G-5EN2, Providence – Amidst the ongoing conflict over the Providence region, the Sovereign Hospitaller Order of Saint Katherine [SHOSK], colloquially known as the “Space Nuns” have embarked on a mission of mercy to the area.

The Space Nuns first came to the attention of New Eden when they began saving stranded passengers ejected from capsuleer vessels or left in wreckage in the Domain region. According to Sister Louella Dougans, CEO of SHOSK, they have begun operations in Providence with the intent of being “a guiding light in the darkness” and saving those stranded by the misfortunes of this region-spanning war.

According to the Sister, the nuns use small fast ships (specifically the Executioner-class frigate) when conducting rescue operations in null-sec for their speed and maneuverability, but also for their minimal complement of non-capsuleer crew who would be at risk in larger vessels. Sister Dougans explained that her rescue missions are not without danger and admitted that she had lost “a couple” of such frigates while attempting to reach castaways.

There has been a mixed response to the nuns’ missions of mercy, ranging from remarks in the Local channel such as “God save us, it’s the Space Nuns!” to an offer to duel from an Ushra’Khan pilot, Cheif AutoParts of Universal Army. In general, however, Sister Dougans claims that local capsuleers from both sides of the Providence conflict have been receptive to her Order’s mission.

Sister Dougans stated that the nuns typically find abandoned passengers “at stargates and near stations” though sometimes they must use astrometric probes to locate them deeper into space. Such people have commonly been pulled from, or left in the wreckage of pirate structures such as casinos, brothels, slave compounds and hab units and left stranded to make room for more saleable commidities. To date the nuns have rescued “approximately 20 victims” which is dramatically less than previous their previous endeavours in the more populous Domain region. This may be a testament to the violence with which the Providence war is being conducted.

The nuns report that they have come across large numbers of capsuleer corpses, floating frozen in space, which Sister Dougans says the Sovereign Order incinerates with focused bursts of laser fire after “hearing the horror stories about what Sansha’s Nation pirates do with things they find.” She estimated that approximately 50 corpses have received this “cleansing by fire,” with the nuns stating “People might not like it to find out that their dead body is now piloting a Nightmare, or something like that.”

The members of SHOSK state that they will continue their work in the Providence region, taking no sides, hoping only to spare stranded individuals the perils of the vacuum.

The nuns averr that they show no prejudice amongst those they can help, who are often the cast-offs of the capsuleer community, be they dancers, janitors, homeless, slaves or slavers. Those they rescue are spoken to about the Amarr religious scriptures, then, through partnerships between the Sovereign Order and several humanitarian capsuleer organizations, taken to safe destinations where they can be returned home or gradually reintegrated into society if required.

GalNet References

The Second-Chance Express

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Y-MPWL, Providence – in the ongoing conflict in the Providence region over the past two weeks the Holders lost control of four systems to Against All Authorities [AAA], Ushra’Khan [UK], Systematic-Chaos [SYS-K] and Atlas Alliance [ATLAS].

The Y-MPWL system changed sovereignty control from Curatores Veritatis Alliance [CVA] to AAA a little more than a week ago, an anonymous source close to AAA stated that this capture was part of the new offensive in the region, “operations are solely focused on a selection of locations which are of interest for sovereignty” and commented on recent reports of a ‘lock down’ of the Providence region through the control of Empire access routes, “during operations we lock down systems, but outside of operations Providence is pretty open to its inhabitants as well as travellers [and attacking alliances are not] focusing on dictating traffic or movements.”

The same source explained that the capture of Y-MPWL progressed quietly with no major engagements and that a minimal resistance of regular skirmishes between roaming gangs was encountered. Commenting on the overall conflict, the source went on to add “we still consider the conflict to be unfortunate… we also feel that it is not our job to deal with the populace of Providence since we have no interest in ruling it in any way or form. In regards to diplomatic solutions, unfortunately you could say the zealots find dealing with reality or even realpolitik irreconcilable with their religious doctrine. It is clear however that through face to face contacts, parties involved have managed to get a better understanding of each other’s viewpoints, even on their respective behavioural mechanisms. Unfortunately, such understanding remains on a level of capsuleers and is currently not enough as it seems to pave the way for organisational understanding.”

