Volcanic activity in space

Opportunity for exploration looks promising. Opening our bookmarks can shows only locations noted for our static wormhole, with the next connection along listed as 'inactive'. I copy the bookmarks to my Buzzard's nav-comp and warp the covert operations boat to our system's wormhole, jumping through when I get there. I have been in our neighbouring class 4 w-space system before, a month ago, and it remains unoccupied. More importantly, there is no one from the corporation in this system shooting Sleepers or mining, which lets me explore further without endangering an operation. I could keep the wormhole inactive in case a corporation fleet wants to plunder this system but the lack of activity suggests it won't happen soon. I warp to the system's static wormhole and jump in to the class 5 system beyond.

The C5 is unoccupied and quiet. Launching probes finds loads of signatures, maybe making this system better for later fleet operations should more pilots turn up soon. In the meantime I start sifting through the signatures looking for wormholes. I find an exit to null-sec space by accident and it doesn't look like the system's static connection, so I keep looking. I manage to confuse myself and select 'ignore result' instead of 'ignore other results' when trying to clear some anomalies from the list of signatures, and I don't remember the designation of the signature I just mistakenly ignored. I could clear the entirety of the ignored list but it has grown quite large already. The signature was the only one around the planet I'm scanning, so I leave it for now and if I fail to find the static wormhole I'll clear the whole list later and only look here.

I finally resolve the system's static wormhole. It turns out to be only around 2 AU from the K162 heading homewards, which makes my comparative method of scanning for wormholes look like a failure. Warping to the connection reveals another C5 system to explore, and I jump through the wormhole. This second class 5 system is much like the first, with no occupancy, no activity, and a bunch of signatures to resolve. I even find another exit to null-sec space, although this one is a K162 and thus was opened from null-sec. I resolve the static wormhole a bit more easily than in the previous system and warp to see the red haemorrhoidal throbbing of the wormhole's sphincter that heralds deadly w-space. Undeterred, I jump in to the class 6 system.

As I reorientate myself I actually get a bit dizzy instead. Instead of seeing a J-number of w-space on my HUD I have an actual name instead. I wonder if I somehow misinterpreted the wormhole and have jumped in to null-sec space instead of a C6 w-space system. I double-check my systems and I am indeed in w-space, my location unknown, but I am also staring at a named planet. Then the name hits me and I scan the planet. It's a lava planet. I sense some Icelandic shenanigans in it being named Eyjafjallajokull but at least it now makes sense, and my directional scanner confirms that planet's name is unique and the rest of the system has a normal w-space locus signature. It was simply chance that the wormhole ejected me closest to this planet in the system.

My orientation recovered, there are two towers in the system but no ships. I would suspect a volcanic dust cloud has grounded them all but I'm not having any problems myself, even resolving a wormhole on my first scan. The wormhole is an exit to low-sec empire space. More scanning picks up a second wormhole, another exit to null-sec space, and a third leads further in to w-space to a C5. But I am already four jumps away from home and don't fancy travelling any further even if I find some activity. I visit all the exits I have found to get red dots of exploration for 21M1-B in the Oasa region, 9OO-LH in Vale of the Silent, FV1-RQ in Cobalt Edge, and some lame low-sec system, before returning home to our tower.

I kick back and relax at our tower for a while before another warm body appears. Another quick check of our connecting systems finds them still empty of activity, giving the two of us the opportunity to take our strategic cruisers to the neighbouring C4 to shoot Sleepers. The C4 holds a magnetar phenomenon, its bonus to damage making combat faster than normal. But it is getting late and we clear only two anomalies, even at the more efficient pace. A second salvaging battle is staged, each of us sweeping one of the cleared anomalies, but my colleague's Catalyst destroyer has its micro-warp drive off-line and he doesn't notice until having left the fitting services of the tower. I jump the gun a little and finish salvaging first, but it wasn't a fair competition this time. Even so, we bring home a good chunk of loot and each get over a hundred million iskies in profit, making it a good end to the evening.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: buzzard, catalyst, eve online, mmorpg, null-sec, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space