Sunday 30 November 2014

Over 29.000 refugees join the Aurora Arcology!

This past week has been a busy & event-filled week! From sleepers to stellar anomalies we've seen it and reported on it, with Capsuleer celebrations & conspiracies to spice it up!

First was the discovery of strange images related to new sleeper ships, causing a rampant influx of strange theories & conspiracy claims to appear. The emergency Inner circle summit being called, along with the release of a cloaked image didn't help matters either, as you can read here: Strange Sleeper ships & speculations about conspiracies.
What it all means is so far inconclusive, as no solid conclusions backed by evidence could be made.

Next was the brilliant Capsuleer recruitment trailer that took the community on GalNet by storm, capsuleers and common people alike! It's expected that this recruitment add will draw in many people to the capsuleer lifestyle, adding on their growing economic & political strength.

Then it was time to put the spotlight on Ushra'Khan's decennial celebration. As the oldest Capsuleer alliance in existence, they have organized a great celebration in Rens, inviting over all those willing to celebrate 10 years of fighting for Freedom along with them.
But that's not all, over the course of the week they also returned the corpses of fallen Amarr combat pilots to the Empire, giving their relatives a chance to give these people a proper burial.
After that, they launched an attack on CVA space in Providence to remind them that Ushra'Khan comes to liberate their brothers & sisters anywhere in the cluster!
You can follow their week of celebrations in their announcement here: [UNITY] Ten years of Ushra'Khan
The Pandora News organisation also follows them closely: Pandora News

But all the commotion of sleeper mysteries, the new recruitment trailer and Ushra'Khan celebrations was immediately obscured by a strange stellar phenomenon, the appearance of a strange bright star in the sky! Following the trend of jumping in the deep with theories, I summarized my own theory on this bright star & what it could mean: Strange bright star appears in the sky across New Eden!
At the moment, it's still not sure what it is, albeit a supernova with an FTL component is the most accepted assumption right now. It gets referred to as Caroline's Star alot, as Caroline Grace was the first who brought it up to attention to the capsuleer community.

Capsuleer Frenjo Borkstar does his best to gather all the data & observations, along with possible theories in one central thread so everyone can stay up to date easily: Caroline's Star, Sansha activity, Unusual things - A compilation This also includes the strange sleeper activity, Hilen Tukoss' messages and other oddities.

Now on to this week's Census Report, Khaprice has really outdone herself with freeing over 20.000 slaves! Combined with the recent acquisition of an Ushra'Khan signed Khumaak, spirits will be high among the Minmatar community!
But lets not forget the other supporters! Capsuleers Argangtang Mulldan, Jack Sly, Niobium Hidden and Cherry Saissore did their part in helping refugees finding a new safe home in the Arcology!
This are this week's arrivals, mainly free slaves:

Regular Civilians

- 238 Homeless
- 1.574 Janitors
- 71 Prisoners (Part of the Prison Lend-Lease Program)
- 30 Science Graduates
- 4 Scientists
- 6 Stranded Pilots
- 1.077 Tourists
- 23.373 Freed Slaves (Datafile: Freeing slaves, the first step of many...)

Pets

- 7 Fedos (Datafile:A strange animal)
- 376 Hounds

Law Enforcement

- 486 Freedom Fighters
- 1.566 Marines
- 510 Militants
- 163 Slavers (Part of the Redemption Program)

Employees for the Nightclub L'Etoile Rouge

- 469 Female Exotic Dancers
- 350 Male Exotic Dancers

Council Members

- 1 Logut Akell
- 8 VIPs

All in all, it's been a great week for the Aurora Arcology project & Aurora News. In fact, this month has seen the largest amount of readers in the history of Aurora News! I thank all who have helped spread our news articles across the capsuleer community! Your contribution matters!

Thursday 27 November 2014

Strange bright star appears in the sky across New Eden!

A strange new star

Viewpoint from Vale of the Silent, image by Caroline Grace

It all began when news came in about unusual Nation activity in the Oasa region. Nation ships where spotted withdrawing from the region by using stargates instead of their usual wormhole routes. In response to this observation, capsuleers went to the region, trying to discover what prevented Nation from using their wormhole technology.

Despite some rumours about the locals about strange wormhole activity, nothing was found. However, Caroline Grace noticed something odd about one of the stars she could see, it was unusually bright compared to the others and had a curious vertical lightflare, setting it apart from the others.
Shortly after Grace shared this find, reports began pouring in across the cluster about people seeing this star as well! The flood of reports made a few things immediately clear. The star was easily identified by others, thanks to its vertical lightflare and usually its brightness (in the farthest regions, only its unusual vertical flare set it apart). It could also be seen from every spot in New Eden, if you knew where to look. However, the bright star could not be seen in Anoikis, wormhole space.

The strange star, very faint, spotted all the way in Catch, image by Invescu Ohaya

Thanks to the large number of capsuleers contributing, the area where this stellar event occurred was rapidly spotted, namely roughly in the east of Jove Space, in the remote UUA-F4 region, possibly the W477-P system. However what it is remains unanswered. The fact that this stellar phenomenon could be spotted simultaneously across the galaxy indicates an FTL event (Faster Then Light), and not a mere star gone supernova. Also, continued observations by capsuleers have confirmed that the Bright Star is still increasing in luminosity! You can follow the evolution of Caroline's Star here: Stellar Event Observations by capsuleer Neophage Hashur.

The Bright Star increasing in luminosity! Image by Caroline Grace

Currently, most observations come from Vale of the Silent, as this region is believed to be the closest to the stellar anomaly, attributed to the fact that it shines there brighter then anywhere else. Due to this, many capsuleers ventured there to make their observations. It's also the place to be for the more spectacular images about this phenomenon.

An eerie view from a derelict outpost in Vale of the Silent. Image by Maria Daphiti

Currently, the mainstream media also picked up on this strange event and is equally confused: Stellar Anomaly detected by Capsuleers, Scientists baffled by superluminal effects!
However, all this commotion made people think back on the first 'Bright Star' phenomenon. Indeed, this is not the first time such stellar phenomenon occurred!


The first Bright Star

Rare image of the first Bright Star phenomenon

In YC 109, a similar event happened, a bright star appeared in the night sky across all of New Eden, outshining any other star! The star was clearly visible from every system in New Eden, indicating a very powerful stellar occurrence.
At the time, there was alot of speculation on what it was and what it meant. In the end, not much could be proven, keeping it all hypothetical. As time moved on, people grew accustomed to the new star, until it vanished 3 months after it was first spotted. The sudden appearance & disappearance baffled scientists who couldn't find a satisfactory explanation.

Exactly a year after its disappearance, the Seyllin incident occurred, where several stars across the cluster went nova and shattered worlds, among it the colonized world of Seyllin I. Shortly after, the wormholes were discovered, and with them, the sleepers!

More info on these events can be found here: 


What does this all mean?

At the time of the first Bright Star, nobody knew it's relevance, neither did many made the link with the appearance of wormholes a year later. It was thought this first Bright Star was just some curious anomaly.
However, with this new orange Bright Star appearing, there's too much similarities going on to be ignored. Right now, there's alot of upheaval about wormholes & changed sleeper behaviour, not to mention the whole situation around Hilen Tukoss.
And amidst this all, a second Bright Star is seen? Too much of a coincidence to be unrelated. While the science behind it is still not understood, it's believed that this stellar phenomenon of the 'Bright Star' is somehow connected with Wormhole Space, albeit it can't be seen from there.
In the end, only time will tell. Right now we have to accumulate as much as possible info about this event as we can and remain vigilant!
Also, keep your guard up in Wormhole systems for any possible oddities that might arise!

However, should the link between these 'Bright Star' phenomenons be true and that they are connected with Wormhole space somehow, then we're on the brink of interesting times as the last time it occurred, planets got shattered and a whole new area of space was discovered, Anoikis!
If this current stellar event has similar results, it will be on a smaller scale, as the Bright Star is not as luminous as the first one, who could be seen easily in every system of New Eden, while the current one is only easily spotted in systems close to the Jove Empire. But those systems closest to it do report that in some cases the new Bright Star rivals their own sun in brightness!
This large shift in brightness depending on where you are does confirm that it happens very close to us, unlike the first bright Star event that was roughly equally luminous for all of New Eden, where it was eventually triangulated to occur far, far away from us.
However, the new Bright Star is still brightening, so perhaps this statement might be revoked in the near future!

