Begin again

I've left my w-space home shortly after moving in, but I want to go back. Okay, not back to the class 5 system, but certainly back to w-space. I don't think I can make a home in empire space at the moment and still have a strong connection to w-space life. During my reflective moments over the past couple of weeks I have considered my options, and I think I could set-up a tower in w-space, perhaps in a class 4 system with a static connection to a C3 or C2. I can probably run most C4 anomalies solo in my Tengu strategic cruiser, albeit slowly, and the C3/C2 link will offer greater opportunities to blitz Sleeper sites and probably hold softer targets. And now that glorious leader Fin has followed me out of w-space the prospects of being successful have improved.

To be honest, I don't know much about starbase operations. I was ready to learn, maybe with some harsh lessons along the way, just to keep myself in w-space. Now I have Fin's expertise and experience, although I don't want to get complacent. I will still need to learn, and contribute, but at least I will have a good teacher. And lower class w-space systems may generally hold softer targets, but opportunities to engage them would be far more limited by myself. I doubt even the two of us will see many of the more interesting engagements that the availability of coporation pilots and ships allowed for in the past, but it still significantly increases our options, as well as our chances of survival, particularly as we already have a good idea of how each other flies.

There is plenty to do, even before we find a system. We need a tower, defences, fuel, and probably some other assets I am unaware of. Then we need a system, Fin agreeing that a C4 with a C3/C2 static connection would be good, and finding one may not be simple. There are no static wormholes in empire space, so I will probably need to scan many empire systems to find an entrance, or K162, and scout my way deeper until a suitable system can be found, one that is also unoccupied. This will probably take days, if not weeks. Moving in to that system may not be straightforward either, perhaps taking days in itself, as we need to time hauling assets in to the system and anchoring and configuring the tower and defences. The mass we will be taking in to the system may collapse a wormhole or two, and we will have to scan several exits before we can be fully situated.

Moreover, the hazards of w-space need to be mitigated. Even with Fin as a partner there is a real possibility that we both get podded and isolated in empire space, with no route back to the w-space system. If that happens, the tower and all the ships, and whatever else is stored there, is almost certainly lost to scavengers. I need to consider having a pilot in reserve who is capable of scanning an emergency route to empire space to help us return. I can't rely on always ending up at the tower, nor on Fin being there. So that's my first target, getting a secondary scanning pilot ready and available to me. It will demand some sacrifice, as I have to surrender my dedicated training schedule to the new pilot, but it is better than the alternative. I'd better get on the com-link.

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

Moving out

Today could be the day, an exit to high-sec empire space is being scanned by scouts as I arrive at the tower. The exit system even turns out to be a few hops from The Citadel region, which sounds good to me. I'll make my escape tonight, with as many of my ships as I can take, and now with an accomplice in tow. Although I am told my motives are backwards, as apparently I am not leaving but being kicked out of the system and accompanied for my own safety. Either way, I wait for the scouts to finish scanning, return home, and drop the bookmarks to be copied. There are no reports of targets either, which will make transporting ships out to empire space less stressful.

My Crane transport ship is again the first ship I remove from w-space. I can carry the modules and skill books I plan to use one day, Kif, as well as being agile and stealthy as I take my first trip through the constellation. Our neighbouring class 5 system is empty, probably, the 113 AU journey between the two wormholes making any occupation statistically anomalous. The connections are clear, which is the main concern. The C5 holds a static connection to a class 2 w-space system, which itself holds a connection to a second C2, in which resides the exit to high-sec that we are going to use. There is some occupation in this second class 2 system, but no pilots seem to be awake. My Crane leaves w-space and docks in empire space, letting my pod return to the tower for a second ship.

I choose my Manticore stealth bomber to take out next, again being stealthy but also packing some firepower so that I can escort my accomplice in an Orca industrial command ship. The Orca carries some smaller ships in its hangars, which reduces the total number of trips we'll need to make, although moving the massive ship out of the system turns some heads. We equivocate about the manoeuvres and get on with our task, as I return to take out my Damnation command ship. I am careful to also take fittings for analysing and hacking in the Damnation's hold, as well as for a standard command configuration, so that it could continue to fulfil its main roles should I need it again.

