Two Birds, One Stone

It's the weekend.  A C5 system has connected to my home.  Earlier today I entered C5b, scanned it down, then saw probes.  I killed a scout who jumped into my system and jumped back immediately.  Now I am just lurking in my stealth bomber.

There are several interesting things in C5b.  For one, there is a tractor unit out in space, somewhere.  Another is the Vital Core Reservoir I found when I scanned earlier.  I'd like to get some Ventures and ninja-mine some gas.  But I feel that having ganked the scout, the system is a bit hot for that.

Also, there are IRL chores to do.  I can't sit here playing all day.  In fact I have to go AFK.

Ooh.  Wrecks.

Back later, and I dscan.  There are sleeper wrecks on scan, eight of them.  Four battleships and four frigates.  I know what this must be: the sleepers from the core gas site.  I warp to it at 100 km, and sure enough.  The wrecks all sit as they were killed.  All are unlooted.

Well well.  Do I have the stones to come in and attempt salvage?  I consider it.  But I'd rather gank than be ganked, and I assume that whoever did this will be back.  You don't leave out ~80m in loot and salvage.  So I move back, make a perch, and sit.

I wait.  I wait some more.  Nobody comes.  Strange.  Well, I have more chores to do, but I will try to get back soon enough to have a shot at salvaging.  My window is two hours since the wrecks were made, which time I do not know with certainty.

IRL, I mow the lawn.  I try to make it snappy, but when I get back, it's an hour and a half later, and the wrecks are gone.  Maybe someone looted and salvaged, or maybe they went poof.  Either way: dammit.

Now I go back to lurking at my wormhole while I do manufacturing with my Jita alt.  And again, I have to go AFK for a while.

Back again!  I dscan, as always when I return to EVE.  Dscan shows two Ventures.  They must be in the Vital Core gas site; I warp to it without even checking.

This is mining dumb.  Don't do it.

I land on grid, and I was correct.  There the Ventures are, 25km from me.  Incredibly, they are both unmoving, and sitting right next to each other in the C320 cloud, sucking away.  I set course at them immediately.  Can they really be that dumb?  Will they start to move after some temporary lapse of attention?  No.  They sit.  I move in.

Sneaking up.

When I get close, I get ready.  I rehearse my plan to myself.  Then I head right at one Venture, and uncloak, and start locking both ships.

I turn on my sebo and my warp scramblers, but not my missiles.  Both locks complete; the first Venture locked is now scrambled.  Now I select the non-scrambled Venture and turn on my light missiles.  My plan is to go after both of them.  I'll hold the one as I shoot the other.  The second will be able to escape if it is paying attention, but I hope it won't be.

They are not reacting at all.  I sit and shoot.  They sit and get shot.  The second Venture explodes.

Now the first starts to move, as I lock the pod.  And... locked.  The pod can still flee; it is not scrambled.  I kill it.  Evidently AFK.

One down.

Now I follow the first Venture and start shooting it.  I am concerned that it will afterburn out of range.  But it does not outrange me at all, and then it too explodes.  This pod flees promptly.

Two ships at a time!  I am pumped.  My hands shake.  I gather the loot and the corpse, then get out of range and cloak.  No response comes, at least not that I can see.

Wrecks.  Still have bulky gas aboard.

I still want to find the tractor unit out there and see what's in it -- but that's another story.