Still ongoing, observations on Caroline's Star!

Below shows some spectacular images of the rising brightness of the stellar phenomenon, equaling or even outshining the local sun before it collapses into the green nebula later!

The new Bright Star almost rivals the system's own sun in luminosity! 
Image by Caroline Grace


Right now, capsuleers all across Eden are working together to collect as much info as we can, attempting to uncover more about the stellar phenomenon to be able to verify or denounce certain theories. Also, much effort is being put in to keep an eye out for the changes in brightness, in the hope that predictions can be made about future shifts of this phenomenon.

Shockwave ring can be seen now, image by Daniel Jackson

In the last few days, a new observation has been made! A faint ring appeared around Caronline's Star, expanding over the days. While there's still much speculation what the phenomenon is, this ring seems to support the Core Collapse Supernova hypothesis, as a growing shockwave ring can be expected from such event. Hopefully the coming days will shed more light on the stellar anomaly!

Caroline's Star explosion animation created by Ferni Ka'Nviiou,
based on images provided by Daniel Jackson

As observed for over a week, Caroline's Star's luminosity collapsed, leaving behind a green, strangely shaped expanding nebula.

Capsuleers EdXell and Radax Glenn made great image libraries of the new Bright Star & how it looks from a variety of regions: EdXell's galaxy tour of the Bright Star views & Radax Glenn' Dark Matter views of the 'Bright Star' across the cluster.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Celebrating a decade: Ushra'Khan, Fighting for Freedom

Prologue

As of 25 November YC116 the capsuleer alliance Ushra'Khan has turned a decade old. With this, they are the oldest capsuleer alliance in all of New Eden. But their ideals & organisation predates this official founding by far.
Ever since the capsule & cloning tech were successfully joined, the Minmatar capsuleers rose to arms to free their brothers & sisters who were enslaved by the Amarr. Through this tenacity & determination to oppose the might of the Amarr Empire, the spirit & strength of Ushra'Khan was given shape. No matter what it takes, no matter how costly it would be, Ushra'Khan vowed that they would come for their people, to liberate them from the shackles of slavery.

And liberate they did, for a decade they fought the Amarr Empire capsuleers and their slavers, liberating many of their brothers & sisters from slavery. Some went to the republic, to live a free life, others joined Ushra'Khan, so they could in turn help those left in the shackles of slavery.
Over the years they fought practically everywhere, from highsec to lowsec and in nullsec. Nowadays they keep a much lower profile then they used to, as attention brings it's own drawbacks. To stay under the radar means you can fight with less distractions.

A more detailed history of Ushra'Khan can be found on their page: Ushra'Khan Along with their history, it also mentioned various key events where they participated in or even influenced them in their favor! One of their most recent combat operations got featured in Aurora News: Ushra'Khan liberates slaves in Amarr!
In order to honour this decade of fighting for the freedom of the Minmatar, Ushra'Khan organized a public celebration in Rens, to kick off a week of festivities for their decennial, inviting others to come over & join in the festivities!

Celebration at Rens!

Firework greeting travellers at the Rens tradehub undock area!

And so it begins! At 20H there's already a large group present at the Brutor Tribe Treasury station, the main trade hub of Rens. Many of the pilots present were cheering and send Ushra'Khan members their well-wishes for their decennial birthday! A few confused capsuleers were quickly brought up to date on what was happening and subsequently got showered under fireworks! During this, a temporary display was revealed, a group of cans, spelling out UNITY in space as you undocked from the trade hub station.
As the celebration went on, the crowd grew bigger. Various Ushra'Khan pilots also jettisoned free gifts to whoever could grab them! These gifts ranged from drones to guns & ammo. During all this, they also handed out Khumaaks, a powerful minmatar symbol, to those who were interested. I managed to get one!

A Quiz! First Round!

As people were celebrating, the current leader of Ushra'Khan, DeT Resprox, announced a quiz, involving various prizes to win for the fastest correct response! To keep things fair, only non-Ushra'Khan members could participate in winning prizes. It would be split in two rounds, the first round had these questions & winners:

Q: Who was the leader of the Minmatar Republic before Shakor?
Prize: Hurricane
A: Sebiestor Chief Karin Midular, correctly answered by Constantly Outraged Sebiestor

Q: What is the original name of DeT Resprox, before the Concord database wipe? 
Prize: Stabber Fleet Issue
A: Arox Prested, correctly answered by Jandice Ymladris

Q: What is the name given to the tattoo ceremony, when a Matari is given their permanent markings?
Prize: 2 X Republic Fleet Firetails
A: The Voluval, correctly answered by Nazmin Tomas

Q: Which planet in which system did the Minmatar first colonize?
Prize: Stiletto
A: Matar in the Pator System, correctly answered by Mharius Skjem

After this first round, a break was called, which people happily used to lob massive amounts of fireworks at each other! But then commotion! The Y in the UNITY display was deformed! Someone was stealing display cans! And all of a sudden, their time-honed combat skills surfaced and Ushra'Khan capsuleers downed the thief! Arkoth 24 won't be stealing no more! But this incident contributed to the festivities, as certain members boasted that now something has been shot, it was a proper Uskra'Khan celebration!

 Light em up boys! You only turn 10 once!

During the break, many more pilots joined the festivities, some wondering what was going on, but with a good salvo of fireworks and a few shouts of the Ushra'Khan decennial celebration, everyone was brought up in speed & in the mood. The large amounts of booze consumed added to the party-feel.
The massive amounts of fireworks often lighted up the whole place, causing great cheers from the crowd. Often, some pilots would fly fast, dragging more & more firework missiles behind them, until they halted & all the fireworks exploded together in a massive pyrotechnic display!

Bring out the Typhoons! And drag those missiles behind you frigates! We're going for the
BIG BOOM!

Second Quiz round! Bigger round, bigger prizes!

Then the next Quiz round was announced, and DeT Resprox once again called for attention. It attributes to his commanding presence that the chatter died down a little during the quiz, allowing people to follow it better.
During the Quiz, people formed a conga line with their ships, dominated by the Typhoon battleship & crossed with various fireworks!

The Typhoon Conga! Light up that booty!

And here's the questions & answers of the second quiz round, along with the winners & their prizes! Congratulations to all participants and those that donated to the prizes!

Q: Which famed adversary alliance turns 10 this Sunday (30 November)?
Prize: 2 X Republic Fleet Firetails
A: Curatores Veritatis Alliance, correctly answered by Nazmin Tomas

Q: Who founded the Ushra'Khan alliance?
Prize: Stabber Fleet Issue
A: Adrielle Firewalker, correctly answered by Nazmin Tomas

Q: Which organisation did Captain Karishal Muritor represent?
Prize: Stabber Fleet Issue
A: The Defiants, correctly answered by Skye Hawke

Q: What word was spelled out in protest by Matari pilots in Eram (start of the Arek'Jaalan project)
Prize: Stabber Fleet Issue
A: Freedom, correctly answered by Ezrah Shanti

Q: In which system did the Defiants make their last stand?
Prize: Tempest
A: Huola, correctly answered by Angellano

Q: Who was the first pilot to reach 10.00 standing with the original TRIAD Agency?
Prize: Tempest
A: Axl Borlara, correctly answered by Ezrah Shanti

And with the last question, the event ended. And all of a sudden, they were all gone, as duty called. After all, while they did celebrate 10 years of fighting for freedom, they would have many years ahead of them to continue fighting for freedom for their enslaved brothers & sisters.
The sudden shift from party fireworks fleet to combat operation fleet mode is a testimony to the skill & dedication of the Ushra'Khan pilots.

Where have all the good men gone? Where are all the heroes?

For those who were there to just party, it felt eerie, yet fitting. One moment it was all a party, the next nothing, save a few ships, as if there never was a party present.... A fitting end to a celebration hosted by Ushra'Khan!

