The Bleak Lands Campaign

From EVE History

1 The Origins:
2 The First Campaign:
3 Interludium:
4 The Second Campaign:
5 Consequences:
6 Links:

The Origins:

The Bleak Lands campaigns started when Karishal Muritor, once a proud member of the Republic's Fleet, decided that the Republic could no longer simply stay and wait while the Minmatar were still slaves in the Empire. So he organized his men and they all fled, taking with them important assets of the Republic's Fleet. They named themselves The Defiants, and moved to the Bleak Lands to start their war, against the wishes of the Republic's leaders.

The First Campaign:

It started right after taking the name of Defiants and moving into the Bleak Lands. They proceeded to attack Imperial installations and equipment, in order to free their people and destroy the Imperial Navy's positions in that contested ground. Soon they were backed by the strongest and most rebellious Minmatar, headed by the Ushra'Khan Alliance. In reply, the Navy moved in, and brought with them the Amarrian loyalist, namely PIE Inc., Vigilia Valeria, Aegis Militia, Manu Dei and Ordo Quaesitoris.

Battles soon followed. ((working on it, need to check with the news)).

Finally, Karishal got called to a personal meeting by a close friend of his, Kanth Filmir. He attended, as requested, alone, even going against the recommendations of both his men and the Ushra'Khan. Even though the meeting was supposedly a truece, Kanth slew Muritor following orders of the Republic's government.

Interludium:

With their leader dead, and with them under heavy pressure both in the Republic and in the Empire, the Defiants left known space and headed to the Great Wildlands, where they lay hidden during months, with nothing known of them.

The Second Campaign:

This campaign started with unclear rumours of attacks in the Bleak Lands. It was unclear who was carrying them out, but they were strong and decisive in organization and decision. It soon required the 7th Imperial Fleet to move in, en-force, to fortify all the region. But their entrance wasn't as succesful as planned, and in a strong battle, the Defiants were able to destroy the Cortex that kept all amarrian installations hidden, and so the installations became vulnerable.

As a response, the Navy once more called on the amarrian loyalists, and Pie Inc., Vigilia Valeria and Ordo Quaesitoris all replied to the call. The Defiants also called on their long time friends, the Ushra'Khan, and battles followed for the security or destruction of those Advanced Defense Units. The Imperial Navy did obtain a strong victory over the Defiants, destroying multiple ships, which lead to the Ushra'Khan offering a bounty for all the Advanced Defense Units destroyed, whoever destroyed them. This made a good number of new corporations and factions move into the battle, increasing both the stakes and the death tolls. Victories followed for both sides. The first big victory was for the Imperial Navy, but just a couple weeks afterwards the Defiants scored a big victory of their own in reply.

Both sides scored victories in the following months of war, and loyalist forces both defended and destroyed the ADUs. In the end, the Defiants suddenly stopped appearing, and peace came slowly to the zone. Peace which was reinforced when, a week afterwards, Admiral Saracen was called back to Amarr Prime and condemned for high treason by Chamberlain Karsoth. The 7th Fleet has been called back, and peace returned (briefly) to the region.

Consequences:

Both campaigns in the Bleak Lands were a sign of the Empire War that was coming. As such, the actions of the Defiants created the oportunity and gave the Minmatar the needed knowledge for their sneak attack on imperial space that ignited the war. The Defiants have been almost entirely wiped out by the first stages of it, but the battles they fought have been very important to give the Republic the needed edge to save a lot of the slaves the Empire had in some systems.