Providence Under Fire

For days Providence has been under attack by Goonswarm and their coalition forces.  The Goonswarm plan was to take all Providence Ihubs within a day or two, and then optionally stay to take stations and territorial claim units.  Providence defense forces have held up fairly well considering the opposition's superior numbers.  After 4+ days of assault, sovereignty and stations are generally in good shape, and Goonswarm was unable or unwilling to complete their primary objective of taking all of the Ihubs.  The majority of Goonswarm forces have for the time being retreated.

The intel and attack plan suggest that Goonswarm leadership was more interested in trolling, tear collecting, and causing economic loss to the region than in providing fun content for the Eve community.  That is, unless that is what their members find to be fun, which I hope isn't the typical case.  But this approach strengthens the apparent link between Goonswarm and high-sec ganking organizations like CODE.

Regardless, Providence forces were largely upstanding in character focusing on comradery and having fun, and most tried diligently to uphold NRDS policy even in the light of the ongoing attacks.  I myself was in several fleets that allowed nuetrals to go about their way following verification that that were not on any region KOS lists.  If you believe yourself to be a neutral and happened to be attacked by Providence defense forces, please do feel free to engage region diplomats on what happened.  Accidents can happen and issues can only be addressed if the diplomats are aware of them.

Your friendly neighborhood null space continues to stand strong.  While I would recommend increased caution for the time being until invasion forces fully retreat, Providence is generally a great place to dip your toes into null space.  Just be sure if it's your first visit to check with diplomacy in advance to ensure you are not listed as KOS to the region, and to inquire about getting good standing if you expect to be staying for long.  Also set the locals blue so you can more easily identify potential hostiles passing through.  With that said, I personally welcome friendly visitors to the area.  o/

Anti-Gank: Josameto 8/2/2015

In addition to the typical freighter ganking, some gankers occasionally attempt to gank freighters in smaller groups with what is called "hyperdunking".  This is where typically as few as 1 ganker can bump a freighter off to a quiet grid, then use a ship like a Bowhead to repeatedly reship and attack the freighter until it is destroyed.

On August 2nd, ganker Rachel Ironhand was doing this to a Fenrir in Josameto using Hounds as the ganking ship.  The bumper Machariel was piloted by Baby Gal.  The Bowhead pilot and looter was Leah Azizora.  They were also using Mobile Scan Inhibitors. 

A few of us within the High-Sec Militia and the AG community responded.  The freighter was almost gone when we got there, but we halted the Hound attack.  In order to destroy the freighter, they had to bring in an expensive group of Talos ships despite the freighter being into low structure.

Afterwards, we prevented looting of the freighter and destroyed the Occactor loot ship.  It ended when the ganker rage-killed the freighter wreck and left the area. 

My thanks goes out to all who helped in preventing the gankers from completing this hyperdunk.  Always keep an eye out for hyperdunking.  Hopefully actions like these will discourage gankers from attempting future huperdunks.

A few of the relevant killmails --

Hound Gank Ships:
https://zkillboard.com/kill/48245337/
https://zkillboard.com/kill/48245371/

Talos Gank Ships:
https://zkillboard.com/kill/48245517/
https://zkillboard.com/kill/48245522/
https://zkillboard.com/kill/48245525/

Loot Ship:
https://zkillboard.com/kill/48245654/