K-space is a dead-end

What good timing. I turn up only minutes after our static wormhole dies, offering new exploration possibilities. I join a small scouting fleet to help scan our way through more wormholes to look for activity and opportunities. Our new neighbouring class 4 w-space system looks a promising start, with a tower and a Tengu strategic cruiser spotted on the directional scanner. The tower is located and a piloted Tengu is inside its shields along with a piloted Helios covert operations boat. The two ships are joined by a third, a Nemesis stealth bomber arriving as I warp away to launch probes out of d-scan range.

The Nemesis is warping around the system, its motive unclear, the other two ships remaining motionless. Scanning is about as easy as it can get in this C4, with only two signatures complementing the four anomalies present. Disregarding the wormhole home makes it trivial to find the system's static connection, leading in to a class 3 system. My paranoia concerning the Nemesis's movements makes me suspect the locals are monitoring this static wormhole now but all I can do is jump and see what happens. Nothing happens. And there is nothing on d-scan either.

A scout in the C4 behind me reports that all ships are back at the tower there, with not much activity from either the Tengu, Helios, or Nemesis. Maybe they didn't notice our scanning probes on d-scan, which is possible for inactive pilots sitting inside a tower. I launch probes in the C3 and start scanning here. I manage to resolve a wormhole quickly enough from the dozen or so signatures, finding an exit to low-sec empire space and potentially ending w-space exploration. I don't give up, though, and find a second wormhole. Warping to its position reveals a K162 wormhole coming in also from low-sec space. How boring.

All hope is not lost, as tenacious scanning resolves a third wormhole. Sadly, it is a K162 wormhole coming from high-sec empire space, and is reaching the end of its lifetime too. Even checking the low-sec exits shows there to be no one around to poke, making it a dreary set of connections indeed. I head home, jumping from the C3 and in to the C4 with no sign of a trap or an ambush, and disappointedly warp to the local tower in time to see the Tengu go off-line. Nothing is happening and so I go back to home to our tower for a quiet evening.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: eve online, helios, mmorpg, nemesis, penny ibramovic, scanning, tengu, w-space