The Journal; Walking The Road To Liberation

What a difference a year makes.

Today marks the 6^th anniversary since I began my life as a Capsuleer. Much has changed over the past year, so much so that I am still absorbing it all. On my 5^th ‘birthday’ I spoke of the early days, before I joined the Ushra’Khan. I mused about the smallness of my world, living in Heimatar, seldom leaving the region or venturing beyond a handful of constellations even. But this past year… what a contrast.

In July we saw a fledgling empire collapse with the folding of the ‘Aggression’ Alliance in Immensea. That saw an unprecedented operation undertaken by our alliance to step into the gap to stabilise the allied region with Starbase deployments, stations secured and fleets scramble to a new front. We had never conducted a logistical operation quite like it, and a few days later we neatly pulled out again transferring control to the new tenants The Initiative. The operation gave us an opportunity to perform a clean sweep of the stations for any signs of slave holding or transit, a concern in a region rife with Angel Cartel activity.

Then in August I had the honour of leading the second ‘Simulcast’ operation. Some three years ago I led my brothers in delivering a message to the people of the Republic, relayed locally across many solar systems by a lone warrior placed in a different system to repeat the words as one. This time we spoke across seventy systems throughout the Providence and Catch regions, to deliver a warning to those who would work with the Slaver and to demonstrate our continued commitment to the cause. Many Capsuleers remain ignorant as to why we fight, so we chose to deliver a message that they could not ignore.

Soon after, I travelled to the New Eden system to attend the 2^nd Freespace Summit, hosted by Star Fraction. While there to observe, I was invited to speak on Providence and its vaunted NRDS policies. I argued that this was not true Freespace or to be trusted, the law of the region was designed to serve and protect its masters who dictated its statutes. This was of course the law of the CVA and their Amarrian ideals.

October brought a great change. Three months after the events of Immensea, the Ushra’Khan moved into a new home in catch and began to develop the area as our new centre of operations. We became sovereignty holders again for the first time in over two years. I led the ceremony that saw us formally leave the Curse Watchtower behind and the naming of Freedom’s Forge in V2-VC2. At the time I said it marked “the beginnings of moving towards a returning”.

I was more right than I thought, or at least, sooner than I believed possible. On February 9^th I wrote that it was two years and eight months to the day that Unity Station fell, but on that day it stood liberated. December had seen events put into motion that would redraw the map. Libertas Fidelitas launched a sov-grab on Catch, into systems falling under the influence of Against All Authorities. At the time -A- and ourselves were engaged as part of a three-pronged assault on GoonSwarm and their allies in Querious. While LFA and the Provi-bloc began to dig in, they grew confident. It was then that the CVA declared their intent to push on our holdings in Catch, and to again remove us from the map.

First the new foothold in Catch was again liberated from Providence control. Then hell was unleashed upon the Provi-bloc. In D-GTMI Paxton were struck first. I was present for the battle that brought Providence to its knees. As I piloted the Sarz’na Khumatari flagship, a Naglfar class Dreadnought, the Khumatari Shadow in siege against the infrastructure of the system, the cap fleet of Providence burned. Hundreds of ships were led into that slaughter, few escaped.

After that Providence systems fell one after another, almost uncontested as thousands of pilots rushed to escape the approaching juggernaut. It took us months to dismantle the infrastructure of Amarrian Providence, but station after station was liberated. Moon after moon purged and world after world set free. It was an unreal time for us, after so long and so much struggle to see the enemy fall, to walk the halls Unity Station, to visit Deck 23 again. I could almost hear the sounds of the old days still ringing in the walls.

Sadly I missed the liberation of Unity Station. The old sickness that caused me to miss its fall returned to rob me of the recapture. Still, I could hear the celebrations from light years away. I spent the liberation in a hospital bed. My affliction is a weakness in my clone imprint, one that the doctors don’t seem to understand and have been unable to fix. I have yet to find a Jovian to consult with, so it is something I live with. The complication interacts with my implants and leaves me near-crippled for long periods where I am unable to pilot a vessel, sometimes worse than that. As I spent some time in that hospital, I rediscovered something I had put into storage with the fall of Unity Station; an encryption key.

Just over one year ago I made an internal address to the Ushra’Khan to answer the question of just what our long term goals were. Here is what I said.

Our long term goal, I shall express in personal terms. There is a system, 9UY4-H. In that system there is a station named ‘Deliverance Reclaimed’. Within that station there is a sealed hangar, in which lies a Prowler class Transport, The Gun Runner II. I own that ship. That station was once called Unity Station. One day I intend to fly that ship out of that docking portal, Khumaak in hand.

Ladies & gentlemen. We will take back that what was ours. Everything we have done since the day Unity Station fell has been planned with that ultimate goal in mind. And, once we have done that, we will continue to drive every Amarrian loyalist out of Providence. And after that? Well I guess that witch Queen Jamyl Sarum will figure on our target list. Those have been our goals since the day this alliance was formed, to defeat the slaver.

Between now and then, we must continue to grow the alliance and forge strong allegiances with others. We have a long way to go, but when considering that, look back at how far we have come.

