Difference between revisions of "Nation war of resurgence"

Revision as of 15:11, 26 February 2011

This article contains information on pre-war Sansha's Nation attacks and the current state of hostilities. If you want to learn more about the specific warships Nation is now using in the large-scale incursions across New Eden, please refer to the Sanshadex.

Summary

Since early YC 112, we have seen a remarkable and previously-unforeseen shift in the geopolitical and military strategic balance throughout EVE. Far from being the broken and crumbling remnants of the empire destroyed a century ago, Sansha’s Nation has returned after years of meticulous preparation and assembly of a vast war machine. This GalNet page is mean to list key pre-war events (in some detail), and facilitate historical tracking of wartime incursions. Due to security concerns it is not meant to serve as an end-all source, but please note it will be periodically updated and revised as necessary. Questions over its content may be addressed to Commander Samuel Baxter (CEO of The Synenose Accord), or Commander Guthris (FCORD Commanding Officer).

Pre-War Key Events

YC 108: Signs of Re-Emergence

It is now believed that Nation’s campaign was well underway by YC 108, pointing to and underscoring the long-term planning and preparations necessary to support the activities of the last eight months. In the middle of that year, sources in Stain and lower Catch began reporting increased probe activity, and the reorganization of Nation fleets in Stain. There was also much-derided public commentary by an individual identified only as “Sansha’s Speaker,” who openly threatened war against Angel Cartel assets operating in former Nation territory [1].

05.07.112 – 05.10.112: Ducia Foundry Attack and the Ishaeka Reports

Nation's return first became public knowledge following an attack in 05.112 on a Ducia Foundry outpost in the X-70MU system [2]. Following news reporting of the incident, a Synenose Accord report is believed to have attracted the attention of a still-unidentified source, who sent a GalNet link to Justin Vallar (warning at the same time that CONCORD had been hiding something from the capsuleer community).

Attached to the message was a GalNet link leading to a series of documents hosted on an external server (at the time only Ishaeka 01 and 15 were available). Report 15 concerned the Nation's involvement in the Ducia Foundry attack (at the time, Nation had not been considered a suspect). Acting on the information contained in the reports, a joint expedition (including assets of the Synenose Accord, Moira, and Kumiho’s Smile) attempted a search of the X-70MU system for further evidence but found nothing. At approximately the same time as this search, the W-space J235456 (System) was identified as the staging grounds for the X-70MU attack.

05.11.112: Ishaeka Reports Public Dissemination and CONCORD Response

Public dissemination of the Ishaeka Reports did not take place until 05.11.112, and transpired in response to Nation incursions in the Kaaptuenen, Frarn, Renyn, and Ashab systems. CONCORD Task Force Ishaeka, the primary unit involved with anti-Nation operations at that time, is believed to have attempted an (unsuccessful) removal of the information from public hosting. Task Force Commander Vieve Creston, in a public statement, also attributed the success of ongoing incursions to capsuleer involvement [3], beginning a repeated pattern of denial and suppression of information by the CONCORD Assembly and Inner Circle.

05.17.112: Raid on the Taisy System

The majority of Nation's pre-war incursion were focused on the "harvesting" of new slaves, but from time-to-time an incursion aimed at gathering specific resources occurred. One of the earliest of these attacks took place on 05.17.112 in the Taisy system, home to the Kyonoke Pit. Post-battle analysis of communications records suggests approximately 5000m3 of unidentified substance was removed from the System by Nation forces, but according to Federation Navy officer Omune Balenne the pit itself was not breached [4].

05.20.112: Operation Bad Moon

The use of commercially-available ECM gravimetric equipment as a weapon against Nation wormholes was first pioneered by a group of volunteers during Operation Bad Moon, which took place in the Romi system on 05.20.112 [5]. Since then ECM equipment has become standard-issue at all incursion engagements.

12.05.112: Monalaz Constellation Operation (MCO)

The MCO was the second-most-important operation conducted by Nation thus far to date, and laid the groundwork for multiple follow-on operations. Its objective was the deployment of communication arrays (in the Imya, Anyed, and Atem systems) that would allow infiltration of CONCORD's computer systems. The operation was accompanied by the use of two "newer" tactics.

First, it marked the debut of denial-and-deception as a key tactic by Nation's forces. Key among this was intercepted and decrypted communications which clashed over the whether the operation would include a mysterious "fourth commander," the dates and times of the systems to be attacked, how long it would take the arrays to be made active, and if the operation would be negatively affected by the death of any on-scene commanders. Overall these served to confuse defending forces and ensured Nation's success.

Second, Nation's communications and tactics around this period increasingly focused on the threat posed by capsuleers. A pre-incursion warning from late November had shifted an attack time forward in order to avoid the times of most activity [6]. During the MCO Nation deployed its commanders and wormholes in locations that forced the use of probes, buying them vital time for success. (The latter tactic was repeated in following incursions, prolonging attacks and allowing Nation commanders extra time to complete their objectives.)

