I move towards the connection and jump through. And there are the other ships, the Vargur and a Legion strategic cruiser waiting in the C3. I patiently wait for the session change timer to end, and move away and cloak. The big combat ships unsurprisingly don't make an aggressive move against my tiny cov-ops boat, but I lurk for a while to see what they will do. I assume they are lining up to blast through the many anomalies in the system and, when the Tengu rejoins them, all three ships warp off. I have the anomalies bookmarked and using d-scan easily find the ships shooting Sleepers in one of them.

I think about leaving them to it, knowing that I cannot do much alone. And then I realise that a salvaging boat will probably follow behind them. I bookmark a wreck in this first anomaly and jump homewards, again swapping the Buzzard but this time for my Manticore stealth bomber. I go straight back to the C3 where it looks like I won't have to wait long, a Thrasher destroyer already on d-scan. I warp to the bookmarked wreck in the first anomaly to find the Thrasher alone, the combat ships having moved onwards. The anomaly hasn't even despawned yet, which is a little careless. But I drop out of warp a little too short to be in ideal bombing range for wanting to get a point soon afterwards. I line up the Thrasher and approach, getting ready for a bomb launch.

Before I get in to a decent range the Thrasher bugs out. I could loiter here in the anomaly and hope he returns, but there isn't much point when I can more easily monitor ship movements from their wormhole. I reach the K162 coming from the C4 and park a fair distance away, taking care to adjust my vector to be unaligned from the anomaly, where I see the last of the ships jump out of this class 3 system. None of the ships now remain here, leaving me alone again. It's possible that the combat ships were holding station on the wormhole and being vigilant with d-scan, noticing my steatlh bomber and telling the Thrasher to get out, particularly as two of the pilots saw my Buzzard earlier. They know of a presence in the w-space constellation and were diligently looking for additional warning signs.

Even so, a single bomb will not pop a destroyer. At least, not if the micro-warp drive is inactive. And a lone stealth bomber in the company of two hostile strategic cruisers and a marauder is suicide, the bomber begging to be turned in to arcing electrical circuits. I understand that it is good to be cautious, but absent any other signs I wonder if these pilots are being a little over-sensitive to threat. Certainly, a colleague and I previously pop a salvaging boat with battleships nearby, but I wouldn't say they were 'guarding' the salvager. And although I may risk launching a bomb with a Tengu, Legion, and Vargur surrounding a salvager, I wouldn't hang around trying to finish the job that one bomb wouldn't accomplish. The Thrasher would take damage, but it wouldn't be destroyed, and the other ships would barely be scratched.

Now there are wrecks waiting to be looted and salvaged, but no one seems to be willing to do it. I am not about to claim the wrecks as my own, not with the possibility of the other pilots still being active and perhaps swapping in to pointier ships. And I won't willingly give up my position or ship class by jumping in to the C4 to check on the activity, as I would rather keep them guessing. So I wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

The wormhole a few tens of kilometres in front of me flares, but nothing appears for a while. A Jaguar assault ship eventually decloaks, probably not by choice either, and it immediately jumps back to the class 4 system it came from. I suppose it was making a quick check of d-scan, checking for other ships and, perhaps, counting the number of wrecks visible. I'm thinking about salvaging them, sir, but not quite yet.

Wait, wait, wait.

The Jaguar returns to the C3, warping off to what looks like the seventh planet in the system. A couple of minutes later he returns from a different direction, having warped around the system a bit to gain full d-scan coverage. I imagine he still sees no other ships, and no reduction in the number of wrecks from the first anomaly. I want my kill, and I am willing to wait for it.

Wait, wait, wait.

It doesn't look like they're coming back, and they're not even sending any more scouts in to look around. It's time to get my own salvager out and recover the loot from the site. I go home and board my Cormorant destroyer, taking care when returning to the C3 to check d-scan for the Jaguar, or other ships, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary. I warp to the bookmarked wreck again and start pillaging. I cannot tractor the yellow-coded wrecks to my ship and have to move to each one, which increases the time it will take to clear the site, and my vulnerability, as a result. But the other ships don't come back, letting me loot and salvage all the wrecks and return home safely. I would have preferred the kill, but thirty million ISK in loot and scaring a marauder away is a fair reward for my patience.

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Tags: buzzard, chimera, cormorant, eve online, helios, jaguar, legion, malediction, manticore, mmorpg, nidhoggur, penny ibramovic, scanning, tengu, thrasher, vargur, w-space

Looking to pop bubbles

All ships are home and safe, it's time to see if we can rattle some cages. Or, indeed, if there are any cages to rattle, w-space looking fairly quiet so far today. I take my Manticore stealth bomber out for a prowl, passing straight through the inactive class 3 w-space system to head for the K162 coming from the C4. I find the corpse I spotted on my directional scanner earlier, some twenty kilometres from the K162 in the C3. His distance from the wormhole, and that he was in a scanning boat, makes me think he was a bit careless in being caught, but we all have our moments.