That encryption key opened the hangar I am now inside. Within it is just how I left it, years earlier. I had not opened it until this day. Today is a special day indeed. The Gun Runner II is just how I left her, as my pod locked into position her power core hummed to life at once, it feels as if she had been waiting for this moment.  It is today, on my sixth birthday, that I finally feel as though I have truly come home.

My brothers, my friends, look how far we have come.

Time to move on again.  Its at times like these when it feels like the nomadic traditions of Matar never went away.  How many times have I packed up everything and moved all of my assets light years away?  I’m not even sure any more, I simply go where the winds take me.

I am standing here in a cavernous empty hangar in V2-VC2, on board Freedom’s Forge.  That makes me smile; ‘Freedom’s Forge’.  We named the place well I think.  When we moved here it was to be the beginning of a new chapter, the chapter of our history where we built our strength to take Providence head on.

And now?  Now I’m clearing out the last of my gear, loading it onto Hrena’s Orca and my transport.  We finished cleaning out the corp hangars yesterday, now there are only a few personal hangars left to move and we will be out of here; and back in Providence.

I’ve moved so many times for the cause over the years, and this time probably won’t be my last.  It never quite seems real until you’re just about to go.  And now, staring at the empty bays and deserted hangar deck….  I wonder whats in store for us next.

The job isn’t done, that’s for sure even as I walk out of here to board the Deep Ranger and leave for my new home.  I am well aware of that.  Last night in MH9C-S we spent two solid hours locked in a Battleship duel with Paxton and the CVA.  Hundreds of ships went down in that one and the message is clear; we haven’t run out all of the Slavers just yet, and we can’t leave Paxton there to dig in further.  The CVA might have lost its stations and have taken some heavy wounds, but they have not lost all of their supporters.

But that’s for tomorrow.  Today I lay in a course for liberated Providence.  But not Unity Station, no, not yet.  The day I set foot on that deck again will be marked properly.  To all things their allotted time; and that hour is not yet come.

Twelve days ago a mighty blow was struck. Not by my hand, nor by that of any other Capsuleer. The common man has raised his fist in defiance once more. And his vengeance is righteous.

Years ago the actions of the Ushra’Khan and our rejection of the Midularist policies of appeasement inspired a group of Matari tribesmen to make their own stand. They chose to protest against the many failings of their leaders and to answer the higher call of freedom. They paid us a high compliment indeed when they chose the name of their movement; The Bloody Hands of Matar.

It was a bold move they made some three years ago, when they took direct action and slew the race traitor Faulk Stian, ambassador to the Ammatar Consulate. With that one decisive move they derailed the appeasers plans and averted another political humiliation of our people. Instead, we saw the Elders return and everything change.

There was a personal cost to the Bloody Hands however, they became outcasts as we had done. Midular set her dogs on her own people once more, and these would be heroes became fugitives. It gladdens me to see that they went on to survive. And now they have returned to win another victory. Their tenacity and resourcefulness; it is an inspiration. No clones, no implants, no mighty vessels nor political immunities; they are the champions of this cause we share. They risk it all in a way one such as I has not known for years. They are heroes.

And yet, I am saddened. The assault on Pashani was ambitious, and the damage wrought devastating. Had the Witch-Queen Sarum been there as hoped, it would have been a day writ in legend. Regardless, the blow dealt to such a major Amarrian military centre is success enough.

No, what saddens me is what we see exposed in the aftermath of this deed. We see proof of its necessity in the very response to the attack. We see teams of slaves herded into the most hazardous areas of the crippled station ahead of the more valued Amarrian rescue teams. Slaves used to make the area safe as their own lives are deemed expendable. And why would they go? Because their families are held hostage to their performance. “Do well and be rewarded, but should you fail….” This is the barbarism that must be opposed. Such an empire must not go challenged.

And so Pashani’s Ministry of War burns, even as today twelve days on secondary explosions ripple throughout its ravaged structure, and thousands run in terror. And so they should run. Run from their crimes, their old and decadent way of life. Run Amarrians, leave it all behind to burn. And learn from the lesson, do not repeat the crimes of your past. Else they shall return to haunt you.

And Sanmatar Shakor, you would do well to heed the lessons of the past also. I found myself disappointed to hear the condemnations of this act reach my ears. We are at war, Sanmatar. Midular failed to understand that, but you I hope know better at heart. We are at war with the very culture of Amarr, not merely its golden fleets. We must turn each and every one of them away from this notion that our blood is theirs to command, to expend. To do that we must bring the war into their territory, their stations and even into their very homes, as they once did to ours.

This is a bitter lesson that all must learn before we can be through with this conflict. Do not decry the fires of Pashani; let them burn and hasten the end of the war.

Two years, eight months. To the day, in fact since I delivered the saddest announcement of my life. Two years and eight months ago today I made a broadcast from an infirmary to all of New Eden, accepting the fall of Unity Station to the slavers.

A lot has happened since, and yet I find myself replaying the past, not just writing of it. To my everlasting shame, I spent the final weeks of the fall in an infirmary bed rather than on a battlefield. Perhaps it will be with an equally enduring regret that I spent the liberation in an equally decrepit state.

