It has been a while since I’ve updated, and the opportunity to chronicle several engagements has slipped past. But, it hasn’t exactly been an explosion-filled couple of months, and I’ve spent far more time out of pod than in. Looking to adjust that balance I reconnect with Automaton and we head out to find … well, I don’t know what. But something.
SRE B has been enjoying an extended period without wars, and the intel streams will take a while to bring back up from their dormant state. Even if that wasn’t so, Concord requires a 24 hour notice period for wars. I have no intention of clearing out the cobwebs while trolling in a frigate through the war zone. That leaves really only one option, and not surprisingly Automaton is already out scanning down cosmic signatures. I can feel her smugness eking across the cosmos. Fighting the urge to scream “you don’t know me!”, I undock and head out to rendezvous a few systems away where she is already pinpointing the location of a wormhole.
I haven’t had the best of luck lurking in w-space in the past. It just seems to be the ultimate playground for small gang action, and I’ve been having a hard time with my solo trespasses. Well, solo-ish. Automaton is useful, if not actually required, for spelunking into w-space. She just doesn’t count for much once the missiles start flying. Well, she counts. I mean she can provide a warp beacon to bounce off, and she…
I can tell I’ve spent too much time planet side when I start trying not to offend anyone and sugar coat stuff. How hard is it to say “She ain’t a combat pilot”. Anyway, my lack of enthusiasm doesn’t go unnoticed, and Automaton points out the 3 Mobile Tractor Units we have on scan. Those loot slot machines haven’t provided a jackpot for me yet, but I enjoy the gamble.
MTU1 is out in empty space several AU away from anything. MTU2 is a dead space pocket, with no gate and several structures. On warp in, some EM Priestess attempts to spring an ambush on Automaton (and we have no intention of doing some pod pilot’s work and clearing out the area). MTU3 is behind an acceleration gate but with no ships on short range scan. I guess w-space holds more appeal than shooting abandoned MTUs, but we book mark them for later. I make the self-fulfilling prophecy of an MTU kill or two tonight and no other action. Automaton does not seem impressed with my prophetic abilities.
The worm hole appears empty based of the initial d-scan, and I orbit the hole cloaked while Automaton scouts the system. There is an unoccupied citadel at the far end of the system, and an empty POS on this end. No ships, and a handful of cosmic signatures. Automaton brings her probes in close and starts working through the gas and relic sites to get to the static wormholes. A Heron class frigate flies past me and jumps to high sec. I only saw Automaton’s probes on scan, so I guess they had the chain previously scanned out? The pilot is from an active w-hole group and clearly not a resident of this hole.
Figuring it is a good bet the chain is pretty well cleared out, or at the very lest my only hope would be running into a dozen of their T3 cruisers, I have Automaton pull in probes and I continue camping the entrance. Maybe the pilot will come back from a trip to the market with goodies. Automaton heads back into high sec to shadow the pilot, and the minutes tick by.
The pilot isn’t at Hek (the nearest trade hub), and so we abandon the half-baked scheme in favor of fulfilling my prophecy. At the acceleration gate to MTU3 sits two Maelstroms idling at the gate. I swap configuration to my high sec Tengu fit and head for the gate just minutes after they take the gate into a deeper pocket. I’m hoping two battleship pilots will feel overconfident against a lone Tengu cruiser, and after a few pot shots at their MTU maybe they’ll do something one of us will regret.
No go. The gate is locked and I sure don’t have a key. I settle for popping MTU1 taking a spin of the slot machine, but no payout (MTU 8.5 m ISK). I didn’t even check whose MTU it was beforehand. In the future I probably should check that before going weapons free.
I ask Automaton if popping the abandoned MTU or getting denied access to an acceleration gate was the most exciting part of the night, but her silence reminds me I’m not as funny as I think I am. With no other prospects other than organizing station hangars, I dock up and call it a night. It occurred to me later that I probably should have told Automaton I was heading in, but then again she can always use the practice scanning cosmic signatures.
Still, I feel a lil bit like an ass.
Lost Tengu 