Getting Back To Null

As a result of my recent podding I found myself back in High Sec looking for a ship to buy.
The choice was between a new Stratios which I liked a lot, and a Proteus, a ship I had heard a lot about, but never flown.

In the end cash was the decider. For the Hull, a Stratios was 300 Million, a Proteus 150 Million.

Proteus it was then. Then comes the complexity of fitting a Tech 3 ship. Subsystems became a dirty word last night as I spent 2 hours mapping out what each did. In a way, my hands were tied in a couple of areas. I wanted to fly a ship with a cloak and a probe launcher. Also thinking about it, Interdiction Nullification would also be very useful. So 3 of the 5 subsystems were chosen by how I wanted to fly.
The Defense subsystem was a bit of a toss up, resists or more armour. The resists option also gives a low and an utility high slot and the plate 2 low slots. Resists are very useful, but I could get the same effect by putting a decent armour module in the extra low, and did I need another utility high slot? No.
The engineering section was also easy once I had got this far, Gallente pilots after all, feel naked without drones.

So, hull and subsystems bought for just under 300 million, used the rest of my disposable cash on a Sisters launcher, covert ops cloak and tech 2 hybrids. The rest, I have to be honest, has for now been fitted with mainly meta 4 and the odd tech 2 module that I had in my high sec hanger. I really need to earn more isk to fit it better.
Still, I had a couple of tech 2 trimark armour rigs that I had made, and now has more HP than any other ship I have flown.

Filled up with ammunition, the hunt for a way back to Null was on.
Option 1. 35 jumps across high sec with an active war dec, then, to brave the chaos that is HEDGP, and then a further 45 ish jumps though very dodgy territory.
Option 2. Find a wormhole.

So wormholes it was then.

The system that I was in, had a C2 hole that was new and not mass stressed. I jumped in.

Found 1 POS with an Orca and a Helios, neither piloted, and had another Helios on D scan but no probes. Spent ten minutes making a safe and looking at all the moons.

Then real life crept in, had to go and pick up my daughter who was babysitting, left logged in and cloaked at a safe. When I arrived back home, I again, was side tracked by a tv series called Bluestone 42. Very British army humour, fictional but very close to real life. Well worth a look for anyone interested. Very, very strong language though, definitely not for children.

Back to Eve.
Now 2 Orcas and 2 Helios on Dscan.  An Orca would be a brilliant christening of the proteus. But it was not to be as they were all at the POS.
I thought that I would not scan down the sig's but pop back to high for the night. Warped back to hole to find it gone.... Don't know for sure but I suspect that the Orca's collapsed it.
I suddenly had no interest in staying, and as it was a High and C3 static, thought that I would see where the new one went.
Found both quite quickly and the rest of the sig's were gas sites. Popped through the high hole to find it was a High Sec island system, nowhere near where I wanted to be. So back in and to the C3.
This looked more promising, as it was a Null Sec static and had no POS structures and all Interbus customs offices. All good indicators that the hole is deserted. Only two wormholes, the one I came through and the static.
On the off chance that I was home (I wish) I popped through to find myself in a system called T-0JWP in Detorid. 35 jumps from home. No one on line in system, but two mobile siphon units on Dscan.

2 minutes with Dcan isolated which planets they were at and as no one in system dropped combat probes at 0.5 AU at each planet and found them quickly.

Both moon mining POS units had  heavy ECM defenses but no weapons. Both POS and Siphons belonged to Neutrals. One Siphoning Thulium and the other Promethium.

Needless to say it was 2 easy kills, and when I went to empty the moon goo,  I really missed the cargo hold of the Stratios, I had packed mine with ammo so could not steal any.

I left the wrecks, the POS owners may come along in the next 2 hours and notice.

It was late so I jumped back into the hole, warped to a safe and logged off for the night.

Hopefully tomorrow the static will open nearer home, or possibly near to more targets.


Thoughts.
The Stratios has a large 550 m3 cargo hold compared with the Proteus 280 m3. The Stratios needs no ammo, as lasers and sentries need none. Nearly all the Proteus hold is full of ammunition. I could have made a big profit (50 Million) stealing the moon goo in the Stratios

Tech 2 ammo is expensive.

4 sentries put out slightly less Damage Per Second (DPS) than 4 Blasters with Void, but not a huge amount. Admittedly I have better drone skills than Gunnery at present. Once my gunnery skills are up it will change.

I can see the attraction of a nomadic life in wormholes. A bit.

The Proteus once subsystems are added, becomes a lot less versatile than the Stratios, but does its single function better.


I would appreciate any comments about content, style, readability, eve hints, outright abuse, whatever. It would be nice to know that if not on the right track, what do I need to fix.
I can be eve mailed in game at  John Wheway  or leave comments here.

Have fun

John