The G-5EN2 system was captured by UK on the following day with R3-K7K falling to Systematic-Chaos the day after and just a few days ago this period of engagements ended with 9-F0B2 being captured by ATLAS. Karn Mithralia of UK confirmed that while the other systems were taken with minimal resistance, in 9-F0B2 “ATLAS moved on it with their allies, mostly with input for UK, AAA and SYS-K… I believe it finally fell… Fidelas Constans [FCON] put up a very stalwart defence supported by CVA. They deserve a warrior’s respect for the way they fought against overwhelming odds.” Commenting on the different alliances taking control of systems in Providence, Karn Mithralia explained each alliance is seeking to establish a second gateway into empire as a means of securing strengthened supply chains to further support the offensive and as a means to control space. Regarding plans for the region, UK reported it plans to “hold those systems so that once CVA and their close allies are removed we can open access up to Providence again… we certainly do not seek to replace CVA and will not be forcing standings or rules of engagement on our allies… our vision of free space is not of a shepherd to sheep. Providence future residents will be able to stand on their own two feet.”

An anonymous source close to ATLAS reported that the Alliance has plans to “continue pushing until the Providence bloc is either destroyed or surrenders.” Tzuko1 of ATLAS commented on the capture of 9-F0B2, “we have not decided yet what to do with that system, but we will surely not keep it – I think some renters will be interested in it.” Referring to the Providence ‘lock down’, Tzuko1 added: “it’s true we are controlling exits and jump bridge systems too, no one gets out… our capital fleet is ready as you can see [we are] hot dropping Rorqual’s, Freighters and Carriers in the area with our capital and super capital vessels – we just did not have [any engagement where we could properly use our capital fleet].”

Manfred Sideous of AAA explained that the recent offensive was the “next logical step” after pausing aggressive action twice to give CVA a chance to consider peace. “We regret CVA leadership’s position but are committed in our task to secure our borders from strategic threats.” Asked to comment on AAA’s plans for the region Manfred Sideous answered “we intend to repopulate Providence with many alliances, currently we have over 20 lined up. All will be handed an area for which to grow from. We do not intend to govern Providence other than to enforce a no sovereignty war rule to protect these new and young budding alliances. Their politics will be for them to decide individually, we will just ensure that they have a real chance at growing without being steamrolled by a large hostile force.” Asked to explain how exactly this sovereignty was going to be distributed, Manfred Sideous explained “we are basing it off a few criteria [such as] alliance size [since] we want them to be able to utilize the space they will retain [as well as] geography… to make sure that we keep groups in a consolidated area instead of spread out across large areas. Some groups will have very small areas while others will have larger areas. It should be noted that we intend to keep a few of the current Holders in place as well.” Further details are currently classified but AAA has “a pretty clear gameplan going forward… in the short term Providence is very hostile environment with the goal of making it very inclusive to small groups of players wanting to taste and experience [nullsec]. The exit points will be controlled sovereignty wise but there are no designs to police or restrict traffic through them. Providence is like a rainforest currently we are weeding it and will replant it with a bounty of new inhabitants.”

Asked to comment on the overall conflict, Manfred Sideous stated “it is a large undertaking with the new [infrastructure] mechanics [to take] 50 stations. So far it is going as expected. The frequency of fights and battles has gone down but this is expected… [it] requires effort and work… we realize this and are meeting the challenge well. CVA is committed to an attrition style defence, whereby their intended goal is deny [large engagements] and minimize isk loss for them so they can rally when/if we lose interest. So the lack of resistance is understood.”

CVA executor Aralis confirmed that in 9-F0B2 the Providence Holders lead the assaulters to suffer hundreds of casualties in ships and showed great suspicion of AAA’s current plans for the region: “I doubt many are foolish enough to fall for such nonsense. I feel sorry for any who are. It’s obviously intended as some absurd propaganda. Though as even a four year old could see it couldn’t work and nobody with any sense would trust them I can’t really see why they bother.”

Commenting on the Providence ‘lock down’, Aralis explained “self evidently they have hit the exit systems. There is no lockdown.” Regarding the overall conflict Aralis maintained his previous statements about a long engagement and stated that in his opinion the conflict is still in the very early days. “We are being attacked by half of [New Eden]. I think our victory is still some way off. Clearly this will be a long war. Even the faithful will not quickly vanquish such a collection of enemies.”

