Mission

Mr. Firth has already another mission for me. The Ministry appears to be aware of my expertise in wormhole scanning in Sanctified Vidette, and is in need of my services.

I wanted to object and point out that the goal of a political officer on a ship is not to set the course or determine the mission, but rather it is to guide the pilot in always acting in the best interests of the Empire. The choice of mission remains the pilot's prerogative. A political officer works in the background, much like a conscience that assists the mind's decisions.

But then, at the same time, I am due obedience to the Ministry of Internal Order. 

Also, I am actually curious as to what that mission could be. 

For now I must however work on a "need to know" basis. The first task was to pick up cargo at Hedion University, which has been brought to the Court Chamberlain bureau in Hedion. The cargo, in sealed containers, is using nearly all the space in the Indagatrix's cargo hold. Whatever is in there is affecting the ship's systems, it seems to have more trouble getting into warp.

Now, I am looking for a convenient entrance wormhole.

Quirinus at the Gate

At last we met, mr. Quirinus and I ! 

Yesterday evening I found him in the New Eden system. Unfortunately his shuttle had been destroyed earlier. He returned and reshipped to an Anathema-class hull, a wise choice.

The system was still very busy with pilots touring for Gallente election canvassing.

I formed a fleet with mr. Quirinus and we flew towards the Gate, meditating and praying in its mesmerizing light. We were not disturbed - the many pilots jumping in and out of the system were focusing on moving as fast as possible.

We talked about his sin, and with a bit of my help mr. Quirinus came to understand the fundamental nature of his errors, and he showed contrition. The details of our conversation of course fall under the Seal of Confession, but I am confident that the conditions were met to absolve him. He also accepted to do penance.

I am glad he has returned to the fold, and hope that he will remain watchful now. I will keep tabs on him, he usually resides in Amarr. Hopefully we can meet again soon to discuss his spiritual progress and well-being. 

Epikouria Chronicles X

Finally, a sign of life from Mr. Quirinus. He has embarked on his pilgrimage to Eve Gate and is already underway. So, I will go back out in hopes to finally meet him.

There was also a sign of life from brother Hugo: another letter from the wormhole colony of Epikouria. 

Following the intercultural fair where he learned about the history of "Origin", he has been in contact with like-minded individuals amongst the Originals. 

The Originals are definitely not a uniform bloc. 

There are some among them who long back to the time that Amarrian law and order was present in the colony. These folks are a very tiny minority and consist of some early settlers, who used to be land owners, aspiring Holders, and overseers from back in the days that the planets in Epikouria were slave colonies. They call themselves the White Paladins, and have been recruiting support among disgruntled (human) youth among the new settlers in "Origin". 

The founders of the White Paladins were disenfranchised after the slaves were set free more than a decade ago by the new powers that chased out the Amarr militiamen, who up to then had been in control of the system. They viewed the takeover by the Alexylva Paradox as a hostile invasion, and rejected the new government's liberal stance on transhumanism, in agreement with brother Hugo's conviction that the non-human sentients are abominations. 

The Origin Colonial Authority - that is the current ruling class of the Originals - treats them as extremists that have to be curbed and educated, but they do not really persecute the White Paladins. They are given -like many other groups- their freedom of expression and thought as long as they do not harm others. 

The Starborn (Publius' space-station dwelling colonists) do not care or meddle with groups like the White Paladins or any other political faction of the Originals. Their only concern is good neighborship and access to planetary mining resources. But the White Paladins are elated to have found brother Hugo and his companions, and they treat him as a lifeline back to the old ways and the Empire. 

I think it flatters brother Hugo's ego, but I am afraid they will use him for their own designs.

Links to keep track of the letters of Brother Hugo:
I. First Contact
II. Diplomatic Talks 
III. Refugee crisis
IV. Setting up a new home station
V. Epikouria under siege
VI. Prince Seraghis visit

VII. A suspicion of heresy

VIII. Pop-up church

IX. Intercultural fair

Marriage at the Chapel

Baptisms and marriages are always a pleasure to officiate. A chapel full of happy people, looking forward with hope and joy and full of good resolve!

