"Aurora Security and the rest of the residents of Solitude have grown tired of these brigands and their allies," he said. "This is a call to all of Solitude to join ranks and show these low life punks that Solitude is not their playground. This call also goes out to the (Solitude) community that borders on Syndicate. We need to teach these pirates that preying on innocents is punishable by death."

The situation in Solitude is not a simple one. When contacted for an interview, Darqnite of the Soul Cartel Alliance agreed that a coalition is needed to deal with the pirate problem in Solitude but he classified The Cyrene Initiative as part of the problem. "These people," he said, "openly flaunt the traditional rules of war and attack anyone and everyone."

XxKatharsisxX and XxTiggerxX, the actual leaders of the Soul Cartel, do not deny that they are pirates. They point out, however, that…

The database contains a notice that not everyone in it is necessarily guilty. "All I do," VonHeise said, "is put the information out there with both parties saying from their perspective what happened and then I let those who read it make the determination as to who they are going to believe. If I get someone coming to me and complaining about the actual information I make a "disputed" entry and let people read that as well."

The database contains thefts ranging from 20 million ISK to 700 billion ISK (from the infamous EIB scam). When asked about his inclusion of some of the smaller thefts VonHeise said, "If someone takes a small amount they have shown they cannot be trusted...If you can't be trusted with small amounts you can't be trusted…

Even in today's busy world, some pod pilots manage to find the time for romance. These minority are able to put aside work and make room for partners, wives and husbands. Evanda Char, a Minmatar senior member of Electus Matari, made the time for marriage. In an interview, Evanda explained about how her relationship with the Caldari national Meklon began and developed, eventually turning into a marriage. Like everything in life, their relationship has its successes and difficulties.

"When we first met, he'd just taken over from Thetis Midvar as the head of our alliance. We were both working closely to build the alliance and take it new places. We were working so closely together and, well, he was quite a funny guy. With implants like that, I guess you have to be. We had a lot of fun together and got closer and closer, the way people do. There was a bit…

The Interstellar Correspondents have investigated reports of a major fleet engagement involving a Titan class starship belonging to Evolution of the Band of Brothers alliance along with over 800 other ships in the system 49-U6U, the sovereignty of which is held by Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate.

The Doomsday weapon on the Avatar, piloted by Shrike, was fired three times over the course of a conflict that saw Band of Brothers heavily out gunned, Coalition rivalries break out in fighting, the destruction of many hundreds of star ships and what is believed to be an unexplained solar event.

Events started when a fleet belonging to Band of Brothers was spotted in the region and became engaged in the systems surrounding 49-U6U including 4-07MU and 25S-6P. The Titan jumped into 49-U6U and fired its doomsday weapon at the 4-07MU star gate, "killing maybe 20 to 30" according to VileLust who spoke to us on behalf of the alliance Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate. Following this, a single Heavy Interdictor managed to tackle the Titan, keeping it pinned to the star gate.

Word was sent to the Coalition forces that the ship was held in the system and ships from the entire of the…

To be a titan pilot is the dream of countless capsuleers, yet those who have joined this exclusive club say the risk and cost may not be worth it.

The role of titan pilot is in many ways an unattainable elite status. Capsule pilots are already nearly gods in themselves, so those who fly the handful of titans in existence make up a tiny group with more metaphorical weight than many galactic political figures. Yet not all these pilots are happy with their decision. In recent interviews, titan pilots described a similar unhappiness with their choice to fly the rarest ship class in the universe.

"In the past, titans have been used as a scare tactic as much as a blob eliminator," notes DHB Wildcat of Burn Eden Corporation. Pilots unused to titan warfare simply fled in disarray with the mere appearance of a titan on the battlefield. This gave the titan a particular unquantifiable advantage: fear.

With the march of time however, the fear factor of a titan appearing nearby has decreased. Recent times have seen many updates and changes made to the public titan blueprints, removing many tactical options which were considered the class' main strengths. These included…

In the past 12 months we have seen alliances born and destroyed, the Coallition-Band of Brothers war grow to new heights, the destruction of Titan class star ships, and sovereignty shift daily as numerous alliances fight tooth and claw for their own space.