Two years and nine months ago a blood clot moved into my implants and damn near killed me in the final sense. The doctors still haven’t figured out what the true cause was, or how to cure it for good. Well, a few days back it struck again, as they warned it might. They think its a flaw in my clone imprinting, some subtle defect in the genetic component necessary to even become a Capsuleer. Some days I wonder if even the Jovians fully understand this stuff, because we sure as hell don’t seem to.

And so it was that I woke up in another sick bed, staring at a monitor watching it all pass by as the anaesthetics wore off. That was when Takashi Oshai showed up, I swear he does it to gloat over my misfortune, that damned Caldari.

“You’ve seen then? It happened at last, the party is still going on upstairs I think.” He said waving vaguely towards where ever he thinks the bars are. I had seen of course, I think it was all my eyes had focused on since I woke up.

Takashi told me of the fighting, of the siege, of the first landings and of the exuberant near-riots sweeping through the crews across our stations and ships. “And so, you miss it all again, eh?” he finished.

Damned Caldari. I didn’t say it aloud, but he could hear me thinking it judging by that smug smile on his face. “Its fate’s little joke I suppose, to try and cripple me as history unfolds around me” I said.

“I suppose” he replied. “Still, I figured we can toast the day here, provided that nurse doesn’t come back too soon.” He pulled out a hip flask and two shot glasses from a pocket, poured and handed me a drink. “And what shall the toast be, on such a historic day as this?”

What indeed? What does one drink to on such a momentous day? I had spent maybe hours now thinking back on how we had ended up here. Of the two years rebuilding and gathering our strength to strike back, of the fall that hit us all so hard. I remembered the day we anchored Unity Station’s construction platform, and the moment I announced its completion to New Eden. I remembered the events that saw us move beyond the Republic’s borders and set foot in Providence for the first time.

And that was why I said it, sitting there with this Caldari, celebrating what often seems like such a Matari concern. I raised my glass. “To Hnolku.”

He smiled, perhaps sadly, and with a slight pause and nod of his head replied softly; “To Muritor.”

We have all lost heroes to this war, sometimes I almost forget that it often doesn’t matter where you were born. The war finds you sooner or later. There was only one thing I could find to say to that thought, and the Caldari sat by me. “To those who fell along the way.” We drank to that, and he left.

The voice behind me came as little surprise, the only one being that I hadn’t thought to look for it earlier. The Shaman never seemed far away these days. “And how long have you been there, I wonder?” I asked of him. He declined to answer, of course.

As he walked into my view I saw the familiar leather pouch in his left hand, the strings untied and a fist full of carved finger bones in his right. “Your thoughts linger on the past, as the future lies before you.” Ahh, it would be one of those conversations then. I don’t quite know when I started to indulge the old ways, I wasn’t always so patient with its vagaries as now. I asked if he had a point to make, he had something to say at least.

He cast the bones upon the metal tray at my bedside, and loomed over them to see whatever it is he sees. “Your thoughts are ever on the past, of reclaiming what was taken, of restoring what was lost. That time is at hand.”

“Yes Shaman, Unity Station is ours again, you do not need your bones to see that!” I replied, my patience might have been running short. I hate hospitals. But he had more to say.

“And what now, will come? This is a time of changes, a time of stability draws to an end. You must prepare to ride the shifting winds, to see the new shape of the world and your place within it. As you lie there now the world changes around you; lie too long and it shall change again. Will you be ready? The bones speak of hubris swept aside in rising winds. At whose hand…I cannot say.” And with that he turned to leave.

I was left with the feeling that he might have made a point after all, cryptic as it was. And I needed to get out of that bed! I tried to get myself up but the room started to spin and I found the floor, harder than I’d like. As I pulled myself up I noticed a small box on the bedside table that I didn’t remember being there earlier.

The nurse came back then and man handled me back into bed, cursing me all the time. I didn’t protest much, I knew that I was going to need a few more days before I was ready to go anywhere. When she had moved on to harangue another luckless escaping patient I pulled out the box and snapped it open.

Inside there was something I hadn’t looked at in two years and eight months. It was an encryption key, one that unlocked a special door I hadn’t expected to see again for awhile yet. Looks like I’ll be seeing the old girl again sooner than I had thought.

But first, I need to get out of this damn bed. But next stop, Unity Station.

Yesterday saw the formal commissioning and naming of the Ushra’Khan’s two recently acquired stations in Catch.  The ceremony begins in F4R2-Q outside the Curse Watchtower.  I had the honour of leading the ceremony and delivered these words to the local channel.

Welcome my brothers, today we mark the opening of a new chapter in our history.

We have gathered here in the place that many of us have perhaps called a home for this past year. It has been good to us, and from here we have taken great strides.

Our time here has seen our alliance grow strong once again, healing past wounds and steadily building towards fulfilling our goals.

We came here from Curse, living beside the dubious Angel Cartel and the areas disparate Capsuleers. And before that from within the Ammatar Mandate on the fringes of Providence.

Before then we came from the fall of Unity Station, and long did the shadow of that day linger over us. And before then? Our journey stretches back to the heart of Matar itself.

Back then things were different in so many ways. There were few of us even when I joined the cause months after the founding of the alliance. The Republic was a different place, everywhere was.

