Siren's call

There's nothing in the can, I'll go out and scan. The home system's static wormhole is quickly found and I jump through to see probes visible on the directional scanner. No towers can be seen, though, and bookmarking the wormhole and warping around shows the system to be unoccupied. Because no one lives here, and I am assuming our own static wormhole has only just been opened, I am now looking for this system's static wormhole as well as another connection leading in to this system. But for now I'll just ignore a radar, ladar, ladar, and radar site.

A colleague turns up and starts to scan too, making a more thorough check of our home system. He finds a second wormhole, a K162 coming from a class 3 w-space system. I didn't really look hard enough, but it also means that the scanner from the C3 could have come through our static in to this C4, which is why there are probes. So when I find a wormhole in our neighbouring system and expect to see a static connection I am surprised when I do indeed drop out of warp next to a K162. I have no idea where this scanner has come from now, but knowing that the system's static wormhole is still to be found means that at least I don't miss the second wormhole in this system as well as at home.

The probes have disappeared from d-scan, the scanner has moved on. I will too, now that I have both wormholes in this system bookmarked. As I am looking for activity I head through the K162, in to a class 2 w-space system. A tower and a couple of industrial ships are visible on d-scan and I soon locate them together. Launching probes and starting to scan shows the system to be devoid of any sites of interest, only the wormhole I just passed through and a second static connection leading to high-sec empire space. As I am finding all this out, one of the occupants says 'hello penny' in the local channel, which is curious. I check and see that my cloak is still holding, and I'm pretty sure I'm not famous. Maybe he's just really good at guessing.

'Why are you so quiet?' Mostly because strangers don't want to be my friend in w-space, although my provocative piratical actions don't help with that. I could answer but am not really in the mood to talk, instead going back through the wormhole to continue my exploration. I jump through the C4 system's static connection in to a C3, d-scan revealing another empty system. The scan return is deceptive though, as I find out after launching probes and warping around. There is a tower somewhat out of scan range that has a piloted Buzzard sitting inside. It doesn't look like he's scanning, and considering the connections that have opened between here and our home system, and one jump beyond, I cannot say whether this Buzzard is responsible for the probes I saw earlier.

My scanning reveals another high-sec exit to empire space. We are spoilt today for getting to civilisation, it seems. The only other signature in the system is a gravimetric site, which I bookmark. It may come in useful later if someone starts mining, and with only one signature in the system it would be churlish not to record its location. But there isn't much activity at the moment. I check each system for any signs of ship movements and find none, even in the C3 connecting in to our home system. My exploration is complete for now, so I take a break.

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

Changing plans

Being by myself, it looks like I'm scanning. There are bookmarks in our shared can but warping to the first leaves me floating in empty space, so they are not current. I launch probes, find the static wormhole elsewhere, and jump through. The directional scanner shows only celestial bodies in the new system and I bookmark the wormhole home and launch probes in preparation. There is one planet out of range of d-scan and it has twenty-seven moons, which looks like a good place for a tower to hide, but warping out there reveals the system to be unoccupied. I start scanning.

Only two anomalies are present along with a handful of other signatures, but judging by the return strengths of the signals this system is probably only good for mining. I resolve a few likely signals and unsurprisingly find rocks and gas, leaving only weaker signals that suggest I am perhaps going to find a wormhole to a class 5 w-space system. And that's what I find, a static connection to a C5. I bookmark the wormhole's position and jump through to another unoccupied system. Unlike the C4, this system has plenty of anomalies and signatures. I start scanning, ignoring more rocks and gas mining sites, but the wormhole is proving elusive.

My time spent chasing signatures gets me musing about the current situation. Although it is possible that the C5's static connection will lead somewhere interesting, it could also lead further in to dangerous or deadly w-space territory. As our neighbourhood stands currently, we are linked to two unoccupied systems with no other incoming wormholes, which sounds ideal for clearing the couple of anomalies in our neighbouring C4, or tackling the more challenging sites in the C5. We may not have a route to empire space but the possibility of raking in profit unmolested should be considered. I recall my probes without finding the static connection in the C5, leaving it closed, and return home to the tower. I copy the bookmarks in to our shared can and then write a bulletin explaining the situation, recommending either leaving the C5 unexplored or collapsing our static connection for better prospects. Then I take a break.

