The B274 appears to lead to Amarr space so I decide to skip investigating since the Amarr still do not like me very much. The C3 static has a couple of towers but no pilots so I return to check out the dangerous unknown. When I arrive, I discover something I missed when I bookmarked it. The wormhole has had its mass critically disrupted. Somehow, I doubt this wormhole is going to be interesting.
While I am trying to figure out my next move, the local pilot who likes to run sites logs in. This could be interesting since there is an anomaly available. Sure enough, he immediately ships into a drake and heads for the anomaly. I find it vaguely troubling that he didn't bother to scan the system before heading out. Maybe I should teach him to be more careful so I head out to the anomaly to scout a positional fix for a Noctis kill.
I check the towers a couple of times while he is killing the sleepers to make sure the other pilots are still inactive. They haven't twitched so I select a wreck when he ships into the expected Noctis and move into position. Since he started very near the wreck I had selected, I briefly consider selecting another wreck but ultimately decide not to over-think it. I want the kill not the sleeper loot.
I burn toward him and let proximity decloak me as I continue burning toward him and ram him to knock him out of any potential alignment while I activate modules and lock him up. Lock? Check! Warp Scrambled? Check! Web? Check! Fire! Fire! Fire! My heart is pounding and I am clicking dscan every 5 seconds.
Shields burned, Armor going down and he is gaining a little distance on me. I activate my afterburner and overheat my scrambler and web just to make sure there is no chance of that happening. And then check dscan again, feeling distinctly uncomfortable that it has been 10 seconds since my last check. The Noctis explodes and I head toward the wreck to loot it satisfied that I executed a flawless ambush.
Suddenly, the scariest site in Eve appears on my overview. A Helios uncloaks and locks me up from 68 km. While I am not concerned with him killing me, the brazenness is disconcerting. I select the planet closest to my alignment and hit warp.
The first dscan shows nothing, but a second scan a few seconds later lets me know I made a good decision as 5 additional ships including a Devoter are now in range. I double and triple check to make sure my cloak is active and then look up the pilots name.
Interesting, the Helios pilot is a member of Transmission Lost. The last time I encountered these guys was during World War Wormhole when we flew together in defense of the AQUILA INC. home system. I am quite sure they will kill me if I make a mistake. Where are they and where did they come from. My first guess is the static C3 but that is wrong as I locate their fleet sitting on the B274 from high sec.
As I am watching them from a safe distance, the pilot I believe to be the alt of the pilot I killed either jumps a Hurricane into the wormhole or warped to the wormhole. Either way, it is not his day as the Transmission Lost fleet makes short work of his Hurricane. Since they know I am around and what I am flying, there is nothing to be lost by chatting with them. I strike up a conversation with one of the pilots for a bit before they move on to other targets.
This is what I love about wormholes! You never know who is watching. Always assume someone is out to get you and plan for the worst. I had no idea that the guy I was stalking was also being stalked by someone else. Events like this are why I keep returning to this game when my excitement with other games wears off.
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