First footage

The Lamp's security are proceeding well with their analysis of the links that I was sent by yuanshenqidong. It turns out to be footage from their incursions into Jove space. 

A trait often found in capsuleers is vanity; part of that is bragging about their famous exploits. In order to prove their trip into Jove space, yuanshenqidong recorded it. And mounted some sort of compilation of this footage, in two films of about ten minutes each. They are without narration, but one of them has a soundtrack with music which can only be described as previous-millennium soothing shopping mall music.

I have only obtained parts of the footage from our computer scientists - at a very low resolution unfortunately. To gain access to higher resolution, some sort of subscription is necessary which the security people think is either a Jita scam or an attempt at espionnage on LUMEN. Still, from the first low resolution images, the capsuleer is seen clone jumping from a Fraternity Building Management station in 4-HWWF (in Vale of the Silent) directly to a Jove station in TO21-U. This offers some tantalizing view inside the Jove station. It is mostly dark, a sign that it is no longer inhabited.

There, a covette is boarded, which undocks. The hangar force field appears to be active:

After a little while, a view of the entire station becomes visible.

The timestamp of the footage has been verified, YC126/05/06 . More analysis is to follow.

SoCT Scandal

The logbook fragments of Okada -meanwhile I have found a couple more as we scour specific wreck signatures- have caused a bit of an outcry against the Society of Conscious Thought. 

They are famous for their schools. I have visited one before, and used its library. 

These schools are integral parts of their enclaves, called 'kitz'es. The schools are originally meant to educate their own enclave members. They became famous for their top education and now offer programs to selected children all over the cluster. These seemed to be selected more or less at random, and it was thought that this was some sort of way to ensure equality of opportunity among humankind.

Now these logbooks contain accusations that the children are selected to be brainwashed and become spies for the Society of Conscious Thought. Indeed, it is notable that these graduates often get important posts, also here in Amarr. Whether there is truth to this accusion or not, the press coverage in the Federation has turned it into the scandal of the day.

Here, Amarr Certified News is not so quick to jump to conclusions and does not comment on the matter. But, regardless of that, or of the authenticity of the logbook, I am convinced that there will now be quiet purges. In particular in the Amarr Civil Service where many Amarrian SoCT alumni end up getting influencial posts.

Also regardless of the truth or falsehood of the accusion, I believe that we should remain wary of those who worship the Jove in stead of our one true God, and question what it is exactly that they indoctrinate our children with.

Second battle of Zinkon

When you chop off one of the heads of the mythical hydra, it grows two more. The same goes for piracy: if you remove one set of pirates, others come to fill in the void left by their deposed predecessors. It is not different in Aridia. After the defeat of the previous bunch of LowSechnayans, a new horde of them came in to take the place of their fallen comrades and stake their claim on the Aridian spacelanes. 

The two heads that grew from the one chopped off were Parallaxis Alliance and the new LowSechnayans. It did not take long before war broke out again between this pirate alliance and Prince Seraghis' pacification forces. We mustered the fleet once more, and set out to destroy the newly built headquarters of the LowSechnayans, again in Zinkon. The logistics wing was well staffed, and the battle wing consisted of Typhoon battleships. 

However, it did not go as well as last time...

The enemy fleet consisted mostly of Leshak battleships, and -another proof of the close links between the LowSechnayans and the Blood Raiders- a Bhaalgorn, along with Nestor logistics. Unfortunately, they forced us to our knees. They used electronic warfare - ECM's - to have our Guardians lose target lock. We had to make a tactical retreat, and took heavy losses. 

We learn and grow through the hardships that we face. Indeed, scripture tells us that we are closest to God when "only through many hardships, [...] a man [is] stripped to his very foundations". We're certainly not at that bleak point, but Book of Missions does remind us that there is purpose not only in victory, but also in the occasional defeat.

Dangerous links

Several months ago I explored the possibility of entering into Jove territory. God must have been guiding me then, as I had no idea of how Jove passages would become important now. I had not heard yet about Yosef Okada and how he had been searching for the same, a passage into their space. I confess that I am just a tad jealous that Okada succeeded where I failed. Granted, he tried for a longer time, and made much worse friends along the way. 

Well, strange friends... back in the Vale of the Silent, I did make some new acquaintances. People that claimed to have ventured into the forbidden Jove regions of space. I got in touch with one of them, and they told me that Jove space is now abandoned, but there are still stations around. These can not be commandeered like the Fulcrum, and are smaller. The passage that they used, according to that contact, has been closed.

Today, months after my attempts to get in touch with various contacts, I received a coded message by another one of them, yuanshenqidong. She did not hide her name, nor ask me to hide it, so I do not think I will put her in danger by recording it. 

In contrast with the other contact, yuanshenqidong does not speak Amarrian or Gallente (even though she is on record as Intaki). The universal translator is not of much help, multiple strands of dialects seem to be applicable. But I did figure out that her symbol of the Jove is 朱庇特.  Her message was concise, and merely provided some links. The Descendants of Shen Nong (as her clan is called) use their own version of galnet, probably out of distrust of the central powers. So, the links she offered are darkweb locations on some unknown alternate galnet. 

Right, I'm not going to click on that. 

I'll have the Lamp's ICT security team figure it out.

Fragment

From time to time mr. Firth's ambition proves useful. He suggested we go back to the Gurista wreck where we found the Atavum device, to see if we can find any logbook fragment of Yosef Okada. It was not a bad idea.

The wreck had deteriorated since our last visit. Looters -or perhaps Gurista search and rescue- had clearly come by. They tore some holes in the hull of the wreck, and left a data relay satellite, perhaps used as a beacon. The site had been reclassified as a data site, perhaps because there was nothing left to be considered relics. 

As could perhaps be expected, we found a logbook fragment. Now that I knew what to look for, it was actually not too hard to find, after using standard hacking procedures. It was not hidden well; even though the original file was deleted, it was easy to reconstitute. This fragment is an entry that dates from just after the destruction of the dig site on Caldari Prime, and just before Okada got evacuated. 

Unfortunately, this is a fragment that is already known and documented. It offers a small insight into a pivotal moment, when his disillusionment with the State and with the central powers started to crystallize into open rebellion. 

I wonder why these fragments are showing up so often on ships or data satellites of the associates of the Deathless. I fear there might be a cult forming around his person now, and this logbook has become scripture for his followers.

The Deathless: a biography?

There is a buzz in the archeologist community about recent logbook fragments that were found by capsuleers. These are logbook entries written by a Society of Conscious Thought archeologist called Yosef Okada. The community is divided over whether these are real or a hoax. 

There did exist an archeologist of that name, but the dean of the Archeology and Paleontology School of Hedion University is sceptical about the logbook. She points out that this Okada fellow has a very poor publication record so he is not a "serious" academic and certainly the claims in his logbook would not stand up to peer review.

From these logs, two stories seem to emerge. The first one is from before Yosef Okada joined the Society of Conscious Thought. He was an assistant archeologist investigating a dig site that dates back 15'000 years, on Caldari Prime. The site and the expedition were destroyed during the Gallente-Caldari war, collateral damage just before the dig would reveal its secret. That secret would have been some sort of evidence corroborating the existence of a common ancestral world for all of the peoples of the cluster. The dean remarks "The louder someone supports this evergreen feel-good myth, the weaker is the body of proof that they can present. In this case, any proof was conveniently destroyed by fusion bombs."

The second part of these logs recalls how the archeologist turned his back on the State and joined the Society of Conscious Thought, helping them with the investigation of the Jove. During his new expedition, he gained the trust of the Hrada-Oki clan, part of the nomadic Thukker tribe, and joined them in their travels. During Amarr's own age of exploration of the seas by sail ships, it was not uncommon that a scientist -often a botanist or geologist- would voyage along with the explorer to collect samples and then bring their collection back home to a major Scientific Society, hoping to become famous. Okada seems to have fulfilled such a role for the Hrada-Oki wandering clan, with the distinction that he never brought his collection of artifacts back to his masters, the Society of Conscious Thought. He turned rogue.

Again, according to these unverified logs, the Hrada-Oki caravan (perhaps with Okada's help) eventually hit an archeologist's grand prize: a passage to an abandoned Jovian nexus system, Zarzakh. It seems that both the Society of Conscious Thought and the Drifters were searching for this valued place. The prize is more than a functioning Jove station, now known as the Fulcrum. There are also ships of Jovian design - or based on it. And who knows what other Jovian technology can be extracted from it!

