The Tiacken Tribune

Welcome back Pardus! We have little time for flowery introductions this week, and instead will cut right to the chase! Hope you enjoy!

It’s the End of the War as We Know It And I Feel Fine

Many many centuries ago, a relatively famous writer wrote, “This is the way the world ends; This is the way the world ends; This is the way the world ends; Not with a bang but a whimper.” (T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men - 1925). So it went then, and so it goes now. The war wound down with a massive fanfare of nothing at all.

For the first time since Usube II, the three factions regained control of all of their allocated space in the core. With the Aperture looming ever nearer, pilots chose to forgo continued tensions and opt instead for exploration. For Lancel, this means that he is, once again, temporarily unemployed. Lancel, the Tribune appreciates your dedicated coverage of the war and would like to offer you a position at our fine establishment. Please contact Eldritch for further details.

For the rest of the universe, the “whimpering” came in varying volumes. But, make no mistake…Eliot’s words ring true even in this age.

Become A Economic Genius! (Kaela Angeles - Tribune Economist)

As I alluded to in my last article, the biggest problem which causes pilots heartache and grief while trading is wasting time. Everyone is looking for the best route and when one is advertised, two reactions happen. The first occurs when it’s a new route, or one that hasn’t been advertised in a while. Pilots flock to the route, sometimes from across the galaxy, and next thing you know, your nice route has just gotten flooded. Most sector managers think having as many traders as possible is a good thing… Well my dear readers, this is just plain wrong. What you need is the correct number of traders in the system. Everyone knows what happens when there are not enough traders, but few realize the consequences of too many traders. With too many traders, the nearby Nebula plants and Starbases are quickly drained of energy, and too soon all these traders are competing for the next production cycle. In the short term this is great… But long term prosperity is lost. The traders get bored and frustrated.. the sector then falls prey to the second reaction of pilots.

Now that the traders have left the system, as a sector manager, you advertise again… all of a sudden there is a flood of communication on the comms.. “That sector is no good”, “You can’t earn that much money”, “They are a liar”, and on and on…

This is where the long term prosperity is now lost…until sufficient time as new traders come up looking for a route, you as a sector manager will be scrambling for traders.

So, what’s the solution? I’ve always found open communication with traders and managers to be extremely helpful. The other two big things that I’ve heard are either Starbase owners expect traders to do what they say, or traders expect Starbase owners to give them all the best prices regardless of what it costs the owners.

As you can see, either or both of the assumptions will lead to short term gains, but long term neither party benefits.

So, SB owners, explain your situation and the reason for your prices. Also work with other owners in the area to ensure that any traders are given consistent earnings regardless of which base they trade at on a credit per time basis. Traders, don’t bleed the owners dry…they’ll get frustrated and eventually fold up. If you feel you aren’t getting a fair deal, send a message to the owner. They will be more than happy to explain their prices, or adjust them if they can.

Again, I can’t stress enough, talk to each other…you will all find your profits increasing.

I hope you are all finding this series interesting…Starting next week, I will have a section for answering specific questions.

An Interview With Joelle (Sivrehn, Senior Tribune Correspondent)

After closely examining the galactic communication channels this week, the Tribune was happy to see that the public eye was already on the subject of our next interview - Joelle. For those of you living under a rock for the past years, Joelle has been a driving force behind Quinto Imperio, an alliance who’s stance of neutrality in the war was challenged nearly as much as GUA in Usube II. QI, like GUA, stood staunchly behind their neutrality, however, and claim to have only attacked pilots who attacked them first. Our interview, of course, covers none of that. It does, however, offer unique insight into the mind of Joelle, who has long represented QI’s interests.

TT: What brought you out to the stars, Joelle?
Joelle: A thirst for adventures.

TT: What were the highlights of your piloting career before joining Quinto Imperio?
Joelle: I flew out of the UKC, took a wrong turn, and ended up in Nex Kataam.

TT: How did you come to join QI?
Joelle: I was adopted by Zeris and Minimal Boo.

TT: What are your current goals as a pilot?
Joelle: In between shooting asshats that look at QI funny, I’m learning the last of my advanced skills. I’m also training a few pilots in trading, fighting, and leadership.

TT: What is it like commanding an alliance as large and as economically powerful as Quinto Imperio?
Joelle: All my predecessors have gone insane. I delegate everything. Lucky for me, QI has very dedicated members. I’m probably the laziest of them all.

TT: What are your greatest difficulties and challenges?
Joelle: My greatest challenge with QI is to find enough time to care for all my members. Outside of QI, my greatest concern is the decline in the quality of discourse. A lot of it comes from self-professed newbie pilots who think being younger entitles them to bypass the process of self-development and still getting results. Ignorance is one thing. Telling people off for showing you the ropes is another. It makes the experienced pilots less likely to expend the effort to pass the torch. Sometimes days go by without a single thoughtful post in the public forum.