It was no different this time, for the marriage of lady Echo Ashland to Jade Blackwind. They kept the ceremony modest, limited to close friends. Capsuleer marriages always draw crowds of curious onlookers though, and the non-capsuleer congregation of Gottin's Lamp Chapel had come out. Some outsiders were also in attendance, including a journalist. Not from Amarr Certified News but from some Gallente magazine I heard.

Ms. Blackwind, now lady Jade, kept us waiting...  I could feel that there was some tension rising, and people were thinking that this could be a runaway bride situation. I have never had that happen, and luckily this time it was also not the case. 

There was one unusual custom at this ceremony - in stead of exchanging rings, or reading personal vows, or releasing Achuran songbirds, lady Ashland adorned a necklace. A slaver tooth necklace! That is not usually a symbol associated with the bond of holy matrimony, but apparently it symbolized the hunter pledging to take care of the family. 

I understand that there are many different traditions in our vast Empire, but this, honestly, had me quite surprised and I did not know very well how to react. To me - and to many - these necklaces represent something more insidious: slave abduction raids by rebels. I just continued with the ceremony after that strange moment, and there were no other, let us say, irregularities.

I hope lady Ashland will not be the subject of slander or gossip for this... 

Hope for humanity's epiphany

Today as I started on my way back, for a few moments I thought I witnessed a divine miracle.

New Eden constellation has been very quiet while I was here, but not today! A steady trickle of pilgrims began to show, in shuttles mostly, and in yachts for the richer ones. The trickle grew to a stream, with at any time at least five or six pilots entering or leaving through the underused jump gates. There were jump delays, the gate operator crew here is not used to heavy traffic.

So many pilgrimages, so many people coming to witness the splendor of the Mouth of God and meditate on life, I was elated, and offered prayers of thanks that the world finally has come to its senses and everyone is doing some very necessary introspection. 

It struck me that these pilots did not belong to White Sky, nor to Sedition. No, they were from all around the cluster! And not just Amarrians, also barbarians from the Initiative, Fraternity and even the fallen Horde, rebels from the Republic, lost souls from the Federation, all sorts of corporations and alliances I had never heard about. Is cluster-wide peace finally at hand through God's miraculous intervention as He has opened the eyes of humankind? 

My joy did not last very long. My psalms of joy were overheard by pilots, and a certain Zenoxii Boirelle struck up conversation and explained to me that these were not pilgrims at all. In stead, this is part of the Gallente election!

I will never understand these things.

Apparently, in order to rally support, candidates go on a tour of the lands to present their program and garner "votes", meaning that their presence makes people choose them above the candidates that are at a larger distance. It must be a Federation thing. Now, they are hiring capsuleers to do the campaign tour for them, since that also results in "votes". 

The election campaign trail is going through the New Eden constellation, that is all.

I got confirmation that universal peace was not at hand when I spotted a White Sky Ares-class interceptor trying in vain to grab the passing shuttles. 

Sad and cloaked, I watched it for a while, feeling at least some relief seeing pilots scoot by unhindered by its clumsy failed attempts to catch and kill. 

I made my way back to Mehatoor to be in time for the wedding.

Return from New Eden

I am finishing my stay out in the New Eden constellation, as I have not heard back from mr. Aeonyx Quirinus. He was intending to come here for a pilgrimage and work on his redemption, and I was planning to help him with it. He seems to have disappeared, the last message I received from him is about setting up a new corporation to deal with his aspirations. 

That was back in Amarr, and when I did not find him in the Emperor Family Academy, I ventured out to New Eden on my own, hoping to see him there - perhaps he was already on his way towards Eve gate. 

I have to return today though, with Quirinus' disappearance still a mystery - tomorrow I have a pleasant task to perform at the Chapel, a noble wedding!