Conclusion

It was a very enjoyable celebration, and the comments in local affirm this! Many pilots had fun alongside me, celebrating the decennial. The fleet of Typhoon battleships especially impressed the various young capsuleers who payed the local trade hub a visit.
The large amount of fireworks being shot was a great crowdpleaser & attracted the attention of the trade-hub visitors, of which some decided to stick around & join in the festivities!

The Khumaak I received from Ushra'Khan will get a prominent spot in the Arcology museum, where it can serve as an inspiration to the many recently freed slaves. The Stabber Fleet Issue quiz prize will find itself a neat spot in the Ship Display Hall at the Aurora Arcology, for visitors to gawk at.
The quiz itself was neat, offering questions of varying difficulty and a great way to learn a bit about Ushra'Khan & Minmatar culture. The neat prizes offered did also help to motivate people to participate!

Also, the decennial celebration got featured in EN24 alongside an interview with the Ushra'Khan CEO, DeT Resprox: Ten Years of Ushra'Khan

Sunday 23 November 2014

Capsuleer recruitment video takes GalNet by storm!

Concord Communication Personnel recently released a capsuleer recruitment ad that became a great hit across the cluster! Not only among the capsuleers but also the regular people of New Eden!
This advertisement is part of the capsuleer recruitment program, to keep numbers up. While capsuleers are theoretically immortal, the various acts they commit or setbacks they suffer can make them give up on capsuleer life & return to something that resembles a normal life like they had before joining the program.

Due to the reputation that capsuleers gathered as genocidal maniacs without any form of moral constraints, it is extremely hard to find people that are both willing & compatible to be a capsuleer. Advertisement campaigns that involve releasing trailers that magnify a part of the capsuleer life is part of it, but CCP has been criticized in the past for it as they often show idealized versions, disappointing new capsuleers that just joined the immortal lifestyle.
Due to the critizism, these trailers did not always cause the influx of new immortals as Concord hoped for.

However the recent trailer changed all that, gaining near unanimous praise by the capsuleer community for portraying various aspects of capsuleer life, like combat, industry and others! This was made possible due to Concord's call out to capsuleers to share recordings of their ops & actions, to promote their lifestyle among the people!
This trailer shows not only how life goes on in the lawless areas of Null, but also the thrill of exploring, the dedication to industry and the relentless defense against Nation.

Without further delay; enjoy CCP's newest capsuleer recruitment add! The one that has taken Galnet by storm!

This is Eve, Capsuleer recruitment ad, uncensored version

The trailer portrays actual, non-staged combat and other scenarios that capsuleers experience throughout their life as an immortal in the New Eden galaxy. From competing for resources to all out wars, and many things between like exploring & fitting your ships, it all can be seen in this remarkable recruitment ad! 

Friday 21 November 2014

Strange Sleeper ships & speculations about conspiracies

As you are aware by now, the changed behaviour of sleepers observed by the Sisters of Eve has alot of organisations & groups in turmoil. The recent Inner Circle Wormhole Summit reinforces that the recent Sleeper changes has various official groups in a crisis, seeking for answers they cannot find.

A part of this changed behaviour was uncovered by capsuleers, as they stumbled on Sleeper sites in known space! The discoveries made so far do paint a disturbing image. Sleepers use cloaking technologies to keep their facilities hidden, as they study us & our technology, as evident by the modules found inside these sites.
But they are not merely content with studying us & collect examples of our technology, they even analyzed & advanced our high-tech systems, as shown by the polarized variants of our tech 2 modules!


Unidentified but presumed Sleeper ship, Image source: Unknown

But recently, images of unknown Sleeper ships have leaked on GalNet! As you can see above, these Sleepers are very different from the usual Sleeper Drones one encounters in wormhole space. So far, nothing is known about these strange ships and utmost caution is advised in any encounter involving these unidentified ships.
However, any information you can acquire about these new Sleeper ships is very welcome! You can contact Jandice Ymladris by mail or publish your findings on CCP forums to share your knowledge!

But all the recent commotion around Sleepers, Wormholes, Sisters and of course the strange messages of Dr Hilen Tukoss has given rise to a wide range of speculations.
Currently, two capsuleers have made a very lengthy but detailed analysis & hypothesis of what might be going on. I'll provide a link to their article & a short summary.

Sleepers, Jovians & The 'Other' hypothesis by Uriel Paradisi Anteovnuecci

The Jovian archivist Uriel Paradisi Anteovnuecci provides an interesting hypothesis of how all the recent happenings concerning wormholes & sleepers tie in together with events & occurrences in the past. The centerpoint of his conspiracy theory is that Empress Jamyl Sarum is possessed by a being known as 'The Other' that seeks to substitute our reality with it's own. In order to achieve this, it has to wipe out both the Jovians & Sleepers as they are the only ones with the knowledge or power to stop it.

His idea does paint a very dark image, namely that we capsuleers are being played & manipulated to do the bidding of a powerful but malign shadowfigure, in order to remove its enemies. While it might sound far-fetched, it is known that appealing to our destructive & greedy nature does offer great results without much questions asked, as seen in the Provist Manhunt.

While it looks like your average crackpot conspiracy theory, he does bring up several interesting tidbits that we shouldn't ignore. Various replies later on also contribute by bringing up good points & thoughts.
In short, don't just dismiss it, even if it turns out different, various points he makes do give legitimate grounds for concern, especially our plundering of the Sleeper Sites, which I commented on myself in this article: 'The Sleeper Desolation'

The Enemy of my Enemy analysis by Rhavas

Privateer Rhavas offers a great indepth analysis of the Sister of Eve ship builders & the various corporations & factions they cooperated with to make them happen. On the surface it all seems fine, but when you dig deeper, a more sinister agenda appears! Especially once you consider that many of the corporations that worked with the Sisters to build these ships are direct competitors and often can't stand one another!

His hypothesis goes deeper on why these supposed enemies collaborate to built ships for the Sisters. The core of his theory is that they do it to be able to understand & face a common enemy together. he does leave two options open on who this 'common' enemy might be.
One is the Sleepers, supported by the reasoning that the Sister ships are built for wormhole exploration and recent events has caused the participating corporations to come together in the most recent Inner Circle Summit.
The other common enemy might be us, capsuleers. Once again, he supports this theory with various links to news articles, displaying how great a threat capsuleers have become as they attempt their own research & construction.

All in all, I urge you to explore Privateer Rhavas' publications as he has written several excellent articles with very interesting theories that could have far-reaching consequences if even one holds a shimmer of truth!

The above two capsuleers, Jovian archivist Uriel Paradisi Anteovnuecci & Privateer Rhavas both offer deeper insights in various events, old & new related to Wormholes & Sleepers. Some of their ideas & theories might sound far-fetched, but they do build a good cause due to the various sources of information they link towards & provide an interesting explanation to tie them together.

Update, additional hypothetical analysis for recent images & broadcasts released on GalNet. Two recent images have gathered alot of attention from the Conspiracy crowd. One is the New Sleeper ship image, the other supposedly shows a cloaked structure, but despite continuous image enhancing, not much has been revealed.

Comparing a Sleeper drone image with the recently uncovered 'new Sleeper ship' image reveals an interesting observation, as you can see below:

 
Both images compared

When looking at both images, the bundle of wires & cables coming out the sleeper drone is very similar to the connection between the ship & 'head' of the 'new' Sleeper ship. At the moment, the significance of this observation is unknown, it does seem to imply that the Sleeper Drones we encounter today are unfinished, coming without the 'head'. As we have no idea on what the 'head' does, it's unknown what kind of impact this has on behaviour between the Sleeper Drones & Sleeper Ships.

The second image is more far fetched. Claims are that it's an image hiding a cloaked installation. Yet alot of capsuleers have run this image through various filters & enhancers, but not much has been found.

The mysterious image, some claim it shows a cloaked installation.

Wile alot of capsuleers have occupied themselves with it, Dust Mercenaries also got involved, their image enhancing skills did reveal it shared similarities with an installation they know. See the thread: Weird Eden Happenings, the opening post has all the info about the image analysis.
What the concealed structure is, remains a mystery however.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Aurora Arcology welcomes over 24.000 immigrants!

