We're at war!

That's right, my corp has had war declared against it by a band of pirates calling themselves Darkside Inc. This happened about 5 days ago, and as soon as it happened, I was forced to cancel my travel plans and return back to corp HQ. War plans needed to be arranged.

What an interesting time it's been! I've never been in a war before, and it's actually quite amusing. You have these pirates scurrying around taking it all so very seriously, getting upset when you taunt them by running around the system in a shuttle, then calling you all manner of names for not fighting their group of elite cruisers and battleships in your T1 cruiser.

I mean, really... what kind of idiot chooses to engage in a battle they can't win?

I've always thought that the reason there are scammers is because there are always idiots who fall for the scam, and thus encourage even more scamming. I think it's the same reason why pirates decide to declare war against small or new corporations, because those corps either pay them the money the pirates demand, or they rush out on their noble steeds to do battle only to find they get crushed by the armoured tanks that roll over them. You can't fight tanks with horses...

And so, over time, we have pirates who have learnt that the more they declare war on naive corporations, the more easy victims they'll get.

Unfortunately for Darkside Inc, Black Scorpion Ltd is not a naive corporation led by a naive CEO. When I received their war declaration, I sent them a message offering terms for their surrender. It's a shame they declined.

I know that as a new CEO of a new corp filled with many new pilots, our chances of success in battle against the pirates is limited. Therefore, if the strategy of the pirates is to do battle in order to win, then in the words of Sun Tzu:

What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

The enemy's strategy is to engage in battle against an inferior force. Therefore, in order to attack their strategy we must ensure that we avoid battle.

If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If [corp and members] are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

Against a superior force, it would be foolish of us to engage them. This is the naivety that they hope for. Instead, we evade them. Showing themselves to be temperamental and arrogant, we irritate them. It's hilarious. Being new-ish and with no implants, it's of little concern to me that I might get attacked in my shuttle and podkilled. I jumpt in another shuttle and continue taunting them by evading them and leading them on merry chases around the system.

I don't mind telling them this, if they are reading, as I am quite happy to make them understand their war is pointless. It will not be us who surrenders due to losses, it will be them who surrenders due to their inability to succeed.

The final quote from Sun Tzu I'll use is this:

To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

The goals of Darkside Inc is to have us pay them 500m ISK, or our destruction (eg. disbanding the corp). Declaring war on a corp is successful if the goals of such a war is achieved. If the aggressor fails in achieving their goals, then the defender is the victor.

Black Scorpion Ltd is, admittedly, a weak anti-pirate corporation, but we are a growing corporation, and with growth will come strength. There have been a few members who have left us in fear, but this has been expected. This war will make us stronger as it eliminates the weakest links. Victory goes to the pirates only if we succumb to their demands, and that simply is never going to happen.

Pirates like Darkside Inc. need to be taught a lesson. Their strategy of declaring war against weak corporations and showing themselves to be the cowardly 'bullies' that they obviously are, has to stop. It has to stop now. It stops with me.

If any other corporations out there would like to join me in helping make it stop, please contact me. Together, we will show the pirates that they can not succeed against a determined force that will never surrender.