The last time we sent you news of a major battle in EVE was the Battle of Asakai. It wasn’t the largest ever in EVE’s decade of existence, and it wasn’t the last one that’s occurred. But it was unscripted and, at its core, it was what EVE Online is all about—capturing the imagination of mainstream media and gamers everywhere.

Today I’d like to draw your attention to a recently released CCP developer blog about the Battle for Caldari Prime—which is about to happen. It’s going to be a different sort of battle than Asakai, set against an epic backdrop of not one but two games in a single shared universe. It will be the first of several major storyline events where we present a progression in the greater EVE storyline on a much larger scale. The Battle of Caldari Prime is part of a story arc where we are exploring the violent reaction to the growing power of the DUST 514 mercenaries.

Yet even as a live event designed to introduce lore elements to the canon, there are unscripted elements that will react to the players who decide to participate. Most importantly, these new live events will serve as a backdrop for player activity before, during and after the event where we have no way of predicting how they will react, what fleets will show up in space, what mercs will decide to put their heavy armor on the line and what the interplay between players of both games will be.

We urge you to follow along with this unique endeavor as developers around the world interact with our players in two games and one shared story. We’ll be streaming it at http://www.twitch.tv/ccp once the action kicks off.

The introduction blog can be found here and is copied below.

These are exciting days at CCP.  Not only are we nearing EVE Online‘s 10th birthday, we are also heading towards the launch of DUST 514, the second product in the EVE universe.  As we gear up for both milestones, we‘re showing more and more of the deep level of connection DUST has with EVE Online. It‘s one thing to say they‘re on the same server, it‘s quite another thing to truly understand the level of interaction the two games – and their players – have and the resulting impact on EVE's established ecosystem.

As a showcase to the level of involvement and influence players of both games have in the EVE universe, we have been hosting a series of in-game events that explain the arrival of the DUST mercenaries and weave their background into the EVE story. The events to date have been relatively contained. They‘ve involved both DUST 514 and EVE Online players, but they‘ve been more focused towards the core community of EVE lore afficionados. These events have however all been building towards something.

That something is happening now.          

Caldari Prime has been the cause for bitter rivalry and, at times, open war between the Gallente Federation and Caldari State. It is the homeworld of Caldari and, as a result of a treaty following a Caldari sneak attack, is considered to be a part of the Caldari State, even though it is situated in a Gallente solar system. As citizens of both empires live on the planet, tensions have often run high and rebellious elements of the Gallente population have taken to arms to fight what they see as an illegal occupation of their homes.

The planet is orbited by the Shiigeru, a Caldari Navy Leviathan-class Titan, which serves as a measure of mutually assured destruction should peace be compromised.

Situated in the Luminaire solar system, Caldari Prime has been the scene of innumerable DUST battles over the past three days. The mercenaries are fighting viciously for every district, being contracted both by the planet‘s Gallente rebels and the Caldari State's Provist occupation force to fight the most brutal of wars. 

With CONCORD, the in-game police force, now issuing a warning for spaceship pilots, the conflict will be spreading beyond the planet's surface.

As we‘ve hinted at for a while, the in-game events we‘ve been running are building up to major events, and judging by the commotion this week, things are about to kick off. The battleground is set, the fight belongs to you.

If you want to participate in shaping EVE's history, you should monitor the news closely over the next few days and set aside your Friday afternoon (UTC). DUST Mercenaries that participate in specific events (details announced tomorrow) will earn a commemorative dropsuit. The event will also be livestreamed on our Twitch.tv page.