The Fourth District (Player alliance)

File:4th Logo small.png
Name	The Fourth District
Ticker	4TH
Type	Roleplay
Founded	January 9th, 2008
Status	Active
Contact details
Alliance CEO	Trony
Diplomat(s)	Demion Samenel
Public Channel	4THCOM
Website	fourthdistrict.net
Corporations
Executor	Allied Investments and Holdings LLC
Members	See List

The Fourth District is a Caldari roleplaying alliance established by the Caldari Independent Navy Reserve whose CEO traditionally remains Executor of the Alliance. Currently, the alliance maintains sovereignty over six systems in the Providence region.[1]

Member Corporations

1. Allied Investments and Holdings LLC (Executor Corporation)
2. Barren Tonberrys
3. Black Phoenix Legion
4. Caldari Independent Navy Reserve
5. Copperhead Arsenal
6. Fourth Infrastructure Investment Ltd.
7. Lai Dai Infinity Systems
8. Melnie Vanagi
9. Ubuntu Inc.

Domestic Political Stance

For the most part, the Fourth District is staunchly traditionalist in terms of Caldari politics, having heavily criticized the Tibus Heth regime, the Caldari Providence Directorate, and the centralized economic and political policies they have attempted to implement. However, the alliance has continued to support the Caldari State militarily and has not taken any action against Provist-leaning corporations or individuals.

History

Prelude and Founding

The history of the Fourth District begins shortly after the collapse of the Kimotoro Directive in the fall and winter of 108, when the Caldari Independent Navy Reserve began to search for Caldari loyalist corporations which shared the Reserve's dedication and disciplined philosophy. Throughout the next year, the Reserve took note of corporations that it worked with both in the Pure Blind region of space as well as in domestic combat actions, such as Operation Azure Quarantine.

During this time, the Reserve worked closely with a number of Caldari corporations and established a strong working relationship with one in particular, COLD-Wing. By winter of 109, plans were already in the works for the formation of the Fourth District, with the Reserve command staff hammering out the alliance's charter.

The agreement which created the Fourth District was formally ratified on 09 January 110, though the Reserve and COLD-Wing began integrating command structures as early as a month prior to the ratification. The alliance's executorship was restricted to the command staff of the Reserve, while Allied Investments and Holdings LLC was retained as business and legal counsel in order to handle the required CONCORD and House of Records bureaucracy.

Shortly after the founding of the Fourth District, industrial and corporate security firm Copperhead Arsenal joined the alliance as an adjunct member.

Pure Blind Campaign

During the first half of 110, the alliance concentrated most of its activity in the Pure Blind region where both the Reserve and COLD-Wing had established a strong presence prior to the formation of the alliance. Several systems were secured with space platforms for use as a base of operations while relations with other corporations and alliances headquartered in 5ZXX-K and X-70MU systems were cultivated in an attempt to create a response force to deal with pirates and raiders that frequented the area.

While the alliance met with limited success in this endeavor, worsening conditions in the Caldari State emerged as a greater concern for the Fourth District towards the end of spring 110. District forces began preparing for a shift to the Nonni area in May 110, coinciding with an escalation of the conflict between the Northern Coalition and the Greater BoB Community that also hit the Pure Blind region hard. The alliance's space platforms were destroyed during this transition by Red Alliance and IRON forces, though most valuable war materiel had been evacuated prior to their loss.

Fifth Alliance Tournament

The Fourth District participated in the Fifth Alliance Tournament, coming in second in its group after only suffering a single loss, to eventual tournament runners-up Triumvirate. They were defeated in the first elimination round by Ev0ke, who went on to defeat Triumvirate. and take the championship.[2]

Criticism of Heth Regime

During the trouble months of April and May 110, the Fourth District put out several statements[3][4][5] which varied between wary and outright critical of the Heth regime. The strongest of these came the day before the invasion of Caldari Prime, when the Fourth District severed its previous agreement with the Caldari Navy to respect the Navy's chain of command, saying that it rejected the command authority of Tibus Heth and the Caldari Providence Directorate. However, the alliance continued to act as a paramilitary extension of the Caldari defense apparatus as tensions between the State and the Federation came to a head.

