The Arek'Jaalan project

Lately, the Arek'Jaalan project is being brought up again, thanks to recent events like the Sleeper Research Race and the return of Dr Hilen Tukoss, the Arek'Jaalan project leader. But what was this project? And what made it so special? Also, the heated discussions & opinion do show that the Arek'Jaalan project is mired in controversy.

The founding of the Arek'Jaalan Project

The Arek'Jaalan project was announced on the 9th of July YC 113, a mere two days after Hilen Tukoss defected the State research corporation Zainou Biotech for the Republic research corporation Eifyr & Co, causing the project to start with a controversy. However, despite his transfer to the Republic, the Arek'Jaalan Project aimed to unify capsuleers in a common goal of research & advancement related to Wormholes & their inhabitants, the Sleepers & Talocans. Later on, the research fields expanded to include all ancient races.

The full purpose of the Arek'Jaalan project is; to research new theories & debate them; to document new findings and share the information with all members and to educate the capsuleer population about the scientific progress made & the information collected. A more detailed statement can be found here: Arek'Jaalan Mission Statement.
However as Hilen Tukoss approved the support of any capsuleer irrelevant of their background, more controversy was raised, as known pirate & outlaw capsuleers joined Arek'Jaalan to support it & perform their own research as well to be shared.

In order to centralize all this research & databases and to make it available to the wider capsuleer population,  the Arek'Jaalan project constructed their own headquarters in the Eram system, with strong support from the capsuleer community.
The HQ was finished on 30 November YC 113 and can still be visited today as Site One. A list of all contributors can be found here: Arek'Jaalan Site One construction. At the site you can acces & download all the research projects that have been undertaken and finished. The documents are a good way to deepen your understanding about various aspects in New Eden, mainly the various ancient races & the Wormhole systems.

A short list of various Arek'Jaalan research projects

The main focus of the research is uncovering the mysteries around the Sleepers & Talocan in Wormhole systems and to strive for a better understanding of their technology. Due to Rogue Drones being everywhere, they did make it in as one of the large research fields of Arek'jaalan as well.

Sleeper History & Technology

Most of our current knowledge of Sleepers heralds from the effort put in by various capsuleers who invested alot of time & resources in order to better understand this mysterious race and their technology. Thanks to them, we now know of the Sleeper-Jovian connection, have a better understanding of some sleeper sites like the Oruze enclave and also a useful listing of the various Sleeper drones one can encounter. However, there's still plenty left to uncover about the Sleepers and their technology as recent events have shown!

Talocan History & Technology

One of the latest ancient races to be discovered, the Talocan civilization is still shrouded in mystery. The discovery that they have inhabited the wormhole systems renewed efforts into studying their history & technology.
One of the most well known Talocan archaeology sites however lies in known space, the Devil's Dig Site. The research done by Arek'Jaalan on this site has improved our understanding of Talocan technology by a wide margin. Investigations in the various Talocan sites in wormhole space do paint a dark end to their civilization however, as most Talocan hubs whose comms haven't failed yet due to disrepair warn to stay clear of them due to a quarantine being imposed, indicating the Talocan civilization came to an end due to some form of virulent plague...

One of the greatest discoveries done by Arek'Jaalan was uncovering the purpose of the Talocan Static Gates. They were revealed to be able to open Spacial rifts & wormholes with ease. From this it follows that perhaps Sansha's Nation managed to get a hold on a fully functional unit during their attacks on Empire space! Such unit would explain their ability to open & close wormholes at will to systems of their own choosing.
Still, some of their constructions are a mystery to this day, like their famed Black Monolith structures, which have spawned many a theory about them but no firm evidence yet to support them. To add to the mystery, Rogue Drones are seemingly attracted to the Talocan sites in known space, for reasons unknown.

Rogue Drones

While not originally part of Arek'Jaalan's research goals, they were quickly integrated into the project due to their attraction to Talocan sites and their rudimentary similarities to the Sleeper Drones.
Thanks to Arek'Jaalan, we now have a better understanding of Rogue Drones, including the revelation that Rogue Drones are not a unified factions, but do fight out conflicts between each other. This effort did lead to a better understanding of the origin of Rogue Drones.
One of the major achievements of Arek'Jaalan in this field is the successful communication with certain Rogue Done entities. What it means on a larger scale is currently unknown.

