On the surface look at a Guristas colony on Nsyan III (N5Y-4N III)
September 10th YC 121
N5Y-4N III
- Nysan III (N5Y-4N III)
Kalto Moxin travels down to the surface of N5Y-4N III (Nsyan III to the locals) to get an in depth look of an actual Guristas colony in the Venal region.
Previously reported on by ZANIE, Windchime Guru Suha Raibuya announced that she would temporarily be leaving Nannaras X to return her homelands - the Gurista occupied system of N5Y-4N in Venal. With her she takes a billion and a half ISK to go towards the renting of office space aboard the Guristas Logistical station in system, to convert into a shrine that aims to promote teachings and practices of Windchime Wayism.
Having situated herself aboard the station by now, Suha began preparations to venture planetside to reunite with old friends and colleagues from her home colonly. However she first reached out to ZANIE to request that Kalto Moxin accompany her planetside to see “What a Guristas occupied colony could look like.” Despite the danger the idea presented, Kalto eagerly took up the opportunity and made his way out to Venal.
Forbidden from bringing an escort from the Myrskytuuli Regiment or carrying weapons for their own protection, Kalto and his team of two boarded a shuttle alongside Suha and two Guristas personnel who were assigned as watchdogs. Kalto would later admit in his report that he was fearful he walked right into the hands of the Guristas, and him and his team would he taken hostage and ransomed back to the Zaibatsu. Thankfully the anxiety would be nothing more than ignorant paranoia.
Due to security concerns, Guristas administration forbade Kalto’s team from recording any footage or taking any pictures of the colony. Notes taken however paint the colony they arrived at as a sleepy, yet wholesome looking agricultural world. It wasn’t poor and downtrodden, nor was it a vastly rich utopia. It was a humble little colony surrounded by wide open space, with crops far out in the distance. It was also populated with humans from all walks of life. This was made clear immediately upon landing, as a small modest welcoming party was waiting at the landing pad for Suha’s return home. Caldari, Gallente, and Matari. Men and women, some even accompanied by children that were either at the side or in the arms of their parents. Nobody looked underfed or unhealthy, but there was one glaring thing Kalto and his team noticed - every adult there was visibly armed with a holster strapped to their legs, holding sidearms of various designs.
Before any questions could be asked, Suha took the team deeper into the colony for a tour. The buildings inside the colony were all constructed with smartfab units, a simple and useful construction material that’s easy to mass-produce to create housing like this. While void of any real cultural design, each building managed to have some humble charm and style to it. The buildings ranged from houses, stores stocked with stolen consumer goods from across New Eden, clinics, a school and a station that houses the colony’s militia unit. Much like with the welcoming party, more and more residents were spotted with sidearms strapped to their legs as they carried on with their labour. The more obvious militia forces carried far heftier equipment and actively patrolled the colony for any trouble. This militia would serve as the defacto police force; supplied and armed by the Guristas but directly recruited from the colony’s population.
The tour would bring the team to one of the few structures in the colony actually made from wood, a small shrine that was eerily similar to those found back in Hoiyori. The gigantic difference with this shrine however was the placement of Kresh trees outside of the shrine. Hanging from the branches were windchimes with dog tags woven between the metal tubes. Tags of bronze, silver, copper, and brass all hung from this tree, all dog tags belonging to former Gurista pirates. Suha then took one of the Windchimes off the branch of one of the trees and showed Kalto one of the copper tags attached to it. Holto Raibuya, the father of Suha Raibuya.
Then, Suha told Kalto and his team the following
"Many are still missing you know. What you see here are just the ones we’ve been fortunate to recover, many more reside in the hangers of Capsuleers or the trophy cabinets of Navy captains who swell with pride and accomplishment over the death of our loved ones. To them, we’re nothing more than filth of New Eden…Rats that don’t deserve to live or be given any sympathy or mercy. You’ll have a hard time finding someone here who hasn’t lost someone close to them, whatever it be a family member or a close friend. The Empires and their Capsuleers have done nothing but take, take, and TAKE from us! And I’m not referring to the ship blueprints, or the modules or the ■■■■■■■ implants! All of that can be easily replaced Kalto. I’m talking about those that hang from these tree trunks! Our family, our heroes that fought and served to secure us a home far from the reach of the Empires. None of them can be replaced! No factory in Venal will bring them back!