And in empire held space we have seen the Minmatar Republic and Ammatar Mandate cease hostilities and begin negotiating peace, civil unrest within the State, the Federation fighting back against a swathe of illegal booster dealing and the Amarr Empire still without an Emperor to guide them.

But away from galactic scale events, what does the New Year mean to individual pilots? Classically it is the time when we look back on the past 12 months and take what we have learned to help us through the coming year. It is a time of personal reflection, contemplation, change, and for many: exuberant parties.

Nebulous is a member of Freelance Incorporated who are part of Ushra'Khan. He has been…

It is a far superior ship than its more basic counterparts; equipped with stronger electronics subsystems, updated shield arrays, strengthened armour plating and re-engineered propulsion vents. Stories have been told of the few captains to pilot one and how they have had special nano-tattoos implanted to celebrate both the gift of the ship and the honour of piloting it.

And now the chance has arisen for you to pilot one.

There are only four remaining examples of this vessel across the cluster that are known to exist within a capsuleer's reach. Due to the rarity of these ships, conservative estimates put the value somewhere between 85 and 100 billion ISK. This ensures that these vessels will rarely ever be seen in space let alone the front lines of combat. Most likely they are all stored away in private…

The Tortuga announcement declared that "as of Saturday the 15th of December MC, KIA Alliance, Ev0ke and 0utbreak claim the region of Period Basis as our home" and stated as their reason: "we do this for ourselves, our fellow brethren of space." It finished by claiming that "once our new home is secure, MC and KIA will be available for regular contract work."

This latest dramatic twist in the southern war is being seen by some as perhaps the largest turning point in a conflict littered already with many landmark moments. The removal of the Mercenary Coalition from the side of the Band of Brothers means one less group for them to call upon, and arguably the greatest loss so far in terms of willing allies. Leaked instructionshave alleged that BoB leadership has ordered their alliance to withdraw from most of the current theatres of conflict and prepare to make…

The birth of an alliance is a wonderful event in New Eden. Whether for profit, security, or common ideals, corporations bind together (albeit for a hefty fee) and through unity become more able to achieve their goals. This is the start of the growth phase, where recruitment is often rampant. As has been observed with alliances in control of 0.0 space, their creation is often followed by an influx of pod pilots and member corporations. Whether for the glory of battle or the potential of riches, many dreamy-eyed pilots clamber to the opportunities that 0.0 space are rumoured to have. If alliances are not careful in their recruiting, they may attract pilots whose ideals do not align with their own.

Following rapid growth, alliances find that they can hit a saturation point in terms of the members of their alliance.…

Empire mercenary corporations provide an interesting and valuable service to their clients in New Eden. We take a look at the workings of one of them in an interview with their leaders.

The Interstellar Correspondents managed to obtain an interview with Gabrial1, Hans Gates and Jezala of Repo Industries during which origin, organization and contracts was discussed. During the interview of the three CEOs, it was an engaging and informative look at a thriving example of this niche industry.

Ameron Silent: Gabrial11, I must say people are impressed on the things about Repo Industries an would like to know more from the force behind it as your foes and friends all hold you in high regard

Gabrial1: Thank you, we try to do good work and have a good time doing it we try to maintain a good relation ship with both it helps recruiting and future contracts.

Ameron Silent: Can you tell us how Repo Industries came about?

Gabrial1: A group of us pilots decided to group together and try our hand at the mercenary business. After about two or three months we saw potential in it and decided to get a little more serious about it.

Ameron Silent:…

An empire control tower can only be erected within a star system with a mid-level CONCORD rating. To even consider deployment of a tower, the prospective corporate entity must be held in high regard by the local political and / or controlling corporate body. No lucrative activity such as moon mining or refining is permitted, so why are capsuleers erecting them?

Two large alliances, solely devoted to research and development, have made great use of this opportunity. These two alliances are direct competitors, but maintain a friendly rivalry.

