The Brapelille Crusade

As Father of the New Order and Saviour of Highsec, I get quite a bit of EVEmail. Some good, some bad, some ugly. On a routine mail check, I came across the following letter from a miner named Professor Billions:

It was a heartwarming tale of a miner attempting to spread the Code to his brothers in the ore belts.

Suddenly, the story took a disturbing turn. Professor's CEO, Jake Salvator, interrogated him about his support of the Code. The corp had about 50 members, but Jake intended to expand it to 500. Apparently that would make mining permits too expensive, even though it's still the same rate of 10 million per miner.

Jake gave Professor a choice: Forsake his mining permit and clear his bio, or be kicked out of the corp. Like all true miners, Professor chose to stand for the Code. Jake expelled him from the corp.

I was alarmed by Professor's story. But I do not believe in taking action impulsively. Before doing anything, I wanted to find out the truth. And I wanted to find a peaceful solution to the problem. So I went directly to the source, and I sent an EVEmail to Jake Salvator asking for his side of the story:

Jake--

Hello! I am James 315, the Father of the New Order and Saviour of Highsec. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, though I wish it were under better circumstances than these.

I received a disturbing report from one of your corporation's former members, Professor Billions. First, he informed me that he is a follower of the Code. So far, so good. But then his story took a nasty turn: He claims that as CEO, you kicked him out of the corporation for refusing your demand that he forsake the Code.

Obviously, these are serious charges--very serious charges. When miners fail to abide by the Code and pledge their loyalty to the New Order, that's grounds for corrective action. But when someone attempts to influence other miners to violate the Code--particularly when it's someone using their position of authority to do so--that takes the crime to a whole new level. Then, to add to the offense by using one's influence to punish a follower of the Code?

Well, you can certainly understand how this report caught my attention.

Given the severity of the situation, I decided it was necessary to follow up on this with you to confirm the accuracy of Professor Billions' report. Is it true? Did you really remove him from your corporation because he follows the Code and would not forsake the New Order? I am a man who believes in the ultimate value of the truth. If you deny the charges, you can rest assured the New Order will launch an investigation and get to the bottom of this.

If the report is true, then we have a problem on our hands. Fear not! I have often worked out peaceful solutions to problems like these. If you offer Professor Billions an apology and a chance to rejoin your corporation, that would be a great first step. Then we can work out an arrangement to help you get the rest of your corporation into compliance with the Code in a fair, affordable manner. I look forward to working with you on this.

However, should you decline my offer of peace, I must warn you of the potential consequences. The New Order will be made aware of the situation, and your crimes will be made public on www.MinerBumping.com , one of EVE's most popular blogs. Declaring yourself an enemy of the New Order would not be a wise decision, in my view. In just the past couple weeks, the New Order has destroyed 60 billion isk worth of ships and capsules of our enemies. You may view our killboard here (a work in progress, but it lists many of the kills):

http://neworder.mindflood.org/

Our Agents have ample access to locators, so there is no possibility of avoiding retaliation by relocating your corp. In addition to wardecs and corp infiltration (aka "awoxing"), our Knights are practiced in the art of suicide ganking in highsec. At this stage, I am uncertain whether or not we will relocate our HQ for the purpose of becoming your neighbors and focusing more intently on retaliating against you. If not, you should still consider that the inflammatory nature of your (alleged) action is likely to arouse the ardor of our Agents.

I notice that your corp is new and that you have ambitions to expand it. I am a man who desires peace and cooperation, not war and destruction. I wholeheartedly support you in your industrial endeavors--provided they take place within the bounds of the Code.

I look forward to hearing from you, so that we may find a satisfactory resolution to this matter as soon as possible.

Thanks a bunch!

Best wishes,

James 315
Father of the New Order
Saviour of Highsec

cc: Professor Billions

I wanted to make sure Jake Salvator understood that I was not interested in grief or terror, only peace and progress. All he had to do was respond to my EVEmail and tell me the truth. We could find a way to coexist.

Shockingly, Jake chose not to respond to my EVEmail at all. He just blew the whole thing off. This was highly provocative. But again, I am a man of peace. The next day, I saw that Jake was online, and I attempted to initiate a private convo. Incredibly, Jake decided not to accept my invitation! All these lifelines I sent him, and he ignored them. Clearly, Jake was not receptive to diplomacy, not in the least.

Even still, I remain a man of peace. The next day, I sent him a second private convo invitation when he was online. This time, Jake actually accepted it.

At long last, I opened a channel of communication. I asked Jake to present his side of the story. With any luck, we'd sort out the mess and become friends.

I have been in some heated peace negotiations before, but even I was surprised by Jake's response. He didn't want to tell his side of the story.

Being a highsec miner, Jake is a busy man with a fast-paced career. His hourly mouse-click was probably coming up.

Jake claimed that Professor's harmless bio had attracted enemies, which was the real reason he had been kicked out.

I asked for clarification on what he meant by "attracting enemies", but was instead treated to an outburst right out of left field. I was asking for his help in putting the matter to rest, but for whatever reason he invited me to send the full force and power of the New Order against him and his corp. Don't do Torarjan Collective any favors, dude.

Despite all the provocations, I offered another olive branch.

The convo was awash in the stench of Jake's guilt. He didn't want to tell his side of the story or deny that Professor Billions was telling the truth.

