Looking for an exit

Fin's got herself stranded in empire space. At least she also potentially stranded some high-sec tourists, who were threatening the return of her Orca industrial command ship laden with fuel. Jumping back out to empire space and collapsing the wormhole behind her, Fin decided being stuck in high-sec was better than being dead, which the battlecruisers, cruisers, and destroyers locking and disrupting the Orca were looking to achieve. However it happened, though, it's up to me to get Fin home. Resolving a wormhole in our home system seems like a good start, until warping to it finds it to be a K162 from another class 4 system. A bit more scanning is needed to find our static connection.

The C4 holds promise of activity, but the C3 is my first choice of destination. The C3 will lead to an exit to k-space, potentially bringing Fin home, and the capsuleers from the C4 also may have passed through our system to the C3, which it would be prudent to find out. My directional scanner shows no signs of activity when I enter our neighbouring w-space system, though, and a blanket scan reveals no ships in the system. I find a tower, on-line but empty, and monitor it as I resolve the six signatures that are present along with three anomalies. At least scanning this C3 should be quick.

I resolve the system's static wormhole, which goes with the general C3 trend to be an exit to low-sec empire space, but otherwise there is just gas to be found. I jump out to low-sec to get the exit system, turning up in the Derelik region and many hops from anywhere. Actually, the low-sec system is just far from my assets, which are clumped around Caldari and Amarr space, as there seems to be a minor market hub a mere eight jumps away. I could use a couple of different rigs to modify my new ship's fitting and make a detour to buy and collect a pair.

On my return to the wormhole I drop out of warp a little short, so that I don't automatically decloak. It's good that I do, because a Buzzard covert operations boat is lurking on the low-sec side of the link to w-space. He sits there for a short while before jumping in to the C3, making me think he is a scout from w-space noting the exit system himself. I wait a minute and follow in behind, hoping the pilot has warped clear of the wormhole to give me an unnoticed entrance. The C3 looks clear and I pay the Buzzard's appearance no mind, heading home and dropping off the rigs at our tower. D-scan stays clear and I don't see the Buzzard again.

I haven't checked the incoming connection from the C4 yet. I swap my cov-ops scanning boat for a Manticore stealth bomber, looking for a simple roam rather than an involved scout, and warp to the K162. Jumping through to the C4 gives me a curious sight on d-scan, there being only a single planet and a Buzzard visible. There is no tower and the Buzzard isn't at the wormhole, and as it can warp cloaked I can't really say why I can see it. I am about to warp to the planet to see if I can catch a careless capsuleer when the cov-ops boat lands a little distance from the wormhole. I am quite taken off my guard, unsure whether to engage or monitor, but d-scan remains clear apart from the planet and Buzzard.

The Buzzard jumps, heading to our home system. I snap out of my reverie and follow to give chase. I try to get a lock on the K162 side but the Buzzard warps. I surge my ship towards our static wormhole, being the most reasonable path for a fleeing capsuleer to take, dropping out of warp to see him jump through to the C3, which I also do a second later. I am a split-second from locking the Buzzard and disrupting its warp engines on our K162, but push on to chase him to the exit to low-sec, where again we both jump and I try to snare him. The Buzzard pilot is quicker this time, warping away safely to a stargate before I can get a lock. I just watch him go and loiter on the wormhole for a while.

I head back to w-space and all the way to the C4 connecting to ours, ready to take a proper look around. I locate a tower, with several ships inside its shields, three of them piloted, but I may have tipped my hand in chasing the Buzzard. I suppose it depends where the Buzzard came from, but if he was a low-sec tourist he certainly got to the second C4 quickly enough. My guess is that he is local to this w-space system and he has had time to warn his colleagues of my presence. I leave the C4 behind as Fin turns up, hoping to be rescued from the over-population of empire space but finding the current route home to be less than desirable. With help from a puppet our static wormhole is collapsed, presumably with the chased Buzzard now himself isolated. Now I can start again.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: buzzard, eve online, manticore, mmorpg, orca, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space