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!
No comments:
Post a Comment