I return to find the C5 being scanned thoroughly, which is a little disappointing to be apparently ignored, but it is hardly within my authority to prevent exploration. We're in luck too, the C5 holding a static high-sec exit and a connection to a class 2 w-space system. We may no longer be nicely isolated but at least we haven't opened up a wormhole to a populated C5 or C6 system. In fact, the scout finds a Covetor and Hulk mining in the C2, the jet-cans also present on d-scan indicating activity. He investigates further to find two towers in the system, one with an unpiloted Drake sitting in its shields, and the mining barges elsewhere. I get my Onyx heavy interdictor warmed up and move it to the C5 system, where my bookmarked exploration ended earlier.

The scout tries to find the miners, launching probes out of d-scan range of them before returning to get a distance and bearing using d-scan. With a good idea of their location, he returns to the wormhole and jumps through to give me its position. I am now sitting on the connection to the C2 and the scout jumps back to resolve the gravimetric site. He finds it, warps there and sees the Hulk and Covetor mining different rocks, quite far apart. The scout bookmarks jet-cans for both ships and as he warps home to change ships we formulate a plan. I'll drop my Onyx on the Hulk and the scout, now in a Myrmidon battlecruiser, will warp to the Covetor. If we so decide, my Onyx can hold the pod of the probably higher-skill character in the Hulk for ransom. We have separate targets but bookmarks for both, and are sitting ready on the other side of the C2.

We jump in to the C2 system and I engage my engines to warp to the Hulk. But my colleague points out that the Hulk has left, only the Covetor remaining according to d-scan. I cancel warp quickly and start warping to the Covetor's position instead, assuming the Hulk is not returning. The Covetor remains when we drop out of warp and I activate my warp bubble. The mining barge launches some scout drones against me but they are barely a threat, and the Covetor quickly pops. The pilot is podded without thought. There is not much loot in the barge's wreck and only kernite ore is found in the can nearby. It's a weak result.

I grab what little loot there is, shoot the wreck and the can of ore, scoop the corpse and now-unowned drones, and leave the pocket. There is no counter-attack and we make it back to the tower safely. I swap back to my Buzzard scanning boat and return to the system, surprised to see one of the cans we left has disappeared. A Nemesis stealth bomber is seen briefly on d-scan, although its affiliation does not match the local corporation or that of the miners. I launch probes to scan the system and find a high-sec exit to empire space, along with an EOL connection to a C3 system. I risk the C3 connection but only find an unoccupied system. Wherever the miners came from, they are probably not coming back for their ore. All systems are quiet, so I go home.

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Tags: buzzard, covetor, drake, eve online, hulk, mmorpg, myrmidon, nemesis, onyx, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space

Slow Club at Koko

Slow Club are uncharacteristically quiet. Not in their music, which opens enthusiastically with a guest drummer and bass player, but it isn't until the end of the third song when they first interact with the audience. The venues for the folk duo are just getting bigger and bigger, Koko being packed with fans of the group. 'Woah, don't turn that light on', pleads Rebecca as the whole venue audience is lit brightly when she says hello. The sheer number of people staring back make her lost for words. 'I'm speechless. For the first time in my life there are no words.' But there is still music and the pair play another song.

These are mostly new songs being played tonight, Slow Club expanding from their debut album Yeah, So, which Rebecca hopes is okay with us. 'If not, it's tough', she admits, 'you'll just have to deal with it', and we all get treated to another new song. There are shouts of adoration for Rebecca between almost every song, from the same man it seems, and Charles begins to feel put out, wondering where the love for him is. 'I think it's my dad' who is calling out, she replies, but Charles gets some attention too when someone shouts out that they like his beard. Charles says that in a fit of madness he shaved off all his hair in January and has now grown it back, letting his beard grow for a few months now.

'It's mightily impressive', comes a call from the audience.

'It's above-average', Charles squeaks in to the microphone, in a mock-audience manner. Off-microphone, he's told by Rebecca that they are playing too fast, which Charles then relays to us. Rebecca thinks that it will all be over too soon. But they continue to play. The next song is announced by pointing out that they never write set-lists, and they next song they have is apparently 'No Food Way', and we are treated to some songs from the album. Along the way we hear Our Most Brilliant Friends, Trophy Room, and Sorry About the Doom, before the pair unplug to play Wild Blue Milk acoustically at the front of the stage, which is gorgeously intimate for the venue.

The set is over and Slow Club leave the stage, but the ovation and cheers bring them back for an encore. Another new song is announced as Gold Mountain, Charles telling people not to cheer as they haven't heard it yet, although I got a preview when they played it at the Garage earlier in the year. Rebecca also points out that it is on YouTube, and then tells her YouTube story. Noting that she has to stop reading them, Rebecca recalls her favourite comment on the band's video for Trophy Room, calling them a 'pair of fat, spoilt adult-toddlers playing at life'. Charles wonders if the commenter is in the audience, Rebecca pointing out that of course he isn't, 'who'd want to watch two fat adult-toddlers muck around for an hour?'

