Over 13.000 refugees join the Arcology!

Once more, the Aurora Arcology Project success endures! The weekly influx of people is astonishing, almost weekly, over ten-thousand people join the Aurora project, seeking a new start after they have been recovered from conflict-zones.

In that regard, there's been good news! The continued talks between Ishukone and the Gallente Senate about Caldari Prime have lead to the historical capital of the Caldari people being placed under Ishukone's mandate soon. These are hopefully the first hints of a broader peace between the State and the Federation. And with that in mind, less conflict and less refugees originating from said conflicts!

Closer to home, there's also excellent news, Pieter Tuulinen's professional security force have been keeping the peace aboard the Arcology in an excellent manner. So far, things have been quiet, no unrest in any station sector or faction.
The foreign security force will continue their presence until they can locate and subdue the insurgents.
Meanwhile, our security force undergoes reformation, in order to be a more efficient and professional force that will deal much stricter with issues.

Now onward to the census report of this week! With thanks to capsuleer Richard Masseri and others, refugees with wildly varying backgrounds found their way to the Aurora Arcology station!

Regular Civilians

-96 Miners
-385 Homeless
-1.738 Janitors
-10 Prisoners (Part of the Prison Lend-Lease Program)
-10 Refugees
-2 Science Graduates
-23 Scientists
-40 Ship's Crew
-9 Stranded Pilots
-3.748 Tourists
-1.649 Freed Slaves

Pets

-4 Fedos (Datafile:A strange animal)
-266 Hounds

Law Enforcement

-7 Counter-Boarding Amarr Marine
-236 Freedom Fighters
-4.350 Marines
-950 Militants
-97 Slavers (Part of the Redemption Program)

Employees for the Nightclub L'Etoile Rouge

-312 Female Exotic Dancers
-588 Male Exotic Dancers

Councilmembers

-23 Oura Madusaari (Patients suffering the Oura M. Syndrome)

The recruit-ban has been lifted, and both sides did make use of it. The Minmatar recruited their traditional Freedom Fighter Militia, while the Amarr decided on recruiting a small elite team to provide security.
Meanwhile, Kameira forces aboard the Arcology are being prepared to be part of the PIE Kameira Program later this week.

Caldari Prime, the road to peace

With thanks to Ishukone's relentless diplomatic efforts, the historical capital of the Caldari people will be returned to the Caldari on the first of july!
This is a historical move as the city of Arcurio not only served as the old capital of the Caldari people, but it is also the largest city on the planet. On top of that is the cultural significance, as this is where the Gallente made first contact with the Caldari.

Through this, Ishukone shows that the Federation can be reasoned with concerning Caldari Prime. While large area's are still under control of Material acquisitions, a subsidiary company of Quafe, the 3 largest cities are now under Ishukone's control, a major feat. This will surely boost the reconstruction & salvage operations to clean & rebuild the planet and its cities into a shining example of the Caldari ideals.

The city of Arcurio after the devastation wrought by the impact of the CN Shiigeru

With the addition of Arcurio, Ishukone also inherited a large & costly project to clean & salvage debris as this city was close to the impact site of the Titan 'CN Shiigeru'. More info on this salvage operation can be found here:
Shiigeru wreckage site will be salvaged & cleared in a joint Gallente/Caldari operation.
It is suspected that part of the cost that Ishukone payed to have Arcurio transferred to their control was the addition of the salvage & cleaning operation costs involved.
However the costs of this cleaning operation will be negligent compared to the prestige and opportunities that Ishukone gains in the State, especially among the Caldari people for their efforts to bring the large cities back under Caldari control!

However, let us not forget the Gallente side, after all Arcurio is not only the place where Gallente made first contact with the Caldari, it is also the place of the memorial monument that remembers all those that have fallen in the Battle for Caldari Prime, Gallente & Caldari alike.
This monument was unveiled during a heartwarming memorial remembrance event organized by Commander A9 and attended by many capsuleers to honor the fallen of both sides.