War With the Federation

When war broke out between the Caldari State and the Gallente Federation in June 110, the alliance originally implemented Operation Shepherd's Light, a targeted offensive against Federation militia corporations. This was implemented in order to get around CONCORD regulations prohibiting alliances from registering as members of the Caldari militia.

However, this effort was ultimately ruled out as ineffective, as alliance members could not assist with the defense of Caldari systems or engage Federation forces flying as escorts for operational targets without coming under CONCORD sanction. On 24 June 110, the Fourth District was temporarily put under suspension while its member corporations left the alliance and joined the Caldari militia.

Sixth Alliance Tournament

The Fourth District was reactivated for several weeks during the Sixth Alliance Tournament in late January and early February of 111. Though placed 8th after a victory over Veni Vidi Vici in the first round[6], a hard-fought loss to eventual tournament champions Pandemic Legion in the second round[7] dropped them to 23rd place.

This set the alliance for a battle against Ev0ke, the same team which knocked them out of the previous tournment. In one of the most exciting battles of the last weekend, Ev0ke managed to defeat the the Fourth District with the loss of all but one of its ships, knocking 4TH out of the tournament. Despite the loss, 4TH was extremely satisfied with the placement, losing only to the tournament winners and a semifinalist.[8]

Seventh Alliance Tournament

The Fourth District's banner was raised once more for the Alliance Tournamnet VII. The first match was fought against Atlas Alliance, who brought a heavy EWAR and commandship setup, while pilots from the Fourth fielded a high-damage battlecruiser fleet. A short time into the fight, Hamish Grayson from CAIN sacrificed himself to remove the small tackle fielded by Atlas by making use of the arena bounderies, which allowed the Fourth to better apply their damage. The Fourth took home the fight and continued on to the next round in the Alliance Tournament.

The second match was against Agony Empire. This match was commented to be a ”slugfest” as both teams brought high damage battlecruisers. The Fourth's Curse and Oneiros pilots made a huge diffrence in the fight and the win went to the Fourth.

The third fight was against the Legiunea Romana where the Fourth brought the same high damage fleet with Recon support as they had against the Agony Empire. Legiunea Romana fielded a Battleship heavy fleet with frigates for tackle. The damage was instant on both teams, but Legiunea Romana made use of sentry drones, and the District lost the match. In a comment after the fight by Admiral Ladel Teravada, he sad that ”...We were not prepared for the high damage of the the sentries, and that made us lose the fight.” The Fourth District was overall happy with their tournament participation as they had once again gotten to the final rounds. Pandemic Legion would end up winning the tournament for the second time in a row.

Tenth Alliance Tournament

The first match for the Fourth was against Gorgon Empire, in which the Fourth fielded two Kronos battleships with support from a Vengeance and an Onieros. Gorgon Empire’s fleet consisted of a Naga, two Ferox, a Harpy, and a Merlin, with Gorgon Empire’s logistics provided by a Basilisk. While the chosen tactics for the Fourth were sound – making use of the webbing power of the Kronos and the tackle of the Vengeance to hold their opponents down and destroy them - the Gorgon Empire team was quick to adapt and use good piloting to their advantage, swiftly taking out the Vengeance and Onerios so that their own ships could keep range from the superior damage of the Kronos. The result was a loss for the Fourth in the first round.

Hoping to turn the situation around in their second match against Manifest Destiny, the Fourth District brought a handicap to the field by flying a lesser point value for their ship setup, intending to make up the points by winning the round and adding the handicap to their final score. The Fourth’s chosen setup was an all Caldari fleet of two Ferox battlecruisers for damage, a Kitsune for electronic warfare, and two Merlins and a Basilisk for support versus Manifest Destiny’s two Sleipners, four Merlins, and a Scimitar. Unfortunately for the Fourth, the handicap rule does not apply if the losing team fielded less points than the winner, which was the case with Fourth’s opponent; Manifest Destiny was one of only two teams that put up less points than the Fourth, meaning that the alliance did not make it through the qualifying rounds despite winning the match.

