(Disclaimer: The author of this piece is a member of Phoebe Freeport Republic [PFR])
At the break of dawn on Tuesday the 18th, Rebel Alliance of New Eden [RANE] lost sovereignty over the system of LP1M-Q and it’s associated Caldari station. Phoebe Freeport Republic [PFR] were the assailants and this conquering comes after a series of attacks on [RANE] space which has left 5 additional systems targeted. [PFR] have been looking to open up a 2nd freeport since Christmas when they secured their control over freeport 1 dubbed ‘4-C0EL0M8 4 LYFE’ (a reference to the organisation’s founder; Coelomate) however the politics of the area prevented them from doing so until now. In response to the Hel killed by Red Alliance, Gorgon Empire cancelled their NIP with Red Alliance/Dream Fleet which left Gorgon Empire’s assets in Wicked Creek open to attack by DRFRA. Combine this with the fact that Gorgon Empire have begun to focus their attention on defending Legion of xXDEATHXx sov in Insmother and the upcoming June Sov Changes meant that [PFR] had an opportunity to strike, an opportunity they seized upon.
PFR initially expected minimal, if any, resistance from The Gorgon Empire however after the first set of timers came out in 3 station systems, The Gorgon Empire managed to save 2 of them by utilising their Supercapital/Ishtar superiority. EN24 had a sit down with EU MilDir Vampire Huunuras to discuss [PFR]’s intentions, doings and reasonings.
EN24 > Could you walk me through PFR’s process of capturing LP1M-Q
vampire_huunuras > So right after we found out the non-invasion-pact in Wicked Creek had been broken we decided that we needed a second freeport, which was long overdue. We started by picking the systems that we thought would make the best freeports, we chose a few and dropped SBUs on them in short order. We reinforced LP1M-Q in EU timezone later that night with no resistance. When the shield timer ended a few days later, US timezone hit it, with our usual kitchen sink group of bombers, catalysts and the newbros in frigs. We weree harassed by Liberti Fidelis bombers who managed to get a few kills that night. No-one raised a large gang to come and fight us so we went and bashed it.
EN24 > Could you further expand upon the NIP in WC and how/when/why it was removed?
vampire_huunuras > The Wicked Creak NIP prevented anyone from taking Sov in that region, I cannot expand on how it was broken as that part never interested me. As interesting as politics is I spend my time shooting internet spaceships and telling others to shoot them.
EN24 > Do PFR have plans on forcefully freeporting more stations in the region?
vampire_huunuras > PFR love content and we love shooting people. Forcefully taking stations is probably not the correct phrase, as we did in Scalding pass PFR takes a system that is not used by lots of people and makes it into a nullsec gas station where anyone can stock up on market items and more often than not get a fight from us. With the stations in Wicked Creek, those systems are rarely used. Time and time again do we pass through and either find people docked all day or the systems empty. The owners of the system have plenty more they can pick from in the region and they own more than they need. So PFR took this station to allow others to enjoy the benefits of the system and the area. We hope to let more people flock to the area so we can have more fun fights and have less bare systems.
EN24 > Are you not targeting systems already freeported?
vampire_huunuras > If PFR went around taking freeports then that would be rather counter-productive. We want more people to come to nullsec who wouldn’t normally be here. PFR is made up of people from all over eve; from highsec to lowsec to wormhole dwellers. We play eve to have fun we don’t play for any other reason but PFR has a purpose, which is to freeport nullsec, if we start taking already freeported systems then that’s not right.
EN24 > Why is Phoebe Freeport Republic warring RANE?
vampire_huunuras > PFR wants those stations and so we are taking those stations, all other aggressive action against RANE in terms of gangs and blops is all in the hopes to find good content and have fun in EVE. We are not specifically targeting RANE in these areas either, if someone presents us with a target we will hit it. PFR is not attacking RANE for any other reason than we are going after some stations and RANE happen to own these stations. We don’t hate RANE nor do we want to see them die, we want them to improve and we want to get good fights from them.
LP1M-Q is likely to be the first of many systems [RANE] will lose over the coming week as it’s allies in BLUE Alliance and The Pestilent Legion are uninterested in helping defend [RANE] space while Detorid residents Almost Awesome. and Diplomatic Immunity. begin attacking [RANE] sovereignty and stations in the south of Wicked Creek. With Gorgon Empire already occupied with defending it’s moon holdings in Curse and it’s recent souring of relations with DRFRA, one has to wonder for how much longer will The Gorgon Empire bleed to protect [RANE] stations/systems from Phoebe Freeport Republic, Diplomatic Immunity and Almost Awesome.