Over and over again, I tried to give Jake and his corp a peaceful way out. Jake took the opportunity to abruptly terminate the conversation. As if I had not been patient enough, I sent him a quick EVEmail after the convo, inviting him once again to shed light on the situation and make peace. He never answered.

So who is this Jake Salvator, and who are the Torarjan Collective? I decided to find out.

According to their website, Torarjan Collective is completely unlike the thousands of other highsec mining corps because Jake is a successful business owner in real life. (Of course, that doesn't always go well.)

To give them due credit, their command structure is clear and easy-to-follow. I noticed their "morale officer" position is vacant. They might want to fill it soon.

The official corp literature repeatedly vaunted their commitment to peace and diplomacy. Personally, I found it lacking. As to their military prowess, we'll see.

One thing that I found very interesting about the Torarjan Collective is how quickly they've grown. Jake has only been in EVE for a couple of months, but he's somehow managed to convince over 50 people to join his corp. They have a very aggressive recruitment policy.

Given the severity of the crimes involved, I found myself with no choice but to Red Pen their entire corporation. All members of Torarjan Collective should be considered high-priority targets for corrective action. This website offers a partial list of the members. You can also easily identify them in local by adding the corp itself as a contact:

Because I am merciful, I am offering an amnesty program to all members of Torarjan Collective who wish to leave the corp within 48 hours of this post. (If you have roles to resign, send me an EVEmail within the 48-hour period.) To qualify for amnesty, leave Torarjan Collective, send me 10 million isk, and pledge loyalty to me in your bio.

Otherwise you will be Red Penned. After being Red Penned, you will continue to be a high-priority target for corrective action, even if you leave Torarjan Collective. In addition, any corp you join will be notified of your crimes. Please be aware that the Red Pen goes on your permanent record, so anyone who ever has Torarjan Collective in their employment history (other than Professor Billions himself, of course) will be given this treatment. To have the Red Pen removed, send me 30 million isk and copy me on a sincere apology EVEmail to Professor Billions.

As for Jake Salvator himself, his extraordinary crimes call for extraordinary punishment. I am giving him the Double Red Pen. This is a punishment so severe that it breaks the damage limit, penalizing him with a 60 million isk fine. He, too, must pledge loyalty to me in his bio and copy me on a sincere EVEmail apology to Professor Billions.

Until Jake Salvator complies, he is a permanent enemy of the New Order, and all actions he takes in highsec will be subject to New Order supervision. His corporation will be considered our primary target. If he leaves Torarjan Collective, it will continue to be our primary target. If he creates or joins another corporation, it will become our primary target, as well.

Jake's persecution of a harmless Code-compliant miner in his own corp was the greatest act of intolerance and hatred we have yet seen. It is unacceptable and appalling. In other words, Jake Salvator is the living embodiment of all that is evil and unjust in humankind. Everything he touches in highsec will be destroyed, forever and ever, until he complies with the Code.

The headquarters of Jake's corporation is located in Lirsautton, two jumps from the ice miner mecca known as Brapelille. If the name of that system sounds familiar, it's the home of Agent BillMurray, who gave them a foretaste of the Code months ago. Pictured above is a highly-modified version of the Dotlan map of Gallente highsec, where Brapelille is located. Brapelille is four jumps from the market hub of Dodixie. It's also four jumps from Chelien, another major ice mining system. (Note the limitations of the map--Jaschercis is two jumps from Chelien in the east, which wraps around on the western side of the map.)

The cluster of ice mining systems pictured in that map are one major source of Gallente ice, with the other cluster being around Tolle, which you'll remember. If the geography of highsec is starting to fall into place for you, it's because the New Order is slowly devouring it all.

Our headquarters in Brapelille will be the IV-2 Federal Freight Storage station. This may be a little confusing, because there's another IV-2 station. Federal Freight Storage has a better undock and has the repairs service. The other IV-2 station has medical services, so put your clone there. Also, we deliberately did not choose a station near the ice field for our HQ. Instead, we want stations nearest the ice field to be empty, so rookie ships spawn there; we can clear the ice field by undocking from them.

This sudden move may come as a surprise, given how recently we moved to Osmon. In fact, I had only expected to be fully relocated to Osmon just now. Our bumpers, creatures of speed always, were already in Osmon conducting major operations within hours after last week's announcement. There were a lot of targets, and then our Knights rolled in and flattened the place.

By contrast, I expect to be in Gallente highsec for a longer period. If our targets clear out of our new home with similar speed, the miners of highsec may as well hang it up, because this is a very important mining center.

One final word on our conflict with Jake Salvator and the Torarjan Collective. Our central mission continues to be the enforcement of the Code to highsec. We're not going to mindlessly chase after Jake and his corp. Everything we do is on our own terms, in a manner that is convenient to us and consistent with our goals.

Therefore, if Torarjan Collective abandons its headquarters tomorrow and sends its miners to some remote place, we're not going to cancel the Brapelille campaign. Instead, we'll occupy Brapelille and, when the time is right, relocate to a nice place near Torarjan's new HQ. The whole point of mining in highsec is the safety, stability, and predictability of it. Torarjan will no longer have that. This will be a long-term process, unless they surrender.

Merry Christmas.