Exploring elsewhere
8th June 2014 – 3.47 pmI check the two mobile depots I resolved in the system. Both are owned by the same pilot, not a name I recognise. I leave them alone, partly because there's little point shooting a depot in w-space outside of home, partly because the system is potentially still a little hot. The Stratios cruiser from high-sec is gone, and probably not coming back, even if the ambushing fleet also appears to be gone. You never can tell. I'll be better off exploring elsewhere.
The low-sec exit from this class 3 w-space system may be at the end of its life, but the K162 from high-sec the Stratios used to get here is healthy. I'll go that way. Of course, starting in the system the Stratios came from is unlikely to find me a fresh wormhole, or guarantee that the hostile fleet won't also find the same, but it's a start. A poor start, as it turns out, the system in Genesis holding two extra signatures that are a combat and data site, but there are other ways to hop systems.
I use a stargate, being careful to stay in high-sec, and land in a system with three signatures. Two are combat sites, one a wormhole. It's a K162 from class 2 w-space too, which will offer me another w-space connection from the inside. Let's see what I can find. Jumping to C2a and updating my directional scanner sees only a tower, no ships, but that's no problem, as I was almost certainly going to scan for more wormholes anyway.
C2a is a straightforward system to scan, with only three signatures to go with the nine anomalies. I warp to get out of d-scan range of the tower, only to bump in to a second tower. There are still no ships, though, so I throw caution to the wind and launch probes anyway. I locate the towers for reference, and scan. The second static wormhole is expected, although it feels like a bonus to see it lead to class 1 w-space, and as the other signature is just a data site I have one way to go.
Damn, I appear in C1a a little under seven kilometres from the wormhole. D-scan is clear too. I launch probes and perform a blanket scan anyway, as the constellation may not end here. Fourteen anomalies, twenty-four signatures, and two ships. They must be at that one planet out of d-scan range, almost certainly in a tower. Warping across identifies the ships as a Sigil hauler and Zephyr exploration ship, and locating the tower that also appears on d-scan sees that neither are piloted, although they appear to be fans of The KLF.
A visit to this system from a few years back indicates the static exit will lead to null-sec, which doesn't sound like fun to find. I give it a go anyway, which takes time, even if I manage to ignore half the gas on a single scan result. The rest of the signatures are weak, having my digging down in to relic and data sites, eventually resolving the wormhole I'm looking for. As a reward for my diligence, the system throws me a surprising chubby wormhole as the last signature. Thank you, C1a.
I check the exit to null-sec first, because I'm still looking for a wormhole to Period Basis, but am only taken to Esoteria. I'm also alone, and with three extra signatures I can't resist ratting and scanning. Data, data—new signature!—only relics, and the last signature is a data site too. Never mind, the rat is popped, I have checked the signatures, time to see what that other wormhole in C1a is.
A K162 from class 2 w-space leading in to C1a will do just fine, and jumping in sees two well-stocked towers on d-scan, still no ships. My last visit was a mere four months ago, yet a second tower has popped up since then, and my notes list the static wormholes as C1/HS. The class 1 system I know about, the high-sec exit I don't think I care to find. Still, a blanket scan shows that most of the signatures are pretty strong, so it's probably worth a look for K162s.
My probes pluck a wormhole from the noise on the first scan, a C2 K162 making it look like I'm going to be out here for a bit longer. A second wormhole is an outbound connection to class 1 w-space, which is a curious find in a system already with a class 1 static wormhole. The third wormhole is the exit to high-sec, and a fourth is just a K162 from low-sec. That's the lot, and it is plenty for me.
Poking in to C1b to start with has a clear d-scan result and a messy looking discovery scanner. Nothing sits out of range either, tying up with the messy, unoccupied system stereotype. Back to C2b and in to C2c, where d-scan remains stubbornly clear and the system is messy with anomalies and signatures. One planet sits out of range, where I find occupation that apparently doesn't want to engage the Sleepers or suck gas. What do they do? Not even ghost sites, one sitting in the middle of the system. Well, someone else can have that. It's late and I'm far from home.
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