I have gathered data on the pirate structures and hauling routes and schedules. Mr. Firth seems happy enough with what we have, and considers the mission complete. Nevertheless, I am thinking of returning after the wedding ceremony for perhaps a last attempt to search for Quirinus.

Central Point

Explorers charting new territory get the privilege to name the places they map out. Some tend to be poetic. Some are vain, giving their own name, or nostalgic, naming a landmark to a place back home.

The explorer of this constellation was none of the above, as is evident from the name "Central Point".

It is quite literally the central point of the cruciform Eve constellation. The system next to it is Dead End, which is also to be taken literally. 

I wonder if there was never a brief moment of mischievous thought, an instant of capricious rebellion against the dignity of the office of geographer, when our first explorer considered to name the central point Dead End and the dead end Central Point. Such a prank would certainly have gone well with the name of the other dead end system next to Central Point: Canard. 

Anyway, Central Point. Being central, I was not surprised to see that both White Sky and Shadow Cartel have an Astrahus in the system. The White Sky one has defensive modules fitted, almost in an identical way as the station in New Eden. The Shadow Cartel station next to it does not. Both have a cloning center, so I take it that the pirates stage from Central Point - for obvious reasons. 

Another flurry of Metenox drills disfigure the moons, while planetary customs offices are owned by a corporation called the Milkmen. No doubt this is a dairy corporation - piracy must be taxing on the bones, requiring supplemental calcium intake. However, why these milkmen choose to let their cattle graze on gas giants remains a mystery. I cannot imagine it being efficient when one needs to levitate cows to prevent them from falling straight down to the high-pressure zone of the gas giants.

No longer a promised land

Today I scouted Promised Land, the neighboring system to the New Eden (dead-end) system where Eve gate is.

During my last survey I saw the first few of these Metenox moon drills appearing here. Brand new types of structures back then. To me these are a source of concern, as they hinder proper colonization and may be abused to exploit the weak and the poor. 

Sadly, Upwell's revolution has now taken over all the space industry here. 

Where I only saw a dozen of these Metenox abominations in the entire constellation, now there are more than a dozen in this system alone. The industrialization has become fully automated, there is not a single athanor space station left. 

Not that anyone of pious and right mind will miss "McRumble's Mud-Wrestling Mansion" athanor station that used to be here, but you understand what I mean.

In stead there are two small control towers - one with laser batteries and other defenses, used as a mining safe, the other seemingly undefended. Shadow Cartel, White Sky and Sedition seem to share this space, with the cartel doing most of the automated moon mining and planetary industry, and Sedition's friends "Kacote Dungeon" (part of "Churn and Burn") doing I guess ore belts.

For capsuleers, Promised Land has become nothing more than an ore extraction hinterland, rarely visited except for hauling industrial resources, and mostly benefiting criminal capsuleer organisations...

New Eden scouting

I completed the survey of the New Eden system. It looks easy, since there is just one planet. But people here tend to make deep safes and put structures there. The Black Chapel was an example. So, I dutifully scanned a larger area.

There was nothing out of the ordinary.

The Eve Gate is as beautiful as ever, as seen here from the research stations in orbit above New Eden's line planet. A Sisters of Eve structure side by side with the Kor-Azor research station. Eve Gate from time to time seems to pulse a bit more strongly, but then there's a running joke that each time you see the gate you see it pulse strangely.

The pirate presence was light. There's a single astrahus, at the Promised Land jump gate, belonging to a member corporation of the "Churn and Burn" alliance. I scanned down its defenses for the Ministry. 

My combat probes and station hacking and scanning cause a bit of a scare, I think. There was a single pirate in system, but after my scanning the pilots in the station were rudely awaken from their sleep, I could see the number of pilots increase. Just two came out, one cadet posted at the jump gate, and one buzzard scanning around for the enemy. They scanned in vain.

The route to New Eden

With no news from mr. Quirinus, I decided to set out for New Eden myself. 

