A hunch

During my explorations in Aridia I noted on several occasions interesting signs of Jove presence. They are not around today, but were in the past, and possible the recent past. They were quite active, especially in the Fabai constellation. I have already conjectures that they were monitoring the Blood Raider trail, waiting to intercept relics. 

The Jove have always been quite controlling about which technology should be available to the Empires and which should stay hidden. Yet it is not their will, but God's will that we should have back our holy Ametat and Avetat, even if these items hold unimaginable power! The Jove have no right to keep these hidden, but I am sure they tried, and certainly tried to get their diseased claws on the sanctified crown and sceptre. 

I am of a mind to investigate the Jove somewhat more. They are gone now - no one has seen any of them for years. Their empire consists of the regions known unpoetically as A821-A and J7HZ-F. These are the regions that they retreated to after God cast them out of heaven, or rather the Heaven constellation. Their regions seem no longer accessible, there are no official jump gates into them. Whether the Jove still persist in their isolated space or whether they have gone extinct is not officially known. To find out, one would have to access the inaccessible regions.

Now, there are still abandoned passages and jump gates and jump technology scattered throughout space. The best evidence are the gates to the hellhole system of Zarzakh, and the Jove station that the Deathless has appropriated there for himself and his cronies. So, why could there not also be secret passages into the Jovian regions? 

I am considering exploring the regions bordering the Jove domains to find out.

The new Ivan

My short-lived and ill-fated enlistment in the Amarr militia for the defense of Mehatoor did have one beneficial effect after all.

Mr. Ivan Firth, my political officer, took a fright when he heard about my enlistment. Indeed, he was a good enough judge of character to see at once that this was not a good match for me, and that keeping tabs on me while I tried out this new profession would only lead to my podding and his premature demise. We came to a mutual understanding that he would keep a close eye on the docked Indigatrix while I tested my mettle in the militia in other ships.

Now I have returned to scientific research in the Indigatrix. We do not talk about our previous arrangement - he seems keen to forget this episode. And he seems to be more relaxed (somewhat) and less high-strung and critical. I can even put on a glacial drift skin on the ship without getting a lecture about un-amarrian color schemes. 

I wonder how long this will last.

Space oddity

Gaun Arel found something interesting in space, an old wandering spaceship, and was thoughtful to report it back and bookmark its location. Of course, my interest was piqued. Moreover, the ancient ship was just one system away from Gamdis, a system of particular archaeological interest.

I had little trouble finding the artifact using Gaun's directions. It is a most gorgeous solar sail ship:

There is a gold-coated solar sail in front, and it carries along a small gondola attached by swaying cables to two masts, to which the sails are attached. The gondola is actually a kind of shuttle or lifeboat, with a ring not unlike the Stratios:

Note that the perspective here is deceptive: the gondola is actually quite smaller than the Indigatrix which here stands at a distance. The ship is comparable in size to a modern solar sailer such as the Zephyr designed by the Intaki scientist Valsas en Dilat. Perhaps en Dilat encountered this ship or one like this and got inspired? The back of the sail has a different reflectivity:

This ensures that there is a differential light pressure even in a cloud or diffuse light. There were no life-signs in the ship, but the vessel is still active, and powered up. It is just slowly sailing along. Concord has tagged it "Tom's ship". Someone must have scanned it and sent that information to concord. The pilot Tom must have passed away a very long time ago, as this ship shows signs of being adrift for many thousands of years. It was moving along at 0.2 - 0.3 m/s, perhaps it will accelerate somewhat when it gets nearer to the star.

Even though I find it suspicious that the vessel is so close to the Takmahl sphere of influence, it is clearly not a Takmahl design. Nevertheless, I was tempted to board the ship, and perhaps take it back for research. That would pose only minor difficulties, as it is not compatible with capsuleer technology, but that is no real obstacle. 

However, I  did not want to be the one who after all these thousands of years interrupts the journey of this magnificent  and majestic vessel, perhaps a tomb but certainly a monument to the ingenuity of humankind, and its indomitable spirit of exploration.

The answer

I received a letter from the Office of Captain Marshal Sirdan xer Qosh. How gallant of his lordship to answer me so quickly! 

Although, the answer itself is a bit disappointing.

"Ave Theodosius Savnar, valued Paladin Crusader,

We received your message from the frontlines in Mehatoor . We have read it with the greatest interest and you have our assurance that we are doing everything in our power to deal with the concerns raised by you. 

Amarr Victor!

PS. For quality assurance, this and future communications are being recorded and forwarded to the MIO."

Mehatoor corruption suppressed

Praise God, for he has granted us victory in Mehatoor! 

The Angel Cartel uprising has been stemmed, and the corruption suppressed in our home system. This time, Mehatoor will not descend into the lawlessness of a low security system. 

The dedication of our pilots, and the fact that the system itself was better prepared than the last time, paid off. Or, as the Directrix put it: "I guess the Empress yelling at the Holders worked".

For me, it is time for self-reflection. I zealously tried to participate, enlisting in the Amarr militia on impulse, driven by the will to serve the Empress. But I have to face the facts: I am simply no good as a soldier. 

I learned a lesson that, in fact, I already knew. It is one that in the past I have tried to explain to others. Namely: there are many ways to serve the Empire, none inherently more praiseworthy than the other. One must choose the path that best suits one's talents. For me, that is my clerical and academic service to LUMEN, and my explorations.

Cobbler, stick to your last.

Logistics lessons

I tried to give some logistic support today, using the Inquisitor class ship. Although finally I was able to do something within the confines of my vow, it was not much, nor was it very effective.

We tried to hold a "small" outpost against overwhelming odds in the enemy's preferred time zone, and ultimately failed. I could land some repairs here and there to fleet mates, but too little to turn the tide... Also, my little logistics ship got shot to pieces several times. But at least I learned a few basics of solo logistics: stay far enough from the fray, be fast enough to be hard to track, and do not forget to re-anchor when your anchor dies.

Despite my own failures, the combat against the Angel cartel seems to be going well overall, or at least better than during their previous incursion into Mehatoor. I pray that this time we can avoid the system turning lawless.

Pacifist attempts at warfare

The Angel Cartel corruption finally spilled over once again to Mehatoor. 

A third letter to lord Sirdan xer Qosh is in order. I found that not all available navy resources are used to combat the Angel Cartel in systems corrupted with pirate insurrection.

I took the Velocitas to a large Amarr outpost in Raa. I was able to use the acceleration gate. At that moment, the system contained a fleet of fifty-five Angel pirate capsuleers and not a single ally. Praying to God to keep me safe, I started orbiting the outpost at maximum speed, expecting the Angel pirates to come chase me away. They did not show up. A neutral appeared, and warped out, perhaps defeated by my so-called speed tank.

I proudly awaited the rise in suppression status after completing the task. Nothing happened! Moreover, I was informed that the job would not earn me any loyalty points in the Amarr Militia as the system is a rearguard or such. Scandalous! 

It turns out the outpost was not monitoring any Angel Cartel activity - only Minmatar rebel activity. All this while Raa is absolutely infested by the Cartel. Marshall Qosh probably does not know about his troops turning a blind eye to anything outside of their original assignment, I shall inform him. 

It gets worse. The only way to deal with the pirates - at least the only way I could find today - is to be on the offense rather than the defense. One has to warp to the Angel Cartel complexes, and actively combat them. For such attacks, the Velocitas is absolutely useless. Help comes from, no, not the glorious golden fleet, but Mordu's legion. What an outrage. 

The only way I see now to assist without breaking my vow is by providing logistics in fleets of our own capsuleers. I am not very experienced in that, although I did get some training by lord Utari Onzo-Gallius, paladin of the Excubitoris Chapter of the Order of the Sacred Throne. He also showed me a very cheap (so it can be sacrificed without concern) but quite effective fit of an Inquisitor class ship. Perhaps it can be of use to help in Mehatoor.

False advertising

I am writing another letter to marshall Sirdan xer Qosh, to inform his lordship of a severe defect to the Empire's acceleration gates, and I am putting the Secure Trade Commission in copy to warn them of deceptive advertising.

The gates do not permit shuttles to enter!

Yet, the structure, probably they bought it from Upwell, says: [This accelaration gate] "handles battleship size ships or smaller". Either they have really tiny battleships at Upwell, or this is clearly false advertising.

I have to change my plans, and use an unarmed, uncrewed frigate in stead - hopefully mr. Firth will not find out, or he might feel obliged to join. Well, mr. Firth will probably not want to find out, so that helps.

I will try a Punisher class ship, fitted with an oversized micro warp drive, a trick I learned from Dr. Moriarty during my stay at Eve Gate. It is cheap, and quite hard to track when circling around at ten kilometers per second. I think I heard Faith Griffiths once refer to this as "speed tanking".

Political Officer Panic

I was busy writing a letter to Sword Marshall Qosh, warning him of the dangers of allowing just any capsuleer into the Amarr Militia without proper vetting, when mr. Ivan Firth burst into my office, hyperventilating and not making sense.

