The way into Jove space

The contacts all have strange callsigns; often just a list of meaningless symbols such as "DY HEII K", "jie11 jie", or "JFZY2". But in the end, one of them agreed to talk.

There was something out of place about the man, I could sense it as soon as he entered the little restaurant. He did not fit in, like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. He acted at the same time nonchalant, flattered, and paranoid. 

He spoke a language I have never heard before; not even among the Grassbladians. Somehow the universal translator seemed to manage, but it did slow down our conversation a lot and I think some things got lost in translation.

He told me his alliance had a secret way in; it was not any lost gate like the Deathless stumbled upon. Rather, they have managed to keep a cloning facility running in one of the abandoned stations in the system of TO21-U. 

Apparently, there are no Jove to be seen in the system. They have abandoned the system altogether. A capsuleer (or several, that was not clear) from his alliance is able to clone-jump to that abandoned station, and has access to a ship that can generate a cynosural field. That is how they bring in others.

There are no gates to other systems from TO21-U. There are no pirates, or any activity in the system. My contact did not see any wormhole appear, but could not exclude that some might open up, as he was not actively looking for them. So, what are they doing there? They are there because they can, he said. I think it is some show of power or prowess among the barbarians. 

I would certainly not be allowed in, unless I broke ties with the Empire and joined their alliance; a thing I most definitely will not do. They would probably force me to adopt a callsign like "Th3O 7r". 

And that's it. That is all he wanted to say. He did show me some concord combat logs to prove his presence in TO21-U; then he left.

I am not sure what to make of this strange tale. Are the Jove really gone?

Meeting place in Jita

The informant gave me a list of potential contacts who had traveled, according to her, into the restricted Jove space. I tried to get in touch with several of them over the last few days, but none of them responded yet.

Meanwhile, we traveled back to Jita 4-4 for supplies and crew rest. This vast station has sprawling districts for entertainment, shopping, food, services, and just about anything you can imagine. It offers plenty of opportunity for the crew to relax. 

I cannot decide between Avindya and Levular for the job of cloak technician. So I decided to keep them both on the payroll; they have proven their mettle during our long expedition, camping out of station in deep-space safes. Both are exhausted, they have been on edge for nearly a month now. I think they've been sleeping for the last 24 hours straight.

Jita 4-4 is also a good place to wait for any of my informant's contacts to get in touch and meet up. There are many places where one can meet discreetly. 

I have picked a small Ni-Kunni eatery hidden in a back alley of one of the less popular souks. They serve half-way decent baby eels, the kind of food that scares away the locals. The coffee is dark, unfiltered, and strong enough to dissolve tritanium. The place offers privacy: each table is in its own nook that can be closed off by a curtain, and is rather dimly lit by candles in copper Mishi lanterns. The owner is never seen without a cheap cigar in his mouth, in violation of several food and health laws I am sure. He serves the food, and makes a show of pouring the coffee. He calls me Baba Amarr. Other than his wife in the kitchen there are no other employees. In short, a place off the radar. 

I have let the contacts know that I'd be there every day around noontime.

The informant

I talked to the "informant" as she likes to call herself. Perhaps more of a conspiracy theorist. I do not quite know what to make of it.

Her story is that Fraternity - that is the overarching alliance that the Grassbladians are vassals of - found a way into the Jove systems, much north of where I am trying to probe. She could bring me in contact with someone who traveled there. 

Sounds interesting, but she also showed some signs of capsuleer dementia or perhaps just old-fashioned conspiracy theory. She believes there is some organisation, deeply involved with the Jove and in full control of the cluster, and that organisation could make any person that trespasses into Jove space disappear. 

Nevertheless, I will continue to follow this lead. But first, I must give some rest and relaxation time to the crew, and get new supplies for the Indagatrix.

Timeo Amarri et dona ferentes

With the crew being tired, and the Indagatrix scaring the locals, we decided to head back. I left a parting gift in front of the Grassbladian's fortizar: a crate full of Pax Amarrias.

I then abandoned ownership of the crate, so they can safely take it and its treasure inside, rather than blast it to smithereens. Which they may still do, fearful as they are of strangers bearing gifts.