GalNet References

Fidelas Constans – Battle Records – 9-F0B2
Recent Sovereignty Changes – Providence

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Jita, The Forge – Contest prize vessels for the “Ships of Eve” event run by T’Amber have been flown in combat by F900EX, the third party entrusted with holding them for the future winner, at T’Amber’s instruction.

When T’Amber first began her lotteries, most of the ships she awarded as prizes were ships from her own private collection which were all built by herself and her corporation members. As she explained in an interview, it was a collection built up with ISK earned from a considerate amount of time spent researching and manufacturing T2 components and ships.

Like many lottery hosts, T’Amber of Ships of Eve has placed her contest prizes in the hands of a trusted third party, F900EX, to guarantee to participants that their prize will be received. Recently, he held a very rare Mimir cruiser that T’Amber will eventually award to the winner of the Ships of Eve Frigate Tournament.

F900EX claims he was asked by T’Amber herself to use the Mimir in combat in Jita during the course of the lottery. This resulted in what is believed to be the first kill with a Mimir.

F90OEX revealed: “She asked me to use the Mimir and get kills with it so it would have some history for the lottery.” F90OEX maintains that he would never use the ships he is trusted with if he was not asked.

T’Amber admitted asking F90OEX to use the ships in combat and revealed why: “He has the skills not to [lose the ship]. I trust him completely, he has lots of ISK and it wouldn’t mean anything if he did, and if he did die it would be funny.”

An independent and reputable third party to hold prizes or funds is commonly considered an essential safeguard for competitors in any sort of event or competition with an entry fee. They promote safety, legitimacy, and make processes more secure for the customers.

Grendell, a well-known third party “Trust Service” provider observed “If a prize is a ship and it is meant for a lottery, I would say the third party should not use it. As it is specifically a prize for the lottery.”

It is generally believed that lotteries rely on trust to be successful. Trust can be a rare commodity in New Eden, and although some capsuleers like the ships they win to have a history, others may think twice about putting their efforts and ISK into lotteries if they knew their prize had previously been used. If a ship were lost, however, T’Amber has a contingency plan. ”Plan A: There are spare rare ships of the same type and others of the same ship class available to replace any potential losses. Plan B; F90OEX is filthy rich.”

GalNet References

Winners of Ships of Eve Lottery 1
Winners of Ships of Eve Lottery 2
Winners of Ships of Eve Lottery 3
Winners of Ships of Eve Lottery 4

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Z-RFE3, Providence – a leadership succession followed by a failed sovereignty transfer to a new alliance caused Providence Holder Aegis Militia [AM] to lose ownership of six systems in Providence and intense fighting in the affected systems with Against All Authorities, Ushra’Khan (commonly known as AAA and U’K respectively) and allied alliances.

Former AM executor K5Project explained that after taking over executive roles six months ago and rebuilding AM “back up strong on its feet”, the recent sovereignty war with AAA lead to several internal problems with spies and corporations that were “making problems if you asked them to do something.” These issues lead to a decision to assign AM executor leadership to ShadowandLight of Hammer of Light [HROLT] corporation.

Jason Marshall of HROLT claimed “A group of the corporations in AM, mostly station owners, were tired of a lot of the smaller corporations who were not keeping to standards. They had lax recruitment policies and were not bringing the fight to Ushra’Khan. On top of that, the old AM was full of spies. We wanted to form a new alliance to purge the fat and disease.” Upon taking executive control of AM, ShadowandLight was reported as intending to reform the alliance under a new name – ‘Retribution Incarnate’ – and HROLT left Aegis Militia to form a new alliance.

According to Shooter McGaven of Demio’s Corporation in Aegis Militia, “When the time came [for the sovereignty transfer] there was either a glitch or someone… didn’t tell the exact truth… The exec of AM… dropped sovereignty at the same time in all systems… The new alliance was not ready to take back sovereignty in any of the systems… Aided by the mass confusion of many AM corps not knowing what was going on, U’K and AAA were able to come in and plant TCUs in most of the systems. What was left of AM… rallied and took out all the TCUs that U’K planted.” TCUs are Territorial Claim Units, used to stake claims for sovereignty over a system.