He was having a panic attack. I calmed him down by reciting a very soothing passage of the Book of Trials while having him breathe in a paper bag.

"You... you enlisted in faction warfare? I thought you were an explorer, and only an explorer, and mostly highsec? That's what the Abbess told me!" He was about to cry. "You haven't fired a laser ever, and now you are taking us to the war zone in an unarmed exploration vessel?!? Is that your plan to kill me?"

I reassured him, "There is nothing to worry about. I will not take the Indigatrix. I will use a shuttle."

Now he cried.

"I intend to keep my vow, I will not engage enemy capsuleers."

That still did not reassure him.

"I can assure you I am quite good at running away."  I continued to explain, "I have read up and talked to friends. Apparently, one way to contribute is to assist our heavily armed Imperial Navy vessels while they are patrolling. You just have to hang around with them at an outpost and be an extra pair of eyes, and wait till a timer runs out. It is called 'defensive plexing'. Now, how dangerous can that be, hm?"

He cried again. 

"I am not taking the crew along, nor you. You can stay with them, here in station. On the Indigatrix." I added, "They like having you around and need your guidance." I will need to do penance for this lie.

He looked at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "But I am assigned to keep an eye on you. To go where you go."  I told him that he had been assigned to keep tabs on my exploration activities. The Reverend Mother Kahoudi did not specify that I should be monitored on a shuttle that cannot do exploration, and what if I sneak back to the Indigatrix, certainly his place should be there. It was not difficult to convince mr. Firth, and for the first time in a while I will be flying without the commissar.

Enlisted, for the Empress

Mehatoor is under threat again. Neighboring Raa is facing a resurgence of the Angel Cartel. These pirates are like Achuran knotweed: you think you eradicated it all but it keeps growing back.

The crisis is being dealt with more proactively this time, I think the local Holders were scared enough by the reprimand of the Empress. There are recruitment posters, and navy recruiters everywhere in the 24th Imperial Crusade station. Also I decided to be more proactive. I want to do good by the Empress, and show that I will not sit by idly while Mehatoor, the pearl of the silk road, the crown of the crusade, gets corrupted. 

So, I decided to talk to someone from the Imperial Navy, and walked into the recruitment office that just opened around the corner from Café Marlinea. I was greeted by a very young man in a navy uniform, who shouted "Welcome, friend! Time to pick your career in the Imperial Navy!!"

I answered, "I am here to see if I can contribute to the fight against the Cartel pirates, within the limitations of my vows. I am a capsuleer of the Societas."

He continued to shout. "Excellent!! You can enlist in the Amarr Militia ánd keep your job at your corp!!! Serving one weekend a month, and you'll find an extra paycheck, money for college and all the adventure you can handle!!" 

I was taken aback, college money? How could he mistake me for a frat boy? But perhaps he had only been recruiting at colleges before. Noting my hesitation, he continued, "It comes with an enlistment bonus! And a fine uniform! And a standard issue side-arm!"

None of those appealed to me. So, I dropped the bombshell: "I have sworn a vow of non-violence."

The recruiter did not seem to understand, or perhaps he did, as he retorted "Be all you can be!! Find Yourself in the Amarr Militia!".

He handed me some paperwork on a clipboard, and said "Please sign on the dotted line! Hail the Empress!!" I read it, and it seems capsuleers can end their enlistment as easily as they can start it, there is only a one day waiting time to re-enlist. That is indeed what I had heard also from other capsuleer members in LUMEN. 

So, I signed. I am worried about how easy it is to enlist. They did not even do a background check, any sort of hoodlum can enlist, before you know it there will be all sorts of unsavory elements in the Militia.

I got a uniform that I handed back, a side-arm that I refused, a few credits that I will donate to charity, and a holo welcome message from Sword Marshall Sirdan xer Qosh. Apparently, as I am a capsuleer, the rest (whatever I choose to do in the Militia) is up to me.

No match

I tried setting up a date for Loai Qerl with Gaun Arel. Gaun is a selfless and courageous paladin, a paragon of faith who is always looking to help people. A good match for any damsel. But it appears he has a vow of celibacy. Also, he is not of noble blood, and I had understood that to be a requirement. So that did not work out.

I also found out that lady Thea van Deilyx still has a nephew who is a bachelor, and she was initially interested in matching him with Loai. But then, Loai being a commoner looking to marry into a noble family did not sit well with lady Deilyx.

I talked to Franco about this when I met him at the Lamp's bar; and he explained a few things. As it turns out it is Loai's uncles who seem to be pressuring her to marry. And her own preferences are not that strict about nobility. Franco was going to adapt the advert he had placed to find bachelors, in order to clarify these points.

Living secluded in a asteroid monastery has not prepared me well for this a task. The library was not really a big help this time: we have Gallentean non-fiction books on relationships, written by various famous sexologists, but they focus strongly on the carnal aspect. So I think I'll give up on these matchmaking attempts. 

After one last attempt, I still have one LUMEN man in mind.

A home for the arm

I received some good news. The lost arm of St. Gennareus that I was able to recover in Aridia has been certified as genuine by the Theology Council's department of relics. It only took them four months.

Of course I do not get it back to use it for any of LUMEN's chapels or churches. It is not up to me to decide where the relic should go. 

Revered relics bestow a special honor to the cathedral or monastery that possess them. Historically, it is not unheard of that relics get stolen from one cathedral only to reappear in another one.

The arm will find a home in a cathedral on Kador prime, close to St. Gennareus' place of birth. What I get is my name on a plaque close to the relic. I think I will go visit. And bring along my political officer to show him this example of the benefits and good results of my explorations.

Matchmaking

I was surprised by Franco's question, whether I would know possible romantic matches for lady Loai Qerl. How did he see a matchmaker in me? I have absolutely no experience in that matter, and my first instinct was to dismiss his request.

Loai is a very fine person, and very knowledgeable about the history of the cluster and capsuleer social matters. She informed me about the Goners in the Eve Gate system, and I am very grateful for this and for her other pointers at the start of my research in the Lamp's library.

So, why not help? Moreover, Franco now posted the question publicly on galnet forums. There are some horrible figures, such as Nauplius, imposing themselves as possible suitors. I cannot let a friend face this kind of hazard! So, I have been mulling over possible candidates, considering the fine menfolk in our alliance, and made a shortlist of people I will try to poke discreetly about their interest, and then get back to Franco about that.

The only thing that has me a bit confused is... well what does Loai herself think about all this? I have not yet had the chance to talk to her about it. Why is Franco taking the initiative rather than Loai? Ah, I am afraid I do not understand how courtship works these days among youngsters in the Empire. I risk doing more bad than good.

Not to worry, the library has plenty of books (mostly Gallentean) about love, and I shall read up. And apparently, a Gallentean expert in the matter just anchored a station close to our own industrial park in Tanoo. Perhaps I should drop by and then this mr. Flavours can explain more about how capsuleer love works these days. I shall not mention Loai of course, and pretend to seek knowledge in general. Even though he is not without controversy and a big gossip, what harm could there be in hearing him out?

Imperial attention

The ink has not quite dried on the log entry where I express my disbelief of the Angel piracy in Mehatoor, and today I read in the "news in brief" that our most blessed Empress is asking the very same question as her loyal subjects are: how could this have happened? Holders of the border regions have been summoned.

I am reassured, now that the Empress herself is taking an interest in our situation. Everything will be all right and such error will not occur again. Deep down I hope that our humble alliance will receive a nod of appreciation from the Imperial court for helping to suppress the Angel Cartel's corruption of our home system.

One consequence of focusing our efforts on the emergency in Mehatoor is that the blessing of LUMEN's new station in the Dital system had to be postponed to an unspecified date. The station is a refinery named Anushia Ba-Qat or "companions of the truth". The name is a wink to the Curatores Veritatis Alliance in Providence. Indeed, Dital is a gateway system from the Devoid region to the Providence marshes. 

I cannot help but conclude that this station is meant not merely for mining, but also to assist and supply the Curatores in their work pacifying Providence. A glorious purpose that no doubt also pleases the Empress! 

Jove speculations

I keep wondering about the strong Jove presence in the Fabai constellation. That is to say, the presence of Jove corporations: it has been, I believe, almost a decade since the last contact with any Jovian. Their corporations are run by subjects of the four core powers, and it is not clear whether even at the highest level their directors still have any contact with the Jove themselves. However, at the time Genolution's stations were built in Fabai, they would certainly still have been around.

There are three major Jove corporations still active, all under the umbrella of the Society of Conscious Thought. The first and best known is Genolution, the clone supplier. There is also X-Sense, providing biotech and chemicals, and Impro, heavy industry and electronics. These are rather spread out, with different corporation never sharing the same constellations outside of Jove space. Except for one constellation: Sukanan in Tash-Murkon, and there only in the Ordat system two are present, Genolution and Impro. In Fabai, the stations belong to Genolution, which is suspicious because it is not particularly a hot commercial area for clones.

