The contest between these two equal, yet irreconcilably alien powers, has boiled over. Corsair strikes, spurred on by neo-spiritual fervour and a sense of ancestral purpose spreading amongst the raider clans, have begun to push into the Outcast home stars of Omicron Alpha, around the Hispania debris field. In Omicron Xi, a vital heartland of the Corsair Empire, Outcast warships are infrequently sighted to the system's north, likely responding to the Corsair incursions. It appears that the collective preferences of the Hispanic peoples to wage their conflicts at arms length, has reached final conclusion. The war for the edge worlds has begun.

A Corsair feint to secure the Daaam K'vosh jumpgate's exit point in Omicron Beta ran directly into an awaiting Outcast ambush. Confident in their ability to outlast the Corsairs in the swirling mire of northern Edge Nebula, the Maltese forces attacked targets of opportunity, decimating the Corsair warships. With the bulk of their artillery gone, the Corsairs seemed certain to suffer heavy casualties. The primary command vessel was lost in the engagement, along with much of the Corsair battleship force. Excellent dogfighter tactics by the Maltese whittled away the Corsair screen, whilst a comprehensive and well-planned cruiser stratagem negated the artillery throw-weight of the Corsair cruiser pickets. The day seemed certain to be won by the Outcasts.

However quick thinking and a reactive rallying action by the Corsair gunboat, bomber, and fighter forces capitalised on an opening in the Outcast lines. As the fight began to bog down, the Outcasts appeared to prefer a decentralised attack plan, spreading their fighter screen away from their warship forces. In a moment of tactical inspiration, the remaining half of the Corsair battlegroup whipped around, and began systematically targeting the Outcast cruiser force, whilst the fighter and bomber elements kept the Outcast airwing spread out. As the Outcast vessels started to divide, the Corsairs began to lay crippling, and then incapacitating damage among the Outcast warships, hulking the Outcast cruisers and battleships alike. A heavy warship advantage was rapidly whittled down as strike craft losses accumulated on both sides, with the Outcasts eventually losing the remnants of their gunboat and bomber elements. Unwilling to suffer further casualties, the Outcasts melted into the nebula, yielding the field to the battered Corsairs.

-

Conscious of the threat their rearline areas in the Northern Omicrons, the Maltese have attempted to match the Cretians at their own game, in a radical flanking action through the contested outer Sigmas. In an inspired piece of tactical reconnaissance, the Outcasts out-manoeuvred the Barcelona's battlegroup, successfully entering the Omicron Theta System in force for the first time in over a year. Whilst close to the heartlands of the Corsair homeworlds, Omicron Theta is only nominally defended by the Corsairs, granting the Outcasts the perfect theatre to engage in harassment attacks. As the two evenly matched fleets steer towards one another, the Zoner population looks on with a mixture of fear and opportunism as conflict comes to comparatively peaceful Omicron Theta system.