While two dogs are fighting for a bone, a third one runs away with it. Neither the Society of Conscious Thought, nor the Drifters got their prize. The Deathless and his Hrada-Oki friends did. There are hints in these retrieved log entries that the Deathless is none other than Yosef Okada himself, transformed by the Fulcrum into whatever being he is now, straddling (I quote:) "a world of substance, a world of dreams, and a world beyond." Clearly, humility is not his strong suit. Anyway, another hint that the Deathless is Yosef Okada comes from Okada's life: his disappointment with the State, and his connections with dubious clans in Molden Heath would explain the Deathless' association with both Angel Cartel and the Guristas.

Now that I suspect that the Deathless is a struggling archeologist, I have a strange new appreciation for him, although I still strongly disapprove of his career choices.

Veterans

It seems I have not been alone in my concern about Drifters being active in Amarr space. The Drifters attempted to set up a base in Turnur from which to launch an attack on Zarzakh, but failed. The impunity with which they just appeared with large structures in an Empire system shocked me, and I was happy to have been able to provide some intelligence on their bases.

We are at war with the drifters since YC117, and veterans of this war have been very concerned about this new development. Societies representing the veterans have been requesting audiences with the Empress and with the Ministry of War's Chief of Staff, divine general Perimum Amyn. 

For reasons unclear to me, the CEO of the Caldari megacorporation "Lai Dai" thought it was good to call these veterans "a distraction from the real threat" - which for them would be the Guristas affiliated with the Deathless, presumably. It is bad business to insult your Amarr trade partners. The State does not like others prying into their internal affairs, and its high representatives should in my opinion therefore refrain from such comments when it comes to our internal affairs.

Perhaps the Deathless and the Drifters are two sides of the same coin. To me, there is some similarity between the physical appearance of the Deathless (in what little footage we have of that criminal mastermind) and the Drifters. I would not be surprised if the Deathless was a rogue Drifter. If that would be the case there is all the more reason to heed our veterans!

No parade

The Atavum that I found earlier is no longer a complete mystery - in fact these objects have been all over the news. The Scope - unreliable as they are in comparison to Amarr Certified News - had a feature on the Deathless and how he is collecting these objects to unlock, well, something, in Zarzakh. Guristas and Angel Cartel are helping him transport these Atavum devices to his stronghold, so it was not surprising that I found it in a Guristas wreck.

Strangely, there is not much talk about how these devices work or what they do, the entire news coverage is about how this criminal kingpin wants them for himself. The Scope is not known for its focus on science - they find it boring and prefer sensation.

I did not get much time to investigate these objects at the library, as mr. Firth insisted we turn them all in to the MIO as soon as possible. I think he expected a medal. We went to the Ministry of Internal Order logistics station orbiting Mehatoor I, it is their closest station. 

When handing in the artifacts, the clerk said "Oh, we've already had a lot of those lately. Thanks. Put them on the stack in room 15/06. Fill in how you found them on an RF-09I." Noticing my confusion, he handed me some sheets of paper, "That's this form. In duplicate."

Naturally, Mr. Firth was disappointed with that lackluster response. I tried to reassure him by suggesting that the clerk's response may have been bluff, to make us believe the find was not important. There was no big stack of these things in room 15/06, just an empty table.

Now Mr. Firth wants to earn more credit by having us hack into Blood Raider communication nodes that were put up for the annual blood fest that is the Crimson Harvest. This does not help my own research for relics along, but seeing that Mr. Firth is in a bad mood about the reception of the Atavum I will best indulge him.

Strange object

During exploration today, I stumbled upon abandoned Guristas ruin, at one of the sites classified as a relic site. The ruin could be boarded after hacking, as usual in such sites. Inside, I found artefacts that I have not seen before, labeled "Atavum", or "ancestor device".

It looks to be of Jovian design, but I am not completely sure. To be honest, I think it may just be a Jovian casing around something else. What seems to be a latching mechanism suggests it should be fitted into another device. It does not appear to be powered up, but it still has a weak warping effect on spacetime. It might be a containment device for some spacetime knot or rift. 

I have not found it in the Society of Conscious Thought's libraries, at least the part accessible through the Interlibrary Exchange Programme. 

I will bring it back to Mehatoor to the lab for investigation. I'm not allowed to keep it for very long; it must be brought to the MIO as soon as possible. Mr. Firth was elated with this find, he is convinced it will increase the prospects for his promotion even more.

The battle of Zinkon

"I will not hesitate when the test of Faith finds me, for only the strongest conviction will open the gates of paradise" - Prophet Kuria

Amarr fleets have an unwavering dedication to the Empress and put their full trust in God. That is why -as the prophet Kuria says- they do not hesitate even when facing almost certain death. It is a trait I witnessed during the famous battle of Wirashoda, a turning point in the first Pochven war, and I witnessed it again today in the war against the Lowsechnaya Sholupen pirates and rebels. 

I came to Aridia to join the LUMEN fleet under command of Prince Seraghis. The Leshak/Damnation fleet headed out for  a crucial battle in this war. We struck right at the heart of the enemy, at their headquarters in Zinkon.

I was part of an understaffed logistics wing with four Guardian class vessels - and soon it became clear that we would not be able to keep the fleet from taking damage. Moreover, the pirates were helped by their unholy alliance with the Blood Raiders. A Blood Raider combat wing was at the station, targeting our logistics. The combination of Lowsechnaya Sholupen's battlecruiser fleet, the Blood Raider elite frigate fleet, and the stations's batteries, were too much to tank. We did as best we could for much longer than I thought possible, thanks to the outstanding wing command of Meja Lirnix from Zaraehvar. 

Our fleet stayed right on the enemy station, fully exposed to enemy fire, knowing that it would be decimated but the goal of destroying that demonic station would be reached. The sacrifice was warranted: these pirates have been attacking many other stations in the region, threatening to kill potentially hundreds of thousands of baseliner station workers and inhabitants, if not more. The bravery paid off: we succeeded. 

I will stay in Haimeh tonight, to organise a service for the families of fallen crew members, many of whom were recruits from that system. Their sacrifice must be honored - they helped ended this war. It is through their devotion to Amarr that now the rebellious pirates are either dead or in disarray. For now. We must remain ever vigilant lest they regroup.

Trouble in Aridia

Being chaplain to the sprawling empire that LUMEN has become, you have to keep many plates spinning. My attention has recently been going to our expansion into wormhole space, but also back in Aridia there is need for capsuleer ministry. 

Prince Seraghis is working hard to pacify the region near Mishi, and bring prosperity to the Mayonhen constellation and beyond. Mishi IV is the home system of the Ni-Kunni people that have spread to every corner of the empire. They are a prime example of successful reclamation!

But now Prince and his merry band of Zaraehvar warriors have a tough nut to crack: a pirate faction called "NullSechnaya Sholupen" started causing trouble in the region. The conflict has grown into a regional war.

Prince Seraghis has been very gallant and helpful when I was exploring Aridia. Moreover many members of his Zaraehvar team are quite fond of books, and I appreciate that. They have been avid users of Gottin's Lamp Library Skillbook programme, with "Gas Cloud Harvesting" an absolute bestseller. Personally, I never really considered that one a page-turner. De gustibus non disputandum est.

Anyway, I want to help them in what little capacity I can, in gratitude for Prince's help and in recognition of the worthy goals of Zaraehvar. I am traveling over tonight to assist them, offering both spiritual help and remote repairs.

New kitchen knife

The industriousness that I saw in Seclusion is rapidly transforming the place - our outpost in Anoikis is turning into an industry hub, with new stations and factories popping up all around the old space fort. This calls for station blessings, something that I plan to do in the near future. I will combine it with the translation of the relic of Saint Vasrayi to Pilgrim's Rest chapel.

Unsurprisingly, the impending embellishment and enlargement of the chapel met with distrust from the local Matari that apparently also come and go freely in Seclusion. Thukkers - space nomads that often spend their life in wandering trade caravans. I can imagine they feel at ease in wormhole space, ever changing as it is, and unbeholden to any Empire. 

One of them, a capsuleer by the name of Isidorus Orissus, told me in no unclear terms that his clan can never be forced pray at an Amarr chapel. Surely this is some sort of allergic reaction, as if the mere presence of the chapel brings with it a threat. I tried to reassure him that even though I regret that his clan does not see the light we do not do forceful reclaiming in Pilgrim's Rest. 

I do not think the message got through: He threw his knife. 