Perhaps it is worth speculating that the Jove too were searching after the Ametat and Avetat? Surely, they would have had curiosity towards those holy relics and the power that they hold. I have not investigated this link thusfar, although I did encounter a link with the Jove before. The Goner sect has a myth, saying that their prophet "Goner Father" has taken ancient relics from Athra and hid them in an asteroid belt in one of the Jovian systems. The pieces of this puzzle do not seem to fit.

Meanwhile in Mehatoor

The brave men and women of LUMEN, along with the Imperial Navy, have chased the Angel pirates out of Mehatoor. The insurgency has ended, although I think probably a lot of mopping up will still be needed. 

Reflection, too, about how things could have come to this point. Where was the failure in the system? Was it the closeness of the warzone, with piracy spilling over from the constellations brought down into chaos by the forces of the Republic? I am sure valuable lessons will be learned.

Traders as well as the local baseliners were rattled by this insurgency. But that was not the worst that happened! The treacherous back-stabbing forces of the Republic tried to take advantage of this momentary weakness and attacked LUMEN's station, Mikhimi Herart, bringing more hooligans and pirates along. 

The fools did not count on the resolve and courage of our capsuleers. Members of the congregation told me with pride and awe about the largest fleet of loyalists and allies they had ever seen to form in the system, routing our enemies. For this victory, we have held a service of thanks to God.

Location, location, location.

Our team performed admirably! We have made an excellent preliminary sorting of the salvaged materials, grouping and labeling them, much to the delight of the local record keeper. We have been digging in boxes of papers from recent ones to older ones, a bit like the archeologist who digs down the various strata to reach more ancient times.

Anath V indeed consists of many strata. As became clear a few days ago, the oldest one seems to predate the earliest known Amarrian settlement. We were able to reconstruct some basic topology of the site and how it evolved in time, although records still give conflicting data sometimes.

In the more recent records, we found information on professor Bathana. A (partial) deed to the plot of land and house that he owned. We aso found an announcement in a local newspaper of an evening lecture for a broad audience during a science festival. A picture of him and his family at the stage, and on it you can see a little girl looking a bit bored or a bit mischievous, probably both. That must be Lunarisse? I'll give her a copy of the picture as a present.

More interesting than the picture is the location of the land bought by professor Bathana - if we are correct it is right above the central structure of the most ancient layer. I doubt that this is a coincidence. 

I've learned all I could from these archives. The only way to learn more about this is via excavation on Anath V, or via the personal archives of professor Bathana. Either way, I will need our Directrix's help. So, it is time to return to Mehatoor.

Speculations

With the help from the Lamp's librarian team, we are making some headway in sifting through these archives to trace back the history of the attempts at colonization of Anath V.  

The oldest records of Amarrian colonists date back from about one thousand years ago, when the first Imperial exploration ships arrived in Aridia. This is also when the 51st Exploration Corps famously reached Mishi IV and encountered the Ni-Kunni civilization. 

However, these first colonists of Anath report the existence of ruins of an even older settlement on the auspicious spot they chose for their own town. These ruins predating the first Amarrian colony could conceivably be the deepest layer of construction, eight or nine levels below the latest. 

Perhaps a lost civilization existed on world of Anath V, predating the arrival of Amarr settlers?  It seems implausible that civilization arose on this inhospitable storm planet, and created just one town... 

I think it more plausible that this was some sort of colony or outpost from another civilization. Perhaps the Takmahl? That would certainly have piqued the interest of professor Bathana, but I doubt the Takmahl could (and would) venture this far from their home worlds in Araz. Are the Jove involved, whose influence is strangely and strongly present in the Fabai constellation through several Society of Conscious Thought stations? Again, implausible, as their downfall comes only in recent times. 

My best guess at this point is that there could have been a colony from another cryoship with fleeing Sabik. They scattered in all directions after Queron I's purges two thousand years go. The most famous group started the Takmahl civilization on Aphi, but it could be that another group reached this place and was forced to settle here, never reaching the grand heights of an own empire.

Reinforcements

It is an impossible job to sort trough all these records on my own. So, I'm bringing in reinforcements from the library at the Lamp. 

Mr. Jensen, despite a general relativistic disability due after a warp core incident, agreed to travel again and make the long trip from Mehatoor to Anath. In his condition, he experiences the flow of time different than we do, and his internal clock has suffered time dilatation. His movements appear slow, but his genius in cataloging science more than compensates. With the papers laid out in front of him, he seems to intuitively visualize the best possible mathematical map to a manifold whose coordinate parameters optimally classify these texts. This will be of invaluable help here. He is bringing two assistants along.

The local librarian is quite excited about the project of creating some order in the salvaged records, and he will also help us, with his assistants. We will have quite a team, and leave behind a historical reference library on the colonization efforts of the Anath system.

Arne Maleto asked to join, but I refused. Arne works at the Lamp's library as Third Overseer of the Shelves, a nice title for a very modest job, while he studies for promotion. Like any youth his age, he is keen for adventures in libraries of distant lands. But with the Angel Cartel in Mehatoor, and his sister Ishta's history with the Cartel, it seemed best to keep him safe at the 24th Imperial Crusade station. He'll sulk for a while and perhaps misshelf a book of two in rebellion (he takes after his sister, after all), but I'd rather have that than have harm come to him.

Unimaginable

What is this horrible news that reached me today? An insurgency in Mehatoor!? My first reaction was disbelief.

Mehatoor is a military hub and headquarters geared towards the warzone. The 24th Imperial Crusade projects its power from that system into the warzone, and that is also why there is a strong LUMEN presence. Gottin's Lamp is in Mehatoor! The system is also on a major trade route from Amarr to Jita in the State, perhaps even the main trade route after the fall of Niarja. 

So, it is simply unthinkable that it would fall in the hands of Angel Cartel pirates. 

Yet being at the edge of the warzone is also a weakness - especially now that the Cartel has been growing strong with the help of the Deathless and making use of the fog of war to exert its influence in the warzone. That influence, it appears, spilled over to the Empire proper.

I fear for our station there, Mikhimi Herart, and I worry about the Republic and other pirates exploiting this chaos. I shall pray for the swift restoration of law and order.

Life cycle of a colony

The pieces of information that I can find from extracts of the land register confused me at first. I tried to reconstruct a precise map of the settlement from the salvaged land register data, in addition to property deeds and transaction records. 

However, I could reconstruct different maps of the main settlement, and these maps did not agree at all. Similar incompatibilities can be found between various deeds outlining property limits and layout. It seemed there were several different buildings all sharing the same space.

The solution to this mystery turns out to be the difference in dates. The buildings are on the same plot of land, but one is newer and built on top of the ruins of the other, older building. 

Some time after the devastation of the old settlement in YC71, a new wave of colonists arrived and built their city on top of the ruins, only to have their new settlement destroyed fifty years later in YC121. However, this was just the latest reconstruction: there must have been many cycles of destruction and rebuilding. 

At this point, I do not yet have enough pieces of the puzzle to find out how many cycles there were exactly, and how many layers of buried settlements there are stacked on top of each other, but I think there are at the very least five or six. This has been going on for many centuries! On the rare oldest records that survived, dates appear to be missing, or written in some different calendar, or became unreadable, but I will cross-check names of the property owners with the Book of Records which has dates of birth and death.

One cannot but admire the tenaciousness of our colonists.

Un-Amarrian

As I continue searching through the mess of salvaged records, I was told by mr. Ivan Firth that a mausoleum to commemorate defeat of the Empire should be considered un-amarrian. So it should not be good to spend too much time here. I objected, pointing out the Elder Memorial in Kor-Azor, and he conceded the point.

Apparently, also the "glacial drift" skin for the Anathema is unamarrian. The original Khanid exterior is more acceptable, and imperial jubilee or celebratory gold would be even better. I told to him that this is camouflage, not only in ice belts but as many planetary rings and debris fields have a lot of ice particles it can also be used there. I'm afraid this rather stretches the truth, it is not how cloaking works, but I did not feel the urge to go into great detail, and mr. Firth seemed content with the answer.

Salvaged records

I returned once again to Anath, and I visited the memorial museum on Anath IV. It tells the tale of the devastating Blood Raider attack that laid the colony on Anath V to waste in YC71, in gruesome detail. It also recounts other raids and attacks. I learned from the exhibits also that LUMEN sent humanitarian aid and first responders following an relatively recent massive attack in YC121.

The exhibition rooms are ordered around a yard, open-air yard with large obsidian monoliths at its center. The names of the dead are carved in gold letters, and those of the missing in silver letters. There is still room on the massive slabs, a token of resignation about the inevitability of future attacks.

Below ground there is a hall with a library, which also holds whatever records could be salvaged from the ruins of the Anath V colony. However, most of it has not yet been catalogued or sorted, it is just stored in countless boxes. Deeds, police reports, marriage certificates, public announcements, news clippings, it is all thrown together, much of it moldy or partly charred, or both. 

The curator was happy that finally a scholar takes interest in this collection, and could help sort it out. He is perhaps the first person I met here who is happy to see a visitor from the core worlds. He allows me to search these records. However, finding information on what professor Bathana was looking for here feels a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The wait

I was getting impatient, but finally the political officer has arrived. 

