New Eden – More than two months after the signing of the Caldari Defence Initiative, the pact remains alive and well, as shown by recent cooperative efforts.

According to eddie valvetino, CEO of the Bi-Polar Bears and a fleet commander with the Gallente Federation, “Since the forming of the CDI, they [Amarr and Caldari Forces] have been a lot more active together… To be honest, the only time the Caldari really get a good fleet up and go for a fight, you can be sure they have backup from the Amarr.”

While strength in numbers appears to be one benefit of the CDI, strengthening cooperation and organization appears to be another goal. Gunnyt31, Fleet Commander and Senior Member of Inglorious-Basterds [I.B.S.], says, “The CDI will hopefully minimize the chaos that is created by high sec war decs while forming fleets in our main systems.”

In the past, corporations at war stood alone as hired mercenaries picked them out of militia fleets. To counter this, Gunnyt31 explains; “If one of the CDI Corp [has war declared upon them] then they [all CDI member corps] come in to assist that corp.” Stalking Mantis, member of I.B.S. adds; “[..this allows] the [militia] corporations to focus on the actual war with the Gallente without being sidetracked by Mercs…”

“[Militia warfare] seems very unwelcoming at the beginning to newer pilots… there are loads of [fighting] never too far to be had once [the pilot] gets a solid reputation as a pilot and not a potential spy.” states Stalking Mantis, voicing a major security concern. With the CDI now in place and the combined fleets being fielded, eddie valvetino states, “Our intelligences and spy networks now have to include the Amarr.” When asked about the level of concern about the apparent successes of the CDI, he adds, “This is the ebb and flow of New Eden. Corps, alliances and coalitions grow, become powerful and they then collapse.”

Whether the CDI will fade away with time remains to be seen, but by all accounts, the larger multi-factional fleets fielded recently have caused some disruption to the Gallente militia and forced them to adapt. What remains to be seen is how the militias will retain the pilots that cut their teeth in battle fighting for the ideals and survival of their Nations.

Galnet References

Caldari Defence Initiative Signed by Militia Corporations

Jita, The Forge – HYDRA RELOADED has reportedly been selling several valuable Utu-class assault frigates.

The Utu blueprints were awarded to HYDRA as second place prizes in Alliance Tournament VIII. Only fifty Utu hulls can ever be built and their value is estimated at about 30 billion ISK per unit.

The Utu is a specialized drone platform based on the Ishkur design. The vessel is also able to field considerable scrambling capabilities and is considered a strong combat platform.

Records indicate that at least one Utu vessel has already been destroyed. The vessel belonging to Morel Nova met its fate at the hand of CTPAHHUK UKC on 112.07.19.

Several of the forty-nine surviving ships have now been put on sale. Phunkadin explained that HYDRA RELOADED decided to sell part of its Utu vessel stock in a bid to raise enough capital to build a supercapital fleet.

According to Phunkadin, not all of the Utus are going to be sold: “we are going to use some of them… [to show] we are the best and should not be messed with.”

It is believed that the alliance has already sold about ten vessels and the same number have been contracted to Chribba as collateral for an IPO on the alliance’s behalf. Chribba also bought one Utu for private use.

Additionally, one Utu frigate was awarded last month during the privately owned lottery “ShipsofEve:AT8″.

Conoban, Kor-Azor – The Bank Of Eve [EOBT] has opened for business, aiming to bring trust to New Eden where other banks have had past difficulty.

Blastyoazz666, a founding member of the bank believes that it has the potential be the best in New Eden. He claimed that capsuleers “always look for more ISK”, and there is no better way than by “getting a loan”. He also stated that he believes EOBT will be successful as they have “watched the rest fail”, and have learned from those mistakes by other banks.

He believes that to succeed they need to earn the trust of the capsuleers that will be banking with them and need to put in the work: “We are dedicating all of our time to this idea. We have spreadsheets made for quick look ups on members.”

Blastyoazz666 further explained that confidence will be achieved by asking customers to “put up collateral” and that they already have some who wish to “try us out and see how we do”.

EOBT has taken four months of planning and they believe they are ready for anything, even when hiring, as they plan to do “background checks” on all new staff which includes talking to all their past corporations.

Well known and trusted capsuleer, Chribba, gave a short statement saying that in his belief the customer needs to have “trust and faith” that the bank will take good care of their money. The bank would also need to communicate as failing to do so would make trust in the venture “decrease” in Chribba’s opinion.

So far capsuleers are remaining skeptical, with RAW23 stating: “You need to put in some time and effort convincing [capsuleers] that you can be trusted and the way to do this is to start small and then grow.” Another, Phoebe Halliwell, said: “The fact that you only have ten billion [ISK] between all the involved owners of the bank doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in your ISK making abilities.”

As they are now open for business, capsuleers may be reminded of the previous failings of EBANK and the current rebuilding process that they are undergoing.

With the bank preparing for its opening, capsuleers will have to decide not only if it delivers the trust it promises to customers, but also if it has the potential to last.

Galnet References

EOBT announce they are open for business
Banking has confused more than one capsuleer in the past
EBANK’s problems are made public
Customers lose faith in EBANK
Dynasty Banking struggle

Jita, The Forge – On 112.08.07, a Kestrel frigate carrying 74 Pilot’s License Extensions [PLEX] worth about 22 billion ISK, was blown up just outside of the Jita 4-4 station.

The frigate, piloted by Aystra of SpaceMonkey’s Alliance, was destroyed by slickdog and Viktor Vegas of The 0rphanage Alliance as part of a CONCORD sanctioned war between the two entities. It remains unclear why the frigate pilot took the risk to move such a valuable cargo during an active war.

According to wilbongbe of the SpaceMonkey’s Alliance, we might never know the reasons behind the attempted move, as the weight of the tremendous ISK loss pushed Aystra to immediately put an end to her capsuleering days.

The attacking pilots were unaware of the precious cargo and they immediately eliminated the wreck to deny any theft by scavenger pilots.

“I would probably be kicked out [of the alliance] if [PLEX] were to drop… I was the one that killed the wreck,” concluded slickdog.

Jita, The Forge – Tarac Nor, the capsuleer behind the betrayal and disbanding of Ushra’Khan [UNITY] has confirmed rumours by openly joining HYDRA RELOADED [HYDRA].

Tarac has confirmed that he was paid five billion ISK by HYDRA for “station docking and as sort of a gift”. This will not come as a shock to the former members of UNITY who had always suspected that ISK was changing hands.

Long-term, Tarac has revealed that he plans to stay at HYDRA for as long as he is “welcome”, stating that the capsuleers of HYDRA are “really cool guys to fly with.”

Even though he does not have any plans for the immediate future, Tarac did express a wish of being a CEO: “I’ll stay in HYDRA and have fun. I dont really have any plans at this point. I may try my hand at running a [combat] corporation of my own.”

In closing, Tarac expressed no wish to speak to any of his former alliance members, apparently wanting to put it all behind him: “What’s done is done, they have moved on. I’ve spoken to my friends in private.”