DragonsPhyre

Where's the drinks? I'd like to say that at least none of us are Omniscient or TimLee. We meet minimum acceptable standards these days! In all seriousness, everybody that got to a position of leadership tried their best. Sometimes, it wasn't enough. Sometimes, we barely squeaked by. A few times, we were actually cool for a hot moment. Most alliances go through that. Few stick around through the worst of it and still recover at least a little bit afterward. I know we're not, like, top tier hotshots but I am very happy and proud of what we have accomplished through the years, regardless of what anyone else thinks. We've survived leadership through the whole range of utterly incompetent to truly excellent as well as a bunch of crises that might have wiped out lesser alliances and I think the essence of what makes us who we are has remained through the years, regardless of whatever the funny numbers say. Yes, that's the primary reason we're still around. I think you and I have actually talked about that before. There's just really not a whole lot that's worth caring about in this little world we share these days outside of the communities we've built.

I enjoy how people have been forecasting the fall of GATO since 2006 and we're still here. We're just vibin', man.

Honestly, in retrospect, going nuclear instead of restricting ourselves at the time might have been a good idea. Only thing is that I doubt we would have been able to surrender without NPO getting beat down first, which means we would have been committing to a longer war with that.

I dunno if you're aware but this is the OOC forum so.... I did give IAA a shiny medal and they have a prized role in our history for taking up arms in our defense in spite of us literally saying "it's fine if you say out", as do CSN, USN, and the Commie Volunteer Force. My job as Assembly Chairman was to ensure the survival of my alliance in whatever way I could so long as I could hold the trust of the General Assembly. We were looking at an entire coalition that seemed perfectly willing and eager to completely destroy GATO and had already inflicted enough damage that we lost much of our membership both old and new. It was a war on a scale and length that we were completely unprepared for against a force that exhibited no apparent mercy and no desire to make peace even during the rare times I actually got ahold of someone willing to talk. We were playing by rules enforced on us that were already changing elsewhere in the game and I was doing everything I could not to show the bitterness and distaste from GATO members on the forums specifically because I wanted it to be absolutely clear that we were interested more in peace than vengeance. That's a core tenet in the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, you know - peace and diplomacy over war and vengeance. We haven't held as true to that in the past years as I would have liked, but it's those ideals that led me here based on DasGirl's recruitment message at the time. Every voice counts here in a home that values peace, autonomy, diplomacy, and democracy in a place increasingly influenced by warmongers and deceivers. Anyway, since you seem to be taking our surrender in that war personally, here's how it happened. Moo-Cows messaged me on IRC and said they'd accept an unconditional surrender but he wanted an answer now. I had to push just to get the 24 hours we had to rush a discussion and vote through. Over two thirds of the alliance wanted peace and were willing to accept this cost. That's why we're still here. Even managed to be stubborn enough to come through the viceroy period basically unchanged because core membership didn't bail and instead fought to keep our core identity alive and well. There were no cowards here. We fought tooth and nail for as long as we could and then kept fighting during the peace to ensure the alliance remained a place we could call home. I was too burned out from the war to see it all through, sadly, but others managed to keep it going while I took a break. Sometimes, I do wonder what would have happened if we had said no and just kept fighting. Would the Karma War that erupted soon after have changed our fate? Could enough alliance members have weathered the storm long enough to make it there? Was our continued existence worth having NPO chains for a time? I don't really know the answers to these questions. All I know is that we made the best decision for the alliance and its members that we could with the information we had and if you want to be bitter that we didn't make the same decision that IAA did, then that's your problem to deal with.

