' Wrote:For whatever it's worth, I consider your generalization to be more or less spot on. This isn't to say I'm trying to parade around screaming about authority OORP. But in roleplay, that is mostly spot on. And it's good to be clear about these things when being on the outside looking in.
whilst im not really on the outside, having five corsair ships, four of em benitez ships, the benitez aren't on the stage in this little drama. but we are more off in the wings rather than in the front row or the peanut gallery.
i see this conflict being more btn the TBH/Sails and the omicroners. benitez/TAZ/OSI/indies of both sides are interested but not involved parties per se. if this thing isn't sorted out peacefully, it'll spill over into our spheres of influence, and ofc we're all willing to back our favourite horses (if i'm allowed to mix my metaphors here).
we have a genuine chance to step back from the brink of a horrible catastrophe that will only strengthen our enemies whilst we become weaker.
for all the sabre rattling the corsairs have done (me too), the sairs do have more to lose here.
outcome 1. the sairs win, take over fp9.
this then moves the battlefront with the outcasts that much closer. sairs then have to defend a larger empire, and this opens up the back door to the hessians and mollies from the 'west' and opens up a new battlefront with the gmg via sig 17. Pyrrhic victory indeed.
zoners lose fp9, but this just confirms them as the 'little faction' according to canon.
outcome 2. the sairs lose, and then the circling vultures then press ever harder. a rise in aggression from the hessians, etc would more or less be permanent as the sair 'standing' would be seen to be reduced as they had lost to the 'little zoners'
zoners retain fp9, but they cannot press into gamma. they win increased standing, and are no longer seen as a little faction. however, they have opened pandoras box by stepping away from their neutral-defensive posture, and have gained a powerful enemy, right on their doorstep, and all traffic would have to come through the 'northern' omicrons/the sigmas, and it becomes open-season on zoner transports. other factions friendly to corsairs would then see zoners as legitimate targets, and the response to zoner 'foreign policy' that previously was an accepted irritant would see a disproportionate response. corsair enemies would not necessarily lend aid, as the benefit to them is negligable. pyrrhic victory again.
outcome 3. standstill/stalemate
all the negatives from 1 & 2.
sairs lose standing as they are being held off by the zoners, but as they maintain an increase presence in theta, the outcasts have less distance to travel for a raid, and blitzkrieg is the order of the day. hessians have a field day in the omegas, and mollies have a free rein in bretonia. the gmg can also pay 'visits' to theta.
zoners, whilst holding off the sairs, need a victory to increase their standing. their transports are targetted, and the loss of revenue hits them hard. they lose the shield of neutrality, and are suddenly seen by other factions that harbour a zoner base in their backyards as the threat they never saw before.
serious suggestion?
both sides of this conflict would benefit by standing down. an obvious solution is for the omicroners to accept the sair territorial claims over theta, and to lease the system on a peppercorn rent. like a nanobot per year.
the jumphole from eta to theta should be moved to kappa, but until then the zoners then forbid ALL non-zoner combat ships from theta, and back this up with firepower. (the outcasts will have to go the long way around. q_q). the freeport remains a true freeport, and the sairs respect the zoner leasing of theta, and like an absentee landlord, keep their noses out of zoner business.