We get lucky again, a fleet of currently active corporation pilots heading out to null-sec space to raid a site there, leaving the tower almost unmonitored. Our ship movements can continue without further questions, which is just what we need when two Onyx heavy interdictors and a second Orca later one of the connecting wormholes destabilises. The cumulative mass of all the ships we are pushing through the wormholes is having its effect. Rather than risk another Orca trip just yet we take our Tengu strategic cruisers out indvidually, which turns out to be a good decision when the wormhole ends up on the verge of collapse. We get our Tengus out and pods back in, with the plan now to collapse the wormhole with a final Orca trip and scan the new static connection. We'll get a new wormhole to a class 2 system, and from there we should get a fresh link to empire space.

Fin has a cunning plan, getting me in a Buzzard covert operations boat in the C5 before the Orca collapses the wormhole, so that I can perform a pre-emptive scan. Once the wormhole collapses a new scan will pick up only the new wormhole, neatly reducing the scanning effort. It's a good plan, and almost works, except the Orca doesn't collapse the wormhole. An ally brings home a Megathron battleship through the wormhole, collapsing it in the process, but that's fine. I have my initial scan and now I can find the new static wormhole, we just don't get the Orca out just yet. Only one scan is needed to find and resolve the wormhole, although a bit more time is required to continue in the new connecting C2.

The new class 2 system looks just like the previous one, holding static connections to low-sec empire space and a second C2. The second C2 also looks like the previous second C2, with an exit to high-sec empire space leading out to The Citadel. How wonderfully convenient! The new exit is only six jumps from the previous one, which will help us consolidate ships more easily. With pristine connections along the route, except for our home static wormhole, we can move the massive ships. The Orca is taken out, along with a battleship and my Widow black ops boat. But even these last few jumps shrinks the new C5-to-C2 connection, which is apparently rather less accommodating than other wormholes. It doesn't matter, though, as we have moved everything out.

Farewell then J111245, I barely knew you. But I am looking towards the future. I have lots to think about and no doubt plenty to do. But for now the busy night draws to a close, and for the first time in a long while I sleep docked inside a space station.

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Tags: buzzard, crane, damnation, eve online, manticore, megathron, mmorpg, onyx, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, tengu, the citadel, w-space, widow

Looking for a way out

Scanning has me looking for a specific target, and it's not a ship but a wormhole. I want an exit to high-sec empire space so I can start moving my ships out of the corporation's class 5 w-space system, the more discreetly the better. I would rather be gone before anyone notices, making it a fait accompli and more difficult to return than being convinced to reverse my decision. I need to leave, for the benefit of myself and those around me. The only trouble currently is that scouting appears to be already complete, only exits to low- and null-sec space found. I copy the bookmarks to take a look for myself.

I don't get far, technically not even to our home system's static wormhole. My Buzzard covert operations boat bounces off the warp bubble of an Onyx heavy interdictor sitting on the connection, piloted by an ally and accompanied by another in a Tengu strategic cruiser. Are we expecting company? 'Just sitting bored', comes the reply on the alliance channel. That's fair enough, but the bubble is impeding all friendly movements, which is a little inconvenient when there are no hostiles seen or anticipated in any of the connecting systems. I ask if the bubble could be dropped, to be activated when a hostile ship is seen, which can easily be accomplished given the visual and aural clue of passage through the wormhole, and should still catch any passing target seeing as our static wormhole is currently the only connection in our system.

The bubble comes down, which I take to be a reasonable sign, until the two ships warp away with no further comment. I don't know if I've upset them, they've found something else to do, or were leaving anyway. I suppose it was communicated on the voice channel, but I have already decided that if I am to make a choice between running voice comms all the time or none of the time I will stubbornly stick with 'none of the time'. And this little encounter merely reinforces the notion that I must leave. I jump through the now-unobstructed wormhole in to the adjoining class 5 system to start my exploration.

There are plenty of options in this C5, with five bookmarked wormholes in the sytem, not including the K162 home. There is the system's static connection, a K162 from another C5, two connections to null-sec space, and one to low-sec. But it has been a while since the system was scouted, as warping to the K162 to the C5 finds only empty space, the wormhole already collapsed. That still leaves four wormholes to choose from, but as I would prefer an exit to high-sec space I elect to jump through the system's static connection. This next C5 is unoccupied and inactive, leaving me little to do but jump to the next system in the chain, another C5. Scouting stopped here, it seems, with no more bookmarks to guide me. My directional-scanner indicates only an off-line tower in the system, so I launch probes and begin scanning.

