On May 6th major fighting erupted in the northern Vale of the Silent region, between new settlers TEST Alliance Please Ignore (TEST) and Russian sovereignty holders Infinity Space (IN.SP).
Reports from the Vale suggest a disagreement between the two sides escalated on May 5th when TEST diplomats signaled their intention to hold sovereignty over an area of space around the strategic system of NCGR-Q. Infinity Space replied by drawing a ‘line in the sand’ between NCGR-Q and the neighboring system of MC6O-F, in local chat. Unperturbed, TEST alliance proceeded with their plan to take sovereignty in the disputed area.
An image in local chat, depicting a so called ‘line in the sand’, is believed to have triggered hostilities.
At 17:45 on May 6th Infinity Space and allies including Legion of xXDEATHXx (X.I.X) formed a large T2 Cerberus cruiser fleet and began to contest sovereignty in a number of TEST controlled systems throughout the constellation. TEST responded almost immediately by forming up a maelstrom fleet which drove off the attackers in a series of dramatic small gang skirmishes, with little time to spare as one critical iHub reached 95%. Infinity Space and allies then temporarily broke off from the contested space in order to reform with a machariel battleship fleet. This brief withdrawal granted TEST valuable time to restore their systems while more members rushed online to join the fight.
At 18:35 the two fleets came head to head as Infinity Space jumped their force of machariels into TEST alliances waiting bubbles at the U54-1L gate in NCGR-Q. Shortly after arriving Infinity Space hot dropped a further force including half a dozen carriers onto the field, in an effort to free their bubbled faction battleship fleet. TEST reciprocated by lighting a cyno and bringing a small dreadnought force onto the grid, sealing the fate of the trapped Infinity Space fleet.
In the ensuing 20 minutes Infinity Space and their allies lost over 150 ships including 5 carriers, at an estimated cost of 60bn ISK, before finally conceding the fight. The battle report can be found here. The hastily formed TEST fleet suffered losses of just 40 sub-capitals, at a cost of only 6bn ISK. In an effort to extend an olive branch to their defeated neighbors TEST warped off the U54-1L gate to allow the remaining Russian survivors to withdraw from NCGR-Q in good order.
As the field cleared and the costs were counted by both sides it became apparent that this was a decisive victory for TEST alliance, who now hold sovereignty over a large area of Vale of the Silent. Infinity Space were significantly weakened by the loss of 5 carriers and 60bn ISK in assets, as well as a number of key systems. The defeat was exacerbated over the following days, as Infinity Space suffered further losses including a significant defeat in the system of 7-K5EL on May 8th.
