The Dumping Ground for EVE's Rejects
I'm beginning to think that Solitude is cursed. It seems that once one weed is removed, another takes its place. I got rid of <STFU>, and was left dealing with [QUOKA] for months. [QUOKA] was dealt with, but then Padrick emerged as the newest malcontent that needed to be addressed - and ultimately, purged from the region, leaving his entire alliance in ruins. Solitude is only able to enjoy, at most, a month or two of quietude before some maladjusted and psychopathological nerd starts causing trouble, such as when Timoxa - AKA Timmy N-Bomb - began his invasion.
Martin Lockheart's Benefactor
If there's one thing these people have in common, it's ambition and delusions of grandeur. They all think they're clever, engaging in shady backchannel conversations, wheeling and dealing and pretending to be expert politicians. There's a second thing they all have in common, too: I see right through them.
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Padrick 2.0
That latest in a long series of people with ambitions beyond their competence is the leader of <-HC->, a man named Martin Lockheart - or as I like to call him, Martin Twotongues. The name is fitting; he says one thing, but it's really another thing in the background. Actually, in a lot of ways Martin reminds me of Padrick. I get the same sort of ambitious, disingenuous, and scheming vibe from him. By his own admission, his alliance needs lebensraum and resources, and he's willing to partner up with larger entities and plot in order to achieve that goal. As you read on, you will start to see Martin's game as well.
Now, don't get me wrong. His strategy is a good one; at least in the short term. It's just not the sort of thing I would do. I just prefer to be honest and straightforward. I prefer to lay my cards on the table from the start. At least when it comes to foreign policy; lies and subterfuge have a way of coming back to bite you in the ass. Also, if you make a habit of telling the truth... you never have to remember what you said. The truth is a powerful weapon, but it is also a shield.
<-HC-> has been in Solitude for a few months now, but I never really paid them much mind until the latest fiasco with <GSC>. Before then, I was only peripherally aware of <-HC-> and their weird "sister alliance", <SLCO>. I think we might have chat once about some group Martin wanted me to wardec or something like that. Or maybe I was going to wardec <-HC->? I honestly can't remember; I wasn't logging in much during those months, and just showing up for fleet fights. Oh wait. I do seem to remember a fleet of about 10 <-HC-> Kikimoras running from my lone Hecate.
At any rate, one day Martin showed up in my DMs saying he had info that might be of interest to me concerning some of the things Padrick had been saying. Of course I'd be interested in that; it's a juicy worm, after all. But I had already been receiving a lot of information from multiple sources, so the chances of Martin giving me anything new were slim*. I already knew about Padrick's betrayal, but still, some extra screencaps for my blog couldn't hurt.
(*To be fair, he did give me one piece of novel intel.)
Martin told me about his grievances with Padrick. When <-HC-> first moved to Solitude, Padrick tried to sell Martin his "vision" for the region, and to try to get <-HC-> to join Padrick's blue donut. Under Padrick's leadership, of course. When that didn't work out, Padrick tried to hire mercenaries to evict <-HC->, and Martin found out about it (from the mercs, lel).
Martin told me about the upcoming attack the day the war started. However, <-HC-> was frustratingly late to the party. NOIR and myself did the bulk of the lifting when it came to creating armor timers. I had been wondering why Martin's group was holding back and pussyfooting it, but I think I've figured it out - when Martin told me that they were "keeping a low profile"... he was just waiting to see if Padrick had a bigger batphone. In which case, Martin would have turned coat and joined <GSC>, and since he hadn't committed to anything, he could easily concoct or buy into whatever narrative was convenient at the time. Because that's how Martin plays.
Or, maybe Martin was just waiting for Timmy N-Bomb's blessing.
A Hand Tipped Too Early
The war with <GSC> ended on March 14th and, for some reason, their structures were to be transferred to <-HC->. That seemed weirdly convenient for Martin; he shows up late to the drama, isn't even the most aggrieved party, but somehow gets all the spoils. Nobody really cared that much though; nobody wants <GSC>'s space, which is part of the reason why they've been able to have their structures there for so long. At any rate, the end of the war came as a bit of surprise; everyone expected Padrick's abdication of leadership to be a ploy, and for <GSC> to remain stubborn and entrenched. So when the war ended so early it left a lot of things up in the air. No one knew where it would all land and what the relationships would be, especially with <-HC-> now claiming stations and moons right next to <WHBOO>.
Martin made it very clear just two days later.
I woke up, groggy before my morning coffee, catching up on what I'd missed while sleeping. There was talking on Discord from the night before about how <-HC-> were shooting <WHBOO> structures along with Dishwater Alliance. Sure enough, the <WHBOO> Athanor and Raitaru that were being anchored were gone. As I was getting my senses together, I read messages from Martin on Discord making all sorts of weird demands. Essentially, Martin was saying that <WHBOO> needs to drop standings with <SPORK>, that said relationship would "continue to hurt them" and that this relationship was the only reason why Dishwasher's Alliance was harassing them. Of course, he framed this all as "friendly advice", but the subtext was very, very clear.
Again, I was largely AFK during the past few months, but this is how it seems to me: Dishwashers Alliance started harassing <WHBOO> and cheeseplaying months ago, before <SPORK> ever got involved. When Dishwashers started blobbing, <SPORK> were <WHBOO>'s biggest defenders, showing up primarily to even out numbers between <WHBOO> and the cheeseblob. So Martin is essentially telling <WHBOO> that they need to reset relations with their closest allies in order to be safe from their biggest enemies... right. Here's the truth: <WHBOO> lost some easily replacable structures, but they gave Dishwashers a bloody nose in the process, blowing up multiple capital ships (and even forcing Dishwashers to drop FAX support to save a Leshak that was being murdered by T1 fit Punishers) or blueballing and denying content to Dishwashers by design.