It landed into a cutting board at the Lamp's bar. After which Isidorus left. Not being an expert in Thukker culture I am uncertain whether this is to be interpreted as a sign of disapproval, or approval through the gift of a new kitchen implement. 

Promotion Exam

Mr. Ivan Firth, the political officer on my exploration ship, has filed an application to be promoted within the ranks of the MIO. His new rank would be Itinerant Frumentaris Second Class. Right now he is third class of the same title. Mr. Firths recent successes - the intel we gathered on the Zarzakh siege, and the retrieval of a biodroid - made it possible for him to apply. 

I have no idea what those ranks mean. And that is as it should be, because the specifics are not disclosed to the public. Nor are all the details known even by Mr. Firth himself. It appears to be customary in the MIO that you only get full disclosure on the duties and perks of a rank when you have the clearance that comes with that very same rank. That is meant to test your dedication. As for mr. Firth, he looks forward to discover exactly what new powers he will have. Nevertheless he assures me that he would still continue to serve as my political officer after his promotion. 

The promotion is not automatic: he still has to pass an exam to get promoted. He is studying hard for this.

I hope it will only be a theory exam...

A Saint for the Hole

I have found a suitable Saint for Seclusion. I figured it ought to be a hermit, someone who enjoyed seclusion. This might resonate also with the ones calling our wormhole colony home.

Saint Vasrayi the Anchorite lived with his parents in a garrison town in Southern Ves-Udor during the reclaiming of Athra. Fortunes turned against Amarr and the town was overrun by a pagan army. His parents were killed, and Vasrayi fled into the great interior desert, taking with him only a book of prayers. He found a cave, at the desert's edge, in the foothills of the ancient mountain range of Satach's Spite. He lived alone there from the age of ten to the age of one hundred and thirteen years old. 

In the cave, there was a clear spring, and near his hermitage there was also a palm tree. Its leaves provided him clothing, and its fruit provided him with the only source of food until his forty-second birthday. Then, a golden eagle started bringing him half a loaf of bread daily. 

From time to time, people made the difficult trek through the desert to visit the Saint, and asked him for advice or answers to existential questions. The first visitor to reach his cave and find out about Saint Vasrayi was a cleric who asked him what he learned from being all this time alone in the desert. Saint Vasrayi answered: "No matter how far in the desert you think you are, there is always someone who finds you". This is typical for the sayings of this Saint: they are at the same time seemingly trivial remarks about what is literally happening, and a deep allegorical wisdom. I think this one can also be applied as a warning to people who think they are safely cloaked in Anoikis...

The particular item of worship that I found in the rent-a-relic catalogue is a sleeve of the palm leaf robe of Saint Vasrayi. I have filed the application (in triplicate) at the Bureau of Outer Rim Consecrations. I'm also ordering a beautiful reliquary to put it on display in Pilrim's Rest chapel.

Rent-a-Relic

I've been thinking about a good relic for the chapel in Pilgrim's Rest in Seclusion. Relics always raise the prestige of a sacred building and they draw in new worshippers. 

In order to promote the construction of new churches beyond the frontiers of the Empire, the Theology Council's Bureau of Outer Rim Consecrations has a rent-a-relic programme. For a small monthly fee, you can host a holy relic in your chapel. They have a catalog where you can choose among the saints and their body parts or attributes. Of course, there is just a limited offer, but for example there are quite some Tetrimon fingers.

Now, a relic may seem morbid to those not of the faith, and sometimes they even think it is a magical object used to cast spells. Nothing is farther from the truth. A relic serves as a strong memento of the life of a Saint. In its presence, the faithful reflect on how the Saint has lived in service of God and Empire. The faithful find courage the emulate the example that the Saint has set.

So, the choice of Saint is important. The Saint's life and struggles have to be relatable to the faithful in Seclusion. However, the discovery of Anoikis is so new that I do not know off-hand of any Saint of the Hole... This requires a bit more research.

Fire in the hole

From time to time I go to Pilgrim's Rest, in our outpost in wormhole space. The station boasts a very pleasant park with walkways, under a dome with a view on the wormhole system that we call Seclusion. Scattered around the park there are chapels and temples of many denominations, not only our own Amarr faith. I suppose that is because wormhole space is a refuge for lost souls and wanderers from just about every corner of the cluster, and we want to welcome them, and offer them a place to rest and pray or meditate.

Of course I want our Amarrian chapel to be the nicest and most attractive of them all. So, from time to time I make a supply run, with new copies of the Pax Amarria, and freshly blessed candles and holy water. Perhaps more than these supplies, it is my unannounced inspection visit that keeps the chapel at its best. The chapel personnel knows it can not slack.

They might be tempted into slothfulness because the chapel remains severely underused. It is meant for capsuleers, as the station's baseline personnel have their own church. When I went to Seclusion before, the place was very quiet. Apart from the occasional curious visiting pilot, only a handful of capsuleers called Seclusion home. And these were a ragtag gang of reclusive hermits each pretty much doing their own thing. Many of them have some sort of criminal record which keeps them from going back to known space.

"Seclusion" lived up to its name.

So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I during my latest visit I found our wormhole dominion bustling with fresh capsuleer activity. Standing fleets for defense were obliterating Sleeper hotspots and chasing out unwelcome trespassers. No more lone ninja-mining: now a mining fleet was crunching asteroids in an orderly manner under the oversight of a mining foreman. Wormhole connections were being either guarded by watchmen or "rolled out" - a process of controlled collapse of an unwanted wormhole. New colonial towns are appearing on the planets, mostly serving factories and mines extracting the bountiful resources of the wormhole planets. There is a busy coming and going of freight vessels to bring Seclusion's exotic products back to Amarr.

The whole system is filled with the air of industriousness and the zeal of colonists at a new and uncharted frontier. 

This recent expansion into the wormhole frontier is the work of the Comitia Centuriata, a new chapterhouse of the Societas, organised by Publius Cornelius Felix and his associates of House Ghassan. It fits in our alliance's overall programme of peaceful reclamation and of bringing the faith to all the stars in the universe. We have our long-standing and multi-constellation operations in Syndicate, with the Heitil Bairviit corporation as part of Khimi Harar doing God's work. More recently, Prince Seraghis' Zaraehvar corporation joined the alliance, reinforcing our presence and development efforts in Aridia. I hope that this newest chapter in our expansion will become as succesfull as these other glorious enterprises!

A special medbay patient

Noise coming from the direction of Nauplius' hangars in Mehatoor never signifies anything good. 

At least this time it is not the grunting of yak herds bestowed on unsuspecting LUMEN capsuleers as courtship gifts. In stead, upon my return from the anti-drifter mission, I was greeted by shrill prayers loudly shouted by a vast crowd of slaves. 

Sound dampeners keep these yelled prayers from propagating as vibrations through the beams and structural elements of the Lamp. But from some of our own hangars not equipped with such devices, the ruckus can be heard.

I inquired as to the reason of this auditory assault. To my great surprise, it appears related to Yun-Hee Yubari being treated in our medical facility. Nauplius has ordered his hangar slaves to pray for her. Yun-Hee's presence in the medbay is news to me. It was clearly kept confidential (as medical records should be), but that sort of privacy is no longer possible due to the yelling slave horde. 

The news affects me deeply. I have known Yun-Hee as a kind soul, one who could not bear the cruelty of the world we live in. The last time that we met, now over a year ago, she informed me of her decision to end her life. We said our farewells and I never heard back from her. I assumed... but apparently, I was wrong.

I will try to visit her, to find out what happened. Perhaps I will not be allowed in, for medical reasons. In any case, I will pray for her.

In silence.

((ooc: Today's blog touches on a topic that may evoke emotions and affect you, even though Yun-Hee is a fictional character created by an EVE roleplayer. If you are struggling with dark thoughts, please know that there are always people you can turn to. In EVE's community we have "broadcast 4 reps" and on their resources page your can find links to professional help and programs.))

MIO debrief

A debriefing from the MIO is always more pleasant when you are considered an informant rather than a suspect. That being said, no-one is ever not a suspect. 

But, at least in this case, they were quite happy to hear all about the ARC mission against the Drifters. I was surprised that they knew exactly our fleet composition, and how the ships had been fitted out in Jita. Well, perhaps it is not all that surprising, all the core empires (and probably the barbarian kingdoms too) have eyes there. It did interest them though how the Drekavacs were refitted during the mission to enhance the drone effectiveness, and how the pilots reacted in combat. The sensor logs and records from the Indagatrix were copied, rather than confiscated, as I am allowed to share them with alliance strategists.