We are treated to Gold Mountain and then comes Slow Club's final song of the night, another acoustic number and apparently the last time they'll play the song live. Or at least 'until the next time it happens'. Christmas TV gets a huge response, with the audience singing along to the refrain even without Rebecca's prompting, and the evening ends on suitably high note. Slow Club are getting bigger but they remain connected to their fans.

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Tags: gig, koko, slow club

Hunting and hunted

The rabbit hole goes deeper than the current bookmarks suggest. Our scout takes a closer look at the C2 system currently limiting our exploration and finds some more wormholes. The system has a static exit to high-sec empire space, another connection to a C3 w-space system, an EOL wormhole coming in from a C2, and another wormhole leading out to a C5. It's quite the crossroads. The scout returns to drop the bookmarks in to our shared can and I copy them to go exploring further for my own curiosity.

A quick check of the C2 system first shows a Heron frigate and Deimos heavy assault ship now piloted. I suppose they have perhaps been alerted to an attack, after our stealth bombers incidentally damage their defences with a co-ordinated bomb launch against a Drake outside the tower. The two pilots don't appear to be active. I leave them behind, warping to and jumping through the static connection to w-space. The class 3 system is occupied and I find the tower using d-scan, made simpler as it is anchored to the sole moon of a planet. I am pulled in to a warp bubble outside of the tower, but not decloaked, and as I drag my ship out of the bubble I check d-scan again. There are no ships at the tower but I see two Loki strategic cruisers and some Sleeper wrecks.

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Tags: brutix, buzzard, deimos, drake, eve online, guardian, heron, loki, low-sec, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, prowler, rapier, scanning, thrasher, typhoon, w-space

You can't park there, sir

The contents of the bookmarks can look interesting today. I copy them all in to my Buzzard's systems and head out to explore. Our home system's bookmarked static wormhole is present and stable, signalling the bookmarks are current, and I jump through to the class 4 system. There is no activity here, only magnetometric and radar combat sites bookmarked, so I warp directly to the next connection and jump through to where it looks more promising.

The C2 is occupied, and I know this before I even make my first sweep with the directional scanner. There is a bookmark to the tower already made and copied in to my nav-comp. I make this my first destination. As I enter warp I punch d-scan and examine the return, noting probes in the system as well as a few ships, including strategic cruisers. Arriving at the tower gives me more information, the least of which being that this bookmarked location avoids the large warp bubble anchored near the tower. I also see that most of the ships visible on d-scan are in the tower and unpiloted, although the Tengu strategic cruiser is elsewhere, as is a Zealot heavy assault ship. Not in the tower, but neither elsewhere, is a Drake battecruiser.

The Drake I see is sitting stationary above the tower, near its defences. Checking his details, the pilot doesn't belong to the corporation or alliance of the tower owners, but he is neither shooting not getting shot by the defences. I have no idea what he's doing. The Drake is floating next to a giant secure container, which lets me get a reference to his location to bookmark whilst I consider the situation further. I check d-scan again and the zealot and probes are still visible, but the Tengu has gone. With a bookmark to the tower and to the Drake I warp away, moving around the system to get full d-scan coverage with its limited 14 AU range. The Tengu is no longer in this system, although it could be cloaked I suppose, and when I warp back to the tower, using my new bookmark to land closer to the Drake this time, the Zealot has disappeared too. The Drake is looking more like a valid target now he seems to be the only other ship in the system. All we need is a plan.

There are three engineers available, including me. We can easily get the firepower needed to destroy a Drake, even with its impressive shield tank. But we still can't reason why it is there. The lack of purpose or rationality in its position makes us suspect it is acting as bait, but even then we cannot work out what it is bait for. Our first plan is to warp in to his position with ships optimised for DPS, and defensively rather weak as a result, hoping to destroy the Drake as quickly as possible and flee, but the uncertainty of the tower defences turning on us raises doubts.

A second plan is made, one we all agree on, and we each board a stealth bomber. We will bomb the target and sustain fire with torpedoes until we either have to flee from the tower's defences or the Drake itself. We all load the same bombs, ignoring ship bonuses to specific damage types in preference for being able to launch a single volley of three bombs without the first bomb to detonate obliterating the other two. Our siege launchers remain loaded with specific torpedo types for the bonuses. Now we need to co-ordinate launching the bombs.