I jump in to the class 4 system, hoping to see signs of what caught and killed the other pilot, perhaps to hunt them in return. What I find is three large bubbles newly planted over the wormhole leading back in to the class 3 system, blocking my free movement in all directions for tens of kilometres. I could cloak and crawl through the bubbles easily enough, but if I engage and need to flee the system quickly the bubbles could potentially get me killed. I don't consider the risk worthwhile, particularly as there still remains no ships on d-scan, and simply jump back and go home.

Fin, however, would like to shoot something, and is interested to see if we could provoke a reaction even by merely attempting to destroy one of the bubbles. I'm happy to give it a go, and help to formulate a plan. We jump in to the C3 and warp to the K162, sending a puppet Apocalypse battleship in to the C4 to shoot the bubbles. I sit on the K162 with Fin, me in a Sacrilege heavy assault ship and Fin a Pilgrim recon ship. If the Apocalypse gets a response he can jump back and we engage whatever follows, potentially chasing them back in to the C4 if they look overwhelmed, where their own bubbles may trap them.

What we don't expect is for the puppet to report three strategic cruisers in the class 4 system, a Tengu and two Lokis clearly visible on d-scan. Abort, abort! We may have been able to put up a good fight against one or two strategic cruisers, but all three could probably pop us pretty quickly if they are even mildly coordinated. Discretion is the better part of valour, and the Apocalypse simply jumps back again and we all return home. Getting some sleep sounds like a good idea.

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Tags: apocalypse, eve online, loki, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, sacrilege, tengu, w-space

Avoiding a Hurricane

Glorious leader Fin is out scanning, and I go to ride her coat-tails. Our neighbouring class 3 w-space system has the inevitable exit to low-sec empire space, but also present is a K162 wormhole. I divert to explore the other connected system, first noting the tower in the C3 with unpiloted ships sitting inside its shields. The K162 comes from a class 4 system and, according to Fin, a pod was seen going in earlier. I jump through to take a look.

In the C4, a tower is visible on my directional scanner but no ships or activity can be seen. I wonder if this is a bridging system for other pilots and that another K162 is waiting to be found. I launch probes to scan, finding five anomalies and three signatures present, at which point a Falcon recon ship jumps in to the system through the wormhole behind me. Not noticing my cloaked ship, the Falcon warps away to seemingly empty space, all but confirming the existence of another wormhole. I soon resolve the K162, coming from a class 4 system, but the wormhole is reaching the end of its natural lifetime.

I don't pass through the dying connection, instead going back to the C3 and out to low-sec space, where I contract a copy of the bookmarks to our missing Orca pilot. If the systems look quiet we could perhaps get the industrial command ship back in to w-space. But low-sec isn't entirely quiet, a Hurricane battlecruiser lurking on the stargate our Orca pilot will want to use. I'm sure we can do something about him, though, but not in my current choice of ship. I go back to our tower in w-space to formulate a plan along with Fin. On my return I spot a corpse on d-scan in the C3. Judging by the corpse's name it looks like they are his scanning probes also visible on d-scan, and there probably isn't an active scanner. I suppose there is some action in w-space today, which we should at least be wary about.

Our aim is to get the Orca home, not to engage the Hurricane as such. With that in mind, it would be enough to force the battlecruiser to flee, and it doesn't look like we have the ships that could guarantee a quick kill whilst surviving the guns on the stargate. To encourage the Hurricane pilot to move on we need a ship that's big and scary, and I think my Widow black ops ship fits that bill. The other pilot doesn't have to know that I am newly trained and lacking experience, he just has to think he is going to explode. And if my Widow isn't enough of a threat, Fin will bring a Basilisk logistics ship to sit at range and comfortably repair my shields.

The plan is set, we warp out. I jump in to the low-sec system and warp at range to the stargate, planning to cloak immediately upon landing just to increase uncertainty in the Hurricane's pilot, as Fin holds in w-space until required. As it turns out, we just needed to wait a little longer, as the Hurricane is already off the gate when I drop out of warp, although he still appears on d-scan. But the pilot is no longer on local communications, so it looks like he's got bored and logged off. With the gate clear we can try to get the Orca home, and our pilot pushes the big ship out of dock and towards the stargate.

The gate remains clear, as I hold my position in my cloaked Widow to monitor activity, and the Orca jumps through. An interminable time later the Orca warps away, towards the wormhole in to the class 3 w-space system, and I follow. W-space remains quiet, and the Orca gets home unmolested after his earlier expedition in to the unknown.

