Good Old Fashioned Lowsec Revenge

Last night Snuff Box and Shadow Cartel clashed in spectacular fashion. World War Bee is not what it was only a month ago, and the old rivals are at each other’s throats again, having enjoyed a truce as they helped evict the Imperium from sovereign space.

If you aren’t fully aware of these two entities’ long history of fighting with and against each other, I will try and summarize as an outsider:

there was a common enemy for the two to focus their attention on

For many months and years Shadow Cartel and Snuff Box fought each other in a sort of forever war over the resources in low security space. Then along came the Imperium, and with it a fragile alliance between the two brawling brothers was made. For a while there was a common enemy for the two to focus their attention on. They both joined the Money Badger Coalition (MBC) and were instrumental in the war against the erstwhile empire in the north. After a blitzkrieg campaign and the subsequent route of imperial forces, the battles had died down and many eyes shifted from The Imperium back to each other. Snuff Box took an opportunity to destroy a few Shadow Cartel supercapitals and titans. This resulted in severe disagreements within Snuff Box, as well as the disapproval of many members of the Money Badger Coalition.

In the end it meant Snuff Box’s exit from the MBC as well as the loss of a few corporations from the alliance. Shadow Cartel had a bit of a black eye and was keen for revenge.

I was able to get a bit of the story from Gremk, a Shadow Cartel fleet commander.

Setting up a revenge plot was quite tricky as Snuff Box are old players in an old game and not likely to fall for bait so easily. The initial plan was to get them to deploy against a fleet that was assaulting a cadmium moon. However, rumor has it that Snuff was able to scout TISHU supercapital and titan assets nearby and suspected a trap. They did not take the bait.

In an effort to push things further, Shadow Cartel responded by assaulting a Snuff Box tower in the system of Deven with a force of 20 Dreadnaughts and support.

TISHU decided that the chance of a brawl had diminished, so instead of waiting around they deployed to Saranen to assist other members of the Money Badger Coalition in destroying an Astrahus Citadel owned by the Imperium.

Seeing some of the forces leave the area prompted Snuff Box to engage the Shadow Cartel fleet in Deven. Initially, the Snuff Box Machariels did not fare well against the Shadow Cartel Dreadnaughts. Realizing that the battle would be lost with escalation, Snuff brought in Supercapitals to eliminate the dreadnaughts and even the playing field.

Shadow Cartel was able to amass reinforcements and tackle

Quickly, Shadow Cartel was able to amass reinforcements and tackle the high value vessels on the field. With the assistance of an alliance called Escalating Entropy (CHAOS), the Snuff supercapitals were able to be pinned down in Nagamenan while trying to make their escape. It is worth noting that Escalating Entropy is an alliance made up of corporations that left Snuff Box after the falling out with Shadow Cartel. Without the additional fleet of tackle and Dreadnaughts led by Punchbug2142, the Snuff Box supercapitals may have been able to extricate.  

Both sides suffered heavy losses as Money Badger Coalition forces were mobilized from Saranen to join the fray. TISHU were among the first wave of responders and fielded several titans and supercarriers of their own. Co2, who luckily had been out roaming with a small fleet of heavy interdictors, were also amongst the first wave of reinforcements and helped maintain tackle. Pandemic Legion and Northern Coalition brought fleets of Proteus and Legions and arrived in time to destroy the last few remaining Snuff Box Machariels and watch the pretty explosions as TISHU Titans let loose their doomsday devices on the few remaining Aeons. Darkness and friends arrived in a fleet of Cerberus. Mercenary Coalition and The OSS arrived as well and piled on.

By the time the fight was over, both sides combined had lost 39 Dreadnaughts, 17 Force Auxiliary, 3 Carriers, and 10 Supercarriers.

https://zkillboard.com/related/30002807/201605230200/