THE CATCH
The engagement in CHA2-Q was brief, but it was not small. Twenty-one participants converged on the fight, and the field quickly narrowed onto Pict1on’s Proteus of Sigma Grindset. The ship’s price alone made it a prize, but the spread of attackers suggests a coordinated hunt rather than a random skirmish. The Initiative. committed ten ships to the kill, with pressure coming from multiple directions before the Proteus could break away.
THE BREAK
Damage landed from several hulls as the trap tightened. A Naga flown by Uberdohiki Aya appears to have delivered the heaviest share of the attack, while Muninns and an Orthrus added sustained pressure. In a fight this short, there was no room for hesitation: once the Proteus was pinned, every volley counted. The ship’s ammunition load and repair supplies were largely consumed or lost with it, underscoring how suddenly the situation collapsed.
THE FINAL BLOW
The last shot came from soul922 in a Manticore, turning the engagement into a clean finish for The Initiative. The Proteus carried 1.2 billion ISK in destroyed value and another 561.7 million ISK in loot, a reminder that even partial recovery could not blunt the scale of the loss. For Sigma Grindset and The New Federation, the loss of a strategic cruiser in open space is the kind of setback that can change the tone of a roaming operation in an instant.
THE COST
What remains is not just the wreck, but the leverage it gave the hunters. A Proteus is never a trivial casualty, and this one fell fast enough to suggest the attackers controlled the pace from the start. In New Eden, that kind of catch matters because it rewards discipline, timing, and the willingness to commit enough force to keep a valuable target from slipping free.