I was considering to bring the Ratakh Hubrau, an Astero-class ship. I learned that these types of ship are less scary to the outer-worlders than Amarr exploration vessels. Especially mining fleets fear the Anathema-class ships way more than the inferior Astero. The Anathema can fit much more advanced modules, as it has much more CPU. It can also fit covert cynosural field generators, and that strongly contributes to the fear that our Amarr ship instills in the barbarians.

I do not want to appear as a threat, but unfortunately the Astero has some difficulty fitting expanded probe launchers without compromising other systems' efficiency. For a good survey mission one needs to be able to scan down structures as well as ships, using combat probes. So, I will be using the Indagatrix anyway.

The way over to New Eden is rather scenic. There are interesting sights at the various jump gates on the way, such as a massive hollow asteroid at the Antem gate in Djimane. On the other side, the Djimane gate in Antem, a strange abandoned station can be seen looming mysteriously over the gate.

The way was also very quiet tonight. No gatecamp in Fensi, for a change. And reassuringly, there was a massive Imperial Navy fleet in Promised land at the New Eden gate. 

Their presence is warranted: the constellation is still plagued by the presence of a mix of various low-class nozems. Thugs from White Sky share space with Shadow Cartel miscreants. But, to my delight, the "Black Chapel" pirate haven in New Eden appears to have been dismantled. 

I guess my letters to the Imperial Navy have been taken seriously after all.

Waiting

Still no sign of mr. Quirinus. So, I took a day off and visited Dam-Torsad today. It was splendid weather for a walk in the streets. I toured the grand cathedrals  in the old center, doing my prayers in each of them. I went for a long walk to visit one of my favorite libraries, the library of the Imperial History Museum.

When I came back, I again consulted the capsuleer guest list, but I not find trace of mr. Quirinus - perhaps he already left for New Eden? 

To help me find out, I decided to contact Nurveh, a friend who used to work in space-lane traffic control in Kor-Azor prime. It appears that Nurveh has made promotion and is now doing important work for shipping logistics for House Kor-Azor. It did not take him long to confirm that mr. Quirinus has not left the Amarr system. 

Most likely he is off-grid in the Emperor Family Academy station in orbit of Oris. I really do not like that busy station with its hustlers and scam artists, its loud and raucous atmosphere. I do not want to go look around in the drinking dens and other places of degeneracy. In stead, I will simply stay for a bit longer in the hopes of finding him, and then I will head out to New Eden on my own. 

I mean, it is likely that the Ministry of Internal Order beat me to be the first to offer mr. Quirinus the opportunity to do penance, in which case I should not expect him to re-appear soon anyway.

Scouting mission

I have had some delays to join mr. Quirinus on a pilgrimage. I had to get permission from my political officer and his initial reaction was that mr. Quirinus would be better helped by a visit to the cleansing pits than a visit to Eve gate. 

I have been arguing for the contrary, pointing to the fact that mr. Quirinus is showing contrition in the Good Word.

Mr. Firth warmed to the idea after a while, in particular since a fresh review of the capsuleer structures in New Eden and in the Eve constellation in general would be useful for the Ministry of Internal Order. Perhaps part of mr. Quirinus' penance could consist in helping to scout every uninhabited planet, moon and asteroid belt in this far frontier.

It has been a well over a year since my last visit, when I also provided this service. I wonder if the 'Black Chapel', the athanor of evil, is still present in New Eden. It is a pirate haven used by the hoodlums of White Sky and I have been (uncessfully) petitioning the Amarr Navy for its permanent removal.

But first, I will head to Amarr, to see if Aeonyx Quirinus is still there or whether he already left for his pilgrimage. 

On madness

In some more remote corners of our glorious Empire, a belief persists among doctors and medical professionals that false religious ideas can cause such strong emotional responses that they damage the body, and that the physical injuries inflicted on the body and the brain in turn result in madness. These false ideas make it very difficult to treat the disease, once the afflicted is convinced that to doubt them is blasphemy.

I have never been an adherent to this particular theory of madness, and in better medical circles it has been discarded and treated as outdated and wrong. 

