Drifters, The RSS, And Eifyr, Oh My!

Sometimes, a subject calls out for a post. Today's example is the latest video from The Scope, covering HERO's withdrawal from Catch and the conflict between N3 and the CFC in the Fountain/Delve area of operations.


For me, the news scroll is often more interesting than the main storyline the narrator of the video reads. Let's look at those stories:

• Mineral prices rise amid second quarter market speculation by capsuleer industrialists.
• Propel Dynamics decline to comment on arrival of unidentified vessel at Tamo factory gravdock.
• 24th Imperial Crusade trade Saidusairos for Arnstur after sustained fighting in The Bleak Lands.
• Tama remains under Caldari control after State Protectorate assumed sovereignty on March 29th.
• Almost Awesome loses swathes of space in Wicked Creek as TEST Alliance roll in.
• Darkness loses ZXB-VC to Fatal Ascention after sizeable capital fight.
• Further rumors circulate regarding Jackdaw technical specifications after prototype vessel is spotted in Saisid.
• Republic Security Services patrol observed briefly engaging Drifter vessels in Elgoi before retreat to Arlek.

Yes, seeing up to the minute references to factional warfare in the video (the flips of Saidusairos and Arnstur occurred on Thursday) was a nice tip of the hat to low sec. But the last story really peaked my interest. Arlek is a 1.0 system in Metropolis equidistant (at least in terms of jumps) between the two major trade hubs of the Minmatar Republic, Rens and Hek.

I found the location where the engagement took place interesting. Elgoi is the home system for Eifyr and Co., major backers of Dr. Hilen Tukoss' work on the Arek'Jaalan Project. In fact, Site One of the Arek'Jaalan Project is located in the next-door system of Eram. Is this small reference another piece of the Arek'Jaalan project storyline playing out? I thought last month's story of Zainou Biotech finally getting around to stripping Dr. Tukoss of his Caldari corporate citizenship a bit weird, since I presumed they had done that shortly after his defection to Eifyr and Co. years ago. But as a stepping stone to keep the storyline moving and in the back of people's minds, creating the story was a nice touch.

One other interesting fact about Eifyr and Co. The Minmatar corporation, rumored to have links to the underworld booster rings, is also a player in w-space research:

"The widespread emergence of unstable wormholes and the technological possibilities opened by these phenomena is the most recent opportunity seized by Kolvil Eifyr's remarkable corporation. Eifyr and Co.'s expertise in chemical reactor technology was swiftly adapted to the newly emerging polymers derived from wormhole space gas clouds. Additionally, Sleeper technology became a particular interest of the corporation. Today, Eifyr and Co. acquires Sleeper-related data in a variety of forms primarily from capsuleers, who encounter the ancient civilization’s drone guardians in wormhole space."

Perhaps I'm reading too much into the situation, but why are units of the Republic's Security Services, and not mainline fleet units, battling the Drifters? Forgive me if I'm suspicious, but the RSS has strong links to the New Eden underworld. With Eifyr and Co.'s shady reputation, is something going on?

Since I've come this far, let me put my tinfoil hat on firmly and go deep down the rabbit hole. Eifyr and Co. along with another corporation mentioned in the video, Propel Dynamics, are among two of the five corporations that have their corporate logos plastered on the Sisters of EVE Astero-, Stratios-, and Nestor-class ships. We may have a clue of what the mysterious ship may feature based on Propel Dynamics' history:

"Propel Dynamics was founded by the team that discovered the first functional warp drive for short jumps within a system. Though it has never managed to live up to its early expectation the company has always turned out innovative and interesting designs that have driven the field of propulsion forward."

With the Minmatar clashing with the Drifters in the headquarters system of one SoE ally and another SoE ally working on a mysterious ship, are we about to see the lore explode? I don't think so. With CCP about to release major changes to sovereignty mechanics in June, I don't think CCP would want to step on the possibly epic stories that players are about to create. However, stringing out the story the rest of the year will give those who don't live and breathe null sec politics something to watch as CCP positions players to create their own stargates, hopefully sometime in 2016.