METROPOLIS - The corporation Dark-Rising parted ways with the Minmatar Militia last week just two days after Amarr Militia corporation Gunship Diplomacy announced it was leaving the Empire's service for frontier space.
Compounding the Minmatar loss, the former Minor Threat [KARMA] corporation Digital Fury recently pledged allegiance to the Empire while Minmatar loyalist corporation Reikoku disappeared from the factional warfare front with little fanfare earlier this week.
"With both militias, corporations come and go… I think that the Crusade's big advantage in the conflict is that we also have a core of pilots who are committed to indefinite service to the Empire and are in it for the long haul, whilst the Shakorites lack a similar group," said Rodj Blake of the Amarrian loyalists PIE Inc. "As such, we will over time grind them down despite having fewer pilots."
Angry Fist of Tribal Core noted that the loss of Dark-Rising was "quite a blow" to the Republic.
"They were a great bunch of pilots, fun to work with and willing to work with others which can be rare of large corps. It's just a shame the militia didn't offer them enough to sustain their interest," he explained.
When asked if the recent swing in numbers, bringing the Empire closer to numerical parity, was reason to worry in regards to the battle for system occupancy, Angry Fist explained that "The stalemate in system occupancy is a complicated issue that isn't just down to the numbers on each side. If there are actually enough corporations and fleet commanders on each side interested in system occupancy then the rest of the militia will follow and get involved. Otherwise the stalemate will continue."
Dark-Rising did not respond to an interview request.
Recent Events Recap
The last month and a half of conflict has seen greatly increased activity levels in the occupancy battle between the Amarrian and Minmatar militias. The capture of Siseide by the Empire followed by the brief capture of Halmah by Republic forces marked the first successful occupancy campaign by either militia since the battle for Ezzara which concluded with the Amarrian recapture in April.
In addition to the occupancy changes, a clash between Minmatar and combined Amarr-Caldari elements came to an odd and costly conclusion in early July. The incident drew universal attention when a Northern Coalition capital fleet interceded for reasons unknown scattering all involved militias. A Dark-Rising station and an Amarrian dreadnought were destroyed by the NC during the battle.
Speculation immediately arose that the attack was an opportunity for the NC to strike a former KenZoku corporation within the Minmatar Militia. However, the NC refused to comment on this conjecture.
GalNet References
Dark-Rising Announcement
Gunship Diplomacy Announcement
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