Farewell Foundati0n

[[FUN] Filz]

Farewell Foundati0n
23 April 2009, 12:15 am



Great Wildlands - Foundati0n's [FDN] April 10th  disbanding marked the end of an era for many residents of Great  Wildlands. Known for its longevity, rare NRDS (not red don't shoot)  policy, and many memorable campaigns, [FDN] will not soon be forgotten  by many citizens of New Eden.

As earlier reported, the alliance came to a close earlier this month  when Lord Maldoror removed the majority of [FDN]'s corporations. While  the news came as a surprise to most, conditions within the alliance had  been deteriorating for some time according to all those who responded  to interview requests. However, the agreement quickly faded when [FDN]  members were asked to share their views regarding the root cause of the  internal decay.

Going out on Top

"...the invader of the day was pushed back and so we end on a high.  It's hard to leave one's home, obviously, which was host to some great  and oddly brilliant characters," concluded Archivian Specialatus, a  long-standing member who was responsible for developing the alliances  fleet tactics among many other duties.

Specialatus went on to describe [FDN]'s day-to-day operations as a  "huge amount of work for the people keeping things together since you  have the leader working personally with people on fittings rather than  just issuing instructions to a handful of CEOs" (a problem he  attributed to [FDN]'s large number of small corporations).

Lord Maldoror confirmed that the increasingly hard to manage  workload did contribute to burnout among the leadership and played a  role in the final decision to end [FDN] as "a success story of an  alliance that achieved its aim." Much of these difficulties he  attributed to the challenge of maintaining a NRDS policy throughout the  alliance. However, he stated that the primary factor was Trans-Solar  Work's [T-SW] and Fairlight Corp's [MELEE] decision to leave the  alliance.

"...the departures would have changed Foundati0n beyond  recognition," stated Lord Maldorar. "Seven of nine FCs, two-thirds of  the active capital fleet, three-quarters of the all-time top scorers,  the leader and second-in-command."

CEO of Trans-Solar Works, Anubis Hothyck, attributed the break-up to  a "natural evolution from a small 'militia' type group defending a tiny  plot of space to an Alliance that could exert control on an entire  region."

"People began to get competitive and competition led to an environment which I no longer wanted to be a part of."

He also stated that he assisted in the decision to close the alliance.

"It deserves to be remembered as an example of a goal that was  achieved and sustained for a long time... militarily unbowed to its  final day," explained Lord Maldoror.

"I had considered changing the goal of Foundati0n completely - but  why not leave it as a success story of an alliance that achieved its  aim? Certainly from the days of camping [the] 7Q gate as a small band of  pilots, we could not have expected to ever have such a strong grip on  the region or to fight off such illustrious invaders."

The Final Weeks: Alternate Ending

Not all agree with the official version of events. A sizeable number  of [FDN] pilots argue that the story began with a failed fleet  operation in Edgmar. According to these pilots, a Universal Exports  [UNI] member was declared KOS by Lord Maldoror after he failed to  broadcast a cyno beacon to the fleet during an engagement resulting in  significant losses.

The pilot, Airborne Kiwi of [UNI], claims he had simply added the  cyno generator to his battleship because he had an extra high slot.  Later on, the call for cyno pilots went out over comms and Airborne Kiwi and  several other pilots responded.

During the operation [FDN] reportedly became engaged with an enemy  fleet. As the battle raged, Airborne Kiwi states that he suffered a technical  issue with his control interface forcing him to fly blind for a short  period just prior to the call for a cyno.

"I scramble to my fleet window to try to broadcast the cyno beacon -  by the time I got there, I was too late -- I was dead in 45 seconds,  according to the logs," Airborne Kiwi narrates. "As it turned out, there were  five cyno pilots present in system, and one didn't even bring enough  fuel."

Regardless, Airborne Kiwi was immediately designated KOS by the FC, Lord Maldoror.

Lady Mortus, CEO of Relentless Storm Cartel [STRMY], recalls that  Lord Maldoror "said it was to have him removed from the field in case  he was a spy ([which was] fair enough; most FCs would do that) and at that time no  one made a big deal of it."

The problems arose some two hours after the operation when Princess Aricia allegedly  attempted to ascertain Airborne Kiwi's whereabouts in order to hunt him. "This split the alliance  in[to] people that were brown-nosing Princess Aricia and Lord  Maldoror... and those that were sick and tired of Princess Aricia  throwing temper tantrums and getting her way," says Lady Mortus.

Sources report that [UNI] was subsequently removed from [FDN] on  March 29th after refusing to fire Airborne Kiwi - an action they claim resulted  in a civil war of sorts that led up to the April 10th disbanding.

Legacy

Despite fierce disagreement in regards to the reasons for  disbanding, nearly every pilot agrees that [FDN] was truly something  special - an organization they take pride in having been a part of.  Even past enemies admit that [FDN] will be missed.

"I must admit, visiting Foundation space is a lot like a bank robbery  - we try and kill as many people and grab as much loot as possible  before the cops come," Sinder Ohm of G00DFELLAS [G0DS] commented last  year.

One memory that continually surfaces when speaking to former [FDN]  pilots is the Red Alliance [RA] invasion and subsequent [FDN] offensive  into [RA] territory in Scalding Pass.

"My favorite [FDN] memory... was waking up dreadfully early for  several weekends in a row to fight and get a foothold in sovereign 0.0  and seeing 'Foundati0n' in the top left corner; knowing that I helped  fight and die for it," recalls Airborne Kiwi. While the campaign was ultimately  not successful, many members remember it as the highlight of their [FDN]  careers.

Others are just grateful for the lasting friendships and camaraderie that developed during their stay in Great Wildlands.

The End is the Beginning

All parties involved have already begun to plan the next stage of  their corporation's journey. For Fairlight Corp [MELEE] and Trans-Solar Works [T-SW], a small alliance  built on the values of [FDN] is in order.

"[T-SW] and [MELEE] will be establishing a new alliance and  continuing the style of combat that we enjoy - along with some other  corps from Foundati0n that have chosen to merge into either [T-SW] or  [MELEE]," explained Hothyck. "We want to fix a lot of the structural  problems Foundati0n had - It had thirty or so corporations, the  majority of which had inactive CEOs."

Other corporations have joined alliances already active in Great Wildlands such as True Reign [TRUE] and Cult of War [-COW-].

The largest portion of former corporations have reunited under the  name Republic Alliance [RE-AL], boasting over seven-hundred members to  date. Airborne Kiwi summed up [RE-AL]'s intent:

"...the ghosts of Foundati0n live on in the Wildlands. The spirit of NRDS, free space for all, will continue to exist in this region."

GalNet References

Foundati0n Signs Off

Initial News Story

 

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