Ushra’Khan officer BHaddow stated “To our understanding, there was an internal dispute within Aegis Militia that turned into a power grab. As a result of this their sovereignty was dropped… With Aegis Militia’s alignment being pro-slavery, Ushra’Khan decided to step in to try and take sovereignty in some of the systems… We are not interested in holding the space for a long period of time, however the fight against slavery often forces one’s hand… [This is] nothing of the scale we saw when we helped our allies AAA claim D-GTMI from Paxton Federation, however the fighting has been around the clock.”

Shooter McGaven went on to report that the two alliances and the Providence Holders are working together to recover the lost systems and that the current plan is to have HROLT reintegrate Aegis Militia while a new leadership plan is being worked out.

Asked to comment on the Aegis Militia situation, Aralis (the executor of CVA) said that CVA was informed of the Aegis Militia decision to change leadership and added “This is an AM internal matter. We have confidence in HROLT and hope that the new alliance will go to greater heights… Our thanks to K5Project for his long leadership.”

Following a yet-unexplained “quirk” with caused first Ushra’Khan and then Aegis Miltia to lose sovereignty shortly after taking it in 3D-CQU and Z-RFE3, Aegis Militia has now recovered control in four of the six lost systems: 0B-HLZ, 18XA-C, 0B-HLZ and 18XA-C. Fighting for sovereignty control is still currently underway in systems Z-RFE3 and 3D-CQU.

GalNet References

Libertas Fidelitas Battle Records
Ushra’Khan Battle Records
Scrapheap Challenge
CAOD – Aegis Militia Sovereignty Discussion

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D-GTMI, Providence – Following the invasion of their sovereign space in Catch earlier this year by the coalition of Providence sovereignty holders, Against ALL Authorities [.-A.-] removed Libertas Fidelitas Alliance [LFA] from the systems they had captured in Catch and launched a retaliatory strike against D-GTMI in Providence, held by Paxton Federation.

The beginning of this year saw Against ALL Authorities engaged in a two-front war against GoonSwarm in Delve and the Providence Holders in Catch, but GoonSwarm’s lapsed upkeep payments in Delve, Querious and Period Basis and their subsequent forcible dissolution by lead Goon, karttoon freed Against ALL Authorities’ leading fleet commanders to return to the Catch front along with allies including Ushra’Khan, Systematic Chaos and AAA Citizens.

Several engagements took place during this period as the Providence Holders mustered to defend their new territorial claims. Galandrius Malkin, formerly of LFA reported that battles took place in SV5-BN, F9E-KX and also WD-VTV.

Lipot, a member of one of the alliances operating in conjunction with Curatores Veritatis Alliance [CVA] and LFA reported that active support in the conflict was provided by more than just the official Providence Holder alliances. “There [was] an active ‘Neut’ fleet that operated under the guidance of one of the CVA fleet commanders. The number of pilots at any given time [was] around 150 in the fights with others coming in as relief. Our corporation resides in Lower Domain and Providence, respecting CVA/LFA rules of engagement. We are termed as ‘Neuts’ to them but they are ‘Blues’ to us.” Regarding the battles in Catch and Providence, Lipot added, “It is pushing a lot of the smaller corps’ and alliances’ resources to the limit but we are all fighting to have a safe haven in 0.0.”

By the end of last month, LFA had been removed from its recently-claimed systems in Catch by AAA and their allies and as retaliation, Against ALL Authorities launched an attack against the D-GTMI system in Providence.

An anonymous source close to AAA reported that “D-GTMI was a scheduled ‘Call to Arms’ as far as I know, with the intention of forcing the [Providence Holders] to back off on their imperial intentions.”

TheSprite of Core Factor described his part the battles for D-GTMI. “It all looked like it was going to plan; myself and alliance Core Factor joined up with CVA and Holders to form a capital fleet of… 140+ ships.” With heavy battleship and battlecruiser support, the full fleet exceeded 600 ships in his estimation.

TheSprite described the fleet he was in entering the contested system by titan-bridge and moving to a tower to engage the enemy. Infiltrators within the fleet had allegedly passed the location of the tower and its forcefield password to commanders in AAA’s and their allies’ fleets. The AAA capital fleet, estimated by TheSprite to consist of “13 titans and maybe 60 – 80 dreadnoughts” jumped onto the tower and deployed warp interdiction spheres (commonly known as “bubbles”) around the CVA tower, catching an estimated 20 capitals outside the tower’s shields.