It took mr. Ivan Firth almost a week to get to us from his previous assignment. He had to have a debriefing, travel, two days of holiday, travel time, a briefing, and then travel time again. Meanwhile, I was not able to undock or continue exploring. 

Together with the crew, I used the spare time to clean up the mess the Ministry made during the search, and do maintenance on the ship. It had been a while since I brought the Indigatrix in for technical control, and the warp drive was already way past the mandatory checkup after every 1000 jumps. I got charged an insane amount (plus a late fee) because the dock-master decided all sorts of parts that I had never heard of had to be replaced. I think he ripped me off and flux capacitors are not real parts of Anathema class ships.

Mr. Firth showed up at the hangar today, dressed immaculately in his uniform, boots and medals polished and shining. He brought several suitcases with books on proper procedure, printed, so they can be followed even if the electronic version cannot be accessed.

Even today, we could not leave again for Aridia, as mr. Firth insisting on interviewing the crew members, and by the time he was finished taking notes, it was already too late to start.

Broken mug

As expected, the Indigatrix was thoroughly searched by the Ministry of Internal Order. Ransacked, one might claim, if one were to be disrespectful to the Ministry. Of course, they were misled by Idesbald's lies, and quite in their right to check things out.

But still. 

During the search, my coffee mug which says "Udder Chaos Milking Corp" got broken. It was not valuable, but it was a souvenir from an agricultural fair on Odra in the Bersyrim system. It is in that city that I got murdered for the very first time. When I went back to identify my corpse, local police told me they found the mug on my body and I got it back eventually. So, naturally, I have some attachment to it. 

Somewhat distraught, I tried to find a complaints form on the Ministry's website. 

Strangely, the Ministry does not appear to have an on-line form for complaints.

Somewhere hidden in the labyrinthine website I did find a physical address where people can go to have their complaints heard, but it is in a penal colony on an ice world rather far away, with only one-way interbus connections, and I do not really want to do the detour with the Indigatrix.

For now, ceramic glue will have to do the trick.

New crew member

I should have thrown Idesbald out of the airlock in stead of banishing him. 

Probably at this very moment he also wishes I had done so. 

The Ministry of Internal Order has captured him - they must have some black ops in the Federation. Upon questioning the traitor accused me of his own crime! He claimed that I was the one peddling capsuleer blood wine on the black market! Reverend Mother Kahoudi was very concerned and payed me a visit in the library. Luckily, Idesbald's lies were rapidly unmasked. Tribunus Colonel Vleckson relayed the true nature of my mission: destroying the blood cellar. The other crew members confirmed my version of the facts. And a search of the Indigatrix revealed no contraband of any sort.

Even though I have been exonerated, the affair still has an unpleasant consequence. The Reverend Mother insisted that for the time being a political officer should join me during my explorations. As if I do not know orthodoxy myself! I wanted to strongly protest, but something in me told me this was probably not the good time to do so.

So, my crew will be joined by mr. Ivan Firth, who will provide us with ideological education and supervision and make sure my missions are in the interest of the Empire and in agreement with Imperial law. 

A new cloak technician would have been more useful.

The Anath colonies

I am continuing my expedition through the Blood Raider space corridor in Aridia, which links the old home worlds of the Takmahl to the current Blood Raider controlled region of Delve. I have gone trough most of the corridor and have reached its outermost endpoint, the Fabai constellation. 

Then I got distracted by the blood cellar hidden in the wreck of a colony ship - I took it upon myself to destroy that horror. That matter is settled now, and I am back to exploring the Anath system. Minus one cloak technician.

Anath has been repeatedly the subject of horrible incursions and massacres by the Blood Raiders, periodically curtailing the growth of the colonies there. The folk there focus on basic survival,  growing their crops and working their industry, while constantly on alert for attacks. These settlers do not have much time to spend on frivolities of high culture, and do not want tourists to come visit them. On the storm world of Anath V the conditions were even harsher than on Anath IV.

Nevertheless, in the main settlement on the temperature world of Anath IV there is a museum devoted to the history of the colonies. Or perhaps it would be more correct to describe it as a memorial to remember the raids and their devastation. It is said to house whatever was left of the historical records of the Anath V colonies, so that looks as good as any place to start my search.

Courtship at Tebu Amkhiman

Back in the days when I was young, boys and girls of important families could mingle only at formal dance events. These were held in large halls, resplendent with golden ornaments. There, the youngsters, dressed impeccably, would be allowed to dance with each other in well choreographed waltzes under the watchful eye of parents and chaperons observing the dance from the balconies while sipping champagne and eating pastries. Only in the fleeting moments that the dance brings lovers cheek to cheek could they whisper words of passion to each other. I believe this tradition is still upheld in Kador.

Things are different nowadays - all the more so for capsuleers. Word has reached me of a capsuleer "speed dating" event in Tebu Amkhiman. In speed dating, one also changes partner according to some choreography. However, there is no dancing, and even less supervision.

Gossip travels faster than light, among baseliners as well as capsuleers, and always reaches the ears of the pastor sooner rather than later. At first, I was surprised to hear of the presence of heretics and enemies of the Empire. I know Tebu Amkhiman is a freeport, but still ... Moreover, it appears there was misbehavior and even open flirtation with the arch-heretic Nauplius! 

The organizers, Maerrin and Haapsalu are not to be blamed, and I think should be lauded. After giving it some thought, I approve of the presence of heathens at this initiative as I believe that the fastest way to reclaim them peacefully is for them to date -and possibly fall in love- with someone of the faith. There are countless historical examples of pagan kings marrying Amarrian princesses and converting.

Nevertheless, I expect the confessional to be very busy in the coming days.

 

((ooc picture attribution : http://www.vienna-waltz-gala.at/))

Banishment

What to do with Idesbald? He tried to steal a bottle of blood with the intent of selling it to Blood Raider collectors. If I turn him in to the Ministry of Internal Order, he will face the cleansing pits for sure. The reverend mother will not take this sin lightly.

Part of me wants him to face punishment. But another part of me understands that if a commoner is faced with an object worth tens of billions of ISK, the temptation might be just too much to resist. On the one hand I think he should get another chance, but on the other hand I do not want the crew to think mutiny is just fine.

After long deliberation I decided to drop him off just beyond the Empire's borders, in Agaullores in Solitude, Federation Space. I will provide him with decent retirement funds. And after that, I will inform the MIO. This amounts to banishment from the Empire, which should be punishment enough I think.

Flush

Soon after the crisis of trust with Idesbald, we warped back to the site, cloaked, at 100 km. To our great satisfaction, we could confirm that the blood cellar has been destroyed in the antimatter blast. Metal shards and a fine mist of organic matter are all that is left from this cursed place.

There was some discussion with the crew on how to dispose of the bottle of Luna blood. Jettisoning is not an option, as it can be picked up by random passer-bys and the Indigatrix has no weapons to destoy it. In the end we decided to empty the bottle in one of the toilets and flush.

Idesbald begged to save the bottle, claiming that the profits from selling it could help us much more in the fight against the Blood Raiders. That is nonsense, of course. If we have to harvest the blood of our members and sell that to the Raiders, we just become part of the covenant even if we use to proceeds to fight them. The crew realized that and followed me. The blood was destroyed as proposed earlier: flushed to the waste container of the Indigatrix, which will be emptied and processed at the first station we dock.

Treason

((continued from Feb 2nd))

We made it back to the Indigatrix in the nick of time, the Bhaalgorn appeared on grid just as we were warping off. That is the advantage of having crew on board even in a frigate, they can warp of way before you are back in your pod.

Not long after we arrived at a safe spot in the system, we registered an antimatter explosion at the site. However, another pressing matter kept us from immediately returning cloaked and checking it out. 

There is also sometimes a disadvantage to taking crew along: they might betray you.

Idesbald refused to hand over the bottle of Luna blood. The fact that this small boxed object was worth billions of ISK had driven him insane with greed. If he could cash in on it -which I doubt- this would indeed make him rich beyond his wildest dreams and able to start a new very comfortable life.

He kept me and the other crew members at bay with his plasma rifle. He claimed loudly that it was his loot, and by the law of outer space now his property. He wanted us to drop him off at a station or somewhere planet-side, he even wanted to use one of the escape pods to get out. 

I tried to tell him this was an sinful and illegal substance, and he was damning himself and his soul. He did not care. I told him both the Blood Raiders and LUMEN would come after him. That got him somewhat worried, but not too much. I asked him how he was going to sell the blood bottle when everyone looks for it? He does not have any contacts for such a sale, so that did get him thinking.

At least it distracted him long enough that other crew members could disarm him and overpower him. I took him personally to our improvised brig - his quarters with a lock. He was still complaining loudly about rights of looting wrecks. After some discussion with the crew we decided not to jettison the bottle as it could be picked up, but to just empty it in the toilet and flush it.

I do not know what to do next with Idesbald, I must pray and think.