Over the past few months, the Aurora Arcology population has been expanding at an accelerated rate. This increased growth can be attributed to our larger reader-base and among them a few large supporters like Caroline Grace & Khaprice!

The rapid expansion however is very testing for our security troops. Both the Arcology sector expansion as its fast population growth means they have to constantly adapt to changing circumstances, not the optimal way for security to do their jobs.
However, the expertise & skill offered by Pieter Tuulinen & his security force made sure that the Arcology remained secure. All in all, ever since he arrived, our security force has improved greatly under his guidance, offering a more strict & professional attitude to their job.

It is thanks to our improved & enhanced security force that Arcology Management can run the newest division, aimed to guide freed slaves to a life of their own choosing under Arcology management. Most of these Freed Slaves have been rescued by Khaprice, resulting in a great bonding for many, as they all share a common positive tale to talk about! Due to their particular background, freed slaves often harbour a deep mistrust against authority and can be rough to deal with. Lucky there's plenty of Minmatar officials to assist us in convincing them of the Arcology's good intent. The recent joining of a Vherokior Shaman helped greatly with this, as spirituality is an important factor for many Minmatar.
Thanks to small groups of former slaves joining in the past, we'll be able to assist these people well, taking away their fear for authority & helping them to find their path in life & do things for their own instead for a master!

Now onward to this week's census report! Aurora Arcology management wants to thank capsuleers Khaprice, Halcyon Ember & Thorsten Cragstone for helping so many refugees towards a new start in their lives!

Regular Civilians

- 44 Civilians
- 2 Construction Workers
- 532 Homeless
- 1.520 Janitors
- 165 Refugees
- 27 Scientists
- 4 Stranded Pilots
- 6.043 Tourists
- 10.813 Freed Slaves

Pets

- 14 Fedos (Datafile:A strange animal)
- 230 Hounds

Law Enforcement

- 5 Caldari Light Marines
- 127 Freedom Fighters
- 2.007 Marines
- 6.019 Militants
- 119 Slavers (Part of the Redemption Program)

Employees for the Nightclub L'Etoile Rouge

- 579 Female Exotic Dancers
- 715 Male Exotic Dancers

Council Members

- 2 Amarr Diplomats

All in all, once more a large group of people find safety & shelter within the Arcology!

Sunday 16 November 2014

Gallente Federation Presidential Election announced!

After a long time of silence, where people started questioning about the next Presidential elections, the Gallente Federal Elections Commission finally announced when the new presidential elections would occur: Presidential Election date has been set!
Currently, President Jacus Roden is in power, who won the controversial YC111 Elections by a large margin.

The new Presidential elections will be held on 29 January of YC117 and once the votes are counted & everything is ready, the newly elected President will be inaugurated on 26 february of the same year.
Normally, the presidential elections occur every 5 years, but the turnmoil that lead to the extraordinary presidential election in YC111 after the ousting of President Souro Foiritani has complicated matters alot. On top of all this, a legislation called the 'No Vote!' bill had passed to forbid anyone in the FW territories to vote! This was due to Caldari occupying all these regions back in the day.

However, the Election Commission has made it clear that this time there would be no such restrictions, all Federal Citizens eligible to vote shall be allowed to do so!
For now, there are no Gallente Presidential candidates announced, but undoubtedly this will happen over the course of the next two months!
What is new however is the inclusion of the Military in the Election process, but concerning the controversy the 'No Vote' bill caused last time, this can be a good thing. In this case, the Federation Military Commissions are there to make sure that no Federal territory inside the Faction Warfare territory gets locked out in an attempt of political games by a competitor.

All in all, it looks like the Federation is heading towards interesting times, as the Federal President usually guides the path for the Federation to take! Due to this, the elections will undoubtedly be followed by all the major and minor powers in the galaxy, to prepare for whoever comes into power & thereby any shift in Federal policies, no matter how small.

Thursday 13 November 2014

The return of Dr Hilen Tukoss, Part II: A third message

The situation around Dr Hilen Tukoss just got alot more complicated! As you know, his first two coded messages were discussed in the article: 'The return of Dr Hilen Tukoss, Arek'Jaalan project leader' However a new coded message was received and shines a new and more disturbing light on the recent events! lets have a look at this new coded message.

The third message: WA------! Site On--- --ed!

This third message is in a very different style & tone. The coding used is also different from the previous two messages. Considering the contents of this third message, opposing the two previous ones, it is certain that the third message is sent by a different person then the first two. Who the real Dr Hilen Tukoss is, will be hard to verify right now.
The coded message has been translated by the combined efforts of Liam Antolliere, Makoto Priano & Morwen Lagann. the following decoded message is the variant published by Morwen Lagann. Do note, this is NOT the 'best' variant, I merely picked it because the layout allows you to see what pieces were decoded and what was part of the original message. The words & letters between the brackets (   ) are the decoded parts, words & letters outside the brackets are part of the original message.
Here follows the decoded transcript:

TRANSPONDER 6612 ALLIGNED >> BROADCAST INITIATE…

TRAFFIC SCRUBBING ACTIVE, GAIN – 82.114 % NOMINAL…
PACKET LOSS – 72.176%
>> 66ms
>> --
>> 1088ms
>> --
>> 931ms
>> 404ms
>> +366470.5504 >> +021452.0104 >> 5586152.0017
>> LOCKED IN
>> ROUTER CONTACT ESTABLISHED - TRANSPONDER ID HASH  30003453-50008995-50006664
>> LAYER 44602117/FF

>> COMMENCING BROADCAST…

>>

>>

Th(is is the first transm)ission I hav(e been able to ma)ke in so(me time. Thi)s is Dr Hil(len Tuk)oss, broa(dcasting on lo)w band eme(rgen)cy FTL – I’m uns(ure of t)he exact fr(equen)cy.

Site On(e is compromi)sed. All sta(ff inv)olved wi(th the Are)k’Jal(aan Pr)oject sho(uld cons)ider it inse(cure an)d should aba(ndon an)y equi(pment the)rein, cons(ider it cont)amin(ated).

(Disre)gard the pre(viou)s commun(ication)s from wh(at ap)pears to be m(y) NeoC(om. The)ir inte(nt )is misdir(ection o)n the p(art of tho)se who ha(ve me res)trained. DT coope(rated wit)h the(m in )all c(ases.)

I ha(ve attem)pted to ma(ke conta)ct (with Eifyr & C(o to no av)ail, in or(der to re)lay det(ails of m)y situa(tion). It is my la(st hop)e tha(t this t)ransmissi(on will b)e pick(ed up by t)he FTL networ(k and broa)dcast t(o the perti)nent pl(aces?).

I am cu(rrently held aga)inst my wi(ll, my cap)tors are unkno(wn but from t)he few det(ails of my s)urrou(ndings I hav)e bee(n able to asc)ertain, I am bei(ng he)ld somewh(ere in Anoi)kis. The ava(ilable d)ata tha(t I could ga)ther wo(uld sugg)est some(where in clos)e pro(ximity to a Wolf-Ray)et, given luminos(ity an)d gravity signatures.

It is impe(rative t)he cap(suleer ta)skforce dedica(ted to Arek'Ja)laan contin(ue the)ir work i(n my abs)ence. With(out my pre)sence, t(he pro)ject mus(t conti)nue to adva(nce with re)cent (inform)ation (--- - -) received.

I beli(eve my cap)tors to be (----- - - - --)s, fear(ful of the e)vent (now t)ranspiring, and (are in a st)ate of (pa)nic.

I emp(lore [sic] you) all to continue to further the (aims of the Are)k’Jalaan proj(ect and to con)tinue to wo(rk on a so)lution. (The f)ate of the (pro)ject (is now) in yo(ur ha)nds, and (if the)re is any (chance of communication/my escape?) in future, I (shal/wil)l endea(vour to d)o so.