Me? Personally? I'm just a nobody, sure, generally more focused on internal affairs stuff these past few years. Being AC during the war with 1V was enough to burn me out of inter-alliance politics so I stopped giving a !@#$ about "balance of power" and the oh-so-intricate plots of what amounts to a bunch of children imagining they're political geniuses because they can use their fists better than their words. Back before GW2, it was a lot more fun, a lot more political. I remember those times pretty fondly even if these public boards were a lot less civil. GATO has gone through quite a bit in these past fifteen years. We've lost and regained power, influence, strength, and even our sovereignty for a time. Our chosen task was never about ensuring a balance of power between the alliances on Planet Bob. It was to create a place where the principles of democracy, honor, and justice were held high, front and center, and we have done that through all the trials and tribulations that we have gone through. In the past, Pacifica sought to destroy us and to grind us beneath their heels into the dust as they built a world that served their philosophy of pure strength and power. They failed. Others have tried to humble us, change us, or isolate us to the mere periphery of planetary politics. Their success is always temporary. GATO remains. Our circumstances shift. Our friends come and go, some becoming enemies and some enemies becoming friends. Though the world may turn to irradiated ash and corpses pile high, GATO remains unchanged - bent maybe, bowed temporarily, but unbroken all the same. The General Assembly has always held the reigns of power, ultimately, and our commitment to honor, justice, and democracy is still the same as it was on the day of our founding. That, more than anything else, is why I am proud to be a part of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization. That is why my loyalty is to this alliance and no other. Balance of power? !@#$%^&*. So long as everyone else prefers to save their skin over anything else, there will be no balance of power possible. Can you say that about yourself, Grub, and Polaris? I suppose you can, at that. Polaris started as Pacifica's blue colony and look, you're still attached at the hips to Pacifican power and influence rather than standing on your own. Maybe come back to me about being "essentially immortal" and holding the "balance of power" when your legacy is anything more than as a man who reached for the stars and failed to realize he dug his own grave instead.

Bold words from a man in an alliance inside Oculus, the current powerful alliance bloc.

You can always come back to GATO, krabs.

I look forward to accomplishing nothing of note once more!

It's been over a decade, I believe, since the Legion and the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization shared a mutual defense agreement. We have both gone through multiple tumultuous events since then and have come out different for the experience. It's a good tie to see come alive to this degree again.

While I'm not FA or AC right now, the reasoning you've provided is pretty much our internal reasoning for this as well. For most of GATO's history, we've been very tolerant of how matters on the Brown sphere go as long as everyone gets along and nobody tries to explicitly interfere in our business, which does include placing sanctions when necessary or properly requested. Brown is not a place to make for political protests on that matter. Grey sphere is the place for escaping color sphere politics.

What coalition?

LSF was asked to stop supporting a rogue senator. They didn't. And honestly, given the trouble you have given us on Brown in previous incarnations, I'm fine with you being sanctioned.

I understand! I guess I'll just wait for another one to open up and then I can vent my frustration a bit about these stupid rogue senators. @Junka, calm down. This thread isn't even about you.

Sir William stole my slot.

Confirmed.

One step closer to rebuilding Aegis. :v

Ah, that might be it. Prior to my latest stint as AC, I never worked with him much on FA issues. 1V didn't give us much to talk about other than fighting a war and IAA's dissolution.

I'm only one woman. Not much of an Old Guard. Also, just really annoyed with Junka. We worked together a bit in 1V and apparently, he's gone weird since.

You've never wanted peace. When I stepped in to help negotiate something for peace on the Brown Sphere, you made that very clear with your choice of words and actions. Even in a private space where we could have found a way to help you save face publicly so that we could all get what we want, you made it clear that your terms were the only terms that mattered and peace was ever a secondary thought to getting what you wanted. You have damned your alliance with this insanity and even with this resignation, you continue to attempt the failed venture of seeking victory from a position of weakness. No amount of puffed up feathers or threats of doom for the lower tier will grant your alliance peace. Only actually seeking that peace earnestly and without guile grants you lasting peace, not only on the battlefields of valor and propaganda, but also within your borders. If you seek an eternal crusade, then own it for yourself and none other.

I dunno about more effective. Geez, nostalgia. GATO at our membership peak was basically a political warzone inside the walls. We only agreed to the basics. Everything else was up for debate. For a while, I felt like we were just a training ground for Pacificans given that so many Ministers or ACs converted to them over time. Hell, Letum was AC of GATO and ended up being Emperor of NPO later.

It's still alive and well in GATO. I actually ended up missing the vote because of second breakfast.

Clearly, if Junka is a candidate, then he has already conquered you. You need only yield to him as your proper liege lord.

He definitely didn't seem like he was and the rest of the Pacifican government at the time made it abundantly clear that they were carrying it out as a war of extermination until told otherwise. We had a few in peace mode and I recall at least one opted for removing themselves from the equation over it. krabs pointed out the one that did have to agree to extra terms - those nations were not automatically given peace like the rest of us. Eventually, I'm sure we would have resorted to nukes once we reached the real breaking point, but that felt like it was going to resign us to a FAN-style situation we just weren't prepared and able to handle at the time. The treaty we signed at the end was a condition for release, yes, one we don't regret signing these days. Funny. It was a total cluster$%&@ but I haven't seen such active unity or cooperation in GATO before or since. Such is the way of things.

