ICD
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Round 2
The beginning of ICD can be traced back to 8:4. ICD grew out of smaller alliances in this galaxy k9, B8S and 2 or 3 other smaller ones. Our main function in the beginning was to protect smaller alliance partners from attacks. Round 2 was the year of the Thieve and ICD based their beliefs on one main thing: defending. So ICD built Thieves and gained score off of defending rather than setting up major roiding parties. This worked well for ICD, many alliances testing the defense capability of ICD got destroyed. A new super alliance was born with the thieve, but soon a new challenger would come. 8:4, the HQ of ICD would soon be tested. We sided with Legion, to face the biggest treat to ICD yet: The number one alliance at the time Concordium. Concordium launched an all out attack on 8:4. With the combined strength of Legion and ICD, Concordium stood little to no chance, with lack of leadership Concordium lost over 2million ships that night. ICD was victorious, but would we stay allied with Legion? ICD did the unthinkable in defeating Concordium, but for what? For another Concordium to take it's place? ICD quickly dropped the alliance with Legion, and played through the rest of the round, planning for the 3rd round and how they would deal with there new problem, Legion.
Round 3
ICD tried starting over, but without the thieves, it seemed to cripple the backbone of ICD. We where still mass producing defense for our members, but we were not getting score or ships from it, due to the loss of the thieves. ICD had to rethink their strategy, and play a whole new hand of cards. We started mass attacking, by sending decoy fleets of nothing but inters spider ect, then pulling them at the last second and sending roiding fleets, this worked well for a while. When other alliances started to pick up on it, it quickly become a basic move in PA. ICD also recruited some of the top players in round 3, finishing 6th in Round 2 helped with this, and ICD quickly grew once more. At the end of the round leadership was high, membership was high, score where high, but spies where becoming a danger to ICD. We quickly set up ICDa or Inter Cluster Defense Academy, a process of three weeks, for a jr. member to me active and show us that they could send defense when needed and basically to see if you where an all around good player. Legion had not forgotten us, they quickly targeted ICD galaxies together with Fury to take out the “rebellious force” of ICD. This lead to driving most of our bigger members away, but ICD still finished strong, ending 7th in the rankings.
Round 4
Organization became ICDs middle name, with slow but steady recruitment, ICD was back on track, but taking heavy losses to Fury over the reset. Many of our leaders and high ranking players went away, and the alliance was trimmed down to the elite active few, that spent 16-18 hours online a day working for defense, setting up mass attacks, and making new allies. ICD quickly found new alliances to team up with: Galaxy, YHQ, Seal, and ViX. This constellation was called LoR. ICD decided to lay low, out of the scopes of the bigger alliances. This seemed to pay off, but it is feared that we tagged to late, only opening in 78th place in the top 100 alliances. With salvage comming into the game, ICD went back to doing what made them big, defense. Unfortunatly, salvage wasn't enough, and the mass attacks organised to gather spirits in the members failed against VeX defences. ICD lost much of it's leadership in Round 4, but stayed on fighting.
Round 5
Due to such greates as VIRII, Belderan, PP and other major ICD HCs leaving, the heart and soul was gone from ICD, but... the blood, sweat, and tears where still running strong. ICD pushed on through Round 5, with a new breed of HCs. Aggressive and strong, ICD quickly became known as an alliance to not turn your back on. Membership was low, and defense was high, once again ICD fell back on its main trade, supplying defense when needed the most. At this time ICD had taken on some more historical allies. Patience was born. Forged from such alliances as NewDawn, hirr, and YHQ. Patience was not at all a failure, but it also was not a success, ICD confused and basically fighting to stay alive made the hardest choice in alliance history: merging with Howling Rain. Not everyone liked this, so members dropped like flies, some joining other alliances in Patience and some leaving the game completely. ICD was dead.. but its members will live on forever.
The End of ICD
The end of ICD was a tragedy. It may not have swept through the game like the break-up of Concordium, or the fall of BlueTuba, but ICD was one of this games greatest, and innovative alliances that ever was. It is important not to forget alliances like this. ICD was the model for so many of the big alliances in this game, be it the major defense ICD generated, the ways ICD would attack, or the organization that they had. ICD is and will forever be one of the greatest alliances this game have ever seen.