TheSprite continued “Our Fleet Commander then made the decision to warp out of the bubble and regroup 300km from the current position so that the rest of the fleet could reform there.” This gambit did not go as planned, with pilots reporting drastic system failures heavily interfering with fleet operations – overviews were slow or failed to load entirely, with many pilots complaining of inability to exit warp, activate or deactivate modules or arriving completely sensor-blind.

TheSprite explained “The order was then given to re-enter the [tower] shield but after we did so, AAA used their advantage of having the forcefield password and warped in a large gang of Battleships which proceeded to bump some of our capital fleet members out of the shield who ultimately died at the hands of the AAA titans’ new ‘doomsday’ weapons – by this time AAA had 10 bubbles surrounding the [structure] which made it impossible to both warp out and warp in… without getting caught in one, so the order was given to jump out of the system completely, form up and try to re-enter once again via Titan-bridge.”

“The rest of the non-capital fleet started to battle once we had regrouped with the capital fleet again, we jumped back into D-GTMI… but by this time the [system failures were affecting around] 90% of our capital fleet [which lead to the retreat order] in hopes that it might salvage some of the capital fleet and reduce the losses but… this wasn’t good enough as a majority of the pilots whilst [retreating] found their capitals had been destroyed [while affected by the system's temporo-spatial anomalies].

“The rest of the non-cap fleet did their best to try and defend the [affected] capital ships, but in the end were fought back. AAA then proceeded to attack the station and put it into its second stage of reinforced mode, thus ending the battle. I believe that, if the circumstances were different and the [spatial anomalies had not affected our fleet] we would have had the upper hand in this battle.”

Asked if he was participating actively in the on-going Providence conflict TheSprite stated “Unfortunately no, I’ve been rebuilding my capital ship after the loss in D-GTMI.”

Galandrius Malkin comments that “our fleet was well-lead on a tactical level, however, higher leadership was sorely lacking. Command took hours to make simple decisions, and often we made bad decisions such as [warping back and forth].”

Malkin cites the anomalous and unpredicatable behaviour of the afflicted ships’ systems as a major factor in the loss, but states that it was aggravated by some command decisions. “However, this wasn’t the only problem. AAA made very good use of spying mechanics and they gained the passwords to our capital ships’ safe [structures] and proceeded to bump the ships out into engagement range. AAA also had a commendable cap fleet and was very well organized, which was still effective [against the spatial anomalies] both sides experienced.”

By being set up within the system before the engagement began, the AAA ships may have held an advantage in that they had more time than the incoming Providence fleet to load environmental data into overloaded sensors and to get themselves into position, though they too reported problems with modules either firing up or shutting down.

An anonymous source close to former LFA affiliates reports that “There was [a severe mistake] in D-GTMI… We had a strong fleet of conventional ships in system, but were ordered to just sit in a [tower] while our capitals were getting slaughtered and the capital fleet received orders to warp off grid and then back… to die.”

Aralis, executor of CVA, was emphatic that that the battle for D-GTMI was “sabotaged” by the anomalous behaviours they experienced and expressed a belief that these unforeseen circumstances were wholly responsible for the outcome of the engagement. Sapphrine of Ushra’Khan, however, felt that Providence Command’s decisions from the outset of the battle led to circumstances in which the anomalies were able to cripple the Providence fleet beyond recovery.

GalNet References

Ushra’Khan Alliance Battle Records – SV5-BN
Libertas Fidelitas Alliance Battle Records – WD-VTV
Against ALL Authorities Battle Records – D-GTMI

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HED-GP, Catch – This first part in a series of four articles on the current struggle for Providence looks back at the start of the year, which saw the Providence Holders make a territorial move in the Catch region, capturing four systems where Against ALL Authorities had dropped sovereignty near the end of last year. This offensive culminated in a 300-ship fleet disabling HED-GP station services.