Let us hope these diplomatic endeavours by Ishukone and the Gallente Senate and many others will continue to pave the road of peace for Caldari Prime. In the end, only through diplomacy can we find a permanent solution for Caldari Prime's unique and fragile situation.

Helping Serpentis civilians

Recently, a capsuleer by the name Richard Masseri contacted me to know more about the Aurora Arcology project. He had heard of the Arcology through a shared contact, Denak Kalamari. As we spoke, it came to light that he wanted to make sure that the civilians under his care would be treated well if he transferred them over to the Aurora project.

Part of the civilians under Richard Masseri's care are people he's looking after, but as he is part of the Intaki Liberation Front, he felt he couldn't give them the support they needed, hence the Aurora Arcology project grabbed his interest.
After assurance these civilians had a wide selection of job-opportunities and their security guaranteed, he grew convinced that the Arcology would give them a bright future.

There was also the case of the Serpentis civilians he rescued from the wreckage of demolished Serpentis structures. Capsuleer Richard Masseri wanted to know my stance on civilians under criminal employ.
After hearing about the Redemption program that runs in the Arcology, he was delighted to hear that such people get a second chance as well.
After all, most civilians working for a criminal organisation do it more to survive in the unlawful parts of the universe rather than idealism. Hence one shouldn't judge too harshly when it comes to rescuing people from any pirate complex .

I like to thank Richard Masseri for his trust in the Arcology Project and to give the people he rescued and looked after a new chance in life! Aboard the Arcology, these civilians will be able to share their lifestory with many others who have experienced similar things.
In a way to repay his gratitude & trust, I donated a part of the Antibiotics that are produced aboard the Arcology to the Intaki Liberation Front, because you can never have enough medicines in a region afflicted by a prolonged conflict.

Mercenaries for peace: Mordu's Legion

Background

Mordu's Legion was formed at the end of the first Caldari-Gallente war by exiled Intaki who sympathized with the Caldari during this conflict. Despite that they only formed at the end of the war, by the time it was over, Mordu's Legion had achieved a legendary status due to their achievements during the war.

Despite this, they had trouble settling within Caldari society, resulting in an uprise by nationalists, targeting the Intaki from Mordu's Legion. With help from the Caldari Navy, the uprising was suppressed. Following this they decided to reside in a system of their own in the Pure Blind Region, but with support from the Caldari, as a favor for their successful military support.

During their stay in pure Blind, they became a strong and powerful mercenary corporation, mainly performing tasks for the various State Megacorps, but also doing jobs for less legal employers. This put them at odds with other nations as well, a mistake they would pay dearly for...

However, the rise of Capsuleer tech saw them competing with these immortals. Lacking the advantages capsuleers have, Mordu's Legion ships usually came out on the losing side when they had to face them... Add to this that due to their work with criminal organisations, Concord and the other nations branded them as pirates, to be hunted down in exchange for a bounty.

Yet, due to the unique nature of the members of Mordu's Legion, mainly Intaki who sympathized with the Caldari cause, they managed to be crucial in defusing explosive situations between the State and the Federation in recent times.
We'll highlight two of these mercenary contracts that helped to keep tensions between the State and the Federation in check.

For more official information you can look here: Mordu's Legion datafile

Intaki Prime

After the Concord Militia act, Intaki Prime fell into the designated warzone between the Federation and State.
During this 'regulated' war, the Federation failed to halt the occupation of the system by the Caldari State. However, Ishukone, who won the auction to oversee Intaki development, understood that letting the Caldari Navy occupy the system would only lead to uprise and fanatical Federation pilots opposing the Caldari.
In a deal struck with the Intaki authorities, Mordu's Legion was contracted to protect and defend the system and it's inhabitants from aggressors.

Initially, the Federation did not recognize this authority, and tried to fight off Mordu's Legion forces with help from capsuleers employed by the FDU.
However, the Intaki assembly confirmed Mordu's Legion was deployed on their request as well, even refusing the Federation Navy to enter the system to overtake security.

