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Regarding Pre-Karma Misconceptions


Xiphosis

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Specifically I'd like to address the misunderstanding about "Bastion" as well as "The Hangout." Bastion was an effort that began when ochocinco, then Umbrella, myself and Delta1212 ran into each other while trying to establish a bloc to defend Gre from what we felt was an imminent attack by NPO. The ties between Citadel and SF were minimal - through FARK only - and it would've hindered our options in entering significantly, as well as made communication and organization that much harder.

The bloc we nearly made was referred to as Bastion. It compromised of Sparta, FOK, Umbrella, Gre, RnR, RIA, GOD, FARK and for a moment, MHA. The bloc was stymied for quite some time, initially. We were informed Gre and MHA would not be signing if the other didn't, but neither would take the initiative to do so first. We were informed [with regret] by Umbrella that without another Citadel signatory, the odds of it passing a vote with their Guard were next to nothing.

Around a month in MHA was removed from the bloc. To be curt about it, they invited NPO. They were thus cut off and the channels moved. When Electron Sponge leaked the contents of the bloc as well as the signatories to the public, TOP became aware of it's existence and lobbied extensively within Umbrella and Gremlins - often times through 'friendly' members in the alliances - to have it defeated. They single-handedly guaranteed the bloc didn't pass.

Shortly thereafter they tried to create a different bloc, compromised of all the originals except with all SF excluded but FARK. It was referred to as The Hangout. It was felt by TOP that FARK was more in line with their prick behavior than the other SF, and thus more amiable. In addition some other names were added, I'm not aware of the full roster. That bloc failed as well.

I'm posting this as many people conflate Bastion and The Hangout and I'm not a little sick of explaining the whole backstory. TOP, with the firm belief that they alone [with their amazing political skills] could keep Citadel and Q at peace, did knowingly sabotage three months worth of work to strengthen Citadel-SF ties and lay infrastructure before NPO did what we knew was coming; attack.

Edit: Also, the "Bastion" that was signed between VE, RIA and RoK was a treaty they had already signed and were going to announce. It was suggested that they rename it to Bastion to throw people off [after ES's leak].

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Meh. Still sprouting this story even though I've already corrected you on it at your own forums?

There's nothing to correct. I linked this post to my friends from that time when I wrote it and they confirmed it to be true. I'm so sorry it shows TOP into a poor light. A lot of your actions do.

Where does CentCom factor into this? That's the only one I ever heard of, with a similar lineup. Was that just an earlier/later name?

o_O. I have no idea what that is.

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So MHA thought it would be a good idea to invite NPO to a bloc intended to protect Gre from NPO? Do they try to be the worst alliance ever, or does it just come naturally?

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So MHA thought it would be a good idea to invite NPO to a bloc intended to protect Gre from NPO?

Yes. In fairness, Crush was supportive of the bloc, but there was absolutely no point man for MHA considering they run on a Triumvirate. I forget which one of them invited them, but it was monumentally facepalm.

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Meh. Still sprouting this story even though I've already corrected you on it at your own forums?

I do think this is a very good representation of the events which were going on at the time.

Yes. In fairness, Crush was supportive of the bloc, but there was absolutely no point man for MHA considering they run on a Triumvirate. I forget which one of them invited them, but it was monumentally facepalm.

We were in a continuous state of doubt of MHA´s intentions, every time a new triumvir got elected the direction they would go could change.

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You are giving TOP rather too much credit. They certainly did not 'single handedly' defeat Bastion; Harmlins were never fully convinced of the purpose or character of the proposed bloc, and I don't remember a time when Grämlins was in 'we will probably sign this' mode. We had no relationship with several of the proposed alliances and did not want to sign purely political treaties (we learnt our lesson on that from Continuum).

And again with Hangout, you put too much of your thought into TOP. That bloc was an attempt to formalise the 'Citadel+' power sphere and invitations were given to all Citadel signatories and most of their allies (but not IRON and NPO). The list of alliances with Q&A threads on the Hangout boards (I am the board owner) is: MHA, TOP, FCC, Sparta, FOK, Fark, Grämlins, Umbrella. Old Guard were also invited but decided not to proceed. The rest of SF wasn't included because none of them had a strong relationship with Citadel alliances, not because of TOP.

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o_O. I have no idea what that is.

I'm not sure how far this ever really got, we were never super into it. I don't know who's idea it was originally. But the suggested lineup was STA, CSN, VE, FOK, Sparta, GOD, RoK, RnR and RIA.

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I'm not sure how far this ever really got, we were never super into it. I don't know who's idea it was originally. But the suggested lineup was STA, CSN, VE, FOK, Sparta, GOD, RoK, RnR and RIA.

What a strange grouping.

Also, I wish to see some of these 'classless avatars'. If sufficiently offensive, I would happily adopt one as my own.

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I'm not sure how far this ever really got, we were never super into it. I don't know who's idea it was originally. But the suggested lineup was STA, CSN, VE, FOK, Sparta, GOD, RoK, RnR and RIA.

wat? lol

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I'm not sure how far this ever really got, we were never super into it. I don't know who's idea it was originally. But the suggested lineup was STA, CSN, VE, FOK, Sparta, GOD, RoK, RnR and RIA.

I also never heard of it, so I doubt it was ever under very serious consideration.

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Bob's post sums up what I remember from the whole episode with one exception:

From TOP's perspective, Hangout had an ulterior motive. Not only was it supposed to be a Citadel+ consolidation, it was also supposed to help extricate us from Q without bloodshed. TOP's involvement in Hangout ended when it became clear that several proposed signatories wanted Hangout to be the tip of the spear pointed at NPO's heart.

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Bob's post sums up what I remember from the whole episode with one exception:

From TOP's perspective, Hangout had an ulterior motive. Not only was it supposed to be a Citadel+ consolidation, it was also supposed to help extricate us from Q without bloodshed. TOP's involvement in Hangout ended when it became clear that several proposed signatories wanted Hangout to be the tip of the spear pointed at NPO's heart.

Turns out you should've joined in on that, eh?

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Turns out you should've joined in on that, eh?

It was a step that we weren't emotionally prepared to take at that time. While it might have been politically expedient to do so, we do have standards to which we try to adhere. Refraining from masterminding the destruction of your oldest ally is one of those standards.

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wat? lol

You weren't around yet, Farker. :P

And Xiph, are you sure you don't remember? Going back and checking the thread, it says "I think Xiph is going around the block one at a time" (inviting people).

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It was a step that we weren't emotionally prepared to take at that time. While it might have been politically expedient to do so, we do have standards to which we try to adhere. Refraining from masterminding the destruction of your oldest ally is one of those standards.

Oh I know. You always put the NPO first until the Karma war.

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Oh I know. You always put the NPO first until the Karma war.

Actually, it sounded to me as if they'd put Gre first. I even asked a Heptagon member before Karma started(months before) and he told me they'd side with Gre and FOK.

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Oh I know. You always put the NPO first until the Karma war.

No, mainly we put treaties that we have signed over treaties that we haven't. I like how you take issue with that.

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