Another flash piece from myself, written up before I go ADHD and forget about it...
While historically Gallentean trained, the Republic Fleet and Infantry have, in recent years, evolved into an extremely distinct fighting force. Without the hi-tech equipment of the Federation and Caldari militaries, who endlessly try to outdo each other, or the sheer industrial base and size of the Amarr Empire, the Minmatar have nonetheless been able to sustain themselves as one of the four major powers while, as far as the numbers say, remaining the least developed of them all. Brutal training, the ingenious application of what many would label as outdated technology, and using their scientific impairment to their advantage has made the Minmatar armed forces a completely distinct force of its own.
This is where Federal Forces Pator has changed in purpose in recent years. Established in the formation of the Republic as a training center on Matar, this massive military complex houses personnel and equipment from all branches of the Federation armed services, as well as various servicemembers of the Minmatar. FFP was originally designed to train and equip the new forces of the Minmatar Republic, who have not had a standing military for hundreds of years. As the Republic Military School was established and their armed forces began to flourish on its own, many politicians and brass from both allied countries began to debate amongst themselves what the future of Federal Forces Pator should be. During the Midular years, it was simply dismissed as being an important element of keeping the two militaries together, with various endeavours such as the successful Officer Exchange program. Joint exercises and ceremonies continued, even if there was no clear end goal in sight.
Eventually, FFP became nothing more than a vacation center for Gallentean military personnel on tour there. Skiing trips in the mountains inhabited by the Krusual, desert expeditions, and various other sports and adventure training all across tropical Matar became the norm. This rapidly became a point of derision by Republic citizens, doing no good for stereotypes about Gallentean pleasure-seeking and laziness, as well as feeling that their tax money was being wasted on so-called "soldiers" of the Federation to spend their allocated AT days. Acknowledging the embarassments and exploitation of the Matar homeworld, the Federation military command decided to repurpose the complex. Instead, in the past decade, the Minmatar have been teaching their Gallentean peers their own tactics and strategies. Consistently, mock battles between Federation Marines and Republic Infantrymen would have the latter come out on top; the over-reliance on drones and automated technology left a gap in more traditional methods, which the Minmatar exploited ruthlessly. Indeed, this is one of the many factors that has the Minmatar able to outdo their Gallentean allies and their Caldari proxy enemies, a tactic that stretches all the way back to the Rebellion.
Now, the more idealistic and sentimental would say that the Minmatar are "giving back" to their Gallentean allies or lords and masters, depending on who you ask. Putting their technology aside, Gallentean soldiers are trained ruthlessly on mountain warfare by Krusual tribal warriors, desert survival by the Vherokior, and brutal hand-to-hand combat by the Brutor. Consistently, the Gallenteans aren't able to keep up, even the ones who are ethnically Minmatar, something that is of great offence to the "true" and/or Republic Minmatar, but this is only used as a point of encouragement to further brutalize their training, so that all Minmatar, regardless of home nation, are up to the standard.
After the Elder War, the rise of Shakor and boosts in both funding and recruitment to the Federation military, both the Republic Parliament and Federation Senate have systematically cut back their annual budget to Federal Forces Pator. It is expected that the military base will close in the next few years, but it will remain a testament to the historic alliance and friendly rivalry of the two nations.
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Topic: Federal Forces Pator (Read 1008 times)