LUSTREVIK – A solid business relationship between an anonymous freelance pilot and a high-ranking agent of Republic University has resulted in a trend that could send the price of the coveted Miner II laser “falling very, very soon”. Interstellar reporters have confirmed that the pilot—who is part of a corporation with only seven members—has obtained an authentic Miner II blueprint so far the first one in the game. Until now, the Techell Corporation had an been one of the few confirmed suppliers of this advanced technology, using two unlimited licenses that they had obtained.
“Until I had it in the factory, I didn’t really believe it”, marveled the freelancer, who for ethical reasons will have his name and corporation withheld from this news release. Although the technology was introduced by the reclusive Jovians, this original copy was handed to the pilot by his Minmatar agent as a reward for his “exemplary service to Republic University”—specifically, the successful completion of almost 300 missions. When asked why he decided to approach the Interstellar Reporters, he replied “We'd like nothing more than to see TTI and Techell’s hold broken…we wanted everyone to know that [their] reign is coming to an end.”
Asked specifically about the massive markup from production cost (50,000 isk)--a public relations nightmare for Techell--he answered that “in the very short term, we intend to follow a similar pricing model”, again emphasizing that they were a small corporation and “not amazingly rich”. But he still insists that the likelihood of a significant drop in the retail price of the high-yield mining laser is imminent. The sudden generosity of megacorporation agents, who already have a track record for awarding high-profile items such as cybernetic implants to worthy freelancers, indicates that more originals will be released.
The anonymous corporation is planning an advertising campaign that is expected to begin within the next 48 hours.
IC Editors Note: Interstellar Correspondents would like to note that the information contained in this article has not been physically confirmed. However, since it is of such grave importance, we feel that to fail to publish it would be a travesty.