Across the Bow

December 30, 2014
Zhubin, Trealeon, and Ailu Pearl had found a special wormhole system.  Wormhole systems can only be entered by jumping through a wormhole and these wormholes must be found using probes.  There is no chat room to tell you if someone is in the system with you.  This can quickly lead to paranoia.

This system was special because only small ships could fit through the wormholes that led to it and small weapons do much more damage.

Ailu was in a scanning ship.  She had probed down all 27 signatures.  They were a combination of wormholes, sites that could be mined for gas, and relic and data sites.  Relic and data sites have containers that have to be hacked into.  This system had relic and data sites that are normally in wormhole systems, but it also had sites normally found in known space.  These didn't have guards so Ailu would scan the cans and hack them if they contained anything valuable.  She found a Dread Guristas White Noise Generation Battery Blueprint in one.  You only get 2 tries, she failed the first, but got it on the second.

The day before, Zhubin had traded his Wolf assault frigate for a new Confessor tactical destroyer.  He had been able to kill all the guards in the most difficult gas site with the Wolf, but it was slow work and this new destroyer would do far more damage.  The plan was to have Trea also use a Confessor.  They would each have a remote repairer that could repair the armor on the others ship.  Trea was in a mining frigate he had used to salvage wrecks, and Ailu would need to find him a way out to known space.  She found it quickly. The first system she checked led to a system not far from a market hub.  Ailu gave Trea the loot she had gathered and he made his run to the market.  He was carrying about 60 million isk, but the ship he was flying had cost under a million.  Even in highsec someone could scan his cargo and suicide attack to get it.

Trea made it without issue, sold the loot, created a contract to sell the blueprint for 20 million, and bought a Confessor.  He could not fly it until he learned the skill.  While I waited the 20 minutes, I buy all the modules the Confessor will need, and name the ship.  I decide on "Tell Me Do".  Before he leaves, I grab some salvagers and the probes Zhubin had forgotten to bring.  Trea returns to the wormhole, and I take a break.

Later, Ailu checks the directional scanner out of habit.  There are ship wrecks.  How dare they.  Someone is in my system and taking my loot.  The D-scanner shows me that someone is using probes and points me towards the site with the wrecks.  It's a data site, and the wrecks are mostly unlooted.  His probes moved around the system and I know there is only one more data site.  I wait.   A Talwar destroyer arrives, followed by a Buzzard covert ops frigate.  He keeps warping out of the site.  The Talwar distracts the guards while the Buzzard hacks the containers.  This is not a trap.  Did I say always?  I am able to bookmark 2 warp in spots.  Bookmarks are places you can save and warp to later.  I can't save his location, but I can save the closest piece of space garbage.  There is so much of it that I don't think Ailu could maneuver through it and stay cloaked.  I decide to log on Zhubin and warp straight to the 2nd bookmark.  When Zhubin arrives in the site, the Talwar is 100km away, oops.  I choose the Talwar as a reflex because it could be dangerous.  The Buzzard is closer and would explode immediately if I got a little closer, but I ignore it burn towards the destroyer.  My microwarp drive increases my speed to 2 km a second.  On the way, one of the guards begins shooting me.  A few laser beams and it explodes.  I cut my speed, but too soon.  I am 30km from the destroyer and my lasers will only hit at a little over 20km.  I begin firing anyway and miss.  The destroyer warps away, and the frigate follows soon after.

I wait and watch, but see no one else.  Hopefully my point was made, but I think next time I'll go for the frigate and get a better warp in.