Confrontation

((continued from Feb 1st))

The blood sommelier slapped itself and said, "It is my doubleminus fault, sir, so bad, apologies, sir! We doubleplus leapt into the cashless future, sir! It means more efficiency, sir, a decreased risk of theft and more spending. And no hauling large suitcases of cash..." It nodded towards the suitcase, which we have now brought close to the central platform.

Then, things went fast. Idesbald discreetly primed the antimatter bomb. Inside the suitcase, a timer activated. After countdown, it will cut power to the magnetic enclosure suspending the antimatter, causing it to come in contact with regular matter and turn into a blast of pure energy.

Meanwhile, the sommelier continued, still apparently unaware of what was really going on. "We accept credit cards of the four Empires. Sir, do you have HolderCardä ?"

I decided to use the occasion to buy time for our retreat. "That's too bad. I'll need to do it by bank transfer then. I'll just go back to my ship and contact my agent at the Amarr Trade Registry for the transaction. We'll be right back. Keep the Vektor chilled!"

I began to walk back to the airlock at a brisk pace.

The creature was saying something about the suitcase we were leaving behind, when Idesbald aimed his plasma rifle, and shot it point blank in the chest. The thing screamed, and kept screaming, emitting a high-pitched and metallic sound. 

"Run!" Idesbald yelled, shooting the sommelier again as he grabbed the box with the blood bottle and started running himself. From all over the surface of the sphere, spiderbots started to make their way towards us. There must have been hundreds.

I ran as well. Not quite fast enough, I should have kept up training this beep test that Ishta suggested. Luckily I had a bit of a head start. I shouted to Idesbald to drop the cursed bottle. Idesbald, overtaking me while firing at the spiderbots that made it to the walkway in front of us, answered "No way!"

At the airlock, Idesbald turns and for a moment I thought he was going to shoot me as well, but he aimed at the spiderbots, and kept shooting them. As I made it to the airlock, the Indigatrix messages "Bhaalgorn on d-scan, 14 AU and closing in."

((to be continued))

Return to the cellar

Just after the Bhaalgorn warped off for its daily rotation, we went back into the Blood Raider structure. I was as amazed as the first time that I entered the vast spherical space of the blood cellar. The sphere's inner surface is an immense bottle rack with uncountably many bottles of blood in cubbyholes. The inside volume of the sphere is completely empty apart from a central platform, connected by a narrow walkway to the airlock where we entered.

I was equally unsettled by seeing that creature again. The upper half is a human male in a Gallente sommelier attire. Its body ends midway, just about where one expects the navel. That upper body is anchored to a circular plate with five mechanical insect-like legs. It saw me and my crew-member Idesbald, whom I had brought with me again. Idesbald had insisted on bringing his plasma rifle and grenades along. Both of us were carrying the suitcase antimatter bomb, I took the left handle, and he took the right. It's a big heavy thing, we were panting. Idesbald's rifle was slung around his shoulder.

The sommelier's upper body swiveled around on its base plate and greeted me. "What a doubleplus joy, sir, to see you again, sir, allow me the immense honor to fetch your precious purchase!" My deception had been successful, I fooled it into thinking I agreed with a twenty billion isk purchase, just so I could blow up this horrible place. 

It snapped its fingers, and small spider-like creatures, also five-legged, scuttled about on the sphere's surface, far away from us as we were slowly making our way to its center. As they moved around and their legs touched bottles, they made an eerie tinkling sound. At their destination, they grabbed bottles with two of their arthropod limbs, using the other three to make their way back towards us along some sort of spider web threads. A table and chairs appeared at the platform in the center of the sphere.

The spiders laid out two bottles, one containing Luna's blood, and the other I assume was the complimentary bottle of Ishta blood I had been offered. Both bottles were expertly wrapped first in protective material and then in beautiful gift-wrap paper, and then finally they were placed delicately in a wooden box with straw filling. The wooden boxes were carefully sealed, and one was marked "Sanguis Lunarissis. YC 119. Aspenstar Appellation d'Origine Controlée".

The sommelier took a third bottle and uncorked it, pouring two flute glasses of sparkling Vektor, and joyfully dropped a dwarf strawberry and gold flakes in both glasses. Another spider brought a plate of crackers with  human liver paté and blood marmalade, and a small bowl of blood sausages. "Welcome, sir, welcome! And doubleplus congratulations! Such an exquisite choice, sir! Let us celebrate, on the house!"

Only then did the creature seem to notice the suitcase, and it despaired. 

"Oh... sir... what have you done? No!"

It gave me a pained look and said "Sir why carry so much cash or precious metal? I should have told you we are a cash-free shop! Cards and banking apps only."

((to be continued))

Antimatter bombs

I insisted on another stakeout, to see if the Bhaalgorn had changed its routine since we last came. Perhaps our visit raised an alarm and they changed their routine? Or perhaps the Blood Sommelier was laying out a trap - I had to be sure before venturing back into that horrible place. So we kept watch, day and night.

Meanwhile we have a suitcase antimatter bomb with us in the Indigatrix. When antimatter touches regular matter, it recombines with it, annihilating, and releasing all of its mass as pure energy. Detonating an antimatter bomb is easy. Just release the antimatter. The hard part is to prevent it from detonating, and that is what all the machinery in the suitcase is constantly doing, with triple redundancy safeties. Right up to the point where we want it to explode.

One gram of antimatter annihilating one gram of matter equates to forty kilotons of TNT, enough to flatten a medium-sized city. The bomb we carry with us carries a grain of antimatter of twelve and a half grams, suspended in a magnetic bottle and the highest vacuum achievable. Its release will destroy everything inside the blood cellar, ionizing it by the blast and gamma rays, and most likely the entire structure will explode.

Understandably, there is some nervousness among the crew about waiting days with this thing in our cargo hold. However, now after a few days I am happy that the Bhaalgorn's routine hasn't changed, and I could bring them the good news.

We're bringing the bomb in tomorrow.

The art of the deal

I received a mail from "sommelier2120@anonymous.net". I have no idea how that creature found my galnet mail address.

Well, it is listed on the website of our chapel, so it is not particularly difficult to find.

I know it belongs to that weird creature at the blood cellar, I recognize its peculiar way of speaking:

"Dearest sir, this is your sommelier, who had the doubleplus pleasure of meeting your optimal exaltedness recently at our shop!" 

It calls itself a sommelier though wine is not its business. Probably it knows the MIO is scanning these mails, so it is cautious.

"Rumors of your interest in the special vintage" - I was not interested in Luna's blood - "have spread." 

The bloody thing must have spread the rumors itself. 

"Other collectors are scrambling doublespeed, in particular the one from Mekhios. This pushes up the price to higher levels, sadly doubleminus I need to inform your exaltedness that it now sells at 1.3 billion per fluid ounce. And only 3/4 of the bottle is left for sale. Please act with doubleplus haste!!!

Tripleplus devoted to your pleasure, I remain at your service.

PS. Sideplus of whiskey-infused free Maleto vintage still included in offer! Doubleplus pairing with steak tartare!"

My first (self-defense) impulse was to report the mail to the MIO as heretic, abusive, fraudulent, phishing. But after a few seconds thought, I realized this could be exactly the opportunity I was looking for to bring the suitcase antimatter bomb into the blood cellar. I answered:

"Dear Sommelier. With great pleasure I can inform you that I have collected all the necessary funds. Please reserve what is left of the bottle for me. I will be at the shop as soon as I can."

It answered almost immediately.

"Quadrupleplus happy, sir, elated, sir, truly, elated! Sir, your best and most exlusive property ever, sir! For you to enjoy! We will celebrate with some carbonated sparkly Mikal Vektor on the house! I am positively thrilling with doubleplus exciment to see your exaltedness again! Client of the year, already, doubleplus certain!"

Of course it is happy. Half a liter of Luna blood comes at 20 billion. But that actually helps me: so much cash (even in plex) has to be brought in a big suitcase. My suitcase will carry something else.

The Tour

This weekend I am back in Amarr to give a history tour to corp members (and outsiders with good standing) who want to learn more about the Empire. We have enough peregrinans and interested legionnaires. For more experienced members it is a pilgrimage to the holy sites, and it is good to go on this pilgrimage from time to time, to keep in mind both the glorious heights and the despondent depths in our recent history. A story of ingenuity, exploring, but also setbacks and overcoming the evil that we face. 

And for new capsuleers, with the ink still drying on their fresh license, it is also a safe introduction in basic fleet maneuvers and commands. They can make mistakes and correct, there is no rush and no enemy.

I feel I should do the tour more often than once or twice a year, and perhaps advertise it a bit better - for example in career agent systems. It is an excellent way to spread the faith amongst capsuleers, and to tip their interest into joining us. 

As I was thinking about this last night, I had another inspiration to spread the faith. With the excess ISK I make and cannot keep due to my vow of poverty, I can donate simple frigates to Mike Azariah's "magic school bus" project, and make sure every donated ship contains copies of the Pax Amarria. These would be for the Amarr career systems of course. I will contact mr. Azariah to see if he can agree with this.

7th fleet ombudsman

It is outrageous that such an horrid installation as the Blood Cellar can exist in Imperial space with impunity!

