Matari Strikes free thousands of slaves, Imperialists outraged

Sunday, two weeks ago, Minmatar pilots and their supporters infiltrated Amarr and Ammatar space with a mission. That mission was to strike at the very corporations at the heart of the Amarr empire and free as many slaves as they could find. From reports from the various cells of resistance fighters, the mission was declared a success. Minmatar officials have reported that over 11 thousand slaves were set free and taken into immediate care after only a few hours of intense skirmishes.

The slaves that were taken from the slaver convoys were taken to the truth and reconciliation council facilities where they received immediate food, water and counselling. Officials claim that they have enough of the Vitoc antidote to go around all of the freed slaves for the immediate future. But they are already seeking more.

Khaldorn Murino, and other Minmatar pilots who were organising the strikes were surprised by the willingness and numbers of the pilots who turned up to this well publicised attack. The organisers were often overwhelmed by the number of pilots who needed assigning to the various “cells”.

The Matari pilots use the tactic of striking the Amarr slaver convoys with cells of a few pilots each. This seemed to work excellently. They managed to fly, almost unhindered, around Amarr space as there were just too many targets for the Imperialist Amarr corporations to go after.

The fact that this incursion was well publicised was also a spot of bad news for the Minmatar. Amarr Imperialist forces amassed a mighty fleet, consisting of almost fifty battleships, cruisers and interceptors. They took up positions at the Lustrevik gate in Pator, which is the first step of the most direct route from Pator to Amarr. But because the Matari and supporters were working in smaller, more agile cells, many of which started the operation inside of Amarr space, the blockade was largely ineffective. Although they did stop pilots from corporations who they were at war with taking a direct route to their space, forcing them to take long diversions. Any pilots in Concord sanctioned warfare with the blockade pilots were swiftly dispatched when encountered.

The cells strategy employed, although effective, was learned the hard way. The consensus from the Minmatar was that they could not compete with the Imperialists for firepower, so they would out-manoeuvre them with their speed and numbers, tactics which have served them well in the past.

Imperialist Amarr spokespeople have expressed outrage at the actions of the Matari pilots, calling them “cowards” and “terrorists” for their “senseless acts of aggression in Amarr space”. Their main outcry was that the Matari only attacked innocent, defenceless convoys in the safety of high security space, where they could not be confronted by the Amarr forces for risk of rousing a hostile concord response.

The cell leaders retorted, saying that people who trade slaves are never innocent and the pilots were given ample warning to turn over the slaves before any attack was made towards their vessels.

Imperialists have warned the Matar that continued hostile actions will only lead to more suffering on the Minmatar’s part, hinting towards being ordered to “reclaim” Republic space for the Empire.

Although it is too early to speculate, the pilots involved expressed their desire to get their political message across to all of the governments in EVE. They want the trade in slaves to be made illegal galaxy wide, especially in their own territory, where they feel betrayed by their government. But they also hope to gather support from the Caldari and Gallente. Accusations were made of the Gallente senate “sitting on the fence” over slave issues, claiming that with their full overt support they could finally find a permanent cure for the Vitoc situation, instead of the handful of scientists currently working to find a solution.

Claims have already been made by more vocal Minmatar factions that unless the slave trade is abandoned, more incidents of this type could follow. And next time, the Amarr may be able to adapt more to Matari tactics.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this article has been posted too late. My sincere apologies to the people involved in the article and Emilianne herself - Editor