But sometimes, a particular case might seem to fit the bill. The false idea of Sedevacantism is so harmful that it seems to have affected a regular on "The Good Word" channel to a degree that seems to border on insanity. Indeed, it looks as if poor Quirinus has started to think that he might be the promised emperor that the arch-heretic is clamoring for.

There are delicate threads of reason still keeping his soul from damnation. He speaks of building a church, and of pilgrimage. I do not think he has yet reached out to a priest for spiritual counseling, or to a medical center of the Ministry for physical treatment (even though these are free of cost!) 

I am feeling a pang of compassion. A pilgrimage could indeed help to cleanse the mind of heresy, but if he walks that path alone his troubled thoughts will bounce back and forth in self-reflection on the mind's mirrors, amplifying only themselves in the absence of outside input. This may end up reinforcing his madness. But if I were to join him, even for a bit of the way, I may have a chance at bringing back this lost wanderer on the right path through prayer and by administering the rite of confession...

Misgivings

Something foul is afoot again in Mehatoor, I can sense it. And I can hear it: the arch-heretic's minions are about again in the 24th Imperial Crusade station, being noisy and annoying.  

I do not think it is the Promissae Matris cult again, I did not see any Yun-Hee Yubari altars and piles of ridiculous gifts, although this may simply be due to a more strict and rapid enforcing of peace by the Ministry. It is also not a band of slaves puppetted around with transcranial microcontrollers forcing them to put up ridiculous Sedevacantist posters - by now the station security knows how to deal with that sort of nonsense. 

No, these folks coming from the arch-heretic's hangar are just hanging around being nasty, and they seem a very diverse group.

I thank God it's not the yak herd that broke out. 

But something is definitely going on.

Living Saints

Saints are persons that are an example and inspiration to the faithful. They are not perfect, which distinguishes them from the Sefrim. They are human, like you and me, and have most of the time also lived sinfully for part of their lives. But at some point, they have turned to God and done things that can inspire us all, be it acts of mercy, intercessions or even miracles. To make them more relatable to us, we can contemplate their relics - seeing their remains is a powerful reminder of their human nature, and a call to us that living a saintly life is within reach of all.

I have been asked a very strange question today, namely whether a living person can be a Saint. That is not normally the case: people can be living a saintly life, but they are canonized after death and after performing miracles from the hereafter. That being said, there are rare exceptions that have been historically known, as some Emperors were declared Saint by popular acclamation even before their death. And sometimes, well, if venerable persons return from death such as Saint Jamyl, they are recognized as instruments of God during their (second) life.

The procedure is that one or more bishops petition the Theology Council to have someone that is deemed worthy of veneration as Saint recognized officially. Before the official recognition, it is allowed that the faithful of that bishopric already venerate the candidate-saint. Very often this is a local folk-saint that is already a local "hero" to the faithful, and their bishop wants to make the cult of that folk-saint officially recognized (with the added economic benefit of pilgrims being drawn to the shrine of the saint).

It is not written explicitly that the candidate-saint should be deceased when the petition is submitted to the Theology Council, though I imagine that a petition for a living person would probably be rejected at the end of the long process. And it is only when the process of verification and canonization is complete, that the saint will be recognized throughout the Empire. Up until that time, the faithful outside of the petitioning bishopric have to follow their own conscience whether or not to consider the candidate-saint a true saint.

New best seller book

The Amarrians date back to the far past, our true origins lost in the mist of times. The first historical records - over fifteen thousand years old!- tell the tale of our first prophet, Dano Gheinok, and how he rallied fellow believers around him to follow the path of God, in a society that had turned its back on religion and on hope. The disbelievers and atheists drove the prophet and his followers out, and after a long migration they settled in Amarr island.

Scriptures contain two very different accounts of that struggle to reach Amarr island. One account is symbolic, reflective, theological, and puts emphasis on spiritual meaning rather than chronological detail. And a second account is more a chronicle, with more factual detail, and strikes a more instructional tone. In some way there is also a shadow of this dichotomy in the Book of Gheinok the First, relating the wisdom and prophecies of Gheinok. 