We are different now, on the surface at least. We come from all peoples, and many pasts. We walk so far from the soils of Matar.

But some things do not change. We are diverse in origin, but united in purpose. We still fight for the same goal. At heart, and in action, we still show our heritage. We believe now as we always have.

The Matari people have ever been nomads, moving as their will and need dictates. And even in this age we continue that tradition until our work is done. We go where the winds take us.

We leave here now and set course for our new home. Come my brothers, we move forwards.

And with that came the time to formally leave the Curse Watchtower behind as our base of operations.  There was a sense of mixed feelings in that moment.  A lot has happened in the year since we moved in there, it is familiar to us.  But, we move on the new and perhaps greater things.  I led the fleet away from the station laying in a course to V2-VC2 and our new home.  We flew manually by the stargates,  In felt it was the way to best mark the occasion properly.  It has been a long road to this point for us, why not savour the moment?

On Arriving in V2-VC2 we turned the fleet and warped together to the station, as we approached I delivered the second part of my speech and formally named the stations, our new home.

And so, we arrive.

It has been over two years since the fall of Unity Station. The events of that battle took their toll upon us, and it took a long time indeed for us to recover from it.

For a time we tried to continue as we had before, but eventually we chose instead to fall back to Curse and begin to rebuild.

For two years we have worked towards this day, and at last we arrive. We stand now stronger than ever before.

We were once proclaimed as beaten, a broken people in a dead alliance. Many of those detractors are gone now, they have fallen over the years. But we did not.

We left Providence bloodied and wounded, but never broken. In a short time we were to return, and the fight has continued ever since.

We have grown to be a larger force than ever before, and our capabilities have grown with us. We are capable of more now than ever before.

And in this place we shall continue to grow, and to develop. Here, living under our own banner, we move forwards.

We now commission two stations into service. Here in V2-VC2 we name this station Freedoms Forge.

And in 5-N2EY we name the Covert Cloak Production & Slaver Hull Reprocessing Facility.

This is our new home. Our history has been one of change, our mission demands it of us. And our journey is not yet done, as today we take this step forwards.

This day, this achievement, has been two years in the making. It is made possible by the efforts of many hands and many deeds.

Each Fleet Commander, Diplomat, scout, engineer and pilot has made a contribution, no matter how modest. This day belongs to them. My friends, it belongs to you.

We are the Ushra’Khan, and we move forwards, for our people.

Thank you.

It was for me, quite a day.  It has been a long time since we made such a move, took such a symbolic step.  I had the honour of announcing the construction of Unity Station, the sadness of its fall.  Those times still resonate, with me, my brothers and yes, even in the world beyond our ranks.

For me, this achievement is a clear sign of our accomplishments since then.  And it is the beginnings of moving towards a returning.  The day will come, even if it takes years more to achieve.  But we shall walk the halls of Unity Station again.  And my people, they shall be truly free.

17:45 – I am checking up on the repairs made to the Slippery Footing and setting up for another mission.  The repair bay techs have turned her around in good order, although not without some moaning.  They do like to complain at the pilots for bringing ships back with damage, still it was minor compared to what they come out with when you come back with structural damage…

The crew have been rotated out as they have been in the bars for a few hours now, fresh crew have transferred over from the Changing Fates, which is presently docked up in reserve.  The upcoming mission will be an Interceptor fleet to conduct rapid strikes and some training for newer pilots.

18:04 – We are Departing F4R2-Q on schedule, we have over twenty ships assembled and we are laying in a course for Doril.  Reports have come in of RAZOR Alliance forces moving about there, possibly Sniper HAC’s.

18:21 – Our pilots in Doril have baited out a RAZOR gang, we are jumping through and warping to support them.  As I drop out of warp I see mostly Frigate sized ships and a couple of Cruisers, I make a run for the larger ships and get tackles.  We down a Flycatcher first but soon lose Paddington, our pilot who provided the warp-in point.  I go straight for an Arazu, the most expensive ship on the field.  As our swarm of Interceptors slice it apart in a hail of small munitions, a hostile Crow is taken out of the fight.

I turn my attention to a Rupture, and a Crusader is taken down with it in rapid succession.  The field held, we recover what we can and return to F4R2-Q to drop off and re-equip.

19:00 – We are setting out again and laying in a course for Providence.  While a little home defence is necessary and good, there lies the real meat.  Our fleet has swelled to forty pilots now.

19:15 – We have made contact with a few enemy light ships around SV5-8N, interceptors and destroyers for the most part.  They seem to be moving independently but doubtless we have been reported.  We press on.

19:17 – Rye Contini is down in D-GTMI, he jumped in to be caught by a Libertas Fidelitas fleet, perhaps twenty strong, light ships much like our own composition but with an few Cruisers and a Harbinger Battlecruiser.  I take command briefly as I am in position, and take us straight in after them.

They might not have realised our numbers but we came roaring through the gate as I gave the order to get tackles and engage, it was scarcely relevant to call targets as the fight was immediately a fur ball of dog fights.  Within three minutes of losing Rye we had shot down a Flycatcher, Thorax, Arbitrator & Omen, for no further losses.  The survivors were scattered.

