For part three Da Winci offered to share his thoughts on the milestone moments that actually made up Co2’s mind to leave their coalition.
Da Winci: The moment Sara Rea left CD our relationship with goons went sour. That is like 2 years ago, possibly even longer ago. At every twist and turn we, specially I because I did the politics, felt played by CD and Sion in particular. Even then we would be among the best and most reliable pvp asset the coalition had yet in compensation always fell short. Every other alliance had more moons per capita and not in balance with their contribution to any war effort. Sov was basically the same story. A lot of small incidents come to mind but that’s too much in depth. It became blatantly offensive when goon directors started openly working against Co2. When we pushed the issue to the top with Sion or when a red Corp was recruited by TNT in November of 2015 Sion bluntly told us to fall in line or risk being kicked. That did it for us. Since that moment I worked to get alliance ready to stand on our own feet. And not only me but all of our leadership was on board. I can claim that I called that the time around fanfest was the time to act. So we made sure we had our own services, doctrines… And started to go into lowsec to fight and prove ourselves gaining respect and more numbers. At the same time MBC started to emerge independently from our path. We talked to OOS to secure our venal income and around the same time to you and suas. MC came into the picture later on when they actually were assigned Tribute and I was fully aware that I had to stall all of the entities until the time was right and we were ready. You know the “when it suits us” quote well enough. (*This was a reoccurring comment made by Da Winci when him and I spoke regarding Co2’s defection.) And at the same time I tried to get Lawn and Bastion in our side. A united Vale/Tribute wouldn’t even need to fear MBC. Neutral to Goons it would have had an even bigger impact. Alas, when that famous dinner took place that wasn’t an option anymore. (*Dinner meaning the meeting Mittani had with Thoric and Carneros.) And that totally by accident coincided with the m-o defense. So you see, nobody orchestrated the supreme moment… it just fell into place. It worked because on both sides there were people with a brain and vision to make it happen. That had some foresight and trust. But really, nobody can claim to have been pulling all the strings. Goons dug their own grave. I just made sure we had other options. Sure it takes months of talking and actual preparations. But as far as turning Co2 goes… Goons in fact did most of the “work” by being themselves. And I said “fuck this shit we’re out” after my last conversation with mittens. Never saw a coalition leader that disconnected. He made me think of your former president in the balcony. He had no clue what was going on when the world around him suddenly changed. Sad in fact. TMC channels were Mittani’s preferred habitat. So the only guys that were in the loop with the plan to defect prior to the actual decision on timing were you and suas.
*By “your former president in the balcony” Da Winci is referring to Romania’s communist dictator, Ceausescu. His awful policies led to starvation throughout the country while he gave speeches about the glory of the communist party all while his incessant propaganda played throughout the country. He maintained control through a system of fear until the people were more hungry than they were afraid. In the closing days of 1989, the people revolted, arrested him and had him and his wife executed. His last act was making delusional claims about how he was a great leader that took care of his people and everything was a conspiratorial plot by foreign agencies.
Seraph: Carneros told me that the issue with your plan was that it would require lawn and bastion to shift staging systems too many times hopping through vale and tribute in a strategic ceding of territory to wear the enemy out. His impression was that this would harm his alliance and end badly. What are your thoughts regarding that concern?
Da Winci: Gigx had drawn a line on the Vale map and proposed a fighting retreat towards that line. I was confident I could make a deal including both lawn and bastion. Both Thoric and Cody agreed with that because they also lost all confidence in Goons being able to help in the defense. I told Cody and the Lawn military director I could have an offer to preserve both their alliance and sov. Fine line because I could not just tell them directly. So they probably lacked the trust I could deliver on. Carneros went with the mittens option without telling us effectively leaving us with our pants down. He saved his alliance (kinda) and ran to Saranen. But I feel no bad towards him. His alliance is basically owned by Mittens.
Seraph: Did you explicitly tell Carneros before his meeting with Mittens?
Da Winci: We had several high level meetings with Gigx and myself and the top 2 of lawn and bastion. The general vibe was ‘fuck this we’re doing this ourselves.’ Nobody believed Goons would come to help. So yes the direction was evident but I never mentioned in clear words that I had a way out. That I would only do if the others would push for it also. I hinted and Lawn military director and Cody picked up on it. Carneros did not. When he ran to Saranen he did push very very hard in autocrat channel to go all out in the defense of m-o to prove Co2 would not stand alone. But he admitted 2 days before leaving that even he didn’t believe help from Saranen was a workable option. And goons would never ever send big fleets to tribute on a daily basis. He knew that. Anybody with a brain knew that.
I asked him what he thought regarding the lack of public recognition he has received so far about his role despite Co2’s defection being perhaps one of the most decisive decisions in Eve history.
Da Winci: Thing is that I’m no longer one of the protagonists in this. I have never cared and even less now, what outsiders think. Getting the best possible position for co2 was my only concern. And people involved know my role. I’m okay with that. I know what I did and didn’t do.
In the next part I will be working backward through the process of Co2’s defection by providing further interviews of individuals involved or witness to the events in question.
Part 4 will detail some of the justifications and arguments for and against Co2’s defection as well as interviews with some of the people involved in the negotiations.
