Plundering a class 1 w-space system

Trying to find wormholes in high-sec falls flat again. There is nothing in the base system, or any wormholes one jump in either direction, only puny anomalies to be found. Looking in one more system gets some luck, although not quite what I'm after. An outbound connection to a class 1 w-space system cannot be used for moving massive ships through, which would make setting up a tower much less convenient, but the system lacks occupation and is stabilising on my entry, which indicates that no one has visited the system recently. Intelligence suggests that the static wormhole will lead to null-sec space, so I don't look for that but instead note the dozen or so anomalies available to be plundered. Looking for a home system can wait, tonight I will make some iskies.

Glorious leader Fin turns up as I am back in empire space and warming up my Tengu. One strategic cruiser in a class 1 system is probably overkill, two would be a whole lot of fun! But for efficiency Fin decides to follow behind me to loot and salvage the destruction, although doing so highlights that she doesn't have a salvaging boat to hand. As Fin buys and fits a simple Cormorant destroyer I start engaging Sleepers, making the assumption that the most profitable anomalies will be the rarer, and warping to the least prevalently named sites first.

Having seen some other capsuleers deliberately ignore the Sleepers' Sirius guns before, for them to despawn a few minutes after no ships are left in the site, I do the same. The guns shoot continuously and hit quite hard, but they leave nothing that can be looted and offer no salvage, essentially making them a waste of ammunition, if they can be tanked. And it is easy enough to ignore their damage in the lowest class of w-space systems. Even so, I try not to be too blasé about the Sleepers, as it would be embarrassing to lose a Tengu here. I also keep a vigilant watch on my directional scanner, because even though there is likely no active connection besides the one to empire space another one could open up at any time.

I clear three anomalies by the time Fin's salvager appears in the high-sec system, and I warp back to the wormhole to guide her in and give her bookmarks to the wrecks. The wormhole connecting us to empire space breathes a sigh and reduces in size as we both enter the class 1 w-space system, indicating its mass allowance has been reduced by half. That's interesting, and I start calculating the implications. I first think that between us we surely haven't passed that much mass through the wormhole yet—Mak isn't with us, after all—and that maybe I was not the first pilot to discover this wormhole. And if that's the case maybe the static connection to null-sec space has been opened too, and I need to be more cautious.

I continue to shoot Sleepers as I consider the wormhole's mass, keeping an eye on d-scan and getting in to a decent groove. I don't know the triggers for each wave of Sleeper drones when I enter the anomalies but after a few sites I am getting the feel for a kill order. Getting it wrong is hardly a problem, as the Sleepers in the low-level anomalies are barely scratching the Tengu, but it is still satisfying to do it 'right'. Fin's Cormorant fills up with some adequate loot and rather more impressive salvage, and she heads back to empire space to drop it off at a station, reducing the risk of carrying it through all the anomalies.

On her way back to the C1 Fin notes the precise designation of the wormhole and corrects my guess at what I'd seen. I though it was a different type, not really paying attention to it at the time, and now it is clear that the wormhole can only pass a hundred million tonnes of mass through before collapsing, a fifth of what I had assumed. It is understandable why the wormhole destabilised earlier, as two round trips with the Tengu alone is enough to do that. The Cormorant is smaller, but not to the point of being insignificant. And although we are more likely to be alone in this C1 I am able to conjure up a new concern, that of another pilot coming in from high-sec and accidentally collapsing the wormhole so that we can't get out again. I really ought not to worry so much.

We spend a bit more time in w-space, clearing seven anomalies in total. The Sirius guns do indeed despawn with the anomaly once the Sleepers are gone, saving time and ammunition, although I still fired seven thousand missiles this evening. With shooting complete I loiter at the wormhole as Fin salvages the remaining sites, where I notice that the connection is now reaching the end of its natural lifetime. It has definitely not been twelve hours since I found it, so I wasn't the first capsuleer to find the wormhole! You really can't assume anything. But we remain safe and we both exit the system without a problem. A quick estimate of the plunder puts our profit at about seventy-five million ISK each, which is a good result for the evening. I can search for more w-space, and perhaps a new home, tomorrow.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: cormorant, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, sleepers, tengu