Preliminary Observations from 6QBH-S
I recently relocated my primary residence from the Amarr Empire to 6QBH-S IV - Moon 13 - True Power Mining Outpost, in Stain. The purpose of the journey was straightforward. Sansha’s Nation has been described, condemned, attacked, dissected and mythologised for more than a century. It has also survived all of these things. I wished to understand why.
There is an obvious methodological problem in attempting to study a society exclusively through material produced by those who regard its continued existence as a historical error. Consequently, I elected to observe Nation in its own territory and, where possible, interact directly with its institutions. I expected hostility, instead I have encountered something considerably less convenient.
My principal contact has been Avagnel Vifrobahnel, a security agent in the employ of True Power. Vifrobahnel is Intaki by origin, a fact I record here without presently attempting to explain its significance. Through her I have undertaken work against rogue drone infestations, Gallente intelligence operatives, Mordu’s Legion assassins and local criminal organisations. Most recently, I was contracted to intervene when a group calling itself The Seven attacked civilian transports. Survivors were subsequently abducted. True Power authorised me to pursue their captors and recover them.
These are observations, not exonerations.
Protecting one convoy does not invalidate the considerable body of evidence concerning Nation’s other activities. Neither, however, does that evidence make the convoy cease to exist. That distinction appears important.
There are other contradictions. True Power’s agents accept my services, compensate me for them and have progressively entrusted me with more significant work. I have now been granted access to a higher level of security assignments. At the same time, Nation security patrols operating in the surrounding space continue to identify my vessel as hostile.
The administrative institution recognises me, but the military elements encountered in space do not. Whether this reflects deliberate compartmentalisation, differing command structures, limitations in identification systems, or something else entirely is presently unknown. Again: no conclusion can yet be justified.
6QBH-S has provided another subject of interest.
The Pool of Radiance is among the more remarkable natural phenomena I have encountered. Here, in the heartland of a civilisation generally presented to us principally through images of warships, abductions and cybernetic horror, True Creations maintains a facility dedicated to its study.
Perhaps there is nothing remarkable in that. Perhaps the remarkable thing is that I found it remarkable. That is precisely the sort of assumption I came here to examine.
During this work I have remained, formally, a member of Hedion University. Increasingly, I find myself questioning the utility of that association.
One might hope that an institution dedicated to education would foster curiosity amongst the capsuleers carrying its name. Instead, much of what reaches me consists of trivial chatter, HyperNet solicitations and the usual frantic attempts to extract ISK from whichever newly licensed pilot happens to be listening.
I do not dismiss more than six years of association lightly. Hedion provided the institutional framework within which much of my early work was conducted, and I retain respect for what the University claims to represent. That makes the distance between those principles and the culture I now observe amongst its capsuleer body rather more disappointing, not less.
Perhaps I expected too much. More importantly, I have no desire to conduct this research according to conclusions determined before the evidence is collected.
I have therefore established an independent organisation:
The Continuity Project
Its initial purpose is the study of systems which persist beyond the conditions that ought, according to conventional analysis, to have ended them.
Sansha’s Nation is an obvious first subject. The old coalition shattered Nation’s territorial holdings, devastated its fleets and installations, and believed the experiment effectively destroyed.
More than a century later I am writing this from a functioning Nation station. Its personnel issue contracts. Its security forces patrol its territory. Its researchers conduct investigations. Its industries operate. Its enemies remain numerous. And it persists.
Calling this persistence monstrous does not explain it. Calling it piracy does not explain it. Calling Sansha Kuvakei insane does not explain it.
These may be judgements worth making. They are not explanations.
For the immediate future, I will remain in 6QBH-S. I have unfinished business concerning The Seven before accepting the more sensitive work now available to me. After that, the investigation will continue wherever the evidence leads.
Observation is not endorsement.
Understanding is not allegiance.
For now, at least, I see no reason to amend either statement.
— Theodore Badasaz
Director, The Continuity Project
6QBH-S, Stain