This is the second big success for Mr. Ivan Firth. First the recovery of biodroid technology, and now this intel. He should be up for promotion soon. That might keep him busy while I plan to go and visit Anath again with Luna.

Battering the battering ram

The Drifters are building disc-like structures in Turnur. These are some sort of battering rams that can impact the Fulcrum's event horizon wall protecting Zarzakh against intruders.

After a cycle of attack on the Fulcrum's lock, the breaching device shown above hides in a spacetime shell until it is ready to redeploy. 

Under the command of DutchGunner from the Arataka Research Consortium, the fleet did something that is not very research-like. They must think R&D stands for Research and Destroy. The fleet not only defended itself against the Drifters attacking it, but it launched an counterattack on the event horizon breacher structure. Staying true to my vow of non-agression, I did not take offensive actions but I concentrated completely on providing remote repairs for the fleet. It was one of the most challenging "logi" jobs I have done thusfar, as the large enemy fleet was spreading out damage and neuts all over our vastly outnumbered flotilla: three Guardians to keep eight other ships (and themselves) alive.

It worked. Not one ship was lost during the ten long and grueling waves of attackers. 

The technology that we retrieved appears based mostly on gravitoleptonic field manipulation. In addition to well known electron spin resonance devices, also muon cosmic resonances were found - signal beacons containing wormhole resonance frequencies. The device uses these as scripts to be loaded into a "phryctorian generator" that creates a wormhole. Below is an image of the generator: it is the small dark structure with five control centers connected to it; it is hovering right above the central emitter port of the disk (you can also see it in the first image of this log entry).

Sadly after the attack, the generator was damaged beyond repair. Near the control towers for the phryctorian generator, we found neurovisial input matrices in the debris. These specialized Drifter controllers allow operators to process large amounts of sensory data. To me this suggests that the spacetime tunnels that the device initiates must then be steered manually by Drifter operators through spacetime towards its target. It would hit Zarzakh's horizon wall and attempt to pierce it.

All these finding are very worrisome: from what I can gather here, the Drifters possess the technology to weave artificial wormholes to anywhere they want. It looked as if this is also how they brought reinforcements to attack our fleet. That is quite unlike jump gates, that require a long process of building, and must be positioned at specially selected quantum entangled resonant points. It is also unlike jump drives that can transport only one (or a few) ships over a relatively short distance of a few light years and require a cynosural beacon on the other side to anchor the jump tunnel. Even the shipcaster devices -needing a huge amount of power- require a beacon in their target system. But the Drifters appear able to steer a wormhole exit to a point of their choice, not bookmarked or visited before, without the presence of a gate on the other side. Weaponized wormholes.

Who knows, used for peaceful purposes this technology may help repair Eve Gate...

Drifters in Turnur

The system of Zarzakh - where the pirate calling himself the Deathless is holed up - is a black hole system. Not a usual one: it has some sort of defensive double-wall event horizon that can be put up around the system. The wall is an impressive feat of spacetime engineering by the Jovians: it is able to effectively seal off the system in four dimensional spacetime. This defensive system has recently been activated from deep within the Fulcrum, the Jovian station in system, occupied by the Deathless. Now nothing can enter or leave the system without being granted passage by those inside the Fulcrum. 

The Drifters, enemies of the Empire, are laying siege to Zarzakh. Like a siege of a fortified town during the Udorian wars, they need siege engines to breach the town walls. The Drifters deploy devices to breach Zarzakh's protective event horizon wall in the systems with a gate to it. They want to punch their own holes through that defensive wall and perhaps capture Zarzakh to use it for their own evil purposes, and/or prevent the Deathless from obtaining more Jovian technology by evicting him from his fortress.

Most of our capsuleers just sit back and happily watch how our two enemies, Drifters and the Deathless, kill each other. To others, a Drifter foothold in the Empire, in Turnur, is an unbearable insult. I feel a bit of both these emotions, and in addition I am curious about what artifacts and new technology can be retrieved from those event horizon breaching devices. 

We can not let outsiders alone investigate this. I will join a fleet by the international Arataka Research Consortium, and will be providing logistical support and remote repairs from a Guardian-class vessel. My political officer, Mr. Firth, was inclined to find this mission too dangerous and best left to the Navy, but in the end agreed that these foreign agents should be monitored while in Turnur.

The fleet is assembled in the Jita trade hub, and will use the auspicious appearance of a wormhole connecting Turnur to a system just a few jumps from Jita. Certainly, this is a sign that God approves of this mission.

Cruise aftermath

The return flight of the cruise was rather uneventful, apart from the expected visit from the Ministry of Internal Order. As soon as we left Megazorm, we were joined by these officers, under the command of an Deacon Inquisitor. There were interrogations of everyone involved, but these interrogations were suprisingly painless, probably in order not to cause international incidents. 

Lady Adelath demanded that mister Maulus and I would be given medals, and given her status the Inquisitor did not make fun of that request, but politely said he would certainly look into that. I am afraid that mister Maulus will miss out on his medal after biting the Inquisitor in the legs - now that I have become his friend, he has to look for other targets for his favorite pastime.

I cut short my stay on the cruise, taking my leave from lady Adelath and mister Maulus, for an urgent matter. It appears that the Drifters are setting up some sort of outpost in Turnur, and there is an opportunity to join a exploration fleet from the Arataka Research Consortium.

This system has been the center of an immense tragedy recently. Minmatar attacks caused a stellar transmuter to malfunction, leading to a huge coronal mass ejection from Turnur star, scorching the inner planet. Perhaps this accident was also caused in some part due to the presence of a hidden and powerful Jovian star gate in the system; a gate leading to the system of Zarzakh, home of the Deathless.

And now, the Drifters took an interest in Zarzakh...

The crime fighting furrier

-continued from September 10th- 

Pondering the design of trash compactors, I remembered that there was also a garbage chute, the one from  which mister Maulus must have entered this chamber. Indeed, several holes were present in the ceiling. 

Helped by the raising level of the trash as the walls close in, and piling up long objects, I climbed up and was able to get into one of the chutes, so I did not join Dr. Setun in flatland after all. It occurred to me that perhaps this was not such a good idea, since I might be trapped there for a long time if I am thought to be dead. Being entombed alive in a garbage chute is not a nice prospect either.

Anyway, my fears were misplaced, since a little while after the compaction, the walls opened up again to prepare for the next cycle. I was able to climb out and leave through the service tunnel. Lady Adelath had already called for backup - the ship's first lieutenant, two cooks, and the entertainment crew were there. 

She presented the case against the captain - the evidence clearly pointed at him. And now there would be more evidence: when he knew of my rescue operation, he tried to murder mister Maulus (and me, but Lady Adelath's priorities were obvious) and with a bit more sleuthing could certainly be linked to the activation of the compactor. 

According to Lady Adelath, the first lieutenant is an ambitious man who hopes to replace the captain at some point. Indeed he did not hesitate to relieve the captain from duty and throw him in the brig. No mutiny was needed. 

We are now leaving Mezagorm, in order to turn over the captain (and the evidence) to the authorities. From there on forward it not be our problem. But it will be a diplomatic mess: In Amarr space, a State citizen murdered a Federation citizen who was an admirer of the Triglavian numerical system. 

Unfortunately, I had to abort my explorations of Mezagorm for now, having obtained only an approximate location of the Tetrimon garrison. The rest of this cruise will be spent in celebratory tea and cookie parties for the safe return of mister Maulus, the crime fighting furrier.

Trash Compactor

In the nick of time, we found mister Maulus. 

In a trash compactor. These are large chambers inside the station, used to collect trash. After a certain amount of time the collected garbage is crushed with hydraulics to a small volume to be disposed more easily.

Mister Maulus was alive! The compactor has not been working for ages. It is connected to the scene of the crime via a trash chute - I should have thought about this before. It was not a neutrino signal but a faint twittering sound that led us to the chute! Lady Adelath praised God, the Empress, and all the saints. 

The only way into the compactor was via a service tunnel. It took a bit of time to open the maintenance hatch that sealed the tunnel. And it was quite uncomfortable to crawl through, I have ripped my monk's robe. Meanwhile while lady Adelath was hovering impatiently outside, calling her pet every ten seconds, alternating with calls instructing me to hurry up.

When I finally came through and entered the compactor, mister Maulus lept up at me. At first I thought it was attacking but it merely wanted a hug. I have never seen a happier furrier, or heard happier tweets. Mister Maulus then went to retrieve his trophy: a piece of captain's uniform, torn from the murderer's pants. I had always thought these animals to be stupid, but here I stood corrected...

