Staying alive
9th April 2011 – 3.28 pmFin's just jumped next door, and she's thoughtfully left me a bookmark to the static wormhole in our can. I'll join her in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system in a moment, I have to check my mail first. There's a curious message from a pilot I don't recognise about being reminded why she uses an unrigged mining barge and flies without implants in w-space. Judging from our corporation interface it looks like our splinter faction ambushed a mining operation rather successfully, which was taken in good spirits by at least one victim.
The interface looks a little corrupted though, and I can't quite work out how many ships were popped, so I switch to a different pane in an attempt to refresh it. But flicking between panes makes it look like we lost a Buzzard covert operations boat less than a minute ago. And why is Fin politely swearing to herself? Oh dear, her Buzzard got decloaked without her noticting, just as she warped to the tower in the C3. Whilst looking at the system map Fin's been popped by the tower defences. It's never much fun to lose a ship under such circumstances.
I take my own Buzzard out to the C3 to pick up the scanning duty, as Fin brings her pod home to fit a spare ship. Before I start resolving any signatures, I make a quick fly-by of Fin's wreck, recovering the modules that weren't destroyed in the explosion. It's not everything but there's no point throwing away more if we can help it. Keeping an eye on the tower for activity, and ensuring my cloak is active, I start scanning. Eight anomalies and eight signatures are in the system. One signature is the K162 home, the rest I need to resolve.
I find a single radar and magnetometric site each, two gravimetric and ladar sites each, and just the one wormhole. I keep what must be the static connection closed, knowing already from my last visit here eight months ago that it will lead to low-sec empire space, giving us the opportunity to shoot Sleepers for profit. More than that, we can test an assertion made by another capsuleer that databanks and artefacts, if left untouched, will remain in a site for as long as wrecks, even once all ships are destroyed or gone.
It's not that I don't trust the word of this unfamiliar capsuleer, it's just that, well, okay, I don't trust him. I have a touch of paranoia when losing tens of millions of ISK is concerned. But, by the same token, I'm not ignoring what may well be friendly advice and am keen to see if it is true. After all, it could lead to greater profit for less inconvenience. And today seems like an ideal day, with this C3 holding both a radar and a magnetometric site. My plan is to clear the three most profitable anomalies of Sleepers, then the radar site, before moving on to the magnetometric site. We can hold a ship in the magnetometric site to keep it 'alive', have one of us return to analyse the artefacts, until finally seeing if the less lucrative databanks in the radar site no longer decay if left alone.
We have a plan to put in to action. Fin and I board our Tengu strategic cruisers back at home and return to the C3 to start wreaking havoc with the Sleepers. The three most efficient anomalies are cleared quickly and smoothly, but Fin wants a quick pit stop before continuing in to the radar site. It seems that adding a target painter module to her Tengu hasn't made as much difference as she'd hoped, and is swapping it out. Whilst refitting, Mick turns up and joins us in his Loki strategic cruiser for the remaining Sleeper combat. He's keen to test his new fit too, noting that he 'swapped the web for a target painter' to see if that works any better. Maybe!
The radar site is cleared, even if we trigger a wave or two of Sleepers early. It's nothing we can't handle. We show signs of learning in the magnetometric site, when the seemingly identical waves of Sleepers are brought in only when we want to see them, and soon enough we are left with only wrecks and artefacts. Mick volunteers to analyse the artefacts, Fin waits for his return, and I warp back to the radar site to see if any databanks remain. The nav-comp alert as soon as I initiate warp instructs me that I am indeed about to re-enter the radar site, which is proof enough that the databanks remain, so I cancel warp there and instead return home to get a hacking ship. The information is good, thanks Fyreax.
Mick analyses, I hack, Fin salvages. We're pretty awesome. So awesome that we attract a Mammoth hauler from somewhere, it appearing on our directional scanners. Mick's finished analysing and is swimming in artefacts, I've finish hacking and am back salvaging the radar site, and Fin's almost finished clearing up the three anomalies of wrecks. As long as only the Mammoth stays on d-scan we should be safe, but he could be here to collect planet goo and be careless enough to head out without checking d-scan himself. Mick boards a stealth bomber and comes to lurk, both to monitor the tower directly and maybe to pounce on any reckless action.
It seems that the Mammoth leaves the tower briefly, disappearing from Fin's d-scan reading for a minute. We don't know where he went, but Mick gets to the tower to see the Mammoth return and then log off. Whatever the pilot was doing we missed it, but luckily he also doesn't come after the two Noctis salvagers in his home system. We all get home safely, with bundles of loot. The salvage alone is worth over three hundred and fifty million ISK, and the artefacts and decryptors push our total to well over half-a-billion ISK in loot for the evening. It may well be worth plundering more magnetometric sites in the future.
2 Responses to “Staying alive”
Happy to help. Just remember to not touch any cans until ready to do all of them. Touching even one and warping out will despawn all the other cans if no one is left on site.
I will also still try and pop your ship and pod you if I get the chance :)
But such is life in a WH.
I'd be disappointed if you didn't. Don't forget to say hi, though.