The Providence War: Part III – Internal Struggle
D-GTMI, Providence – Following the capture of D-GTMI system in Providence from Providence Holder-alliance Paxton Federation, Against ALL Authorities (commonly known as "AAA") offered a 72-hour cessation of sovereignty warfare, during which negotiations could take place between AAA and Curatores Veritatis Alliance [CVA] and their allied Providence Holders. CVA rejected the cease-fire offer and the subsequent terms of territorial non-aggression put on the table by Against ALL Authorities, which led to dissent among those Holders that backed CVA and those who wanted a swift end to the conflict.
A few days after the fall of D-GTMI, Manfred Sideous of AAA issued a public statement on 31.01.112 in which they invited CVA to negotiate a settlement of the conflict. In this press release, he claimed "As it currently stands, we have spoken with CVA leadership, stating our intent to not cause permanent harm, even with a scenario of a return of the D-G system, and informed CVA leadership of -A- holding back (unless again provoked) until [01.02.112] at midnight pending their reaction and willingness to contain the current conflict. However, even this has been refused."
Virtuozzo of AAA said “It's no political document; it's from one group of soldiers to another group of soldiers... When push comes to shove, it really comes down to Curatores Veritatis Alliance choosing to expand its dominion in the wrong direction, at the expense of the wrong alliance.
“As much as we regret it, there are some unwritten rules that apply to all alliances active in lawless space, and as such we can but react and continue to react.”
According to documents leaked from CVA's alliance network, discussions did take place between CVA executor Aralis and Manfred Sideous of AAA in which AAA offered a treaty that would return D-GTMI to Paxton Federation and cease further invasion of Providence by AAA, in return for CVA forswearing any future attacks upon AAA sovereignty in Catch. Sources claim that no more extensive NAP was offered, however, meaning Against ALL Authorities pilots could still pursue Providence Holder pilots and any other pilots roaming in the region - their gangs could be engaged by CVA but the Holders would be unable to take any action to permanently remove such gangs by ousting AAA from the neighbouring space. On behalf of his alliance, Aralis declined.
Asked to give his perspective of the overall situation, Virtuozzo replied “It's a shame the current mess - in spite of our reputation and our usual preferences... we are not enjoying the current situation of having to slaughter pilots who are essentially stuck with a situation caused by flawed vision of leadership.”
An anonymous source inside AAA confirmed “Based on what I know, AAA doesn’t want to destroy Providence because it is considered a training ground for new pilots... The Providence Holders brought this upon themselves.”
Galandrius Malkin, a former member of LFA, commented that some Providence Holder alliances “were trying to get the Holders together to force CVA to accept AAA’s non-aggression pact... The Holders were split between prolonging the conflict and settling for peace... The LFA block disagreed with [continuing engagements] and all LFA pilots were barred from attending offensive actions... defensive actions were still approved... [My corporation] disapproved of Lasterax's measures and supported fighting AAA... Other corporations have expressed opinions similar to our own... LFA was assisting in defensive actions in Providence and individual corporations left LFA and have gone pro-war.”
An anonymous source within LFA commented on internal affairs immediately after the fall of D-GTMI: “As far as I understood, AAA announced to CVA... a 72-hour cease of sovereignty warfare – and AAA knew how to use this time very well... They started to heavily roam Providence with a focus on D-GTMI, 9UY4-H and all entries to Providence. We had several mercenary corps... in Providence as well as small to medium sized gangs of AAA, Ushra’Khan, Systematic Chaos and others. At the same time AAA made a [public declaration that] was very successful at spreading an open conflict between CVA and the Providence Holders; it even lead to LFA being removed as a Holder. After a few days of [internal disagreements, we] decided to stand together in this fight... and the inner conflicts have been resolved.”
LFA leader Lasterax commented “Unfortunately some internal Providence Holder discussions were intercepted and made quite public... Suffice it to say, LFA voiced our disagreement with CVA regarding AAA's offer of a treaty to end hostilities in Providence and Catch and return things pretty close to the status quo... LFA has made a commitment to fight with our friends should they be attacked.
"We don't agree with pursuing attacks on sovereignty and won't be engaging in them... We believe there was a diplomatic solution to be taken there but apparently CVA and AAA couldn't come to terms on it. I think the future of Providence lies in finding a diplomatic solution to the issue or else everything that has been fought for down here will be lost... It would be too bad to see the only region in null-sec that welcomes neutrals and rookie pod pilots fail because of a failure to work out our differences and find a solution that would benefit everyone.”
Aralis of CVA expressed his view on the current situation: “AAA offered some [unappealing] conditions for peace... A permanent sovereignty non-aggression pact and the return of D-GTMI... I have no doubt they thought were generous.
"There are always a few [that do not want to] fight, usually those pushing hardest for a fight in the first place... Most people are brave and solid. With the current power of Titans and the [problems with spatial anomalies], a large scale victory is not currently possible. We have a wide variety of tactics that we are confident will bring us eventual victory. But a two-year war would not be a surprise.”
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