I was inspired by our blesses Empress' speech. Although the speech focused on the latest Upwell cloning shenanigans, the Empress also exhorted us to spread the faith, quoting scripture that says "You will bring its message to every planet of every star in the heavens", and adding her own emphasis: "Not only the reaches of our holy Empire, but 'every planet'."  I have done my bit to heed the Empress by bringing the good word to JZV-F4 !

I was about to head out of the system when I was hailed by a Grassbladian who wants to remain anonymous. She wants to meet me, and tell me about a way into Jove space. She believes communications in space are being monitored by some sort of agency with vast powers, and will speak to me via secure communications of her own. 

She sounds paranoid to me. Perhaps she is some sort of conspiracy theory nutcase. But I will listen to her, and accept her gift of knowledge. For I do not fear the gifts of strangers.

The pirate witch of the Vale

Just as we were making preparations to return, I got an answer (in words not combat probes) to my daily message declaring my peaceful intentions! 

The Grassbladians must have grown a tiny bit accustomed to my continued presence, or perhaps they tire from going red alert every time I send a friendly message in local.

Theodosius Savnar > Greetings, Grassbladians.

Theodosius Savnar > I am an explorer, interested in the regions bordering Jove space; I am flying around in an unarmed anathema and my intentions are peaceful.

Theodosius Savnar > Have any of you observed any anomalies, perhaps abandoned gates, specifically related to the Jove? 

Dr Rebot > I have not sir, pardon the histeria but the unarmed exploration ships tend to be the most dangerous

Polite, even! 

Dr. Rebot must have recognized a fellow academic, or looked up my record, and that instilled trust in him. This could be either my academic record, or my 100% snuggly combat record. 

Dr. Rebot explained that the Grassbladian peasants have been tormented by a deadly gang of robber pirates. They are led by a devilish woman, only known by her mysterious callsign "Flight Deck". She pilots a buzzard-class exploration vessel, fitted with a cynosural field generator. 

She approaches unsuspecting travelers, peasants, miners or any other Grassbladians that she encounters, sometimes luring them with siren calls or false promises. When she is close enough, she paralyzes her prey's warp drive and then her associates jump over to her ship, and kill all those nearby. 

Flight Deck has been a real scourge all over the Grassbladian systems, and their King cannot deliver his subjects from this robber gang. The poor Grassbladians have been living in terror of this witch. Naturally, when I appeared in the Indagatrix, they assumed that it was a ruse, that she had used some witchcraft to disguise herself in a respectable Amarrian friar. That was the cause of their "hysteria" as Dr. Rebot diagnosed it. 

Ah, if only I were a valiant paladin! I would offer my sword to bring peace and justice to the Grassbladians. King Vulpine would offer his daughter in marriage, but I would refuse, contenting myself with the knowledge of having done a good work. Alas, I am but an unarmed friar, unskilled in combat. Moreover, I have a vow of celibacy.

Anyway, the good doctor offered a simple remedy to gain their trust:

Dr Rebot > perhaps an Astero might be a better choice as it cannot fit a cyno

Of course! I will remember this next time I explore barbarian lands in the outer rim. Soon, the other Grassbladians were chiming in with less useful tips:

Perfect Stance > explore with a drake next time

I think I will stick to the Astero. In fact, I have one, the Ratakh Hubrau. I consider it a gift of God at the start of my quest, even before I joined the Societas. Now I finally learned its purpose, and for that Dr. Rebot has my gratitude.

Exploring in inhospitable territory

Despite being hunted, we manage to do some exploration. When new anomalies appear and I am the first to scan them down, I know I can safely warp to them and explore as long as no other scanner probes appear on d-scan. This has proven quite successful to go through these sites, although I did not find any useful artifact.

Nevertheless, these relic site explorations are like poking a stick into a hornet's nest. Grassbladians will scramble to try and locate me, ignoring a message declaring my peaceful intentions that I keep repeating daily on local chat. Their time and their warp disruption probes are being wasted.

JZV-F4 is quite a large system, and I managed to set up a safe warp spot that is more than 15 AU away from any celestial object. Of course I remain cloaked, and make sure cloak stability is maintained. But the long expedition is taking its toll on the crew. 

Mr. Firth starts to venture out of his panic room (he has been camping in the escape pod of the emergency life support backup unit) from time to time to offer suggestions. The cloak techs are getting tired. Both these things are signs that it may be time to return home.

