Imperium Fortizar in Fountain Destroyed

On the 2^nd of March at approximately 01:47 Eve time, the Imperium’s Goonswarm Federation [CONDI] lost a Fortizar in Fountain under the combined fire power of The Culture, and entities comprising of what is collectively known as “Pan Fam” and “GOTG.” The attacking forces were mostly entities that took part in last year’s conflict popularly known as “World War Bee.” Despite not having the financial motivations, the former Money Badger Coalition were eager to form up a fleet that saw local push past one thousand members.

On the surface, Goonswarm has claimed that the Fortizar was merely in place to draw out “gudfites.” The claim of such maneuvers has often developed into full-fledged campaigns. While not necessarily untrue, aside from drawing out “gudfites,” the placement of structures in foreign territory also serves as a probe of local defenders. Similar actions were taken prior to WWB developing into a full invasion. Coupled with the recent loss of the first ever Vendetta pirate super carrier adds to the growing anxiety among members.

The truly interesting development in this situation is the fact that the largest alliance resides in Delve along with their coalition members. Despite their attempts to support their Stainwagon allies, their eastern buffer zone collapsed under the combined might of Circle of Two [CO2], TEST Alliance Please Ignore [TEST] and assorted allies. This has left the Imperium coalition flanked on either side by hostile forces and with little in the way of opportunities to expand. Period Basis currently houses Red Alliance [RED], while the region of Querious hosts a variety of pets allowed to live there as long as they leave the high end moons to the Imperium and follow the rules. With a member gain of about eight thousand since October of last year, coalition leadership may need to consider options to expand in order to provide a feasible amount of space for all of its members. Despite the Imperium’s diplomatic failings, its internal organization is among the best, and with it they are likely to find some manner to adapt with or without territorial expansion.

Three options include:

1. Southern Fountain: The-Culture [-T C-] is currently the largest holder of Fountain territory. Most of this alliance is composed of former Black Legion corporations which settled the region with the advent of Aegis sov. Although only sporting about 1.6 K members, [-T C-] has proven a stubborn defender and has resisted several attempted invasions by a variety of groups.
   

2. Taking Querious/Period Basis systems for personal use at the expense of current allies and pets. This could be the easiest option as the smaller entities in both regions could do little to resist Imperium designs. On the other hand this could also push them into working with other rival factions bordering the Imperium’s holdings.
   

3. Expanding Eastward: This may prompt a repeat of the recent invasion of TESTCO that saw the collapse of Stainwagon’s borders and retreat into NPC space. On the other hand Imperium members may be just motivated enough to carry out an expansionist campaign against former coalition
   allies turned enemies.

It’s hard to say if this was motivated to purposefully limit Imperium expansion, simply wanting to see a big fight happen or a mixture of the two. As is often the case with Eve, entities that were once enemies will sometimes work together later on. This happened when NCPL evicted Co2 and TEST from their space and subsequently partially supported them in some instances against the Imperium. PL also worked with the Imperium against the resident of Catch while later destroying their Vendetta in Delve. This engagement underlined the fact that former Money Badger Coalition members are still willing to work together to thwart the Imperium in certain cases…to the surprise of some of its members.