Libertas Fidelitas [LFA] is one of the major Providence Holders and the Alliance responsible for initiating this offensive that was part of “Operation Deliverance”. A source close to the alliance explained that LFA corporations and pilots had shown interest in territorial expansion for quite some time. Several systems had previously been identified in the Catch region which were without sovereignty and a decision was made that lead LFA to move on the F9E-KX, SV5-8N, WD-VTV and 9KOE-A systems in Catch, dropping TCUs and towers as an offensive measure designed to gain more space and mobility for the Providence Holders.

An anonymous source explained that at the time of the Catch move by LFA, AAA were focused on engaging the then-Goonswarm alliance (now disbanded and restructured) in 49-U6U. (The official ticker of Against ALL Authorities is .-A-. but they are more commonly known as AAA.) The plan was to distract attention long enough to allow IT Alliance to take Fountain. Although the four systems were unclaimed, the same source reports that “there was a clear boundary set with CVA at F9E-KX.”

Aralis, executor of CVA asserted that the Providence Holders’ motivation was reaching “Ushra’Khan-held territory and to drive them from our borders.” The anti-slavery alliance Ushra’Khan have fought CVA since their inception, with the struggle culminating a few years ago with a hard-fought battle for sovereignty in Providence centered on 9UY4-H, the home of Unity station. Following the CVA conquest, that station became known as “Deliverance Reclaimed.”

The CVA Executor stated that another driving factor in the expansion of Operation Deliverance was their increased need for space following infrastructure upgrades. CVA and the other Providence holders are almost unique in allowing others relatively-free access to their space. While all comers reap the benefits of such upgrades, there is no way to tax them to recover costs.

Manfred Sideous of Against ALL Authorities made a public address to Providence residents on 31.01.112 in which he made it clear that he considered the invasion of Catch a betrayal of his alliance’s previous relationship with CVA.

“Not too long ago, when the alliance of CVA found itself disbanded, -A- stepped up and got in touch right then and there with your leaders, regardless of being neutral in our relationships we pledged to stand by and defend the people of Providence should the unfortunate situation of CVA disbanding give rise to a threat or assault on Providence and its people. We formed, and stood ready, but a single word was needed. No, not even a single word.

“It is as such, remarkable to see how a unique relationship where either side knew perfectly what they were at with the other side was disrupted by a long term vision designed by CVA leadership which culminated in the now infamous project to expand into Catch, into -A- space, and onwards from there.”

Aralis emphasised that CVA has no boundary agreements with AAA or Ushra’Khan. “There is an obvious boundary as it is the edge of the regions” but went on to clarify that there was no formal agreement whatsoever in place at the time, nor, according to statements from CVA diplomat Hardin, do they wish one.

Charleigh of Veneratio Venator Alliance described that roughly 600 Providence-friendly forces were mobilized to capture these four systems and that this move culminated with disabling the HED-GP station services. “If I recall, AAA did bring 200 or so to the field on more than one occasion during this entire time.”

A source in AAA who wished to remain anonymous considered the Providence incursions to be “minor engagements from the AAA perspective.” The Providence Holders took control of the four systems on the second week of January and maintained territorial claims for roughly two weeks.

An anonymous participant reports that in HED-GP, a 300-strong fleet from the Providence Holders destroyed several station services including the Clone Bay and the Reprocessing Plant. An AAA fleet that was assembling in a nearby system was also reported as having been destroyed.

GalNet References

Against ALL Authorities Battle Records – January Week 2
Against ALL Authorities Battle Records – January Week 3.

The next article in this series will look at the abrupt turn-around in the war with the retributive strike launched by Against ALL Authorities and their allies against the Paxton Federation system of D-GTMI in Providence.

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AY-YCU, Providence – Recent data suggests that Providence may be the most populous and industrially-developed region in null-sec, the so-called “outlaw space” beyond the control of CONCORD and the planetary governments. The strong alliance of so-called “Holders” who share sovereignty in the area and the “Not Red, Don’t Shoot” policy originally set in place by Curatores Veritatis Alliance [CVA] appear to be the driving force behind this economic boom.

Providence for many is seen as an accessible, “open to all” region with the chance of earning plenty of allies, and ISK, but CVA have rules in place to for those who wish to operate there. These mandates can vary between the “Holder” alliances (sovereignty holders in the region, named after the Amarr Holder caste) but one thing they must all share is the “Not Red Don’t Shoot Policy” or NRDS as it is known.