Ancient Races

With all the research done on the Sleepers & Talocan, it became inevitable that the other ancient races like the Takmahl and the Yan Jung were incorporated into the Arek'Jaalan research as well.
Out of the analysis of these ancient races many new insights & knowledge came forth, among it their possible migration routes.
One of the most successful research projects in this field was the analysis of the Labyrinth, a Takmahl archaeology site. The research of this site managed to map the Labyrinth and through it reveal a deeper knowledge about the Takmahl civilisation.

Databases containing Arek'Jaalan knowledge & discoveries

There have been much more research projects, but the ones listed above have seen the most activity within the Arek'Jaalan community. Most of the Arek'Jaalan findings & discoveries can be found in the Library and the Compendium, ready for consulting.
Do keep in mind that all of Arek'Jaalan findings & discoveries have been made by capsuleers! This is remarkable, as usually the Empires keep capsuleers away from meaningful analysis & research.

What happened to Arek'Jaalan?

But why was Arek'Jaalan discontinued if it was so successful? The reason is the disappearance of Hilen Tukoss. For reasons unknown, Hilen Tukoss fell silent, not responding to any communications. As he was the lead project manager and no successor was appointed, the Arek'Jaalan project fell silent, albeit some capsuleers tried their best to keep their data collection projects going.
The controversy surrounding the Project did not help, leading to many capsuleers refusing to assist or even acknowledge their existence & efforts. The main issue of the controversy is that Hilen Tukoss counted Blood Raiders & Sansha Loyalists among the ranks of scientists & security personnel.

Eventually, Arek'Jaalan faded away into obscurity, only to be remembered as a unique period where capsuleers of vastly different backgrounds worked together to expand the knowledge & understanding of the various ancient civilizations and their technology.
To this day, Site one in the Eram system stands as a silent monument to this unique period of capsuleer co-operation to expand the knowledge & science for everyone.

At the moment, there is a drive to reform Arek'Jaalan, thanks to the successful drive of the Independents during the Sleeper Data research race. Currently, nothing is decided yet about the revival of Arek'Jaalan, but the return of Hilen Tukoss is very well timed in this regard!
With all the recent events surrounding Wormholes & sleepers, this would be a great time to revive Arek'Jaalan, as it was made for this kind of research!

Pirates venture into Wormhole systems!

Recently, information has come out that various pirate groups have begun exploring wormhole space. So far they don't seem to have gone into the deep end yet, restricting their visits and temporary sites in wormhole system classes C1, C2 and C3.
However it does mean that capsuleers are no more the only group exploring wormholes in search of riches, data & technology. Any form of additional knowledge about the Sleepers and their technology is not only valuable, but can also lead to new breakthroughs, as shown in the research race that yielded the tech 3 destroyer as result!

An Angel site found in a wormhole system

At the time, the exact goal of the various pirate groups is not yet certain. However the sites they leave behind can give clues into their operations. Most sites are set up to study data or collect relics. However, they are not guarded, indicating it's possibly only a temporary site, meant to be left as soon as danger appears in the form of sleepers or capsuleers.
As exploring wormholes is no easy task, the pirate groups have to put in alot of resources & technology in order to be able to retrieve any form of sleeper data & technology with them. This in return means that analyzing the sites they leave behind can yield some very interesting & valuable content as result!
For now, no true pirate bases have been located, only these unguarded relic & data sites left behind by the pirates in wormhole systems. But it's advised to keep your eyes open for any new changes!

What the future holds is uncertain, but pirate organisations meddling with Sleeper knowledge & relics is not a good omen. If any of the pirate groups can crack the Sleeper data or tech to incorporate into their own systems & blueprints, they'll be able to produce technology that can rival or even outmatch anything the Empires produce. One only has to see at the capacities of the tech 3 cruisers or the tech 3 destroyers to see what integrated Sleeper technology can do! And unlike the Empires, the various pirate organisations are far less concerned in trying to keep their technolgy safe... allowing them to reach a breakthrough faster, at the cost of lives....

The Masquerade Ball

Prelude

The Masquerade Ball is a social capsuleer gathering organized by Knight Steffanie Saissore. the purpose is to allow capsuleers of widely different background to mingle beyond the commchannels. The masking helps with this as it'll leaves you guessing who all attend, reducing any potential friction between attendants.
This is the second time the Masquerade in its current form is organized, following up on the success of last year, where people had a good time and no serious incidents were reported.