The deal with Mordu's Legion includes that neither the State nor the Federation is allowed to send military ships to the system as long as Mordu's Legion is under Intaki contract. They have been given full authority to police the system and have been given full military access. During this, Mordu's Legion only has to answer to the Intaki assembly for orders and reports concerning the security of the system.

Due to this contract, Intaki Prime enjoyed relative stability, despite Caldari and Federation forces regularly switching 'official' control of the system under Concord regulations. No matter who 'owns' the system, Mordu's Legion remains in control to police the system and assuring military security.

Caldari Prime

After the battle for Caldari Prime, it was quickly realized that neither the Caldari Navy nor the Federation Navy would be acceptable to provide orbital security for Caldari Prime. It had to be a third faction, but one accepted by both sides.
After their outstanding work in providing security at Intaki Prime amidst a warzone, Mordu's Legion was seen as a logical choice to take up this security contract. Mordu's Legion has been contracted to be the sole policing force in orbit of Caldari Prime. This means that no-one but Mordu's Legion has military jurisdiction rights in the Caldari Prime DMZ. This was found to be the most acceptable by the State and Federation, to prevent accusations of bias.
More info on this deal can be found here: Final details of Caldari Prime DMZ announced

Conclusion: Mordu's Legion maintains peace

It's thanks to contracts like these that tensions between the State and Federation haven't escalated into a full blown war. Mordu's Legion provides a good military alternative in places where stationing conventional military forces from either State or Federation Navy would cause a situation to escalate into a shooting conflict.

The current state of Mordu's Legion

In order to combat their diminishing relevance on the public mercenary market that's now overtaken by capsuleers, they have released entirely new ship designs. These new ships are remarkable as that they are designed from the ground up to be compatible with capsuleer technology!
This is a drastic change from their old stance, where they preferred ships with a bridge crew instead of a capsule.

It is believed this change was enforced on them by the realisation that capsuleers are just that more efficient in mercenary work. In order to keep up, they had to adopt this technology as well. Looking at these new ships, they succeeded beyond expectations, as these ships have been built with the capsule in mind!
More info on the new Mordu's Legion ships: Introducing The Revamped Mordu's Legion Fleet

With these new ships, Mordu's Legion hopes to retake their position on the mercenary market, helped with the deployment of the advanced technology they can access from both the State and the Federation.

Add on this their recent recruitment drive after Heth's ousting and the disbanding of the Providence Directorate, and it looks like the Legion plans to be one of the big players on the mercenary market again.

Moving back into the light: thwarting Gurista research

One of the ways to put out their name again is by thwarting Gurista research. Mordu's Legion has deployed ships everywhere in low sec to locate and retrieve Gurista research files in order to uncover what they are working on and to locate their main research facilities. In addition to this, the Legion also attempts to retrieve research-data the Guristas have stolen from them.
They have asked capsuleer assistance, rewarding them with advanced technology if they turn in any Gurista research data they find.
Through this, Mordu's Legion achieves two goals, one: they become known among the greater community again, making them visible for new contractors, and two: they thwart the Guristas in their research. This is important as the Guristas have been in the news more often concerning their covert research projects.
More information about this undertaking to foil Gurista plans can be found here: Sweeping Death and Chaos and here : Mordu's Legion puts out call for capsuleer assistance

The Arcology welcomes over 12.000 immigrants

Now that things have been stabilizing, the Aurora Arcology Project can refocus on it's original goal: assisting immigrants, refugees, rescuees and others into a new and successful start in their lives.

Under Pieter Tuulinen's command, the first few foreign security forces have arrived. Currently, they are familiarizing themselves with the Arcology layout and checking in with local security on the matters ahead.
Alongside this is also a training of our local security forces to be more strict, to prevent a repeat of the riot incident. The foreign security deployment will serve as a transition period, making people more acceptable to a new and more rigid security force.

Thanks to the increased security, the recruitment stop can be lifted. However, all factions will be monitored on their recruitment to prevent security being compromised by over-recruitment.
Now onward to this week's census-report. The Council-reforms are still underway, which means there's several new members. This will allow for a better monitoring of all council activities and assist in regulating the budgets more efficiently, preventing abuse of funds.