As far as we can go back, there has always been a lot of debate as to why there are these two accounts.

Many modern scholars see the differences between the two accounts not as contradictions, but as reflections of different communities, theological aims, and literary traditions within early Amarr. Additionally, theologians of all ages have argued that these two accounts are actually meant to interact, and to reinforce each other rather than contradict each other. From that point of view, all contraditions are merely apparent paradoxes, actually meant as exercises for the faithful. Indeed, their resolution has generated new insights and deepened our theological understanding.

Anyway, this is the stuff that has my academic heart pounding! 

So, I was very happy to read in the news the other day that Arim Ardishapur has published a book of interpretations on the scriptures of Gheinok the First! A fresh burst of ideas and insight on our foundational prophet has been long overdue, certainly from such an eminent source. I am very excited and cannot wait to get my hand on a copy.

I will make sure we get enough copies for the library. And on August 5, where we celebrate Gheinok and foundation day, we must have readings of this new book. Maybe I could invite some member or representative of the Ardishapur court to come to the library - how thrilling it would be if the invitation was accepted!

Epikouria Chronicles IX

It has been a while since I received a letter from Brother Hugo, but he made up for the delay by sending me a long letter. 

Along with his companions, he has been busy running the pop-up church that serves as a pavilion showcasing the Amarr faith during the intercultural fair. This fair celebrates the cooperation between the Originals, living on the planets of Epikouria, and the Starborn, the space-dwelling colonists led by Publius. Brother Hugo writes that the pop-up church was shunned by most Originals.

Talking to those that did visit, he found out why. The Originals have not always been autonomous. The settlement actually started as slave colonies under the control of Amarr militia and a corporation called Far Eastern WormHoles. Back then, it was following Amarr law and peace ruled. When outsiders ousted the Amarr loyal forces, rebellion broke out, slaves no longer obeyed their masters. The population turned away from the true faith, and started to follow the path of darkness. 

In this rebellious era, space lanes came under the control of new rulers, the Alexylva Paradox, who allowed all sorts of heresy. This drew a lot of new colonists to Epikouria's settlements, and the planet's cities experienced a period of strong growth. The permissive atmosphere attracted, according to Brother Hugo's hyperbole "all the worst of the heretic scum of the galaxy, including Sani Sabik, abolitionists, and forbidden sentient AI". If true, this is indeed very worrisome news, and a danger for brave Publius' soul. 

After spending a few more pages fulminating against the heresies that he witnessed among the Originals, Brother Hugo goes on to describe the intercultural fair itself. It appears that there was a great mutual interest in each other's technology. 

The Originals possess advanced cloning and biotechnology (Brother Hugo writes "and you know that these sciences were also favored by the Takmahl!"). The Originals use a device called a "Riordan-Nilanth Gravitational Resonance Imager" to make clone backups available to even the most humble member of their population. 

In turn, the Originals were very interested in the technology that was developed during the period after the Alexylva Paradox left Epikouria. In particular the Upwell technology that allows transfers of consciousness to Upwell workforce clone bodies, and the technology behind breacher pods. They were also interested in the Triglavian mutaplasmids. And a particular subculture of the Originals, called the conjoiners, are interested in the Sansha technology that Publius' colonists have been using somewhat too enthusiastically. Brother Hugo says that they are small-size hive minds, one of many types of deviants. 

So, from the point of view of the Originals and of the Starborn, this exchange seems to have been mutually quite benificial. But, for Brother Hugo, it has only confirmed his worst fears.

Links to keep track of the letters of Brother Hugo:
I. First Contact
II. Diplomatic Talks 
III. Refugee crisis
IV. Setting up a new home station
V. Epikouria under siege
VI. Prince Seraghis visit

VII. A suspicion of heresy

VIII. Pop-up church

Fear of the Molok

I am happy that Yun-Hee is showing an interest in our Amarr customs and religion. But I am just a little bit concerned with her interest in the story of Molok the Deceiver. She wants to know all about this personification of evil - how to recognise his deception, how to ward him off. That impulse of course is all right, and perhaps I am too inclined to always worry.

