EVE PANDORA | News Article: Only the Bluest of Blood

Only the Bluest of Blood - Blood Raiders Exposed II

New Eden News - Thu, 10 Apr 2008 - 00:00

In this second article on the Sani Sabik belief and its adherents, we look at an active, combative Blood Raider loyalist corporation. What do they actually do and why?

CRUORIS SERAPHIM [CR-SE]

In a sect where blood is everything, it should come as no surprise that among the most active and prominent, though least vocal, there boasts a proud descent from the Blood Inquisition – the organization that worked with Omir Sarikusa himself in causing the Mabnen I rebellion.

The corporation’s leader, Cyshade, is a slender, yet muscular Civire woman – like many pilots, she seems young for the many terrible things she has seen and done. Of course, in Cyshade’s case, these things are more lurid than most.

Since her beginnings as a humble industrialist, driven to near-bankruptcy by SCC taxes, Cyshade has wandered a little, but was always drawn back to the Covenant and its cause. Now, with Cruoris Seraphim, she seeks to embody the very epitome of a Blood Raider corporation. She explained their current priorities to me as follows:

“When The Bleak Lands stations were surrendered, many Covenant supporters felt… abandoned by Sarikusa, and that he was a fool and a coward - including myself at the time. I was subsequently persuaded by Countess Myadra and others, of the wisdom in his decision.

“I now await his return, and the annihilation of the Amarr Empire.

“[To prepare for that day], we hone our combat skills, and blood the infidels.”

For a new pilot, the move from practicing the Sani Sabik privately to putting it into practice in space, in the company of fellow believers, can be a big one. Cyshade explained what she looks for in a potential recruit that makes her believe he or she will last the distance:

“A mix of qualities, particularly combat ability is important, I'd suppose... but also an open mind. So much of the cluster is so regrettably blinkered when it comes to our organization.”

While Cyshade declined to reveal to me the exact nature of her corporation’s activities, we can exclusively disclose (after some very minimal investigation) that they are engaged in exuberantly vicious acts of piracy. Raking through lowsec and 0.0 in small to medium packs, Cruoris Seraphim strike and fade, vanishing like the hungry ghosts the superstitious believe them to be, seldom leaving either wreck or corpse to say they were there. Olaf Vingle, a cleaner on the docks at the Republic Parliament Bureau near Skarkon III, described a chilling experience:

“I’m just a simple janitor – my job is to mop the floors of Hanger 13, clean up any spilled coolant, lubricant… anything that someone might slip on or eat its way through the floor, basically.

“Anyway, I hadn’t noticed anything strange when I was mopping, but when I came to empty my bucket, the water was red… deep, deep red.

“I can only think it was something dripping off one of the ships… rust that had been sanded off, maybe, or sometimes bodies bounce off the hulls when they’re at speed and… well, it ain’t pleasant when they defrost.

“So that’s when I checked the docking logs, and saw one of these Blood Raider sorts was docked there. I couldn’t say which ship it was; I heard they flew these weird, bloodstained ships that look like they’re snarling at you, but they all looked the same. That’s when I decided maybe life as a farmer wasn’t so bad after all.”

If this is the present horror of the Blood Raiders, where does their future lie? If Omir Sarikusa should return, where will he strike first? I asked Cyshade who would be first against the wall when the Blood Raider revolution comes, and she had this to say:

“I wouldn't say theres going to be a 'revolution'. I'd call it a war of extermination. It’s hard to be say who will be first against the wall…

“It’s be easier to say who won't be.”

External GalNet Resources
Combat Records Archive
Cruoris Seraphim Communications Portal
Anniversary Holoreel