The event itself is invite only with guests allowing to bring one additional person if they desire, allowing Steffanie Saissore to have control over who can attend the event and keep out troublemakers. You can read her announcement here: 'Second Annual Masquerade', the time of the event would be 18H on the 1st of November.
The location of the event itself was Miss Saissore's converted Navy Megathron battleship, docked at the Kaalakiota Factory in the Ichoriya system.
Requirements for attending was straightforward: wear formal clothing and a mask. No weapons allowed on ground of capsuleers being troublemakers when the situation arises. All guests also need to have an invitation, or be accompanied by someone who had received one. Background had little effect, as you only needed to confirm you wanted to receive an invite, albeit known troublemakers would be refused one.

The Masquerade Ball

The Masquerade Ball proved to be a very enjoyable party, with a large masked crowd being present. This allowed you to enjoy the view of various, often elaborate costumes that many of the attending capsuleers were wearing, and the masks to go along with it.
The large crowd also made sure there was always a discussion that picked your interest, as a wide variety of subjects was being talked about. On top of this, it was highly likely you bumped into someone you knew from your previous travels or interactions through the Summit channel or otherwise!
One of the attendants, Leopold Caine, did cause quite a stir with security present when he pulled out a confetti gun. The security drones, devoid of any forms of humour, immediately instructed Mr Caine to drop the gun & follow further instructions. Luckily it was all resolved rapidly, but it was also a good show of the efficiency of the security present, allowing no deviation of 'Do not carry arms of any kind'!

The large crowd did make it at times difficult to follow discussions however as the murmuring of those around you meant you had to focus on your discussion-partners. Luckily Knight Steffanie Saissore had foreseen such ordeal and had two additional rooms for attendants to visit & relax.
One was the Salon, offering an enjoyable and warm fireplace, along with a bar, the other room was the Observatory, offering a moonlit starry sky , with blackened leafless trees bearing twisting & curving branches to set the mood for the evening.

Once the crowd was dispersed over the 3 rooms, people had a much easier time in catching up and having enjoyable talks. The main crowd did remain in the Grand Hall, where the main event was held, allowing people to use the dance floor.
Capsuleer Alabath Schmidt provided an enjoyable distraction  when she had grabbed a tray of cookies out the kitchen and then went on chases to offer these cookies to certain people across the Grand Hall, much to the amusement of those watching.
The dancefloor itself was a real hit as well, seeing various pairs dancing across the duration of the Ball. The dancing pairs also gathered quite some onlookers, who watched their dancing skills in amazement! Especially the dance pair Aldrith Shutaq and Mizhara Del'Thul gained alot of attention, not only due to their unlikely pairing, but also because of their remarkable dancing skills, showing an extremely high performance!

People obviously had a great time, if the various discussions are something to go by, from nullsec politics to the cuteness of Matari, and many more things, it all got brought up! I have to commend the restrain of the guests for not causing any major distress at the Masquerade Ball, as there was a wide variety of capsuleers present, causing some friction between certain attendants. But despite these frictions, nobody had a desire to escalate their feelings, save for a few vitriol remarks.
All this made for an enjoyable and diverse event, enjoyed by many!

Conclusion

It was a very enjoyable event, with a chance to mingle with people you rarely talk or meet otherwise. Also, almost everyone being friendly was a great boon, as nobody tried starting anything bad with people they disliked, probably encouraged not to by the security display earlier at the Grand Hall.
Sometimes discussions were hard to follow, but from what I gathered, most people didn't mind recapping little bits at times, to keep everyone in their group up with the talking. Keep in mind that at some point, over 40 people were present, most of them talking, it does require you to pay good attention to your discussion.
The various costumes people wore, along with the masks were also a feast for the eyes, allowing you to just enjoy sights as you walked from one room to another.

I thank Knight Steffanie Saissore for yet another successful Masquerade Ball organisation! It was a wonderful evening!

Nightmare in New Eden

Prelude

For a few years now, a strange Nightmare, accompanied by a support fleet terrorizes the Eden cluster on the midnight hour of 30 October. At the helm is the Mad Capsuleer Tyen, who wants to bathe the starlanes in blood and burn the galaxy in a quest to silence the voices in his own mind. Only by the combined effort of capsuleers has the Nightmare threat been stopped in the past years. Can we do this once again this year?

As a way for capsuleers to challenge his Halloween Nightmare, Tyen had announced his arrival in the Ouelletta system in advance, allowing everyone ample time to prepare.

