Federal Union

Contenders

With the rise of the Caldari Militia from the ashes of their demise during 2014, the east and south of the war zone have seen hard fighting. The heaviest is encountered from the bloodiest bottleneck in Black Rise—the Pynekastoh-Hikkoken gate—to the charnel house of Tama, all the way down to the crossroads of death in Heydieles. In the northwest of Black Rise however, another kind of war is being waged. It is a dark war, unannounced, involving some of the most formidable forces in the area. The main combatants are well known names such as Snuffbox, Sniggwaffe and Shadow Cartel, but it also involves a new organisation—given birth from the same ashes from which the Caldari arose.As the Caldari had fallen, an unease came upon the organised portion of the Gallente militia in the north. Warriors need someone to fight, just as much as a miner needs asteroids to mine and a trader a market to ply their wares. So with the Caldari found wanting, Federation forces turned to fighting “pirate” groups. It was however, always in small scale; anything larger would attract the unwanted attentions of nullsec alliances from the other side of the cluster. Then Phoebe came. Soon, the elements within the Gallente started to think bigger—people wanted to fly larger ships and more advanced doctrines. All of a sudden, HACs and battleships appeared with more frequency, fighting the likes of Snuffbox —something that had been exceedingly rare in the past. A proposition that had been on the table and discussed in secrecy for months finally took shape about the same time as Sniggwaffe came back to Kinakka from being deployed with big brother Pandemic Legion. Three of the most prolific alliances in the Gallente militia—Spaceship Bebop, Villore Accords and The Bastard Cartel—formed the first ever GalMil coalition: Federal Union. And so the pieces were set.While the conflict with the Caldari raged on in the east and the south, the newly formed Federal Union looked to fight on another front; and so the POS war began began in northwest Black Rise. The first real tests came in the form of Sniggwaffe and their renowned Eagle fleet. Federal Union attacked Sniggwaffe towers and Waffles replied in kind, but were soundly beaten on several occasions.

FU vs Sniggwaffe, Video courtesy of Arcturus

The yet unannounced Federal Union coalition was able to field decently sized and well led fleets with more regularity than had ever been possible within GalMil before, and Sniggwaffe went back to the drawing board to adjust to this new enemy. Other locals, such as Overload Everything and Vox Populi were also drawn in by the fighting, but suffered a similar fate.

FU vs OE, video courtesy of Arcturus

Meanwhile, Snuffbox interest in the area increased as they saw an opportunity to fight something a little closer to their size. Snuffed Out, Snuffbox alliance, had recently swelled with the addition of CQB, a former GalMil corporation that had a key role in the taking of the warzone in 2014, as well as others, effectively creating a meat shield around what was already a formidable organisation. This addition meant they had associates with relatively fresh first-hand experience on how the organised elements of GalMil operated. Beyond that, it doesn’t take a lot of tinfoil to draw the line between their expansion and the return of Shadow Cartel to Aeschee. And so, Federal Union and Snigwaffe will duke it out, until Snuffed Out appears with superior forces to anyone else. As one person in particular would say, “it is what it is”. Having no love for Snuffbox, Shadow Cartel have also been seen appearing on the battlefield and getting involved however, and in some ways providing a counterbalance. So there we stand today. Sniggwaffe seems to have done their homework and are now bolstered with PL members who spend their off-deployment time with Waffles. Snuffbox is keeping its eyes on northwest Black Rise, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice, Shadow Cartel watches the developments with vested interest, and the Federal Union coalition looks to accomplish and maintain what no organisation in GalMil has done before. The pieces are certainly moving in Black Rise and The Citadel, from skirmishes in plexes between frigates and destroyers, to battles of larger proportions and capital ship escalations. It’s a good time to be in lowsec and looking for trouble—there’s more than enough for everyone.