News: TEST Loses Sovereignty in Catch, Providence Bloc Takes Advantage of the Ensuing Chaos

Catch region. On the 13th of August, Test Alliance Please Ignore lost sovereignty over two systems in the region, which prompted a fight between HERO Coalition and Stain Wagon Coalition over the control of the YHN-3K system.

According to reports, the loss of sovereignty was caused by a rogue director within the Alliance, which resulted in the systems of AOK-WQ and YHN-3K being vulnerable to attack. While HERO Coalition forces scrambled in order to secure these systems, forces belonging to Stain Wagon Coalition quickly organized in order to exploit the situation. Thus, a fight broke out in the YHN-3K system between the two parties.

Apparently, Stain Wagon forces, organized in a seventy pilot Ishtar class Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet, managed to arrive into the YHN-3K system before HERO Coalition as well as anchor and online a Tower in it. They were mostly engaged in clearing Territorial Claim Units while anchoring their own in order to draw a fight from HERO Coalition.

HERO Coalition itself did not shy away from the fight, and brought their signature Moa class Cruiser fleet into the system, numbering at a hundred and thirty pilots. The fight occurred on the GE-8JV gate in the system between the two opponents, as HERO Coalition forces jumped into the system only to find themselves heavily bubbled, with the Stain Wagon Ishtars at a perch, kitting and pouring damage on the HERO Coalition Moas, decimating many of them.

An attempt to retreat was made by HERO Coalition at this point, which proved unsuccessful due to the loss of sovereignty which disabled the Jump Bridge in the system. HERO Coalition forces instead rallied in their Tower and tried to get warp ins on the Stain Wagon fleet's logistics, but only successfully caught a couple of the vessels, while most of their own logistics wing was annihilated. An attempt to bomb the drones belonging to the Ishtars was taken during the fighting but failed, managing only to destroy Stain Wagon's main tackle.

Realizing quickly that the fight will not go their way, HERO Coalition forces decided to extract from the system, thus allowing Stain Wagon forces to destroy the last remaining Test Alliance Please Ignore Territorial Claim Unit. Afterwards, Stain Wagon forces safely extracted from the system.

Providence Bloc took advantage of the situation in Catch in order to destroy the defensive Sovereignty Blockade Units deployed by HERO Coalition in the ERVK-P system and replace them with their own, then proceeded to reinforce both the Infrastructure Hub and the Station in the system. A similar treatment was given to the G-AOTH system.

By the end of the day Test Alliance Please Ignore managed to regain sovereignty in the two systems.

This continues the trend of the Northern Catch pocket war, of a back and forth trade, with little gains made by either side. One must wonder what will take in order to break the stalemate achieved so far between the two coalitions.

The fixed battle report can be found here.

Special thanks to Elazar Keon, of Ugandan Hit Squad, Southern Federation Alliance for the battle report, and TheMittani(dot)com for details behind the sovereignty loss event.