Not a Jove gate

On various occasions, I have investigated the wormhole connections from the 88G-M4 constellation,  and searched them several jumps deep into Anoikis. There are no links to the Jove regions. All sorts of shortcuts to get (near to) home quickly, sure, but not what I am looking for. The wormholes here just like all the others that appear in that they do not link to Jove space. This makes me wonder if there are any wormholes in the Jove regions.

After an extended search, I must also conclude there are no broken gates. Also no warp gates that look anything like the ancient Jove gates leading to Zarzakh. Perhaps they are still cloaked. I did however find that the Grassbladians have built a gate of their own, or rather, have bought one from Upwell. It is shown below, with their Fortizar and the Jove nebula in the background.

You may wonder to what wondrous and far-flung lands this gate leads. Perhaps another pocket of Grassbladian worlds, disconnected from 88G-M4, or could it be a gateway to Jove space? No! The gate must be an attestation to their lazy nature, since it leads to a system a mere three jumps away, 7G-H7D, in the same constellation. Or perhaps not their lazy nature, no, it must be their overly cautious nature. I bet they do not trust the usual jump gates, just as they do not trust strangers.

The King's answer

We have been camping out in space, as I do not have docking rights in any station in the constellation. Having two cloak technicians has proven especially handy, as they can take shifts maintaining cloak, and keeping cloak stabilization.

Today, there was a unique occasion! King Basil Vulpine was in the system, probably for an inspection of his domains. I tried to contact him on local system-wide chat:

Theodosius Savnar > Hi Grassbladians!

Theodosius Savnar > I am doing some exploring in these systems close to Jove space; they intrigue me. I'll be flying around in an unarmed anathema with peaceful intentions!

Theodosius Savnar > <url=showinfo:1376//648365165>Basil Vulpine</url>, greetings! I sent you a mail a couple of days ago, about me hanging around in your space. 

Theodosius Savnar > I have not yet had the pleasure and honor of an answer, I hope you do not mind me being here.

There was no answer. Or perhaps, there was an answer, but not in words. An ice mining fleet docked up, a gnosis and a heron undocked and sent out combat probes. 

I consider that rude. 

Perhaps there is a certain ceremonial way of addressing the King of the Grassbladians? Have I offended them? I used the servile tense of the verbs, but perhaps it is different in their language, and the universal translator made a mistake between the servile, polite, familiar and and imperious tenses? Anyway, they should have given me the benefit of the doubt.

Most barbarian tribes are known to be hostile to strangers, but if I compare the Grassbladians with the Zerg of Feythabolis, the latter eventually grew to trust me and started conversations. And let me use some stations.

When I get back to Mehatoor, I will write up a sermon to be handed out to our capsuleers in Syndicate, about hospitality and answering foreign explorers reaching out in local. Using words, not guns.

An utterly boring border

I have been covertly exploring the border zone of the Jove regions now for a week. And sadly, I have to admit I did not get any results. This is an utterly boring piece of space, far from civilization, and cast aside by the large Fraternity alliance as a putrid morsel that is not worth picking up after it fell from the table.

There are no hidden conduits or locked gates that I could scan, even casting my probes way out to the edge of the system. There is an absolute infestation of Guristas sites, they form clusters around every planet in every system in this constellation. There are relatively few anomalies to scan down.

The Amarrian outpost that is supposed to orbit the first moon of JZV-F4, the one named "Vote Gigx for CSM XIV" in honor of the former king Gigx, is no longer there. Perhaps it was destroyed by his successor, king Basil Vulpine. Perhaps it is still there, a cloaked Amarrian listening post. If so, it did not respond to my hails. Not even to my "Hail the Empress".

In the background a very pretty nebula is visible - this is the direction towards the Jove regions, tantalizingly close yet out of reach. Actually, this nebula is inside Jove space.

More crackpot theories

While waiting for the barbarians outside the station to club each other to death, I am meeting interesting capsuleers that are Jove fanatics. There are many weird types of Jove devotees here. It is not just the Thoughtologists.