We began to move further into Libertas Lidelitas territory but doubled back as Rye, already on his way back to us with a new ship, ran across an LFA Rokh.  We caught up to it in F9E-KX, as it warped in our direction to the D-G gate at range.

As we started to burn towards it, I got the feeling that something wasn’t right….smart bombs.  As I shout on comms to keep distance and stay out of smartie blast range, I switch my camera angle to look at the Rokh’s hull.  No turrets.  Figures.

I drop another sphere on the Caldari Battleship and hang back, using the range on my Sabre’s auto’s to keep me away from the patiently waiting beast.  He must have realised that we weren’t coming in as close as he first thought and fired off his smart bombs.  One of our Taranis’ was too close and was ripped apart by explosive shock waves.  We laid into it, the shields failed quickly under our onslaught and the armour proved no hindrance.

Returning to D-GTMI we encounter more hostiles, a Flycatcher, probably one of those who got away earlier has bubbled our entry gate.  Someone calls a warning over fleet comms, but I was too slow to react.

“Bomb!”

A Scorch bomb is heading straight into our pack.  I was focusing too much on the wider situation that I forgot to shut off my MWD.  The blast tore through my shields like they weren’t even there.  I don’t know how the armour repairs held up, the entire flank of my ship was stripped to the bone in an instant as an immense thermal blast turned the armour and hull into slag.  From the last readouts I received as my pod was shot clear, I think the ammo store had started to cook off from the heat.

We lost at least three ships to that bomber, probably more once the final tally comes in.  It was a good shot, I’ll give him that.

19:50 – I’m off to find my crew.  We’ve got some friends in the medical bay, and some memories to toast as we wait for the others to get home and the final count.  We’re tearing up some havoc tonight, but there’s always a cost to it.  Tomorrow we go out again, until the job is done.

August 17th, 111EST.

12:45 – I am in F4R2-Q, we have a small gang forming up ready for a raid into Providence, rattling the cages.  This is the bread and butter of guerilla warfare, frequent raiding to disrupt the enemies back yard.

The gang is coming together nicely, we have a few more pilots reporting in than expected actually.  Twenty in all, a Cruiser fleet to move fast and lay down some damage.  I am flying one of our three Sabre Interdictors, the Slippery Footing.

The crew seem eager, it’s a small ship with a small complement, I an hear them shouting to each other down the halls.  One or two shouting to me even, although I can hear them nearly everywhere on-board from my pod if I concentrate a little.  We will be on our way soon enough.

13:08 – We have arrived in BR-N97, Sylph space.  The FC orders us in to the Mortarion Curze Memorial Station where we promptly open fire on the station services.   This has been an ongoing custom for us,  puttting the frighteners on to Station Managers wherever they might be found.  Applying pressure onto the local infrastructure, then fading away.

13:15 – A Wolf Assaault Frigate has jumped into our waiting camp in IS-R7P.  I launch an warp disruption probe and it flares to life as it clears the launcher, a distrortion sphere envelopes the gate and my stasis webifier kills the beleagured Frigate’s speed as our Cruisers lock on and rp it to pieces.  The pilot’s pod is smashed open by a volley from a 720mm Howitzer and the job is done.    He was an unaligned pilot, a Brutor even.  I hear the crew’s condemning mummer flitter through the ship.  No free Matari has any business out here unless they came to fight.  Maybe next time he’ll choose better.

A few moments later we picked up on Roystonvasey’s call, he has a Sylph Raven pinned down in in OXIY-V.  I throw power to the engines and the warp drive springs to action as I lay in the course, heading full burn to help out.

I arrive on the scene quickly, outpacing the larger Cruisers I drop out of warp inside a Sansha’s Hub, Roystonvasey had mangaged to scan the Battleship down in here and catch him off guard.  As I am dropping out of warp a hostile Abbadon warped in at 150km.  Roy quickly confirms that he has the Raven tackled and I swing my Sabre about to run down the Abbadon.  I manage to close half the distance before its pilot decides that discretion is the better part of valour and warps out.  I turn back to the Raven.

As I burn in towards the Raven pilot pulls his Hornet II light drones off Roy and sends them to intercept me instead.  I dumped a bubble on him as I turned my guns on the drones but soon had to bail out as the Hornet’s wore down my shields.  Triggering a quick warp I am soon coming about and back into the fight.  I arrive as our Cruisers are piling in and we quickly drop the battleship and move on.

13:36 – Karn Mithralia has caught us an Aegis Militia Abbadon in F-YH5B.  We close in quickly and demolish its armour rapidly.  The crew are quietly pleased, there is litle love among us for these gaudy golden heaps.

Soon after we finish it off, Karn comes into contact with a small Aegis gang, they seem to be retreating away from us, by coincidence or design I can’t say.  They were probably trying to help the beleagured Abbadon I suppose.  We catch one of their Arbitrators entering local, adding another to the tally.

14:12 – We’ve been noticed, reports are filtering through of a CVA-led response gang heading our way.  While we have a few more ships, they are coming on with heavier vessels in a remote rep formation.  Our Cruiser are likely too fragile to go up afainst that so we begin to fall back.