I resolve a wormhole on my first hit, a fat signature finding me a K162 from yet another class 5 w-space system. I leave that connection alone and continue scanning, my second hit also being a wormhole. The second signature is the system's static wormhole, again leading deeper in to class 5 w-space. I jump onwards, finding this next system also unoccupied and empty. Scanning finds a wormhole quickly again, a K162 glowing with the molten red of deadly class 6 w-space. I'll call this route plan B. Now I start resolving gas mining sites, but only three of them before the system's static tries to lead me in to even more C5 w-space. If this pattern carries on much longer I'll end up back in our home system. I jump in to the class 5 system to satisfy my curiosity, finding occupation at last but still no activity, and I am too far from home for any route to be considered suitable for travel. I turn around to head home, nestling inside the tower as I wait another day to find an exit.

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

Finding some perspective

The fight with the Drakes was superb. The routine check of the directional scanner by a hauler saw the ships, after which good communications and complementary ship selection, combined with capsuleer experience and skills, sees a successful and exciting engagement. It was almost just what I needed to get over my melancholy of the move in to the class 5 w-space system from our previous class 4 home. Almost.

It would have been better had I not been spinning my ship idly for over an hour, hitting my secondary computer systems for reading and research material waiting for something, anything, to happen. I also spent some time reflecting on the situation and trying to get some perspective. The C4 wasn't always busy, there weren't always targets, and there were simply days when there was little to do. But it seems exaggerated in the C5.

Needing more pilots and a more specific fleet configuration to complete even the basic anomalies in our home or neighbouring system is seeing more pilots head off in their own direction rather than trying to co-ordinate an engagement. The longer life of the static wormhole involves less scanning, which should be a positive feature of the move, but it turns out that it entails less need for exploration, which seems to be a primary motivation for my w-space habitation.

I could be more active in starting and co-ordinating fleets, making action happen rather than waiting for it, but the reliance on our allied corporation to give us the number of pilots required for a C5 fleet deters me, because of their mandate for voice communications. The occasional use of voice comms seemed okay, but I am not in a position to, nor do I want to, have voice comms running all the time I am in New Eden.

I was trying to get some perspective, and I think I found it. The new corporate class 5 w-space home is not for me. Some of my apprehension is no doubt owing to the change itself, which will ease over time, but I don't think I can endure regular days of no scanning and exploration, particularly if there is no alternative option to engage Sleepers on such days.

I am going to leave. I have to, for the benefit of the alliance as much as for myself. But I will go quietly for now, I don't want to cause waves. There is much opportunity for the pilots in the C5, even if I don't see myself being a part of it, and I want it to be realised. I'll find an exit to empire space, or piggy-back on another pilot's exploration which is more typical at the moment, and move my ships out. Then I have to think about what I'll do.

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

Three little ducks

I'm stirred by an alert. A colleague reports battlecruisers in the class 3 w-space system, two jumps from our own. A Cyclone and three Drakes are spotted by a pilot returning from empire space in a hauler, the combat ships sharing a directional scanner reading with some Sleeper wrecks. My colleagues ping my systems to see if I'm awake, but I am already in my Onyx interdictor and warming up its systems. As I am the only capsuleer currently at our tower I get a fleet started, creating the advertisement to let allies know we are hunting battlecruisers.

The hauling pilot gets back to the tower and swaps in to a Pilgrim recon ship, heading straight back out to locate the targets. My Onyx is joined by an allied Tengu strategic cruiser, as a Hyperion battleship is readied by another colleague, although he is having problems keeping everything on-line. We warp out and jump to our neighbouring C5, moving to sit on the connecting wormhole to the C3. The Pilgrim has jumped in to the C3 and is searching for the battlecruisers, now identified as only three Drakes, the Cyclone being elsewhere in the system, and we wait for our command.

There is only one anomaly in the C3 and the Drakes are fighting Sleepers there. Our scout warps in, gets a good point of reference, and warps out and back to get close to the targets. The final Sleeper battleship is destroyed. 'Jump and warp to me', we are told, and my Onyx is in the C3 and in warp. I drop out of warp on top of the Drakes, activating my warp bubble to trap them all. An arbitrary ship is selected as our primary target and we open fire, our combined firepower breaking its shields without too much effort.

The Drakes sensibly try to flee in different directions, but two of them head along roughly the same vector. The third will escape, though, and I have cause to thank leader Fin for refitting my Onyx with its second warp disruption field generator. With its focus script, the second WDFG holds a single target with infinite disrupting strength out to a greater range, allowing me to keep the third Drake snared for a while longer. As the first Drake pops, and I take care of the pesky pod, I call for a secondary point to be applied to the fleeing Drake, which the Tengu zooms across to take care of.

