On Monday October 5 at roughly 1300 UTC, an Ark-class jump freighter, neutral to the local Imperium, was discovered on the YA0-XJ station undock. Nearby Imperium forces quickly picked up the scent, quickly tackling and ultimately vanquishing the Ark.
YA0, in the beating heart of southern Deklein, is a major market hub for The Imperium. Jump freighter traffic is usual for this area of nullsec. However, seeing a jump freighter with no set standings to the local inhabitants is enough to warrant an aggressive response. While the Ark was swiftly destroyed by local Imperium forces, the exact ownership of the jump freighter was not determined until after the ship was destroyed and looted. The killmail, estimated in value at 50b ISK due to blueprints, can be found here.
Since the jump freighter was piloted by a character found to be neutral to the locals, it fell under the purview of the local rule of the land: “Not blue? shoot it.” As a neutral, the Ark was quickly aggressed by Doovde Alldamoney, Shtangist007, and Sparem of Goonswarm Federation member corporations Bat Country, Monkey Attack Squad, and Wildly Inappropriate respectively. The trio used a combination of a Naglfar-class dreadnaught, Sabre, and Malediction to make quick work of the Ark. Last-minute pleas for a cease fire by the neutral Ark pilot AirForce One PLA in local chat were not enough to save the jump freighter, and the remains of the loot are thought to be scattered or destroyed at this time.
AirForce One PLA > Shtangist007 Shtangist007
AirForce One PLA > stop
Doovde Alldamoney > one more shot and you head
AirForce One PLA > i prove
AirForce One PLA > stop
Silvitni > please give back the loot to me
Silvitni > i lost 50B
During the engagement, Silvitni of Fidelas Constans (FCON), the owner of the neutral Ark jump freighter, is accused of making no real effort to indicate his ownership of the Ark prior to its demise, within EVE or out of game. Maybe if Silvitni was a little quicker in relaying these facts, we wouldn’t have this story today.
Some argue that the aggressors could have waited for some confirmation of friendly status, which may or may not have been possible to determine at the time. Indeed, the aggressors had no other evidence to determine if the Ark was actually piloted by a hostile entity making a last ditch effort to evacuate goods, or by a friendly doing their thing. If the pilot had arranged their standings prior to the jump, they could have very easily docked, avoiding the fiasco alltogether. It’s hard to argue against basic forethought when it comes to nullsec logistics.
An excerpt of YA0 local chat, during and shortly after the Ark execution.
AirForce One PLA > Shtangist007 Shtangist007
AirForce One PLA > stop
Doovde Alldamoney > one more shot and you head
AirForce One PLA > i prove
AirForce One PLA > stop
AirForce One PLA > preiveate
AirForce One PLA > stop
Loraina Caden > fuck yes free kills
Doovde Alldamoney > km?
Loraina Caden > link the mail
Skelos Kalkoken > why is our station bubbled?
Doovde Alldamoney > oh come on, one of you shitlets got the mail, link it
Doovde Alldamoney > RACE
Doovde Alldamoney > WOOOOOOOOOO
Sparem > lol
Sparem > Победа: AirForce One PLA (Ark)
Loraina Caden > excellent work
Angelique Duchemin > Doovde Alldamoney A Dreadnaught. Really
Doovde Alldamoney > fuck all else to use them for, so why not?
Angelique Duchemin > And what did you think a jump freighter in YA0 could mean?
Angelique Duchemin > Who looted that jump freighter?
Silvitni > who loot the ark
Loraina Caden > tons of goons hit it
Silvitni > please give the loot back to me
Loraina Caden > i couldnt, no freighter
Silvitni > who looted?
Loraina Caden > I doubt youll see it ever again
Loraina Caden > just saying
Loraina Caden > that alt corp of yours wasnt blue so it died
Doovde Alldamoney > the wreck vanished as i went to it, so i think it was shot
Silvitni > please give back the loot to me
Silvitni > i lost 50B