Yes, Dishwasher's was ISK positive. But they are also very skittish and loss averse. This is why they have so many FAXes on standby. Every loss they suffered hurt them much more than <WHBOO>'s own losses hurt them.
In short, <WHBOO> was a tougher nut to crack than Dishwater expected. Timmy N-Bomb would like nothing more than to see the alliance between <SPORK> and <WHBOO> broken. This way, his cheeseblob could easily deal with either group, which would now be divided. Martin would also like this; he could claim the conveniently now empty space after <WHBOO> was gone. Or rather, buy anchoring rights, as per rumor.
It's so painfully, blatantly, and transparently obvious.
I don't know if Martin's stupid, overconfident, or if things in the background moved faster than he intended them to, but he has tipped his hand. I made my position very clear to Martin: The moment he ordered his pilots to put guns on <WHBOO> structures, he ganked his own krabs.
Once I made my intentions to harass his linemembers clear, suddenly he wanted to have a voice chat. He's in "a very particular place politically", a place that requires "nuance". His hands are tied, you see. It's nothing personal, you see. It's unfortunate that he has to get involved in certain affairs and do certain things that benefit him, you see. He feels just awful about it. The crocodile tears are just oozing out of his eyes.
Skeevy Games
Martin and I had our voice chat over Discord. Or rather, I sat there while Martin rambled on about the entire life story of <-HC->. He's a fast talking hustler type of guy. I sat there patiently and let him ramble. I found him annoying to talk to. It was like having a conversation with a salesman.
This is what I was able to gather during our voice chat:
- Martin's ambition is to grow his alliance. In order to do so, they need lebensraum and resources.
- <-HC-> was living out in the Providence area with some group called "Wrecking Crew". During this time, Martin kept trying to take <SPORK>'s space, but didn't have a big enough dick to do so. They were safe from reprisal, however, because they would attack <SPORK> and then go hide behind Wrecking Crew's skirt.
- <-HC-> moved to Solitude because the coalition they were in was so toxic and mistreated people that they were losing membership.
- Upon arrival in Solitude, Martin Twotongues made it clear to the locals that they weren't interested in any agreements or relationships. He was "playing it safe" and "staying neutral". <-HC-> wanted to stay independent.
- That is, of course, until he saw that Dishwashers was fielding big blobs and blowing stuff up, so naturally, he cozied up to them. Martin Twotongues wants to be on the winning side, after all.
- He had Dishwashers on standby in case he needed backup while taking <SPORK>'s moons, which were conveniently located nearby and a perfect target for them to go after since <SPORK> and <-HC-> don't get along (I wonder why?).
- After this "proof of concept", Martin approached <WHBOO> about joining his alliance. This would have worked out great for him; after absorbing the dominant power in the region into his alliance, that would make Martin the de facto "ruler" of the area and put him in charge. <WHBOO> declined. While <WHBOO> isn't interested in "ruling" Solitude, they also aren't interested in being Dishwater's vassal.
- After the war with <GSC>, supposedly, Padrick leaked a rumor that <WHBOO> and <-HC-> were splitting <GSC> assets. Timmy N-Bomb asked Martin if this was true, and when Martin said it wasn't, invited Martin to "prove himself" in some sort of weird gang initiation ritual that involved blowing up some anchoring <WHBOO> structures. Of course, despite the tsunami of screenshots that Martin has sent me, he never offered up any screenshots of Padrick spreading the rumor or Timmy N-Bomb questioning him about it.
- So Martin's guys blew up <WHBOO> assets and Martin is trying to blame it on Padrick (an easy scapegoat) and Dishwashers "making him".
- But don't worry! Martin is definitely not interested in taking <WHBOO>'s space. He's just friends with the group that keeps blowing up <WHBOO>'s structures, while he tells <WHBOO> to ditch their allies and join his alliance, and even though he helped to blow up two <WHBOO> structures, he didn't really waaaant to. He haaaad to do it. Mommy gave him a chore! He didn't want to get spanked. It's a very particular, nuanced thing, you see? It's not like he doesn't have an agreement with Dishwater Alliance to buy anchoring rights after they blow up Athanors or anything...
For me it's much simpler than all that nonsense. I don't care about the political manuerving and the favors owed to who for why. I made things very clear to Martin: I am watching. If <-HC-> makes any moves against <WHBOO> - either overtly or covertly, I will make it impossible for his USTZ players to live in the LowSec areas. He will have me to deal with for the rest of his time in Solitude. Dishwater FAXes and BLOPs fleets won't be able to save him; I don't field hard assets and I have no structures to leverage. And I'm very good at what I do.
Salty <-HC-> krab.
Tough Choices
Martin wants to grow his group and build a healthy community. To do this in 2022, a group needs access to LowSec. But LowSec is dangerous. So Martin has allied himself with Dishwater Alliance so that they'll hold his hand. But, his encroachment into LowSec comes at a cost: I told him to go read my blog if he wants to get an idea of what he'll have to deal with if he doesn't play nice. When our voice chat was over, he messaged me on Discord: He wanted the link to my blog so he could go over it again. I haven't heard from him since. He must be thinking deeply about it.
Or maybe his hands are just tied in "particular" and "nuanced" political positioning.
Either way.
I'm watching.
And I'm the salt that will be left on the fields.
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