We have struggled in the past in manoeuvring several stealth bombers around whilst cloaked. A recent operation resulting in what can only be described as an embarrassment as an unintentional decloaking from getting too close to another bomber see bombs launched hastily at the wrong time, and one in a different direction. But this time it should be easy. The Drake is stationary and time doesn't appear to be a factor. We each have a copy of the bookmark to the Drake's location. We jump in to the system and two of us bounce off a different planet to land at range from the Drake, the third approaching directly from the wormhole. All three stealth bombers land 50 km away from the Drake approaching from different vectors. Now we move within bombing range, our approach lining us up for a bomb launch perfectly.

When in range we cut our engines and come to halt. With all three bombers in position and ready a short count is given to synchronise launches. All three bombs landing at the same time should hit for a significant amount of damage, and the closer in time they all detonate the sooner we can sustain the damage with torpedoes. The countdown is given, cloaks are dropped and bombs are launched! They glide slowly towards the still-inert Drake as my active weapon systems lock-on to the target. The bombs detonate, knocking the shields of the Drake down to almost nothing in an instant. That's impressive. I paint the target and move closer so that I can activate the warp disruptor, launching torpedoes as I go. My colleagues do the same. The Drake's armour is not as impressive as its shields and is quickly deteriorating. Its pilot is even awake, returning fire but now unable to warp away, and although I take some damage it is not enough to make me disengage, not as we are breaking through the armour to the Drake's hull. Before we are in any kind of danger the Drake explodes.

Seizing the opportunity, I start to acquire a lock on the pilot's ejected pod, activating my warp disruptor in advance to hold him if I am quick enough. I expect the pod to warp off, so I am surprised to see a positive lock and the warp disruptor activate, but not so surprised that I fail to launch torpedoes. In fact, all three of us jump on his pod just as quickly, each of us contributing to the pilot's icy death in space. We loot the wreck, having to share it between the stealth bombers because of our limited cargo space, scoop the corpse, and destroy the empty and useless wreck. We warp out of the pocket quickly and cleanly, no ships seen and the tower defences leaving us unscathed, making it back to and through the wormhole and to our tower.

We are still none the wiser about what the Drake was doing there, although the probes that we loot show that it was probably scanning the system. Why it was doing so at and outside the system's tower is a mystery. It also seems like its shield hardeners weren't active, which if true is a little foolish for a ship that ideally should have the capacitor energy to sustain them indefinitely. Never the less, the earlier scanning and later scouting to find the strangely positioned Drake is followed by a good plan that is executed smoothly, resulting in a satisfying kill. This is the sort of team-building exercise that makes me feel warm inside.

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Tags: buzzard, drake, eve online, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, tengu, w-space, zealot

Ready to get right back in the saddle

Revenge is a dish best served as dessert. Otherwise it wouldn't technically be revenge, I suppose. Back at the tower in my new Onyx, more engineers have turned up and are looking for action. The visitors from high-sec are still attacking Sleepers in the C1 system a couple of wormhole jumps away and now we have equality in numbers and the advantage in firepower. First I need a name for my new heavy interdictor. Death Cake is suggested and, whilst I quite like it, I am loath to imply that the ship I fly is a weapon dangerous to anyone but myself. Combining the idea with another suggestion, I rename my new Onyx to Butterscotch Delight. Now dessert can be served.

We assemble on the wormhole a Hurricane battlecruiser optimised for damage, my Onyx, and three recon ships in a Curse, Rook, and Pilgrim. Our scout is currently in the C1 and again monitoring the visitors clearing Sleeper anomalies, exchanging roles with another pilot so that he can return to our tower and swap in to a Myrmidon battlecruiser. We're looking pretty threatening now. To be honest, my nerves are tingling slightly from the earlier loss but I will not let that hold me back. I won't delay in jumping through the wormhole and warping, even if any lag looks natural, as I would only be harming myself by harming the corporation. I'm ready to put myself back in to the action.

As it turns out, the visitors clear their last anomaly and head back to high-sec space before we can get a good position on them, their salvaging boat clearing up too quickly to catch, and we are left sitting passively on the other side of a wormhole. But that's okay, as we have an unoccupied C4 full of anomalies to ourselves. It's a short hop back to the tower to change in to our Sleeper operations ships before returning to clear our own anomalies. Perhaps this is where we should have started the night, but straightforward profit-making doesn't quite have the excitement and uncertainty of w-space PvP. But I also need to earn iskies to keep paying for new HICs.