Our second target is still within my warp bubble and again his shield is looking to break under steady fire. The targets aren't going down without a fight, though, and the relatively fragile Pilgrim is popped, although our pilot gets his pod to safety. We lose the Pilgrim but our Hyperion turns up, and the second Drake is toast. The ejected pod is safely encapsulated in my bubble for the pilot's guaranteed return to empire space, and we turn our attention to the third Drake.

The final Drake is now far out of my bubble, as I manoeuvred to ensure the second target wouldn't escape. Our man in the Tengu has a point on him, though, preventing him from warping away. I request everyone hold fire for the moment, as I drop my warp bubble and burn towards the Drake, no longer dragged back by the bubble's penalty to reheat boost. In short time I am back sitting on top of the Drake, warp bubble again activated and ready to capture the pod. All weapons shoot once more, joined by our Pilgrim pilot returned in an Ishtar heavy assault ship for added damage.

A conversation request appears. It is coming from the remaining Drake, and I accept, curious to see what he will say. The pilot compliments us on a 'nice job', saying that we have a good set-up. That's decent of him to say so, and I feel a pang of pity in killing someone so pleasant. I give him the opportunity to pay a ransom for his ship, making an offer when shows he is amenable to the idea. I again request a ceasefire whilst I negotiate, finally remembering that I, too, need to de-activate my weapons. The price tempts the Drake pilot but, as is understandable, the pilot wants to know 'what is your guarantee?' We could, after all, take his money and still destroy his ship and pod.

'As good as any pirate's, really', I reply. Anything else is just words, and he sees my point. A few seconds later my wallet blinks and I am paid the ransom fee. I ask for all warp disruption effects to be dropped and the pilot left free to go, which my colleagues comply with. The ransom demand was perhaps a little low, considering the pilot kept his Drake and not just his pod, but 'this is why Riyu negotiates', I say. Even so, we make a good chunk of spending iskies each, get to loot the Drakes, and even salvage the Sleeper wrecks. And I have two more corpses to add to our morgue. But now I must be somewhere else, and I leave my fleet mates as I return to the tower, drop the loot and corpses, and power-down.

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Tags: cyclone, drake, eve online, hyperion, ishtar, mmorpg, onyx, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, pvp, tengu, w-space

Simple exploration

I spur myself in to action, grabbing bookmarks from the can and going out to explore. I may not have any actual scanning to do, as the bookmarked w-space constellation appears to end in empire space, but I can at least scout the systems with my own sensors. Our static wormhole is healthy and passing through it to our neighbouring class 5 system marks my first jump in six days, according to my notes. I am hoping to regain my spark for action.

There are bookmarks for the system's static connection and a K162 wormhole here, although the two towers I can see on my directional scanner have not been recorded for reference. I find the towers but no activity, sending me to one of the wormholes. I head to the K162 first, if only because the bookmark gives no indication as to the class of system beyond, which a visual check will clarify for me. I drop out of warp at the edge of a large warp bubble, positioned right on top of a wormhole coloured with the orange and black of a C5 on the other side, giving me thirty-five kilometres to fly before I can jump. I consider destroying this bubble but its two hundred thousand hit points deter me from doing it alone.

I warp instead to the system's static wormhole, the connection to a C3 unfettered by warp disruption effects. I jump through to find three more towers and another absence of ships, along with a bookmarked exit to high-sec empire space. Checking the exit shows it to be stable, but I have no business in empire space at the moment. All that's left to do is explore the system beyond the bubbled K162, and I jump back to the previous system to do so.

I pass cloaked through the bubble to the wormhole, a little trepidatious about what I will find on the other side. My biggest fear is that an interceptor waits for me, because jumping back in to this system will make me almost a sitting duck. But I jump in to the C5. I am greeted by a vast area of nothing. Indeed, I find only an off-line tower and its defences in the system. Maybe there is a K162 wormhole in this system to find, but as the static wormhole entered its end-of-life stage as I passed through it I have no incentive to look for any other connections. I jump back, navigate the bubble with no problems, and, with nothing else to do, go home to take a break.

