This is what the largest online space battle in history looks like

More than 4000 people took to sci-fi MMO Eve Online last night for the game's largest ever virtual space battle.

Two of EVE's biggest rival factions - TEST Alliance and the Goonswarm-led CFC - went head-to-head in a fight that lasted more than five hours and cost more than 2900 ships.

The CFC eventually smashed TEST and sent it fleeing from Fountain, the area of virtual space where the two sides drew their battle lines.

The battle was the culmination of a two-month campaign by the CFC to invade the Fountain area - TEST's traditional home region - and was directly sparked by TEST's decision to make an Alamo-style final stand.

"I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of other alliances," said BoodaBooda, CEO of TEST Alliance corporation Dreddit, told his doomed followers via chat service Jabber. "A day will come again when the courage of Test fails, when we forsake our allies and break all nips and agreements. But it is not this day.

"An hour of prophecies and AHAC wrecks when the age of Test comes crashing down. But it is not this day. This day we fight. By all that you hold dear in Nullsec, I bid you, stand. Pilots of Test!"

CFC leader The Mittani responded: "The foe is doing morale pings with LOTR quotes. We're not going to bother with a morale ping because we're in the system first, we have seven Baltecfleets, one AHAC fleet, two Bomber wings, one F***YouFleet, and yeah.

"GSOL are heroes: after the work of our capfleet in destroying every single hostile tower in 6VDT, GSOL threw up 26 towers in 6VDT last night , blocking every single moon. The enemy has no safe towers: nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and must bridge into our force."

Last night's battle brought back memories of January's legendary Battle of Asakai, when a trifling 3000 players took part.