Our moderate fleet tackles the anomalies smoothly, our recent operations getting us back in to a decent groove after some short breaks. The Rook is doing an excellent job of keeping us Guardian pilots relaxed, jamming nearly all of the incoming damage. Our task is almost reduced to feeding capacitor energy to hungry battleships. Five anomalies are cleared of Sleeper ships and then swept clean by salvagers. I miss the salvaging, though, the late hour calling me to get some sleep. The evening has been full of ships exploding all around me, I hope my dreams are more peaceful.

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Tags: curse, eve online, guardian, hurricane, mmorpg, myrmidon, onyx, penny ibramovic, pilgrim, rook, sleepers, w-space

Know your enemy

It's difficult to prove a negative. Alone in our home system instead of going out to scan immediately I open our can where we share bookmarks. If someone has already mapped today's local neighbourhood there is no point in duplicating the effort. The problem is that the bookmark system is cumbersome, taking far too long to load simple data holders, which makes it difficult to know if the can is empty or if there are bookmarks and they are simply taking a while to load. After five minutes of looking at an empty can—because the bookmark system really is quite broken—I decide that perhaps I need to scan after all. I move out of the tower's shields, launch probes, and soon find our system's static connection and jump through.

The directional scanner shows the system to be clear within range of our exit wormhole in the neighbouring class 4 system, and a bit of warping around shows the system to be empty and inactive. There is, however, plenty of Sleeper activity, with many anomalies present. It is tempting not to find the system's static wormhole. I have growing evidence that the K162 exit connection does not appear until the wormhole in the originating system is visited, and thus 'opened'. By not locating this system's static wormhole the system can remain isolated, granting a later corporation fleet the opportunity to clear the anomalies for substantial profit with little risk of interruption. But ignoring the wormhole also means denying an exit to empire space, if needed, or finding any viable targets in later systems. I launch probes and start scanning.

Finding the static wormhole I think that maybe I made the right decision. The connection leads to a C1 system, the lowest class of w-space and more likely to have soft targets within. I jump in to the system to see probes on d-scan but no tower, which suggests that the scanner has come from a different system. There must be a K162 wormhole here, along with the system's static connection. I find a K162 wormhole, coming in from high-sec empire space, which is perhaps where the scanner is from, but I need to return to the tower for a while and don't have time to locate the static wormhole. I return home safely and copy my current bookmarks to our shared can before taking a break.

A bit later, I return to find our scan man in the C1 monitoring ship activity. It seems that some capsuleers are taking advantage of the weaker Sleeper ships in the system to get some quick profit. A Caracal cruiser and a bunch of battlecruisers—a Harbinger, two Hurricanes and two Drakes—are clearing anomalies. One of the Hurricane battlecruisers looks to be the salvaging boat, occasionally being left behind to sweep up the wrecks. My suspicion is that these are high-sec tourists, taking advantage of a serendipitous connection to low-difficulty w-space. It is quite possible that dropping scary ships in to the middle of their fleet unexpectedly will startle them in to fleeing, after which we can destroy the two or three ships we snare with warp disruptors. With three of us available we stand a fair chance of getting a kill or two, particularly as the other fleet is unlikely to be fitted with PvP modules. I board my Onyx heavy interdictor, a colleague is in his Lachesis recon ship, and our scan man will get us a point to warp to before returning in something suitably threatening.

We warp to the wormhole connecting to the C1, holding on the C4 side until we have the right opportunity to engage. The situation looks good and we are called to jump. The wormhole flares as we pass through, and we warp to the position of our scout. Once we are in warp, he leaves the pocket and system to swap ships back at the tower. We drop on top of the battlecruisers, lock, and start firing. But I'm not making much of a dent in their shields, let alone getting in to their armour. The Lachesis warps out and I try to find the weakest target, but not only do they all seem quite hardy none of them are fleeing. As my shields start evaporate under the incoming fire of six ships and their drones I also realise that I am pointed, one of the ships disrupting my warp drive. My second Onyx explodes around me.

I have a contingency plan. I warp my capsule to the high-sec exit, jump through, and dock to buy a new ship. It's not a great contingency plan, but it works for me. At least my pod survives and there is a convenient exit to replace my lost Onyx quickly. I don't get the best prices on the ship and a few modules, because of the location, but I am able to buy and fit a new ship relatively quickly, and after jumping to various local systems I am ready to return to w-space. All I need is a name for my new Onyx, for which I choose Placeholder for now. The only flaw in my plan was not bookmarking the high-sec side of the wormhole. Our scout is out and willing to guide me in and I warp to his position. A Cormorant destroyer is sitting on the high-sec side of the wormhole, but the w-space side is reported to be clear. I'll jump back, heading for home, and see what happens.

