Finishing on a positive
27th May 2012 – 3.36 pmIt doesn't look like we'll have any visitors today. We're once again down to having a single signature in the home w-space system, which will be the static wormhole. At least, I hope it will be the static wormhole, or I can't be a visitor to anyone else either. Naturally, the concerns I pretend to have in order to instil a faux sense of drama in an otherwise mundane introduction are unfounded. I resolve the signature as being the static wormhole, warp to it, and jump through to our neighbouring class 3 system.
My directional scanner is clear from the K162 in C3a, only the lonely outermost planet being in range, letting me launch probes and get them and me hidden. As I arrange my probes for a blanket scan I warp the 36 AU that takes me to the heart of the system, where the other four planets are. D-scan shows me two towers and five Drakes, the battlecruisers sequentially named, and nothing else of particular interest. Adjusting d-scan's settings sees no Sleeper wrecks, so it's no surprise to locate the towers to find the five ships empty and nestled together inside one of the force fields.
No one's home, so to keep myself entertained I start sifting through the thirteen signatures. An enthusiastic start sees me bookmark a gravimetric site for a possible later ambush, and discard a radar site as unlikely to be visited. Then a general lassitude overcomes me and I'm back to ignoring any signature that isn't a wormhole, which thankfully still gives me two results to resolve. One wormhole being weaker than a K162 but stronger than a null-sec link makes me optimistic about having found an outbound connection to more w-space, but it turns out to be merely the static exit to high-sec empire space. And, just to squeeze lemon juice in my eye, the other wormhole is a K162 from null-sec.
Seeing where the connection to high-sec leads, I exit w-space to appear in the Essence region, and four hops from Dodixie. I think I still have a stealth bomber to collect from there, so maybe I should go and collect it. Maybe later, I'll scan first and look for trouble. I'm not going to find it in high-sec, as there are no extra signatures beyond the K162 I came through, but I still have a null-sec system to explore. I warp across C3a and out to null-sec, to be in a system in Feythabolis, and by myself. Hot diggity, I'm gonna rat!
I'm going to rat and scan, in fact. I can do both at once. I launch probes and bounce through the rock fields as I resolve the one extra signature, which turns out to be more rocks. Hilarious, space, thanks for that. But at least I find a rat battleship in the fifth or sixth asteroid belt, which I pop, along with his frigate companions, for a gain in security status. Actually, as the system stays quiet and there are a mutant handful of anomalies here, I think I'll bring a Drake back and spend some time idly making pocket iskies and recovering more security status.
C3a remains unchanged, home looks untouched, so I swap my scouting Tengu strategic cruiser for what is almost a ratting Drake. I adapt the fitting to what I think will withstand Angel rats better and return to null-sec, where I pick an anomaly at random and start shooting. And before you know it I'm back at the wormhole, figuratively licking my passive shield recharge rate. Maybe that anomaly is a little tough for my solo suboptimal Drake. I pick a different anomaly at random, warp in, and start shooting. Okay, this one's better, with fewer ships and far less incoming damage.
La la la, I'm being a bit blasé about ratting in null-sec, but it does seem rather less dangerous than in w-space. Every thirty seconds or so, I make sure my ship's shields are okay and that it's still spewing missiles, update my target selection, and ensure that the local communication channel remains empty, then get back to reading some papers. This is much simpler than continually mashing the directional scanner for perhaps a chance of seeing someone maybe sneaking up on you. But I suppose that's why this also seems rather tedious and unengaging by comparison.
I clear the anomaly and consider trying a second, but decide against spending more time mostly ignoring what I'm doing, even before I warp in to a cluster of ships bigger than that in the first anomaly which chased me away. It's not exactly a thrilling adventure. Mind you, I can't say I haven't achieved anything tonight, as my security status is positive again! Oh yeah. Well, if you consider 0·00 to be positive, which I think I ought to at this point. Nope, wait. Concord update their ratings again and now my security status is 0·03. Positive! That's good enough for me, so I head home through an unchanged class 3 system to get some sleep, tonight as an honest and legitimate member of society.
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