Ilahed system, Derelik region. On the 8th of July, 19:50 EVE Standard Time, a training exercise held by The Volition Cult Alliance for its Capital ship wing took a turn for the worse when a Pandemic Legion Alliance fleet managed to drop on top of it, resulting in the loss of three Carrier class Capital ships.
The Capital ship fleet, comprised of ten Dreadnaught and six Carrier class ships of assorted hulls, was on a training drill when a decision was made to mobilize it in order to remove a hostile tower in the Ilahed system. This was considered a part of the exercise, with an estimated low risk for the fleet, considering the presence of an allied Providence Bloc fleet of a hundred Battleship and Battlecruiser class ships nearby.
The first siege cycle went without incident and the force was ready to extract when, apparently, a Pandemic Legion Alliance scout landed on top of the Capital force and activated a Cynosural Field beacon. At that moment jumped into the system thirty-one Mothership class Capital ships, mostly of the Aeon and Nyx hull variants. Three Carriers were caught by the fleet and were subsequently destroyed while the rest of the Capital force managed to warp off the field and jump back into safety. The Providence Bloc sub Capital forces managed to destroy one Archon class Carrier in retaliation, but lacked sufficient fire power in order to break the tanks of the Motherships, thus conceding the field to Pandemic Legion.
However, it has been claimed that the Capital force had ample warning of the Pandemic Legion force, with observers noticing the mass log-in of Pandemic Legion Mothership class Capital pilots prior to the hot drop. Also, the Capital force was already in the process of extraction before the Pandemic Legion fleet jumped into the system, and two of the three Carrier losses were not due to hostile action (Such as tackle), but rather to pilot error, as the two pilots were new to the use of said Capital ships, and did not deactivate their siege cycles in time. This resulted in them remaining immobile on the field and unable to warp off, making them easy prey for the Pandemic Legion force. The third carrier, piloted by HANS STOKHOLM, of Worms Coalition, The Volition Cult Alliance, who commanded the Capital force, stayed behind to help his allies, to no avail, and was subsequently destroyed as well.
Complete Battle Report
According to HANS STOKHOLM, all of the Carrier class ship losses were reimbursed under the Volition Cult's Ship Replacement Program.
Special thanks to HANS STOKHOLM, of Worms Coalition, The Volition Cult Alliance for giving an interview.
The second of April saw a theft of Corporate assets and funds from Iron Mongers, a member Corporation of The Volition Cult Alliance, a sovereignty holder in the Providence-Bloc Coalition. The theft took place around Tranquility server's scheduled down time by Fat Elvis Presley. Amongst the stolen items was an Ark class Jump Freighter, a Rorqual class Capital Industrial ship, an unspecified Freighter with assorted modules and materials, as well as seven billion ISK taken from the corporate wallet. All told, it is believed that around thirty billion ISK was stolen.
When interviewed about the event, Fat Elvis Presley explained it was a spur of the moment, rather than a calculated thing, born out of his frustration with the Corporation, specifically the inability to bring any of his proposed projects to fruition. The money taken was part of a fund he himself started, and which he claims he was the chief contributor to. Using his other accounts, he was able to quickly move all the stolen assets out of the Providence region around down time, though he suspects his CEO became aware of his actions once he logged into the game, after the scheduled downtime. When asked whether or not he regretted his actions, Fat Elvis Presley said he did not.
xtreamer, CEO of Iron Mongers, claims the theft itself did not have any serious impact on the Corporation, but will have a lasting influence, as recruitment policies and roles need to be re-evaluated and changed. Though he understands Fat Elvis Presley's actions, considering the Corporation itself is more oriented towards family and friends who spend less time in EVE Online and more playing together on other games, he believes the one who actually lost from the entire ordeal was Fat Elvis Presley. Trust is rare to come by in EVE Online, and the theft will possibly cost Fat Elvis Presley credibility in the future. However, xtreamer still professed to being personally hurt by Fat Elvis Presley's actions.
corebloodbrothers, of Volition Cult, The Volition Cult Alliance, gave an official statement regarding the event, claiming that Fat Elvis Presley and his associated accounts have been set permanently KoS (Kill on Sight) by the Providence-Bloc, meaning that regardless of what Corporation or Alliance he may join, he will still be regarded as an enemy by all Providence-Bloc Coalition members.
Fat Elvis Presley has since joined TEMPLAR(dot) Corporation, Initiative Mercenaries Alliance.
Some losses deserve an explanation
We all have seen some awful loss mails during our time in EVE. Whether its a titan mining in a belt, an officer fitted Raven class battleship, a rookie ship filled to the brim with PLEXs or any Phoenix class dreadnaught, these losses travel around to astound old and new players alike. They are talked about, have articles published on and become the stuff of legends, earning their pilots an entry into EVE's hall of fame.
However, some losses don't make it to the news. Some losses are just not expensive enough or defy common sense to be reported with a straight face. They are the kind of losses where you have to double check, look carefully for any sign of forgery, make sure that it is API verified, and then ask yourself why, just why?
This is the story of one such loss
It all started with HateMeMore, a member of The Warped Corpe, The Volition Cult Alliance, going on a solo roam. Since the Rubicon expansion, interceptor class ships have recieved an extensive upgrade, enabling them to bypass gate camps and easily escape purseurs, for HateMeMore it was love at first sight. With his trusty Crusader class intercptor, HateMeMore started making forays into deep Null Security space, roaming days at a time in search of prey. His killboard speaks volumes of his exploits.
Kitting a new Crusader for a roam, HateMeMore decided to make his way north from Y-MPWL system, setting his sights on the Spire region for new hunting grounds. Finding little prey there, HateMeMore continued with his travels, finally reaching the Cobalt Edge region, which marks the north eastern border of the New Eden sector. Warping at random to an ice belt in the YVSL-2 system, HateMeMore might have hoped to nab an unsuspecting Mackinaw pilot oblivious to intel. Instead, he found a freighter sitting contently in the middle of the belt, surrounded by cargo containers.
The Fenrir class freighter pilot didn't make any attempts to align or move at all in the face of HateMeMore's intrusion. In fact, it seemed completely oblivious to HateMeMore's existence. Without a second thought, HateMeMore had the freighter tackled and started to apply damage. He was certain that it must have been a trap, a ploy to keep him busy while his friends formed up, as there were twelve more hostiles in system. And yet, as the minutes passed by, and the Fenrir entered deep into structure, nothing happened.
For fifteen minutes the Fenrir resisted the blows of the tiny Crusader, until, at last, it succumbed to its onslaught. Once freed of her ship, the pilot of the Fenrir made no attempt to save her pod, and like a good captain, went down with her ship, with the help of HateMeMore.
There are many possible explanations for said loss, from a player going AFK, to a failure to initiate fleet warp or even a weary resignation at the face of facts. However, it is safe to say that over-confidence, for once, is the most obvious contributing factor in this loss. Regardless, this makes for one impressive, if comical, kill, and a good story to boot.
Special thanks are in oder for corebloodbrothers of The Volition Cult Alliance and Fardendur of Curatores Veritatis Alliance for bringing my attention to the story, and HateMeMore of The Volition Cult Alliance for granting me the interview.