01.23.113: Yulai

Yulai was the most-important operation conducted by Nation and was successful because (1) it demonstrated unchallenged superiority over CONCORD, and (2) was conducted under the personal leadership of Sansha Kuvakei. There were three objectives to this operation: (1) to compromise CONCORD defenses in the Yulai system, (2) to override CONCORD cluster-wide defenses and stargate protocols, and (3) to establish a wormhole linking the Promised Land system with Nation (it can still be observed in proximity to Planet 2, the longest one to remain in place to date).

Nation remotely reactivated the uplinks in the Monalaz Constellation for this operation, a change from a previous incursion on 12.13.112, in order to disable the defenses for the CONCORD HQ in Yulai. Kuvakei also implied that protocols to interfere with stargate subroutines have been uploaded, which is possibly how Nation has able to project constellation-wide cynosural fields at every wartime incursion since then.

The actual "war" itself began two days later with the first major attack into high security Empire space.

Nation's Wartime Priorities and Intelligence Gaps

Kuvakei and Capsuleers

Sansha Kuvakei clearly perceives capsuleers as the single-largest threat to his plans, but his attempts to marginalize and diminish capsuleer opposition have thus far been abject failures. Prior to and during the Monalaz Constellation Operation attack times and disinformation were leaked to capsuleers in order to diminish opposition, but multiple fleets were still able to mobilize and fight back. At Yulai, he claimed that neutralizing CONCORD would expose internal weaknesses and squabbling, thereby allowing him victory, but opposition to every wartime incursion has continued since then while losses amongst anti-Nation forces have diminished. Since Yulai he has not made any public statements but this is believed to still remain a key obsession of his.

Infiltration of CONCORD and the Empires

In the runup to the war Nation placed emphasis on infiltrating CONCORD and the Empire militaries. A noted example was the activities of Sutola Endoma (now known as Slave Endoma01), a CONCORD commander who was later exposed as a Nation sympathizer before fleeing to Nation [7],[8]. Another example was CONCORD Special Operative Haeldone Dorgiers, whose personal files were hacked on 12.13.112 due to his high level of interaction and coordination with the capsuleer community. Nation interest in the Amarrian Justiciar military unit also surfaced in reporting from 12.112, but no further information has come to light since then.

The Nation Wormhole Device

In the pre-war incursions, Sansha's Nation used a device (of unknown origin) to artificially generate the wormholes through which their forces traveled. We know a bit about this device. Based on the results of "Project Hydrogen Bomb" it is believed that it was the sole piece of equipment of its type, making it an invaluable asset to their plans [9]. It is believed to be mobile and may have been aboard Kuvakei's flagship (a Revenant class supercarrier) at Yulai, but it is unknown if the ship had received special modifications to permit its use. Pre-war Nation capital ships were frequently observed in proximity to the wormholes, suggesting that only they possessed the capabilities or equipment to stabilize them. As of this update (02.26.113) no anti-Nation ships have been able to travel through a wormhole.

The location and destruction of this device is considered a top priority by both the Federation Navy and The Synenose Coalition.

The Jove Angle

So far to date, Nation has had four known or suspected interactions with the Jove Directorate or Jove technology.

1. In 08.105 Jovian Admiral Ouria defected from the Jovian Directorate, and met with still-unidentified parties in the Stain region (long a hotbed of Nation activity) [10].

2. On 06.26.112 imagery captured by Pilot Mouse Nell identified a large concentration of Nation ships in close proximity to a Jove station (later identified as the Prosper Vault in the 3-CE1R system) [11]. On 12.09.112 Task Force Ishaeka issued a report on this matter.

3. On 06.27.112 Nation's forces successfully captured a Jove frigate and cartesian temporal coordinator in the Antem system.

4. Complex fullerene shards were detected aboard Nation capital ships at several incursions in late 112.

Antem

Since the first incursion in the Antem system on 06.27.112, Antem has been attacked, at least, six times, the most of any system in New Eden. Three significant events have occured in the system or its neighbors: the 06.27.112 capture of the Jovian frigate and cartesian temporal coordinator, the Monalaz Constellation Operation on 12.05.112 (ref. news report), and the re-use of the Monalaz uplinks on 12.13.112 to download the personal files of Haeldone Dorgiers. Why this system and the surrounding area has been the focus of such high-profile activity remains unknown.

Useful References

- The Ishaeka Reports

- Sansha Nation Strategic Intelligence Analysis (Darranibal Colpia)

- Special Contingency Von Dach: The Use of Planetary Defense Infrastructure During Incursions (Star Fraction)

- Understanding the Sansha Threat (Federation Navy Report)