To all Federation commanders -
Good day to you. My name is CMDR Bloodhawk and I lead a Federation outfit called the Merchant Marines. It's one of the biggest Fed groups in-game right now and we were working on Op. Blossom prior to negotiating a non-aggression pact with the East India Company.
I see that there are some of you who call that surrender. I must take exception to this. The meta-game truth is that Liaedin is likely locked, at least until 1.3. The reason for that is its status is part of lore, as a piece of a bigger Federation-Empire peace treaty. Liaedin is unlikely to flip, regardless of influence, until FD decides the Federation and Empire is to go into full-frontal war. Notice that no faction is war critical despite the HUGE influence shift. Furthermore, all empire groups had caught on to Op. Blossom, even knowing it by name, dramatically reducing its chance of success.
I believe sincerely and absolutely that the peace negotiation was big win for the Federation. We allow the empire to keep Liaedin, but have neutered its significance completely - if it can't be used as a platform for expansion, what use is it? Additionally, we agreed that the factional standings in Liaedin would be set at non-expandable levels, so Patron's Principles couldn't expand even if some rogue commanders tried. Furthermore, we agreed that Crimson would have a significant influence level in Liaedin as the second-most influential faction, so that we could re-activate Blossom if the need arose. This is a HUGE win for us, one which was made possible by brave commanders carrying out Blossom. We have been monitoring the situation post-treaty and are satisfied that this remains unbroken on the empire side.
Volungu is fair game for us Feds. We can push PP down to 0% if we so desired and the EIC and its allies can do nothing about it due to the treaty. They won't participate in the conflict zones. They are locked into the insignifcant island that is Liaedin and must stay there. This is a win.
Federation literally means united. I humbly ask those Federation pilots reading this to unite with us, win the war in Volungu and let the imperials have their worthless piece of system called Liaedin. We have de-clawed de-fanged that lion and its strategic value is lost. Yet real, imminent threats assault us in other systems, where we can desperately use support. Join us in Papercut. Or fight the slavers in one of the myriad star systems where they deign to expand. Let us be Federated.
-CMDR Bloodhawk