Imagine There's A War...

Wars. Oh, Empire Wars.

One of the things which really messes up the day of an industrialist: securing all POSes, having to stand guard while mining or hauling, and, worst of all, watching the reduced profit on the balance sheets.

Of course, in the beginning there is excitement, too - finally a chance to pull the dust covers of all the shiny faction toys which will surely bring us the victory, after all, remember how we ran Angel Extravaganza in just two of these beauties? These pirates, just let them come!

Such is the chatter in the ranks, while the CEOs check the balance on their War Chests, knowing full well that the war will likely end with an impromptu WH op or extended vacations.

These and others were my thoughts when I accepted the message about two weeks ago. Certified delivery, and from CONCORD - that could mean only one thing. And indeed, the Evil-Bastards had declared war on The Last Stand. Fighting was permitted to commence within 24 hours. And to throw a twist into the event, a little research showed that our opponents had taken out a tower in a previous war.

Oh well.

The usual flurry erupted: people dashing their Industrials to their POSes, to unceremoniously dump fuel into the bays or to prudently unanchor modules too valuable to risk; others moving their combat ships into less conspicuous locations, swearing that this time they really will prepare a fleet of 10, nay, 20 ready-fitted combat ships, Promise!; all the while our Intel officers delivering updates on who what where when.

The destined hour arrived, we received the customary “Good luck, folks” from our local CONCORD office, and then we were on our own.

And waited. And waited.

As our increasingly annoyed agents confirmed, the scumbags were still in Jita. Or Hek. Or whatever other trade hub you could think of, obviously waiting for us to drop by for tea and cookies.

C’mon guys, you war-decced us! Do we have to do everything for you? Sheesh!

And thus passed a very quiet week, with just the occasional fly-by, and one exchange of mildly agitated words, and when the day came, we offlined some weapons, stepped down our alertness, and got back to the business of ISK.

...only to be war-decced again two days later, by the Legion of Sun Tzu. This time our opponents actually had a plan: they had found a research POS which we had forgotten to refuel, and decided that a fireworks display was in order. By the time we caught on, the deed was done and the war was retracted.

Bastards! We had just updated our balance sheets!