Minmatar

CONCORD Biosecurity Responders are available to be dispatched on emergency call to any space stations, orbital infrastructure or other space-industrial locations in response to disease and pathogen outbreaks of all kinds. The challenges of maintaining biosecurity against infectious pathogens and other disease vectors in space-based infrastructure are multiplied by the cosmopolition and highly-interconnected nature of New Eden's space industry and trade networks. This long-recognised problem was for many decades dealt with by the empires, nations and corporations of New Eden in a rather piecemeal fashion, with disputes over jurisdiction and differing standards commonly arising. Following the Kyonoke Crisis of YC119, and the passage of the interstellar "Hope for All Act", CONCORD established Biosecurity Response Teams, and began to build up its capacity and expertise in the fields of epidemiology and disease management. To that end, CONCORD reached out to partners such as the University of Caille's Department of Epidemiology, Hedion University's School of Medicine, the Sisters of EVE, and the Society of Conscious Thought. Biosecurity Responders are a vital link in any effort to isolate and analyze infectious pathogens spreading through New Eden's space infrastructure, and crucially to prevent spread to planetary populations. Research to develop effective biosecurity methods, treatments and pathogen controls rely on the field research and data provided by the Biosecurity Reponse Teams.

An instrument of liberation, most strikingly known as a weapon to crush the heads of slavers and a tool to break the chains of slaves, the Khumaak is celebrated as the symbol of the Great Rebellion and Minmatar freedom from Amarr domination. The Khumaak (literally "Hand of Maak") is a replica of an ancient Amarrian relic used over 400 years ago by the Minmatar slave Drupar Maak to kill his master, Arkon Ardishapur, on Arzad II. The legend says that Maak was inspired in his struggle for freedom by a vision of Holder Arzad, an Amarr noble who had treated his Starkmanir subjects with dignity. Arzad is said to have told Maak: "The fire in our hearts burns for salvation, redemption, and grace. May the Word of God grant you the courage to save yourself and your people." Maak's killing of the Ardishapur heir sparked a revolt on Arzad II, also known as Starkman Prime. The slaying of Arkon Ardishapur was met with the brutal crushing of the revolt and almost total annihilation of the Starkmanir Tribe by orbital bombardment. The Starkmanir Rebellion preceded the Great Rebellion by over 250 years but its impact is held by historians to have been a major factor in the development of the underground slave movements that would ultimately fight for their freedom in 20 BYC (AD 23216).

For the Minmatar people the Great Rebellion was the founding revolutionary event that set them on the path to freedom in their Tribal Republic. The Freedom's Revolution nanocoating celebrates that struggle for freedom, the lives lost and the great gains made by the Minmatar. While Liberation Day is a grand celebration of the day freedom was achieved for billions of Minmatar, it is also a day of remembrance of those Matari who still languish as slaves in the Amarr Empire, Khanid Kingdom, and the lawless reaches of New Eden.

Noting the success of holoreels starring actors using Impetus's Glamourex neural booster, the Nugoeihuvi Corporation sought to develop a similar product, albeit one placing greater emphasis on boosting base sex appeal rather than a more subtle charismatic charm. The Heartsurge project was farmed out to one of the giant NOH megacorp's many subsidiaries, Bakkomolu Productions, which in turn contracted with a neurotweaker lab based in the Mivora constellation, on the edges of the Forge region. Progress on the development of Heartsurge was so promising that Bakkomolu commissioned the nanodesigner Jovaa Seriazic to produce a series of promotional ship nanocoatings. When Bakkomolu Productions was dissolved following a legal dispute with NOH's corporate rival Wiyrkomi, Nugoeihuvi may have hoped to generate a return from the new Heartsurge booster. Unfortunately, the neurotweaker lab had disappeared leaving behind only a scattering of circumstantial evidence that it was an Angel Cartel front all along. This theory was later confirmed when Heartsurge began to be used by producers of black market holoreel titles linked to the infamous Cartel. For his part, with Bakkomolu's dissolution creating a breach of contract, Jovaa Seriazic made some profit on his nanodesign work by selling the license for the nanocoatings to the Serpentis Corporation.

This special nanocoating mimics a layer of oxidation products on the surface of the ship it is applied to for decorative effect. The allusion to used and repurposed ships from the early days of rebellion and subsequently the Republic's fleets celebrates the early days of Minmatar spaceship design and the considerable combat effectiveness of such craft. For many years past, Minmatar spaceship technology has developed to a high level with modern and powerful ships supplanting older designs, which themselves have been upgraded and improved many times over. Even so, the old slogan "In Rust We Trust" has the power to evoke pride and memories of the glory days of Minmatar guerilla warfare and liberation.

The vast low-lying deltas and marshy plains of Luminaire's Western Morthane region have a long and dark history in folklore and in the ancient warring states period of the Gallente home world's past. Inhabitants on the periphery of the Great Morthani Wastes have many legends of spirits of light and flame seen wandering the swamps and several of these are feared as devils and demonic beings. The Western Morthani natives called the most-feared of these spirits the "Boitata", and believed it to be a fiery serpent with a penchant for consuming the eyes of the dead and perhaps even the sinful living. Garouni settlers on the far western edge of the Great Wastes called this legendary demon "Malagrin" and also noted the tendency for livestock drowned in the marshes to attract these eery lights. Military disaster is also a feature of the history of the Great Morthani Wastes. In its epic campaign to overthrow the ancient slaveholder Empire of Morthane, the Garoun Empire made several attempts to bypass the blistering deserts of Southern Morthane by marching armies through the western swamps. The legions of Garoun failed to penetrate the grim marshlands at every try, giving up on the route after an entire army, wracked by disease and starvation was destroyed by Morthani raiders at the south-eastern edge of the great wastes. Some tales are told of lights dancing on the corpses of the lost soldiers of Garoun and this has become part of the Malagrin and Boitata legends on either side of the vast swamps.

In the icy climes of the Northern Mikramurka on Matar there are many traditional forms of transport that take advantage of the snow and ice fields to be found there. One of the most celebrated is still found as a traditional sport around the seismically active western interior of that region. The "bladeracer" sled competitions are usually held on the relatively gentle slopes of the dormant shield volcanoes typically found in the area. The climate means that the upper reaches of the volcanoes are covered in snow and ice all year round but the lower areas remain rather fertile and are warmed by vents. The consequent profusion of heathers and mosses give the hills and slopes their characteristic purple coloration during the "warm" season.