Those of you who keep an eye on the coming and going of alliances will have noticed the recent formation of the Southern Federation (STFU.) shortly after the disbanding of Darkness of Despair (-DD-). I approached STFU with a view to getting the low down on where they currently were at what they had planned for the future. I was slightly surprised by the response I got. A lot has happened down south recently and there has been a great deal of strife and the liberal use of strong words such as ‘traitor’. Consequently, I anticipated that the response from STFU would be something that resembled a war manifesto or pre-takedown mafia speech. This could not have been further from the truth.
At the time of writing STFU are composed of 14 corps (plus one holding corp) who for the most part are all ex -DD-. Following the collapse of –DD- they transferred over to Hand of Despair (.HD.), the –DD- renter alliance, gaining the opportunity to get themselves and their assets in order. For some, the politics and uncertainty had reached a point where they felt they needed to move on. It is here that we saw the creation of ‘The Afterlife’ (D3ATH) who have moved themselves over to Curse to start out afresh, leaving a lot of the formal allies they once had behind. At roughly the same time STFU came into being and many of the corporations left in Hand of Despair found themselves in either D3ATH or STFU. Although there is not love lost between the two new alliances on the battlefield, STFU still speak fondly of their former brothers.
STFU though born of the same ashes, have a very different outlook. They have chosen to keep and perhaps even strengthen the ties they once had. Returning to the home systems of Stain to regroup they talk not of revenge, or lashing out, but of a deep bond to those they fly with. To them it’s about keeping the ethos going of what they feel Stainwagon is all about. They talked about a non-local trash talking, non-elitist style of flying that kept the fun in what they were doing whilst also making them a formidable force to be reckoned with. Perhaps this is the crux of why despite often having overwhelming forces against it, the wagon keeps rolling back. Maybe by focusing on the intangible collective conscience of the coalition they create something no other coalition can take from them. It’s almost Braveheart-esque, you can take our sov, but you will never take our wagon!
I am not sure how they will fair in the future, but as has been proven in the past the Stainwagon is not going to roll over quickly. Many speculated the demise of –DD- and ‘betrayal’ of Darkness marked the death knell of Stainwagon, but I am not so certain, they definitely appear to be sticking around for the foreseeable future and I think it will take far more than a Sov war to break them.
Cheers
– Nishan