At that moment, the compactor started working, its walls closing in as it loudly grinded ancient trash into small pieces of debris. Perhaps I accidentally set it off? I clambered back to the service tunnel entrance, which was about to disappear behind one of the moving walls. I was able to pass mister Maulus through, carrying the evidence in his beak, but by then the entrance had become too small to let me through.

Having died and recloned already a few times, this situation did not panic me. I accepted that this clone was doomed. I found myself pondering whether this was an engineering design flaw - one cannot enter the compactor for repairs if the service tunnel is blocked by the wall.

-to be continued-

Race against the clock

I have already scanned many floors around the 344th floor, but there is no trace of a furrier dead or alive yet. Lady Adelath is staying in her cabin most of the time, where she is praying at the deployable home altar that she has installed there. There is a beautiful travel triptych on her altar, in gilded wood carving typical of the rich and exuberant artistic expression style of Danyana II.

At the side of the triptych, at the feet of Saint Benedicta, there are some scratch marks made by mister Maulus, who uses the piece of art as a scratch pole for his claws when lady Adelath is not looking. Now that he is missing these marks are a potent reminder of his absence, and a focus for her prayers.

Meanwhile, the death of Dr. Setun was reported to the nearest Federation consulate, who petitioned their Amarr counterparts to get access to the site of the "accident". That was politely refused. Through a large amount of legal paperwork it was explained that Mezagorm is off-limits to official representatives of foreign governments including most certainly police investigators. The matter will be dealt with once the cruise docks up at a MIO station, from whence the (largely two-dimensional) remains of Dr. Setun will be transferred to the Federation consulate. 

In order to comply, the captain wants to leave immediately. Of course Lady Adelath protested strongly. She played on the captain's emotions by saying that he ought not to leave men or furrier behind again. 

The captain has given us 24 hours before the cruise leaves, "with or without you" as he said. So it is a race against the clock to find mister Maulus. 

Accusation

Lady Adelath has been doing detective work very actively, despite being upset about mister Maulus. She has this effect on people, putting them at ease. They are feeling relaxed confiding to the old lady in the hoverchair. 

That way, she has been interrogating a lot of folks without them quite realizing it. She has spent some effort talking to an actress that Dr. Setun had a particular liking for - she is here with a holofilm crew to shoot a historical movie set at the Amarr court, and they want to use Mezagorm. It is a Gallente movie, so no doubt there will be depravity and mad emperors.

But it was after the captain came by to see how she was, that she turned to me and told me: "He did it." I wondered how she could know. She said, "Elementary, my dear brother Theodosius. Have you looked at his uniform?" 

I had, and I had noticed nothing particular.

"Well, perhaps a ladies' eyes are needed to see this. He is wearing the same old and dirty uniform since the start of the cruise. He clearly does not take all that much care any more in his appearance." She looked at me, and added "You yourself might take a bit more care about that as well, brother."  

I suddenly felt self-conscious about my old monk's gown.

"Anyway, he took a new pair of pants for his uniform."

I still was not quite following.

"Mister Maulus goes for the tendon at the back of the lower leg, when he attacks. He may not be tall, but he is smart and knows where he can best strike a lumbering pile of meat like our captain. He's probably torn the pants. Our lack-of-decorum captain just plucked new pants out of his closet, the rest is still the besmudged old uniform." 

I found this theory a bit far-fetched. But it had seemed odd to me that the captain took a particular personal interest in our search for the missing furrier, and wanted to dissuade us, saying we needed to depart soon to report the death. No police comes here. His motive according to lady Adelath is his hatred of all things Triglavian - the mathematician was a Triglavian admirer, and that must have blown his fuse - the trauma that he had from the war.

Now of course, we still need hard proof for Lady Adelath's hunch.

Furrier Fury

The lady Agatha Adelath explained that the vital sign tracker of mister Maulus showed that he became very agitated and angry; he clearly went into a furrier fury, ready to attack. Just after this happened, Dr. Setun released the furrier from its leash - also severing the link to the monitoring device. 

It is clear to lady Adelath that this was due to the presence of some sort of danger to Dr. Setun. Mister Maulus -who was quite fond of the mathematician- would want to protect the man that took him for a walk, and attack an enemy. Or the enemy's feet, at least, since this was his speciality (in addition to running off with the remote). And since Dr. Setun released him, it means the mathematician felt threathened. Hence the murder accusation.

I find it a bit far fetched, but I am hard pressed to find counter arguments. Lady Adelath instructed me to return my instruments to this side of the Grand Hall, and use them to try and find mister Maulus (or his little corpse, but I dare not mention that possibility out loud).

He cannot have gone very far. You can imagine Mezagorm as a large city or metropolis made out of immense buildings (lining the Grand Hall and along lanes circling outward from it). But all these buildings are abandoned and without power. It is a darkened, dead city - except for one building. The one used for tourism by Galactic Tours, that have brought their own mobile power station and oxygen tanks and life support systems for it. So, mister Maulus must still be in that building if he is alive. Yet that building is as large as a small town in itself, it has hundreds of floors, so it will take time to scan it. And to reconfigure the scanners for that purpose. It may leave me with not enough time to finish my own project.

But the request of a bereaved lady cannot be refused.

Terminal velocity

I should have known something was wrong when Galactic Tours offered me a full refund and free pass on the next cruise to go to Mezagorm. I refused, I have the equipment there now. They daddled a bit too long before getting me finally back.

Sure enough, disaster had struck while I had been away. 

Dr. Setun went for an evening stroll, to walk mister Maulus, the fedo of lady Adelath. The mathematician fell from a 344th floor panoramic walkway offering a view of the Grand Hall, and took mister Maulus with him in his fall. Not much was found at the place of impact but a splatter of blood and gore, along with some personal effects and the leash of mister Maulus. Poor lady Agatha Adelath is inconsolable, and they did not even let the good old dame go to the site of... well to that spot on the Grand Hall where she might say her goodbyes to the blood splat that is all that remains. 

They only knew it was Dr. Setun from DNA that was retrieved from the blood spatter and because cameras had seen him start his stroll towards the panoramic walkway. How this could have happened, no-one could imagine. The walkway is well secured, but something must have failed, or perhaps Dr. Setun turned off the safeties and climbed over the railings.

I vehemently protested to the crew that lady Adelath should be allowed to visit the place where her dear mister Maulus left this world, so that we could pray there together. In the end, the crew relented, and with some trepidation I joined lady Adelath to go to that site. 

She was shaking in her hoverchair, as she saw the scene. To my surprise, she inspected the scene carefully. A crewman that came along showed us where the leash and fedo harness was found. Lady Adelath carefully investigated what is left of the harness of mr. Maulus. It contains something like a black box recording device that keeps track of mr. Maulus' vital signs, something like runners and other competitive sportive types use. 

She then said, "Brother, I have two things to tell you, and I will need your help with both. Firstly, and most importantly, bless God, mister Maulus is still alive. Secondly, Dr. Setun has been murdered." 

Genesis Crusade

I interrupted my stay at Mezagorm before I could finish homing in on the location of the Tetrimon garrison abandoned thousand years ago. That feels like a signature scan being interrupted just before your probes find where that relic site exactly is at the highest resolution. But here, the site will not go away, and I can continue the search where I left it, once I return.

I took a shuttle - of course paying a hefty fee to Galactic Tours - and I will have to be back before the cruise leaves in about ten days time. And no refunds.

What prompted my sudden return to our headquarters is the declaration of the 'Genesis Crusade' that will be waged by our alliance, Khimi Harar, on the pirates and heretics in the Genesis region. The New Eden system with EVE Gate lies in that region, and it is one of my favorite places in all of the cluster. I started my explorations there, and it is where I first got in contact with the Societas, as they offered free docking at Farthest Shore. 

So, I am quite thrilled about this crusade. Just recently, I had complained about the presence of pirate capsuleer headquarters in New Eden. Now, it seems that my complaints reached the ears of the Almightly. Or at least our directors' ears. 

That is why I decided to go back shortly to Mehatoor. I wanted to hold a prayer service for the success of the crusade. As our crusaders are issued armor plates to protect their ships, it is only fair they are also given armor to protect their souls. And I used the occasion to also give a sermon to encourage all to participate.