When asked later about the rumor started by Manifest Destiny that the Fourth was offered ISK to throw the fight, Fourth team captain Trony’s response was “…I would never sell out a fight, no matter the price!” Though this marked the first time the Fourth did not go through from the group stages, the alliance left the field with dignity and pride intact.

Enclave in Providence Region

In June of YC 113, after long discussions between Fourth District leadership and CVA executor Equinox Daedalus, the Fourth District signed a draft territorial claim for ownership over a constellation in Providence. This was the first step towards a permanent home for the Caldari in nullsec, under the auspices of 4TH member corporations the Caldari Independent Navy Reserve, Copperhead Arsenal, Sacrosanctae Plebs, and Cold Wing.

Previously, the constellation had been held by the Polaris Syndicate and Ewokes alliances, and both joined talks with the newly-appointed head diplomat for the Fourth District, renowned Admiral Ladel Teravada to finalize the cost of transferring ownership of the constellation's assets. These included everything from outposts and infrastructure upgrades to security deployments and personnel reassignment. Initially, the cost quoted to the Fourth District was well above what they were willing to pay, and military assets from the Reserve were mobilized in preparation for forcible eviction. Military action was avoided, however, when Ewokes and Polaris Syndicate diplomats accepted a Fourth District counteroffer. In order to facilitate the transfer of assets, the Fourth District created Fourth Infrastructure Investment Ltd as a holding corporation for the newly acquired assets.

On 21 June, the exchange took place, and the Fourth District took possession of I-MGAB immediately. It was only fitting that the outpost in this system was a Caldari design, and it was here that the Fourth District established its new administrative headquarters. The station was rechristened “Port Larren” after the Caldari Independent Navy Reserve's founder, Admiral Dev Larren. Over the next several weeks, the District took control of the rest of the cluster, assimilating its infrastructure into their alliance.

As the last systems fell under Fourth District control, the alliance entered further negotiations with CVA. The Reserve, which had founded 4TH, had been a close ally of CVA for many years, and for the most part adopting the Amarr social structure within Providence was not a difficult proposition. After a formal agreement on rules of engagement in Providence and the surrounding systems held under CVA's coalition, the Fourth District was named a Holder of Providence. Though titles of nobility are somewhat of an outmoded concept among the Caldari, being made a Holder within Providence conferred both benefits and obligations to the Fourth District, but also gave considerable independence from CVA; it was a prerequisite for Fourth District participation in Operation Deliverance that their enclave be self-governing and independent from the CVA military hierarchy. The agreement also ensured a mutual defense pact between both the Fourth District and CVA.

Over the last two years, a number of Caldari corporations have joined the Fourth District and established themselves in 4TH space. Black Phoenix Legion, another corporation with a long working relationship with CVA of largely Caldari and Khanid origin, joined not long after the establishment of the District's enclave, and was followed not long after by research and manufacturing corporation Lai Dai Infinity Systems, which was founded by a former member of CAIN. In late YC 114, Ubuntu Inc. joined the Fourth District, bringing a large number of new pilots of varying skill to the alliance. All three corporations were highly valued additions to the Fourth District's ranks, adding both combat and industrial capacity to the alliance's resources. There were departures from the District as well during this time. Cold Wing, which helped to found the District as well as the Providence enclave, departed the Fourth District on good terms, as its CEO, April Knox, decided to take her corporation in another direction.

Today, the Fourth District's constellation remains open for business to all non-hostile capsuleers, as with the rest of CVA and holder space. Corporate rules, as well as the dictates of both CVA and the Fourth District, must be accepted by new arrivals; arrangements for long-term residence may be best negotiated by contacting alliance or corporate diplomats.

Eleventh Alliance Tournament

To be updated

Twelfth Alliance Tournament

To be updated