No alliance in the Providence Holder Network is permitted to initiate an attack in designated areas unless they are officially labelled as enemies, either for hostile politics or action in the region, or for crimes such as piracy or theft. If that rule is broken, that alliance will be forcibly removed from the region. The maintenance of such a policy requires a highly active diplomatic team and the continuous passing of intel, compared to the more popular policy of NBSI.

Alliances who accept the Holder’s Oath are offered improved access to CVA outposts in the region, and sometimes ceded sovereignty in an area and given permission to construct their own outposts and facilities. Current spaceholders in the region include CVA, Amarr loyalist alliance Aegis Militia, long-time CVA allies Sev3rance and Paxton Federation, Cold Steel Alliance, former Ushra’Khan allies Sylph who changed allegiance to CVA some years ago (Sylph suffered heavy blows in the last year and have a much-reduced presence in the region from their 109-110 heyday) and Libertas Fidelitas Alliance, who recently took a leading role in the Providence bloc’s assaults into Catch.

Mikella Ki’Theki, spokesperson for CVA, explained one of the reasons why she feels capsuleers are attracted to Providence. “Providence is all about working as a team. When an [outpost] is being defended or a hostile one attacked, it’s often the case that we all participate.”

Ugleb, member of Ushra’Khan [UNITY] admitted that CVA have pushed the growth of Providence: “Their operation, Deliverance, has been a driving force in developing the region. When our two alliances first entered Providence it had no stations. The first was built by the CVA.”

Enemies of CVA and their support of slavery, Ushra’Khan formerly held sovereignty in Providence with two outposts, Unity Station in 9UY4-H and Karishal’s Defiance in QR-K85. After years of conflict, the systems fell to CVA three years ago; Karishal’s Defiance – named after leader of the Defiants, Karishal Muritor, whose body was housed there after his execution (some would say “assassination”) by the Minmatar Republic – was renamed “Karishal’s Folly” by the conquering forces. Unity station fell 3 months later, becoming “Deliverance Reclaimed.”

Hostilities still continue between CVA and the Ushra’Khan to this day, with Providence representing a free-fire zone to its former UNITY residents. The decision to adopt an NBSI (“Not Blue, Shoot It”) engagement policy in Providence and its neighbour, Catch, was taken by the otherwise NRDS UNITY alliance as a way of conducting economic warfare (some would say “terrorism”) in a region where all sovereignty holders are tied through both economics and politics to the Amarr loyalist, pro-slavery CVA.

While the region certainly attracts conflict, it has experienced many years of relatively-stable governance. Mikella described the environment that stability has generated. “Hundreds of capsuleers pass through Providence every day. Ratting in anomalies, mining in hidden belts and trading at any one of the market hubs in the region. They generate a massive economic turnover; they make themselves wealthy and make others wealthy.”

It is not all about making money, as in Providence pilots will be thrown into the thick of fighting almost immediately. With UNITY and allies Against ALL Authorities [.-A-.] attacking Providence from Catch, Star Fraction’s Operation Black Lustrum striking at Sev3rance’s territories on the Assah and Dital entry-pipes, bored fleets from the Tribal Liberation Force (and indeed the Amarr-affiliated 24th Imperial Crusade) wandering in for combat and piracy and raids from other 0.0 powerblocs such Goonswarm, Triumvirate. or other groups just looking for a fight, there is always the danger of a pilot becoming a target for the simple aim of attracting a larger force.

CVA maintain that Providence is an “open to all” region, whereas UNITY argue that they are simply dictating code and rules of engagement to their neighbours. The fighting in the region looks set to continue as more pilots enter outlaw space in search of glory and ISK, while also choosing the pro-slavery laws of CVA or the direct opposition methods of UNITY and their allies.

At present, Providence is involved in its largest-scale conflict for years. In retribution for the expansion of “Operation Deliverance” (the CVA-backed operation to “reclaim” space for the Amarr Empire) into their home space in Catch, Against ALL Authorities and Ushra’Khan have launched a literally titanic offensive against the Paxton Federation-held system of D-GTMI, with fleets numbering well over 1,000 being typical. Just after midnight on the 29.01.112, following several days of brutal fighting and heavy loses for Providence, Paxton lost sovereignty over the system and the station was claimed by .-A-.