As we move back through I7S-1S we come across two interdictors running ahead of their fleet.  The first we engage trhe first, an Eris, and destroy it immediately as our cruisers  align out and move out of the interdiction sphere dropped over the gate.  I swiftly loot the wreck to find the second Interdictor jumping in close to me.  On reflex I go in for a tackle and our Cruisers blast through its hull.  Again I grab what I can and clear the bubble just as the CVA gang jumps in behind me.  The warp drive responds and I am out safely.  Checking my inventory I smile at the sight of more disruption probes in my cargo than I had when we set out.

14:33 – Hostiles have closed in on our position so we’re going to have to run a camp.  It doesn’t look like our Cruisers will be able to take out their remote repping setup short of losing most our ships.

Jumping in to G7AQ-7 we go for a full burn to clear the camp but four of our Cruisers didn’t clear their bubbles or the tacklers.  I am fast enough to get clear and most of the gang gets through safely.  Now that we have stirred up the hornets nest we decide to break off and head home for now.

14:42  I have fallen slightly behind the gang and I’m trailing nearly a jump behind the main group.  As I enter 9KOE-A I hear a report that an enemy Crusader has just passed our Cruisers coming my way.  I decide to linger at jump in fir a few moments and sure enough a Crusader Interceptor drops out of warp 15km from me.  I immediately trigger my MWD and head straight at him.  To my slight surprise, he does the same.  His pulse laser’s cut into my shields and I answer with my full rack of autocannons.

My shields are dropping alarmingly fast when I realise that my Damage Control is inactive!  Cursing myself loudly I shunt power into it and the damage slows as the shields begin to fail.  I am dropping him into low shields as well now but he is still just out of range of my warp scrambler…. a little closer… got him!   His micro warp drive cuts out from the interference and his speed abruptly drops like a stone.  My cannons rip him to shreds and I hear the crew cheer with relief as the dog fight swings into our favour.  As his structure collapses and a wing breaks off the stricken ship I drop a warp disruption probe to catch his pod and finish him off.

My damage readouts report 44% armour remaining as the shields begin to recharge and I check the wreckage for anything of use.  How to make life hard for myself I guess…  Fortunately I am a handful of jumps away from safe harbour and return home without further incident.  The crew are getting ready to hand off to the bay repair crews and three voices suggesting hitting the bar once we dock.  Think I’ll join them, hell they’ll probably enjoy reprimanding the captain for forgetting to activate the defences.

15:00 – I guess I’m buying for that one.

Today I attended the 2nd Annual Freespace Summit, hosted by Heartstone of The Star Fraction.  Last year I was an invited speaker, this year I simply meant to attend as an observer.

Freespacer’s; a curious bunch.  I suppose I am one after a fashion, I certainly appreciate the ideals of it.  Anarchists, idealists, proponents of freedom and active militants.  An organisation opposed to organisation.  The wealthy elite opposed to capitalist opression.  A whole mass of contradiction.  And they revel in it.

Still, at heart I think they are all in pursuit of a thing I too hold dear; the dream of freedom.  And so I made the journey to the New Eden system in person.  It has ben a long time since I last went there and looked upon the EVE Gate for myself.  It is a fitting place to hold such a summit.  Where better than this to discuss the concept of a society that lives amongst the stars?

Although I went as an observer, I found myself asked to speak again.  Given my background and history with Providence, I was asked to give my thoughts on NRDS policies and their relevance to Freespace ideals.  I shall share what I found to say.