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

Passive scanning

Scanning is complete, and I haven't lifted a finger. We have a simple constellation today, heading through our neighbouring class 5 w-space system in to a C1, then exiting to low-sec empire space. A wormhole opens up from low-sec in to the C5 too, which is all our scouts have found. There is little point in scanning further and the longer life of our static wormhole will keep the constellation alive late in to the next morning.

Despite the thorough scanning and presence of a few pilots there is surprisingly little happening. From what I can discern, some pilots are moving between w-space and empire systems, although I don't know what they're doing. I have a private twinge of uneasiness when one capsuleer says they have no way home, one bookmark not having been copied to our shared can, not having taken a moment to confirm the bookmarks were correct on his way out. Newbies need to be taught, though, and we've all made these mistakes.

But pilots are scattered here and there, with no real focus. The idea of engaging Sleepers doesn't seem possible with colleagues everywhere but the home system, particularly in the C5 where we need more pilots with better skills than in our previous class 4 w-space home. Maybe if everyone available stopped what they were doing and came back we could get an adequate fleet, but I don't feel like herding cats right now.

And even though I am encouraged to go hunting in low-sec empire space I cannot work up the enthusiasm. I don't know what ship to take and feel like dead weight more than a solid roaming partner. I know nothing will come to me if I do nothing but wait, that I must seek adventure, but tonight it seems like there is no adventure to be found. I sit gloomily in my ship looking out at the admittedly beautiful sight of our chosen planet casting a shadow on its rings, until I can stare in to the void no more.

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

Abandoned Talocan battleships in class 5 w-space

It looks like another fleet is forming to engage Sleepers. I join the fleet, despite yesterday's experience, and seeing that we will be flying armour-tanked ships today I get my Damnation out of the hangar. I have faith in the command ship's presence in the field, the warfare links aiding the whole fleet, and don't quite feel like being burdened with flying a Guardian logistics ships today. I am still uncertain about my place in our class 5 w-space home and if I want to quit the fleet I don't want to have everyone else explode because of it.

My choice of ship works out fine. Two capsuleers volunteer to pilot the Guardians, joining my Damnation, two Scorpion ECM battleship pilots, and a bunch of DPS battleships. We have eleven pilots in the fleet and are preparing to attempt the corporation's first class 5 magnetometric site. I refit my Damnation to include analysers, to recover the relics from Sleeper artefacts, and fit the passive defence and rapir repair armoured warfare links. The first boosts the defences of the whole fleet, the second decreases the cycle time of repair modules. The Guardian pilots don't seem to struggle for capacitor juice and the more rapid repairs could be just what we need.

I'm ready, and this time I'm right to be ready. The fleet warps to the magnetometric site where the first wave of Sleepers awaits, as does an abandoned Talocan battleship! The big brother of the deserted Talocan cruiser looks like quite the reward already, although we probably have to survive the site before we can recover its hull. The first two waves of Sleepers pose no problems, leaving us floating with just the artefacts and a bunch of wrecks. I start to analyse the Sleeper artefacts, getting three successes in a row before a failure calls in the third and then fourth waves of Sleepers, the final wave including five battleships to deal with.

We repair through all the incoming damage, the Scorpions' ECM frustrating Sleeper systems, and I keep analysing. The quality of loot is much better in this class 5 system than in a C4, recovering the first intact Sleeper systems for the corporation. On top of that, when the final wave of Sleepers is defeated we call in a ship to salvage the abandoned Talocan battleship and get an intact hull. This is quite a haul already, and we have a second magnetometric site in our system. I have to return to the tower to dump all the loot from my stuffed Damnation's belly, which also stops the loot from getting destroyed if the second site goes badly. But it doesn't.

The second magnetometric site in our home class 5 w-space system seems a little easier than the first. There are no Sleeper battleships in the first two waves, four of them turning up only on the third wave. I begin analysing at that point, as it looks like any failures won't spawn more reinforcements. Four more Sleeper battleships arrive in the fourth wave, and although they take exception to my interest in their artefacts I am apparently an 'easy rep'. I think it's a compliment, either for me or my hardened Damnation, but it sounds rather insalubrious to my ears.

All the Sleepers are dead, Dave, and analysing the artefacts is complete. It's time to salvage. We even have a second abandoned Talocan battleship to investigate, getting a second intact hull section. Class 5 systems certainly have riches to be plundered. I help out with salvaging, taking my Cormorant destroyer out for her maiden voyage in the C5, having a good time working my way between the wrecks. All the loot is taken back to the tower, evaluated, and a payout made. Everyone gets a decent ninety million ISK share from the two sites. I am happy to have contributed and flown my Damnation, and making some ISK for the first time in three weeks helps me feel positive again.

