B-R5RB isn't an impressive name. It sounds like the dopey robot sidekick in a desperate Star Wars cash-in, or an experimental cream for an embarrassing rash. It's neither of those things. Instead, it's the location of the now biggest battle in EVE Online's history, one that comes exactly a year after the immense Battle of Asakai . Fought throughout the night, more than 70 Titans - EVE's ginormous megaships - have fallen, meaning damages total trillions of ISK. And what was the cause of such massive galaxy-shaking destruction? Somebody forgot to pay their bill.
"Nulli forgot to pay for the space station in this system," writes Reddit's "delphian1" . "PL was living in it. CFC and Rus took ownership of it knowing PL had assets in it. Both sides escalated to current shitshow." The CFC is comprised of the Goonswarm Federation and Razor Alliance, among others, while Rus includes Solar Fleet, Darkness of Despair and Against ALL Authorities. They were moving against N3 and the Pandemic Legion.
To get an idea of the extent of this "shitshow", you need to realise the cost of each Titan. They're worth 100 billion ISK a pop, which, if someone was to earn by selling game time to other players, would equate to around $3,000. And that's not to mention the weeks of time they take build.
While the unpaid bill was the trigger, this is the latest skirmish of a war that's been raging since Halloween. In his report on the battle , The Mittani sums it up by saying, "between all the alliances, coalitions, and coalitions of coalitions, this war has dragged in almost everyone who lives in null security space, and it's been grinding on for the past several months with a few back-and-forth engagements, minor sov trades, and failed staging system headshots."
Just over a week ago, CFC tried to fight a Pandemic Legion "Wrecking Ball", suffering major losses. This time, the balance swung wildly in the other direction. Accurate figures are hard to come by, but reports suggest that PL/N3 lost around 40-50 Titans, next to CFC & co's 20-25.
For more on the battle, check out The Mittani's write up , and be sure to browse this beautiful gallery of 4K EVE battles, by "rooksandkings".