[ 2009.08.16 20:43:37 ] Heartstone > Than You Misan for your thoughts. Next we have a returning Speaker from last year who agreed to replace one of the other speakers who couldn;t make it on short order. Please welcome Ugleb Councilman of the Ushra’Khan alliance.
[ 2009.08.16 20:44:04 ] Jonny Damordred > /emote nods
[ 2009.08.16 20:44:12 ] Karin Tykrest > /emote claps joyously.
[ 2009.08.16 20:44:24 ] Xenea > /emote stoically claps at the announcement of the next speaker.
[ 2009.08.16 20:44:24 ] Jade Constantine > /emote applauds for Ugleb of the Ushra’khan
[ 2009.08.16 20:44:38 ] Clementina > /emote claps for the next speaker.
[ 2009.08.16 20:44:48 ] Ugleb > Thank you.
[ 2009.08.16 20:45:50 ] Ugleb > As Heartstone has said, I was not originally scheduled to speak tonight, so I have decided to pose a question to you all.  Now please, bear with me a moment.
[ 2009.08.16 20:46:21 ] Ugleb > When is Freespace not truly free?  Or rather, what is that defines ‘freespace’?
[ 2009.08.16 20:46:44 ] Ugleb > Is it the space you live in?
[ 2009.08.16 20:47:16 ] Ugleb > If you were to reside in null sec but pay rent to a ‘landlord’, is your space free?
[ 2009.08.16 20:47:50 ] Ugleb > I think most will agree, it is not.  The space itself is claimed by another, even if it is your flag flying on the maps.
[ 2009.08.16 20:48:30 ] Ugleb > The act of payment for the privilege is clearly evidence that such space is far from free, in any sense of the word.
[ 2009.08.16 20:48:55 ] Jade Constantine > /emote nods agreement to that last point
[ 2009.08.16 20:49:11 ] Ugleb > What then, if you pay no rent, but offer some other, non-fiscal payment?
[ 2009.08.16 20:49:53 ] Ugleb > Yes my friend! You may live here!  But be ready for when the time comes and I call on your ship to aid me!
[ 2009.08.16 20:49:56 ] Ugleb > Is this free?
[ 2009.08.16 20:50:28 ] Verone > /emote smiles a little, his holo flickering a little while watching the Brutor speak.
[ 2009.08.16 20:50:57 ] Ugleb > What happens if you prove unready?  Is your space taken?  Are you turfed out?  Maybe.  Who can say in our world of politics.
[ 2009.08.16 20:51:49 ] Ugleb > What then, if you find a corner of New Eden where the gates are thrown wide open.  A place where you are not required to negotiate your access at all.
[ 2009.08.16 20:52:22 ] Ugleb > You may come and go as you please, no-one asks you for your arms or your ISK.
[ 2009.08.16 20:52:44 ] Ugleb > That certainly sounds free doesn’t it?
[ 2009.08.16 20:53:23 ] Ugleb > What if there is just one catch.  A code of conduct while you pass through.
[ 2009.08.16 20:53:56 ] Ugleb > No treaties, simply an expectation that while you are in this volume of open space, that you abide a code of conduct.
[ 2009.08.16 20:54:17 ] Ugleb > ‘NRDS’.  I’m sure we are all familiar with it.
[ 2009.08.16 20:54:58 ] Ugleb > Do not fitre upon other pilots, unless they have red standings.  And here is a list of the local reds.
[ 2009.08.16 20:55:20 ] Ugleb > Consider; does NRDS equate to freespace?
[ 2009.08.16 20:55:58 ] Ugleb > A tenet of freespace, as advocated by its early pioneers, is that each pilot is a nation, and that his nation is his ship.
[ 2009.08.16 20:56:43 ] Ugleb > Would this not constitute a form of governance placed upon you?  A law of the land to which you are automatically beholden?
[ 2009.08.16 20:57:19 ] Ugleb > Today we have one famed example, Is Amarrian Providence freespace?
[ 2009.08.16 20:57:55 ] Ugleb > The local laws are those of the CVA.  They invite you to come and go as you please, but it is they who set the law and impose it.
[ 2009.08.16 20:58:03 ] Ugleb > In the past there were other examples.
[ 2009.08.16 20:58:43 ] Ugleb > The Foundation once set out to ‘liberate’ the Great Wildlands from local capsuleers who intended to close it off.
[ 2009.08.16 20:59:15 ] Ugleb > Had they truly succeeded and seen peace established, might that have been a greater realisation of true freespace?
[ 2009.08.16 21:00:12 ] Ugleb > In either case, may you mine any asteroid?  Scan down any anomaly, step through any wormhole?  Mine any moon…?
[ 2009.08.16 21:00:34 ] Ugleb > Let us for a moment accept that yes,  in this land of prosperity can!  On whose backs was this built?
[ 2009.08.16 21:00:52 ] Ugleb > A regime of slavery?  Upon the homelands of the Thukker tribe?  Or some unheard of backwater colony.
[ 2009.08.16 21:01:13 ] Ugleb > Misan Pal’taek had a point I think.  Let us not forget the planet bound and their part in our dreams.
[ 2009.08.16 21:02:01 ] Ugleb > Beware the lure of wealth, do not be blinded by it.  For all that glitters is not gold, and often there is a price attached.
[ 2009.08.16 21:02:33 ] Ugleb > And indeed, let us not be blinded by our own immortality.  Perhaps we are the fore runners of the future.  But we should not become its overlords.
[ 2009.08.16 21:03:01 ] Ugleb > Thank you all for listening, I think that may be enough questions for now.

It has been some time since I last undertook something quite like today’s endeavour.  Two years in fact, when I stood in Pator and called upon the people of the Republic to rally behind the cause.

That was our first ’simulcast’ to New Eden, where our pilots each stood in a separate solar system and spoke together as one.  Today we repeated that fate.  Today we spoke as one across seventy systems with one message and many voices speaking as one.

It is in these moments, standing with my brothers, that I am truly proud of my comrades and honoured by their support and commitment.

Our message follows.

This, is the voice of the Ushra’Khan. Today we deliver a message to the denizens of Slaver Providence & Catch.

Heed these words.

This message is being relayed across Sylph territories and into the wider Providence and Catch holdings of the Slaver and his allies.

As I speak to you here, my brothers speak with me across the span of light years.

We speak in unison, with many voices but one message.

Many of those listening to this may never had heard its like before. You may not know why our ships stalk this space, ever watching and hunting.

Of late the ‘Kari pipe’ has undergone heavy interdiction by our forces, but do you know why? Do you know where this began, pilot?

Listen well and learn our story. Understand the why and choose where you stand with care and knowledge of the facts.

It has now been over three years since we first deployed our forces into the Providence region.

Many hearing this broadcast likely cannot imagine how much this region has changed since then.

