Intergalactic Summit

It is no secret. It is no shock. But it is terminal and for that the Admiralty should be thanked. PIE is dead, Amarrs infamous are no more.

Having been privileged to attend and graduate from the Republic Military School I quickly encountered infamous members of PIE as they made sure that we heard their words, broadcasting within our home systems. These preachers made circuits in Minmatar home-space, sometimes in the presence of a vast Golden Fleet, sometimes with a smaller force and sometimes solo, daring any Minmatar loyalists to engage them in combat, which more than often went in their favor, them having years of experience on those of us that frequented the home planets. We feared them and hated them and to us the goal was to strike them down.

Shortly after graduation my zeal overcame good sense. My journey to strike back at the Amarr turned out to be misguided as I ventured into the stronghold of Amarrian expansionism in Providence. There I came under repeated fire from forces fighting for control of the region and so for nearly 6 years I have had to serve the masters of the QR-K85 station, a mixed bunch of madmen and slave-holders.

My time there however has convinced me of the death of an old foe. PIE is no more a force, PIE is not feared in the home worlds, PIE is in fact not known anymore in the home worlds. Once a force of Amarr it is now an echo in time and space.

For over 5 years my ears have been open and my mind keen. Former PIE members have spoken with their comrades while I pour them wine and fetch them dancers. Some of the old names we feared are found here in Providence but no longer under the banner of PIE.

The reasons for the demise of PIE, the death of PIE, seem simple after what I have heard these past 5 years which mark the death-throes of PIE.

Its admiralty is a gathering of old men, sitting on sofas and wondering where it all went wrong. The clue is beneath them, the admirals, commodores and captains of old lead the charge, fought in the biggest ships at the front of battle. Today’s admiralty has not been seen on the battlefield for years, save a fleeting whisper of a ghost that would like to haunt its former grounds but can't really be bothered.

Their legendary warriors are no longer scouring space. Their preachers have gone quiet.

The gargling sound that comes from the husk of PIE highlights their one legacy that remains of the past, stubbornness. A few months ago a Vice-Admiral doing business here vacated his quarters carelessly, leaving meeting notes of a then weeks old meeting in the refuge bin. In it the admiralty lambasted their shortage of active pilots and expressed fear that the possible leaving of their then most active combat member would mean they could just as well wrap it up. Never get up from the sofa but turn to the industrial side fully; the only thing that still makes PIE tick and the only thing that makes the Admiralty even care about it, a steady income is always welcome.

The Gold Ceiling, one former member said, was the mark of decay. The Admiralty remains unchanged for years, unlike in the past when for each commander that retired from battle a new one replaced him, someone that smelled of laser fire and saw numerous battles each week. These last years any pilot that would have made the Admiralty in the old days has hit the ceiling, forced to receive sporadic orders from distant superiors who vacated the battle field years earlier.

It were not our weapons, the force or the will of the Matari that killed PIE. It was their bureaucracy, their weak minds floated to the top as their heroes of old moved to conquer new space for the Empire. The pen and not the sword killed PIE, making it into the ghost we hardly hear whispered about.

Long may it remain dead.

This kind of analysis would have a lot more sting coming from a pilot with PIE in their actual employment history you know.

I almost shed a single tear, then I saw that PIE Inc. is not formally closed. This appears to be the rantings of a college kid with zero credibility. Six years in the RMS? Studying for your doctorate in Hoarder-mining?

As someone who is currently trying to gain entry to PIE Inc, I can assure you that the corporation is not dead.

It is a common statement regarding the Empire as well, of late. A statement that is equally false.

I had heard other wise from Satelles Girls INC, providers of the finest female escorts in the cluster, but i digress. Long live PIE, may your ships burn well, after all its cold in space and how will we minmatar warm the void if you were ever to leave?

As opposed to Amarrians and their alter boys?

Hmm, I don't seem to have received my decommission papers yet...

Perhaps like most things Matari, your announcement is premature, Mr Brunna?

PIE Inc. dead? Not likely. Whilst others have come and gone over the last 9 years, these guys have lived on, doing what they do best - serving the Empire.

Just because you don't see it doesn't mean its not happening.

Here's to another 9years of PIE 'keeping the bastards honest'.

Obviously those are not your own words (read lies), but the words of someone who wants to remain anonymous, which makes it even more pointless.