What I don't expect is for the wormhole to close behind me. Both my Onyx and our scout get through, but then the wormhole collapses. Neither of us even noticed it was critically unstable. It is difficult to tell the relative size of a wormhole, though, unlike the EOL effect which is quite visibly more wobbly than a normal wormhole. I consider this to be Mothman's revenge! The death of my Onyx will have been not in vain if I have disconnected the fleet from empire space. Unfortunately, the C1 has a static high-sec exit wormhole, one that the fleet has apparently already found. And, as it is static, they are guaranteed a return to high-sec as long as they keep a scanning boat in the system with them, which I imagine they do.

My assumption that this fleet is composed of high-sec tourists is wrong. They very likely have come from high-sec, but considering the situation further offers an interesting option. They came through a static wormhole that leads from high-sec space to a class 1 w-space system. The nature of static connections means the high-sec system must then always contain a wormhole that leads to C1 w-space. It would make sense for the corporation to establish a nice and secure base in this high-sec system and visit the current C1 system for some easy and profitable Sleeper combat whenever they please. Indeed, as the engagements will be straightforward, particularly with a small fleet of ships, they are able to fly with configurations that have some PvP capability. Their ability to engage Sleepers in a class 1 system won't be comprimised and they will be able to counter weak threats from foolhardy w-space inhabitants. It's quite a nice set-up.

Oh well, another expensive ship lost for no good reason. At least I was neither podded nor isolated from w-space, and I get even more experience at being shot. It all builds character.

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Tags: caracal, cormorant, drake, eve online, harbinger, hurricane, lachesis, mmorpg, onyx, penny ibramovic, pvp, scanning, w-space

Daring a destabilised wormhole

All alone, I scan. I find our home system's static wormhole and warp to it, but I don't jump. Examining the wormhole shows it to be on the verge of collapse, because of the total mass of ships that has passed through it, but it isn't at the end of its natural lifetime. This is as unusual as it is interesting. Because it isn't EOL, and our corporation's peak time of activity is still to come, the wormhole cannot have been destabilised by colleagues. The effort to collapse the wormhole must have come from the other side, suggesting not only occupancy but activity. Our neighbours don't want to be disturbed. This is all the encouragement I need.

That the wormhole has been destabilised by our neighbours also indicates that a colleague already scanned and jumped through the connection. There is growing evidence that a static connection doesn't create the K162 in the corresponding system unless the wormhole is 'activated' by warping to its grid. Only recently did I note the appearance of a K162 wormhole in a system whilst I was actively scanning, two return signals becoming three between consecutive results. I am keen to go through to the next system to see what activity is occurring but I would rather not alert them to my presence, and it is a big help if there are bookmarks already made. I warp back to our tower and check the shared can, neglected because I assumed that I was the first person to arrive, and indeed there are some bookmarks. Not just any bookmarks, but a position near our neighbour's tower, the location of a couple of gravimetric sites, and an exit to empire space. I'm ready.

The wormhole is on the verge of collapse, I have no idea how much more mass it will let through before it collapses. My first visit to our neighbouring system will be in my Buzzard covert operations boat, which is stealthy, has scanning probes, and is only a frigate-sized hull. I may get isolated, if I'm unlucky, but I won't get trapped. I jump through and the wormhole holds together. A quick check of the directional scanner shows a Rorqual capital industrial ship and several Hulk exhumers. I need to find them. The first step of the process is to visit the occupants' tower, which will quickly show if all the ships are floating idly. The Rorqual is at the tower, and piloted, the Hulks are elsewhere. And a jet-can is now visible on d-scan. I have targets.

I am loath to launch probes to try to find the miners, as any obvious activity will change the situation. The miners will at least return to their tower, and possibly even swap to combat ships. I already have implicit evidence that these pilots are active in keeping their system safe, trying to close off our connection to them. The bookmarks made by a colleague are therefore highly valuable. I pick one of the two gravimetric sites bookmarked in the system and warp to it at range. What a pretty sight, five hulks hugging each other whilst mining the same rock.

The miners have even offered a jet-can as a handy reference to bookmark, which I do. Before I return to the tower I check the other connection in the system, to see if the exit to empire space exists. If it does, I can risk squeezing a bigger ship through our destabilised connecting happy in the knowledge that I can flee in a different direction. But, perhaps predictably, the occupants have collapsed their own static wormhole. I don't want to look for the new one, as that would alert them to my presence, so getting potentially stuck in this system will affect my plan. I warp back to our wormhole and jump, happy to see it still remain when I get to the other side, and return to the tower to formulate a plan. I need a ship that is small, can deal damage, and has scanning capability. Not much fits the bill.

