Q8. What is this sacred Ani Constellation homeland that you speak of in your irredentist rhetoric?
Probably the most fashionable post-code in the territories that became the minmatar republic before the mob took over in 23216. There are sights to see in the various systems, which are associated with COSMOS missions (sadly for the minmatar, but there needs to be injustice to spur on an Ammatar cause, right?).
These are the descriptions you may come across should you choose to visit there and pay pilgrimage to the resting place of many good and philanthropic Ammatars. Make sure you pay 10 million isk to the AFC retirement fund to help Ammatar veterans who might or might not be in need before you do.
System: Traun
Sights:
Thin Red Line
The Republic considers the conflict in the Traun system a test of whether its resettlement effort is to have any chance of succeeding or not. If the Republic forces are unable to dislodge the pirate factions from Traun, the Parliament is liable to pull the plug for the whole project, with all the political backlash that would entail. The enemies of the Republic know this and are pouring everything they have into Traun.
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Reclamation wreck
Once the Minmatar Rebellion spread into the Ani constellation the Nefantars pleaded with the Amarrians for help. The Amarrians responded by sending their largest battleship to the constellation, the Reclamation. At first, the huge ship along with its escort of support ships, swept through the constellation, destroying several squadrons of rebel forces. But only a week after its arrival, it was infiltrated by a Sebiestor saboteur and demolished. The destruction of the Reclamation signaled the end of the Amarrian initiative to eradicate the rebels in one blow, forcing them onto the defense.
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Sisters camp
The Sisters of EVE, always ready to aid those in need, have set up a relief camp here. The constant skirmishes around the system leave many wounded and hurt. Many more have also lost all their assets after accidentally getting in the cross-fire or being beset by on of the many warring factions. Here, the Sisters are giving first aid to those that need it. They are also monitoring the conflict, checking for any signs of inhuman treatment or war crimes taking place. But as everywhere else, they strive to maintain their neutrality.
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System: Barkirk
Sights:
Nefantar ruins
These ruins are an old legacy of the Nefantar reign over Ani. Abandoned during the Rebellion and looted for years afterwards, not much remains of the once proud Nefantar stronghold.
It is currently being used as a gathering place by the infamous Minmatar crime syndicate, the Maru Rebels.
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The Carnival
At the height of Amarr Empire the Ani constellation was a busy place, bustling with activity. The Carnival was once the main trade hub between the Nefantars, the rest of Minmatar space and the Amarr Empire. After the Rebellion the Carnival quickly fell on hard times. While it has never been totally abandoned only thugs and black marketers remain.
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The Hyperbole Nexus
Before the technology for employing crystals for faster-than-light communications was invented various other techniques were used to bolster celestial communications. Half a millennia ago the Amarrians discovered a space phenomenon, places in space that seemed to echo with other similar places elsewhere. They learnt to tap into these echoes, greatly boosting the strength of communication devices. Though these places are today largely neglected, there are some people that feel a connection them. The Hyperbole Nexus is one such a place.
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System: Hjoramold
Sights:
Lord Bastion
The Amarr governor in the Ani constellation held only nominal powers due to the favored status the Nefantars enjoyed. Yet when the rebellion broke out he became a very important figure in the constellation, rallying the local forces to fight the surging rebels. The governor, Lord Basad, constructed a formidable space fortress orbiting Hjoramald XII, ancestral home of the Nefantars. The fortress soon became known as the Lord Bastion and held out for two months before finally succumbing to the rebels. Many Minmatars want this relic of Amarr domination torn to pieces, but the majority regards the bastion's ruins as a symbol of the Minmatar spirit and resolve.
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Machine Head
When scientists first started serious research on anti-matter there was a public outcry over the supposed dangers this entailed. Thus, the first anti-matter laboratories were forced out into space. One such laboratory was constructed here in the Hjoramold system during the Amarr occupation, headed by the renown scientist Dr. Hydar Perdikan.
The laboratory was at the forefront of anti-matter research for decades, but was closed shortly before the Minmatar Rebellion. Dr. Perdikan refused to leave his lab though and lived there for the rest of his days. He started to dabble in cybernetics and implants and used many of his inventions on himself. He survived the rebellion and was left alone by the Minmatars, as he was considered harmless. Some called him Dr. Hermit, but he was better known as Machine Head. He has not been heard from in almost 50 years, his remains probably still lie in the ruins of his old lab.
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System: Uriok
Culture Recess
The Amarrians poured lot of wealth into the Ani constellation to keep the Nefantars happy. While most of that wealth was burned in heady narcissism, some was used to try and build an independent infrastructure for the Nefantars. A few of these ventures turned out to be quite successful, but most were doomed to fail from the start. The Amarr-Minmatar Cultural Center, constructed on this site, was such a project. Intended to amalgamate the cultures of the two races, the project never really took off. It was quickly abandoned, to much mockery from the rest of the Minmatars. Culture Recess is one of the mock names given to the facility by the Minmatars.