The irony here is that the very same people who say they can’t catch up all fly top-of-the-line ships, have great skills and all the essential advanced skills. I was born in the Union Keldon Core. That makes some of the whiners older than me. I do hope that some day they drop the propaganda and get on with having fun in life. Having good enough skills to kill everyone you don’t agree with won’t solve problems. It’s not the skills, but the attitude, that makes a pilot.

TT: Now, let us know: Many alliances are known for their completely lunatic communication channels… What goes on in the QI comms?
Joelle: Lunatic is mild. Every time I change my comm channel to AC, it’s something completely new and completely insane.

TT: What do you think of pirates?
Joelle: They have nice bounties.

TT: Can you please name the most troublesome enemies QI has had so far, in your opinion?
Joelle: Actually, I can’t think of any. We tend to kill them more than they kill us.

TT: And what person, retired or not, do you admire the most?
Joelle: Ayanari. She was always refreshing and fun, and had a big heart.

TT: Now, we both know that, by the time this is published, there’ll be most likely a war raging on between the Empire and Union. Many of your members are faction-aligned, and you’re a member of the Union. What do you think about this turn of events?
Joelle: QI tries to be as removed from faction politics as possible. I expect some people to leave for war, but wars usually don’t affect most of us.

TT: How will this war affect QI’s business and do you have plans for it?
Joelle: All our sectors and starbases will be prepared and our fighter squad will be on watch for infringement of our neutrality. However, I don’t expect the WPR to be a battlefield in an Emp-Uni war.

TT: In your opinion, does the current point and medal system in use by the faction military bodies actually reflect, in the end, who won and who lost? As a matter of fact, do you believe there are, in the end, winners in war?
Joelle: I’m not the best person to answer this question. If I had thought what the factions do makes sense, I wouldn’t have joined QI.

TT: What is your favorite color?
Joelle: Sunshine.

The Tribune did manage to acquire a slightly dated comms log from the QI channels, but the lunatic ravings involving “Zompocageddontastophasionalationterminalisation” were too much even for us.

The Tiacken Tribune Presents! (Tribune Staff)

#20 - Nightstalker — Nightstalker likely holds several records in Pardus. First off all, he’s likely the pilot who has actively ranked in the most factions. He started in the Federation where he got a Nighthawk, went to join the Empire, went to join the Union and ultimately rejoined the Federation where he’s now ranked back to Commodore.

Second, he’s been active in most of the mercenary alliances of Orion. After leaving TXC, he joined MERC which he also led at some point, went on to join the Candy Lords and ultimately became one of the founding members of Legend, where he has risen to co-leader of some of the deadliest fighters in the universe. What will happen in the future of this promising pilot? We at the Tribune don’t know. But he’ll definitely be in for quite a ride.

#19 - Stephen — Stephen has been with the Shadow Order from nearly the very beginning. He is a distinguished imperial fighter but likely best known for being one of the most notorious Z skillers of Orion. Rumor has it that he has a nice villa in Zamith, where he keeps record of all the Zs he killed and the ASPs he gained in the progress of doing so.

Recently, however, the Union could clearly see that skills in fact DO make a difference, when Stephen joined the imperial war effort and kicked some serious ass.

#18 - Nak — The Man. The PASC. The Nak.

What can be said about a man that has risen from his humble beginnings in Conglomo to leading the Imperial Guard at some point? For one, he made quite a bit of noise along the way. He organized the defense of Conglomo against the incursion of Famous Pirate, organizing ambushes of little more than Constrictors and Venoms. During the second Usube war, he was one of the driving forces behind the success of the first war alliance, The Emperor’s Claw led by Evilpenguin.

Nak’s special love for crusaders of all kind and Aragorn Leonhard in particular is well known and only surpassed by his affection for pirates of all kinds. It was Nak who ultimately removed the then-infamous pirate Amai Y Hassa from the Empire Ska’ari core after winning a duel on the outskirts of Ska.

It is rumored that Nak’s name is a Keldonian acronym for “He who flies NAKed in his PASC with large guns.” Whether this is true, the Tribune doesn’t know. But we sure as hell won’t check.

#17 - Zardoz — Zardoz started out as one of the first pilots in the then newly restored Pardus Ska’ari Core. As the head of the Tiexen Chamber of Commerce, he built one of the first stable Empire economies, while his brother in arms, Wayfarer, did the same in Sigma Draconis. Zardoz also was the editor of the first newspaper, the Tiexen Tribune which covered then major events like the IoP < -> POTWOR war and the infamous Christmas War. Even though Zardoz helped the Imperial Paladins on a number of occasions back in the days, he never joined then - rumor has it that he failed the drug test each and every time it was taken.

After some internal clashes with the Empire, Zardoz moved out to the WPR with Wayfarer (later known as Grimjack) to the neutral zone to take up the fight against the then seemingly almighty Scorpion Guard. However, times changed and after a while the former enemies found that they had mutual interest (which in the WPR usually means common enemies) and started a long and fruitful cooperation.

