Surely this comes as a surprise to everyone involved.
Sooo… you’re pleased to have evidence that she’s not lying to you? Uhm… k?
Was it really necessary to present it like some sort of massive revelation?
To be fair it does irk me that MIO will have hard proof. Not that it will probably change anything, but it’s still kind of annoying and might complicate the aftermath when its time comes.
Status update:
No notable news from the surface.
As the most recent development, Praetoria Imperialis Excubitoris has deployed a citadel of its own, which complicates both orbital combat and communications with ground. We experience repeating windows during which Freedom’s Gate is out of contact with operations on ground.
Fighting on orbit has kept intensifying. While EM forces have had significant stretches of time each day where the system has been clearly under friendly control, during other times multiple skirmishes have occurred between allied and hostile forces. Neither party has suffered losses that should endanger operational capacity. Hostile internal co-operation seems to be evolving surprisingly fast.
Fights have now also occurred on the Irnal gate.
Status update:
Situation in system is largely unchanged. Clearance of half of the orbital space temporarily of SFRIM depots and frequent low orbit fly-bys have somewhat compensated for the communication and drop difficulties posed by the PIE citadel.
Skirmishes between capsuleers of EM (EDIT: /-KYN-/CAVTT/other allies) and PIE/LUMEN keep on occurring, with Thebeka III orbit and Irnal gate being the obvious hotspots of action. Isk losses are counted in couple billions for each side, and as such there is no reason to assume deterioration of operational capacity.
Freedom’s Gate remains secure.
Disclaimer: my status updates here concern only the activities Freedom’s Gate and Thebeka-specific operations involving Electus Matari. I do not attempt to give a full picture of capsuleer activities in Thebeka, nor about EM activities elsewhere.
Each other entity will have to decide on their own what they want to report about their own work. I have no intent to call attention to blue intel, publicly reveal what we know of red activities outside of engagements, or attempt to do work news agencies do much better.
For a more comprehensive write-up about parties currently operating in Thebeka I refer you for example to this excellent article by the Raata news agency.
Thanks for understanding.
Status update:
System & orbit have been relatively clear during the New Year. Station is secure.
Comms control has managed to overcome certain difficulties posed by hostile activity with active work from multiple capsuleer parties, though the frequent losses of contact to forces directly under hostile presence are still very problematic. It is currently difficult to form a comprehensive picture about the situation on ground with so much communication difficulties, suppression of free flow of information, exaggerated tales, intentional misinformation and outright lies at play, and we would caution against believing any one source or news agency.
We can confidently say that there are key areas where locals have succeeded in organizing an opportunistic uprising into an actual force of tribal warriors, and we are delighted to have been here to help in what small capacity we have been able to.
EM wishes a better New Year to all our brothers and sisters, in space, on ground, and everywhere, in freedom, and still in Darkness. Never again another Long Night.
Status update:
A combined CVA/PIE/LUMEN force has made a successful initial attack on Freedom’s Gate and other anti-Amarr assets in system.
Meanwhile, PIE Inc is running heavy suppression of communications in space, and friendly forces on ground have engaged theirs at an increasing proportion of hostile contacts, at a rate I am told does not look to be entirely by chance. We are assuming at this point that some communications are compromised and will adjust accordingly.
Due to the increased risk of intercept, EM itself will from now-on refrain from all humanitarian lift-offs and rely entirely on associates for those.
The relative peace of past days has luckily allowed for ground forces to develop practices enough that they are much less reliant for outsider support than they were, say, a week ago, so we are confident the rebellion itself will remain strong despite these complications to our operations.
Wish us luck, we will need it.
Status update:
Electus Matari and allied forces have successfully defended Freedom’s Gate early this morning, with minimal losses to friendly fleets. We are grateful for the support received; as per the policy above I will leave the choice of naming names to the entities in question themselves.
Situation on ground is largely unchanged.
Status update:
With concerted work of multiple parties, new communication lines have been established and suppression minimized as much as possible. We are extremely grateful for all the support, again. In a sense, this almost-blackout served as a stress test of local forces independent capability. EM’s job here is becoming closer to done.
We have been unable to locate a communications compromise. I’ve been informed it is theoretically possible that good military intelligence could have deduced the relevant information simply from observations of movement without direct access to comms. If this is indeed the case, my compliments to PIE intel staff; well played.
