Life in Solitude: The-Express

 The-Express Ticket to My Killboard

Solar Winds is engaged in a war on two fronts. From the north, <DUMPY> is encroaching upon The Crown, mining first in Eggheron, and then attempting to expand into Toustain and Ondree (we shut that down pretty quickly). From the south, another group - The-Expanse aka The-Express - have also decided it would be a good idea to set up structures in the area and steal the Rare Border anomalies from legal citizens of Mobrault.

It never ceases to amaze me how this "game" always follows the same predictable sequence of steps. It hardly ever varies. In fact, I cannot remember it ever unfolding differently. There are four "stages", or "turns". They are similar to the Stages of Grief. It's always fascinating to watch it unfold in real time, virtually invariate from group to group, player to player.

Turn One - Denial: During the first turn, I notice the presence of a group that is not set blue, and that has not reached out regarding liscensing and permissioning. My first step is to attempt diplomatic contact, reaching out to them and explaining that Mobrault, endearingly referred to by all as The Crown of Solitude, is the soveriegn holding of Solar Winds, and that if they wish to operate in the area, they must apply for and be granted +5 blue standings.

Generally speaking, we do not charge money. We are not extortionists. What we're basically looking for is an acceptance of the terms we outline. In accepting said terms, the entities in question both acknowledge Solar Winds' hold over The Crown, and also provide a tributary service to Solar Winds, usually in the form of docking rights in structures, free hauling of select imports, or selling ore to us at a reduced price.

During the first turn, the offending entities usually respond in 1 of 2 ways: They either laugh and troll in Local chat, asserting that no one can "claim" HiSec space, or they completely ignore us. Either way, the result is the same.

The owner of this Athanor, an Express associate, decided to ignore us. The result was predictable:

Members of The-Express continued to ignore attempted diplomatic contacts. They had two Athanors in Eggheron, and denied our requisition for docking access.

When told to stay out of the Empire Border anomalies, this pilot - another Express asssiate - decided to ignore us as well:

He had already been informed of the situation once before, and ignored us:

Some people are slow learners.

Turn Two - Refusal: During this phase of relations, the offending parties have accepted Solar Winds ownership of The Crown as a concept, but will not acknowledge it as reality. They may continue to ignore us, or they may actively smack talk in Local while attempting to continue their illicit operations. They may even formulate "plans" to "deal with us".

So they're going to "get rid of us". From our own sovereign space? Not happening.

In response, we decided to turn up the heat a bit. We decided to take a trip to The-Express' space and pay them a little visit. We decided, since they want open borders, we'd enter their territory and share our culture with them.

Spoiler: We shot him again.

We promised to continue sharing our culture with them in their own backyard, unless they decided to leave The Crown. Now we had their attention, and we moved on to the next step in the process.

Turn Three - Resistance: Note: Sometimes our enemies skip this part, and move directly to a resolution. That is always a favorable outcome, however, more boring than resistance.

During the resistance phase our enemies have acknowledged not only our ownership of The Crown, but our capability in enforcing the rule of law within the constellation. They are not happy with the situation, and actively resist our authority. They may form mining fleets of considerable size and boast in Local about how much ISK they're making with their mining fleet, or may attempt to interfere with the legal mining operations of naturalized Mobrault citizens. They often believe they're "one upping" or "getting at us" by doing this, however, what they never realize - until too late - is that by resisting, they are implicitly acknowledging our claim as legitimate. At this point, it's only a matter of time before resolution is reached.

They are also giving us exactly what we want: content.

The-Express decided to resist by setting up a mining operation, purposefully, to "antagonize" us. It went predictably:

Maackey thought "boy, I bet they can't do that over and over. I bet if I just undock another Retriever, they'll give up." Except that's not how this works. After his second barge died, the fleet switched over to Ventures and began to brag about the "force" they were able to field against us.

Special thanks to Bud wiezer for this gem:

The smacktalk continued for some time, with The-Express getting more and more unhinged:

Turn Four - Resolution: The entire sequence of events always ends in one outcome: capitulation. Capitulation takes two forms: accepting our rule over The Crown and abiding by the laws in place, or extrication from The Crown (which is itself an acceptance that we own The Crown and can enforce our rule with impunity).

Sometimes reaching a resolution can take some time. Cryin' Andie took a few months. Other times it's very quick. In this case, it only took a week:

The-Express is leaving The Crown, and have in effect already done so: they never send miners here anymore. So far all we've seen are a few combat ships doing... nothing.

The-Express are pretty mad. And understandably so: they have to tear down or sell their structures in The Crown. One structure in particular will be rather painful for them to remove. No one wants to buy it, and understandably. Who uses Tech2 rigs in HiSec??

No one wants to buy their shitty Tech2 rigged Athanor on a R4 moon in HiSec. The best offer they got was a couple of bil. The structure is worth 5bil+.

But it's gonna take them a while to get rid of the structure, assuming it's even alive  a week from this posting, because LOL:

Stay tuned for the next installing: The-Express Tear Jar

Life in Solitude: Cockroach Infestation

 Installment One

The Crown is no place for dumpster bugs.

When last we met - over a year ago now - I was taking a bit of a vacation from Solitude, zipping around the Tash-Murkon/Domain area of Amarr space. Solitude had just gotten a bit boring. I had no enemies left: <STFU> was gone. Cryin' Andy realized that if he stayed in The Crown, his corp would eventually die under the pressure of my constant, watchful eyes and piles of Catalysts - so he moved [QUOKA] out. Sadrick miscalculated in a major way, turning everyone in Solitude against <GSC>/N.E.S.T. and causing the complete destruction of the organization (the remnants hang around Boystin and some have joined a new group called The-Expanse - more on them in a later installment). Martin Twotongues overplayed his hand and was promptly removed from the region, and his organization eventually closed. He's now a line member of the Science and Trade Institute, where he has been employed for the past 9 months. After 10 years of trying to build his organization up, he is no more. Solitude really is the place where alliances go to die...