When the bell tolls at midnight

Arriving just 10 minutes before the Halloween Nightmare's arrival, I discovered a quiet system, just 8 others in local with me. There was no sign at all of any imminent disruption or chaos.
Then as the bell tolls at the midnight hour, a cynosural field opens! And through it, a majestic and powerful fleet jumps in the system! It's a combined force of Shadow Cartel, Cynosural Field Theory, Suddenly Spaceships, Goonswarm and Black Omega Security, backed up by Archon carriers flown by Northern Coalition / Black Legion! They'll be referred further as the Unity Fleet.
They had joined forces in order to stop the Mad Capsuleer Tyen and his Nightmare from threatening the New Eden cluster! But first they had to track him down.... He had to be in the system somewhere.... waiting... planning... scheming....

The Unity Fleet in all it's glory

Then an announcement sounded over local, Tyen taunted the capsuleers present to meet him in battle at the Jufvitte gate! His overconfidence to announce his location towards over a hundred capsuleers did spark caution among those present, expecting a trap just waiting to be sprung!
And so, for the next 20 minutes, everyone was waiting... trying to anticipate what the other would do... The Unity Fleet held off, expecting other contenders to arrive and they didn't want to be surprised. Tyen waited at the gate with his support fleet, the Dirt Nap Squad, for his enemies to arrive, wanting to spill the blood of those he challenged...

To stand together, now and forever!

Then all of a sudden, the wait ended, the Unity Fleet descended upon the Nightmare, a hundred ships strong. The Nightmare immediately fired up its engines, attempting to reach an optimal distance from the fleet in order to rain death & destruction upon them! Dirt Nap Squad however was overwhelmed and lost much of it's offensive power as their Hurricanes were demolished under concentrated Unity firepower.
After taking care of most of the Dirt Nap Squad threat, the Unity battleships pursued the Halloween Nightmare, covered by the smaller ships in their fleet. The Archons stayed in the back, serving as mobile repair platforms for those in need. Meanwhile, the Dirt Nap Squad fleet kept the Nightmare going, nullifying almost all damage done to this insidious ship!

The Halloween Nightmare fighting off the pursuing Unity ships

As the battle between the Halloween Nightmare and Unity was in full swing, a contender arrived! A small fleet of PL Ishtars and other ships landed on grid & proceeded to attack the Unity fleet! But under the guidance of their FC, Unity reacted swiftly, refocusing their firepower on the new arrivals.
Unable to do much against this powerful force, PL withdrawn after suffering heavy losses, but not before they demolished a Goonswarm battleship.

Now that the Unity Fleet had established dominance, the rest of the battle would be uneventful. Dirt Nap Squad did their best to keep their master, the Mad Capsuleer Tyen, alive in his Nightmare, but one by one they feel to the might of Unity.
At the end, it was just a handful of logistic ships, trying their best to keep the Nightmare alive, but to no avail. As Unity focused the firepower of their fleet on the Nightmare, it exploded in a bright fiery blaze of glory. And with that, the threat to New Eden was silenced, and celebrations could commence!
But silently it was known that this peace would only last for a year.... Tyen would return next year, as always, on Halloween.... to renew his threat to terrorize the cluster!

The conclusion

The Unity fleet's presence assured that all the others remained mostly out of sight, save a few small but futile engagements made against them. Unity Fleet was composed of several powerblocs from Lowsec & Nullsec, these being: Cynosural Field Theory, Shadow Cartel, Suddenly Spaceships, Goonswarm and Black Omega security in sub-capitals. The Archons supported the fleet were flown by Black Legion and Northern Coalition.
This amount of political power combined made any other capsuleer force wary to challenge their dominance against the Nightmare fleet. Only PL challenged them directly, but with a surprisingly small force, only composed of cruisers.

The Unity Public Relations Fleet Commander Niraia

The Halloween Nightmare itself stayed alive for a good long time, as initially, nobody wanted to take initiative, waiting what the others would do. But eventually, it was brought down by the combined force of the Unity fleet.

Killmail of The Halloween Nightmare, who perished at 00:45

Images of the Unity Fleet getting ready for battle, by Halcyon Ember
The first image shows the Titan who provides the Jumpbridge for the fleet to the Ouelletta system.

For more info, you can read Mad Capsuleer Tyen's announcement: 'Nightmare in New Eden public announcement', you can also find more & deeper information on his motivations here: 'Nightmare in New Eden organisation'

Aurora Arcology population exceeds 1 million citizens!