D(--- - - - -- - )rch (--- - - )m (--- - -- - )anger I( - - - - -------- - - -)o gr(-- -- -- --- )

>> CONNECTION TERMINATED <<
0411632 - //ROUTER TOKEN EXPIRY – 116//01/20 – 14:29
TRANSPONDER ID HASH - 30003412-30003453 / LAYER 44602117/FF DISCONNECT

ERROR CODE:

464f5243454420444953434f4e4e454354
545950453d555345524143434f554e54414343455353464c555348

Error Code uses the same coding as the two previous messages: hexidecimal and decodes into:
FORCED DISCONNECTTYPE=USERACCOUNTACCESSFLUSH

All in all, this is a very worrisome development, as it contradicts the two previous messages. From this flows that Hilen Tukoss has been captured by an unknown party but managed by chance to broadcast a message to warn us not to trust his first two messages, as they come from his captors, not him!
He stresses that Arek'Jaalan must abandon Site one, as it is compromised. On top of it, we shouldn't lend support to the cause asked for in his previous messages, as it would only further the agenda of his captors.

The message also contains general info of his location, he is apparently held in a Wolf-Rayet system in Wormhole space (Anoikis). On top of it, he claims that recent events threw his captors in a state of panic, possibly why they attempted tor each out to us through faked messages.

However there's also words of encouragement, as he implores the Arek'Jaalan revival to continue, as the project can lead to a solution and it lies in our hands now!

Some more detailed analysis about the message:

>> +366470.5504 >> +021452.0104 >> 5586152.0017
This line has most analyzers baffled, at first sight it looks like a coordinate, but Mark726 from Project Compass verifies it doesn't match with something we know, also the last number missing a + or - is an indication it might be something else. What that is, is unknown so far.

>> ROUTER CONTACT ESTABLISHED - TRANSPONDER ID HASH  30003453-50008995-50006664
>> LAYER 44602117/FF
and
TRANSPONDER ID HASH - 30003412-30003453 / LAYER 44602117/FF DISCONNECT
are the locations the broadcast was relayed through. These are:
30003453:ID number of Orduin sun
30003412: ID number of Elgoi sun
50008995 & 50006664 are the ID's of the stargates that connect Orduin & Elgoi system
44602117/FF: Unknown
These two systems are 1 & 2 jumps out of Eram, where Arek'Jaalan project Site One lies. It's likely that the message originated from Orduin or from a wormhole situated there. The decoding of Gate ID's was made possibly by Soldarius.

0411632 - //ROUTER TOKEN EXPIRY – 116//01/20 – 14:29
The string of numbers is not yet decoded, rest is pretty straightforward, Hilen Tukoss is using an outdated link to broadcast, indicated by the date. At first sight, there doesn't seem to be any significant event situated around the 20th of January this year, but perhaps some deeper digging would find something?

FORCED DISCONNECTTYPE=USERACCOUNTACCESSFLUSH
This is quite disturbing, as it shows the captors have found the broadcast & terminated it. If Hilen Tukoss is truly captured, it doesn't look good for him now that he's been caught transmitting.

I beli(eve my cap)tors to be (----- - - - --)s
None of the decoders filled in this blank, as too little is know, hence speculation is rife! It might meant to say Sleepers, due to the Wormhole connection, but it feels a bit too obvious.

D(--- - - - -- - )rch (--- - - )m (--- - -- - )anger I( - - - - -------- - - -)o gr(-- -- -- --- )
No-one decoded this line as too little info is available, however the short & long dashes might hint at what is hidden under the code. Up to brilliant decoders to unravel it!

Will the real Dr Hilen Tukoss please stand up?

But what does all of this mean in the end? Right now, it shows we have to be very careful who to trust, as there is no way to validate who the 'real' Hilen Tukoss is!
So to be able to make good decisions, we first need more information! In order to collect this data, capsuleers are combing out the Eram, Orduin & Elgoi systems for anything that could possibly reveal something. Every site is scanned, every complex investigated, every wormhole explored.
So far not much has come up, but a permanent observation force has been rallied to overwatch these systems for anything out the ordinary.

For now, it's best to be cautious of both versions of Hilen Tukoss until we can find out more. However, the reformation of Arek'Jaalan should continue, as both versions look at it positively.
As for the request of the third message not to help the broadcaster of the first two messages, it's a bit late.... The Jovian body parts have already been delivered.
In that regard, we'll soon found out who was right. Let us hope that we didn't unleash something we should have kept sleeping....
On the other hand, recent events got the 'captors' in a state of panic... This might refer to the Sleeper Data research race, a fairly sudden announcement that saw an increased interest in wormholes & sleeper data, along with new technology. If the captors are wormhole-based, this surely would alarm them, heightening them being discovered!

Currently, capsuleers of all factions & sides are doing their utmost best to analyze the messages, investigate various strange sites across the galaxy and are cross-referencing data & events, to find out what is going on? Because that's the core of the issue, from all the events as of late, it's easy to see something big is about to happen, related to Sleeper and/or Wormholes. But all we can do for now is guess & wait while we collect information...

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Newly discovered Sleeper sites contain advanced weapon blueprints!

Sleepers in Caldari State sovereignty!

In a recent expedition in the Lonetrek region, a member of the capsuleer alliance Ishuk-Raata Enforcement Directive (I-RED) stumbled upon a strange scan signature in the Kuoka system. Upon closer investigation, it turned out to be a Sleeper site! To find one outside the Ani constellation or wormhole systems is unprecedented!
Luckily, the explorer knew of this significance and documented the exploration of the site well, you can find the report on it here: Sleeper Site Investigation Report, published by Makato Priano on behalf of the explorer. Later on a second site was discovered and subsequently a second Sleeper Site Investigation report has been made available to support the first one. These reports serve as the basis for this article, as for now, very little information beyond the reports provided by I-RED is known about these new sleeper sites.
Concord also released an official report on these sites: Sleeper Cache Exploration Sites & Polarized Weapons

Analysis of the Limited Sleeper Cache site

From reports it's known that the signature of the site is hidden and very hard to scan down. This means that you need high skills & good equipment related to exploring to find these rare sites.
Upon warp-in, there's not much to be seen, but what can be seen is very curious. Two structures immediately attract the attention. One is a damaged construction, that upon closer inspection reveals to be a cloak generator! The other structure is identified by scanners as a  'hyperfluct generator'. It looks still intact but security systems hampered investigations. After the usage of a data analyzer to overcome this obstacle, the explorer could interface with it!

A bright spacial rift, accessible to travel to a destination unknown!
Image provided by Makoto Priano, I-RED official

Upon tampering with the device, the explorer inadvertently opens a small wormhole, revealing the function of the Hyperfluct generator! But to where would it lead? And would it be safe? Driven by the excitement of discovery & the unknown, the explorer dived in, curious what he'd find. And as he exited the small rift, a small storage site, littered with containers & structures is revealed. However initial observation also shows someone was here only recently before!

While recently visited, the site still harbours secrets & dangers!
Image provided by Makoto Priano, I-RED official

 Rapidly, the explorer went & investigated what was still left. Quickly, several intact depots were invetarized, linked to a larger structure. Interaction with this structure was needed to make the intact depots accessible. At times, self-defense mechanisms were triggered, causing some damage to the shield of the explorer's ship. To make matters worse, several of the damaged structures leaked dangerous plasma, forming volatile clouds that would damage any ship passing through them!
While the site was of sleeper origin, the items retrieved were curious, a variety of modules used among capsuleer ships, a science skillbook and Sleeper analyzer modules! But this all was topped by the discovery of a new weapon blueprint, a Polarized Tech 2 Heavy Pulse Laser!

Polarized Weapons? Are they any good?

From analyzing the blueprint, two remarkable features come up. Polarized weapons are much more deadly then their normal tech 2 counterparts but they do come with a major drawback as well! It turns out that Polarized weapons are not compatible with our defensive systems, reducing the resistance of any ship equipped with polarized weapons to zero, making these ships extremely fragile!