I board my Manticore stealth bomber. It, too, is based on a frigate's hull, making it light, and it is designed to engage larger ships, so is fitted with siege launchers. It also can fit a covert operations cloak, letting me move around undetected, good for initial positioning, escapes, and safe scanning. Ah, scanning. I cannot fit both a bomb launcher and probe launcher on to the Manticore, making me choose the probe launcher for safety. There is no point attacking the miners if I cannot get out of the system again, and although a bomb does a nice amount of alpha strike damage I am assuming that time won't be an pressing concern when attacking miners. To finish my adapted fitting, I fit as many warp disruptors as I can, wanting to hold as many Hulks in the site as possible. I have no idea what will happen next, but nothing ventured in a frigate-sized hull, nothing gained. I warp back to our wormhole and jump. Lucky for me, the wormhole doesn't collapse. Maybe I should have brough the Onyx. But no time for second thoughts, I move away safely from the wormhole and activate my cloak.

When I warped in to the gravimetric site before my vector put a lot of rocks in my way, which may mean I get decloaked unintentionally if I warp to optimal range from the can. But I remember that I warped from the occupants' tower before, and now I am at the wormhole. I check the relative positions of each bookmark on the system map and see I will be approaching from the opposite direction this time. I prefer to be safe and make an initial warp to the can at maximum range. Seeing that my path to the can is completely clear, I warp back to the wormhole—at range, not wanting to break my cloak—and warp back to the can at optimal range. I get a good view of all the Hulks and start lining them up.

I have no bomb, so I simply decloak and start locking on to targets. I pick three Hulks at random, only having three disruptors, and shoot one unlucky miner. My torpedoes are taking a while to chew through the exhumer and it is only then I consider how my modifications are affecting my capacitor's stability. My ship will run out of energy really quickly now, the disruptors drinking much more juice than I expected. I cannot hold all three ships for long enough. Instead, I start cycling the modules, disrupting one of the three ships at a time, but swapping between modules to mitigate any de-activation delay. I am able to prevent the Hulks from warping off, if they are even trying, and the first exhumer explodes in a rather satisfying explosion.

My focus shifts to a second Hulk, and I target the remaining two and the ejected pod to be thorough. The pod warps away safely, unsurprisingly, and the miners have finally woken up. I think I am still safe for the moment, cycling the warp disruptors to keep the Hulks from escaping and having plenty of torpedoes in my hold, but then one of the Hulks launches some Tech II Infiltrator combat drones. They lock me and start shooting, my shields quickly disappearing. I disengage and warp out of the site with minor armour damage, content with my one Hulk kill. It could have been more, certainly with a different ship, but this is my first successful solo Manticore kill, I believe, and I was restricted by the wormhole's lack of stability. I warp back to our wormhole and jump through. Still it remains.

Had I launched a bomb at the miners the damage would have been applied to each ship, meaning few torpedo volleys would have been required. And the bomb would have destroyed all the ore. But without an escape route the risk was too great. With more experience of the modules I could have fitted warp scramblers instead of disruptors, using less capacitor, and their greatly reduced range wouldn't have mattered for this engagement. Never the less, I squeeze through the wormhole and cause a little bit of mayhem, destroying a Hulk for no loss. That's a good result and is as much a victory for the earlier scout who scanned and bookmarked the site as it is for me. Never think that scanning is unrewarding. And today also shows that a wormhole on the verge of collapse is not perfect protection against incursions. As a consequence, the miners get a lesson in doing the job properly. Now I just need to repair my armour.

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Tags: buzzard, eve online, hulk, manticore, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, pvp, rorqual, scanning, w-space

White Hinterland at The Social

The audience seems timid about a diminutive elven figure behind a keyboard. 'You look cramped at the back', says Casey Dienel, one half of White Hinterland, 'come forward'. It seems to be typical behaviour of an uncertain audience, not wanting to push themselves to the front. I fought my feelings of self-consciousness and moved close to the tiny stage as soon as the band appeared ready, not wanting to miss a moment of this gig.

Latest album Kairos has seen continuous play with me since its release, the change in musical direction not feeling awkward at all but seeming a natural and fitting progression for Casey's incredible vocal talent. Thundering basslines and electronic loops are tempered by soaring, echoed vocals, weaving together to make captivating music.