There exists a belief related to that of the earthers. Earthers believe that all of humankind evolved originally on one and the same planet, a motherworld supposedly on the other side of Eve Gate. The earthers get their name from calling this original cradle "earth". The Goners are an example of an Amarrian earther heterodoxy. 

The one I met in the station believes that after the collapse of Eve Gate, part of humanity got trapped here in our cluster. These colonies were cut off from the motherworld, and slowly but inexorably started to decay. The focus lay on preserving the tools and technology from the motherworld, but no new science or development was taking place. After a while, as more stuff broke down and could not be repaired for lack of replacement parts, infighting took place over the ever scarcer resources. 

Worlds declared their independence from the colonial governance and broke off - in their story the religious colony of Amarr was one of such worlds. Wars between the former colonies precipitated the coming of the dark ages, where nearly all technologies of the motherworld got lost.

A small group of scientists foresaw the coming of the dark ages, and planned to run away to a remote part of the cluster. There they would build an academy to centralize whatever active knowledge was left, and attempt to learn new things. They set out in one of the last jump capable colony ships, named after a planet in the motherwold's solar system - a gas giant called Jupiter. 

This particular earther believes that the Jove are the descendants of that group of scientists, which thrived from the preserved knowledge of the motherworld. The Jove got their name from the ship they ran away in, the Jupiter. They learned how to repair and eventually even upgrade the technology, and planned to use their superiority to intervene in the other worlds (us) in subtle ways in order to bring about a more rapid end to the dark ages. They would lead the rest of us into a new age of cluster-wide peace, and ultimately reopen Eve Gate to reconnect with the motherworld.

Well, some things must have gone wrong along the way.

((ooc: I think the dark ages from Eve lore and from Asimov's Foundation would make a nice match))

House Vulpine

The Blades of Grass barbarians are ruled by house Vulpine - not an Amarrian House, but for convenience's sake I will call the leading family a house. Basil Vulpine is their king, and his wife Eingang Vulpine is lead diplomat.

I have tried to contact lady Vulpine and her diplomats, but these scoundrels are not answering my letters or calls. I do not ask much: right of passage, unharmed, and if possible docking rights at just one of their stations in the constellation 88G-M4, one they can choose. I have given them the callsign and the fitting of the Indagatrix, and moreover promised to hand over to them all exploration loot that is not relating to the Ancients. But, no answer. Perhaps they are too busy with this conflict, which seems to involve the larger alliance in Vale of the Silent, even if it does not involve them themselves. 

So be it! I shall go forth even without having obtained their explicit right of passage. Hah, it may be of little use anyway to get these rights, for perhaps next week yet another group is in charge.

Well, I only got a few hundred meters out of the station before I had to dock back up. Landed in the middle of a battle between rival groups, right at the front door of the SoCT station in FDZ4-A. They tried to attack me as well! Even though I am neutral to their bloody conflict, and a member of the clergy of the Empire! Their attempts at bubbling or targeting did not work, luckily, but I must await a quieter moment to undock from this cursed place.

Lost and Found

I found frustratingly little new information on the Jove. For a school that celebrates a link to the Jove empire, they do not seem to have special knowledge about them that cannot be obtained at Hedion University.

Something that I did find and which relates to my quest, is that under the Jovian Directorate of the third empire, there was an agency called the Lost and Found Section Unit. This agency was in charge mostly of searching and retrieving missing Jove technology or artifacts that had resurfaced in the wrong hands.  Whatever they considered to be the wrong hands. More often than not, that would be us Amarr. 

The agents of this section unit, referred to as the 'Lost and Founders', were not just looking for Jove technology. In fact they were going after any advanced technology that would be harmful to a lesser advanced society that came across it. Think of cavemen finding a suitcase nuclear weapon. The job of the Lost and Founders was to identify and retrieve things like the suitcase nuke in the cavemen society.

They seem to have been quite interested in our relics as well, especially the Ametat and Avetat. They do not believe that these were a gift from God, brought by the Sefrim to emperor Amash-Akura. To them, these relics must be potentially harmful advanced weapons that the emperor has received from renegate aliens, perhaps Jovian dissidents. As they fixated on this blasphemy, they have searched for the sceptre and crown around the cluster. 

It is telling that they have been particularly active in areas and systems where also professor Bathana has been looking.

