At 0224 EVE time on March 5, in the Placid system of Anchauttes, pilots from Pan-Intergalactic Business Community (PIBC) alliance killed a Gold Magnate. The ship, flown by Jalep Malukker of Exodus. Alliance, is one of the rarest ships in EVE, with this loss leaving only two in existence. Fredrick Vonhole, Nyan Katzy and Konstant1na of PIBC’s Darude Silentstorm corporation killed only the second Gold Magnate lost in combat ever. The loss may well be the most expensive killmail in a decade, and likely far exceeds the half-trillion ISK value zkill lists.
The Story of the Magnates
The Gold Magnates are among the most exclusive ships in EVE. Only one existed in the initial run: the prize for CCP’s first PVP tournament, the Amarr Trials in 2003. Won by Ecliptical, the victor of the tournament, the ship eventually made its way to Tyrrax Thorrk. The remaining tournament pilots each received a lesser ship, the Silver Magnates. Less than a year after the tournament, members of M0o corp killed Thorrk and his unique ship, on April 22, 2004.
For the 2016 Amarr Trials, held following the death of Empress Jamyl I, CCP re-introduced the ship. Each member of the winning team, Kelon Darklight, Lucian IV, Maxine Antilles and Wasa Qc, received a Gold Magnate. Once again, the other teams received Silver Magnates.
On June 18, 2017, Maxine Antilles quit EVE. Before he left, he created an alt named IQUIT FLYSAFEo7. This alt flew his Gold Magnate so that Maxine could destroy it on his main.
Wasa Qc named his Gold Magnate Tash-Murkon and garnered several kills with it. When Wasa Qc later quit EVE, he gave his Gold Magnate to Jalep Malukker.
“. . . but I don’t think that’s what the ship is for.”
After receiving such an incredible gift, Jalep Malukker set out to fly it. He told INN that “[a] lot of people told me I was crazy to fly it the way I did, that I should RMT it, whatever. But I really don’t think that’s what the ship is for.”
Determined to fly the ship, Jalep scored his first kill on Oct. 3 2018. Jalep kept the same name that Wasa had given it, feeling no need to change it on such an iconic ship. For months, Jalep would fly around Villirier and Aldranette in the Placid region, engaging frigates and destroyers solo. In small gangs the Gold Magnate appeared on cruiser and even battleship kills. By March 4 2019, Tash-Murkon had, with Jalep in the pod, scored 36 solo kills.
Jalep had a blast. “It was a really fun ship to fly. Honestly one of the most enjoyable things was just seeing people’s reactions to it in space. A lot of people were just impressed seeing it fly around. Considering how down everyone can get on the game sometimes, it was nice to see people get excited about something. . . . It’s for PVP and having fun – that’s what I did with it.”
However, those kills led to Jalep Malukker’s loss. Konstant1na noted the activity by such an expensive ship in their hunting area and told Fredrick Vonhole. Fredrick came up with a plan, using Pyfa to game out what kind of tackle they would need: their normal Astero tackle and cyno ship would not be able to decloak, tackle and cyno. So, they decided on an alt in a Thorax for bait.
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men Sometimes Go Amazingly Well
While the bait Thorax dangled in space for Jalep to engage him, the Asteros waited cloaked nearby. A mere 5 hours from the time Konstant1na decided to go after Jalep and his Gold Magnate, and for the now-famous Russian pilots, past 5 a.m., their patience paid off. Jalep, flying Tash-Murkon, engaged the bait Thorax, flown by Mighty Byr9t of the corp Academy of the Unseen Arts. The fact that he was not in the Pan-Intergalactic Business Community alliance no doubt helped him be better bait. By the time the Asteros, flown by Bazzinga Urahara and Le Falconer, decloaked and got a cyno up, the Thorax was in structure.
Nyan Katzu, Konstant1na, and Fredrick Vonhole jumped their Nidhoggur carriers in. Using neuts, as well as support fighters for more solid tackle, they quickly locked down Jalep. This allowed their Firbolg and Einherji fighters to destroy the Gold Magnate.
The bait Thorax survived.
As Zkill doesn’t list the abyssal mods, INN asked Jalep about his. While he states he doesn’t remember what the propulsion modules were, the stasis webifiers were faction modules and the small armor repair was a deadpace A-type. So, while a few hundred million added to the cost of the loss might not be a lot, it was lost.
Sleepy and Shaking
The pilots involved in this historic kill were left sleepy and shaking. INN thanks them for agreeing to the interview to get their perspective on this kill.
Nyan Katzu: I want to say appreciation to brave people who ride expensive ships. we respect them and we are lucky to have such enemies
Fredrick Vonhole: not even enemies
Nyan Katzu: lack of better word -(
Fredrick Vonhole: game partners?
Nyan Katzu: kinda
The high level of sportsmanship also extends to Jalep Malukker, who INN also thanks for the interview.
Jalep Malukker: “There is always an excuse to not take a fight. If you go about the game like that the whole time, it’s a lot harder to have fun. . . . Go out and get fights. The game is all about PVP, do what you can to make fights happen.”