No one was left. The Crown was peaceful, filled with the daily hustle and bustle of blues. As time went on, The Crown came alive again with the activity of friendly faces and people going about their peaceful, daily lives. It was idyllic. We had occasional problems from Intergalactic Space Hobos <.BUMS>, henceforth known as <DUMPY>, and Dishwater Alliance. But for the most part it was quiet and therefore boring. Alas, a vacation to Amarr space proved ineffective in curing my EVE doldrums so I took a break from the game.

I returned to the game in the midst of a move op. While I was away, Solitude had largely been glassed. Nothing was left, not even the Fortizar in Anckee. That Fortizar, one of the oldest in the game, was gone. The people attacking had no respect for the history of Solitude, because they are just trashy, low class people.

I never expected <WHBOO> to remain in Solitude forever. I had arranged for them to fill the power vacuum left by <STFU> and exploit the region in order to rebuild and grow after their recent spats of tough luck. And after a bit of a bumpy start, rebuild and grow they have. My work was done. <WHBOO>'s recent eviction from Solitude was just the spark they needed to spring them from the stagnation they were starting to be lulled into. I still retain my membership and will fly with them as much as possible, but for now I am content to remain in The Crown and enforce my dominion over the constellation.

March of the <DUMPY> Cockroaches

Nature abhors a vacuum, and so it came as no surprise that vultures would begin descending upon Solitude to take advantage of the new void left. And as far as I'm concerned, that's okay. I retired from the geopolitical game long ago, and am no longer interested in the quibbling and squabbling of the folks who live south of Ratillose. The Crown is my home, and that is where I shall stay.

I logged in one day, and noticed a new blue chevron in Eggheron. Actually, there were a few new blue chevrons. Now, normally this isn't a huge problem. Every so often someone anchors an Athanor in The Crown, and begins extraction. When this happens I just mine it. And why not? It's mine anyway. In the past I would have ganked them, but these days I just take the ore. Sometimes the owners bug me for taxes, and I have to explain to them that I own The Crown and will mine whatever I want, and if anything I should be charging them taxes. If they don't like it, they can take down their Athanor and move somewhere else. Sometimes they do, but other times they get mouthy and have to be set straight with some Void S. Either way is fine with me.

But you see, this Athanor was different. This was a <DUMPY> Athanor. And you see, <DUMPY> is not welcome. They had already tried to place an Athanor in Straloin, but <WHBOO> blew it up. I told them they wouldn't be able to mine it, and they laughed at me, and then it exploded. Now they were trying again, in Eggheron, thinking they were safe in HiSec.

They thought wrong. They will never be set blue to Solar Winds or any of it's associated entities, and they will never be allowed to operate peacefully in The Crown. Or any other part of Solitude in which I find them.

I reached out to them in Local to explain the situation, and was met with the usual dismissive and trolly comments. So naturally when they started mining, I did my thing and ate some content cookies:

Usually this is enough to open diplomatic discussion or gain a quick capitulation. But cockroaches are stubborn. The usual banter followed in Local. Y'know the old story, "bla bla bla. bla bla bla bla bla. bla bla. :reversepsychology: etcetc bla bla bla".

Clearly this is like, 1-2 guys on alts:

(I have since found an additional moon in LowSec and added it to my checklist.)

Indie Rockwell is gonna come bully me! OOooOoOooO scary!!!!

Just the usual chestbeating posturing when getting rekt in HiSec. We've been here before folks; it's a story as old as time, and nothing ever changes. The story always unfolds the same way. First they act like it's no big deal, and try reverse psychology, then they try to beat the gank, and then they get mad and nerdrage all over chat.

It's understandable. In those sorts of situations, people like to talk. It makes them feel better about things. Y'know, they get in their feelings and need to let it out. Sometimes they let it out with insults. Sometimes, it's idle threats. It's a way of retaining some semblance of power and agency. I understand, and so I don't take it personally.

After braying in Local for a bit, <DUMPY> decided to upgrade to Procurers, thinking they would be safe. Let's see how that worked out for them?

Not too good. You see, Procurers, even fully tanked, are actually not invincible. And while many gankers would pass up a Procurer due to the higher cost of ganking them, I do not. Because it's not about the money.

It's about sending a message.

And that message is this: You're not welcome, and we will attack and grief you on a daily basis until you leave. There will be no negotiation. Message sent.

Some more chestbeating in Local followed after the message was received:

Okay, bring more Procurers. They will just die again.

And some more:

This "Indie Rockwell" guy sure is mad. Seethingly mad. People who take honorabru space Bushido seriously tend to be somewhat... emotionally fragile... when they feel people aren't playing the game by their rules.

But I don't play the game by anyone's rules.

They play the game by mine. And here's the proof:

How did more tank work out? Well...

It didn't.

Duh.

I was on my way back to gank the second Procurer that was mining next to Kerzzit, when I saw the most beautiful site.

That looks like the start of an old joke. How many <DUMPY> cockroaches does it take to run two mining lasers? Well in this case the answer is 4, because they are so, so scared of the guy who apparently isn't scary at all:

I was setting up for the gank, curious to see if it would work, but as soon as my Catalysts entered system, the fleet promptly warped to their Athanor and docked up. They were "going to bed", but stayed around for another 20 minutes before logging.

And so ends installment one of the <DUMPY> series. Hopefully these clowns hang around for a while. It's been so dreadfully boring, and their intransigence is stimulating. I love breaking my enemies, and the longer it takes the more satisfying it is.

Until next time. (We may just see the return of an old friend who may be hiding in the shadows of Solitude).