Regular civilians

-556 Homeless
-1.987 Janitors
-10 Prisoners (Part of the Prison Lend-Lease Program)
-31 Refugees
-10 Science Graduates
-20 Ship's Crew
-5.321 Tourists
-849 Freed Slaves

Pets

-1 Fedo (Datafile:A strange animal)
-192 Hounds

Law Enforcement

-10 Caldari Light Marines
-281 Freedom Fighters
-2.976 Marines
-510 Militants

Employees for the Nightclub L'Etoile Rouge

-300 Female Exotic Dancers
-1.049 Male Exotic Dancers

Councilmembers

-1 Corin Risia
-1 Dari Akell
-1 Minmatar Emissary
-4 VIPs

Aurora Arcology Management thanks all capsuleers who offered the people they rescued a new chance in life aboard the Arcology station!

Sansha Aeon Supercarrier engaged in Haras System!

Prelude

A while back, Raisa SRP reported that one of their pilots, who used to be a staunch enemy of Nation, had been taken, and her loyalty rewritten to serve Nation without question through the use of True Slave implants.
On top of this, she managed to use her newly gained influence as Sansha capsuleer to steal an Aeon supercarrier, with the intend to raid a system in the future.

To assure sufficient people would rally to help, Raisa SVP put up an impressive list of rewards for those who assisted in taking down the Sansha Carrier and destroy Xilia Otsu's pod to free her from Nation influence.

However, Xilia Otsu offered rewards of her own, promoting the destruction of capsuleers, to advocate Sansha's goal of eliminating capsuleers-assets from space.With this response, a high turnout of people was expected, from those who fight nation to Nation loyalists intending to defend the carrier and pirates who are just out there for profit and gain, no matter which side they supported through their actions.

The fleets gather

As soon as the Sansha Aeon Supercarrier was spotted in haras, word spread fast across the Eden cluster. Over a dozen fleets set course for Haras, all intending to claim parts of the prizes awarded!

The initial fleets that arrived were a mixed russian fleet using Talwars, RAZOR Alliance, Nulli Secunda, Scope, Caldari Militia and the Shadow Cartel. Upon arrival at the Aeon Supercarrier they immediately started attacking each other, causing a massive chaotic fight.
As the fighting continued, fleets warping in & out, often launching 4 to 5 way attacks, more and more fleets poured into the system.

And then, Pandemic Legion arrived with their dreaded Navy Apoc fleet, flanked with a variety of other ships to secure these battleships. Rightaway they went to work to secure the battlefield for themselves.
Rapidly in their wake, a few other powerful fleets arrived, The Gorgons, The Brothers of Tangra, Spectre fleet. and the RedvsBlue fleet. Now over 600 capsuleers were present in local...

 

 

And so it begins, the Battle of Haras

With the arrival of all these powerful and organized fleets, the battle quickly changed. As PL asserted their dominion over the Supercarrier, causing mayhem in various smaller fleets, others used this chaos for their own good.
Using the chaos of the battle, The Gorgons; Shadow Cartel and RvB drove all the others temporary from the battlefield. As they were driven off, the Russian Talwar fleet, Scope, Razor Alliance and the Brothers of Tangra suffered heavy losses as they withdraw temporary from battle. All this took place in only 10 minutes...

Now these 3 organized and strong fleets were the ones left on the battlefield, staying at range from the PL battleship fleet. But this stand-off only lasted for a short time as these 3 fleets began fighting PL and themselves in a massive 4 way battle. Using the chaos of this bloodbath a 5th unidentified fleet warped and and caused severe havoc on all sides. To make things even more mind-warping chaotical, Spectre jumped in as well, making the chaos complete.
Initially the disruption caused by these two new fleets worked successfully, wrecking ships from many fleets.