This week saw 60.000 immigrants, refugees & rescuees join the Arcology, the second highest immigration number recorded since the start of Aurora News! This large number pushes our total population over the million!
I like to thank everyone who has helped over the years in making this milestone success!
You can always keep track of the growing Aurora Arcology population through this datalink: Arcology Population database
Thanks to the recent expansion, assisted by Caroline Grace and Pieter Tuulinen's assistance in security matters, management is confident that the Project will not face any issues despite it's rapid growth as more & more job opportunities become available as the Arcology's fame grows.

Under influence of capsuleer Khaprice and her ongoing struggle to help freed slaves getting a good start in their new lives, the Aurora Arcology has begun to set up a new division that will specialize in guiding freed slaves, as their needs for guidance are more complex then your average refugee/rescuee.
On top of this, Khaprice rescued a Private Dancer from certain death during the 'Explode a Nyx for the Kids ' battle, narrowly avoiding being spotted by the aggressors during her daring rescue!

Also, Aurora News got featured on EN24, one of the large capsuleer news sites! They asked permission to reprint the Children charity Nyx battlereport on their site: 'Explode a Nyx for the Kids- EN24 version'. I like to thank Bobmon for this opportinity! Looks like Aurora News is well on its way to become an established capsuleer news-service as well!

Lately there have been a few large immigration waves, this can be attributed to the rising visibility & fame of the Arcology project. because more capsuleers know of us, they also know a good place to transfer their rescuees & refugees towards.

Now onward to this weeks large census report! Major thanks to Khaprice, Angie Eiu, Riddic X, Halcyon Ember, Elenna Ailatan and many others for giving these refugees & rescuees a new chance in their lives!

Regular Civilians

-30 Caldari Prisoners of War
-49 Captured Civilians (Datafile: Sansha fleets raiding deep space facilities!)
-255 Civilians
-6 Construction Workers
-798 Homeless
-1.689 Janitors
-5 Manel's Servant
-5 Miners
-335 Refugees
-10 Science Graduates
-13 Scientists
-20 Ship's Crew
-21 Stranded Pilots
-6.841 Tourists
-27.716 Freed Slaves (Datafile: Freeing slaves, the first step of many...)

Pets

-4 Fedos (Datafile:A strange animal)
-176 Hounds

Law Enforcement

-337 Freedom Fighters
-1 Kameira
-20.911 Marines
-413 Militants
-118 Slavers (Part of the Redemption Program)
-1 Spy

Employees for the Nightclub L'Etoile Rouge

-390 Female Exotic Dancers
-1.084 Male Exotic Dancers
-1 Prostitute (Datafile: Rescued during 'Explode a Nyx for the Kids' battle)

Council Members

-1 Fajah Ateshi
-1 VIP

It's been a busy week, both on reporting as guiding the many new arrivals to the proper sections within the Arcology, taking into account their cultural & social preferences. After all, the Aurora Arcology Project prides itself on providing arrivals a new place to call home!

Explode a Nyx for the Kids!

In order to raise awareness for sick children who need expensive medical support, CEO Bacchanalian of Rote Kapelle organized an event that would attract the attention of capsuleers across Eden. As he explains here 'Kill a Nyx for Kids & Charity', he decided to sacrifice his Nyx supercarrier in exchange for charity donations from capsuleers across Eden. To officialize these donations he set up a charity page here: 'Extra Life Donation Drive by Bacchanalian' where he aimed to collect 400 billion isk! (10.000 $ )

As Concord Command Personnel(CCP) heard of his pledge & charity drive, they offered their assistance, in order to create more awareness to this event. They even pledged that CCP would match the capsuleer donations 1 on 1 up to 200 billion isk! (5.000 $)

This event would occur in a yet to be named system on 25 October at 20H.

In an effort to create even more awareness, several capsuleers informed Bacchanalian they would sacrifice their capital alongside them, upping the total of capital ships to shoot at in exchange for donations to 6 ships. These were two Archons, a Phoenix, a Revelation, a Thanatos and the fabled Nyx!

5 CCP officals kept an eye on it all, to assure things ran smooth and assist when it was needed. These officials were: CCP Explorer, CCP Foxfour, CCP karkur, CCP Logibro and CCP Manifest. They kept an eye on the event through their advanced Enimga Observer Frigates.

A lone Thanatos and the mighty Eagles!

At the start of the event, the target system was announced: the Ostingele system in Placid region! And so, across the cluster ships undocked & made their way to the target system. However, unlike previous events, this one caused far less issue for Gate traffic control, causing a smoother flight!

