I spent some time today browsing the Static Data Dump (aka Crystal Ball). I was looking for clues about Nestor, the Sisters of EVE unique battleship (CCP has shown two images of it on their Facebook profile).

I found something else entirely:

Looks like a Minmatar Shuttle, right? Well, yeah, almost. It’s slightly darker, but apart from that, it looks just like a regular shuttle.

Description does not shed much light either:

Rumor has it the Leopard originated as a secret project in the Minmatar Republic. In their endless battle against enslavement by the Amarr Empire, the Minmatar have had to develop ways not only to liberate large masses of their people, but also to sneak in and capture individuals of high strategic importance.

These kinds of black ops search-and-rescue missions might be executed for key people who were held by the enemy and possessed either special qualities the resistance needed, or information the Republic couldn’t afford having tortured out of them. It’s notable that these individuals might not all have been Minmatar, and that the resistance movement is unlikely to have restrained itself from using the same methods on key Amarr people they’d captured with the help of the Leopard.

It is an extremely fast ship, meant for quick and stealthy getaways, and while its origins are covered in rumors, chances are the Minmatar leaked it to the capsuleers in order to curry favor with them.

Still following me? At this point I thought there is nothing special about this ship, besides it’s darker skin. And then I looked at the statistics, and I was literally blown away:

Ship warp speed: 20.00 AU/s

Damn, that thing is lightning fast! Tech II rigged interceptors (w/o implants) can reach 12,5 AU/s top speed, and this incredibly fast already. This shuttle is still another 50% faster!

I don’t know about you guys, but I definitely want one!

More reading:

• Leopard in LMeve Item Database (includes stats and 3D preview)