A professional citadel thief dumped thousands of PLEX in Perimeter on the morning of October 10th. Declaring her intention to quit EVE, she advertised the drop on social media. As intended, a free-for-all ensued.
Toni-anne Brinalle of the Thieves’ Guild goes by many names in EVE, most held close to her chest. She uses a wide variety of alts and an even wider intelligence network to steal Upwell structures as they unanchor. To hear her tell it, she’s walked off with 352 Raitarus, 186 Astrahus, 12 Azbels, and 4 Fortizars as of the day she decided to retire. Having played a minor role in her operations before, I can confirm that she’s worked at that scale. Her retirement is a matter of disappointment to some and great relief to others – at least until some enterprising soul fills the power vacuum.
For all the billions she’s made running citadel heists, Brinalle views personal growth as her most important takeaway. EVE, she says, “has allowed me to find my true-self, and my goal and targets in my real life…I’ve found the confidence to attempt things in EVE, which were well outside my comfort zone. I’ve found the confidence to attempt and succeed at things in my real life, which has landed me in so many different positions I never thought I would see myself doing.”
Shortly after she announced her retirement, Brinalle began dropping tens of billions in PLEX at a point near Perimeter’s sun. Opportunists abounded, and the local channel swelled north of 500. Swarms of throwaway ships – shuttles, Ventures, and corvettes – converged on the cache. An enterprising Spectrum Alliance pilot named Treyvect Galliard showed up with a Rokh and began smartbombing everything in sight, including Brinalle’s own shuttle. Despite Perimeter’s 1.0 security status, participants started taking risks and reaping CONCORD’s attention. When the take can get shuffled safely into a PLEX vault, losing a ten-million-ISK destroyer is an infinitesimal price to pay.
In total, Brinalle claims that the Thieves’ Guild dropped over 3500 PLEX one jump away from Jita. Whether or not Brinalle’s retirement is genuine or lasting, today those who bless her name outnumber those who’re glad their citadels are a little safer.
Jenne Exupery is a low-wattage independent who dabbles in shipping, salvage, trade, exploration, and nearly victimless heists. He can usually be found bumming around Derelik and Domain under one name or another. Preferred contact method: in-game mail to Jenne Exupery of Manticore-Horizon Shipping [MANHO].
