More quiet profit from Sleepers

The home system is empty, and I am by myself. I refrain from performing a full scan of the system, restricting myself to look only for wormholes. The signatures won't change without interference, and without evidence of external visitors I expect the system to look similar from day to day. I resolve only the one wormhole, our system's static connection, and jump through to the class 3 w-space system. A single tower can be seen on my directional scanner, but no ships, and warping around finds no further activity. I launch probes and scan.

Finding the C3's static wormhole on my first hit seems like a skilful act of scanning, even if it turns out to be a yawn-worthy exit to low-sec empire space. But continuing the scan shows only that signature and two anomalies in the whole system, discounting the wormhole leading homewards. It is almost surprising to see the two anomalies in such a bare system, as they are most easily found and quickest to clear, but maybe they are newly spawned. It would be rude not to keep the system clean for the occupants Or maybe it would be rude to steal loot from their system. Either way, I start thinking about getting my strategic cruiser out of the hangar.

First, I check the destination system through the exit to empire space, bookmarking the wormhole's position on the other side as a standard precaution. There are no other pilots in the low-sec system, which seems only fitting for being in the Solitude region, the complete lack of activity making me feel safer going in to solo combat against Sleepers. I go back home and stow the Buzzard covert operations boat to swap in to my Tengu, still fitted with standard heavy missile launchers for the increased range. I make sure my d-dscan button is responsive, and return to the class 3 system.

The first anomaly has Argos guns shooting at me. They aren't really a problem and can generally be ignored, despawning with the structures once the ships are cleared, but if the Sleepers heavily web me the reduction in velocity gives the guns some heavy hits against my Tengu's shields. On the other hand, as Fin notes, the Argos guns provide a deterrent to pilots looking to ambush a ship in such an anomaly. The guns pack a large enough punch, and are ready to switch targets, that less-protected ships need to be wary. I take the hits from the Argos guns and concentrate on the Sleeper ships, making slow but steady progress.

Reloading my launchers provides an interesting observation. The Sleepers keep their webs on me almost all the time, until my fire pauses for the ten seconds of reloading time. Without any damage inflicted the Sleepers disengage their webs, but once the launchers are ready again and firing the webs re-activate. I doubt this information would let me use my heavy assault missile fitting effectively, but I think it a curiosity worth noting. I clear the first anomaly and move to the second, clearing that too whilst keeping a vigilant eye on d-scan. I have ample opportunity to refresh d-scan, my missiles taking a while to chomp through the armour of the battleships. But eventually all the Sleepers explode.

It is simple to return to salvage, my Cormorant destroyer sweeping through the two sites and grabbing all the loot. And that's all there is in the system. The two anomalies are no more and there are no other sites, not even mining sites. Without collapsing our static connection, or a new wormhole opening, there is little potential for ambushes or more Sleeper combat. I could perhaps start mining one of the sites at home, but I am more than content with the eighty million ISK profit I brought home from the two anomalies with no hassles and no interruptions. I store the loot, swap back in to my Buzzard, and go off-line.

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