Interviews were conducted with Mr. Ricdic, CEO of Corporate Research & Production (C-R-A) and executor of the Zzz alliance, and also with Mr. Alvara, founder of Kuiper Belt Industries, executor of the Empire Research Alliance, and his right hand man within the alliance, Mr. Jesters Knight of Encoded Theory corporation.

The limited number of publicly available research slots is hurting the research and development of blueprints and inventions. Verbal and…

DED investigators tracked down and ambushed cohorts of the prison transport hijackers in a shock dawn raid on a Society of Conscious Thought School.

The DED have announced that following the recent destruction of a CONCORD prison transport vessel they were tasked with tracking down the perpetrators and dismantling any infrastructure they may have.

After carefully interviewing residents and informants in the Geminate region a connection was found to the Society of Conscious Thought School in FDZ4-A, in the vicinity of planet eight.

DED carefully planned a dawn assault on the school in order to minimise any potential resistance, surprise was guaranteed as officials at the establishment were not notified.

"It went according to plan, once the main station building was breeched we found what we were looking for. At this time I can tell you that we were looking for six suspects, all six were found, two of these terrorists were taken alive," revealed Commander Haram Goskaktar, DED's head of security.

Idmei Sver, the chief executive officer of the Society of Conscious Thought said shortly after the raid: "It's outragous, attacking a school, however I have been assured by a DED advisor that the school is not suspected in…

The documents detail the transfer of a prisoner from a classified facility deep within the Geminate region to an intelligence review board meeting in the system of Aldik via a vessel disguised as a Minmatar industrial ship.

It is clear from the documents that the prisoner was someone CONCORD had recently captured and were hoping to gain valuable intelligence from, purportedly regarding a terrorist cell operating within empire space.

Whilst events on board the transport ship remain a mystery, not least because no crew survived, it is known that the transport made an unscheduled stop in Eurgrana where an unknown number of terrorists seized the vessel.

"Suddenly there were black robed figures carrying weapons rushing up a transport ship's ramp, you didn't need implants to realise the echo of weapons fire and the screaming meant something had gone wrong on board," remarked station dock worker Sal Vaslen.

CONCORD were aware of the breech almost immediately due to station and customs scanners and reacted by placing a bounty on the transport and passengers as well as sending its own…

Trading hubs are centralized systems semi-regularly spaced throughout New Eden which have, for some reason or another, attracted many private investors, merchants, and traders. There are obvious needs for such locations; they allow purchasers to make easy and efficient marketing decisions and they provide sellers access to a fast-moving market. With universal knowledge of such systems, goods turnover occurs very frequently and if one invests wisely, money can easily made. With well-known market hubs in place, everyone from novice goods traders to savvy investors have locations to make contacts, discuss business, and turn a profit.

The first trading system we will be talking about is without a doubt the most famous: Jita. Specifically the Planet 4, Moon 4 Caldari Navy Assembly Plant, or 'Jita 4-4' as it is commonly known. This station, located within The Forge, has the most goods moved through it in all of New Eden, with…

Recently released official figures from the Jovian Directorate show an increasing number of Impro's clients are experiencing a corruption of neural data on transmission to their medical facilities.

Critics on GalNet have been quick to point out that Impro are one of the few Jovian companies to operate outside faction space and that they manufacture mainly electronic hardware (admittedly far superior to those produced by the other empires) and that the foray into cloning biotechnology is something of an experiment.

Impro were recently in the news when Mikato "DarkElf" Tarawa from Veto Corporation was left mind-locked due to a neural transfer corruption on route from Lonetrek which resulted in a riot outside the medical facilty by fellow Veto pilots.

Doctor Yibara from Impro's medical facilty in Goinard explained the case of Tarawa. He said: "The neural data and mindscan transmitted from the previous jumpclone in Lonetrek was corrupted. It caused the upload system to crash while it was being parsed to his memory."

"The result was what we call a neural jack-in…

A mysterious explorer has sparked an influx of prospectors into Pegasus as they seek their fortune from a reportedly untouched gas cloud.