In addition, I passed by the New Eden constellation and updated and completed the intelligence report on the structures that are present there. The region is still undergoing rapid changes - the White Sky hoodlums seem to be in disarray. God has stricken them, and it is now up to us to complete the task and become his Avenging Angels.

After I quickly pick up some furrier treats for Mr. Maulus, I will return to the cruise (paying another hefty fee to Galactic Tours, to bring me back). 

Mezagorm base camp

The Princess of the High Seas landed near a side-wall of the Grand Hall. This is not the first time that Galactic Tours has brought tourists to Mezagorm, they clearly have their routine. They have built a modern disembarkment platform, and a small domed colony building - all of it dwarfed by the Grand Hall. No space suits needed, you can comfortably go from the yacht to the building via an enclosed, movable connector tube. In the building there is an exhibit, a little restaurant, a panoramic view hall, and restrooms. It also serves as a base camp for tours inside Mezagorm, none of which stray very far from the building though.

I will not participate to the tours, to the great surprise of the crew. And I had them unload some cargo: I brought a planetary exploration vehicle, in which the bulky scanners could be mounted. It is a six-wheel vehicle with limited flight capability. With all this equipment crammed in, it is basically a one-person craft, going at a rather slow pace. It takes an hour to cover sixty kilometers on flat terrain, and it has a range of a thousand kilometers over ground - flight thrusters are to be used sparingly, and strongly reduce that range.

I have already found way more signatures than I thought there would be. Apparently, the Tetrimon were not sticking to a single encampment here, during the centuries that they guarded the abandoned city. 

There is a bit of organic and inorganic stuff from their time in nearly all directions. So, I will just go in the direction where the signals read the strongest, and point to the oldest material. For this I have to pass a part of the Grand Hall, along what a mathematician like dr. Setun might call a chord of the circle. This will cost me about three hours to traverse, before I reach the spot at the Grand Hall's side-wall where I will re-scan for the second leg of travel.

The grand hall

The yacht descended into the open dome of Mezagorm, "the vision of God" - or more accurately the vision of the mad emperor who thought he was God. As it went deeper into the structure, it revealed a stunning view: the center of Mezagorm consists of a vast emptiness, a hall of such mind-boggling proportions that its bottom surface can easily encompass an large modern metropolis. 

Mezagorm is built in epicircles upon smaller epicircles, dancing around, encircling, and spiraling out of this central grand hall. There is a fractal flavor to the entire architecture - the structures around the circular grand hall are also circular, containing and being bordered by other circular structures and habitats. The circle is a holy symbol in Amarr, depicting universal harmony with God and perfection; circles are everywhere here.

I am impressed by the immensity of this grand hall. I tried to take a picture (above) but it cannot really give a sense of scale. It is larger than any hangar I have ever seen - the light gray layered structure you see as a central band at the back is several kilometers in height, the height of a mountain. All of the (at that time already vast) population of Amarr could gather there to worship the mad emperor at its centre, that is the true meaning of this heretical 'vision of God'. The floor plan is divided in twelve sections, like a clock face, for the twelve major houses in the Empire that the mad emperor wanted to elevate to his privy council, and to which all other houses would be subservient.

This is going to take some time to scan down, and it will put the sensitivity of the scanners to the test if I am ever to home in on the quarters of the Tetrimon garrison of thousand years ago...

The plan: follow the radio-isotope fingerprints

We have at last arrived in Shastal. Today there are no excursions yet. Probably the local pirates have to be bribed properly to leave us alone. Meanwhile, we can take in the views of Mezagorm from space. 

I am preparing the measuring equipment that I brought along; these are very sensitive detectors for remote radio-isotopic fingerprinting. 

All the stuff around us contains trace amounts of various radioactive isotopes. The radiation from their decay (or decay chain) can be used to identify these isotopes, and for gamma radiation and neutrinos this can be done at a distance by modern equipment. 

Now, a signal from a single radio-isotope does not tell you much, but you learn much more if you look at the ratios of their signals. Take for example lead; it is always a mixture of a decent number of different isotopes. The precise isotope composition of any piece of lead is determined by the time and place where the lead was made - so it gives you a fingerprint to locate its planet and time of origin, and the more isotopes you include the more accurate you can pinpoint its origin, down to the very mine where the ore comes from, as long as this mine is listed in a sample database. 

Even with remote detection, advanced scanners can perfectly distinguish between materials containing heavy metals from the mad Emperor's era, and similar materials created in the Empire a thousand years later, when the Order of St. Tetrimon was perhaps still using some hideout in this station. They are sure to have left some stuff behind - even if it's just matter somewhere in a trash compactor on station. 

So, the plan is to use the scanning equipment to guide me to the spots in the station - off the touristic track - that have been used by the Tetrimon, perhaps as a relic vault.

A bit of mathematics

Dr. Setun joined us again at one of lady Adelath's tea and cookie confession sessions. Dr. Setun works as a sedative for the old lady, she confessed as much on an earlier occasion. And indeed, she nodded off while he started explaining why Triglavian base-3 computation is superior. Even mister Maulus took a nap, on her lap.

I listened. To me, there is something suspicious about his idolization of the Triglavian system. Perhaps, as a codebreaker during the war, he has been exposed too much to their corrupting influence.

Anyway, here is his argument. Remember that our decimals are base-10 numbers, while our computer bits are base-2 numbers. Some claim we just picked the number ten because that is how many fingers we have, so it is easy for finger-counting math. The first computer builders picked binary because in essence they worked with switches that can be on or off, just two values.

In general, you need more digits to represent an arbitrary number, if you use a smaller base. The number 82 has two digits in decimal, but in binary it is 1010010 : that is seven digits long. In a general base B, the amount of digits required to represent a number N is given by the base-B logarithm of that number, log_B(N). Or, to be precise, the first integer larger than that value.

So, it seems that a larger base, with its fewer digits, is more efficient at storing and manipulate numbers. However, there is also a cost: any digit can take on B values. There are more different symbols in our decimal system than the 0 and 1 of the binary system. So, the overal cost is actually B log_B(N). Now, if you try out several values for B, you will indeed conclude that B=3 gives the lowest cost. Note that, if you do not restrict yourself to integers, the function B log_B(N) becomes minimal when B equals St. Euxon's Holy Constant e=2.71828... for which 3 is the closest integer.

I tried to refute his argument, by claiming that most operations involve two-digit gates, for example addition or multiplication of two numbers. These kind of gates are characterized by B2 entries. So, for computation, B2log_B(N) is the function to minimize. For that case, actualy B=7 is the best number system. 

Hopefully we are not invaded by the Heptavians next.

Mister Maulus

The lady Adelath has been stalking me, requesting I visit her for confessions at least twice a day. Since she confesses more rapidly than she can sin, these sessions become tea-and-cookie parties during which she tells me about her life while I try to shift around on my chair to avoid her pet furrier biting my legs. 

She calls her furrier "mister Maulus", a name given to it by her late husband. She claims that it got this name because as a pup, it would always run away with the holoscreen remote and hide it out of her reach. She considers that electronic warfare. I would like to propose another explanation, related to the verb "to maul" and rabid furriers, but I restrain from making such comments seeing how fond lady Adelath is of her pet.

Lady Adelath has taken almost permanent residence on this cruise ship and knows all the gossip about the staff and the captain. She claims that the captain lost his crew and civilians that he had orders to evacuate, during the Triglavian war. He made a wrong decision, and is now consumed by guilt. Being not of the faith, he cannot be helped by the rite confession...

Table guests

I avoid the main restaurant. It is buffet style, and this seems to bring out the worst in tourists on the cruise. They feel they have to eat as much as they can, it is as if they want to digest at least the ticket prize worth of food. The display of gluttony is too much to take.

My capsuleer status saved me. I got an invitation to have dinner at the captain's table, which is in a fancy restaurant on one of the observation decks. I met some interesting people there. 

The captain is a Caldari Navy veteran by the name of Olkaanen. He appears neurotic - probably that is why he is no longer with the navy but flying a tourist boat. Something happened during the Triglavian war that jarred him, but it is not clear what. 

There was another guest with a Triglavian link: a Gallente mathematician, dr. Michel Setun. He specializes in ternary computing - in which numbers are not base-2 but base-3. So data is not just ones and zeros but also twos. Dr. Setun claims it is superior. He was assigned to a code-cracking team during the Triglavian war.

The third table guest was another Amarrian, and elderly lady, Dame Agatha Adelath. She has no remaining family (or perhaps she cut ties with them), and she spends her retirement on such cruises in order not to be alone. She was quite excited that an Amarr friar was around, she has been trying hard to accentally run into me ever since the dinner.

