Oimmo, Lonetrek - Last Sunday, a crowd of more than 130 capsuleers showed up to witness Pioneer Alliance's tribute to John Rourke as he took an honour lap outside his home station. During the ceremony, John and Haffa (of Clear Skies fame) flew the original ships used to shoot the Clear Skies holoreels while Pioneer Alliance flew alongside with their T3 strategic cruisers.

During the ceremony, several pilots congratulated John for his work You've made us Tempest pilots proud Theo Atreides stated. I want to pop miners in my blackop echoed Scythe Axattax, a fan of Haffa. Seriously one of the best movies i've ever seen said Xarti.

All the pilots attending the ceremony were asked to form up in a conga line behind John and to complete an orbit around the station together with him. After the honour lap, Techpalatinus of Pioneer Alliance offered Rourke his Tech 3 cruiser: For your outstanding contribution to the culture and community of New Eden I would like to present you with this fully fitted Proteus. May it serve you well in the future.

Organization of such an event was not a small undertaking for Pioneer Alliance. To prevent rogue pilots from attacking the ceremony, all Pioneer ships were primed for combat and station surroundings were thorougly scouted. The recent disturbances in jump-gate mechanics restricted the ceremony to the Oimmo system.

Despite some minor organizational difficulties, TechPalatinus expressed his satisfation on the final outcome: [We] felt everything went very smoothly ... We were able to convey just how grateful the New Eden community is to Rourke for all his efforts, he said.

It was great, I enjoyed it very much. Even now I have some difficulty getting my head round how much people like [Clear Skies], added Rourke.

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