Below a list of all known features of these polarized weapons compared to basic tech 2 weapons:

Positive features 

-Rate of Fire is increased by 20%
-Tracking Speed increased by 15%
-Cap usage reduced by 25%
-Required CPU & Powergrid needs reduced by 10%
-Ammo capacity (when applicable) increased by 200%

Neutral features

-Damage multiplier: Identical
-Skill requirements: Identical

Negative features

-Range and falloff is reduced by 20%
-Requires expensive materials to be built
-All resistances on the ship reduced to 0 when fitted, cannot be circumvented by any known means

All in all, the new Polarized weapons are a trade-off. A more efficient & deadly weapon system at the cost of range, price and ship defenses. For now, capsuleers are still searching & experimenting with these weapons in order to find a good combat doctrine. However, Stealth Bomber Pilots already expressed great interest in the Polarized Torpedo Launcher variants, as they don't care about ship resistances.

What does it all mean?

All in all, the discovery of these sites is troublesome, as it means that Sleepers have been keeping an eye on us and our technology for a while. The discovery of a damaged cloak generator supports this theory along with the polarized blueprint, showing they have built up enough understanding to improve the technology of our weapons. Also, the fact this particular site was discovered by I-RED in highsec space displays that Sleepers have the ability to circumvent Concord detection methods while setting up their depots.

A Sleeper Records Chamber found in the second site
Image provided by Makoto Priano, I-RED official

On top of this, the reports that flow in from exploring these sites all report the same, the sites have been recently damaged & looted. This indicates a third party, not Sleepers or capsuleers that can locate these sites, damages the cloak & plunders a few of the storage depots. It's likely due to time constraints that not all containers are looted. Who this third party is, is still unknown.

The items found do paint a disturbing image however. It seems Sleepers are collecting our technology for analysis. For what purpose is not known yet, but considering how capsuleers are raiding & plundering sleeper wormhole sites, it's safe to assume they research our technology to counter us.
In this regard, the Polarized Tech 2 weapon blueprints are interesting. A plausible explanation for these blueprints in sleeper sites is that they're the product of Sleepers tampering with our tech to improve their understanding of it. If true, this shows they've made great strides in understanding our technology, up to the point they manage to improve upon them greatly. In addition to this, the Polarized weapons can be constructed by using regular materials, indicating the resistance incompatibility lies in it's programs or technology, not in materials used.

The sites themselves are hard to find, they are hidden signatures, on par with the hardest pirate sites to locate & scan down. Additional investigations also show that most of these newly discovered Sleeper Sites lie at the egd eof the solarsystems and not enar planets, like usual sites. On top of this, you need both Data analyzers & Hacking Modules to access these sites.
Also, the small rift that opens upon successfully activating the Hyperfluct generator can only be traversed by frigate-sized ships. Combine all this, and you need to be a dedicated explorer to locate and access these sites fully! Do keep in mind that all these conclusions can only be attributed to the Small Sleeper cache sites. So far, no larger sites have been found, but it may only be a matter of time.

A major thanks to I-RED's official, Makoto Priano & the Explorer she represents for granting the permission to use the data acquired as basis for this article & the usage of the images to support it further. You can keep track of I-RED's progress on analyzing these sites through here: Sleeper Cache investigation reports. Capsuleer Orakkus also published his personal experiences with investigating these Sleeper Sites here: 'Limited Sleeper Sites - Finally got to completely run one' where he stresses the difficulty of exploring these efficiently thereby serving as a warning that these sites are not for the faint of heart!

Sunday 9 November 2014

The Golden Masque Wine tasting & Writing contest

Prelude

A while back Lady Lunarisse Aspenstar held a writing contest for capsuleers to join in. Due to the quality of the contestants, she delayed the result of the contest till the Wine & Spirit tasting at the Golden Masque in order to properly judge their entries. This also had the added benefit that most contestants could be present at the final unveiling of the winners of her writing contest!
On top of this, one could enjoy some fine exclusive drinks in between the various announcements, offering a variety of subjects to talk about!
For the sake of clarity the article will be split in two however, the first part will be about the Wine, Beer & Spirits tasting itself and the second part will go deeper into the announcement of the winners of the writing contest!
I like to thank Lady Morwen Lagann for her generosity in hosting both events at the venue.

The November Wine, Beer & Spirits Tasting

Upon entry of the Golden Masque venue, one could spot a nice variety of stands to have a tasting of their particular wines, beers & spirits. The many stands will be summed up below:

- The central stand was occupied by Lord Lucas Raholan, who's exclusive and limited wine 'Chenin Blanc Raholan' is renowned for its quality. To have a chance to taste this wine is a rare opportunity and an honour. - I-RED provided a selection of their spirits normally available in their Lounge.
- New Eden Life, publicized by Evelyn Meiyi was also present with a selection of her wines, among it a fine Pinot Gris 110.
- Steffanie Saissore offered her Peach Brandy for the tasting, a quality product of her own private distillery.
- Tyrathlion Interstellar tasting stand presented two young vintages from the Vitalia Estate a red wine and a curious Zydrine variant, a remarkable green-hued wine!
- Lady Anise Tig'res offered something quite different & creative; an exquisite chocolate creme cocktail!

The wide selection of beverages for tasting assured the Golden Masque Wine, Beer & Spirit tasting event to be a great success! The large crowd being present was a testimony to this success.
For the most time, the event went flawless, people enjoying the variety of drinks to try out and the hors d'oeuvres offered by the staff to silent the stomach. People had a great time, tasting the various wines and other drinks on display, often trying new things and be delighted.

During this, I had a chance to talk with Lord Lucas Raholan on the reasons for his limited production of the renowned 'Chenin Blanc Raholan'. It turns out that in the past, raiders had burned the winery and countryside to the ground, but he assured me the culprits have been caught and dealt with. On top of this, the rebuilding is practically finished, hopefully being able to produce his wine in a larger volume in the future to satisfy the numerous connoisseurs.

Amidst all the tasting & talks, Lady Lunarisse Aspenstar often called for attention, in order to announce the various winners of the capsuleer writing contest. This was a great way to introduce an enjoyable new subject to the numerous discussions already going on.
Alll in all, a good time was had by most attendants. The only negative commotion came when security caught someone trying to discretely hand over Crash. Considering the Golden Masque is located aboard a Concord Station in Yulai, the surveillance is top notch and tolerance for illegal acts is zero!
To top it off, someone tried to 'save' the situation by claiming the Crash was hers, not of the person caught in the act! Naturally, Security responded by removing both rule-breakers from the premises.

Despite the rapid response of security, Lady Morwen Lagann was distraught by this commotion, as she takes great pride in her venue, keeping it a classy place where capsuleers can feel welcome. Luckily, most attendants didn't pay much attention to it and once the trouble-makers were removed, they happily went back to their various discussions, among it a lengthy discussion about the peculiar & strange Zydrine wine. It was certainly not a wine for everyday occurrences or for everyone's taste, but it was surely a great way to break the ice at parties!

As it grew late, the discussions slowly shifted to the more philosophical kind you often find when people become tipsy and the crowd thins out. All in all, it was a great event! But keep reading if you want to know who all won in the Capsuleer writing contest!

New Eden Capsuleer Writing Contest: The winners!

During the event, Lady Lunarisse Aspenstar called for attention 3 times, each time to announce the winners of a certain category! Indeed, due to the high quality of the contestants, she decided to split up the writing contest in 3 parts, in order to give everyone a fair chance! In total there were 23 submissions!
Submissions divided over the 3 parts: Poetry(12 submissions), Prose(7 submissions) and Non-Fiction(4 submissions).
Later on these submissions will be published in New Eden Life, by Evelyn Meiyi. A direct link to the publication of the winning submissions will be published once available! Now follows the list of all winners & the prizes they won!

