Too late for tourists

Is anyone out there? Hello? I'll check next door. Two canisters labelled as containing ammunition appear on a check of my directional scanner in our neighbouring class 3 w-space system, and nothing else. That's fine, as it lets me launch scanning probes at the wormhole to blanket the system and see if anyone's around. There may not be, given that my last visit nine months ago had the system unoccupied, and my blanket scan reveals no ships along with the fourteen anomalies and six signatures.

A bit of exploring C3a finds no occupation, same as before, so I scan for wormholes. A chubby wormhole could be the system's static exit to low-sec empire space, then I see gas and a couple of data sites, followed by a skinny wormhole. That's good, as it means the first wormhole will indeed lead to low-sec, and the second is an outbound connection to more w-space. I get luckier still, as the w-space connection leads to a class 2 w-space system. Good for possible targets, good for having another w-space link.

Again d-scan is clear from a K162, letting me launch probes in C2a, and as only a single moon-less planet is in range there has to be more to see. My probes reveal four anomalies, four signatures, and a single ship with four drones in space. I warp in that direction full of expectation, only to be disappointed to find a Magnate frigate floating empty inside a tower's force field, the drones abandoned in space elsewhere. Oh well, back to scanning.

Wormhole, wormhole, wormhole. I'm in the shallowest w-space, it seems. The two static wormholes lead to class 1 w-space and high-sec empire space, and the third wormhole being a K162 from high-sec doesn't help with my w-space exploration. Still, a C1 could give me a soft target, and I won't complain about that. And jumping to C1a sees a potential soft target, but not one I am likely to catch. Whether the Helios covert operations boat is the owner of the probes also visible on d-scan is uncertain, but that someone is actively scanning is not a good sign for my entrance.

If I won't catch any pilots here I may as well scan and move on, and I can even race the local scout. Seven anomalies are easily bookmarked and three signatures mean I barely wave my probes around the system before recalling them, having resolved a couple more wormholes. I don't know if I won the scanning race, as the probes have disappeared from d-scan when I finish, but no ship has come past me. The Helios did appear to be the active ship, though, as it too disappears from d-scan on a subsequent update.

The Helios returns to d-scan, and apparently the tower. I locate the tower and loiter for a minute, and this time it really is a minute. The scout isn't doing anything, and I'm not about to watch a cov-ops do nothing. I reconnoitre the wormholes instead, finding one to be another exit to high-sec, the other a K162 from class 2 w-space. That'll do, and jumping in looks good. An Impairor frigate, Hurricane battlecruiser, and Gnosis battlecruiser are all on d-scan, as is a tower, but with Sleeper wrecks in space I'm thinking the ships are active. The only problem is that I can't see the ships in any of the five anomalies. I may have to hunt them.

My first hunt since the changes to the scanning interface! How almost exciting. I hope I can still do it. At least I can warp out of range of the ships, whether they be in a relic or data site or sucking up gas, although the edge of the system has a lone Sleeper wreck in empty space. Actually, that's interesting. I launch probes and resolve the sole signature near this distant planet whilst no one is around, in case the pilots come back to salvage the wreck, before flinging my probes high above the ecliptic plane to hide them.

Now back to the inner system to hunt the, uh, the... oh. I won't have a hunt tonight, as the ships have gone. I may have been spotted on d-scan moving from the wormhole, or am too late in reaching this system. Either way, it's bad luck and probably game over. With no one around to see my probes I have a quick poke for K162s, first resolving a static exit to high-sec, then a K162 from high-sec. It looks like I nearly found some day trippers. Not very nearly, though. Warping to the relic site I resolved finds it intact, the single Sleeper wreck obviously abandoned elsewhere. And if that's it for wormholes, that's it for me for tonight. At least I can appreciate the harmonic progression of heading through C1, C2, and C3 space to our C4 home.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: eve online, gnosis, helios, hurricane, impairor, magnate, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, scanning, w-space