The Princess of the High Seas

Being used to Amarr ship designs, I find the Victorieux Luxury yacht to be a particularly ugly hull. Clearly, it is not built for those on the outside, looking at it - rather, it is built for those inside, looking out.

The Princess of the High Seas (oh so inaccurately named as it would sink immediately when it would try to land on any planetside body of water) boasts five observation decks - one with a large buffet restaurant. It also has four gardens, a beach hangar with cocktail bars, six holoreel theaters, a host of restaurants all themed differently, two shopping "avenues", and a planetarium. I consider the latter to be an insult to the universe; why  display the stars as small light spots in a dark room when you can just look outside? It is a bit like building a pool at the seashore; also that is an insult, but to the sea.

You may have guessed from the log entry thus far that I am a bit grumpy.

The cause of my grumpiness is that I am constantly disturbed while I am patiently waiting in my quarters till this cruise arrives at Mezagorm. Several times a day, staff from the entertainment crew comes to ask me if I do not want to join in some games or swimming or sports or whatever other nonsense they invent.

All aboard

I boarded the cruise, and brought along several crates of equipment. The staff did not seem to surprised, I think they are used to some of their passengers bringing a lot of luggage. Opera divas, or moviestars, or New Caldari CEO housewives on a shopping planettrip, yes, but and old friar? Well, they did not bat an eye.

Mr. Firth did not join me. He must suspect that this is not a holiday - I never indulge in such frivolities. But ever since my short stint in the war zone, we have an Understanding. When I am out exploring in the Indigatrix, he joins. All other sorts of wanderings, I can do unsupervised. 

I have to say that he (and I think his superiors at the MIO) must be particularly happy. I handed in some potentially very useful weapons - the biodroid. And I did a security survey of the Eve constellation. All very laudable, from my political officer's point of view.

What I am about to explore next, might not be...

Tickets in the mail

I received a letter, including my ticket for the space cruise that I booked to Mezagorm. The letter listed a few possible departure dates from which I can choose. As soon as I validate the ticket with the date of my choice, the booking is confirmed. I took the earliest possible date and made arrangements with mr. Jensen for the library.

I am not looking forward to mingling with foreign tourists in the close quarters of a cruise yacht. I asked for the simplest, barest cabin. It still comes with a jacuzzi and a massage bed. I do not need that, I am used to a monk's cell! All these luxuries tend to detract one from one's duty. But this is the only way to be granted access to the ruins of Mezagorm, so I will endure the ordeal and the complimentary caviar and champagne breakfast.

Foundation day YC126

Yesterday we celebrated Foundation day. It marks the building of the grand basilica of St. Gheinok, which itself was constructed over the very first church, built by prophet Gheinok himself. 

We know accurately when the grand basilica was constructed. However, the date of the founding of the original church on that site is only known approximately. No wonder: it is a staggering fifteen thousand years old! An unimaginably vast timespan separates us from that time, the time of Gheinok. Thoughout all this time, the faith has been passed on, protected from its enemies, spread to the stars. Now it is in our hands, and it is our turn to protect and pass on this most precious gift.

I returned to Amarr for this year's Foundation day celebrations. I again did some history tours for capsuleers, this has become somewhat of a tradition now for me. It allows me to combine my yearly pilgrimage to holy sites such as Mekhios graveyard and Empress Jamyl's titan with the desire to spread the faith by bringing others along.

I was happy to see that there is now also a tour of low-sec sites, Maria took care of that - she is after all experienced in navigating somewhat more lawless space. 

My only disappointment this year was that there was no specific address from the court to capsuleers. It is always rousing to hear the Empress speak to our kind specifically. Perhaps next year.

Metenox

A new age of colonization, that is what they call it at Upwell. 

This new age seems to be happening right here in the Eve constellation. Gone are the old ways: the space stations where civilian and capsuleer ships could dock, where people could meet and trade and socialize, they have all but disappeared. They have been replaced by this monstrosity:

The Metenox Moon Drill. There are a dozen of these new structures that popped up all over the Eve constellation since my last visit, with probably more to come. The few old Athanor stations have all but disappeared. 

These moon drills are fully automated, and populated by a clone work force. But, contrary to the cheerful advertisement, these things do not bring any real colonists. The clones are being shipped around like machine parts, they have no permission to wander off and build a life on one of the planets in the system.

I have not seen any mining fleets any more. The automation and remote control of the Metenox drill brings with it corporate laziness. In fact, I have not seen many capsuleers around in space any more in these far flung worlds at the edge of the Empire. There was a State scientific exploration fleet visiting Eve gate (and, I suspect, checking up on Sedition's activities), but there was nobody of the corporations in control of the moon drills.

Hopefully they will not automate exploration next...

New neighbors

After being released from quarantine, I went back to the Eve constellation, to see the changes. Before going on a biodroid hunt with my LUMEN friends (and being shortly quarantined), I had noticed that the stations belonging to Gjallarhorn Incorporated were under attack from a coalition led by Sedition, without doubt with the blessing of White Sky. Some stations were already laid to waste, with other in reinforced state. The obvious reason for kicking out Gjallarhorns seems to be that they left the No Forks Given alliance. 

Indeed, upon my return, all their stations were gone. The new inhabitants that took their place appear to be a corporation called Cream Popsicles, from an alliance called Churn and Burn.

The updated report on the structures in the Eve constellation can be downloaded here.

As for the Gjallarhorns, it turns out that they have now associated themselves with Purple Helmeted Warriors, who have a presence in Derelik and Providence. 

The Gjallarhorns have headquarters now in Gamis... so, it appears they will become our new neighbors.

Hopefully peaceful ones.

Quarantine meditations

I find decontamination procedures very unpleasant. Especially "deep clean" ones with nanites, first of our suits and afterwards we got them off, also of our bodies. For biohazards this is followed by a quarantine period to test if any remnant entity grows, to a size it can be detected. If that's the case, the decontamination step starts again.

Meanwhile, one has to wait. I made good use of this time to get a first quick view on the biodroid's data. This reveals that the Takmahl used large ocean farms to grow biomass in the form of plankton which would be turned into all sorts of product, from food to cloning to petrochemicals. Barney the biodroid was an enforcer on one of these ocean farms, overseeing slaves working there. 

These farms were truly immense. As they grew, they needed more slaves. Which in turn required more biomass from which to produce new clone slaves, which required larger farms, which... you see where this is headed. It becomes a silly self-sustaining spiral which ultimately grows completely out of control. 

One wonders, why was this growth not capped, or reversed, by Takmahl Imperial decree? I've found some proof in the data that minor holders shared ownership of such gigantic farms via a sort of shareholder system, and they demanded ever more return on their investment. So, growth was purely for the sake of growth. Growth of the ocean farm industry was deemed good, capping the growth was never given any thought, it was economic anathema. Such a system is inherently unstable: when somewhere disaster strikes, the whole edifice collapses. I conjecture that this contributed to the downfall of the Takmahl.

There's a lesson for the modern day to be learned from this, as we are on the cusp of growing our own clone slave cohorts to man new Upwell industry structures. Which extract resources from which we can grow more clone slaves. Which... well, you get my point.

Boarding a biodroid

-continued from July 26th-

Some remaining engineers -now mummified corpses- had locked themselves in the control room and barricaded the door. Ishta bypassed the door to the engineering control room via a service tunnel, and it is a good thing that she did, even though she got a leg injury while crawling through. The door was rigged with all sorts of explosives, including an antimatter device that would certainly take out several floors of the station.

With the Takmahl biodroid controller in place in the control room and activated, Aria was able to transfer her consciousness to the biodroid, much in the same way as we board a ship and gain control over its functions. 

Well, there was a little snag: the biodroid's system identified Aria as being eight years old - the number of years that passed since her infomorph was sabotaged. The biodroid, naming itself Barney, conversed with Aria using children's rhymes. Not visible to us, Barney appeared only to Aria, like the ship's AI "Aura" appears to us when we command a vessel. She managed to pacify the biodroid and steer it to the hangar of the Indagatrix, where it remained inoffensive.

Meanwhile, Prince Seraghis managed to collect a sample of the versipellus entity, as per the MIO's instructions relayed by mr. Firth. We were able to extract from the station. Upon our departure, some instability set off the antimatter device, probably destroying the rest of the fungus, albeit not the entire station.