Thoughtology

The Society of Conscious Thought is quite eager to teach but at the same time secretive about the Jove. The emphasis on education is clear and their schools - including the one in this station - are renowned around the cluster. Their alumni, in every subject from biomedicine to physics to politicology, are generally successful and hold positions of importance.

I got a tour of some magnificent labs and libraries with all the latest equipment and technical gadgets. I got a library card and have started using the facilities. But, as I said, there is relatively little here that one cannot find elsewhere about the Jove.

Looking for other sources here, I encountered a group calling themselves the Church of Thoughtology. They are also both eager to teach and secretive about their knowledge. They say they have their information straight from Ion Labron, the Jovian who founded the SoCT. They claim to be linked to the School, but as far as I can tell they are not officially affiliated. 

In order to get access to what they know, they ask that you become member of their church, then follow some purification rituals for a couple of years, and then 'level up' in exchange of a hefty fee, to 'operational status'. Which means that you are allowed to pay even more in order to get piecemeal parts of their texts about aliens and Jove redemption.

I suspect they are a Jita scam, and will keep looking elsewhere for information.

SoCT station

The crossing from Jita to the Society of Conscious Thought's schools in Geminate was the first real test for my new cloak technicians. We left early, choosing a time where the local residents would not be very active, and once in nullsec I made sure not to jump directly from gate to gate. 

Both the cloak and the interdiction nullifier were manned. Although I control these modules from the pod, smooth and fast operation is ensured by technicians monitoring and tuning these delicate pieces of equipment. All went perfectly well, we did not encounter gatecamps or metaliminal storms.

The SoCT station where we docked looks unlike any I've seen before. Although a strong influence from Gallente station architecture is clear, there is also another, more alien, element. The hangars do look definitely Gallentean, but once you disembark and venture inside, you feel the same alien undertone in layout and atmosphere. There is something more organic to it, perhaps? 

I get the feeling that this station is past its heyday. Oh, it is still a fine place, services are up and running. Everything functions normally, but nevertheless there is this subtle sense of a grandeur passed. You see shops that are boarded up, and there are many offices for rent. Parts of the station meant for housing Jove are closed off for the general public, probably these habitations are still kept as they were in case the Jove return. The offices of various Jove corporations are still active, but no Jove are to be seen, and the personnel appear to act as caretakers waiting for their masters. 

The Society of Conscious Thought itself seems more active, they have found their own purpose. Or perhaps they are still maintaining some tenuous line of contact with the Jovian Empire even though they will not discuss this with outsiders.

I will spend a bit of time here, and try to gather information from the SoCT. Better not to go out of station much: an Astrahus citadel from Fraternity is reinforced in system, and Goonswarm pilots seem to be forming a fleet right here in the SoCT station. They seem utterly uninterested in Jove or their technology, and look at me with suspicion when we meet in station.

Schools of conscious thought

Rather than going straight from the Forge to Vale of the Silent I decided on a little detour via Geminate. Well, the shortest route is arguably also via Geminate, but I plan to go first to the constellation N-K4Q0 which is held by the Society of Conscious Thought. 

There are two stations, that the SoCT calls schools, in FDZ4-A. They are open to the general public, and even offer cloning facilities for capsuleers. This seems a good base of operations, until I get permission from the Woodland Nymph Lovers to use one of their stations closer to the edge of Jove space. 

I am also curious to see the SoCT stations, and talk to people there. At one point, when the Jove were still in contact with us, they passed on their knowledge - or at least the part that they saw fit to share with us - via these "schools". Schools have libraries, these ones should not be any different. If I can spend some time there I might find information about possible links between the Jove and our missing relics. Perhaps even why they are so interested in Anath, in faraway Aridia. 

Jita 4-4

I remember my previous visit to the vast trade hub of Jita 4-4. It has been three years since I came here. It has changed a bit, parts have modernized and the hangars are even more flashing with advertisements all screaming for your attention. The whole place is maddening and insalubrious like an Achuran pachinko gaming hall at its loudest and busiest. That hasn't improved. It got worse. 

I was somewhat prepared for this, but my crew, mostly new, was not. 

Mr. Firth and Avindya were clearly impressed, looking at everything with eyes as big as dinner plates. Levular was mostly looking annoyed, I cannot blame him. He proved to be a good help in negotiating with the merchants to resupply our ship, he is better at haggling than I am.

