INTAKI PRIME – The system of Intaki was recently set alight by capsuleer combat, following an attack on a local station.
At roughly 1900 hours EST, Prosperity Station, a structure maintained by the Intaki Liberation Front for the purposes of space vessel production, came under fire from pilots of the Payment on Demand alliance. The attackers incapacitated the majority of the structure’s defensive capabilities, and with only five vessels reduced it to its final countermeasures. For eight hours, the sparse members of ILF in system struggled to repair Prosperity Station, losing a logistics ship in the process.
ANN’s reporters prepared a camera feed in the system hours before the Payment on Demand pilots were predicted to make their final attack, and recorded the rise in capsuleer numbers as the station’s final defenses depleted. However, before the attackers could open fire, the station was suddenly flooded by activity, as pilots from the Ishuk-Raata Enforcement Directive (I-RED) arrived with others to defend the station.
Surprisingly, the bulk of the defenders were neither ILF, nor I-RED pilots. Rather, the majority of the 115 capsuleers present in system were comprised of two unaffiliated corporations, Draketrain and the Quantum Cats Syndicate (QCats), who warped into the perimeter of Prosperity Station’s shields. Outnumbered by a ratio exceeding eight-to-one, Payment on Demand made the decision to call off the attack at approximately 0330 hours after several attempts at harassing the defenders.
This turn of events comes as a surprise, considering that Draketrain and the Quantum Cats are members of opposing militias, the Caldari and Gallente. To discover the source of this startling allegiance, ANN attempted to contact the involved parties. A statement from the CEO of QCats followed:
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Regarding defence of Prosperity Station
From: xxxxxxx
Sent: YC113.01.29 03:31
To: chatgris,
> Are QCATS and ILF/IRED old pals?
No at all. In fact, QCATS were at war with IRED a while ago. Only recently have we been on friendly terms with ILF since they apologized for allowing their pilots to assist in transferring control of Intaki to the Caldari State. However, before the operation the ILF assured me they only seek separation from the federation via peaceful and democratic means, and QCATS supports the free and democratic will of any member of the federation.
> Was your corp rewarded for its assistance?
No. We came to aid a supporter of a member of the federation.
> Why did QCATS agree to defend the station alongside the Caldari Militia corp draketrain?
QCATS regularly does blue ops with willing members of the Caldari Militia to clear the warzone of pirates. We have always been open to doing blue ops with draketrain, and we were very happy that they agreed to join forces with us to confront a potential pirate threat. We hope that they continue to do so in the future.
> Do QCATS value Intaki’s significance?
As a matter of corp policy – no more than any other member of the federation – we signed up to defend them all. Individual pilot opinion may differ on this matter, as we do have a number of Intaki patriots within our ranks.
-chatgris
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ANN’s reporters conducted further research into the activities of the QCats, and located various sources of registered combat data over the course of their operations. While members of the Caldari militia were present, they were matched by incidents of non-military personnel coming under fire from QCats pilots, suggesting the “NBSI” policy typically used by outlaw corporations.
Draketrain’s spokesperson, Damar Rocarion, was willing to speak to one of our reporters, and expressed that while they were not officially allied with I-RED or ILF, they were—on a personal level—connected with CEO of the RDC, John Revenent. The action against Deep Axiom, Rocarion claimed, was the result of the loose alliance with the Intaki-based corporations, who hold strong anti-pirate views. Rocarion was not afraid to admit that on more than one occasion, Draketrain’s pilots had engaged I-RED pilots in the Syndicate null-security systems I-RED operates within.
Furthermore, Rocarion stated that he did not value Intaki as a strategic standpoint, nor in humanitarian terms, and attributed Draketrain’s interdiction and cooperation with Gallente militia pilots to “personal reasons.” That the Gallente were already using this instance as anti-Caldari propaganda seemed to come as no surprise to him, and the fact that his fleet commander set QCats’ pilots to blue standings did nothing to assuage the hatred he felt for the Gallente pilots.
“No,” he concluded, “I would not have been here had I known in advance Gallente were going to come here to save Prosperity Station.”
Revenent could not be reached for further comment.