Journal Entry No. 8

9/12/YC116

The CEO of our allianced corporation, Marshal, is looking for a new wormhole for us to establish a more permanent residence in than our current C1. To put it frank, our current wormhole contains nothing but absolute garbage. A lot of ore sites, and nothing else. Not even a static C2 or C3 wormhole.
The restraints of the wormhole was that it must:
-Be a Class 2 wormhole
-Have a static highsec wormhole (although strongly dispreferred, even a lowsec static wormhole would suffice)
-Have a static C3 wormhole
-The less POS's, the better.

Given these restraints I thought it might be a good idea to help in this task myself, by scanning down wormholes and investigating them. I could make a decent profit, too, by doing data and relic sites whenever I found one.

Sadly, I never found any data or relic sites. Still, I found a fair amount of wormholes. 5 wormholes, to be exact. I found one C1, two C2's, and two C3's. I found a really good C2, J171309, unsettled with a highsec static. However, it had a C1 static instead of a C3.
While I was in one of these wormholes, J171309 to be specific, I was was cloaked, scanning down a new wormhole to check out.

That was... my first mistake. If you're looking for a wormhole with a static highsec entrance, you should be looking in high security space, not wormhole space.

That said, here I was, scanning while cloaked in my Imicus. I hadn't even bothered to set up a safe spot for myself, which was my second mistake. I figured, since I won't be making a permanent or even semi-permanent residence here, I shouldn't have to bother making a safe spot.

I was wrong. When I was about 60km from the wormhole, a Tech 3 Strategic Cruiser Tengu jumped in and began orbiting the wormhole. A minute or two later, another Strategic Cruiser, a Proteus, jumped in as well and began orbiting. I was too busy panicking to realize that this should have been the time to scan and pinpoint the next wormhole. This should have been the time to warp away to a Customs Office, a moon, a planet, or any other warpable non-cosmic sign object.

And yet... I didn't. My third mistake, and possibly my most fatal. Another couple of minutes, my heart beat is pumping like none else, and a Tech 2 Interdictor, an Erin, jumps in and begins orbiting the hole with a high orbit distance. I had plenty of time to scan down the wormhole, but I didn't. I knew my only chance with this was if I lay outside of the range of the Interdictor, but less than 150km from all of the ships. I finished scanning down the C1 wormhole, and aligned to it at 125km from the camped hole. I wait for the Interdictor to cross the 150km mark in its orbit, so it can't warp to me. The Proteus jumps out for whatever reason, and I began to relax, thinking that they were bored and called off the camp. However, soon after it jumped back in. Once the Interdictor is at 120km, I use my chance to decloak and spam warp to the C1 wormhole.

I did indeed get away, without them even targeting me. However, once I exited warp, I saw that there was yet another camped wormhole. The warp disruption bubble was set in place, so I knew I didn't have any chance to warp back out. I spammed jump through hole, and once through, spammed warp to planet on the first planet I could click on. I'm sure my crewmates weren't happy about this, as every time I hit warp an automated request is reported through the entire ship: "Request to warp to [X celestial object]." Nonetheless, I spammed warp, because it put them in a rush, which was needed, and it gave me (and them) a chance of surviving. Once we got to the planet, I warped to another planet, in case they saw me warping to the one planet. Once at the new planet, I get 2000m away from the Customs Office and cloak up. They're obviously still searching for me, as just about 30 seconds after I cloak up, a Flycatcher Interdictor, the ship camping at the 2nd gate camp, warps in for about a minute or two, then warps off. Thank goodness I was cloaked up. This cloak cost me 4million ISK, but it more than paid itself off in how it didn't get caught by the Flycatcher.

I begin waiting out the 15-minute PvP timer. About 3-4 minutes left, and an Erin comes to the Customs Office I'm at and starts searching, but finds nothing and warps off.
Once the PvP timer expires, I make sure noone is in the area, decloak and log off safely.
Later, I log back on, put some core probes out, and cloak up. I begin scanning, still cloaked. I scan down the highsec static wormhole without any hitches, all the while noticing that it is more than 14.3 AU away, the maximum range of the D-scan. I began attempting to drain the capacitor out of my ship to do a partial warp, but I mis-clicked and began warping at 10km. Despite my attempts to cancel the warp, it goes through. I grit my teeth and prepare for a camp.

