Running the gauntlet of empty w-space

After yesterday's shenanigans I think I'd better swing by our tower to see if it's still there. Popping the Noctis of a significant fleet to deny them a good hundred million ISK in profit may have caused some ire in them, but it's good to see they haven't taken it out on our tower. It's still here and intact. I doubt the same could be said of the sites in our system, and I launch probes and scan to see what's left of them. We have one anomaly and all of the non-anomalous sites, which is pretty good. I suspect the sole remaining anomaly is a result of the Sleepers repopulating, though. One extra signature could be the dying wormhole of yesterday's incursion, but turns out to simply be some more gas. I activate the ladar site and head to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system to explore as normal.

An off-line tower sits in range of the K162 in C3a, and I launch probes and perform a blanket scan of the system as I warp to the only planet not in range of my directional scanner, which isn't that far away. Getting closer sees two active towers and a Merlin frigate, and closer still shows the Merlin to be unpiloted. My probes report it as the only visible ship in the system, and with no anomalies and three signatures in the system I don't have much to scan. I imagine that resolving the signatures will find an extra wormhole, along with our K162 and the static connection, as they are generally the source of stray signatures in such tidy systems. Sure enough, the static exit to low-sec empire space is accompanied by a rather lovely looking outbound connection to class 2 w-space. I have more to explore.

Jumping in to C2a has two bubbles on d-scan and nothing else. Okay, not 'nothing', as an adjustment to d-scan's settings shows seventeen off-line towers scattered around. As all the towers are bare, small, and of the same type I imagine their number matches the number of moons in range, their being anchored a defence mechanism against invasion. It's probably working for now, as the one on-line tower on the edge of the system is on-line and unharmed. There is only an unpiloted Ibis frigate visible at the moment, making the system inactive, and scanning gives another relatively simple result of six anomalies and six signatures. Resolving the signatures finds the two static wormholes, one to class 1 w-space and the other an exit to high-sec. It's another supersoft C2! No wonder the locals feel the need to protect their system with anchored towers.

There's a distinct pattern to today's exploration. Continuing in to C1a I again see nothing but bubbles on scan, with that one alluring planet out of d-scan range. This time, though, there is no active tower on that distant planet, making the system unoccupied and, according to my scanning probes, inactive. Very inactive. I have thirty-five anomalies to think about bookmarking and twenty-two signatures to sift through. With no one living here I ignore anything that isn't a wormhole as I scan, resolving one, then two connections. The first is a static exit to low-sec, and the second is empty space. My probes are lying scumbags! I suppose I resolved the previous static wormhole minutes before it died and picked up the new one on my probes seamlessly.

The w-space constellation is terminated for now. I jump out of the C1 to low-sec to be by myself in a system in the Derelik region, one hop from a dead end. There are no anomalies, though, and the one extra signature turns out to be a ladar site. I head back to w-space, through to C2a, and out to high-sec, where I scan again. I pick up two anomalies and two extra signatures, giving me a rubbish magnetometric site and a spiffy K162 from more class 2 w-space. I jump in to take a look around, seeing two towers on d-scan from the wormhole, as well as noting probes whizzing around the system. I locate the towers, confirm there are no obvious ships here, and think about heading home. I doubt I'll catch the scout and, besides, I've been out in space for a while now. Penny needs food badly. I can always come back later.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: eve online, ibis, merlin, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space