Ubiqua Seraph suffer major blow, days after their alliance formation
Ubiqua Seraph, an Amarr Loyalist corporation that is well known for their unique stance on Amarr politics, was the victim of the largest corporation theft in living memory earlier this week. The theft occured mere days after the official formation of the Aegis Militia alliance, of which Ubiqua Seraph was the executor.
Ubiqua Seraph had been struck by the Guiding Hand Social Club, a corporation which, according to GHSC founder and public relations officer Istvaan Shogaatsu, "offers...unconventional mercenary services. These include covert operations, terrorist strikes, and a wide assortment of atrocities we are all too happy to offer on the market."
Arenis Xemdal, a member of the GHSC, joined Ubiqua Seraph earlier last year after GHSC had been hired on a contract to get close to Mirial, CEO of Ubiqua Seraph. Although they would not divulge why she was the target, it was hinted at that she was singled out because of her stance on defending the Empire. During the many months he was a member of the corporation, Xemdal proved himself to be a capable pilot, rising through the ranks to gain the trust of all of the high ranking officers. Then, when the time was right, he proposed several initiatives, amongst them moving all of the tech level 2 blueprints to a new location, gaining the rights and responsibility he required to carry out his contract. The total amount of damages suffered from the theft, both in money removed from the corporation and assets removed from the hangers, is estimated at 25-40 billion ISK. You can read the full press release here.
Once Arenis had done this, he went hunting with Mirial in a rogue drone pocket in Haras. He proceeded to attack and podkill her, destroying her Navy issue Apocalypse and retrieving the one item that the parties who put a contract on her wanted, her corpse.
In retaliation to the GHSC, Ubiqua Seraph were swift to release their own statement, stating that although it was indeed a large blow, "Ubiqua Seraph [UQS] and Aegis Militia [AM] still are operational, and we will continue the fight against the Minmatar rebels and pirate corporations alike. We will not give up, we will not abandon our corporation and our Empire, and we will not, not now, and not in the future surrender to such criminal and despicable acts inflicted on Ubiqua Seraph. We stand by our CEO Mirial, [who] seems to be the main target of this, and as true Seraphim we will survive, adapt and thrive once more." You can read the full press release here.
Mirial, although understandably hesitant to talk so soon after the incident, added, "Morale is still good and, if anything we have shown even greater dedication to our mutual ideals. Our allies remain unaffected and have been most gracious in their help and the same goes for those various other individuals that have backed up their words with support. Our starbases remain operational. We will not abandon those in the Bleak Lands."
Public reaction to this news has been mixed; some have been praising Arenis for pulling it off, whilst others have been chastising the "despicable behaviour displayed", making remarks such as "they give a bad name to pilots everywhere."
Since the incident, many corporations have started to review their security processes, hoping to make sure that they are not the next victim.