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Tags: cormorant, damnation, eve online, guardian, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scorpion, sleepers, w-space

Ready for nothing

A fleet is engaging Sleepers, and unusually using their shields to soak up attacks. I presume a couple of Basilisk logistics ships are keeping the shields replenished, allowing me to join the action more directly. All I need is a suitable ship. I consider taking my Damnation command ship in to the fray, adding some siege warfare links to the fleet, but am dissuaded from piloting the normally armour-tanked vessel in to today's combat. I don't have the Caldari equivalent Vulture, either, mostly because actively flying one demands some training in guns. But glorious leader Fin has a Nighthawk command ship available, which is shield-tanked, uses missile launchers, and allows a warfare link to be fitted.

Fin graciously lets me borrow her Nighthawk, as well as refit it from its current PvP configuration in to a fleet-supporting PvE fit. I also need to strip the Tech II weapons from the ship and replace them with standard heavy missile launchers, as I still have a guilty little secret of not having trained any Tech II weapons yet. But that's okay, our corporate hangar is well-stocked, letting me fit launchers I can use, and add shield hardeners and an extender to boost the tank of the Nighthawk. The shield has 72,000 effective hit points and resistances ranging from 84% to 90% for all damage types, without the bonuses from boosting the fleet or the effects of the shield harmonisation warfare link.

Setting up the fleet is a little more tricky. Our influx of recruits, coupled with sharing a system with our allied corporation, means we are struggling a little to find capsuleers with the skills trained to command enough pilots in our growing fleets. I get positioned as wing commander, where I can command three squadrons, but allocating pilots to the two squads below the wing takes some fiddling by a colleague. Finally the fleet is configured correctly and my shield boosting warfare link helps everyone. My borrowed Nighthawk is refitted and looking dangerous. I'm ready. 'For what?' Hmm.

I turned up as the fleet was engaging Sleepers. I was told this and I asked to join. I thought this was fairly clear, particularly as I was discouraged from piloting the Damnation and allowed to borrow a different ship. I then spent a while refitting the ship before asking for the fleet to be reconfigured for my warfare link to help everyone. I thought it was quite clear what I was getting ready for. Maybe I missed some crucial communication on the (supposedly still optional) voice communication channel, but I don't like spending so much time preparing to enter combat and aid the fleet only to be rebuffed. I don't quite know how to react.

Luckily, a stranger pipes up in the local channel, deflecting attention to himself. The fleet breaks up to look for new wormholes, finding a couple of connections to null-sec in our system. No doubt the unfamiliar pilot entered through one of them and saw our ships on his directional scanner before leaving again abruptly. Whatever, I am in no mood to chase a shadow, at least not in the current fleet. I lurk at the tower for a while, until I realise I could be productive elsewhere. I stow the Nighthawk, apologise for refitting it for nothing, and log off.

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Tags: basilisk, damnation, eve online, mmorpg, nighthawk, penny ibramovic, w-space

Clearing a path home

Another convenient exit presents itself. It isn't quite as convenient as a K162 from high-sec opening directly in to our system, but it is a good opportunity for me to bring my few remaining ships in to our new class 5 w-space home. The route to empire space takes me through our neighbouring C5, from there to a C2, then a connecting C3 holds the exit wormhole. These intermediate w-space systems mean I can now put my considered recovery plan in to effect.

Bringing in ships through a direct high-sec link is straightforward. Jump in to the system, and if there is no threat on the wormhole warp to the tower in the system. If there is a threat on the wormhole, wait for the session timer to expire and jump out, or call on colleagues to deter the threat. Having to pass through intermediate w-space systems is more awkward, however, as jumping from one w-space system to another doesn't offer the advantage of a safe escape route the way you came. A threat can follow you back through the wormhole and present the same threat there, with no fear of Concord intervention. But my plan should mitigate such threats.

Rather than exiting w-space in my bare pod, I take my Buzzard covert operations boat to empire space. This lets me travel cloaked and scout each system as I pass through it, and I find no activity in any of the systems and no hostile ships loitering on wormholes. The path looks clear for now. I park my Buzzard in a station in high-sec and take my pod the seven hops to Quier, where my few remaining w-space ships wait for me. I board my Damnation command ship first, if only because it is so cuddly, and take it back to the wormhole system. But I don't take the Damnation in to w-space and back to our tower immediately, instead I return in my pod to Quier to collect my Curse. The recon ship is piloted to the wormhole system and now I think about heading home, leaving my Retriever behind as not being entirely necessary at the moment.

