Two announcements, ten minutes apart, on the evening of 8 October 2026.
The first began: "And now my watch has ended...." The second answered it: "And now my watch begins... again."
Between them, the CEO chair of The New Federation changed hands, and went back to the pilot who founded the corporation in 2005. Harrat is in command again, and as he put it himself, he is "not back to keep the seat warm."
A steward hands back the keys
Last year Harrat stepped away to put faith and family first. TNF has a rule every member hears on day one, Real Life First, and the founder used it exactly as intended.
The corp did not drift. Kloria took the chair as CEO with Motty 007 at his side, and was clear from the start that the arrangement was temporary. In his handover post he was honest about it: he had not been gunning for the job, but he had "to much love and respect for our amazing family to let it come crashing down."
I told him when i took over as CEO this was only temporary, i am but a steward.
The stewardship worked. Over the past year TNF became one of the biggest groups in Sigma Grindset's AT team, ran at or near the top of the alliance killboard month after month, and, in Kloria's words, "became known within SIGMA as the group that can get shit done." He credited the members for it: "you guys have really made our names shine through your love of this community and your god damn ruthlessness."
Then the crux. "The time has come for me to hand the reins of CEO back to" Harrat, he wrote, "and resume duties as 2IC."
The reply
Harrat's answer arrived ten minutes later. It read like a letter to the whole corp, so here are the parts that matter most, in his own words.
He gave the credit for the year to Motty too, and to everyone else: "That's your legacy, and it belongs to every one of you too."
The corp answers
Corp chat answered within minutes. Killjoy Ender: "Welcome back to the CEO position Harrat, thanks for keeping things humming while we was out Kloria." Pict1on: "❤️ WB Harrat, Kloria gets some well deserved rest." The next day Ardagan Fatal added his own: "welcome on board, captain."
The best review came from a pilot who had only just arrived. Aubrey Maturin:
I only just got (back) here but seeing the messaging and the interactions around this transition make me think its the right place to be
Why he came back
After 21 years there's no place in New Eden I'd rather be than here with you.
That line carries most of the story. TNF has never been a corporation one person owns. It is a family one person started, and twenty one years after he started it, Harrat came home to it. His time in New Eden spans most of the game's history. He could have spent it anywhere. He chose here, twice.
The driving force behind the new TNF
Kloria had said that day to day not much would change, and Harrat agreed, then added a "but." The list that followed is the most ambitious set of changes TNF has seen in years, and Harrat is driving all of it.
- More fights, together. Regular corp roams and ops on a set schedule. In his words: "Krabbers, you're coming too." The industrialists and ratters are brought along, not left behind.
- Mumble is home. "Not just for fleets. Hang out, talk trash, ask questions. That's where family happens."
- Recruitment reopens, PvP first. With a simple promise attached: "Every new pilot gets into a fleet and onto comms in their first week."
- A new home online. The site you are reading, the pilot profiles that celebrate our members and this news section all exist because Harrat set out to show the rest of New Eden who TNF really is.
- A rebuilt member experience. New tools inside TNF's Auth for onboarding, check-ins, handbooks and member pages, so every pilot is looked after from their first day.
Every new pilot gets into a fleet and onto comms in their first week.
Listening first
The first item on Harrat's own to-do list was not a fleet or a feature. It was a conversation. Over the following weeks he set out to talk with as many members as he could reach, one at a time, about what they love, what bugs them and what would get them logging in more.
That is how TNF has always worked best: leadership that knows its pilots by name. It is also a very Harrat move. This is the CEO who writes the corp's warmest welcome posts, the one who greets a returning FC with "HERE KITTY KITTY" and a new logi pilot with a promise to "teach him the ways of murder." (Both stories are in September's new arrivals.)
Who stays where
Nothing about the handover pulls anyone out of a job. Kloria returns to second in command and made a point of saying "im not going anywhere." The directors members already lean on, Motty 007, Lex Ashwari-Thrace and Pict1on, stay in place, as does officer Killjoy Ender.
Kloria also found the upside in the arrangement for himself: "Instead of me getting yelled at by alliance leadership," Harrat will be.
What it means for you
If you are already in TNF, your directors are still there, Kloria is still there, and now the founder is back at the front with a plan and the energy to drive it. Expect a message from him. Answer it honestly. He asked.
If you are reading this from outside, the doors are about to open, PvP first, with a first-week fleet guaranteed. Twenty one years in, the corp is strong, the founder is home, and the people who held it together for a year are standing right next to him.
The last word belongs to the man who signed the letter:
We are TNF, A Family United in Space.