Some facts are known about Molok the historical figure. We do know that he was the enemy of emperor Amash-Akura, and coveted the Ametat and Avetat for himself. He tempted the faithful with money and power and could sway some to his side. He became evil incarnate and used sorcery. He was ultimately defeated by Amash-Akura at the Battle of Edras, and put to death. But even though his body was vanquished, his evil spirit remained in this world since it was refused entry in the hereafter. Many believe that this evil spirit still can manifest itself in order to tempt people into sin and make bad things happen.

Yun-Hee seemed somewhat scared about this possibility, and to reassure her I gave her a medallion of Saint Amash-Akura, which traditionally is believe to ward off the Molok. 

Of course, for the Sani Sabik think Molok is just fine, or worse, worthy of veneration. They have ceremonies to call forth his powerful spirit of evil, and even attempt to get Molok's spirit to incarnate into a living body again. 

I worry about where Yun-Hee might have heard about the Molok, I should ask next time. Are there Sani Sabik among us that try to influence her? I would not be surprised if this is the work of the arch-heretic and his minions, it is not the first time that one of them infiltrated Gottin's Lamp...

Rite of conversion

Yesterday I interrupted my study of the recovered Takmahl artefacts and the telemetry of the temple rock for a festive ceremony.

We celebrated the conversion of Jade Blackwind to the Faith. Her liege is lady Echo Ashland, and her godmother during yesterday's ceremony is lady Arline Kley. 

The spreading of faith from one person to the next was symbolized by passing the flame of a candle from the godmother to the candle that Jade held. A new light shines! It is a powerful symbol of the light of faith that conquers darkness - a symbolism also present in the acronym of our alliance, LUMEN.

The ceremony took place in the chapel, and there were plenty of curious non-capsuleer members of our congregation that showed up. It is not that often that a capsuleer formally converts to the faith! 

I was also happy to see Yun-Hee present, she has shown an increasing interest in religious matters and I hope that one day she too will stand here before the congregation to become part of the great community of faithful. For, in the words of the prophet Kuria, "Only in God can we thrive and grow."

Spacewalk

(continued from yesterday)

Fearless (and also in disregard of safety regulations), Alda Malukker decided to make a spacewalk, during our exploration of the Takmahl temple rock. Blood Raider reinforcements could arrive at any moment, there was all sorts of space debris flying around at the speed of bullets, and the site is basked in unknown forms of radiation.

Capsuleers do not fear death - and are willing to risk it in order to advance science. Alda disembarked from her Retribution class frigate, as you can see in the image above (courtesy of Lunarisse, I was too stunned to take a picture of that spacewalk). 

This allowed us to ascertain that our inability to enter the tunnels with our ships is not due to malfunctioning proximity safeguards. Also an astronaut trying to enter the tunnel "on foot" is pushed back by some sort of force field. Not a usual shield, that could be depleted and penetrated with enough firepower - it seems the rock itself expels foreign bodies by its own design. Not in all tunnels or cavities - there is one where I could enter, and I think also the Takmahl could enter and staged their blood sacrifices ceremonies in. 

There was some speculation that the rock could be a spaceship (an old one that somehow accrued a lot of dust that coalesced). That does not seem to be the case. Even though there is a lot of subsurface structure there, there is no sign of engines, a bridge, docking bays. The tunnels appear bare, and appear as if they we not artificial, but the result of the violent formation of the rock. There are signs that when this asteroid formed there were repeated cycles of melting and resolidification: the stalagtites have rings of subsequent deposition, as if they are the product of some faulty melt extrusion, or perhaps some phasing in and out of an alternate dimension. It would be good to compare this with those new phase asteroids that have appeared. 

The expedition has taught us a lot about this temple rock, and in addition we have retrieved a large amount of artefacts and even fragments of texts and inscriptions. But it seems that -as it often goes in science- every answer has created new questions...