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Tags: basilisk, eve online, falcon, hurricane, low-sec, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space, widow

Reflections on the hunt

Popping and podding the Cyclone is a little unsettling. Not that I have any qualms about stalking and shooting the unsuspecting pilot. The hunt was thrilling, the operation smooth, and the strategy and options discussed helps to make us better pilots ourselves. This is what brings me out to w-space, and the battlecruiser's pilot didn't even see us coming. But that is what concerns me.

I was able to get in to the class 2 w-space system through a freshly opened wormhole, undetectable except for someone performing a blanket scan of the whole system at regular intervals. My ship warped cloaked around the system, looking for activity using the passive directional scanner. The system was big enough for me to decloak and launch scanning probes out of detectable range, and then set the probe to find all the anomalies in the system whilst it remained out of d-scan range.

The Cyclone was seen entering the system without him seeing me. I followed him in and to his chosen anomaly without being spotted, where my cloaked ship got within striking range. I could have called in a fleet to my position then, but was still able to exit the system, re-ship, and return with help without being detected. The first the Cyclone could have seen of his impending doom was an Onyx heavy interdictor on d-scan, and only once it was already in warp to his position.

But nothing I did was particularly special, or the methods secret. Which means that when I am by myself engaging Sleepers in an anomaly it is quite possible that the first I become aware of an attack is when ships drop out of warp on top of me. I know that I take care to survey the system first, finding any active wormhole connections, and look for other ships and pilots. And I keep a vigilant watch on d-scan for any unexpected activity as I am in the anomaly. But I have proven that I could still be found silently, from an unanticipated direction, and ambushed quite effectively.

I suppose it's all part of the risk. We mitigate what threats we can and accept the others as part of w-space life. At least I am aware of the dangers and don't just blithely think that an empty system is a safe system. I can accept that and try my best to be the hunter more than the hunted. And, if I find myself prey, not to go down without a fight.

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Tags: cyclone, eve online, mmorpg, onyx, penny ibramovic, pvp

Creeping up on a Cyclone

Today we've had visitors. A second wormhole in our home system provides a link coming from a class 2 w-space system. I consider it more important to see who may be calling on us before preying in a different direction, and I point my Buzzard covert operations boat towards the K162. Jumping in to the C2 system sees two towers on my directional scanner, some Sleeper wrecks, but no ships. That's a curiosity, having wrecks but no pilots making them. It is possible that the anomaly has been cleared and the pilots have warped to another site, one outside of the range of d-scan.

I go looking for signs of activity. I launch a scanning probe, set it to its maximum range, and hit the 'scan' button. As the core probe gathers basic information about all the anomalies in the system I warp around, using d-scan to find active ships. I find none, but my probe gives me seven anomalies. I bookmark them all quickly, not bothering to note the signature identities, but don't visit any. If the site has been left for even a small length of time it will have despawned, leaving nothing for a probe to scan, and I won't be finding those wrecks now.

I would hope that whatever ships engaged the Sleepers will return, letting me hunt them in one of the current anomalies, but with no one visible in the system it seems a faint hope. I locate the towers in the system, three in total, as a Cyclone appears on d-scan. And goes again. I pass off the battlecruiser's brief appearance as unimportant and consider my options. I could scan for this class 2 system's second static wormhole, which should be an exit to empire space, or return homewards and explore the class 3 system beyond our own static wormhole. As I am here I launch additional probes, to more fully scan the C2.

A wormhole is soon resolved, an exit to high-sec empire space. I check the destination system, popping out to Minmatar space, eleven hops from Jita and thirteen from 'The Hub', as Fin calls it. I move away from the wormhole and cloak as I check these distances, not wanting to give away my presence. And it's perhaps good that I do, as the Cyclone reappears, on this high-sec side of the wormhole. He can't have seen me, and my name in the local channel shouldn't raise concerns with him, so I remain cloaked and watch. The Cyclone moves towards the wormhole and jumps in to the class 2 w-space system.

I wait for a while before following the Cyclone through the wormhole. By the time I jump he has moved away and, with drones visible on d-scan, it looks like he has warped to an anomaly. I'm glad I made the hurried bookmarks now and switch to the system map, after moving safely away from the wormhole, to locate the Cyclone. I match an anomaly with the Cyclone on d-scan and warp at range to the same site, coming to rest a safe distance away from any action. Glorious leader Fin has become available and I update her on events so far, the Cyclone looking like a target now.

As I move my Buzzard closer to the combat, to get a good reference point, I ponder our options. I am only too aware of the last time the two of us engage a battlecruiser in a class 2 w-space anomaly, losing an Onyx heavy interdictor in the process. We need more firepower than the Sleepers to break the tank of the battlecruiser, whilst having the shields or armour ourselves to withstand the capsuleer's and the Sleepers' combined fire. Anything less and we could face another loss. Or maybe we don't need quite so much. I get within fifteen kilometres of the Cyclone before it warps off, and I am pretty sure it hasn't been spooked by me or another ship.