…Do you want to hear the name of a true hero that was taken from us Kalto? A real living hero that existed outside the fairy tales and propaganda of the State? A hero that was taken from us so quickly by Capsuleers…
Jirai Laitanen
That is the name of a hero that “civilized” societies branded as a monster! A monster because he defied the corrupt authority of the Caldari State and refused to let them halt his potential, to shun his true strength! The State saw him as a threat because he wouldn’t be passive and let the State control him any longer, They saw him as a threat - because he could expose them for being the malicious corporate abomination that the State it is! A threat - because he had the means to carve out a haven to be a beacon of hope and freedom to refuge the poor souls that were being crushed underneath the bootheel of the Mega corporations. The Empires and their unquestioning puppet Capsuleers will scream like rabid dogs that he was an evil and twisted man, but I will happily and proudly say he was the hero New Eden desperately needed…And yet he was taken from us, taken from us by Capsuleers rushing to protect their precious empires. As they triumphantly celebrated his death like a bunch of savages, we mourned. Mourned, because such a great man’s life was cut short, and as a result? We lost our voice, we lost someone who spoke and stood up for the oppressed and neglected. Who was a fearless leader who led our soldiers into battle and gave us hope of a world free from the oppression the State…
…Yet, we still stand. Look around Kalto, no one here is lost in sorrow. There’s too much work to be done, We’ve mourned our dead and done what we could to honor their sacrifice, but we press on - such is the way. The Rabbit has filled his place and undoubtedly has done admirable work to keep the Guristas alive and well, yet I cannot help but think-"
- Suha Raibuya
Suha was interrupted by the echo of gunshots far out, a sound that startled Kalto and his team, ducking as a reflex. Suha quickly assured them however that everything was fine, and that those were gunshots from a nearby firing range on the outskirts of the colony. This was taken as her que to continue the tour and take them to said firing range.
The path there took them past croplands that grew different variations of vegetation, corn, carrots, wheat to name a few. Suha went on to explain how the colony had made itself useful to the Guristas by growing all this food to be shipped out to nearby stations or other colonies in Venal, most notably a supposed city that’s on the surface of 6NJ8-V IV, a planet that was terraformed by Fatal and The Rabbit. ZANIE however cannot confirm whether or not this city actually exists. All throughout the fields, equipment of various designs and origins could be found, some tools and farming vehicles manufactured by different corporations across New Eden.
Finally the tour reaches the outskirts where they’re greeted with what could best be described as a training field - as they soon learned however - for milita personnel and not actual Guristas troops. Young adults were at the range practicing shooting with handguns under supervision of a Gallentean instructor by the name of Forin Gokia, who was one of many other colonists pleased to see Suha’s return home and warmly introduced himself to the team. After introductions, Forin eagerly showed them around the grounds. Firstly the range itself where various armaments were scattered around, all with the serial numbers blacked out. Assault rifles, scrambler rifles, submachine guns, and even extremely illegal explosives like thermite fragmentation grenades. Forin would then offer the team a chance to fire off weapons of their choice; this was an offer the team wholeheartedly accepted and would spend the next two hours learning how to operate weapons, learning trigger discipline and of course, firing off a few rounds on the range. Targets included various things like bottles, straw-men dummies and most notably, propaganda posters featuring former Caldari State Executor, Tibus Heth.
[Forin]
“Aim down the range - and ONLY when you’re ready to fire, slip your finger into the trigger.”[Kalto]
“Otherwise keep it on the side of the gun’s frame?”[Forin]
“Yep, first shot is gonna need a hard squeeze, after that trigger will be very sensitive, so-”[Weapon discharge]
[Kalto]
“Whoa-ho! ■■■■, that has some kick to it!”[Forin]
“Remember where your finger is! Relax your shoulders also.”[Weapon discharge]
[Kalto]
“Oh-ho! I would’ve blown Heth’s ■■■■■■■ brains out with that shot! Man…Veedayu! Veedayu here, give it a try! Hey Forin, mind if I toss one of these uh…'nades?”[Forin]
“No, because you’re holding it incredibly wrong already, give me that.”
Suha also joined in the fun with a precision rifle, but independently from Forin’s supervision, clearly having already been tutored by the instructor. After fun was had, Kalto began asking Forin questions.