Meanwhile, orbital attacks on Freedom’s Gate continue and battleships have gone down on both sides of the conflict.
Ground status update:
Comms net did find a small chink in the armor; said chink is now repaired and fully operational. Comms interception is expected to lessen.
Groind forces have held the line with the breach in comms. Some areas have seen increased activity over the holidays, while others reports near calm during this time. This has allowed time to regroup and devise new strategy across the fronts.
Someone got tired of the cloak & dagger?
Very well, Summits; I give you Commander Jaqel Aubaris of Gradient, a naturally-born and highly-trained groundside military mind and an all-over nutcase.
I guess MIO cannot get any worse anyhow. Such tiresome people.
Stay safe, Jaq.
Else
Status update:
Situation on ground is stabilizing to Amarr forces having taken over most key areas. Fighting continues in the city of Dabara, where local forces are well-organized. Friendly communication and co-ordination has been able to minimize losses in many places and efforts to do so continue.
Situation on orbit is quickly deteriorating, with pirates and opportunists flocking in and the Amarr law enforcement and supporting forces apparently incapable of dealing with the issue. Khanid operations have been spotted in the system, further adding to the chaos.
EM’s job here is done. We will be providing transportation to Republic space to a number of key individuals who were invaluable to these operations, as well as to civilian immigrants. We leave Thebeka stronger and the Empire weaker than we found them. The communications, training, resources and experience now in place will serve the locals well when the next opportunity strikes.
Thousands of rebellious slaves lay cold and dead on blood-soaked floors, their corpses rotting away to maggots just as their memories will. Those still foolish enough to keep up this pointless struggle shall be crushed without mercy. Alternative methods for slave control, certainly much stronger and effective, are already being considered by thousands of Holders throughout the Empire.
Yes, I think EM’s job is quite done. Very well done. Bravo.
I wonder how well the locals will be able to remember such tactics and experience gained with high-grade TCMCs implanted into their skulls. I suppose time will tell.
Once Empire forces are through with these rebellions, perhaps then can we turn our attention to obtaining a proper ruler who will see about the restoration of our great Empire, and the tumbling of the meddlesome Republic.
Yes, you should really look into that.
Considering all the slavers who brag about their torture dungeons and rape castles, or hey, blowing up freighters full of slaves for laughs, maybe those slaves were happier dying fighting, than chained and drugged in some twisted sexual fantasy of their masters.
Maybe less slaves died in combat than would have died of mistreatment during the same time period.
I don’t think even Del’Thul would entertain such a ridiculous notion. Congratulations on making such a large leap, however.
Bit of a stretch indeed, if you keep the context to be the conflict zones in question.
Of course, across the entire Empire on the other hand the numbers are pretty bleakly on the “spirits below how many people are tormented and quite literally ■■■■■■ to death every single day?!” side of things.
This conflict has seen some incredible amounts of bloodshed as the Empire viciously murder countless people for trying to be free, and there’s no doubt at all that the involvement of Electus Matari, Kyn’aldrnari and so on have contributed to prolonging the conflicts and upped the overall level of violence and bloodshed. Trying to claim otherwise would be absolutely nonsensical, particularly given that it was pretty much part of the objective. Not letting the Empire just viciously stomp down on and murder all these people without contest, without paying the price for it. The Empire would have to show its true colors in these conflicts, when their targets were given enough support to not be a push-over.
Even better, the more they could stand their ground and the longer they could do it, the more we managed to evacuate and extract. Thebeka stands as an example of successful capsuleer involvement in these situations and conflicts, as they arise. More importantly, they serve to give hope to all who would attempt the same down the line. It’s not hopeless, it’s not impossible. We are up here, waiting to reach down to grasp your hands.
If the Republic were to put in more effort, the Empire stands to bleed quite heavily.
Your open abduction of Imperial Subjects is yet another travesty piled upon the rest of your acts of war against the Amarr Empire.
The Excubitoris Chapter will continue to forward all data we have of Electus Matari activities on the ground in Thebeka to the Ministry of Internal Order. Unfortunately, given the precedents of Colelie and the Elder Invasion, I have little doubt that the Tribal Republic will entirely fail to punish EM as it deserves for this series of blatant acts of war in areas not covered by the EWPA.
Let us know when we’re starting to get close to matching the Day of Darkness, love.