And so begin the first fights in Ostingale, in an attempt to claim dominion on the battlefield grid. Among the notable early arrivals was one of the event capitals, the Thanatos carrier, piloted by Bobmon. The early fighting was focused around him, but he did survive the ordeal, as he managed to successfully demolish ships from various fleets, like Providence Bloc, VeGA and ILaw. It's important to note that these early fleets were mainly composed of smaller ships like various frigate types & destroyers.

Initially, most skirmishes were small-scale, where early fleet arrivals were testing each others strength while waiting for more backup to arrive. And then the first big fleet engagement happens! The Overload Everything  Vexor Fleet enters the Gallente warfare complex housing the event capital ships and proceeds to clear the area, massacring anyone unable to escape their onslaught on time! And so they were the first to establish solid dominance inside the Event Complex...

While several fleets continue their skirmishes across Ostingele, Snigwaffe decides it's time to move as well, before Overload can entrench itself.

As they enter, the Snigwaffe Eagles descends upon the Overload fleet, driving them out as Vexors explode left & right!

And with that, things just got serious.... Fleets readied themselves to launch their massive attacks on the Gallente complex, the small scale skirmishes left alone to those few stragglers flying around. The Eagles of Sniggwaffe were about to face some serious opposition...

No matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground!

And so it begins... the Great Battle for the Gallente Medium Complex housing the event capitals... The Sniggwaffle Eagle fleet holds the place, barring the gates to enter. But several fleets readied themselves for a large attack upon the complex, how long would they stand against them? They would soon know... as several fleets warped in to the gates of the complex....

As the various fleets descended upon the Medium Gallente complex, there is surprisingly little infighting among the various fleets as they all warp through the gates! It seemed that they hope to overwhelm the Sniggwaffe Eagles by their massive presence before they would fight for the spoils of victory!

Eve-Uni, Overload Everything, Spectre/RvB, Goonswarm, VeGA, Brave all these fleets would warp in, sometimes together, sometimes by themselves, all with the desire to drive out the Sniggwaffe Eagles and claim the complex as their own!

But despite this overwhelming opposition, the Eagles stood their ground, blowing up ships, left & right, while suffering little losses themselves. At the highpoint of this battle, hundreds of ships perished to Sniggwaffe in just 30 minutes!  

As the fight drags on, and the Eagles prove to be tougher then expected, some fleets turn on each other, trying to salvage whatever kill they could out of this onslaught. But more & more fleets began to reorganize, falling back & regrouping for a renewed attack. On top of this, more fresh fleets joined the fray, contesting the complex for their own. 

Among these fresh fleets was Nulli Secunda, who successfully drove out Sniggwaffe after the destruction of a few of their ships. And with that action, the chaos was complete.... All the hatred, all the rage the fleets had for each other erupted into a fiery ball of combat & explosions...

The whole thing descended into chaos as multiple front battles opened at the entrance gates and inside the complex. Goonswarm engaging Nulli Secunda, Pandemic Legion joining the fray, firing on anything that wasn't theirs. Eventually, the Nulli Secunda fleet crumbled slowly under this heavy pressure. The chaos was complete, and many smaller fleets entered combat, hoping for opportunistic kills, yet get slaughtered by the large combat fleets!

But the Sniggwaffe Eagles weren't defeated yet.... They regrouped, fighting off any pursuers and readied themselves for a renewed attack. Determined to claim the complex for their own, they engaged warp, minds sharpened, weapons loaded.

As they land on grid, the unfortunate Circle of Two fleet who just engaged the Nulli Secunda remains got massacred by them. With this swift & brutal action, the Eagles reclaimed their stake on the complex, driving out the rest. 

And so the Sniggwaffe Eagles held the ground firmly, but by now a new stage has arrived in the conflict... Various fleets had a second, more powerful force on the way... These were the dreaded Battleship fleets...

Let Ostingele BURN!

By now, most smaller fleets had disengaged or were just hunting stragglers across the system. When the Battleship fleets arrived, the combat outside the medium complex amplified & importance shifted to system control.

Whoever could control the system with their fleet would gain control over the event capitals!

As the fight inside the medium complex raged on against the Eagle cruisers, several battleship fleets arrived at the complex' gates. Unable to enter, they proceed with blasting away at each other!

By now, the remaining powerblocs in the system had minimally two fleets under their command, a mobile & agile fleet, usually composed of smaller ships, usually one shiptype of frigates, destroyers or cruisers and a large battleship fleet to lay down some serious damage on anything the agile fleet needed assistance with.