As we were certainly carrying spores on our suits - and on all material we retrieved from the abandoned station, an unpleasant decontamination procedure was due in the lamp's Medbay. Also unpleasant was that we had to surrender all material to the MIO - I would have liked to study Barney in more detail, even though I was able to download a lot of information stored in its memory. It will take some time to research all this new information but I do not doubt it will shed new light and give new insights into the history and customs of the Takmahl civilization.

Phytodendrite Versipellis

-continued from July 25th-

The Blood Raider station where we hunt for the biodroid was used not just to store loot, but also to develop bionic weapons. That is probably why they brought the Takmahl biodroid there.

However, a biodroid running amok was not the reason the station was abandoned, or lost. It was one of their other weapons which got the better of them. They developed a lifeform looking like an orange fungus, the "phytodendrite versipellus". It consumes those it infects and grows quickly when hydrated, spreading out some sort of tendrils. It weaves it to mimic the form and voice of that which it consumes. It releases spores that spread it to new hosts. It can survive for a long time in a dehydrated form. The biodroid awoke it by watering it using the fire suppression system, in an attempt to stop us. 

We planned to bypass it altogether (it was concentrated on the medbay level), and our suits would keep us free from contagion. However, at that point, mr. Ivan Firth, used his prerogative as political officer of the Indagatrix to order us to take a sample back. It appears the MIO is interested in the fungus as well as the biodroid.

I saw my hopes vanish of keeping the biodroid for academic study... we'd have to hand it over at the closest MIO station. Still, I planned to learn as much as I could from it in the little time that it would be under our control. 

For that purpose, Ishta still had to get to the engineering control room in our sector.

-to be continued-

Return to the Takmahl biodroid

Our operation in the abandoned Blood Raider station in Nalnifan was a success. 

Of sorts.

We did capture the biodroid, but I had to hand it over.

But let me start at the beginning. The plan was to make our way to the command center in order to locate and confine the biodroid remotely from there. The command center was in a part of the station that no longer has power, in a sector rather far away from the biodroid. We could access that dark sector via an elevator shaft that connected to the ship hangar. 

The team, led by Aria Jenneth, had all the necessary expertise. Prince Seraghis was able to decipher the ancient Aridian glyphs to find our way. We did not encounter many obstacles - the lack of gravity in this section of the abandoned station allowed us to bypass the use of the elevator. There was a short skirmish with a dormant sentry drone that woke up - Ishta took it out with a programmable missile we found in an armory. The timing of the missile was in 'heartbeats' - this must be a nod to the Sabik obsession with blood.

As we diverted power from the lone working reactor to the command center, the biodroid noticed our presence. It went to an engineering control substation in its own sector of the station, and took over what station services that it could. Gravity, emergency electrical (including the elevator), fire suppression, maintenance drones... it tried to use all of it against us.

This also offered an opportunity - with the biodroid connected to the station's mainframe we did not need to plug in the Takmahl biodroid controller directly into its cerebral slots. In stead, we can use the connection with the station to link the controller to the droid. This could be done via the engineering control substation in our own sector.

At that point, the MIO interfered.

-to be continued-

On the way out

On my way out of the Eve constellation, I noted a large fleet present in Promised Land. A fleet from Sedition - an alliance working for the Federation in their war zone. What are the Gallente doing so deep inside the Empire? 

I noticed that they have some Metenox moon drills in the constellation, in Exit and Gateway, but as you can see this is not a mining fleet (note Eve Gate in the background: it can be seen from Promised Land as well),

Stealthily, I followed this Loki fleet around, and found that they are the ones attacking the structures of Gjallarhorn Incorporated. I caught them in the act:

After the Fortizar "Midgard" was turned into rubble, and most of the fleet had cynoed to where they came from, I asked stragglers what was going on, but they were very tight-lipped. As to my question who will now take control of these systems, they answered "who knows", suggesting that they are only here for vandalism.

And so, my three-day old scouting report is already outdated. After the mission in Aridia, I'll head back to see if the Sedition moved in and placed their own structures. And I'll update the scouting report.

Opportunity

An opportunity presents itself, for which I need to return with haste to Aridia.

A while ago, I found an abandoned Blood Raider station in that region, apparently used for collecting Takmahl artifacts and loot. The station was on the blooder highway towards Delve, and in it I encountered a functioning Takmahl enforcer biodroid. I know of no other functioning unit, so this represents a truly unique opportunity to learn more about this doomed civilization.

However, I had no luck capturing the biodroid. Several attempts resulted in my clones expiring, and the frequent awakening in medical clones at the Lamp raised some red flags. Friends advised to wait until I could get help to tackle the problem. So, I postponed further attempts, and as the matter was not urgent, it was put on the back burner and dropped from my attention. 

However, my friends remembered their promise, and as it turns out now there is a short window where all members of an elite team are actually free in their otherwise busy agenda.

Aria and Ishta from our Societas, and Prince Seraghis, pacifier of much of the Aridia region, have agreed to help me capture the Takmahl biodroid. The plan remains the same: use a Takmahl biodroid controller to either power down or control the droid. This time however, we plan to avoid direct confrontation (which did not work out well) and try to enclose and then incapacitate the droid remotely using the station's command center.

I am lucky with such a truly stellar team, and confident that we will succeed.

The Black Chapel

The New Eden system is a dead-end star system with a single, barren, moonless planet orbiting its sun. So, there is not much mining or colonization going on. Yet it is often a busy system as explorers, pigrims and adventurers have been traveling towards Eve Gate since time immemorial. There is something mesmerizing about these dancing wisps of plasma, something enticing and inviting like a siren's song that draws you near.

During the capsuleer age, possibly the "Goners" are those that got the farthest using subwarp propulsion. They are pilgrims, who use corvettes to slowboat towards Eve Gate in complete solitude for the rest of their lives. They reached spots just under thirty AU away from the closest celestial body. When there are Goners around to continue their journey, anyone with decent enough scanning skills to probe down their corvettes can make a bookmark. 

The Death Korps of Krieg. must have gotten hold of such bookmarks.

At about 20 AU from Promised Land Gate, in a straight line towards the last recorded Goner locations, they built a secret outpost. This places the outpost outside of d-scan range for visitors to the system. 

It is a hidden Athanor refinery without a moon in sight - suspicious to say the least. And it is named "The Black Chapel", which also bodes ill for visitors. I would not be surprised if it turns out that they have been corrupted by some heresy and built a place to hold demonic rituals and blood sacrifices...  We ought to destroy it.

PS: My survey of current structures in the Eve constellation can be found via this link. I will make a new version when the dust settles down after the conflict between White Sky and Gjallarhorn Incorporated.

PPS: Updated version can be downloaded here.

Scouting Eve constellation

The Eve constellation is rather quiet - nothing unusual there. Eve gate - the Mouth of God - is still as radiant and beautiful as I remember it. I took a picture from a spot near the Kor-Azor and Sisters of Eve research complex orbiting New Eden I.

But perhaps the quietness is just a lull between periods of combat. I saw many stations reinforced or being unanchored on my way here. The focal point seems to be the system of Promised Land. There is a stellar observatory, and a joint Edencom - Imperial Navy fleet patrolling the system. This provides a certain security for miners, and leads to improved mining yields. 

Most operations belong to "Gjallarhorn Incorporated". They have three Athanors, a Fortizar and a Raitaru in Promised Land. All of these stations are reinforced, facing shield timers two days from now. This corporation describes itself as "farmers during the farming season, and fighters during fighting season", and base themselves in low security space. They used to be part of the "No Forks Given" alliance, up to, well, yesterday! While their stations are reinforced in Promised Land, the stations closer to Exit are being unanchored.

The culprit is likely to be our former nemesis in Genesis, the "White Sky" vandals. Nowadays they are represented in the constellation by a group that calls itself "The Death Korps of Krieg.". The dot at the end of the name is important to distinguish them from some other barbarian alliance. Here is what little information we have about them:

The Death Korps of Krieg are Imperial Guard Regiments raised from the world of Krieg. Notoriously grim and fatalistic warriors, they seek to atone for their planet's past rebellion by dying glorious deaths in service to the Imperium. For this purpose, Death Korps regiments routinely request to fight in the galaxy's deadliest warzones, grinding their enemy down through long battles of attrition and siege warfare.

Charming. 

Also, I have not heard of any planet called Krieg in the Empire. At first I thought it was a nickname nickname, or some dialect? But, more likely, they do not refer to the Amarr Empire. Rather, I think Krieg is a world controlled by the barbarian kingdom that calls itself "the Imperium".