I warped straight to the 7th Fleet's local headquarters in Naga. There is a public relations office there on Naga IV. I ignored the obligation to book an appointment months in advance, and stormed in. Capsuleer status helped, and I was able to see the head ombudsman, Tribunus Colonel Vleckson.

I explained to him what we found, and provided coordinates for a 7th fleet strike fleet to destroy the site.

Tribunus Colonel Vleckson sighed. He looked tired, and looked at the window. His eyes expressed an undisguised desire to escape through that window, which he might have done if he had had more time before I barged in, regardless of the fact that we were on the second floor.

"Our focus is on Blood Raider forward operating bases, and on active raiding parties. There are just... so many of them", he said in a depressed voice. "We do not have the means to go after every threat so we have to prioritize to clear and present dangers. A passive site like the blood cellar is not high enough of a priority. Please contact your... contacts to get us better funding for the outer worlds' fleets so we can expand our actions."

This was clearly a longer speech than he had any energy for, so he sat down on his chair.

I insisted. "Surely there is something you can still do? A single Bhaalgorn should not be a problem? Quick ops?"

Vleckson shook his head. "Sorry, no. And don't you go asking the Khanid Royal Navy, either. They patrol here too, from time to time, keeping a claim alive from the Kingdom to take over the Fabai constellation under their protection. But they don't put in the means either, they go after big wins for propaganda. Showing off. Your blood bank thingy won't do it."

After a pause, to get his internal battery back up to 1% charge, he shifted in his seat and added, "but perhaps you capsuleer folks can do it yourself?"

Somewhat offended, I answered "I do not carry offensive weaponry on the Indigatrix, and corp members are busy with other things, fighting the Republic and the Angel Cartel in the warzone! We are not the ones assigned to keep law and order in this sector, Tribunus Colonel!"

After a long, pained moment, Vleckson said "Well, here's what I can do. I can get you a suitcase antimatter bomb. The structure may be shielded from the outside, but if you can get the antimatter bomb into that sphere, and detonate it from the inside, I'm sure that will destroy it. Or at least spoil the blood collection."

Seeing as no fleet was coming to help me, I agreed. Vleckson nodded and said the suitcase antimatter bomb would be delivered to the Indigatrix within the hour. I signed off on some forms in triplicate, and that was it.

Queen bee nectar

The half-man-half-droid creature squints its eyes, and scans me. It is not suspicious, it just wants to find out who its client is. It seems to completely trust the Bhaalgorn patrolling the site to screen any visitors and keep out unwanted persons. 

It says "Oooh, sir, a capsuleer, sir, what an optimal pleasure." The human torso swivels on its five-legged base plate to look at Idesbald. "Please let your slave lower its weapon". I signal Idesbald to lower his plasma rifle and he reluctantly obeys. He shifts his free hand to a grenade, I think he might have primed it as a dead man's switch.

The creature, having completed its scan of me, says "Sir! One from the Societas, sir! Doubleplus honor for me, I did not know they have collectors there. So, so, so pleased to serve and advise you, sir, so pleased, thrilled, absolutely. Begging you, sir, who is your fancy, sir?"

I am somewhat stunned and answer "What do you mean?"

"Do you have someone in particular whose blood you are interested in, sir? We have quite a collection here, tasters are on the house for doubleplus capsuleers as yourself, sir!"

I remain silent, still stunned.

The human torso swivels around again while its base remains stationary. The creature then scuttles around to a terminal. "Oh, sir, I found just the thing for you! We have a Lunarisse Aspenstar of the fall of YC 119, such a good year, sir, so good, optimal doubleplus!" 

A cubbyhole far away to my upper left lights up. A small spiderbot scoots up to the cubbyhole and stands at the ready to retrieve the bottle of blood.

"She was caught by one of our Ashimmu cruisers, while she was mining in Nadohman. Ah, it is so exclusive, truly one of the best bloods you'll find anywhere. Pride of the collection. A collector from Mekhios said they got into a trance by it sir, a doubleplus trance, by just a few drops, he couldn't afford more."

"You see, it is capsuleer blood, like yours, but blood of a leader, and quite a killer herself. Doubleplus killer. Queen bee nectar, truly. That's what makes it so expensive, sir, one of the most expensive bottles we have. Can't give you a taster unfortunately, as it goes at a billion ISK for one fluid ounce. But, sir, well worth the price for a true connoisseur as yourself!"

Idesbald says "Time's up bro T, we need to go." 

A bit less than fifteen minutes already passed since the Bhaalgorn warped off, it will be back soon, so I say to the creature "Eh, I'll be back. Need to check my bank account."

As we make out way out, the creature shouts back "Goodbye sir! Doubleplus happy to meet you sir, hope to see you again soon, the Lunarisse vintage is waiting for you, kept in optimal conditions!" It raises its voice as we make it to the airlock "I'll throw in a bottle of Ishta Maleto blood for free on concluding the sale! It's got a high alcohol percentage Thukker whiskey! Aged on oak barrel! Single malt!"

Inside the wreck

We made our move as soon as the Bhaalgorn warped away today. 

We moved in for a close inspection of the wreck, close enough that we are uncloaked. The only part that may still have any archaeological remains of any value was a steel plated sphere, at least hundred meter in diameter, and nestled in the front part of the wreck. I assumed it would have housed essential systems and perhaps historical records, as it was built to be sturdy, a hard nut buried inside the hull of the colony ship. 

It has a hatch, and we were able to dock with it. It was surprisingly easy to latch on and dock with. In retrospect that should have been a first red flag.

The hatch led to an airlock, manually operated. I entered the airlock, together with my cloak technician (and avid weapons collector) Idesbald, who was armed with a plasma rifle and EMP grenades. After we closed the outer door, the airlock quickly pressurized with a breathable atmosphere, so we could take off our suit helmets. The inner door unlocked. 

Inside was nothing I could have imagined. 

The sphere has been stripped of whatever used to be inside of it, and refurbished with modern technology. The airlock opened to a ledge leading to a platform, suspended in the very center of the sphere. As one moves along the ledge closer to the center, the sides of the sphere recede, and the further along, the deeper the fall to the curved floor. 

The sphere's walls are lined with what appears to be vials of blood, some are the size of a test tube, others the size of a wine bottle. They have worn labels. There must be millions here, each in their own cubbyhole. The temperature is cool, and the air has the moisture of a cave.

On the platform, there is a creature with the upper body of a man, mounted on some sort of base with five mechanical insect legs. It swiveled around and scurried towards us, greeting me in particular: "Welcome collector, to the blood cellar."

Stakeout

I returned to the site where I found the wreck of the colony ship. It is still patrolled by the Bhaalgorn. 

Surely that ship can not stay around in this forlorn deepsafe forever? A Bhaalgorn is too expensive a battleship to use for a tedious patrol duty of a historical site. And even the Blood Raiders must give their crew some shore leave, and send in replacements. 

I decided on a stakeout, to find out if there is a pattern in their patrols.

The crew again grumbles, now about how boring it is to just sit around cloaked and maintain a surveillance. I had to remind them we have plenty of entertainment on board, so those who are not on shift can relax. There's a small ship library with a nearly complete collection of "The Lives of the Saints", and plenty of ACN documentary holoreels to accompany that.

Our patience paid off. Each day right before 11am, the Bhaalgorn warps off, and returns about twenty minutes later. I have no idea where it goes. On some days, there will be a small patrol vessel like a Cruor taking its place, but not always. This does not seem to affect the duration of the Bhaalgorn's absence.

Scanning

I have been going around in the systems around Anath and unfortunately I have not found anything remarkable yet. 

Nullsechnayas and Goonswarm are up and about, but here is a good tip for an explorer: use combat probes instead of scanner probes. They will still allow you to scan down all anomalies just as well if you have a bit of scan skills trained up, but they have the advantage of scaring off everyone else.

Not all ships are quite as good to fit combat probe launchers (the Astero struggles), but the Anathema is wonderfully equipped to do so. 

That being said - there were only relatively new sites on scan, as well as wormholes and gas sites. Perhaps in the next few days, something interesting will come up. Something warranting a strong Society of Conscious Throught presence.

wrecked colony ship

I resumed my search in the Fabai constellation. Several abandoned Jove observation posts are around - along with the presence of Genolution this adds to my suspicion that the Jove have or had a special interest to this constellation.

I found the wreckage of a rather large colony ship. You can see it in the picture below, along with a Blood Raider Bhaalgorn patrolling the area.

Not much remains of its hull - it appears to have been smacked sideways by an asteroid. Scans do not reveal much of interest is left to investigate, apart from the shielded front of the ship. This front part appears to have a spherical pressurized module in it. There is an open hatch in its center. Whomever was there after it shipwrecked apparently went out. 

Unfortunately the presence of the Blood Raider patrol makes it impossible for me to explore the wreck in more detail.

Conflict in Haimeh

My exploration had to be put on hold a bit due to an insurgency in Haimeh. I have not followed the local politics much, but as far as I understand it, an agent provocateur operated within the ranks of Zaraevahr. This agent fomented revolt in the Haimeh mining stations linked to the GF company, a large holding that does a bit of everything from mining to military-industrial production and even mercenary work.

