Distinguishably clarified through the lense of experience and hindsight, I can now see that our corporations’ actions toward the other ones in the area were aggressive at best, possibly even a little rude, and for no real reason. I was a little ignorant to the possibility that the rest of the island, whom we just might have mistakenly viewed as allies, could actually have been rooting together for our extermination. Being mostly new players with basically no combat experience, we were also completely unfamiliar with any of the advanced tactics these enemies employed. But even with no fathoming of the volumes of EVE Online warfare that I didn’t know, I still knew one thing: choosing not to fight was off the table.

I saw some value in what he was trying to do, but ultimately Dacronis, the newly appointed CEO of It Hangs Starboard, was leading a silent charge to nowhere. I couldn’t see past his initial reaction to try a peaceful solution, to preserve the safety of the members of the corporation. Sitting in a gigantic space station under constant threat might have been okay temporarily while we ironed out our next tactic, but there was no avoiding the inevitable conflict to come in my eyes. The invading squad of dickwads were now aware that a profitable, defenseless group of new industrialists was isolated on a small, 5 system island.

Eventually, there were only a few members of leadership left at all; we strategized about the war for hours at times. I knew that no amount of negotiation with any members of this so-called union of slavers would secure our survival. Dacronis knew that we weren’t prepared to defeat them in any major defense. Most of the fighters with any experience among us had been peeled away to join other groups already. I had no experience in solo frigate pvp, or any pvp in general at the time. Neither did most of those that stayed to fight; our inexperience played a role in what we saw as our chances at the time. The attackers had no reason to stop the assault and so they didn’t. I had no idea what it meant at the time, but I knew that to save ourselves, my tiny industrial corporation would somehow have to fight against impossible odds.

Somehow, I instinctively knew that powerful, specialized enemies could be defeated in unorthodox ways using fresh and unseen tactics. Dacronis was ranked highest, and used that rank to insist on his position; that the most peaceful route would be best one. Despite his daily reassurances, our forces dwindled to sub-critical levels. Up to this point I’d only known how to mine, but I’d shown enough of a willingness to fight to Flounder Amarr while he was still in charge. It was because of this that I wasn’t appointed CEO, but instead another directly military focused role. I was granted the role of defending the corporation in times of conflict.

The first thing that made sense to do was to select other members of the corporation who were also willing to fight. By now attrition had eaten through us, rendering my chances of accomplishing any real victory basically moot. I could find just a few still loyal to the end compared to the numbers we had at the beginning. There were very few left willing to fight by the time I was given the reigns. Once I’d gathered a small group of suicidal I went about working to build a training regimen. Among the most notable of the holdouts was a fellow freedom fighter named Chenmii, with whom I spent several extended periods in virtual preparatory battles.

We trained under the virtual environment of Serenity, learning the basics of flight in about the most inefficient way possible; trial and error. It was great experience, but the plan was ambitious, to say the least. A handful of rookie fighters under completely new leadership probably couldn’t train against each other for anywhere near long enough to somehow contend against an experienced mercenary corporation. I hadn’t learned how to fly an individual ship, not really, and I was now tasked with leading a group into battle. My idea of combat up to this point was limited to low level security missions, so I’d never seen anything like the coordination and skill displayed by the attackers.

Most of their tactics at the time, although in hindsight probably were rehearsed and elementary, seemed completely unstoppable to us. After a particularly eventful period of losses, the heavy realization sunk in that I’d graciously accepted the position of defender with zeal instead of working to guarantee survival by entertaining diplomacy.