Amarr lies in ashes. The yearly display of power orchestrated by Goonswarm Federation’s Ministry of Love (Miniluv) Special Interest Group (SIG) has ended. The event, which Warr Akini (The leader of Miniluv) had long touted as cancelled for the sake of building a false air of security, was a resounding success. The combined forces of CODE and The Imperium destroyed close to 800 billion Isk in freighters, jump freighters, Orcas and other valuable targets.
Preparations for the event were long and hard. Prior to the burning a total of 17 thousand Catalysts were fit by members of Miniluv, but with the event being as popular and fruitful as it was some frantic fitting took place towards its close as stockpiles began to run dry. While the public statements from the Imperium indicated that Burn Amarr had been cancelled many leaks occurred showing that the event was very much still going ahead as planned. Despite this, many members of the EVE community were ignorant of the event until they received a rather brutal invitation to take part in the form of a volley of Antimatter rounds.
For the event itself the forces of CODE and The Imperium split. The Imperium locked down the trade hub itself, bumping and destroying as many things as they could within Amarr and its surrounding systems for an estimated 440 billion Isk of damage. CODE, on the other hand, took to patrolling the popular trade chokepoint of Uedama, catching many targets unaware and facing very little resistance as all the attention was focused towards Amarr. The work of CODE led to an estimated 330 billion Isk of damage. It’s important to note that these damage estimates are just that, estimates, and over the coming days their totals will likely rise as all of the kills are put together.
All in all the event led to the fiery deaths of around 208 freighters, 37 Orcas and 19 jump freighters alongside many other victims of circumstance swept away by the Catalyst fueled passions of CODE and Miniluv. A few notable kills from the event are listed below:
- While of little monetary value this kill on a Raging Ducks Charon can be considered something of a moral victory for Goonswarm; this ex GSF corp has long been harassing ratters up in Deklein.
- On a similar note, but with a much more significant financial impact, would be this kill on a DARKNESS. Anshar. Those unfamiliar with the conflict between The Imperium and DARKNESS. need only look as far back as the recent battle of ED- where The Imperium SIG Reavers (which we have been assured doesn’t actually exist) fought a campaign against DARKNESS. that resulted in an eventual DARKNESS. victory.
- For a player looking for a more expensive kill, perhaps this 12 billion isk Fenrir, courtesy of CODE, will suffice? While the monetary value of the kill is impressive enough, the true hilarity comes from the system in which it took place. The dedicated gankers of CODE followed the fleeing target into lowsec before bringing down their prey.
- CODE where not the only ones capable of valuable kills though. Anyone who ever questions Goonswarm’s ability to find high value targets need only refer to this Fenrir; the 16 billion Isk collected from its wreck was enough to cover a large percentage of the cost of Burn Amarr. One of the main reasons for the high value is the fact that it took place after Burn Amarr “officially” ended, lulling the target into a false sense of security.
- In a somewhat ironic case of friendly fire, The Imperium ganked this Fidelas Constans (FCON) Orca. For those unaware FCON is an Imperium alliance with strict “no suicide ganking” rules. Going so far as to kick and blacklist members who took part in Burn Amarr, it remains to be seen if the victim of this Orca gank will be kicked for (albeit unwittingly) taking part in such a dishonorable event.
- Finally, and on a somewhat confusing note, this series of kills, which began with an Orca and ended with a pod merits attention. The gankers began by killing the targets Orca. Then, before the Orca was dead, the pilot ejected and boarded a Proteus carried in the Orca, and proceeded to get killed in that. After both his Orca and Proteus were dead the victim was left floating in his capsule which, of course, was killed as well.
Looking at all of this it’s hard for any reasonable person to deny that Burn Amarr was anything but a resounding success. The efforts of the anti-ganking community seemed negligible compared to the combined dedication and knowledge of CODE and The Imperium, so one can safely assume that the coming years will see many more successful Burn events, an ever present shrine upon which freighters burn to the gods of emergent gameplay.