It looks like the six Sleeper frigates have worn down the Cyclone's defences. The battlecruiser may well be a softer target than the Hurricane we faced before, but that doesn't mean we can be complacent. I am still taking this target seriously. At least, once he returns I will. From d-scan's returns, it looks like the Cyclone has left the system, and I would bet that the pilot is docking to repair his ship. His absence gives Fin and I a better opportunity to prepare an ambush. We will definitely use the Onyx, its warp bubble letting us capture the pilot's pod too, the only question is which other ship to bring along. We need some firepower, as well as some semblance of a tank.

I jump home and warp to our tower, copying the bookmarks I have so far gathered so that Fin has them too. Fin is ready in the Onyx, refitted with an energy neutraliser to help counter an active tank, and I swap the Buzzard for my Widow black ops ship. The Widow is overkill, and arguably too expensive for an operation like this, but there's no point buying one and then not using it. And if it can't destroy a Cyclone I'll be returning it and getting my ISK back. Besides, its affinity with cloaking aids my plan. We don't know when the Cyclone will return and can't just loiter in the system waiting for it, so I will get my Widow in to the anomaly and cloak, and when it returns Fin can jump in with her Onyx and warp to my position. The plan seems sound.

We both warp to the wormhole and I jump through, leaving Fin behind. Rather than warp directly to the anomaly I decide to 'bounce' off a planet, already having gauged relative positions of the planets and the anomaly when in my Buzzard. The bounce in to the site should let Fin drop short of my ship and land closer to the Cyclone. Except I don't get that far, seeing the Cyclone re-appear on d-scan as I get to the planet. I activate my cloak and hold my position, waiting to see what the other pilot does. He remains in the system and, noted with a refined d-scan search, warps back to the anomaly he was in to continue the combat where he left off.

I can't warp my Widow in to the anomaly without decloaking, but that's just fine. Before I warped out earlier I made a bookmark of my position near the Cyclone, which I also happened to share with Fin. There was no reason not to and, besides, information wants to be free. I give the order for Fin to jump the Onyx in to the system and warp to the spot in the anomaly, hoping that the Cyclone has returned to roughly the same position. It is our best chance of catching him now. I see the Onyx appear on d-scan, and align my Widow to the same bookmark. 'Let me know when you've got him.'

'Got him'. I decloak and hit warp, sending my powerful battleship towards Fin's position. As expected, the Widow bounces off the activated warp bubble, in which the Onyx and Cyclone are both trapped, but the Cyclone looks worse off at the moment. I try to wait patiently as the sluggish targeting systems of my big ship lock on to the smaller one, before launching devastating volleys of torpedoes towards the battlecruiser. The Cyclone doesn't last for long, its exploding hull spitting out the pilot's pod in to the welcoming embrace of the warp bubble, preventing it too from fleeing.

Again I watch the seconds count down as my targeting systems lock. But soon enough I am left looking at a corpse, along with five Sleeper frigates swarming around my ship. They are like gnats, though, and not even warp scrambling gnats. I consider swatting them aside but don't think it's worth wasting the ammunition. Fin loots and shoots the Cyclone wreck, I scoop the corpse, and we warp out of the anomaly. Fin jumps home, clearing the system, but I stay for a while, re-activating my Widow's cloak. It is unlikely that the pilot will return to this system, particularly as he looks to be a high-sec tourist, and he doesn't. I don't mind, it was a satisfying hunt and a good kill, and first blood for my Widow. I return home to sleep well, almost forgetting that I didn't even explore through our own static wormhole.

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Tags: buzzard, cyclone, eve online, mmorpg, onyx, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space, widow

EVE mails from the edge

Reprinted with permission

To: Penny Ibramovic
From: Fin Kename
Subject: Everyone remember where we parked

My last communication may have got you a little agitated about my losing a rather expensive ship to my own foolishness, but it turns out only to be partly true. In my hurry to find the Orca I wantonly abandoned for my own survival, I failed to notice that the system map was orientated differently from when I earlier scanned the exit from this system. Yes, I had the map upside down. Correcting this oversight let me scan the correct volume of space and be reunited with my ship.

Not only was I able to board the expensive Orca again, but I remembered to scoop the Buzzard back in to the maintenance hangar before warping off. And I still had the bookmark for the Iteron Mk III I accidentally found, so warped there and scooped that from its frozen location on the edge of hell too. A quick jump through a wormhole, a warp and jump through a stargate, and I am back in the confines of high-sec empire space.

Now I only have 28 jumps before I reach our staging system. Apparently, not all wormholes can get close to The Hub.

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