Summary of the Politics in Beta

Hello again everyone. As I look at the list of members in our great guild, I cannot help but notice the ever increasing number of newcomers among us. So for those of you who do not know the great scope of history to this server, I present this summary...

The situation we're in today began long ago, taking shape for the first time in what became known as the Second Server War. Back then, the face of Beta was rather different from what it is now. At that time, The GOONion was the main powerhouse on the server. Comprised of [GOON] and their various affiliate guilds. Together they dominated the lower galaxies and made constant attacks on the uppers, making mortal enemies with Band of Brothers [BoB] and other independent guilds. Inevitably the situation came to a head, and the various guilds that hated the GOONs united to form the RAGE coalition. Consisting of Astroholics Anonymous [AA], Project Meteor [PM] and numerous other guilds, they prepared a force to bring down the GOONion...

During the course of that war, Mordor, which at the time was among the top 5 guilds on the server, joined the RAGE coalition. MI5's own strong ties to Mordor brought us into the fight along side them, and soon we were a part of RAGE. At one point in the war, a large number of RAGE members came over to MI5 to use our JGs and coordinate some attacks. This was over a year ago, and I took a screenshot to commemorate the occasion. Well, time went on and eventually the momentum of the war led to the GOONion's downfall. The RAGE block took its place at the top of Beta. But to the surprise of many involved, the RAGE block did not dissolve after the war. Instead they took their natural place of power atop all the other guilds and proceeded to exploit their strength and position for their own gain. In the months following the end of the SSW, RAGE turned against various guilds they no longer valued as allies. Mordor did not want to be a part of this, and so they left the RAGE block. RAGE responded by declaring war on Mordor. In response to that, we stuck with our closest allies and left RAGE to fight along side Mordor again. The GOONion decided to take this opportunity to strike back at RAGE and declared war on them. It wasn't long before things heated up into another server war.

At first it seemed to be a three-way standoff between the RAGE block, the GOONion, and the Mordor alliance. But as it was soon clear that RAGE had the upper hand in it all, Mordor and the GOONs joined forces. It was a very surreal time for me, and other old timers, to be allied with the GOONs, who we had been at war with only a few months previously. But we got over our unease and soon we were gathering our fleets together. And thus began the Third Server War, which has become known somewhat as the Blob War. This war dragged on for many months, as the GOON side and the RAGE side blobbed massive fleets in the lower galaxies, and faced off across the galaxies. It was like an unending stalemate, with neither side willing to flinch first. But finally things came to a head in the event known as the Day of a Thousand Pew Pews, which I wrote about earlier in this blog, back when it happened. The GOON blob crashed into the RAGE blob and the echoes of countless billions in fleets smashed the crap out of each other until there was nothing left but debris... and RAGE. Yes sadly RAGE won out again, and now a truly decimated GOONion was forced into surrender. MI5 returned to our home up here in the 50s and were lucky enough to stay out of most of the aftermath of that war, but Mordor and many others that had stood against RAGE found themselves in a rather nasty situation.

The war has been over for quite some time now, and Beta has been just drifting lately, but the situation with RAGE is far from over. AA now runs rampant slaughtering whoever they please, as was demonstrated by their half-assed assault on us last month. PM got bored with peace and declared on PTSS, the two of them crashing around all over the place. GOON is currently trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild, and MI5 is watching it all. Interesting times are coming to Beta in the near future. Some things are uncertain, especially regarding the various alliances that have been held in the past. But amidst all this uncertainty, some amazing things are coming our way as well. Soon we will be welcoming back into our midst two of the most influential people in our entire history. Thyriel and Kel-do-rah, legendary founders of the Commonwealth, are coming back to Astro Empires after nearly two years away from the game. It is with great excitement that we can welcome them back. I see good days ahead for MI5.

Long live the Spooks!