The two largest powerblocs remaining by now were the Pandemic Legion/Snigwaffe fleets and the Spectre/RvB fleets, along with a two smaller, but still menacing powerblocs; The Goonswarm fleets and the Brave Collective forces. Several of these fleets were roaming the system as well, cleaning up any small fleet or stragglers they found. Sometimes these behemoth fleets clashed, resulting in formidable engagements that often ended in stalemates as they withdraw before any conclusion could be made.

Often a battleship fleet managed to jump on one of the agile fleets, blapping several of their ships out of existence before they could withdraw. Keep in mind, at this point, the remaining fleets count in the hundreds of ships. During one of these engagements, the Goonswarm powerhouse located and annihilated the first capital ship! The Archon, piloted by Daagin went down under the blistering heat of the Armageddon lasers and the stings of dozens of harpies. This would be the first of the Event capitals going down!

During these formidable clashes, the RvB/Spectre force had an advantage. Due to their apparently random composition of corps & alliances, the coalition fleets often got surprised by them, resulting in the loss of many of their ships, battleships included!

Especially Goonswarm & Pandemic Legion got hit hard by the roaming RvB/Spectre force! In the meantime, the Snigwaffe Eagles didn't rest either, as displayed when they massacred the CAS fleet and gave the Goonswarp Harpies a serious blow as well, defending their turf.

For hours on end, Ostingele was the battleground of majestic Battleship fleets clashing, guided by their more agile support fleets in Eagles, Harpies or other smaller craft. 

During this fights often became chaotic as one fleet joined another engagement in progress, attempting to capitalize on the chaos. And yet, despite the presence of these mighty fleets, smaller entities often warped into Ostingele, hoping to catch stragglers, but many of these opportunists got slammed down when one of the big forces located them...

Especially Pandemic Legion proved itself to be an extremely dangerous adversary, cutting a path with their Apocalypses & Harpies through the fleets of their adversaries...

Ostingele was burning... Wherever you warped towards, dozens of wrecks welcomed you to their bleak final resting place... Often disturbed by opportunistic salvagers who denied them their eternal rest... And yet, the battles raged on... adding more wrecks to the pile...

The Final Showdown

But as the fight outside the complex raged on, the 5 remaining event capitals, who wanted to sacrifice themselves to gather isk for the Children charity were still very much alive, defended by Sniggwaffe Eagles. Deciding it was time to end this, the capital pilots jointly decided to warp to the 'Top belt!' in the system (also the only asteroidbelt) and get hammered by the powerbloc fleets that remained.

By then, many of the fleets already lost quite the number of battleships and supporting smaller ships. yet, when it was announced the sacrificial capital fleet had arrived in the top belt, they all raced towards it! The resulting chaos engulfed the entire belt, dozens of ships exploding on arrival as they were alpha'd by those who had arrived just a bit earlier.

But under the enormous firepower fielded by the various battleship fleets, the first two carriers exploded in a fiery blaze of glory! This was the Archon event carrier flown by Mutha Shut'yo'Mouth and the Thanatos event carrier flown by Bobmon, who managed to survive up to this faithful moment.

But the battle kept on raging, inbetween the dying capitals, ships exploded all over the place. To make it even more of an entangling mess, many of the earlier fleets arrived on the battlefield as wall, attempting to claim a part of the kill!

As Camel Empire, VeGA, Overload Everything and several others joined the fray dominated by PL, Snigwaffe, Goonswarm, Brave and RvB/Spectre, the battle lost the last bit of perceived control and dived into glorious chaos, as fleets mingled with each other, shooting at anything that wasn't part of them!

Amidst this chaos, two more capitals blew up shortly after each other, the event Phoenix Dreadnought piloted by Orar Ironfist, worth over 15 billion isk and the event Revelation Dreadnought piloted by Angel Vengen. Now only the Nyx remained... The fires of battle continued to rage, the battleship fleets started to wear out under the continuous battering of the other fleets as they tried to eliminate as much competition as possible.

In the 10 minutes between the death of the last dreadnought and the fall of the Nyx, hundreds of ships were lost, battleships and frigates alike burned in the fires of destruction. But at long last... the Nyx fell... Over 600 capsuleers battered Mishka Chinoise's Nyx into oblivion! And with that one last blaze of glory, the purpose of the event was fulfilled, the capitals sacrificed in exchange for massive donations for the children charity Extra Life!

