Space Monkey Protectorate (not to be confused with the Imperium member corporation SpaceMonkey’s Alliance) were a medium sized alliance (460 at the time of disbanding) based in Scalding Pass. They were one of many groups that have recently begun occupying nullsec in the wake of the Phoebe changes and the overall decay of N3. Space Monkey Protectorate had recently gained a station (and built one) after occupying a dozen systems for several months but living out of a neutral station (HJ-BCH had been owned by Gorgon Empire), they quickly found themselves descending into the sort of drama most nullsec alliances face, especially alliances new to holding sov. However, this drama was not properly managed and it continued to build up until in the twilight hours of the 6th of June, a palace coup took place.
Space Monkey Protectorate [SMP] had been experiencing leadership issues for several weeks in the run up to the events of the 6th. Sensing growing issues, the CEO (Amely Miles) offered to step down from power a few weeks back. However, the rest of the leadership in SMP had voiced their will for him to remain CEO. The issues began to step up in severity after an unsuccessful sov/station transfer between The Gorgon Empire and Space Monkey Protectorate on the 27th of May. This saw Pandemic Legion claim the HJ-BCH station and hold it to ransom for the sum of 15 billion isk. SMP decided to pay such an exorbitant cost as they had a Minmatar station egg trapped inside the station; a station egg that would later become Y5-E1U ‘Monkey City’. This event put strain on an already shaky leadership structure and the problem was exacerbated by the fact that Amely Miles was operating under a heavy delegation style of leadership which in some cases can work very well. In this particular case, however, it did not work so well as according to Mrbluto (one of the leaders of the coup) the members of leadership did not work in tandem which led to the alliance being simultaneously dragged in multiple directions.
Fed up with Amely Miles’ style of leadership, Mrbluto and Reaper Naskingar (amongst others) set in motion plans for a palace coup to remove Amely from power. The plan was confirmed on the 3rd of June and everyone prepared for what would be a turbulent weekend. Aside from doubts in Amely’s leadership, another reason for the coup was an alleged imminent invasion of SMP space by Test Alliance Please Ignore [TEST]. Amely claims certain members of SMP’s leadership had struck a backroom deal with TEST where the sov would be transferred to TEST along with some SMP corps. However, these claims could not be verified. On the evening of the 5th, Amely logged off and headed to bed & the plotters struck. Quickly seizing control of the alliance’s POSes, the schemers proceeded to send out a corp mail to Exiled Tech (the main corporation in SMP) of what was about to occur. By a stroke of coincidence, Amely Miles had been unable to get to sleep and so logged on to check his mails, he quickly discovered the coup plans and was dragged into a conversation with the renegades. Initially, Amely agreed to hand over control of Exiled Tech to the plotters. He quickly changed his mind, though. Amely left the conversation, kicked all corporations from the alliance (bar his own 1 man alt corp) and seized Exiled Tech’s assets for himself. Amely claims to have seized 55b isk of goods and a further 80b in BPOs from the various hangers. Evidence of these claims has yet to be offered. An My and All Area scrambled to create a new alliance and re-secure their holdings, they named this alliance Webed and Scrammed and so far they have been able to reclaim most of the systems SMP previously held. However, fellow Scalding Pass resident Solyaris Chtonium has so far seized a pair of systems that were previously held by SMP.
SMP were a part of the Bellatorum Coalition (consisting of DKE, SNOVA, SMP, SINS, IGE and DEX.) The new alliance (SCRAM) has yet to be fully accepted by the coalition. Ruune en Gravonere (CEO of SNOVA) expressed her concerns over the nature of the formation of the new alliance, but said she would withhold judgment until after the weekend when things become clearer. It is yet to be seen how the new alliance of SCRAM (An My + All Area + remnants of Exiled Tech) will fare. If history is any guide, an alliance born out of drama is in for a rough time.
Thanks to Amely Miles, Mrbluto and Ruune en Gravonere for their help in the making of this article.
