A Gank on Scan

It's the weekend.  I am out in my Manticore looking for prey.  C5 I want to leave closed until later today.  So I head out through our static C4, into C4b.  It has occupants who aren't home.  It also has three wormholes I find: its C1 and C3 statics, and a connection from a C4 other than mine.

I check out C1 and C3 first.  With the new null sites, C1-C3 are my highest chances of getting a kill.  In both case, nothing going on.  There are no side wormholes in C1a at all.  C3 has an EOL C4 in addition to its highsec access.  I do open both systems up to highsec, hoping for a later gank.  Then I return to C4b.  That's my one remaining unexplored direction, so that's where I am going.  As I come back up from C3a, I notice its wormhole has gone EOL since I went in.

I mark the EOL wormhole, then warp across to C4c. Ah.  The wormhole to C4c is EOL too.  I figure that whoever scanned the C3 also instantiated this one.  So, it's got almost four hours to go.  Plenty of time to look around.  I go into C4c.

In C4c, I dscan as I always do from the wormhole.  Aha!  There's five Tengus on scan, and wrecks.  Also two tractor units.  Site runners!  I move off the wormhole and cloak.  There are combat probes on scan; Tengus can certainly have combat probe launchers, and they are running sites in an open system.  So I figure they are looking for people like me.  Hopefully they did not notice me.

Now I start trying to figure out where they are, looking at anoms.  I don't succeed in this -- perhaps they are in a signature site.  But there are a few anoms out of dscan range, and also a lot of anoms total.  So I bookmark all of them, just in case.  Even if the site-runners are not at an anom now, they may well move to one.

Now I start trying to find the enemy again.  I still can't.  But as I am doing this, I notice some new ships on scan.  And then more.  Then all the Tengus are gone.  Except one. 

Um... those are not PVE ships.  I think I am witnessing a gank, albeit remotely.  I grab a screenshot, then look again in a few seconds.  In the first there's one Tengu still visible. 

Shortly it is gone, replaced by a wreck and a corpse.  (A later killboard search reveals the kill and the podkill.)  Not long after that, the tractor unit is gone, also replaced with a wreck.

I try to figure out what anom they are in, but they're not so far as I can tell.  Drat.  It sort of makes sense though -- who rats in an anom in an open system?  Crazy people.  It's fairly crazy to rat in an open system at all, even in a sig, but at least then you have a chance of seeing probes on scan before the gank hits.

Anyway, if the site-runners were in a relic/data site, then it may still be scannable.  (Hopefully no cans were cracked.)  I guess I will have to scan.  I warp to an outer planet, unfortunately not that far out.  The site is still on scan, so I'll just have to be quick.  I decloak, fire my probes, and recloak as fast as possible.  Then I start scanning.

No battle here, only my probes

There are 17 sigs on scan.  Sigh.  I set to work.  I scan down sig after sig.  Nine are gas, which I ignore as soon as I determine it.  Those wrecks can't be from a gas site; there are battleship wrecks and also too many.  There are four relic sites and one data site.  I dscan each site as I find it, expecting it to be the one where the battle happened.  No luck; none of them have wrecks or anything else.

The remaining sigs are wormholes.  One of them I came in.  There is also a connection to a C3, and another to a C4, both of which are EOL.  I sit at the C3 when I find it, and as I scan there is a steady procession of ships exiting.  First there is a scout, one Gin Andtonic, with Adhocracy.  (I like a good G&T myself.)  Then a procession of Tengus, all with Kreigsmarinewerft:  Haja Hakaari, Ted Stinger, Molasse, Avallarion Selara, and Silly Sin. It appears both the Germans and Adhocracy came from this direction, although maybe Adhocracy came from the other direction and that scout I saw is just moving forward. 

Once my scanning is done, I go back into the inner system.  I can't find the battle site.  I start to wonder if I can track it down by constructing its position.  It seems crazy, and is.  Still, I start scanning for the site as something to do.  I know I can't really find it, but it's good practice anyway.

After a lot of work narrowing it down on dscan, I finally notice I am honing in on a bookmark.  That is a bookmark of a Sleeper Sanctum I made when I first entered.  I should dscan that just to be sure... oh.  Yeah, that's where the wrecks are.  I don't know how I missed it earlier.  (This is why you make bookmarks.)  The site is apparently unoccupied now, save for wrecks.  I warp in for a look.

Abandoned?

There are juicy sleeper wrecks in a nice ball.   There are also two unlooted sleeper wrecks that evidently did not get pulled in before the tractor was killed.  They are about 40km and 20km from the wreck ball.

Sleeper wrecks!  Precious!  We wants their salvage!

So... hostiles know about this site, obviously.  Two groups, actually: the Germans/Condi and the gankers/Adhoc.  That's a big do-not-risk sign.  On the other hand, it's been quiet here for a while, and I have ceased scanning for a few minutes at least.  Also, any new explorers or locals that enter the system will not be able to get on grid with the wrecks.  The anom is gone, and there's nothing left here that is scannable.

My wormhole is EOL, and there is some chance that I missed noticing that when I first bookmarked it.  But I don't think so, nor would I have missed EOL status on both it and the C3 wormhole back in C4b.  And if I do get trapped in here, it's not a big deal -- I'll just scan out -- but it would mean a half-hour or so wasted doing extra scanning and burning across highsec.

All in all, I think I will wait.  I know from examining local chat when I entered the system: 16:41.  Now it is 17:30.   I've spent all that time hunting then watching the gank then scanning.  Those wrecks were either fresh or created after I entered.  So they'll last until 18:30 at least, probably a longer.  In fact, longer.  I notice the tags on the wrecks: some of them are Adhocracy tags.  Evidently Adhocracy finished off the last wave.  (Why they did not salvage themselves, I don't know.  Maybe they will try?)  I know -- or I think I know -- the timing on my entry wormhole.  Hopefully the gankers and gankees do not know the timing, and will want to stay out of the system to be safe. 

If either group does come back, it might be with a gankable salvager.  I slowboat away from the tractor unit, making a perch 263 km from it.  Now I am poised if they do come back.  My plan is to sit here and watch my overview and dscan for an hour or so.  Then I'll try for the salvage and loot myself.

At about 18:15, I get my alt Otto online, and warp over to check out C4b.  It is still empty.  OK.  I go back home and get in a salvaging Coercer.

In C4c, Von sees a Buzzard on scan.  It fires Sisters Core Probes and cloaks.  Well, it can't find me here.  Ha.  It scans for a while.  And a while longer.  Yeah, there are 17 sigs.  It is still scanning at 18:30, so I hold up Otto.  Hey Buzzy, I'd like some privacy here!

Finally, the probes disappear.  I start dscanning intensely, hoping to see the Buzzard again.  After two minutes, I do.  I expect that is him leaving.  OK, go time.  Good luck, Otto.  Otto sees a Sister's core probe in C4b.  I deduce the Buzzard is there, and will probably see him, but I doubt he will do anything.

In Otto goes.  He warps direct to the site and starts salvaging.  No point in being coy.

Grinding wrecks.

All the wrecks but two are already in a ball, thanks to the efforts of the now-dead German tractor unit.  (Too bad about Noctises.  Grr tractor units.)  Otto salvages furiously in his cheap little destroyer, thanks to six salvagers and cheap rigs. 

Getting to the last wreck.

Nobody ganks Otto.  He has to microwarp over to get the two wrecks not in the ball.  And then, that's that.  Salvaging done, Otto flees.  Von flees just after.  I don't want to get stuck here!

Loot.

Nice loot.  Thanks, Adhocracy!