This submission is from Xafan of Provibloc. The opinions contained within the article are not necessarily representative of Eve News24.
Returning to EvE Online in early 2017 after a prolonged hiatus, I found myself living in the same space that I used to hunt as a black ops pilot: Providence.
Many know that Provibloc has a policy of “Not Red Don’t Shoot” (NRDS) across their space. It is a policy that I have never liked, nor do I have a fondness of creating a space for neutrals to safely live in. If someone is not willing to devote their time to defend a place they live in, they shouldn’t be there.
Lately, though, I have been seeing NRDS in a new light. While many power blocs around EvE enjoy a massive blue buffer, Provibloc lives in a red donut. Granted, this red donut is mostly of Provibloc’s own design, but try and understand that the region is never without enemies making their way through our borders. As far as I can tell, Provibloc has some frienemies, but no one outside of Providence is blue to us. These enemies may show up in a covert manner or take the form of a marauding red fleet travelling through our region hoping to meet a defence fleet for good fights.
One marauding fleet, in particular, that has been showing up regularly since the first quarter of 2017: Pandemic Legion and Waffles. They show up for timers in their Machariels with Apostle support to attack an objective in Providence. Ask anyone, that is a hard fleet to beat considering the numbers they field, and their ability to alpha anything off the field faster than an enemy fleet can. If that did not seem like a big enough threat, NC. shows up in fine form on a regular basis to also attack Provibloc alongside the aforementioned marauders. Further, we have a number of insignificant third parties who also appear on the field to join the fray against us. These attacks generally happen during timers and Provibloc always form a fleet to battle. When these red entities are not in our home though there is always some sort of hostile group looking for a fight.
While this may seem like I’m complaining, I promise you I am bragging. Whereas in other parts of New Eden alliances have to go looking for content, we only have to walk out our front doors. When other regions in New Eden are stagnant, we have fleets every night. I say fleets plural because there is always something happening in multiple locations. If that isn’t enough for you, the Dital/KBP gate and the Misaba pipe are areas of space renowned for their constant availability of small gang PvP. Catch, to the South, is only a few jumps away and another hotbed for content.
Stand with the linemen in a Provibloc fleet, my neighbours, and you will consistently see the same names coming together most nights. They know what they’re up against and what the enemy is going to throw at them, and they undock regardless. They understand their home is threatened, and knowing their uphill battles ahead they consistently rally under the banner of some really experienced and dedicated Provibloc fleet commanders. Often times when large battles are over, our leadership take the time to field questions, offer explanations as to what just happened, and provide direction as to what we need going forward to answer the threats that consistently confront us. We aren’t always victorious, but we always have good fun and good fights.
Providence Bloc Forces Set Up on the 9UY4-H Gate in the H6-CX8 System
One of the most memorable fights for me this year was one where I had to learn to fly a Sabre on the go. I hadn’t yet finished training for logi or main fleet ships yet, but I could fly a Sabre, or at least my character sheet said I could. The FC wouldn’t tell us what we had to do just yet but asked us to keep a few of these fitted ships ready as he expected we would most certainly die. PL had dropped an Astrahus next door, and it was time to engage to destroy it. We undocked and headed over to the system with the main fleet. On comms, we were listening to the global of the main FC, the chatter in our channel, and trying to correlate instructions from both our own captain and that of the FC to accomplish our tasks. Although we were quite far from PL’s Machs and Apostles, who were trapped by bubbles, we were still told to be wary of an enemy fleet. Then, they landed on the field, a full fleet of NC. Proteus/Loki T3Cs (pre-t3c changes). Had this fleet landed directly onto our doctrine, they would have torn us to shreds. The call was given that we were to ensure a buffer be kept between us and the T3C fleet via bubbles so as to deny them any hope of a warp in. The interdictors broke off the main fleet towards the T3Cs and kept a steady supply of bubbles between the main fleet and the T3Cs. As the FC guided fleet skilfully through what could only be seen as a thin thread of safe space, they were able to apply the sufficient DPS over the time needed to achieve the objective. Meanwhile, I happily enjoyed losing Sabre after Sabre ensuring they could get it done. Good fights, good times.
Providence is the most interesting place to live because there is nowhere else in EvE that can consistently provide pilots with this much organized/spontaneous content. I invite you all to come, bring your corps, bring your alliances and join the battles that are happening now and in the future.
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About the author:
Xafan is a member of, Almost Broken, a smaller Alliance who resides in Providence providing pilots with a place to further their goals in PvP, PvE, and industry. The alliance is made up of a good group of people who are career pilots, a lot of whom are parents. To learn more about how we can be of service to you join our in-game channel EVE-Fleet.