It could be these thumping bass notes that are holding the audience back a little, produced as they are by the other half of White Hinterland, Sean Creedon, who towers over Casey. The Social doesn't seem quite big enough to hold the sounds. But more people are encouraged to move closer and the gig feels more comfortable for everyone. Even the small stage doesn't hamper the performance, given the departure from a traditional band on the latest album. And as White Hinterland now rely on the current set-up of a keyboard, a bench of sequencers, effects pedals, and tapes it doesn't really allow any older songs to be played. The band are promoting Kairos and there is a whole album to showcase.

I have a few favourites from the album I would be happy to hear, although I would understand the limited time may mean I don't get to hear them. I am truly delighted when the first song begins with the recognisable beat from Amsterdam, the one song I was really hoping would be played. And if that wasn't beautiful enough, it is followed by my other favourite, Moon Jam, which makes me tingle every time I hear it. I would be happy just to coast through the rest of the gig enjoying everything else White Hinterland play, but the third song in the set is the amazing Icarus. Maybe I simply have too many favourite songs on the new album.

It is simply fabulous to hear Casey sing live and to see how she recreates the studio recordings on stage. Her microphone is hooked to a sampler controlled by a pedal, which she uses to record one layer of vocals to play back as she adds a second, third, or fourth layer. The sampling is present in most songs, if fairly subtle in some, like Cataract, and is used to amazing effect in Thunderbird, which relies on multiple vocal tracks as the basis of the music. The gig finishes with the touching Huron, after which the band simply walks to one side and starts packing up, such is the low-key nature of this gig. Every song White Hinterland play tonight is beautiful and shows how strong Kairos is as an album, one that deserves a much larger audience than The Social can provide. It can only be a matter of time.

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Tags: casey dienel, gig, the social, white hinterland

Solo C1 anomalies in a Drake

A quick reconnoitre shows all is quiet. Our neighbouring system is still empty, the industrialist corporation whose tower we shot in the next system along is still inactive, and the C1 and its low-sec exit shows no activity. But with it being so quiet and having a C1 with plenty of anomalies means I could probably be productive by myself. I bookmark a few anomalies and return to the tower to grab my Drake. I remove the warfare link to add a salvager, swap a thermal hardener for a reheat, make sure my directional scanner is working, and go out looking to pick a fight with some Sleepers.

The journey to and from the C1 should be easy enough, with no one around, and the low-sec exit may not give me any troubles. I will need to keep a keen eye on d-scan, as I am quite vulnerable in a solo PvE Drake. A big shield by itself doesn't fight off attackers. Sleepers shouldn't pose much of a problem, though, but when they appear over 90 km away from my ship it isn't terribly convenient. Shooting the Sleepers brings them closer, once I get them in to range of my targeting system, and I can begin to earn some profit. As each Sleeper explodes I move towards it to loot and salvage the wreck. Having no tractor beam will make this slower, but the reheat will mitigate that a little.

Salvaging the first wreck turns out to be a slow process, slow enough that I wonder if it would be more efficient to shoot everything first and return in a dedicated salvaging boat. I decide to do just that and turn off the salvager and, predictably enough, that final cycle salvages the wreck. I change my mind and continue salvaging with the Drake, which goes rather more smoothly after the first wreck. I am able to clear the anomaly easily enough, although it is fairly slow by myself in a standard battlecruiser, and I warp to the next. The second anomaly has sentry guns, which I know hit harder than Sleeper ships. I target them first and try to get some transverse velocity to reduce the incoming damage a little, but a Sleeper frigate is webbing my Drake, slowing me down. I pop the frigate and return my focus to the sentries, but my shield starts complaining. It seems that the frigate's explosion brought the second wave of Sleepers with it. I have to warp out.

My shields don't take long to regenerate and I warp back to the anomaly, destroy a couple more of the sentries but leave the last. The sentry guns don't leave wrecks, so offer no loot or salvage and thus no profit, using a fair bit of ammunition for no reward. I can absord the damage of one of them easily enough and concentrate my fire now on the Sleeper ships, which I can loot and salvage. The Sleepers soon explode under my missile fire, and although I occasionally bring my drones out to help against the smaller ships they are targeted and shot at too quickly to offer any real benefit. I finish looting and salvaging the wrecks, the lone sentry gun still shooting me.

I am both out of time and missiles, not enough left in my hold to reload all my launchers. It has been so long since I flew solo PvE in my Drake that I have forgotten about such basic matters. I get back to the tower safely, all systems remaining quiet, with my cargo full of loot. Almost 25 million ISK profit is quite a good result for my time.

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