Residents of the area had been bemused by the sudden surge in the local population until rumours of the gas formation began to leak out.

With most other such spacial anomalies already harvested, the opportunity to enter or maintain a position in the lucrative booster market has been the main thrust behind the prospecting.

Of course such a high concentration of mainly non-combatants has seen a smattering of pirate activity in the region and as more and more ships head deep into frontier territory, so the opportunity for increased conflict grows.

The recent improvements in ship sensor technology has seen many more pod-pilots rush to join the elite pioneers that scour the galaxy for its secrets.

Even if the most recent rumours turn out to be untrue, such is the potential profit that many corporations in the industry cannot afford not to go. Another reason for joining in the 'gold rush' is simply safety in numbers.

"Residents and local pirates will not take kindly to this invasion of what they see as their sovereign territory" said Commander Apira…

High-ranked personnel on both sides agreed that the destruction of Armageddon Dawn would not have been possible without the work of a Covert Ops pilot who managed to probe out and locate the Titan quickly. Indeed, the Covert Ops pilots responsible for scanning had an amazingly small window of opportunity to scan the vessel. It was only through intensive skill training, experience, top of the line fittings and a no small amount of luck that they were able to probe the safespot down. In a battle report recounting the events, it was stated that this particular probing had not in fact been the first time that Armageddon Dawnhad been scanned…

Whilst Shikari may not have effectively hindered the economic or logistic foundations of his foes in the Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate, he has nonetheless found himself much richer thanks to their patronage. He is known to many as a market manipulator, causing economic inconvenience to his enemies wherever he sees an opportunity for profit. However much resentment one might have towards his methods of business however, the billions he has made from them serve as testament to how lucrative his practices can be. In an interview with the Interstellar Correspondents, Shikari shared his market strategies as he used them in the FAT-6P system of the Catch region.

"What I did in FAT was extremely difficult, something I would only recommend a veteran of the market with money to blow, try. The reason for this is that it was done in a 'factory station' with 50 factories, where IAC could easily resupply their market in mere hours. One might think…

Recent weeks have shown an increasing frequency for supercapital losses. Despite this, the kill scored by x13 forces was itself unprecedented. It was the first time a Mothership had been downed within the confines of Empire controlled space, where conventional interdiction methods do not work against the EW-Immune supercapitals. For many months, it was thought this immunity rendered them invulnerable in low-security space, a myth now debunked by the x13 squad.

The End was piloting his Nyx in a low-security system, looking for targets of opportunity over the period of a few days. x13 received intel about his movements, fine-tuned their plan and then sprang into action.

Ventosus of x13 explained in an interview that even though they had only known of the Mothership being in the area for a short time, the technical skills that they needed to execute the kill had been planned "for several months." Ventosus stated: "about one month ago, we had our first try at it. A friend of ours got his…

L1YK-V - The ongoing conflict between the FREGE and Ka-Tet alliances escalated into a full scale fleet battle in the drone regions yesterday, with FREGE suffering heavy losses.

An earlier skirmish outside the station in the R3P0-Z system between the FREGE forces and two Ka-Tet carriers served as a preface for the heavy fighting to come. After Ka-Tet intelligence located the FREGE fleet in L1YK-V, a Ka-Tet cyno pilot set up a jump point for his carriers and prepared for the attack. Only four Ka-Tet carriers made the complete jump, however, as their cyno ship was destroyed, leaving the remainder of the fleet mid-system and hurrying to catch up. The FREGE fleet was immediately reinforced by the arrival of several dreadnoughts and two carriers, and a pitched battle ensued.

"After 30 minutes of hard fighting I was eventually destroyed," explained Tyanni, a carrier pilot for Ka-Tet. "But by that time, Chib (Ka-Tet CEO) had jumped the support fleet in and had the enemy capitals scrambled." Despite drawing first blood, the fight began to turn against FREGE with an Archon-class carrier going down as the first capital ship loss, followed by what has been reported as either three or four of…