Poetry
1st place: Aldrith Shutaq (Prize: 250 million isk)
2nd place: Karynn Denton (Prize: 150 million isk)
3rd & 4th place (tie): Adala Anduin & Arista Shahni (Prize: 150 million isk shared equally)
5th place: Raphael Ordo (Prize: 25 million isk)
6 to 12th Place: 2 million isk per submission

Prose
1st place: Literia (Prize: 250 million isk)
2nd place: Alabath Schmidt (Prize: 150 million isk)
3rd place: Jade Blackwind (Prize: 100 million isk)
4th place: Louella Dougans (Prize: 50 million isk)
5 to 7th place: 2 million isk per submission

Non-Fiction (News/Treaties/etc.)
1st place: Nicoletta Mithra (Prize: 250 million isk)
2nd place: Steffanie Saissore (Prize: 150 million isk)
3rd & 4th place (tie): Jandice Ymladris & Ashlar Maidstone (Prize: 102 million isk shared equally)

Bonus prizes
Best female writer: Literia (Prize: an exclusive full black ensemble)
Best Templar (Dust Mercenary) writer: Thal Vadam (Prize: a bottle of wine)

An interesting tidbit was that most of the Poetry submissions were sent in by Amarr, while the Prose submissions were dominated by the Minmatar. Also, all winners except one will be published in New Eden Life. The only one who omitted from seeing her winning entry published is Alabath Schmidt. In her place, the 5th contestant in Prose, Quintrala, will see her submission published!

A thanks to both Lady Morwen Lagann & Lady Lunarisse Aspenstar for hosting the event in The Golden Masque and for organizing both great events! Things like this are an excellent showcase for the more cultural interests that capsuleers have!

Over 17.000 refugees join the Aurora Arcology

As many have noticed, there's alot of commotion concerning wormholes. It all began when Sisters of Eve announced a change in Sleeper behaviour. This has lead to the frenzy that was the research race, an attempt by the 4 major empires to collect as much Sleeper data as they could from their capsuleer supporters. Ultimately, the the Amarr proved to the victors in this, being the first to achieve a breakthrough in new sleeper technology, unveiled as the brand new Tech 3 destroyers, versatile machines of destruction! Upon hearing this new implementation of sleeper tech, many pirate groups made their way into Wormhole space as well, hoping to achieve a technological breakthrough of their own!

All this commotion lead to a renewed interest to revive the Arek'Jaalan project of old, the centerpiece of Wormhole research. During the symposium to organize the new Arek'Jaalan project, chaos struck as Dr Hilen Tukoss, the project leader returned!
As the Symposium was thrown into disarray by this sudden arrival, Dr Tukoss requested and received a selection of Jovian body parts, remnants of the Jovian Transporter accident a decade ago! Nothing has come out of this yet, but considering it all, it'll be surely wormhole related!
To top it off, the Secure Commerce Commission did announce they'll rise the prices to buy Sleeper data items, making wormhole exploration more rewarding, isk-wise.

All in all, it's been a tumultuous month regarding wormholes and anything that revolves around it. Signs seems to point that there's still some surprises awaiting us regarding them in the near future, Aurora News will keep you informed of any future revelations in this matter!

Now onward to the Aurora immigration census report. While the variety in backgrounds is a bit less then usual, leading to less specialized workers, it isn't a bad thing by default, as the Aurora Arcology Expansion is still in full swing, providing a multitude of general & flexible jobs for all those who are capable!
With thanks to capsuleers Khaprice, Avio Yaken, Elenna Ailatan and Halcyon Ember, thousands once more can enjoy the safety & guidance that the Arcology offers to those in need!

Regular Civilians

- 298 Homeless
- 1.793 Janitors
- 30 Prisoners (Part of the Prison Lend-Lease Program)
- 50 Refugees
- 14 Scientists
- 34 Stranded Pilots
- 2.545 Tourists
- 4.955 Freed Slaves

Pets

- 85 Hounds

Law Enforcement

- 289 Freedom Fighters
- 4.627 Marines
- 1.810 Militants
- 25 Slavers (Part of the Redemption Program)

Employees for the Nightclub L'Etoile Rouge

- 280 Female Exotic Dancers
- 710 Male Exotic Dancers

Council Members

- 12 Oura Madusaari (Patients suffering the Oura M. Syndrome)
- 3 VIPs

I thank everyone who gives all these people across the cluster a new chance in their lives!

Saturday 8 November 2014

The return of Dr Hilen Tukoss, Arek'Jaalan project leader

About 3 years ago, Dr Hilen Tukoss ceased to replay to all communications and disappeared, causing the end of the Arek'Jaalan research project, specialized in wormhole system research.

But now he has returned, with a very interesting timing & announcement! Recently activity & interests in Wormhole systems & knowledge has been peaking, partly due to the unveiling of new, usable technology coming from those systems, culminating into the tech 3 destroyers!
Due to this, capsuleers had begun talking about the revival of Arek'Jaalan under their supervision, in order to be more prepared of any upcoming changes related to the wormhole systems and their inhabitants. In these tidings, Hilen Tukoss made an announcement, not only towards former Arek'jaalan members, but to all of New Eden's capsuleers about his return!

This has caused quite some commotion, not only due to the controversy that surrounded Arek'Jaalan in the past but also because of his odd message and his sudden appearance out of nowhere! On top of this, he also requested some hard to get parts.
The Republic research corporation Eifyr & Co are happy to see Hilen Tukoss return however, albeit they don't know either where the man has been all those years! Here is their public announcement: Eifyr & Co respond to Tukoss messaging.
We'll delve deeper into his messages, analyzing them and see what they could possibly mean.

The first message: It has been some >>time

His first message, announcing his return contains alot of cryptic messages, who have been decoded fast by expert cryptologists among capsuleers. An analysis of what various parts of the message means shall also be provided.
Here follows Dr Hilen Tukoss first message to capsuleers since his return & the analysis breakdown. As you can see it contains alot of oddities, strains of letters & numbers and an odd request. The decryption of the message was made possible by Valerie Valate and Esna Pitoojee who identified it as a hexadecimal code.

73797374656d20696e697469616c697a696e672e2e2e
636865636b73756d20636f6d706c65746521
636f6e736f6c65206f6e6c696e652e2e2e
64656372797074696e672062726f6164636173742e2e2e203235252e2e2e203432252e2e2e203738252e2e2e203931252e2e2e20636f6d706c65746521
416c69676e696e67207265636569766572206e6f64652e2e2e20636f6d706c65746521
636f6d6d656e63696e672062726f6164636173742e2e2e
Decoded, this first strain reads:
System initializing...checksum complete!
Console online...decrypting broadcast... 25%...42%...91%... Complete!
Aligning receiver node... complete!
Commencing broadcast...

Looks like a standard broadcast opening, however under normal circumstances this is normally not included in most communication protocols.

Good evening capsuleers,

I hope this message finds you 
>>
73796e746178206572726f722c207365617263683d226865616c746879222d73796e6f6e796d2e2e2e20726573756c743d2277656c6c22
well.
This second strain of code reads as follows:
syntax error, search="healthy"-synonym... result="well"

Looks like a standard welcome reply, but the difficulty & means to establish the word 'well' at the end is an indication there's something more at hand. What this can be is up for speculation.

For some time now, I have been unable to speak from my current location. I have, however, remained dedicated to the research we began together in
>>
7772697465636f6e666c69637420646174652f63757272656e743d32342f31302f313136207265706c6163652f737472696e673d30392f30372f313133
YC113.
This third codeline reads as follows:
writeconflict date/current=24/10/116 replace/string=09/07/113

Two dates, the 09/07/113 is the founding date for the Arek'Jaalan project. The second date is the date of his current announcement. 

Of the team that began research on this project, I am the only one who remains. The story behind the 
>> 
616c7465726e6174657265663d2273657175656e636522
chain of events that have caused this is extremely complex, and in time I will reveal why the situation is as it stands now.

This fourth code reads as follows:
alternateref="sequence"

Apparently searching for an alternative for 'sequence' and picked 'chain'. Just like the second line of code, an odd way for a human to find words. More fitting to a computer algorithm...

In the meantime, I need all the assistance I can garner, as fast as possible.

In the coming weeks, a location within 
>>
30003413/40216465=site one will become apparent where deposits can be made that may push us close to a breakthrough the like of which we have not seen since the 
>>73796e746178206572726f722c207365617263683d226d61727269616765222d73796e6f6e796d2e2e2e20726573756c743d226d617472696d6f6e792220
matrimony of the capsule and the clone.

