Intergalactic Summit

This oath, does it state you'll willingly take up arms as part of an invading fleet against allies of the Republic?

Does it state you'll break the Yulai convention willingly over a dispute to which you have no legal standing?

Does it state you'll blindly start firing just because others did so first?


See, if this was a Federal fleet in Republic space I'd completely understand your oath. You'd be defending the Republic from a hostile invader. You assisted an invading fleet against your own allies, what kind of bullshit oath is that Elsebeth?

Your oath swore you to defend the Republic.

In what twisted universe do you live in where defending the Republic means "Invading and assaulting it's allies."?

Or are the Republic and the Federation suddenly at war, or was this really a time of emergency? Because if you call this a time of emergency then your oath is practically meaningless to allow such an open ended interpretation to be used on a whim.


Nothing in that oath supports what you did yesterday, I thought your principles to be better than this Elsebeth. I held a lot of respect for you, that despite disagreements you were a person with integrity regarding doing the right thing when push came to shove.

Clearly I was wrong.

I understand your position. Once in the Navy and under superior command, one must follow through with what comes. That is the duty of the soldier.

That said, if you expressely mentioned you didn't want to wage war, there were other paths: a fleet of logistic support ships, for example. Not that it would keep the stains off your hands once combat started, but at least they would be less. And you should have been aware, since the beggining, that a fleet of military vessels entering Gallente sovereign space would end in bloodshed, so you chose to proceed and join the fleet knowing such was the probable fate it would face. And do note that your oath says:



You are at war with us, not with the Federation. Thus, for that operation, those were not times of war. You should have fallen to civil service. So, I'm afraid you, and those who followed you, are guilty of agression with knowledge. You had the chance to choose, not to follow orders or not (which, obviously, is no choice, once in the command structure you stay in the command structure), but to join or not a fleet that is going to start a combat, possibly ignite conflicts that can even lead up to a potential war. You chose to join such a fleet, and I suppose you probably followed the Republic Navy with the best fits for combat you had.

Thus, you are guilty: you knew you were going into combat, and you proceeded. You knew you were going to attack the Federation, and you proceeded. Your oath doesn't justify it. I understand loyalty to your faction, I do, but this is the only justification you have left. And yours is a faction known for starting wars and conflicts.

And if I'm replying to captain Rhiannon's post is only because she's clearer on the subject. All the rest are as guilty. You all carry now a burden for which there is no solution, no absolution, no making up for.

I'm not arguing you are wrong. I would have done the same had it been an Amarr Navy action instead of a Minmatarr one. Just saying that "following orders" only comes after joining a fleet, the guilt comes from joining that fleet.

Huh ? What kind of logic is that ?

With allies like these, who needs the Squid.

Does anyone really believe that acts like this one are going to convince the Federation to extradite one of their own citizens, a citizen who deserves a fair trial rather than a lynch mob, to a bunch of (apparently) raving lunatics? To people whose blind rage and blood-thirst drives them to kill tens of thousands of allied soldiers simply because they cannot wait for justice?

I can only hope that my government realizes that these were the actions of a bunch of cowards that do not represent the Minmatar people. Neither side can afford a war, not with the other empires just waiting for a chance to hop in, not in the name of somebody who would not ever have wanted this and most certainly not over an incident that would most likely have long been settled had it not been for the constant threats and harassments by your leaders.

Graceful as ever, Else.

But it might be wise for all of the pilots of the Electus and others loyal to the Tribes to slow down somewhat on how strongly you disagree with orders that came, as you were told, "from the top."
It is fair to disagree with those orders based on how much information you have presently, but it should go without saying that that you may not have as much information as those at the top.
You are presently feeling wrong about opening fire on those you presently consider to be allies, but it might just be that a time will come in the future that you will realize that a higher commander with a broader set of intel knew exactly what they were doing when they gave those orders.
There are better uses for your energy than public disagreement with the decisions of the Sanmatar. It is only in the last 90 days that the first Tribal Council in a thousand years met, and a reaffirmation of Tribal Unity was made. Our government is newly reborn, and yet you are quick to stand against their decisions, rather than behind them.
I'm certainly no proponent of blind institutional faith, and I would never suggest that anyone should be. You know well my opinions of the RSS and their methods, for example...but I do think there is room to let things unfold somewhat before jumping to conclusions.
For the sake of Tribal strength I'd hope to see at least a sliver of the benefit of a doubt.

On a lighter note...I don't suppose you'd put in a good word for me regarding who I'd need to bribe to get a cyno jammer offlined for a moment or two, would you? Some very useful friends you made during this fleet if they've got that capability. Maybe we could do something similar in hostile space sometime, with shiny golden targets? I'm pretty sure I could arrange for a capital fleet that would get somewhat more decisive results...

What manners...

Love you, mean it, and I'll be here when our people really need me, so keep in touch.

The time for pragmatism to outweigh idealism may be closer than we think.

Thousand-Eyes Grideris? That's a new one. Curious how that one came about.

The fleet's original orders and intention was to force both fleets to a standstill using electronic warfare. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option with Dreadnoughts on the field. And yes, they did get pointed at the Republic fleet because let's be honest; it's Federation space they were in. Had it been the other way around with the Federation invading Republic space, we would have been firing upon the Moroses instead.

I know it's been a while since you've flown under a Republic or Electus banner, but I'll remind you that our rich tradition of pointless bickering underpins everything we stand for. But maybe you prefer an environment of more unquestioned authority. I hear Heth is looking for some friends these days.




"Our"? Cute.