Serpentis Forces Clash in Outer Ring

Ships under the command of Serpentis Admirals have been spotted patrolling the regions of Fountain, Outer Ring, and Cloud Ring recently, causing tensions to rise in the organizations inhabiting those areas. Yesterday saw a force of four Vindicator battleships and an Ishtar spar with NORAD forces in the system of 4C-B7X.

NORAD forces, alert to the presence of hostiles in 4C-B7X, quickly mounted a blockade of the station. As the Serpentis undocked, the NORAD patrol began to open fire on their ships, causing the Serpentis to retaliate. The resulting battle saw two NORAD battleships go up in flames, along with a support cruiser, and one of the Serpentis losing his ship. After some heated words were exchanged, the Serpentis patrol continued, where it was attacked in the AN-G54 system by members of the same alliance. During a pitched battle, two Vindicators were destroyed and the rest of the patrol scattered.

Tuvan Orth, head of Internal Security for the Serpentis Corporation, had this to say about the incident: “The Serpentis Corporation is currently patrolling its assets to determine which are the most vulnerable, and assessing their combat readiness. Entities that pursue hostilities with us will be noted, and punished.” When asked what this punishment would entail, Orth declined to comment.

Sarpati's officers contend that they were simply looking after their assets, and that this attack is not the first. “For years now we've been cataloging attacks against corporation assets,” Commodore Beresick said, “And, to be honest, the list is quite long. This only adds to it.”

The Serpentis Corporation, based in the Fountain region, still reaps tremendous profits from pharmaceutical sales and rumored booster marketing. V. Salvador Sarpati has made enough profit off of these sales to hire the Guardian Angels to protect his assets. Sarpati has been the target of recent investigations by both DED and Mordu's Legion, but has evaded arrest so far.