It has been a long march for those enlisted with the State Protectorate. Since early 2014 they have suffered dwindling morale and Tier 1, leaving a determined but weary skeleton crew. Hard times made them who they are however, and now at long last, they strike back. It is the rise of a new, lean and mean Caldari Militia, full of purpose and focused determination. As the Gallente war machine lost steam after the capture of the war zone, the Caldari made sure to rebuild. Slowly, surely, quietly. The north-east wing of the war zone, past the gateway system of Okkamon, was taken back without fanfare. Meanwhile, in the north-west wing the systems of Hykanima and Sarenemi provided stubborn foothold. Other than this, the war zone remained quiet. Gallente could routinely scour the several regions without seeing a Caldari fleet, and often turned to neutral and pirate groups to get a fight. Some even left the militia, seeing as there was little fight to be had out of the squids. After months of maintaining this status quo, State Protectorate forces decided to push. From the outside it was obvious that lessons had been learned and that this wasn’t the fragmented and infighting militia that lost Inna and the war zone. With little warning, a seemingly coordinated campaign pushed both northern fronts at the same time. Systems were plexed to vulnerable and IHub bashing fleets operated efficiently, taking a somewhat relaxed (some would say made lazy by design) Gallente Militia by surprise. At the same time, Spaceship Samurai of the Hero coalition, who had announced their entry into FW two weeks prior, could be seen in the plexes, IHubs and on the front lines. Their numbers and willingness to cooperate have given CalMil the potency they need to truly go on an offensive. This looks like the rebirth of the Caldari Militia players have been awaiting for a very long time. I approached Caldari FC and BLOC Executive Officer Myra Stark, an outspoken proponent of unified militia ops and comms, to learn how it all came about.~ Interesting times indeed. Winter is upon us and it looks like we’re all in for a good fight. However the chips fall in the end, it is impressive to see State Protectorate forces back on their feet, although long overdue. The Gallente better shape up soon, because the Caldari approach the gates of Nennamalia and Eha with frightening speed, swallowing the old forward staging system of Rakapas like it was nothing.