Serpentis Corporation Strikes Back Against Upwell Consortium

3HQC-6 - Breaking news has reached The Scope in the last hour, detailing a coordinated set of armed strikes against Ducia Foundry mining operations in the region of Outer Ring.

Initial reports indicate that three joint taskforces of Serpentis Corporation and Guardian Angel vessels staged simultaneous ambushes on heavily armed Ducia Foundry mining convoys in the systems of 3HQC-6, L3-XYO and LGUZ-1, destroying all mining vessels and ancillary hardware after laying waste to their escorts.

Ducia Foundry recently became a member of the newly formed Upwell Consortium, granting the corporation mining and resource gathering rights in the region, and it is believed that the corporation's operations in the area were targeted as a direct response to the removal of Serpentis influence over the region in recent weeks.

The Upwell Consortium has vehemently condemned the attacks in a statement that also confirmed one of the pirate taskforces was pursued and destroyed in the system of 7-692B by a Mordu's Legion security patrol. 

Several witnesses of the firefight indicated that the Serpentis Corporation vessels were in full retreat back toward the border with their home region of Fountain when they were set upon by Legion vessels, once again calling into question the Upwell Consortium's use of force, with some critics labelling it as excessive.

When approached by the Scope with questions regarding claims of excessive use of force, Strike Commander Tsuni Aina of Mordu's Legion Command commented that "We [Mordu's Legion Command] have a contracted obligation to provide protection for assets belonging to the Upwell Consortium, and we will continue to do so with every gram of strength our assigned taskforce can muster.

"Mordu's Legion Command prides itself on the skill and tenacity of its pilots on the battlefield, and while losses like today's attack do occur from time to time, our response has and will continue to be of the largest magnitude possible, in order to send a clear message that if the Serpentis Corporation continue to threaten the operations of our client, they will face an enemy the like of which they have never had to deal with in the history of their operations."

While details are still unconfirmed at this stage, it is rumored that Ducia Foundry lost in excess of sixty thousand industrial personnel and hardware to the value of thirty billion kredits in the attack, which also left more than ninety Serpentis Corporation vessels destroyed and an unconfirmed number of their personnel dead.