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Insurgent encampment
The Amarr Empire calls them rebels, in the eyes of most Minmatars they're freedom fighters. Yet the strange assortment of pilots that frequent the Uriok system can hardly be classified as either. Most are rebels without a cause, fighting for twisted honor or scraps of money, rather than freedom or other high ideals. Still, some few cling to what small vestige of insurgence that still exists. This is their camp.
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Assassin's Overhang
Early in the Minmatar Rebellion, when the Amarrians and their Minmatar collaborators were still confident of succeeding in squashing it, the rebels managed to strike a massive blow to the Nefantars. Using a double-agent, they lured the military leader of the Nefantar tribe to this remote location and assassinated him. Even if the Empire managed to hunt down the assassins and kill them, the moral blow dealt that day reverberated throughout Minmatar space, spurring the freedom fighters on.
The site is little known today except to historians. In light of its past it's funny that shady Amarrian agents are using the location today to further the Empire's cause within Minmatar space.
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System: Inder
Sights:
Dream port
The Republic has colonized Inder VIII and is encouraging its citizens to settle here, offering free housing and substantial monetary aid. Despite the harsh environment and the difficulties of supplying the colonies due to lack of a space station in orbit, millions have already taken up that offer. Dream Port acts as the link to the planet until the time a space station can be constructed.
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Rich Man's Run
The Sisters of EVE station nearby is one of the few former Nefantar space stations still remaining in the constellation. During the Amarr occupation their Nefantar collaborators used this station as a vault where they hoarded vast amounts of items looted throughout Minmatar space. This was a popular pit-stop for the freighter pilots ferrying the loot to the station, hence the name Rich Man's Run.
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System: Tvink
Sights:
The Crystal Dust Compound
This is a secluded factory site operated by some Thukker tribe nomads. It is used to manufacture various illicit substances, most notable the brand new Crystal Dust neural boosters. The Thukker tribe have used the Ani constellation for several decades as a base for illegal operations and to hide themselves or valuable stash in. They're not too happy with the increasing Republic authority in the constellation, but are hoping that by laying low will keep them under the Republic's radar.
Of more immediate concern for the Thukker nomads here is the Angel cartel, which has earmarked the Ani constellation as an area ideal for organized crime. Even if the cartel and the Thukker tribe are nominally allies when it comes to dealing with the empires, the cartel is renown to tolerate no competition in those areas they consider their own.
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Margin of Error
With the Republic's incursion into the constellation, the many criminals found there have been forced away from Republic areas and into more remote ones. The Margin of Error is one such a place where the criminal elements like to hang out these days.
The name of the place came about a few decades ago when it was the stage of a famous showdown between two Sebiestor hackers. The two rivals wanted to settle once and for all which was the more skilled. It ended in tragedy though, as a particularly strong neuro-strike created a violent backlash, frying the brains of the two contestants. One was killed instantly while the other suffered so severe brain damage that he was reduced to a vegetated state for the rest of his life.
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System: Lanngisi
Sights
The Asylum
Before the Minmatar rebellion, this facility, among others, served as a treatment center for mentally ill individuals. The Asylum was formally named Compulsions, Obsessions and Mania Asylum, or COMA in short. It used highly questionable methods to treat those suffering from mental illnesses. Notably the neuro-shock therapy coupled with a dream-induced state, doctors at the facility claimed they were able to ‘transfer the conscious to a new level'. In recent years, the facility has served as a refugee center. Conflict in nearby systems has increased lately and the Sisters of Eve have taken the role of aiding those in need.
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Sanctum Psychosis
Long before the Rebellion, while the constellation was still home of the Nefantar tribe, the Lanngisi system was the main location for those with mental illnesses. Various institutions operated in the system, each preaching its own unique way of treating patients. In time, as the Amarrians had to deal with more and more Minmatar political radicals and dissidents, they started to send those they viewed as a threat to the social stability to Lanngisi for ‘treatment'. After the Rebellion the institutions were promptly closed. A decade ago the Sisters of EVE refurbished one of the old institutional stations as a local aid station for refugees.
Sanctum Psychosis was initially part spa, part mental hospital for those suffering serious psychosis and delusions. Later on, with all the seriously violent patients referred to the place, it become nothing more than a prison for those deemed too dangerous to be on the loose.
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System: Nakugard
Sights:
The Glass Edge
Nakugard is the entry system into the Ani constellation, ancestral home of the Nefantar tribe. The constellation enjoyed great prominence while the Minmatars suffered under the Amarrian yoke. The Glass Edge served once as a surveillance outpost for the Nefantars, but today it serves as a reminder of what the Nefantars stood for. The tribe used its privileged position to gather great wealth here, sometimes by force, but more often through guile and veiled threats. That is the glass edge, it may not be hard or obvious, but it will make you bleed all the same.
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Reactor Factory
The Nefantar tribe channelled great amount of wealth exploited by the Amarrians into the Ani constellation. Though most of it was burnt to finance the extravagant hedonism of the Nefantar elite, some if it was actually put to good use. The reactor factory is an example of the latter, its construction was the first space-based industrial complex operated by the Minmatars and heralded the renewal of the space age in Minmatar space. In hindsight, this was the first stone in the path to the Minmatar Rebellion.