Fly my pretties!
July 22 saw the in game map light up from activity of pilots in space in the system of D-PN, which is the home of Test Alliance. Rumours had already been abound as a post was made on the Test forums advising that they were going to war. For many it was hoped that it would be to free Princess Cymek from the evil clutches of Triumvirate. Princess Cymek was the only good poster in Test alliance as can be seen here. The loss of such a good poster surely could not go unanswered for.
At the start of the Test operation, their target was unknown. Where exactly would Test be going and what would be their motivation to move against someone? INN’s very own Dracos Rhaghar followed the move and speculated on who the intended target of Test would be in this article. Rhagar’s analysis was quite reasonable but ultimately way off point. This is where this story gets a little bit more interesting.
You see, Rhagar’s article covered the people you would have expected Test to have gone after. Triumvirate have been less than diplomatic of late. This was evident from the comments from leaders of NC, PL and XIX. FCON had offered space and assistance to those mistreated by Triumvirate which suggested that FCON could be the target of Triumvirate’s increasing hostility. With the history of FCON and Test working with each other in the taking of space from Stain Wagon in the South it would seem a natural fit. Test have always liked to role play the “good guys” and this would be a chance for them to continue the narrative.
But Test kept going and going and going. The DRF were set blue by Test as can be seen here, so that ruled the DRF out. It is well known that ProGodLegend (Piggles) is known to be a master of wormholes so could this even be an attack on Jovian space?
With Test’s arrival in the system of MTO, which is held by BOSS of all people, Piggles announced the plan in greater detail. Test are going to be attacking GotG which is run by the completely trust worthy and totally not back-stabby Sort Dragon.
A road to nowhere.
The history that Test has with GotG is quite long and mainly involves the alliance Darkness, pronounced Dorkness, which is run by Sort Dragon. So there is plenty of substance to Test’s dislike of Dorkness and such a move would be completely justifiable, well at least on face value. However this move raises more questions when looked at in further detail.
Test are undoubtedly the muscle of The Legacy coalition, despite what Co2 would like to think. So with a full combat deployment to the North the combat strength of The Legacy has been greatly diminished in the South. Co2 probably had to stay behind in order to continue their war against The Imperium as well as to guard their precious moons. With Test on combat deployment, the holdings in the South for The Legacy Coalition have become more vulnerable to hostile actions from PL and NC. Although PL are likely going to be quite busy with the Alliance Tournament which starts this week and NC are likely going to be busy dealing with their latest corp addition Angry Dragons.
Questions surrounding the intentions of Triumvirate are still unanswered and there is still considerable scope as to what they will do next. Although further light on this could be shed when leaders of Triumvirate are scheduled to appear on the up and coming Meta Show on July 29. A show not to be missed.
It has been public knowledge that Test expended great effort in their “Manhattan Project”. A project created with the intention of allowing them the full escalation path to include the use of all capitals for combat operations. Perhaps this was a factor in their choice of target. Using caps against the likes of PL, NC, Tri or The Imperium would be probably a little ambitious. Especially given the inexperience that Test has in the use of such war machines. So it is possible that Dorkness was selected as only being able to field a certain capital escalation of a size that could be handled and offer Test the much-needed experience and training.
Again this is where it all gets a little odd. Dorkness have had pretty good ties with Pandemic Horde. Agreements even exist between the two entities not to attack each other’s miners. Dorkness alone have over 3000 member characters and they are but a single alliance in the GotG coalition. PH have in excess of 12000 members themselves. Test alliance in comparison have a mere 8000 or so. As with any combat deployment, it is also likely that many Test members will simply not head to the intended combat zone.
When you start to add in other elements into this then it gets even weirder. Test are staging very close to the homelands of PL and NC. PL and NC are the main reason why Test had to leave their homelands in Vale of the Silent which was supposed to be their tribute from their participation in The Casino War.
Rumours of deals being struck to ensure that Test’s campaign is not interfered with are hinted at in darker corners of Eve. But in a time starved of “content” one has to wonder how long these deals will hold up for.
The Test deployment is anticipated to only last a month. It has been advertised as a quick “burn” campaign, although by all accounts Dorkness sov is not to be attacked. Given the mechanics of citadels, you would have to wonder how a quick burn campaign is even possible to consider.
A few possibilities spring to mind here as to the rationale behind this move:
- For Test to prove and develop their capital escalation path against an entity they think they have a chance against.
- A trick by Triumvirate to enable them an unfettered attack against FCON.
- A trick by PanFam to massacre the Test capital fleet.
These may seem a little ridiculous. But, consider that TEST are currently moving their combat component almost as far as possible from their homelands. They are doing this to fight, on paper, a comparably sized entity. This is without even taking into account Dorkness bat phone potential. All the while there is an imminent threat brewing closer to home. I guess when you look at it from that angle, anything is plausible.
It will certainly be interesting to see how this strategy of Test’s unfolds. It could lead to yet another moment when they are stabbed in the back or simply be a very uneventful deployment, as happened with their Delve campaign late last year.
As yet, no name seems to have been put forward for this war, if it can be even called that. So if you have a good name for this war, then please add it as a comment and let the voting begin. I would like to throw into the ring the following suggestions:
- “The totally not a trap war”
- “The war of over stretching yourself”
- “The Hold My Beer war”
I look forward to your own suggestions.