[Kalto]
“So could you tell me what these grounds are for? I see you got a uh…obstacle course or something over there. Are Guristas troops being trained here?”[Forin]
“Yes and no…See these grounds serve the purpose to train milita personal and occasionally I’ll get some kids interested in enlisting in the Guristas proper and I’ll take them out here and put them through the wringer so they don’t embarrass themselves too badly at boot camp. Otherwise I just train colonists in personal defence.”[Kalto]
“-That’s another thing on curious about, on my way here I saw pretty much everyone had a holster on them. Is there any…reason for that?”[Forin]
“Personal defence - as I said. Everyone here needs to be ready and prepared in the event of an attack.”[Kalto]
“An attack from who?”[Forin]
“Fuckin’ Caldari mongrels for one…And we typically get some Amarrian snooping around looking for targets to raid for new slaves. People need to be ready to defend their families from that fate.”[Kalto]
“So do colonists fight alongside the militia in the event of an attack…?”[Forin]
“No, in fact the milita is under strict orders to not even engage whatever threat we encounter aggressively, and focus on establishing a defensive perimeter to hold out until actual Guritas troopers arrive from a nearby military base - which, you WILL NOT ask for the location of.”[Kalto]
“Noted…Well thank you Forin, i appreciate you your time and teachings.”[Forin]
“No problem, Come back any time.”
After everything was wrapped up, the team headed back into the main colony as the sun began to set. When they arrive in the colony’s center they find other colonists busily preparing for some sort of festivity, tables, chairs, firepits and decorations. Suha explains that this was all done in preparations for a weekly community dinner party the colony threw together each week to strengthen their bonds with one another and forget about all the loss and turmoil; to enjoy an evening together with home cooked food, a tradition entirely developed by the residents here. It’s here the team were able to meet many unique individuals who all had their own stories of how they ended up there. Most notably however would be the colony’s resident “O.G” (Original Gurista) who more or less served as the revered elder figure of the community. A retired pilot who flew for the Guristas in the early days of the cartel and apparently even knew and flew alongside Fatal and The Rabbit themselves. Kalto found this O.G sitting around one of the firepits with a group of children, telling them stories of his adventures as a pirate. His name was Notai Hiermi, a former frigate pilot of Caldari Navy who was more than happy to speak to Kalto and answer a few questions
[Kalto]
So…What exactly does someone like you you see in someone like Fatal?"[Notai]
“I tell you what I saw, I saw god damn inspiration, alright? I saw someone who didn’t have any fear, he and the Rabbit weren’t afraid of the State - and as time went on, the State would be afraid of them. They didn’t have to cling on to the Navy to have any sort of relevancy, they broke off and forged something bigger than the Navy.”[Kalto]
“And you’re a former Navy pilot yourself, right? You defec-”[Notai]
“Yes! I defected! And it’s a choice I will never regret, because taking that step gave me actual freedom and control of my life. See, meritocracy in the State? It’s all ■■■■■■■■, it’s all a facade that gives the State power to tell you where you belong, to control whatever or not you go up or down the ladder - and you only go up if the suits upstairs know they can control you, right? They’ll only move you up if they know you got enough room in your ass for their fist so you can be a puppet to them…It’s people like Fatal and The Rabbit that showed us that we could fight back, and survive while doing so.”[Kalto]
“So why does someone like you end up retiring?”[Notai]
“Son, I got kids now, I got a grandchild even. At the same time New Eden is evolving past a point where I can’t even keep up with the new trends of technology…Stuff was simpler back in the day, less Capsuleers and a Navy who hadn’t caught onto our tactics yet. Now? It’s all convoluted ■■■■■■■■ like Titans, Warclones, Drifters and some ■■■■ called Abyssal space…I had a good run, but I’m too old for that life, I just wanna settle down, you know?”[Kalto]
“Yeah I see what you mean…Well, Notai I’d like to thank you for your time.”[Notai]
“Thank you! About the only people that wanna talk and listen to a geezer like me are these little rascals, hehe.”
The night was filled with laughter and joy, but inevitably came the time for everyone to pack it up and head to bed to get up early in the morning to work the fields and pens. Kalto and his team were allowed to spend the night in the colony’s commons house, a building where new colonists are housed until proper accommodations can be built. In the morning, however, they would be told to leave surface and return to the Zaibatsu. Suha on the other hand, would stay in the colony awhile longer, joining her people early in the morning to work the fields.
Kalto Moxin ended his report with the following.
“I came here admittedly a little fearful of what I was gonna see. However I can see my fears were rather irrational, the people here are human like any other human in New Eden and in a way, I can sorta see where they’re all coming from, I can sympathize with them…It’s been an eye opening trip, yet I still maintain my own criticisms about the Guristas as a whole. These people aren’t criminals, they haven’t committed any crimes yet are worried about the Empires unleashing their wrath upon them regardless. Would I ever come back to Venal? Probably not, but this has been a worthwhile trip.”
- Kalto Moxin
ZANIE will keep it’s ear to the ground for any updates on this story.