With the arrival of the Union, Zardoz founded The Dustmen - a rather small but well respected and effective alliance. He is also the managing editor of the Tribune…the duties of which he performs admirably by never submitting anything at all on time.

#16 - Lord Steel — This legend among pilots served long and faithfully as the leader of The Scorpion Guard. Mothers in Usube used his name to scare children into behaving. As the Scorpion Lord, Steel was responsible for the Guard’s open recruitment program, and has trained many of the top fighters in the guard today. His leadership is a beacon to those who yearn to follow that path, and his courage in combat has earned him a fierce reputation. Along with his comrade-in-arms, Lady Aliara, he once hunted down Brackard, former editor of this publication, over several days. Rumors persist that Lord Steel is at the creamy center of a universal cupcake conspiracy…but the Tribune refuses to confirm or deny those allegations.

#15 - Darkstar — It is not known if Darkstar has the highest combat skills in the Universe, but he’s certainly a close contestant. The rather silent pilot is the driving force behind the success of The Shadow Order and the fortification of the ESC and excels at, well, everything. His ranking runs are legendary, as is his prowess as a trader, diplomat, alliance leader, MO breaker, dogfighter, ambusher and consumer of extra strong Ska’ari single malt.

So chances are, whatever you think you’re good at - Darkstar IS better than you at it.

#14 - Cereal Killer — Cereal Killer is known for mainly three things: First of all, he is the leader of Pardus’s most successful bounty hunter alliance, since he left P.O.T.W.O.R with several others to found the Soul Reapers. Second, he is arguably one of the most interesting diplomats ever, always following the principle of “shoot first and uhm.. well.. don’t ask questions at all.” Third, especially among his alliance mates, he is known as the luckiest ambushers ever.” If you go hunting together with CK, don’t expect to get a kill. Usually, the target will be down to something like 6 hull when it’s CK’s turn to shoot…

Rumor has it that one of the key success factors of Cereal Killer’s by all means impressive career as a bounty hunter is his love for Keldonian ale, even though the Reapers deny that half of his bounty collections were in fact traffic accidents where an unfortunate newbie “bumped” against the windshield of CK’s NHD.

#13 - Aragorn Leonhard - Scourge of slave traders, fighter for the most quixotic of causes, and owner of Pardus’s most noted speech disorder, Aragorn Leonhard has ensured that the glorious struggle for universal liberty (better known as the crusades) has outlasted the naysayers and endured from the earliest days of the FHC to the present.

Still frequently belittled, many question whether they will ever truly make a difference, but their slow gain in strength and support indicate that they have no intention of letting that get in their way…after all, all you need is a “Glimmer of Hope.”

Love them or hate them, they deserve credit for being the most controversial non-faction topic around (and thus keepers of the longest running flame in tavern); without their endeavors, Orion would be a lot more dull. Or, as he would say himself: “That’s exactly the attitude Aragorn wants to see!”

#12 - Welt — The leader of FTS ever since Aleowyn stepped down and therefore one of the longest serving alliance leaders of Pardus, Welt has led FTS to what they are today. He has forged many NAPs, reformed the leadership structure of FTS by establishing a more participative style of leadership and is widely known for his stance of “Alliance over Faction” (even though many Imperials will quite readily disagree with the neutrality of FTS).

Until recently, his long trade-career that was only briefly interrupted by his brief foray into combat as Moray Darktide in a NHD. Now, Welt has finally reached the ultimate goal of every federal pilot - the Doomstar. The press department so far didn’t reply to inquiries of the Tribune regarding the question if Welt will now start a long and equally successful career as a bounty hunter. But the Tribune suspects that pilots who own rabbits should be particularly careful around him.

11 - Anfauglir — Anfauglir is an old Rashkir name for “he who kills mercilessly and at great speed.” There is only one time that this name was “awarded” to a human, so you can guess that it is very much justified in the case of Anfauglir. Anfauglir has killed more of everything than everyone else in the Universe and it’s not likely that he’s going to stop at any time.

His beginnings were with FTS, where he lived in the NZ until the Order of the Shining Night became too dangerous in the area. At that point, he moved to Nionquat along with a small group of FTS pilots the day the Rashkir sectors were discovered. Most prominent among these pilots was Draumleitir, Anfauglir’s brother in arms. He gained “real” combat experience by fighting against Famous Pirate and Mutant Enemy in Famiso, as well as when fighting back imperial fighters during the first Usube war. Ever since then, he has been making progress as a fighter at a legendary rate, leaving pretty much everyone else behind - as shown by his by all means unique collection of medals and ribbons, and his place firmly atop the galactic experience boards, where he is nearing 6,000,000 XP. During the second Usube war, he fought with Extinction Agenda and became one of the most feared Doomstars of the whole conflict.

When contacting Anfauglir about the new creatures that might be invading our space with the coming of the Aperture, he couldn’t be reached. His secretary told us that Anfauglir was too busy polishing his guns at the time.

That’s all for now folks! Join us next week for the grand finale! Who will be in the top 10!?!?