But as testament to their strict organisation and experience, the big 4 (PL, Gorgons, RvB and Shadow Cartel) quickly recovered and drove these two fleets from the field by wrecking a large number of their ships.
But during this, yet another new fleet warped in Red Alliance (Don't confuse with RvB!) together with a renewed attack from Spectre. Alas, their bravery would not be rewarded as they get slaughtered under combined PL/Gorgon fire. The repeated attacks from other fleets start to take their toll on RvB and Shadow Cartel that now starts to suffer heavy losses as well from PL & Gorgons.  Now don't mistake this as co-operation as the Gorgons and PL were still happily shooting each other as well!

As the dust cleared, the two remaining large fleets are the Gorgons and PL, who continued to attack each other.
But this fleet-duel would regularly be interrupted by smaller fleets like Winmatar and E-Uni warping in & out, but these did nothing but provide fodder for these two powerful fleets.
For a while, there was no serious attempt to break the hegemony of these two fleets, PL's Navy Apocs and the Gorgon Naga's.

And then, Nulli Secunda returned... focusing their firepower initially on the Gorgons while they were also battered down by PL. But as they shifted firepower to PL as well, Nulli Secunda remained on the field as the new third fleet!

 Attack ships on fire off the Aeon of Xilia Otsu, laserbeams glitter in the dark near the Haras Gate

 

Bolstered by the success of Nulli Secunda, a whole bunch of fleets returned to the battlefield, Red Alliance, Scope and Goonswarm warped on field and began immediate attacks on the 3 major fleets. Alas, their action would be fruitless as they got rapidly removed from the battlefield.
Only Goonswarm would keep returning, harassing them.

But as the battle raged on and smaller fleets kept warping in & out, the battering of PL firepower put heavy pressure on the two other fleets, Gorgons and Nulli Secunda, but they managed to hold.
This all changed when two new and fresh fleets arrived... Waffles, who came and support their PL friends, and Circle-of-Two, that disrupted the balance. While Circle-of-Two was easly dispatched of, it also broke the balance, forcing Nulli Secunda and the Gorgons into retreat.

And amidst the massive field of wreckage, combat fell briefly silent for the first time as Waffles & PL claimed total control over the Sansha Aeon Supercarrier.

Circle-of-Two, Goonswarm, Red Alliance, Brothers of Tangra and Shadow Cartel would launch several attacks to disrupt PL/Waffle operations during the final stages of battle. But alas, due to the fighting amongst the fleets, PL/Waffle remained in control.
During these final stages, PL focused on downing the Aeon supercarrier while Waffles kept them safe from small marauding fleets trying to disrupt their attack. And then, finally the newest Sansha threat, Xilia Otsu's Aeon Supercarrier went down, and her along with it...

Time to end this

And so ends the Battle for Haras, a Sansha Nation threat removed amidst a large and chaotical fight.. PL once more claimed the majority of rewards due to their organisation and power.
However it wasn't made easy for them this time, as there were several strong & long lasting fleets on the field, forcing PL to call in backup in the form of spider-tanking carriers, Battle-Rorquals and calling out for Waffle support at the end.

While the peak of activity was between 600 to 700 capsuleers, plenty more in absolute numbers have joined this fight as the fight took roughly 3 hours.
The Haras battle-report can be found here: The Fight for Haras

With the destruction of her True Slave implants, Xilia Otsu is now free from Nation influence, albeit closely monitoring her is advised. While capsuleers struck victory against Nation at Haras, it is a bittersweet one due to the massive scale of destruction committed there due to all the fighting between fleets to claim the rewards

Full videofootage of the whole duration of the battle, provided by Russian Eve Radio

Celebration of Cardinal Graelyn's Decennial as Capsuleer

Introduction

Cardinal Graelyn is held in high regard among most Imperial Capsuleers, but he also has earned alot of respect among those outside the Amarr Empire.
Remarkable is that during his decade as capsuleer, his loyalty was always with the Amarr Empire, a rare occurence in the capsuleer community. For a long time he was a very active forerunner in Amarr capsuleer affairs, managing to unite many capsuleer organisations with different viewpoints on the Faith and Empire into one. This feat is an excellent example of his impressive diplomatic skills and one of the reasons he has gained alot of respect from friend and foe alike.
More background information can be found here : Concord Datafile: Cardinal Graelyn

To celebrate his 10 years as capsuleer, Cardinal Graelyn organized a poker tournament in association with EoH Poker, followed by an afterparty!
Several capsuleers expressed their interests to attend both the Poker tournament as the after-party.