The first string of numbers refer to a location, more exactly the Eram system (database ID:30003413) where the HQ of Arek'Jaalan is situated, Site One (database ID:40216465)

The other line of code reads as follows:
syntax error, search="marriage"-synonym... result="matrimony"

Once more it's this odd searching for synonyms, as if Hilen Tukoss is no longer fully human, but partly integrated in a computer algorithm. However the following line does indicate a major claim in science breakthrough. The joining of Capsule & cloning allowed for the birth of the immortal ship captains known as capsuleers, causing a major change in the powerbalance of the galaxy.
Any scientific breakthrough that would even come close to this impact would cause a major turmoil across all of New Eden!

When the time comes, I will call for deposits of the following, to be made to site one, in order for me to continue work.

• Blood Drop 
• Bone Splinter
• Cerebral Slice 
• Epidermis Sliver 
• Liver Bile

Your assistance in this matter would be very much appreciated. I will be in touch in the coming weeks to give further details.

- Hilen Tukoss
Quite a ghastly request one would say! Body Parts! But the body parts mentioned here are not just any body part, they're the remnants of a Jove who suffered a teleportation accident! While the poor Jovian has been reconstructed back in the end, there's still some these body parts left in the galaxy, held by capsuleers for research or just as a morbid relic.
But why would Hilen Tukoss need these Jovian body parts all of a sudden? One plausible theory is that he gathers it to gain access or otherwise interface with the Sleeper Mirror sites. However it remains speculation, and the true need to collect these parts is unknown.

7061636b6574206c6f7373202d20302e30313525
636f6d6d656e63696e67204243412073687574646f776e2e2e2e20636f6d706c65746521
73797374656d2073687574646f776e20696e69746961746564


>>

7472616e736d697373696f6e207465726d696e6174656421

These lines of code read as following:
Packet loss - 0.015%
Commencing BCA shutdown... complete! 
System shutdown initiated
>>
Transmission terminated!

Just like the opening part of the message, it looks like standard communication protocols, albeit they usually don't get displayed, as they're normally not part of the message itself.

All in all, the message contains quite some oddities. The opening & closing part can be attributed to malfunctioning communication relays or non-standard comm relays. However, the few code lines indicating an algorithm to search for synonyms are an indication there's more at hand. Coupled with the announcement that he's on the verge of a breakthrough that rivals the clone/capsule merging, it could indicate he managed to (partially?) integrate himself into a digital entity or a mainframe, allowing a next step into capsuleer/ship integration, or more.
While this sounds far fetched, it is possible, as the founder of Zainou Biotech managed to do this! While not yet repeated, various advances have made a breakthrough in this field more likely, among it the advances in capsuleer rebirth and the Dust Mercenary mind transfers. So in hindsight, the assumption that Hilen Tukoss is no longer fully human is not so far fetched anymore!

The second message: Resource Drop >>Established

The second message focuses around Hilen Tikoss' request for the Jovian body parts, announcing that he has reserved a drop-off point at the Arek'Jaalan site in the Eram system. However, he refuses to share why he needs the Jovian body parts for, fueling the paranoia of many a capsuleer!
However, as with the first message, there's alot of code embedded in the message. However, two capsuleers have decoded these pieces most excellently! Thanks to Andreus Ixiris and Liam Antolliere for sharing their expertise!

73797374656d20696e697469616c697a696e672e2e2e0d0a636865636b73756d20636f6d706c657465210d0a636f6e736f6c65206f6e6c696e652e2e2e0d0a64656372797074696e672062726f6164636173742e2e2e203139252e2e2e203336252e2e2e203638252e2e2e203838252e2e2e203931252e2e2e0d0a636f6d706c657465213f0d0a416c69676e696e67207265636569766572206e6f64652e2e2e20636f6d706c657465213f0d0a636f6d6d656e63696e672062726f6164636173742e2e2e
Just as with the first message, this decodes into a standard communication protocol for a relayed message:
system initializing...
checksum complete!
console online...
decrypting broadcast... 19%... 36%... 68%... 88%... 91%...
complete!?
Aligning receiver node... complete!?
commencing broadcast...

Good Afternoon, Capsuleers.

I thank you for your
>>73796e746178206572726f722c207365617263683d22686561746564222d73796e6f6e796d2e2e2e20726573756c743d227761726d22
warm reception since my last contact.
Once more this piece of code translates into a synonym search:
>>syntax error, search="heated"-synonym... result="warm"

I’m happy to inform you all that a resource drop has been successfully set up in Site One, in order to accept the 
>>73796e746178206572726f722c207365617263683d2261666f72656d656e74696f6e6564222d73796e6f6e796d2e2e2e20726573756c743d2270726576696f75736c7922
previously mentioned materials.
Once again a synonym search here:
>>syntax error, search="aforementioned"-synonym... result="previously"

I have watched with admiration as you have taken to Anoikis, with particular interest paid to colonization of
>>636f6e66696775726174696f6e206572726f723d2c202f2f7365617263683d2233313030323337382f2f33313030303030352f2f33313030313634372f2f33313030303532302f2f3331303032343739220d0a
This strain of code refers to several wormhole systems:
>>configuration error=, //search="31002378//31000005//31001647//31000520//31002479"
With thanks to Saede Riordan, wormhole/Anoikis expert, most of these wormhole systems have been identified:

31002378 = J150020
Class 6 Magnetar system with W237 (C6° static connection, occupied by No Holes Barred

31000005
Unidentified system. This is odd, as Tilen Hukoss mentioned colonized systems. Research indicates this ID is part of a series of missing ID numbers for wormhole systems. Currently more details are unavailable, but it is very much possible that another non-capsuleer organisation has secretly colonized a wormhole system of its own & kept it hidden from the rest of New Eden.

31001647 = J211817
Class 4 Pulsar system with two static connections being: C247 (C3) and X877 (C4), occupied by The Night Crew

31000520 = J50859
Class 2 Wormhole system with two static connections as well, B274 (Highsec) and Y683 (C4), occupied by Alexylva Paradox. It is also the home of the Origin project, an ongoing drive to colonize & populate this system.

31002479 = J100820
Class 5 wormhole system with a static connection to H296 (C5), occupied by Sleeper Social Club


Once initial work has been completed, I can return full time to assisting in curating the project that you have so generously contributed over the past four years.

Your contributions to the project so far have

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This last string of code more disturbing, as it's an emergency shutdown protocol for communications:
>>BROADCAST CORRUPTION DETECTED<<
>>PACKET SCRUBBING ENABLE...
>>SYSTEM FAILURE.

>CONNECTION TERMINATED<


Looks like Hilen Tukoss message got interrupted by a third party, perhaps the organisation of the unknown colonized wormhole? After all, to be able to colonize a  wormhole system without anyone knowing, you need some serious backing & power to keep it all below the radar....

What's next?

While people bickered & argued over the messages and warned for caution in delivering the body parts, due to the strange messaging format and the non-disclosure about the purpose of these body parts, some folks went ahead and just delivered the goods, curious to what it'll all lead towards.

It's important to notice that caution is advised, as something is clearly amiss, considering the strange errors in the message and the abrupt termination of the second message. Then again, the person was rightfully identified as Hilen Tukoss, so the question is not if it is a fraud or spy, but what he had become...

But as of now, this discussion has lost his relevance towards delivering the body parts or not, as rumour has it that several entities did not wait for any form of conclusion and just went ahead and assisted Dr Hilen Tukoss in his search for the body parts.

The Antiquarian delivering the required body parts along with some extras to Site One in Eram
Evidence image provided by Caroline Grace

While the Antiquarian has been seen delivering the requested parts, it's doubtful he's the only one who delivered them. A few others have informed they would do the delivery once they had acquired the items.
While the Jovian body parts are not easy to find, they're still fairly common among collectors. They often accumulated several body parts and hence could be persuaded to hand them over for the right price.

Now that the body parts have been delivered, we can only wait for the next announcement of Hilen Tukoss and what the result of this support to his cause will be. Hopefully it will be a positive contribution. Aurora News will keep you informed on any future developments!

A new message has been broadcasted by Hilen Tukoss! But this third message is very different from these two and carries a much darker message! Read all about it : The return of Dr Hilen Tukoss, Part II: A third message!