Sure enough, it was camped, bubble, Interdictor, and everything. I suspect he just put the bubble up, since my core scanner probes were literally all around him on D-scan. I turn on my MWD and try to burn back to wormhole. He targets me, I lose a large portion of my shield, but I still enter through the wormhole in time. My heart jumped for a moment as I thought it wasn't a wormhole to highsec, but a C3 wormhole, but then I realized it was just me freaking out. I'd made it back to Known space, encountering a gate camp at every single wormhole I passed in that trip. Since I'd bought a new ship and fitted it a cheap-fit specifically for this scanning mission, I didn't know the crew members' names, and as a result didn't say anything to console them. They were probably traumatized at this point. Not that I cared. They were just replacable objects. Things that make sure the ship is working properly, and nothing more.

Journal Entry No. 7

9/8/YC116

I curled my fingers into a fist. We were finally going to catch this bastard who accepted the courier.
"Deploy the probes in a spread formation, scan radius 16 AU." I said, the capsule recording my voice and relaying to the rest of the ship, where my crew was.
After a short while, Yuko, responded. "Alright, signal is locked. His scan signature is BMW-44. We have 0.3% signature strength on him."
"Alright, bring it down to 8 AU and move the probes to pinpointing position, and surround the whole scan area with it."
"Affirmative."
After repeating this procedure a few times, Thomas yelled, "Sir! We have locked on to his location with 100% scan strength!"
"Good. Everyone eject from your ship and move over to the Algos. Quickly, now, we only have about two minutes left!" I set a bookmark as to its location.
After the crew had gotten aboard, I boarded the Algos. Quickly I set the Algos into warp drive, warping to zero.
Sure enough, the bastard was there, waiting at a Customs Office. I guess the transport was originally supposed to go down onto a Planetary Colony, where the person who ordered her was going to pick her up. It was a criminal underworld, I guess you gotta cover your tracks and make sure you're untraceable. I just hoped the transfer hadn't taken place just yet.
"Alright everyone! This isn't an NPC drill, this is the real thing so don't panic and don't get your panties in a bunch! Lock and orbit her at 5km, NOW!!" I yelled.
A young crewman jumped and then nodded, typing in the coordinates into the computer and beginning to lock. "Locked and orbiting, sir!"
"Turn on EVERYTHING! Turn on the guns! Turn on the energy neutralizer! Warp scram it! Turn on AB! DCU!"
Crew members everywhere were panicking as they rapidly typed various commands into the computer.
Our shield had gotten down to 50%. I yelled, "Turn on the Shield Ancillary Booster, NOW!"
Nothing happened.
"Why is it not on?!"
Thomas cringed. "Sir, I'm so sorry."
"Spit it out!"
"It's not loaded."
"Shit. Well load it now then!"
"Alright, but it'll take a full minute." Thomas began loading the cap boosters into the module.
As the bullets began penetrating armor with 10% shield remaining, I dreadfully realized I'd forgotten to send out my main source of damage, my drones. "Send in the drones!" I had 7 in my hold: 2 Hammerheads and 5 Hobgoblins, but only 5 could be launched.
"Which ones, sir?"
"I don't care! Just launch them!"
"Yessir!"
The drones launched and started targeting the ship. Quickly armor and hull fell, unable to repair itself with my energy neutralizer on it.
"Drop the exotic dancer, or I will end your ship and I will end you." I transmitted to them.
"Alright, give us a second."
I heard something garbled about reinforcements.
I sent a single drone to bring them down to 10% hull structure.
"Alright, alright, we're droppin' her!" A jetcan came out immediately, and I scooped it up.
A fire began to burn within my eyes, and I fired on the ship anyways. The ship was blasted to pieces, and I began targeting the capsule. It warped away too soon, however.
Damn, I... I paused. What am I doing?
It was too late though, the damage had already been done. I clothed the naked former and forced exotic dancer, Kasurin Makise, and shut myself into my office once I docked up.