After dealing with the thieving merchants and ever-present scammers, I took the new ones and the rest of the crew to a nearby food district. Just as the advertisements are a full frontal assault on the eyes and ears, the food district is a massive attack on the olfactory system. We escaped it, and nausea, by going to an overly expensive restaurant (capsuleer funds provide), all the way up in one of the spires. It has a clear view of the moon colony below, and of its space elevator. 

The sight is amazing, the moon looms large over the station and takes up a good portion of the sky. The circular structures of the moon colony are clearly visible. The moon illuminates the station's vast exterior on which cities seem to have been built, right atop the hull of the station. Once you get away from the noise and the haggling merchants, you can start appreciating the engineering miracle that the Caldari have built here.

We'll stay the night here in Jita. The crew can book a nice spa hotel on my expenses. I think I will spend the night in the dark and quiet of the backup life support unit.

Crossing over to Jita

The life support backup unit has been installed in the Indagatrix. Of course the crew did not want to give up the ping-pong room, so the only possibility was to give up some cargo space. The unit takes up about one quarter of what I had for cargo space! But, if it makes mr. Firth feel safe enough to allow us to go on this expedition, it is worth it, I guess.

We loaded up on copies of the Pax Amarria as well, to spread the good word, but for the rest we travel lightly. Our first stop will be the trade hub in Jita, in the State. We can easily get all the  necessary supplies there, apart from the Pax Amarrias. 

The journey through warzone systems from Mehatoor to Jita will be a first test for the new cloak technicians. I'll let each of them do one half of the journey, and measure system response times. Perhaps simulate a malfunction (in highsec parts).

New personnel

Two candidates remain. The one preferred by mr. Firth is Avindya Alijia, fresh out of the Academy, head full of the kind of war propaganda that mr. Firth is also fond about. Personally, I prefer Levular Damus, who has the advantage of experience flying with capsuleers and handling cloaking in difficult circumstances. But he's a cynic, a trait not liked by mr. Firth.

Rather than keep discussing endlessly with Ivan Firth, I hired them both. They can take turns and then we'll see who is best.

When the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy

I have scheduled interviews with various applicants for the post of cloak technician on the Indigatrix. Of course mr. Firth will join me in interviewing and selecting a proper candidate. 

There were a lot of applications... I am always surprised at how eagerly people put their fate in the hands of us, capsuleers. They must be lured by the spiritual rewards that come with greater impact for the glory of the Empire. Yet they are wrong to think that somehow work in space is worth more than work, say, in the vast wheat fields of Nakregde.

Anyway, I should not complain. The faster I get a new expert, the sooner I can quit collecting conduit data. The appearance of so many of these conduits does worry me a little bit. What if the Triglavians and the Drifters start fighting here in our space? Without guidance of the Empress, what side should we take, or should we just be happy to let them slaughter each other? The Triglavians threaten to drag our systems into Pochven, and the Drifters assassinated empress Jamyl I, both are dire enemies of the empire. But what if we are forced to take sides due to the nature of the conflict, for example if it threatens our populations? 

In that case, with Luna is still on leave, the acting directors of the Societas -whom we now met during the 'meet and greet' session- will have to make a choice.

Conduit data

Hopefully I can soon return to actual exploration rather than collecting data from these collapsed conduit sites. 

It is a menial task, but nevertheless half of new Eden's capsuleers seem to be going for these sites: It is hard to find one untouched by other explorers. One practically has to queue to get into them just like for a favorite ride in a theme park. Well, perhaps I exaggerate, but they are really quickly looted after they appear on the scanners.

They do not contain all that much of interest, to an archeologist interested in the ancients. There are some pieces of technology that will help access new parts of abyssal deadspace - and this is of course what matters to the Imperial Navy. So, I diligently hand these things in. 

The appearance of these collapsed conduits is, according to the Society of Conscious Thought related to a war between Triglavians and Drifters. It is set to spill over from abyssal deadspace into our own space. The navy seems to push capsuleers to construct filaments to access this abyssal battle space, which makes mr. Ivan Firth quite nervous. Suddenly, exploring conduits seems less of a priority to him.