Thukker Views on Joining Republic Vary Wildly; Real Autonomy Demanded
M-MD3B, Great Wildlands – Among the widely-dispersed Thukker Tribe, reactions to the recently-announced agreement on political union with the Minmatar Republic have been as diverse as the tribe’s many caravans. Sporting by far the loosest tribal structure of any Minmatar tribe – an arrangement further complicated by the setup of their Great Caravans – the Thukker approach to politics is very different from that of the Republic, prompting many to fear that political union will lead to a significant loss of independence. This has been tempered by considerable approval for the actions of Sanmatar Maleatu Shakor in the matter of the Lakat-Hro’s lost Great Caravan.
"I know the Great Caravans have talked about this," said Metrios Sesukor of the trading caravan Fortune's Tally. "I know Chief Aeboul has led the Thukker Tribe well for many years. I'm still worried, though. We must not abandon what it is to be Thukker ... a large part [of that] is our independence." Graysiol Emik-Jabar, a Jabar Great Caravan guard commander on leave at the Trust Partners station, was even firmer on that point: "This autonomy must be real. That means the caravans continue to see to their own defense. We want no Republic snooping, and we'll continue to trade whatever we please and with whomever we please."
Kyrak Stollyk, secretary of the Trust Partners Council of Caravans, was more optimistic. "The Great Caravans would not agree to this if we did not think it was in our interests. I know people look at what the Republic turned into and rightly recoil from that. But those days are gone. The Chief has consulted with us and we accept his judgment that the agreement he made with Sanmatar Shakor preserves the autonomy of the Thukker Tribe."
Illiak Debokor of the relatively minor Vo-Lakat caravan, a recent offshoot from the lost Lakat-Hro, spoke emotionally of the debt he felt the Thukker owed to the Republic. "They tried their best and turned aside from political expediency to aid their brothers, our brothers, my brothers. I had my doubts about this union but my mind is at rest when I see that the Sanmatar acts for the good of all the tribes." The Vo-Lakat are likely to form the nucleus caravan around which surviving Lakat-Hro will gather and their views are currently taken very seriously by the other Great Caravans.
The reaction of renegade Thukker caravans, such as the Seykal or Hrada-Oki, can only be guessed at. However, Daimog Kvuk, master of the small Charcoal Embers caravan – known to trade with outcast Thukker as well as the Angel Cartel – expressed his views by leaving a 'personal consignment of fertilizer' in the foyer of the Trust Partners office in the M-MD3B station.
