EVE PANDORA | News Article: Bleak Lands nexus of mounting Minmatar/Amarr tensions

Bleak Lands nexus of mounting Minmatar/Amarr tensions

New Eden News - Fri, 12 Jan 2007 - 00:00

Over the course of the past month and a half, The Bleak Lands region of the Amarr Empire has played reluctant host to a large number of Matari insurgent attacks, steadily escalating in frequency and intensity.

One attack, in particular, is seen as the flashpoint for the diplomatic tensions that have resulted from the area's conflicts. On December 17, in the Sosala system, a mixed fleet of Matari capsuleers attacked and destroyed an Amarrian battlestation due to undergo redeployment out of the Bleak Lands into Throne Worlds territories.

Simultaneously, in an effort to confuse and delay potential reinforcements from the Amarr Navy, rebel groups elsewhere made similarly successful raids against several smaller Amarr-controlled sites.

The attack, widely believed to have been orchestrated by Matari splinter group The Defiants (with support from rebel capsuleer organizations Ushra'Khan and Fimbulwinter) came as a complete surprise to on-site Empire forces, most of which were killed in the ensuing fracas. The battlestation in question is the first Amarrian battlestation to be destroyed by Matari forces since the days of the rebellion.

The rebels' ability to pinpoint the battlestation's location and the precise execution of their attack have prompted questions about the effectiveness of the security measures taken by the Empire in its outer regions. Imperial Chamberlain Dokuta Karsoth's command of the Amarr Navy has also come into question. A number of reports, from both within and without the Navy's infrastructure, have indicated that the Chamberlain's decrees and directives are variously treated with apathy, scorn and outright defiance.

The Chamberlain's office has not commented on these claims, but has stated on a number of occasions that it is in the Empire's best interest to keep its tactical resources in locations where they can do the most good, and that the Bleak Lands "are not a top priority at the moment." Nevertheless, Bleak Lands regional commander Quibih Jafi of the Amarr Navy was dismissed from his post in November and demoted to the rank of Corporal, following what authorities termed "a woeful neglect of duty and responsibility."

A number of analysts believe that the intervention of capsuleer forces is one of the primary reasons why the Bleak Lands are not worse off than they are today. Most often cited are the efforts of loyalist organizations CVA, Vigilia Valeria and PIE. "Were it not for these pilots," said a January 7th lead article in the Hedion Review, "the region would be far more destabilized than it is. The Empire owes them its thanks."

The situation in the Bleak Lands has led to escalating diplomatic tension between the Minmatar Republic and the Amarr Empire. Over the past two weeks, the Chancellor's Office has on a number of occasions overtly and covertly stated its belief that the Defiants are in league with - and taking orders from - the Republic Fleet, a claim that Fleet officials consistently dismiss as "ludicrous." Republic Fleet spokesman Raurvest Arrum, in a statement last week, said that "if [the Republic Fleet] had any inclination to attack Empire assets at this point in time, it would certainly not be trying to achieve its aims through repeatedly disavowed splinter groups."