Once the capitals were down, most fleets withdraw from battle rapidly, eliminating those foolish enough to chase them. PL & Snigwaffe remained for a while, hunting down any stragglers who didn't clear the system fast enough!

But now the action dwindled rapidly and people fled the system as soon as they could, allowing Ostingele to return to it's old faction war shenanigans.

The Aftermath: What is gained from all this?  

In the end, the 'Kill a Nyx for the Children' donation drive was a humongous success, as it gathered over 400 Billion isk! (over 10.000$) As promised, CCP added 200 Billion isk on top of it (5000$) by directly donating it to the children charity Extra Life!

A big thanks to everyone who donated, making the success of this event all the sweeter!

On the capsuleers themselves, they got some good action going, with Concord Traffic Control acting in great performance as the capsuleer ships were barely restrained by Concord delay protocols!

In total 6 capitals went down in all the massive fighting. These 6 event capitals were piloted by Rote Kapelle (Nyx), Brutor Tribe (Archon), Pandemic Legion (Thanatos) and 3 by Psychotic Tendencies - a fitting name! (Archon, Phoenix, Revelation)

Below you find the kill reports on these capitals and their time of death:

21H54: Daagon's Archon goes down as the first one

23H03: The Thanatos flown by Bobmon is the second one to go down in a blaze of glory

23H08: Mere minutes after, the second Archon, piloted by Mutha Shut'yo'Mouth explodes!

23H13: Shortly after, the Officer fit Phoenix, piloted by Orar Ironfist is ended

23H16: Angel Vengen's Revelation follows in the footsteps of his comrade and perishes

23H26: The Nyx, piloted by Mishka Chinoise finally goes down under the combined barrage of all the fleets present in the belt!

The Ostingele battle (Warning! Huge file! Over 30 pages long!) Check from 25 October- 20H to 25 October - 23H59

All in all, it was a very intense fight, involving several fleets that were a few hundred ships strong. Important to note is that while local remained mostly stable around 900 capsuleers (with a spike to 1100 at some point), there were over 3000 ships lost in this time period! This indicates heavy fighting but also a rapid turnover, for every capsuleer blown up, a new one joined the field!

I like to thank the Rote Kapelle CEO Bacchanalian for organizing this event, both the Kill a Nyx as the charity drive for Extra Life.
Also a big thanks for those who sacrificed their capitals alongside the Nyx to enhance this combat event!

This article is also mirrored on the capsuleer news site EN24: 'Explode a Nyx for the Kids!'

Final note form the author: I did my best reconstructing the fight, but I was unable to be everywhere on time, the chaotic engagements at times didn't help either. If you spot any glaring errors, do let me know! Also, links to images and such are also very welcome! You shall always be credited for images & links you provide!

Aurora Project expands the Arcology!

Once again the Aurora Arcology has expanded it's holdings aboard the Caldari Provision station in Irjunen. Management already expanded the Arcology section last year, believing it would last for a good time, but they erred. Thanks to the great support the Aurora Project received this year, growth & expansion has been off the charts, leading to a new imminent overcrowding issue in the last month.

In order to form a more permanent solution, Aurora Management restarted negotiations with Caldari Provisions concerning their Irjunen station. After a few weeks of talks, an arrangement was made. Caldari Provisions informed us that we could rent one of the sealed off sections from their station at a premium rate.
The catch however was that the cost of the re-opening & reconstruction of this sealed off section fully came on our shoulders.
As this section was sealed off since capsuleers abandoned Irjunen as missionhub many years ago, alot of work needed to be done. But we had the manpower, many of the Aurora citizens were qualified to assist in the rebuilding of this section & it would grant jobs for the newcomers.
Also, transport specialist Caroline Grace was a joy to work with & delivered the required construction materials in record-time.

The final result is that approximately 6 cubic km has been added to the Aurora Arcology. Hopefully this is sufficient for years to come, as such volume can house many millions of refugees!
Currently the Arcology population is close to a million and still rising, thanks to the contribution of many capsuleers. Especially the Freed Slaves joining the Aurora Project had a major effect on the space needed, as they require more guidance & resources then most due to their traumatic experiences as slaves.

All in all, refugees, rescuees & immigrants to the Aurora Arcology Project can rest assured that enough space will be available for them to live & work in!
Also, a big thanks to all the capsuleers who have helped us over the years into making the Eden cluster a better place to live in for all involved!