Tzuki
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Posted - 2005.10.17 21:43:00 -
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Edited by: Tzuki on 17/10/2005 22:46:54 The dates 15th and 16th October 2005 will surely go down in the annals of Eve history, for these are the dates that The Five have finally quit Cache space, defeated by a war that they had no ability or inclination to fight; A POS war.
Over the weekend billions of tonnes of equipment and ships have poured through the choke point of Konora and into empire space; their final destination unknown. Hypothesis as to their final destination range from being purely empire bound to reacquainting themselves with the old Curse Alliance capital, HLW. Sources close to the upper echelons of The Five governing council however suggest that the notion of a base is irrelevant and that The Five, now unfettered by any claims to sovereign territory are free to roam and kill where they will.
Many have seen this evacuation from Cache as a humiliating and crushing defeat and whilst most Five members are probably reticent to agree, defeated they surely are; but beaten? Probably not.
There is a great deal of frustration within Five society. One particular member of the five alliance who holds no official badge of office had this to offer, ôWe have been frustrated by an enemy exercising itÆs skill at sneaking in structures that artificially claim territory, we have been frustrated by an enemy who ultimately lacked presence in the territory they claim as their own.ö
Whether this over simplistic analysis is valid or not, it is telling that the massive removal of equipment from the Cache region could only be achieved by a force who has true control of the space in which they fly. During the exodus, it is estimated that 6 freighters and 3 dreadnoughts were moved to empire and back to the contested region during 3 separate sorties during this busy two day period. Furthermore, in excess of 200 hauler trips were made, countless battleships were relocated and the volume of cruiser and frigate flights has been without comparison and it begs the question whether the current criteria for space sovereignty is fundamentally flawed.
However the evacuation, did meet with potential disaster when a reported 70+ fleet of Phoenix Alliance and Forsaken Empire corporations looking for targets of opportunity - in an alliance they considered beaten - chanced along the same route as a multi-billion ISK convoy. However, despite such a large task force, the opportunistic coalition of alliances passed straight over the operation to move three freighters and 20 haulers of equipment toward Konora.
A pilot who was involved in the massive logistical operation to move the logistical force into empire reflected on Saturday nights events, ô Aww, man! We had like three freighters full of stuff and then we hear from forward scouts that a 70+ fleet of PA and FE were headed our way. Well, we thought the game was up! We moved the freighters to a mid warp safe spot and we formed our escorting fleet up around them. Sure enough PA/FE jump in and theyÆre like in the system for what seems forever. We was sure that the accompanying Covert ops for the enemy had seen us and were tracking us down. We kept scanning, looking for tell-tale probe signatures but none were seen. And then we see them appear on our Overview HUD as they passed over us in warp and then they went! Out of system. DidnÆt come back, didnÆt hang around, nothing. Let me tell you, if it had been us, we wouldnÆt have given up until all the enemies transports were lying at the heart of debris fields!ö
So what next for The Five, since their removal from Cache, three separate war declarations have been approved. Three alliances are now preparing to 'finish off' this apparently dead alliance. ItÆs interesting to note however, RA arenÆt one of them.
Wiley opponents of The Five, RA have done a superb job in playing to the mechanics of sovereignty, but these wiley opponents must know that the Five are far from deathÆs door and to get themselves into a war of fleet would be to counteract all that they have achieved. |