Prince Seraghis mounted a punitive expedition to stamp down the rebellion, but it did not help. On the contrary, the mining company assembled an impressive fleet to protect their assets. Also Prince called on his vassals and on LUMEN capsuleers to form a fleet. As I am in the region enjoying Prince's hospitality, I joined, in a logistics role compatible with my vows. 

The two fleets converged on Haimeh.

And then a miracle took place. God granted us the very best of outcomes: peace without bloodshed! High-level battlefield diplomacy was able to avert open war and defused the conflict. The agent provocateur was unmasked and is on the run now, to be hunted down both by Seraghis' forces and by GF company security contractors. 

My guess is that, when they catch the agent, thorough interrogation will reveal this to be a Blood Raider plot. They have the most to gain from destabilizing the region. Moreover, they recently took a firm blow when Zaraevahr located and destroyed the Blood Raider's forward operating base in Mishi. As they can not win by force, they tried -and almost succeeded- by subterfuge.

First exploration of Anath

I orbited both Anath IV (the temperate planet) and Anath V (Luna's home world, a storm planet). Both planets's night side seemed very dark, so there is not much more settlement than some early colonists. They respond to hails, I will visit the colony on Anath V in the next days.

I also tried to talk to the locals in space. I may have offended a Dracarys pilot called DarkSkip0. I misread and called him Dark Slip. He did not answer my queries about the relations between NullSechnaya and Dracarys and warped out.

Apart from that, I scanned down a relic site. It turned out to be blood raider, unsurprisingly for this area. There were no remarkable finds. I am back to the Genolution station orbiting Naxa X, moon 16. It sort of looks like a Gallente station from the docking bays, but its overall layout looks quite strange, showing the imprint of the Jovians all right.

A new destination

Awaiting my friends' help with the biodroid, I am continuing my exploration in Aridia. It could take a while for them to assemble a team, and even longer to actually get to the abandoned station and help me implant the controller device in the droid.

Meanwhile, I have set my sights on Anath in the Fabai constellation. I have been there once, brought by the Directrix who spent her youth there, in a domed colony on a storm world in this system. Unfortunately it was sacked by the Blood Raiders, who killed our Directrix's parents...

To this day, she keeps a colonist's storm world garden as one of the exhibits in her famous "Gardens of the Empire" display, and it is based on her parent's home. I am keen to get more time to explore this planet, and to see how it moved on after being ravaged by Blood Raider attacks - even if it does not lie directly on the Blood route to Delve.

Anath does not have any space station where I can dock the Indigatrix, but neighboring Naga has one. A Genolution Biotech Production facility. It offers "DNA therapy", I'm sure they'll explain that to me. Genolution also produces implants, skins, tactical goggles, and combat suits. But, most of all, they are known for their outstanding cloning facilities. 

They were a former Jovian Directorate organization and are now operated by Jovian associates: the Society of Conscious Thought. They have... four stations in the Fabai constellation, but no other stations anywhere in Aridia. Or anywhere even remotely near.

What the heck are the post-jovians doing here in this outback? Why do they focus on this constellation?

The advice of friends

I have been accepting my friends' call for caution on the biodroid. Not to go at it alone.

Aria's warnings, and Prince Seraghis' - who knows Aridia like the back of his hand. Most likely, they will come with me on an expedition to capture the droid. This will guarantee success!

Meanwhile, as we await the mounting of an expedition and crew, I might do some light exploring down the line in Aridia - down the blood raider trail that is.

Mittens' misbehavior

My cat Mittens horribly misbehaved during a party of the Societas. It was a thematic party, for the festive season, with people getting presents for each other, and dressed to impress. Maerrin and friends organised this, to everyone's delight.

Unfortunately, my 'secret saint' was not around to receive his gift.

Even before gifts were revealed, Mittens jumped at Ms. Jennifer Starfall's costume. It had animated small creatures on it, peeping out of trees and shrubs printed on her dress. Irresistible for a cat. Mitsy got all focused on these animations and lunged, claws out, drawing blood. I am lucky ms. Starfall is so kind and understanding... 

I was shell-shocked for the rest of the evening... and relieved Ms. Starfall got the best costume prize, even if Mittens got it torn up.

Second thoughts

When capsuleers, engaged in the warzone, die in space several times a day, this is unfortunate but does not raise alarm. Certainly not during very active periods of warfare. 

However, when a cleric with scholarly rather than martial tendencies experiences several out-of-pod deaths in fast succession, medbay takes note. I suppose I should be thankful for that.

Aria got a ping while we were having our monthly sessions debating theology. I discussed my plans to subdue the Takmahl biodroid with her, and she definitely did not approve. In addition to my crew's concerns and Luna's summons... I am reconsidering. Putting plans on hold.

The disguise

I received a full report from my crew, all the way up to the point where their video-feed went black. After that, they noted my Concord sign was suddenly missing from the system, and concluded I had been killed. They brought the Indigatrix back to safety and wait my return. And that is why crew is useful even in a frigate.

Meanwhile, my multiple reclonings have raised some unnecessary alarms with LUMEN's medical crew, who seem to have alerted Lunarisse - as they probably are duty-bound to do. I will try to allay their concerns.

The first plan I discussed with my own crew was to try and make it to the command center of the abandoned station, and activate bulkheads to close in the biodroid. We can wear it down, once it is contained. Unfortunately, they still refuse to set foot on the station.

So, my second best plan now is to appear like a Takmahl to the droid. It should cease the attacks, if it recognizes one of its own. 

Citizens of the Takmahl empire were connected to a collective network using the Takmahl Phrenic Appendix. This is a device implanted in the neck and upper spine leading to the brain. Back in the days of the Takmahl Empire, the device offered identification as well as a stream of advertisements sent directly to the brain. I have several of these devices in very good order, and tried to contact the Lamp's surgeons to implant it. They have not responded, probably they are on Yoiul vacation. Or they are waiting for the Directrix's permission.

I did get a positive response from the medical facility at the Kaalakiota cloning station in Defsunun, two jumps away from the archaeological site in Nalnifan. They requested I install a clone in their station, and then for a not unreasonable amount of ISK, they were enthusiast to perform the operation on the clone, test it, and then have me clone jump to the upgraded one that has a Takmahl phrenic appendix.

Yoiul battle of the bots

Tracking down the biodroid was not that difficult, it came to us as we were making our way toward it.

My combat drone engaged it frontally, its shield quite able to absorb the laser fire from the biodroid. My drone unleashed a torrent of thorium rounds from its 9mm blasters. Bits and pieces of flesh were shorn off the biodroid as it was pushed back from the attack into the wall, splattering it with blood.

Meanwhile, the crew on board the Indigatrix was cheering in a somewhat unprofessional manner. I think they were following the events as if they were watching the Mind Clash finals. I would not be surprised if they had popcorn and beer.

The biodroid responded by covering its exterior with armor plate. It is not clear whether the flesh was torn off, baring these plates, or whether the plates were somehow extended from folds in the droid. It was fascinating to see Takmahl armor plates in action! Still on ships today, armor plates made from Takmahl materials are among the best plating we have, almost matching our type II plates while being much less energy and CPU consuming.

Although the biodroid was still taking damage, the rate at which it was being demolished slowed substantially. Having realized its laser was not powerful to take out the combat drone, it started walking towards my drone, facing the barrage of thorium slugs head-on. 

Another piece of equipment that we now make from retrieved Takmahl technology is improved armor repairers. It was a surprise to see that the Takmahl were able to miniaturize these to the point that a biodrone can be equipped with it. I could see the unmistakable glow of the repairer at work.

At this point, I started to worry somewhat. The crew also got tenser, the outcome of the fight looking more like a stalemate than a victory.

Then the scales started tipping. The biodroid has some sort of extendable arm, with plating and pointy bits, that it used to stab or club the drone with. The drone tried to move out of the way, but there is not enough room in these hallways and the biodroid's arm shot out so fast it smacked the drone against the side wall, disabling one of its blasters.

I panicked and decided this was the good time to throw the EMP stun grenades.

The crew yelled "nooo!" knowing that these grenades would hinder the drone more than the biodroid - the latter could still rely on its biological parts even if the electronics are temporarily disabled. Or perhaps they yelled because they knew it would also cut off the videofeed to their show.

It is not clear what happened next. 

I woke up in a new clone in Mehatoor.

Preparations for the biodroid facedown

Of course I will not confront the Takmahl biodroid by myself. I bought a military-grade attack drone, to bring with me as my wingman. And I have a fairly good personal shield, and a scanner able to triangulate the location of the droid via sound and vibrations carried through the walls and floors. Finally, I have high-power EMP stun grenades that should take down the droid's circuits after my drone pinned it down and disarmed it.

With the crew, I have come to a compromise. They agreed to come along but will remain in the Indigatrix, and as soon as I and my drone have boarded the station they will keep the ship at a distance and follow our progress remotely, providing advice and intel.

