As you probably know, Independence Day is coming. It's one of the big chapters of the history of TSP, like most of the coup stuff that'd happen. As the story goes, LadyRebels, at the time of her first delegacy. (7th to hold the position) She refused to fly the flag of the Atlantic Central Command over the South Pacific. She was ordered in several occasions by the Supreme Commander of the ACC, Pilmour whom she lost the position to. By one vote. Pilmour also called the South Pacific as an ACC stronghold and to recruit nations on the RMB. In the end LadyRebels resigned from the ACC. Because of what happened, Pilmour was removed by vote of no confidence. And the Cultural Act now mark this as Independence day, the end of UCR's (User Created Regions) control over the South Pacific.

By the courage of LadyRebels, she avoided more turmoil which may happened TSP. While there are still coups after that, it is important to remember our history. Making sure it does not repeat itself. Which is why we are celebrating Independence Day, to remember its legacy and also have fun! Like LadyRebels who started the tradition of wearing lampshades in TSP. So come and !grabs your lampshades! (Also, now the ACC is in the hands of TSP. How's that for a comeback?)

We still got lots of fun to look out for like Cards against Nationstates, Haiku Contest, Kahoot quiz, Tetr.io Wednesday, Theme Thursday. Most of which that have a specific time of hosting will be hosted by Apatosaurus. For the Kahoot I'll be making it, 20 questions. Some hard, some easy, some give you double points. You don't want to miss it and all the other events. (I really wanna do CAN if I wans't to busy) Now you're probably saying "Where's the defender stuff?" HS will be telling you all about it below!

For more information about Independence Day here are some links to articles in events that's connected to the day, like Coalition Day 2016 or Independence Day: 2020

The South Pacific Special Forces is the defender-aligned military of the South Pacific - we focus on defending the right to self-determination around the world - specifically, ensuring that nation can exist in the region of their choice and according to the governance systems they choose, rather than at the whim of raiders who vandalize and torch regions to serve their purposes. Raiding is fundamentally about expressing power over other nations, whereas defending is about attempting to prserve the fundamental principle that all nations should have the right to play the game as they choose.

In addition to serving these higher goals, the South Pacific Special Forces is a great opportunity to make friends, have fun, and be a part of a team effort. Defending can be done at any pace: sometimes, you have to make a lot of strategic decisions quickly to respond to raider maneuvers, while othertimes it's about communication and the slow work of building towards broader battlefield goals. No matter your prefered work environment, there is a place for you in defending.

To give people an opportunity to get a taste of what the South Pacific Special Forces does, our culture, and what the SPSF can offer you, we're going to be hosting three events throughout the course of the Independence Day and Defender Day celebrations.

First, we're going to hold a spotting contest. Raiders take over a region by seizing the WA Delegacy of the region for themselves, and the game elects Delegates twice a day (at the game updates) by determining the nation in a region with the plurality of World Assembly "endorsements". In this event, you will spot simulated raids in progress off the activity feed, which is how we spot raids in progress. In order for a raid to happen, nations have to move into a region and endorse a specific nation to cause that nation to become WA Delegate. On two different days Saturday and Sunday, the SPSF will have a mock region which they will "raid". Your job is to use the activity feed to spot the raid. Comb through it and differentiate what is normal player behavior (endotarting, nations moving between regions, etc.) and what is suspicious raider behavior. If you find the raid, telegram HumanSanity and they will confirm for you at their convenience if you are correct or not.

Second, we're going to hold a chasing contest. Raiders sometimes move into regions giving us only a few seconds to respond and follow them into the region. This contest will compare and test those fast reaction moves, also known as "chasing", to give potential new members a taste of the fast-paced experience that defending can be. In order to make this more accessible and give people a chance to try it out, we will not require a WA nation to participate in the chasing contest, so you can leave your WA on your main nation for a "trial run" without losing your endorsements. The chasing contest will be at and will include a voice chat and brief "chasing tutorial" session on Discord!

Finally, we're going to hold an SPSF Q&A on the RMB on Sunday. During that time, I (as Minister of Defense) along with Local Councillor and SPSF Officer Melicorium will be available on the RMB to answer questions from the general public about the SPSF, what we do, and more. Stop by if you have any questions or just want to chat! You're also welcome to telegram me (HumanSanity) any time if you have questions.

If you want to learn more about the SPSF and you can't make these events, or if you want to read a little before the events, you're welcome to check out our informational Dispatch, the Tidal Force Dispatch, or the sign up thread on the forum.