When we came; there was nothing here. Nothing but scattered pirates, a handful of small time Capsuleer prospectors. And the Slavers.

The Sansha had long lurked out here on the fringes of Empire, but we did not come for those zombified drones, those walking relics…

We came because the Capsuleers of Amarr had begun their so-called ‘Operation Deliverance’.

Amarrian Imperialists seeking to expand their holdings and spread the foul practice of slavery in the name of a twisted god.

They began to settle in the south, expanding their way out of Misaba. We in turn moved into the north, out of the Thukker outposts in Derelik.

It was there that we chose to draw the line, and there we began to build a counter point to Imperial expansion.

It was there, in 9UY4-H, that we raised Unity Station, only the second outpost to be constructed in the region.

The space about us was founded as free space. Any who did not support the slaver were welcome within our borders.

This might surprise you, but even today we operate as ‘NRDS’ outside of Providence and Catch.

For a time there was a balance. But eventually the Slaver pushed closer to Unity Station until they were ready to assault it openly.

It was then that we saw the true worth of our friends… and sometimes their failings.

As the Slaver’s power grew we saw swift changes come to Providence.

For a long time we had supported our neighbours, sometimes to our own detriment and distraction. While some joined our fight others remained neutral, and this we respected.

Two years ago, the Sylph Alliance repaid this respect by choosing to side with the Slaver when the tide of battle turned against us.

When things were at their most bleak, they openly turned to side with the Slaver. On that day Sylph earned themselves a special place in our memory.

There can be no forgiveness for the traitor.

We have been asked by some in Sylph why we pursue them so tenaciously, why we single them out amongst our enemies after so long.

It is because we take loyalty very seriously indeed. We stand by our allies even through the hard times.

The world can slander us for our choice but we shall ever stand by those choices and that commitment.

We do not throw our friends to the wolves for mere expediency.

So we will not forgive those who have done this to us, especially when that choice sees them standing shoulder to shoulder with the Slaver.

For Sylph there can be no forgiveness. And there shall be no mercy or quarter given. We shall pursue them to the end.

There will be no negotiation until the entity known as Sylph is no more.

That shall be the punishment for their crime. To be a mere footnote in the history of greater men.

But you, Providence dweller, what of you? What is your crime that we so hunt you?

Since the day Unity Station fell, Providence has been the domain of the Slaver, answering to his law.

That law might seem agreeable to you, Pod Pilot, for your needs. But have you looked deeper?

This space is beholden to the laws of the Imperialists and the teachings of their twisted beliefs.

It is your presence that fuels their expansion.

Your commerce and your coin that forges fresh chains to bind innocent men to lives in servitude.

You are complicit in their crimes. By your acquiescence they commit atrocity.

It is by this failure to accept responsibility that you became our enemy. And that is why you shall ever be our quarry while you live under the rule of Slavers.

But for you, perhaps, there remains a way out.

You are free to remove yourselves from this conflict. You are free to choose again.

Depart Providence and our quarrel with you is done. Go, remove yourselves from this tainted place and find an honest home, one not built upon the backs of slaves.

Or stay, and fight alongside us for a better world. A world where all peoples of New Eden live unfettered and free of the stinging lash.
Perhaps, pilot, it is not too late for you to choose more justly.

But for the traitor, there is only blood. The war goes on and continues to grow.

Our strikes on your installations shall continue. We are watching you closer than ever.

We are finding your lapses and exploiting them at every opportunity. We are the knife, lingering so near to your throat, ever waiting for your guard to slip.

The war shall go on, there shall be no respite, no safety to be found in Providence nor in Empire.

You have made your choice and you shall be held to its consequences. The years might pass but our resolve and conviction does not.

We are the Ushra’Khan, and we come for our people.

It has been an interesting week.  Immensea is very much in the spot light, and it seems we have been placed centre stage in it.  This week saw Aggression alliance fall apart, and we briefly stepped into the vacated space for a look around.  What interest that sparked!

‘Nature abhors a vacuum’ I believe the saying goes.  Sovereignty claims across Immensea were dropped as Aggression remnants pulled down control towers and hurried to get themselves out of there.   Into the gap we stepped to restore a measure of order and, ahh how did our dear leader put it ‘go shopping’.  In their hurry to leave, Aggression were holding a bit of a fire sale on assets that they weren’t going to be hauling out.

And so, for the first time in years, the Ushra’Khan was briefly back on the map and holding down I believe six stations.  Our crews were happy to report that there were no slave stocks to be found on any of the stations, or signs of their having been there.  Aggression it seems were running an honest operation before their troubles at least.

After barely a couple of days under our care we got word that the new permanent residents were on their way to assume care of the region.  And so it was that we swiftly and amicably handed over control of all facilities to The Intiative and departed.

It is interesting though, it seems wherver we go our old enemies are keen to pursue.  Only this time we moved faster than the news.  The slavers despatched a fleet to raid the newly taken ‘terrorist’ bases of Immensea.  I’m not sure how much they depleted the station’s shielding before discovering that we had already left, but I hear that the new residents did not take it lying down.

It is interesting though, to see that our apparent presence demands such a response.  We must be doing something right  after all.