Bringing back Shev
27th July 2012 – 5.45 pmI have a purpose. Shev's got himself stuck in high-sec empire space, away from our w-space system, so it's up to me to get him home. I know what it's like being surrounded by so many other pilots, with little to do but run errands for puppet masters—they call them 'missions', but they're not. Actual missions are important, much like my current one. I must rescue Shev! Scanning the home system has an extra wormhole hidden with some new gas, with a Tengu sitting on it as I resolve the signature. That's unfortunate, as the strategic cruiser must have seen my probes and been alerted to my presence. But I suppose at least I won't be distracted from my primary objective by hunting a pilot, particularly one who could have been coming or going without my knowing the difference.
Warping across to the wormhole where the Tengu was shows it to be a K162 from class 2 w-space. The system on the other side will offer a connection to k-space, but the wormhole may be monitored and unsafe, so I leave instead through our static wormhole to the neighbouring class 3 system. A tower with a bunch of ships lights up my directional scanner from the K162, but without wrecks in the system I doubt any of note will be piloted. Indeed, locating the tower finds just one of the six ships holding a capsuleer, and a mere Helios covert operations boat at that. Without any probes on d-scan I doubt this cov-ops is doing anything either, so I hunker down to scan.
This is a messy system. Ten anomalies and twenty signatures will be a little tedious to sort through, unless you're as awesome as me. My first hit is a wormhole, although the K162 to low-sec is not the static connection, and I blitz through rocks and gas to the point where the static wormhole is looking more like being an exit to null-sec. It's probably good, as I drop out of warp next to a K346 that's reaching the end of its life, that the K162 from low-sec is here, as well having a C2 connect in to our home system. Let's see where that K162 leads first.
Oh look, there's the Black Monolith. I must be in Dead End. I resist the temptation to put my tongue on the monolith this time, helped by there not being any careless capsuleers around, and tell Shev where I am. 'Eep, thirty-six jumps.' Okay, don't panic, there may be a better route. I scan Dead End, and even with eight signatures in the low-sec system they are mostly crappy, including a wormhole that apparently dies before I can warp to it. But a second wormhole is fancy, as it connects to class 3 w-space. Normally I'd not expect the C3 to lead anywhere else, as I would be looking at the K162 of the system's static exit, but this wormhole in low-sec is an X702 outbound connection. I have another exit to resolve.
Two towers and no ships are on d-scan, and I appear in the system eight kilometres from the wormhole. I'd say it's safe to scan. Another messy system of twenty-six signatures is irritating but no real bother. And this wormhole is too skinny to lead out to low-sec or be a K162, and too chubby to be an exit to null-sec. Could it be a connection to high-sec empire space? It surely can, which is a good result, particularly as the nebula reflected in the wormhole definitely isn't that of Aridia. I exit to be in Verge Vendor, but what does Shev think? 'Nice.' Oh, good! 'Sixteen hops, and right through Jita, so I can sell up.' That is rather splendid.
I head homewards, mission complete, to wonder if anyone is waiting for me on the other side of the K162 from class 2 w-space. It's worth a look, so in I go. And there's no one on the wormhole, and all d-scan shows me is a tower and an Orca industrial command ship. My notes tell me a bit more, from a visit eleven months ago, including the location of the tower, that the other static connection leads to high-sec, and that the occupants are blue to us. If I'd known all that before I may have started scanning for an exit here, but the Tengu's appearance deterred me a little. Still, I'm here now, so I'll scan.
A chubby wormhole pops up amongst the seven signatures, which I don't initially consider to be the exit to high-sec. But I remind myself I'm in a C2 and not a C3, and that the signature strengths will be different to what I expect in our neighbouring class of system. And warping to the wormhole shows it to be the B274 after all. On top of that, a second wormhole is also a high-sec connection, but through a K162. I would say Shev's coming home. The static exit leads to Tash-Murkon, a mere six hops from Amarr, which is better than the Verge Vendor connection. But the K162 in C2a comes in from Domain, one hop from Amarr, and is the most convenient connection yet. In fact, I could probably use that myself.
Shev's on his way home and I am preparing an Orca for a fuel run to Amarr. Checking the tower and our storage shows that we have over two months' worth of fuel pellets already, and there are some blueprints and materials to make our own pellets, so without checking with Fin first I don't really want to blow a load of ISK on fuel we don't need, regardless of how convenient a connection we have. What I can do instead is take a Bustard transport out full of loot to sell. Or I could, if Aii hadn't been so busy mining arkonor. We have too much ore by a long way to fit in to the Bustard, so I'm taking the Orca after all, which just about squeezes everything in. And with Shev back in w-space he volunteers to scout ahead.
We shouldn't have much trouble, with a single w-space system to cross, and one that's blue occupied. And indeed we don't. I don't even have far to go with the sluggish Orca, merely hopping one system across to dock and sell all the ore, modules, and loot we've accumulated recently. The corporate wallet is boosted by a good half-a-billion ISK and I return to w-space with an empty Orca. I hope I don't need to be buying more fuel, but even if I do I would like to think we'll get another decent connection before two months passes. Shev scouts me back to w-space, spotting a Phantasm faction cruiser in C2a, which from its name looks to be local and so allied with our alliance. I cross the system, jump home, and return the Orca to the tower unscratched to end a successful evening.
2 Responses to “Bringing back Shev”
Phantasm is a faction cruiser not a faction battleship.
You're right, of course. I must have been thinking of the Nightmare. I've edited the post to correct my error, thank you.