Poker Tournament: The Cardinal's Table

The people that gathered for Graelyn's poker tournament were a mixed bunch, from total beginners to professional players. It would be a very interesting match to observe with such varied skill-levels and playstyles deployed!
The first few rounds saw people playing with little risk, testing and seeing how their opponents played. Once a few games were played, certain capsuleers started to play more aggressively, causing the knockout of the first group of attendees.
Now the stakes grew higher, as several tried to knock out Cardinal Graelyn to claim the knockout prize attached to it. But as more and more players got knocked out, the cunning and skill of Graelyn showed, as he kept in, despite that he had far less chips than those on the lead.
Eventually Makoto Priani successfully knocked out Graelyn, claiming the knockout prize (100 mill isk) as she kept leading the tournament in number of chips held.
When Avio Yaken got knocked out, and winning the prize money for third place (400 mill isk), it would be a duel between two master poker players, Makoto Priano with around 33K chips and the outnumbered Jurou Yuan with around 11K chips.

But now the game really turned interesting, the duel between these two capsuleers became a game of matching skill, luck and bluff. In a rapid series of fast games, chips went back and forth . Jurou Yuan managed to win a few crucial high stake game, turning the tables around.
As people watched and commented on some of the odd community card combinations, the excitement of the game kept everyone's attention.
And then it occurred, in a thrilling endmatch, the stakes soared up! The chipstacks piled up high and then, Makoto Priani went all in!
And in this climax, the cards were revealed:
-Jurou Yuan shows a Full House, Eights full of Fives
-Makoto Priano shows a Full House, Fives full of Eights

So close, yet so far, but the winners were known! Jurou Yuan won the first prize! 2 billion isk! Runner up at second place, Makoto Priani won 600 mill isk.
After this thrilling conclusion, people were invited to attend the after-party at Cerra Manor Terrace in the Huola system.
Graelyn however announced there were some things planetside he had to resolve before attention the after-party.

The after party

Initially, the after party subject was the thrilling duel between Makoto Priani and Jurou Yuan, where people congratulated both on the exciting game, and analyzed some of their moves and strange community card combinations.
Other parts of the tournament were also discussed, but at lesser detail, by example certain bluff winnings or odd card compositions.

Later on, the varied crowd had several discussions about sensitive subjects. It speaks to Graelyn's skill in selecting people that all these discussions were kept civil, despite that very different and even opposing viewpoints were presented in the arguments & talks.
The subjects ranged from the Amarr Faith to Slavery with Sansha workings and Amarrian ages thrown in. As you see a variety of subjects, many of those fueled by Amarrian expertise.
It is commendable that attendees wanted to learn more about the ways of the Empire and the Amarrians inhabiting it without resorting to stereotypes and black & white views. It is important to note that it wasn't about what was being right or wrong, but more about the why and how, giving people a deeper insight in various Amarr related subjects.

As the central guest of the party didn't show up, the subject of presents also came up, several had bought a gift for Graelyn's 10th year as capsuleer, but wanted to give it to him personally. Sadly, circumstances prohibited Graelyn to show up at the party, so it was decided to give him these gifts later in person.

 

Conclusion

It was an enjoyable celebration with a varied mix of people that respected each other.
The poker tournament was also a pleasant experience and a fun introduction for me in the poker game. The thrilling duel between the finalists was certainly fun to observe due to it's speed & skill of these capsuleers.
The after party turned out to be a very educational experience on various things Amarr, learning alot of new things, not to mention the ability to discuss certain sensitive subjects in a civil manner. For this I like to thank all attendees for their respectful and civil behaviour.