II-5O9 system, Deklein region. On the morning of the 7th of October at 7:00 EVE Standard Time, Imperium forces lost no less than an Aeon Supercarrier and 4 other Carriers to a Pandemic Legion [-10.0] fleet in the system.
Pandemic Legion has been terrorizing the north of New Eden for the past few weeks, with Pandemic Horde [REKTD] and WAFFLES. [N0MAD] mounting a successful campaign against Imperium forces in Cloud Ring and effectively ravaging the region of Deklein. Though Imperium forces have been vigilant, mounting both gate camps and fast response fleets, the harassment has continued, culminating in several large scale skirmishes.
On the morning of the 7th of October, a small Pandemic Legion gang set forth to the Deklein region in an attempt to catch a ratting carrier. Though often a futile attempt, as the region is the heart of the Imperium and the staging for its massive Super Capital force, the Pandemic Legion gang was confident in its ability to inflict enough damage on a ratting Carrier before having to retreat from Imperium reinforcements. The force managed to travel to the II-5O9 system where it succeeded in tackling a Chimera Carrier in an anomaly.
The ratting Carrier managed to light a cynosural beacon, but to no avail, as Pandemic Legion forces quickly deployed Cynosural Inhibitors and set to work on their prey. At this point a second Chimera warped into the anomaly to aid its sister as well as an Aeon Supercarrier(!). This caught Pandemic Legion forces completely off guard, as they did not have the sufficient firepower to deal with such a ship.
At this point with the situation quickly escalating, Pandemic Legion forces called for reinforcements while Interdictors put up defensive bubbles in order to intercept any reinforcements. Thus separating the tackled Carriers and Aeon from further support in the form of 5 Chimera Carriers that were forced to land more than 100 kilometers off their brethren. All this time the initial Pandemic Legion force was bleeding ships as Carrier drones ripped apart Logistic and support.
The plan of Pandemic Legion’s Fleet Commanders was to use their reinforcements to quickly annihilate as many Carriers as possible before being forced off by Imperium fleets. Setting to work on the myriad of Carriers that were by now properly tackled, they managed to destroy 3 in rapid succession, owing mostly to the high damage output of the Talos Attack Battlecruisers which were brought in and overwhelmed the Carriers.
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From here though reports are a bit sketchy. Apparently the initial Carrier which was tackled offered a ransom for its release. Having paid the ransom to the Pandemic Legion Fleet Commander, it was swiftly let go, jumping out of the system and leaving its brethren behind. The Aeon at this stage was not bubbled or tackled by any ship. However the Pandemic Legion Bhaalgorn Battleship pilot decided to turn on his Energy Neutralizers on it. Due to this the Aeon’s Capacitor was continuously drained, preventing it from achieving the necessary energy level to jump out of the system. And yet, it could still have warped out. Instead it continued to sit in the anomaly, allowing Pandemic Legion reinforcements to arrive on the scene and bubble it.
At this point, Pandemic Legion knew Imperium forces were on the move with a moderate Tengu Strategic Cruiser fleet and no less than 60 Carriers reported. Seeing as there was nothing to lose and having already inflicted heavy losses on Imperium forces, the decision was made to attack the Aeon, hoping the sheer amount of damage present on the field could overwhelm it in time. At first the Aeon was able to tank the incoming damage, its armor repairer overcoming the damage output of the Pandemic Legion fleet, but with the constant pressure provided by the Bhaalgorn, it quickly drained its capacitor, shutting off its local repair ability and even hardeners.
As chunks of armor began disappearing, the Aeon attempted to re-fit its tank by jettisoning a Nestor Battleship. This is a well known trick for Super Capital pilots, as the Nestor hull has more hit points than a Mobile Depot and does not take time to anchor. With the hull’s ability to allow any ship to re-fit off it it’s a known emergency measure for Super Capital pilots. However it did not work this time as the Pandemic Legion fleet quickly spotted the ship and volleyed it off field, thus dooming the Aeon.
Imperium forces of course, did not sit idle by and attempted to get a warp in on the Aeon in order to save it. This proved increasingly difficult due to the many defensive bubbles set up by Pandemic Legion. The Tengu force that arrived tried to clear as much tackle as possible but was too far to render assistance, while one of the main Imperium Fleet Commanders, DaBigRedBoat tried to secure a perch for them to warp in to. Pandemic Legion’s tackle wing noticed this immediately and quickly disposed of him, further adding to the confusion on the Imperium’s side.
Finally, the Aeon went down and Pandemic Legion forces quickly made preparations to warp off. They halted long enough to kill a Thanatos Carrier that warped in too late before extracting from the system, hounded by Imperium reinforcements who managed to nab stragglers all the way to Low Security space.
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It is worth commenting that the Aeon pilot did not have a full high grade Slave set, which is the standard for an armor Supercarrier pilot as the full set dramatically increases the total armor health points of a ship. Also, it is claimed that the pilot did not report that his Aeon was tackled, instead reporting on a Capital tackled in an anomaly, which may explain the somewhat sluggish response mounted by Imperium forces.
The Battle from the PoV of the Aeon Pilot Himself
Battle report for the II-5O9 system can be found here.
The battle lasted approximately 40 minutes with local peaking around 200 by the end of it. No Time Dilation was reported as playing a factor in the engagement.
Imperium forces lost a Supercarrier and 4 Carriers as well as a few other support ships for a total of 46.91 Bil ISK damage. Pandemic Legion and its allies lost 16 Attack Battlecruisers and many Interdictors for a total of 3.27 Bil ISK damage.
We will update the article as more information is made available.