I board my Buzzard again and use it to scout the way back in. Enough can change in the short time it's taken me to collect two ships that a safe entrance is not guaranteed. And my diligence is rewarded, as an Ishtar heavy assault ship sits on the exit to high-sec in the class 3 w-space system. Although either of my combat ships could easily jump back out to empire space, where I couldn't be engaged without repercussions, the Ishtar could pose a problem for warping to the next wormhole, and he may have support waiting elsewhere. I move my Buzzard away from the wormhole and cloak without trouble, then check the rest of the route home, finding it to be clear.

Back at the tower, a couple of colleagues are willing to help shoo the Ishtar away from the wormhole as I bring my two ships in. And without a warp bubble on the wormhole I am safe taking my pod back out to high-sec, which I do, docking to pick up one of my ships. I choose the Damnation for its formidable tank and conventional launchers which, with support, should get rid of the Ishtar threat. I have a Loki strategic cruiser coming to my aid, albeit a PvE fit, and our two ships jumping in to the system and engaging the Ishtar directly sees the HAC flee to high-sec with barely a shot fired. That was easy. I happily warp my Damnation to the next wormhole and continue my way to our tower without any further trouble. It looks like I will be able to bring my Curse in the same way.

Meanwhile, a colleague's Dominix battleship, coming to help shoot the Ishtar, has destabilised the connection between the C5 and C2 systems, as well as the pilot spotting a Tengu strategic cruiser and Myrmidon battlecruiser lurking somewhere in the class 2 system. Duly noted, I take my pod back out to high-sec, spotting the Ishtar loitering on the high-sec side of the wormhole, and dock to collect my Curse. The Ishtar pilot spots me passing by and wants to talk, and I accept his invitation, curious to find out what he wants. It turns out that he isn't looking for a fight but merely trying to claim the class 3 w-space system for his corporation, and would like to know if I have a separate claim to the system. Nope, not a problem for me, I tell him, and it looks like the Ishtar won't get shot, and nor will it shoot my Curse.

Another colleague is looking to bring a ship in through the current route and I hold in the high-sec system for her to arrive. But I am promptly called in to w-space, as our Dominix is being engaged by an Abaddon battleship in the C2. I jump in to the C3 and start warping, but our pilot reduces the Abaddon to a wreck before any reinforcements arrive. The locals undeterred, a second Abaddon and a Tengu turning up to shoot the Dominix, certain to overpower the single battleship, but my colleague in the Loki has swapped for a Pilgrim recon ship and is now with the Dominix, and I am nearly in the system in my Curse. The Tengu is snared, and I jump in to the system to help scare off the Abaddon, perhaps sensing the fight turning.

The Tengu is completely trapped, the Pilgrim and Dominix heavily neutralising the strategic cruiser's capacitor energy and keeping its warp engines disrupted. But they are seventy kilometres from the wormhole I just jumped through, far outside of my own module range. I activate my reheat and start burning towards the combat, locking the Tengu and firing my two heavy launchers, which at least can reach the target. By the time I am in range to activate my own neutralisers the Tengu is taking structure damage, clearly unable to repair its shields to any effect. A few seconds more and the pilot's pod warps away from an expensive wreck.

'Good ambush', says the ex-Tengu pilot in the local channel. It's kind of him to say so, but we really were just passing through. Clear communication helped good co-ordination, and we were able to get pilots in the right ships at the right place for the kill. And I think it is my first kill in the Curse, one where I even did the most damage and got the killing blow too, all with just two heavy launchers. I actually forgot I had drones to use, in my boat which can use them the most. But the Tengu was so heavily neutralised that it simply couldn't repair the damage we were doing.

All that's left is to get home, through the critically unstable wormhole. Our returning colleague goes first in her Buzzard, the recon ships go next, and last is the Dominix, increasing its mass by activating its micro-warp drive to ensure the wormhole collapses behind it. All ships are home safely, we got another strategic cruiser kill, and now we have a new connection to a class 2 system to find if we want to.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on Clearing a path home
Tags: abaddon, buzzard, curse, damnation, dominix, eve online, ishtar, loki, mmorpg, myrmidon, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, pvp, tengu, w-space