Intergalactic Summit

I have recently discovered an anomaly in the targeting subroutines of the sleeper drones. The specifics of the technique for initiating the crash in the sleeper targeting AI has been at this point classified by my CEO. I may be authorized to provide specifics if the sleepers are able to adapt to this issue in the near future.

At this point I have been able to completely clear several C2, C3, and even a C4 site without the sleeper drones targeting my vessel. This complete failure in their AI suggests that they are not able to adapt to situation at least not instantly. Which suggest that they are not being controlled actively. I am very curious to see if the sleepers adapt to this at all, if they do it would suggest they are not completely dormant and possibly that the fact they allow capsuleers to settle Anoikis is not just because they lack the ability to evict us, but that they are actively allowing our presence.

I believe that depending on how the sleepers respond to this new tactic, we could finally receive proof as to whether the sleepers are in fact dormant or not.

I will keep you posted of my findings, and I would appreciate any information you may have on other sleeper anomalies.

I notified CONCORD several days ago when I first noticed the extremely odd behavior, I have not yet heard back from them as to whether or not this discovery has been reported to them before.

An interesting observation which - if independently verifiable - has interesting applications as you correctly note.

Forgive my ignorance but I note that the battlecruiser fits you seem to prefer rely solely on drones for damage output, boosted by modules that augment said damage and optimal firing solutions alongside those that increase the targeting range of your own ship's sensors.

Do your sentry drones also elude the Sleeper targeting subroutines and, if so, is that effect independent of their range from the Sleeper vessels?

Personally, I've never actually agreed to the widespread belief that the sleepers are actually 'sleeping'.
In my own opinion, their nature resembles more that of some other living creatures, that uses unihemispheric slow-wave sleep.

They are history incarnate.
As an historian, I would be very interested in studying this behaviour more closely.

the sleeper AI becomes further bizarre at this level. The sleepers will approach the sentries and engage them but upon withdrawl back to the drone bay the sleepers will become confused often not attempting to attack them after they are redeployed. They also will not attack my ship regaurdless of their range after the initial scambling of their targeting AI. I have seen a sleeper Battleship orbit me at 20k and not even draw a targeting solution. I withdrew my drones and just sat there drifting in a bizarre stalemate. It was quite the uncanny experience.

I have given them ample time to provide any sort of cease and desist order, I would have assumed a discover of this significance would have been given a bit higher priority response.

You understand that the architects behind the entire Sleeper civilization far predate capsuleers and the like, yes?

You might be on to something, however. It's been a long-documented observation that Sleepers typically select primary targets based on damage output, and we have also observed them performing "tank tests" to see which ships boast the lowest damage resistance profiles. They also of course target supporting logistics ships. As to why the Sleeper drones choose not to target the drone-deploying ship in Dreygun's case is a mystery.

Tread carefully, Dreygun. CONCORD knows more about the supposedly extinct Sleeper race than I think they let on. Digging further into the mystery and coming out in public about it might make you an unfortunate target.

yea I too am not certain that the sleepers are sleeping or that they are extinct. The way that they respond to this new threat could give us all some background as to whether or not they are still capable of rewriting their primary programming. If they are aware of their surroundings and aware of us and capable of changing then why have they not moved to evict us. They seem to have the ability especially against the smaller corps.

why have there been no further reports of incidents like the blazing angels? What are they waiting for?

Again, I commend you bringing these observations to light but switching to drones and logistics-capable ships is hardly a new tactic for the Sleeper's targeting priorities. In fact, some 18-24 months ago non-capsuleer piloted ships in known space began mimicking these target priorities possibly utilising some of the reverse-engineered technology which has been acquired from w-space in the years since we became aware of it.

I believe the tactic you're describing - recalling drones in after they've been acquired as targets with the result of throwing automated targeting solutions into disarray - is a relatively common one used by known-space mission runners to protect their drones and their vessels. Of course, while it's a useful tactic that often succeeds it doesn't always work in k-space and this singular point of difference may be the most important part of your discovery.

Your observations and the conclusion you draw from them - namely that the Sleeper drones are only autonomous up to a hard-wired limit rather than possessing a more intuitive sentience - remain intriguing.

You mentioned that your strategy has been tested and found to work in system classes up to C4. I wonder if it also works in the higher class w-space systems, particularly in those systems and sites where capital-initiated escalations can occur?

I am certainly aware that sleeper drones will target capsaleer drones and that cycling drones is a useful way to mitigate damage across both, but this is an entirely different matter. Once the tactic is initiated the drone vessel is effectively cloaked towards the sleepers. They can get as close as they want for as long as they want and they will never draw a targeting solution. To my knowledge this is not a commonly known phenomenon, if it were I assume the knowledge would be much more wide spread in guides.

The specifics of the technique limit its utility to only certain sites I have not yet attempted this feat in higher class systems and doing so would be very difficult I lost 1 vessel in the process of figuring out the details of what I know so far. I am not sure it could sustain any higher class sites, but I will update you if I can confirm or deny this later.

Sleeper escalation can be done in a C4. I am unsure as to what effect this would have on this technique I have not tried to initiat the targeting crash with any other vessels present though it could be possible to run this technique in a fleet maybe even with escalation I simply don't have the data to confirm or deny this at this time.