I remember when I first joined GATO back in the bad old days of pre-GW2, when the rivalry between the GATO and NPO spheres was at its height. This place was full of propaganda from both sides and internal politics were .... interesting, to say the least. I was young and fiercely idealistic, but still dealing with my own demons at home at the time, so I burnt out fast despite falling hard in the love with the ideals and values of the Global Alliance and many of our allies at the time. That was the first time I dropped out. The second time was after all the fun of GW2 & I think 3. This time, I took a more active role in running the alliance, ultimately becoming BarbulaM1's deputy chair man. The revelations regarding Chris Kaos and BarbulaM1's knowledge of it blew up the alliance politically and the start of Pacifica's retribution for it blew us up pretty literally. We were in chaos, scrambling to put up some kind of fight while figuring out what the hell was going on. I'll never forget those who fought beside us in that war. The Imperial Assault Alliance, the Commonwealth of Sovereign Nations, United Sovereign Nations, and of course, the Commie Volunteers have places of honor in my memories, even if CSN and USN were a little bitter about it afterwards. We fought fiercely, all of us, some nations fighting all the way to nonexistence and the IAA ultimately dissolving as the terms that Pacifica demanded were deemed too severe. As Deputy and then Assembly Chairman, I remember long nights and discussions on how we were going to pull ourselves out of this fire even remotely intact. Our enemy seemed implacable, their numbers beyond any means of countering effectively, and their combined strength too much to stand against for an extended period of time. And of course... Lizardo's large number of private messages telling me how I ought to run the war. We were not without victories, both personally and on the international stage. OFS's decision to attack Arciel was puzzling and we quickly secured a win there since they thankfully realized they were being beyond stupid. Several of us were able to organize into raiding teams where we focused on looting Pacifican tech dealers freshly funded for cash and spread out the gains as much as we could. Camaraderie was high, activity within the core strong. None of it was really enough. I was getting warnings from senior members that they were cash-locked and unable to do anything but watch their country burn. Our resignation thread saw a surge in activity. Many just simply disappeared as if ghosts. We had been fighting for a couple months now and it was clear we were getting to be nothing but scrawny tomcats too weak to do much. I forced members to be polite on the OWF or be quiet. We made the decision early on not to use nukes as this was prior to them being basically considered more powerful cruise missiles in wartime and we were concerned this would harden Pacifica's stance. I contacted MooCows regularly or pretty much any senior Pacifican that would listen - what would it take for peace? Haven't we already had enough suffering for one man's sins? When the answer finally came, it was a surprise and a disappointment. Our complete submission to the Pacifican machine was demanded. I told him we needed to discuss this, to vote. This was a term too severe to ask of our Congress but one that needed the input of our entire remaining General Assembly. I was told we were being given 24 hours or else we would face certain eternal war. So that was the choice we were asked to make in a 24 hour time span - Subjugation or eternal war. We still have the thread up in our archives and the resulting vote. I argued for the peace - better alive to recover and move the fight of survival to a theatre we were better prepared to fight than to keep up a losing fight and consign ourselves to complete irrelevance like FAN. As history notes, we ultimately accepted the offer. Hindsight being 20/20, maybe we oughtn't have but it seemed the best in a bad situation. I wasn't there for much of the viceroy as a hurricane ended that phase of my career pretty solidly, but I can still see the fight we fought to not only remain alive but to remain true to our founding ideals and values even as we were all exhausted from the earlier fight and just wanted to sit there and rebuild for a bit. As we are celebrating our 11th birthday this month, I feel that we made the right decision. We are still, in a sense, traumatized from the experience. The alliance was in basically survival mode for years afterwards, including when TimLee & co advocated for us joining CnG (which I argued against) and allowing us to be more ... adventurous (which I was also not a big fan of at the time). The alliance is still basically the same beast it was before, if a little softer and more scarred. I'm proud to be a part of this community. Some of these people are real friends now. Some are still asshats. We're all still loyal to the alliance and willing to do what's necessary to see it succeed, at least in some fashion. Hopefully, the new blood will help out more there - Alexio and the rest of Atlas are fine additions to the alliance. Here's to another year. o/ GATO

It's been awhile since I've done any fighting. Please excuse my ineptitude. The last time I fought, I was leading the alliance through fighting half of the world led by NPO. We may no longer be the fierce, shining beacon we once were but the light is still lit.