If life does exist in the far reaches of the galaxy, then for all we know they're knocking the hell out of each other with colourful lasers right now. Less unknown are the conflicts of fictional space, which, thanks to APIs, video feeds and the internet in general, can be reported on in all its bewilderingly immense detail . Internet spaceship fights don't get more immense than the battle of B-R5RB. CCP have collected up, totalled and explain what happened, providing a final battle report on the carnage.
The big numbers then. First, 75 of the colossal Titans fell across the 21 hours of fighting. For an idea of how one sided the war was, know that N3/PL lost 59 Titans to CFC/DTF's 16. While they were the biggest and most expensive losses, the battle also saw the destruction of 13 Supercarriers, 370 Dreadnaughts and 123 Carriers. In total, 11 trillion ISK was lost - with more than 8.5 trillion of that coming from N3/PL. CCP note that, according to some PLEX conversions, that's between $300,000-$330,000 of damage. You can see some of this damage in action, thanks to the video footage of one third party pilot.
CCP also bring some historical context to the missed bill payment that triggered the battle:
"Missed bill payments are certainly not new to the human experience nor are they to EVE Online. Human error has caused many a system to lapse. Sometimes it merely means that another Territorial Control Unit (a flag of sorts) has to be anchored in space to regain control of the system. Sometimes it means that an entire region is lost and an Alliance is disbanded.
"This particular system however happened to be the staging system for all Pandemic Legion fleets in one of the largest wars to ever be waged in EVE Online. The Halloween War, having waged for months, had been punctuated by many engagements across the vast EVE universe. This single missed payment sparked off what would become the most expensive battle in EVE Online history. One pilot's action (or inaction) had repercussions for the entire universe—a butterfly wing causing a massive typhoon of destruction."
Given the scale and size of destruction, a permanent reminder of the battle will be erected in-game. Travel to the seventh planet of the B-R5RB system and you'll find "Titanomachy", dedicated to the graveyard of time, money, and virtual spaceships.