Virtuozzo, of Against ALL Authorities explained a little about the D-GTMI attack. “We got pushed, so we push back and go the extra mile.” The battle for D-GTMI will be examined in greater depth in a forthcoming article.

With more pilots than ever before expressing an interest in the local lifestyle, Providence could grow to match some regions of high security space in population and activity, but the effect of the recent wars upon its popularity remain to be seen.

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Hisoufad, Domain - Icarus3, CEO of Daedalus X [DX4] successfully carried out a wormhole assault against his former employer, Eurzadahn, who is CEO of Tenichigo Kaigun [-KGN-] in an attempt to recover ISK he believes to be owed to him and the members of his corporation.

As the former -KGN- recruitment officer, Icarus3 claims that Eurzadahn stole hundreds of millions of ISK that was rightfully due to the members of the corporation. Icarus3 and other members grew concerned when funds generated from activities such as wormhole mining and security details found its way into the personal wallet of Eurzadahn rather than shared amongst those that contributed to the effort. Eurzadahn himself has been unavailable for comment.

Relationships broke down within Tenichigo Kaigun, amidst rumours that further ISK and ships were disappearing from the corporation. Icarus3 left with other aggrieved capsuleers and formed DX4. Their plan for revenge was devised, taking four months of preparation before the final blow was struck.

Having discovered the wormhole in which Eurzadahn resided, a wormhole dubbed ‘Cake’ by capsuleers, Icarus3 entered the starbase owned by -KGN- using passwords he had acquired. Once inside, and with the help of his fellow capsuleers from DX4 he set about taking anything he could before Eurzadahn could act.

Among the items taken from Eurzadahn were a Thanatos, Absolution and Orca as well as whatever the Orca could carry. The total value of goods stolen from -KGN- to is estimated at approximately 2 billion ISK, with further damages being inflicted militarily. On a final note about Eurzadahn, Icarus3 had this to say: “I’ve never known a single [capsuleer] to accept so many loans and donations as Eurzadahn does. It’s rather embarrassing to know I used to be under his command.”

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Jita – Another record setting lottery is currently under way. The Ships of Eve 3 “Fleets of Eve” event includes a first prize of 223 ships and 80 tech 3 subsystems.

Organized by T’Amber of Ships of Eve [SOE-E], the event will be “fleet themed, with prizes of multiple choice semi-customizable fleets” with the prizes “designed to be accessible and useful for anyone.”

There are a total of twenty prizes, with first prize being “a custom fleet of 223 ships and 80 tech 3 subsystems.” Winners of the lottery from 2nd to 20th will have several choices that are “based on combat, industry and mystery fleets, to accommodate all pilots’ professions.” Each ticket costs ten million ISK, with a total of ten thousand tickets being sold for the event. T’Amber believes that the odds “are definitely the best for any major lottery in New Eden.”

GalNet Refences

Ships of Eve 3 “Fleets of Eve”

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Bittanshal – In the months following Empress Jamyl’s emancipation announcement, millions of released slaves have made their way to the welcoming arms of the Minmatar Republic. Millions more still remain within the Amarr Empire, however, hindered by the fear of leaving behind everything that they have ever known.

Onyeka Djekatro was a twelfth-generation slave maintaining production line equipment for the Inherent Implants factory in Bittanshal. When the emancipation order was issued , the corporation released Onyeka’s entire family, forcing them to fend for themselves. ”It was before the Sisters [of EVE] started their work. We couldn’t afford to leave,” Inevne Djekatro, her mother, explains. ”We were told to leave the workers’ housing, but where are we going to go if there’s nowhere else?” With nowhere to go, the family was forced to take menial service jobs on the station in order to pay for lodging and food.

”We thought life would get better at first,” says Onyeka, ‘But it only got worse. We saved what we could, but it was months before we had enough for a place on a shuttle.” At the expense of reduced power to the family of eight’s single room apartment, they saved enough to send Onyeka to the Republic to begin a new life.

For the nineteen-year-old woman, the prospect was both exciting and terrifying. Her family served Inherent Implants since the installation’s inception. Onyeka was born on the station, and though some family members were sold to other Holders, she has neverleft the station’s vicinity. ”I sometimes didn’t want to go,” she admits. “But [my family] decided I would have the best chance. I have good skills and some training. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”