When asked for his reaction to Part 1 of this piece, Beynex (CEO - AIDER) obliged in immediate and strident tones. He was furious at the suggestions above that AIDER’s motivation for the current conflict against WANGS / GMVA is driven by bitterness about the fragmentation of Galmilistan. He points instead to the attacks on AIDER athanors referred to by General Soter in Part 1 combined with an ultimatum to either commit to defending WANGS structures or pay rent.
“I was sent the following: “You guys just rebuilt yourselves, do we really have to destroy everything you rebuilt or are you going to play ball now?” AIDER has never been a corporation to bow to the demands of a larger group attempting to bully us into submission. At this point we knew that WANGS would continue to attack us as long as we refused to be extorted for either our pilots time or ISK. The Federation can claim the sovereignty of the systems in the war zone, but they will never truly be free as long as WANGS has a boot on the neck of the war zone and everyone in it. AIDER is not the only group that has realized this, and that is why we and many other groups who choose to call this area home are now fighting their oppression.
AIDER appears to have timed its resistance well in that its conflict with WANGS / GMVA is escalating just as the campaign in ‘lower’ Placid by .BUMS and I-RED has reached a successful completion. As the crisis on Intaki Prime was unfolding last year, these two alliances extended their combined forces from Solitude and Syndicate respectively to defeat Hull Penetration and Panic Attack, who had together dominated lower Placid for some time. War makes for strange allies but .BUMS and I-RED seem to agree with AIDER, perhaps for slightly different reasons, that WANGS’ power needs to be challenged.
“AIDER has normally been on the other side of I-RED’s interests, still is. However it would seem that WANGS’ recent push to rid Placid, Black Rise, Essence, and the Citadel of all competition has forced a cooperative effort upon us,” explains Alex Hinkelmann (Alliance EO - I-RED). Drake Arson (Director - .BUMS) agrees, “Whether you be a space poverty person (like us), an elite L5 funded pilot, or whatever, it’s pretty clear that lowsec is better off when the power is balanced.”
All the hostility directed at WANGS made me wonder how its smaller partner, GMVA, feels about the association. Rinai Vero holds understandably strong views about allegations of undue influence by a ‘pirate’ organisation. “At no point has WANGS taken any action or made any demand that GMVA compromise its independence or it’s commitment to the Federation. Whenever we have participated in WANGS fleets, our participation has always been voluntary, and never coerced. We have the autonomy to decide on a case by case basis whether the objective of any WANGS led fleet is one that benefits GMVA or the Federation, and choose whether or not to participate accordingly.”
WANGS itself has a nuanced position, holding itself apart from the militia but professing support for the Federation and pointing to support given by its opponents to State loyalists - all of which is set out in the combatants’ own words in this fascinating exchange on a GalNet discussion board.
Now for the knife catching part. Relationships between many local capsuleers may be tested, if we are forced to pick a side in this conflict. I have seen GMVA deploy in defence of both Intaki Prime and capsuleer friends’ structures in recent months. I-RED’s decade of commitment to economic development in Syndicate and Placid has to be respected, as should the role played by .BUMS in driving out the menace of Hull Penetration and Panic Attack (although I do wonder if we are out of the frying pan and into the fire on that front!). One might have thought that there was enough space for all of them to co-exist and perhaps even suggest that their combined resources would be better directed in a unified effort against the real threat to everyone in the region, The Initiative, but that appears to be naive.
“AIDER folks are fun to fly with and have a nice enthusiasm for war that matches well with our veterans,” says Arson. Hinkelmann is more circumspect but the message is essentially the same, “We hope to deter both GMVA and WANGS from encroaching on legitimate economic development in the area. We know the abilities of these organizations and fully expect a long protracted conflict.”
Personally, I can understand the accusations of disloyalty to the Federation levelled by WANGS and GMVA against their detractors while at the same time sympathising with the resentment prompted among those detractors by their heavy handed approach to any serious competition in the region. Sadly, all sides appear to share the same relish for power and money and, let’s face it, killing that afflicts very many capsuleers. I know I am in no position to judge those weaknesses without being a hypocrite but then again I am not running for the Presidency and I do think it is reasonable to ask, in this election week, whether General Soter’s part in this debacle is relevant to his candidacy. At the risk of cliche, with great power comes great responsibility, in both Federal and capsuleer politics alike.