The best laid plans

I hatched a brilliant plan. I went to get a Takmahl biodroid controller unit from my collection of Takmahl artifacts obtained from exploring the temple at the center of the space labyrinth in Aphi. I spent some days to get the best one in working condition, while the crew was making some repairs to the Indigatrix - she sustained small damage from the emergency decoupling from the abandoned station.

The plan is this: after stunning or pinning down the biodroid, we can place the controller in one of its cerebral slots. I read a publication in the top journal Archeological Review Letters, and the authors are fairly confident the controller should go in slot #6 and would not fit in any wrong slot. Easy peasy. The controller would render the biodroid harmless, and even possibly place it under our command. At least if my own neural boost implant manages to connect successfully with the controller and place it under my willpower. This has been described as difficult and flaky, like having a wireless network printer be accessible to all the computers on the network.

Anyway, even if the controller doesn't connect, it would put the biodroid in a passive state. Real remote control would just be the cherry on top of the cake.

Everything was ready, and then... the crew said no. They do not want to go back to the abandoned station to try and subdue the Takmahl biodroid. They told me after we held a service for the lost crewman Heggilon Dramse. With an empty coffin, we did not manage to bring any part of him back, and that made a deep impression on the rest. They think it is just too dangerous, and propose to just continue to Anath.

At first, I got angry. Do they think lord-consort Newelle takes a vote amongst crew members where to warp to? Or our own warriors, Prince Seraghis? Gaun Arel? Or Maria Daphiti? After they give the 'jump gate' command, do their crews go up to them and say: no, we won't jump that gate, sorry very much, we go over there in stead? What, am I the only capsuleer in all of New Eden that does not do as he wills, but as his crew wills?

But in the end, I could not get myself to force them. They are nice people, and I also understand their fear to lose their one and only life.

I'll just do it myself then.

Reconnecting

I reconnected with the crew and the Indigatrix. 

It appears we got pinned down, with the Takmahl biodrone standing between us and the exit. According to the crew, I volunteered to offer a diversion, well aware that this might end my current clone. A fate, though unpleasant, much less harsh that the death the crew would face.

Apparently I attempted to converse with the droid in ancient Takmahl, or what we know of it to the best of our understanding. I tried to tell it I was clergy - a religious enforcer should be susceptible to such an argument of authority. It questioned my accent. I told it to look at its timestamp, and consider that accents change in time. It asked me to show blood, or that's what I think it asked, the universal translator appears not to be quite universal. I tried to explain I might be in sort supply of external blood. It said "Amarr" and then cut me in half.

This gave the crew enough time to escape and make it back to the Indigatrix, undock from the Raider's graveyard station, and get back to an Empire station.

We have a fair number of interesting artifacts and relics from this particular haul. Including a cup perhaps stolen from Dam-Torsad cathedral, and more certainly made by Faecilius, a famous artisan two thousand years ago. And a booklet in Bathana-looking handwriting.

Good morning, or not

This is potentially very bad.

I woke up in my back-up clone in Mehatoor.

I read my journal's entries, so it is clear that I went to check out one of Glitter's hints, and bumped into a Takmahl biodroid in an abandoned station. At this point, I know as much as you do. With, of course, the additional information that I died.

I'll take the Interbus to Mishi and see if I can reship there and try to find the signal of the Indigatrix. It might be a bit difficult - she can be cloaked. And there is a war going on with one of the pirate alliances in Aridia.

The artifact

We were attacked by some droid. I recognised it, from the descriptions of dr. Valate. 

A Takmahl religious enforcer biodroid. The Takmahl made a variety of biodroids, mostly to be used in lieu of slaves for agriculture, but also as enforcers. To scare their flock into obedience, and shoot them if necessary. It is huge. The Blood Raiders must have retrieved it, kept it as an interesting artifact, and found a way to reactivate it. 

They must have regretted that soon after.

I recall an old nightmarish image that sort of looks like the biodroid, except that the droid we saw also has Sabik religious vestments:

We tried to shoot it, to no avail. I think Idesbald managed to shoot an arm or appendage off it, but it just kept coming. We ran and hid in an airduct, too small for the biodroid to enter. It is attempting to dismantle the airduct from the entrance, but we could crawl away. We found shelter in a maintenance chamber for the station's ventilation system.

From afar, we hear the droid chanting or reciting some Takmahl text, I try to record it as it may be valuable historical information. Also, cross-checking with ancient language databases.

Second raid

We definitely did not split up in small teams to look for whatever killed Heggilon. No, we huddled together, my crew being very scared. We took the boxes with items from the Blood Raider vault - and I kept dr. Bathana's notebook close to me - we made it back to the Indigatrix.

We are going in for the final haul of items from the treasury, this time with better weaponry. My cloak technician Idesbald is also an enthusiastic weapons collector and he has brought some sort of laser Gatling gun mounted on a wearable suit of armor. This thing can take out a corvette. So, it gave us confidence. Nevertheless, we are moving forward in some sort of tortoise formation, with shields up and guns out.

Several times we saw something swoosh past in the hallways close to the treasury. I think it was checking us out. It for sure freaked us out. Shots were fired, but just made holes in the walls. We think it looks human. Or at least it is  built out of human parts, but it is much, much larger. And definitely has metallic parts too, at least we think. Forgot to bring bodycams.

We are back in the treasury, loading up more boxes. There's noise like shuffling metal boots in the background. Our guns are primed.

The doors exiting to the hallway just closed.

The treasury

We renewed our attempt to explore the abandoned Blood Raider station in the graveyard site in Aridia.

The new diamond-coated drill had no problems cutting through the reinforced steel door leading to the inner level in the abandoned station, where the treasury is. Very quickly after breaching the door, we found the treasury. 

It is a some sort of storage room, with cabinets and shelves. It is a strange place, abandoned just like the rest of the station. It has cabinets that look old, like antique wooden furniture. I have no idea why the Raiders chose these kind of cabinets. Some of them are empty, but most store a variety of artifacts or items that the Blood Raiders found valuable enough to keep. Probably from their raids or from ships they captured.

There are many corridors of these old closets. We go through them as fast as we can to pull out artifacts that seem valuable. These are put into boxes so we can bring them to the Indigatrix and stack them in her cargo bay. There's way too many things in here, we will need a lot of hauling. 

In one of the book closets, one with a solid brass lock but a broken glass pane so you could just grab what was in there, there was a notebook that caught my attention. It was the handwriting on it that struck me - it is familiar to me. I could be mistaken, perhaps, but at least to me it looks like the handwriting of the renowned archaeologist Tertius Bathana. Our Directrix's father. 

Before I could look into it in more detail, my crew raised the alarm. One of the crew members, cargo loading expert Heggilon Dramse, had lost contact. They found him.

Disemboweled and nailed against a wall. His automatic rifle had shot all its bullets, it was laying next to him.

It seems we're not alone.

After the storms

Metaliminal storms have weakened, as so has the pirate presence in middle and southern Aridia. We've recovered and upgraded our drill. New diamond coatings reinforce it and we will be able to cut through the door leading to the treasury in the abandoned Blood Raider station.

During the pause, I jump cloned back to Mehatoor. It is nice to talk to ms. Callamity Kell as well as to Aria about our faith. I also met a couple of new members, at least new to me. And I could catch up with our Directrix - apparently I was up for a promotion of sorts after three years of service to the Societas. I am happy to be appreciated, even if I can contribute little to any kind of war effort.

Now, back to the expedition. In the next few hours we'll probably have a good window to go back to the Blood Raider graveyard station.

A pauze

We had to rush out of the station, leaving equipment behind and running to make it for the Indigatrix.

Metaliminal winter storms have arisen in Aridia, and although the space weather phenomenon itself is not a problem for us, it leads to a marked rise in capsuleers from the Nulsechnaya Scholupen and friends (or enemies) scanning down the system for anomalies and ships to attack. 

With combat probes homing down on our location, we had to rush to the ship and warp off, leaving the bulkhead drill and some collected items behind.

We wait now, cloaked in a deepspace safe, until the initial winter nexus rush subsides.

Pathology lab

We managed to make a hole through the doors to the next section. We found it abandoned as well. 

This section appears to be a science level: we went past an electronics workshop, a biochemistry lab, and some sort of medical experimentation facility. 

At first we thought this facility was a depleterium, a bloodletting hall where they harvest the blood of the innocents. However, upon closer inspection this is more like an examination room, perhaps the lab of an anatomic pathologist. Its examination tables are adapted for huge creatures. And there is a large amount of equipment more suited for soldering or taking apart electronic devices. 

And, unsurprisingly, more blood stains on the walls and the occasional corpse or two, in perforated lab coats this time. There are mechanical and electronic parts strewn about, that at least to me seem to be of Takmahl origin.

We are no doubt getting closer to the hidden loot storage, as we hit another door welded shut, separating us from the next section of the station. It has writing on it, in a Delvish blood raider dialect, warning to leave the door sealed, or die. This is typical for a treasury room, a futile attempt to dissuade explorers by invoking some sort of curse.