Trouble in the south escalates as Tribal Souls joins Stain conflict

Paragon Soul - The Tribal Souls alliance announced their intent to join forces with Band of Brothers (BoB) and participate in their ongoing war with the Stain Alliance. The announcement places additional strain on the fragile political landscape of the war-torn southern regions and threatens to upset the tenuous relationship between the major alliances controlling the area.

Sylic from Tribal Souls explained that the primary reason for entering into the conflict was the stabilization of the south. He continued to say that after the Stain Empire vs. Stain- Alliance war and the conflict against Firmus Ixion; the news of Stain’s war declaration against Band of Brothers was the “final straw” for Tribal Souls. Sylic further told us that BoB had initially asked them not to become involved in the conflict, “we were asked not to but took it amongst ourselves to get involved, we are neighbours and friends.” He later added that Tribal Souls “will stand behind the decisions we have made and that no one determines what we will and will not do.”

Sylic doesn’t foresee a quick end to the war because in his words “SA are a stubborn and proud lot and will not let it drop.” He went on to add that although he personally had the “will to listen to options” when they were presented, he was not solely responsible for the final decision making in Tribal Souls. Sylic also expects that the involvement of several alliances will make agreeing on any peace terms difficult as well. Regardless of this Sylic still maintains a positive outlook on the situation “I see stronger friendships being formed amongst the alliances and the focus on the north versus south being the MAIN focal point, not petty squabbles and old wars renewed.”

Orc A of Stain- Alliance offers a different explanation on why Tribal Souls got actively involved with the war against Stain. “It is rather obvious and clear to us all that the reason behind the Tribal Souls act of treason is financial.” Orc A reminds us that as a deep 0.0 space alliance, Tribal Souls relies on BoB and FIX for their trade routes to empire, because it was shorter than any route through Esoteria and Stain. “It would be no surprise to me at all if BoB secretly ‘ordered’ them to attack Stain, threatening them to revoke their travel rights.”

Reacting to comments that Stain- Alliance was responsible for the destabilization of the south Orc A explained that the so called civil war with Stain Empire is an internal affair and didn’t need to be discussed further. Orc A also denied responsibility for the war with Firmus Ixion: “They chose to revoke the standings and notified me personally about their decision, the information was brought up to the proper channels and it was decided to crush FIX and teach them a lesson.” He explained that Stain- Alliance pilots operated with ‘Not Blue Shoot It’ rules of engagement where pilots without standings are seen as hostile targets. “For us, neutral standings equals war.”

When speaking of the conflict with BoB – Orc A said that Stain did not want the war in the first place, because they had many friends in the ranks of Band of Brothers: “Many people in nowadays hostile alliances are really friends behind the whole political scene, and sometimes politics break into those kinds of friendships, like we once had with BoB, Tribal souls, and FIX.” He went on to comment that the internal miscommunications and “bloopers” during diplomatic talks “led to an unpleasant situation involving threats and rude behaviour” which made the war with BoB inevitable.

Giving his opinions regarding the status of the conflict he mentioned that although the mood was hostile, nothing had really changed since Tribal Souls had entered the war. “We still control the Stain region perfectly and not BoB nor Tribal souls and not even Fix send any forces at all but small squads.” Orc A shares the hope that the south will be at peace. Orc A: “Personally I hope that this madness will end soon. SA does want a Stable south, but in order to have a stable south that is acceptable for us, modifications must take place, such as a change of attitude of some of our neighbours. This war is a waste of time and ISK, ours and everyone's.”