Harsh, but neutrality doesn't mean you're supposed just roll over and let yourself get kicked while your down and if that talk of a false flag is true? Shit not going to say I can blame them for resisting.
After all, even if I'm not Alliance anymore, it's not like I suddenly disagreed with the motto "Liberty or Death".
And with the mutterings I've been hearing from the underworld, It might just be the case that Liberty has overplayed it's hand here, the Alma's repositioning leaves good odds on someone taking the opportunity to do something quite exciting in California.
The Zoners of Erie gave up their neutrality the moment they welcomed Liberty's insurgents into their homes. Hell, they gave it up when they decided to settle in Liberty's backyard in the first place.
Look, if this was happening in the Taus, if Bretonia or Kusari or Gallia or whoever tried to colonize those systems and boot out the local Zoners, I'd be singing a different tune. I'd be up in arms, too. But the thing is, those are truly independent systems, out in the middle of nowhere. Freeport 6 in Tau-29, Freeport 10 in Tau-37, those are actual Zoners. They gave up the comforts of the houses and settled in the farthest frontiers to be free.
Erie? Those people wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. They seriously thought they could live in Liberty's backyard, in a protectorate system, and enjoy all the freedoms of not dealing with a house? They deluded themselves for decades. And the thing is, they had a good thing going, too. Liberty didn't care about them as long as they paid their taxes. But no, they just had to get involved with the insurgency, thinking their "Zoner neutrality" would protect them. And then some brilliant jackasses thought it would be a good idea to go a step further and fight their overlord. Even if that deal with the satellite was a set-up by Liberty, what's the point? Do they really think they can fight and win? Do they really think they have the right to drag an entire planet's population, hundreds of millions of people, into their rebellion?
Maybe I am being harsh. But they poked the bear and now everyone on the planet is gonna get mauled for it, and I'm not happy about that.
No sense moaning at you about it, of course. Liberty or Death, after all. But if you do end up getting involved, try not to get yourself killed.