Amarr Victor!

[OOC] Intel from the Burning of Jita

So now that the firestorm of dying Goons has subsided, and Hulkageddon has begun, I figured I would finally post some of the photos I was able to snap of the weekend's carnage.  Late as it is, I decided not to post my debriefing of the seminal event, preferring to leave the juicy journalism to the other EVE bloggers who have already poured out volumes on the subject.  Instead, take a look at these shiny pictures!

Shattered Faith - Part III

The cargo bay door opened with a snapping hiss, and a hazy fog of decontaminant vapor pooled around Akai's kness as he strode into the darkness. The pod, positioned upright upon it's engine core and held in place with micron tractor beams, shimmered in the middle of the vast cargo container. The interior was dark, foggy, and utterly silent; aside from the salvaged pod the container was bare, and lined entirely in mirrored gold plating, despite it's outwardly inexpensive appearance. Sealing the door behind him, Akai bio-locked the console and disabled the sercuity feed, by rerouting the powerflow through the cameras he was able to quickly turn the inside of the container into a primed EMP bomb.

[OOC] Aloha from Kauai!

As the title suggests, I'm on vacation in beautiful Hawaii, and it's just too spiffy here to post much. I'll be back next week, in full force with a new direction for the narrative (in addition to finishing the Shattered Faith plot!). In the meantime, I highly recommend reading (if you haven't already) Tony Gonzales' "The Empyrean Age" and "Templar One"; both are amazingly well-written and his tale of the Retford crew has been a wonderful inspiration for Akai's own tale to come.

[OOC] A message from CCP

So this whole drama-fest is getting absurd.  People that are still upset just want a reason to be upset, and everyone likes to claim "EVE is changing ablooooo blooooo..." and "it's gonna be all Hello Kitty Online now abloooo bloooo..." Seriously?  CCP throws Mittani under the bus (after he already fell on his own sword and owned up with dignity and integrity), and y'all start crying foul?  This is what you wanted, you wanted CCP to come in and "deal with it," and they did.  Was the 30 day ban and forced removal from the CSM necessary? No, but it was harsh as fuck.  Isn't that what you want? Let's just take a minute and learn from CCP.  HTFU.

The Burning of Jita [or a Diet by a Fire?]

UPDATE
Another Goonswarm communication, this time from the CEO himself, has been intercepted and decrypted.  Analysis pending.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intercepted Transmission:
Target: Jita
Threat Level: Primary
Aggressor: GSF & Co.

Relevant data:

"Jita will burn."

I suspect that the cries of protest when we begin hitting Jita will make the Ice Interdiction sound like old Manilow tracks played through a de-tuned Muzak speaker at half volume in an elevator full of incontinent chimpanzees. Everyone uses Jita – alliances, humble traders, mega-jews, legions of market bots, you name it. Ice miners could escape our Interdiction by moving away, but ruining Jita will ruin, erm… everything. It will be like surrounding the New York Ѕtock Exchange, the Board of Trade, and the Federal Reѕerve with a ring of armored vehicles and shelling them all, simultaneously, until the entire economic system flies apart at the seams.
If successful, the Jita project will be the single largest and most coordinated act of grief in the history of EVE – we can expect press, calls for us all to be banned, and other nullsec entities joining the fun. While GЅF will be focusing on high-value targets like freighters‚ іt is entirely possible that PL and RDN and god knows who else will swing by and smartbomb the shit out of Jita just for the fuсk of it; there was palpable exсitement at Fanfeѕt about the idea aсross most of nullsec.

[OOC] Is it over? Can I come out and play now?

Whew! It's been quite the crazy day, and my phone has died three times with the #tweetfleet going ballistic.  People have said crazy things, threads have been locked, accounts have been banned, but FINALLY the end may be in sight.  Mittens, in a rare display of dignity in EVE, posted this thread on the forums.

What I posted in response is as follows:

"You have won my respect, for what it is worth.  This is probably the single most articulate discussion of the current fiasco, and I thank you for the time you took writing this.  While ingame, my character is hellbent on the destruction of the Goonswarm, I cannot state enough how much respect I have for you as a player and as a human being.  What you have done with Goonswarm for ingame RP is beyond expression, and makes EVE the best damn game out there.  Thanks to you, there is legitimate cause for ingame RP warfare, and that is just awesome.  You show true dignity in declining the CSM Chair, and wisdom in understanding the "hat" problem.  I applaud you, sir.

All this coming from a four year pubbie.  Don't think so little of us, and you might be suprised."

Perhaps now we can all go back to that internet spaceships game?  This witch-hunt is not very enjoyable, from either side.