A few weeks ago, the new president of the Gallente Federation Alix Moreau signed an executive order to research rogue drones in hopes of being able to use their technology. In general, the policy fits with the President’s campaign and has been meet with support, but there is one clause which has proved to be deeply controversial among residents of much of the federation, most notably Verge Vendor.
As part of the project, the Gallente will use their new research prowess to connect Renyn, a high-security system a short distance from most of the trade centers in Essence and Sinq Laison, to Ellmay. Deep in the heart of the Verge Vendor region, relatively distant from the Federal heartland, Ellmay is a prosperous 0.9 system only a few jumps away from key Verge Vendor areas such as Alentene and the pipe to Syndicate. Most notably, much of the bulwark the Federation is focusing its civilian efforts in surrounds Ellmay. The two connected areas have long been commercial powerhouses separated by distance, and a stargate between them would massively assist trade.
Controversially, though, the project states that this stargate is not the final goal of the project. Specifically, it states that the Gallente will aim for a critical mass of capsuleer-supplied resources, which, if successful enough, the Gallente will use to build a longer stargate to Jufvitte instead of Ellmay. While the policy cites the decision as made to improve connections to Intaki, which has recently been the subject of a lot of revitalization, many other geographic areas of the Federation have been raising complaints. That Jufvitte is in fact further than Ellmay from the much larger and more populated southern part of Verge Vendor is provocative enough, but the biggest point of controversy is that Jufvitte is a lightly-populated, relatively underdeveloped frontier system that is just barely notable enough not to be categorized as low-sec. If the gate is built here, almost all trade in and out of Verge Vendor and Placid will go through this backwater chokepoint.
The prospect of a detour to a frontier tainting an anticipated vital connection in the Federation starmap has caused widespread anger in Verge Vendor and nearby areas. The public has expressed their outrage in the form of protests, most notably in Ellmay itself, long derided as a dead end in the starmap and fearing being robbed of their chance for tactical significance. Meanwhile, senators are urging capsuleers to work on the Minmatar campaign instead, not only in Verge Vendor, but also in parts of Sinq Laison, closer to the Minmatar bulwark than the Gallente campaign’s area of interest. The sentiment is best summarized in a quote by Scolluzer governor Anaya Ralsei:
“When we voted for Moreau, we thought we were voting for research and reason, but there is no reason at all in forsaking a much-needed connection to a prosperous system in need of connectivity for one to an undeveloped hinterland. They cite a faster route to Intaki, but besides a dying research headquarters and a small part of a warzone, that’s all it’s closer to, and it is massively outweighed by the shining stars of the rest of Verge Vendor, constantly outputting resources but in need of a connection. The vital route to the core of the area is not a ‘failure state’, it is what we need.”