Disclaimer: Due to the chaotic nature of the battle and the scarcity of eye witness accounts, the figures presented in the article are merely approximations and may change as killboards continue and synchronize.
LXQ2-T system, Etherium Reach. On the 29th of April, at 18:30 EVE Standard Time, no less than 7 fleets clashed over the station in system as it was exiting reinforced mode. The battle itself would soon become a bloody exchange leaving many ships destroyed, and many capsuleers dead, drifting amidst the wreckage.
With the Phoebe patch, the changes to jump drives made the EVE universe suddenly a lot bigger, and the ability of different entities to traverse it a lot more difficult. This in turn led to the fracturing of many of the large coalitions who could not hope to protect their huge swathes of Null Security space. Giving place to smaller regional coalitions. This in turn allowed many of the old alliances and coalitions in the game a chance to come back and attempt to claim their old strongholds. As powers such as Red Alliance and Triumvirate resurrected themselves, conflict was bound to happen, and happen it did.
In the last few months a war has been fought between SOLAR FLEET [SOLAR], Triumvirate(dot) [TRI] and their allies against Legion of xXDEATHXx [X.I.X] and the Geminate Coalition, also known as GemCo. The war saw many ups and downs, as well as interventions by third parties such as the CFC and Pandemic Legion, who were even hired by [X.I.X] at one point to reverse the gains of [TRI] and [SOLAR]. Battles were fought, systems changed hands, moons taken and re-captured, and never a dull moment had.
Though the war saw plenty of engagements, none seem to have been as violent and on such a huge scale as the one fought over the LXQ2-T system. The system’s importance seems to be its location as it is one of the few entry ways into the Drone lands from Empire space, as well as one of the few stations around, making it an important logistical link. Taking it would have been a painful blow to GemCo and their allies. This might be the reason why all sides showed to fight in record numbers.
GemCo and [X.I.X] for their part were not going to give up on the system easily. They amassed an impressive Apocalypse Navy Issue and Machariel Battleship fleet, approximately 250 pilots altogether, and had set up on the station in preparation.
[TRI] and [SOLAR] each brought a Machariel Battleship fleet, with Intrepid Crossing [IRC] bringing a third Dominix Battleship fleet, estimated total at around 300 pilots.
Pandemic Legion was informed beforehand of the battle and came to reinforce GemCo and [X.I.X] with a Proteus/Legion Strategic Cruiser fleet with close to a 80 pilots. It set up in a tower and waited patiently for the hostilities to commence.
Third parties included a Nulli Secunda [S2N] Stealth Bomber wing and a Circle-Of-Two [CO2] Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet, around 110 pilots strong. [S2N] were already present and waiting in the system for the battle to start, and [CO2] came in as the battle began.
As the defenders waited for the station to exit reinforced mode, [TRI] and [SOLAR] bridged into the system on towers prepared in advance. Scouts reported the fleets aligning towards the station. Local continued to spike, reaching 800 pilots, Time Dilation ebbed and flowed. Combat scanner probes were everywhere. Tensions grew as pilots readied themselves in anticipation. Finally, [TRI] and its allies warped to the station grid and engaged the defending GemCo. [CO2] warped on to the field and joined the fray.
A brutal exchange started, with each side losing mainline ships as the overwhelming firepower of the Machariel and Apocalypse Navy Issues overwhelmed Logistics. [S2N] executed a bombing run, catching the [IRC] Dominix fleet. Though surviving the barrage of bombs, the [IRC] Dominix were in deep armor, and chose to warp off, landing at 0 on the Planet V customs office. This would prove a fatal mistake.
Pandemic Legion had eyes on the fight and were waiting to pounce. Seeing the [IRC] fleet breaking away from the main engagement they sent Interdictors to the most likely point of its retreat. Landing just as the first Dominix Battleships exited warp, Pandemic Legion managed to deploy bubbles and warp their entire fleet in. The [IRC] Dominix were already in deep armor, disorganized and caught flat footed, and could offer no resistance to the Pandemic Legion Strategic Cruiser fleet. In rapid succession the Battleships were annihilated, leaving no survivors.
Having tasted blood, Pandemic Legion continued on, moving to the Infrastructure Hub in the system at the Planet VII customs office, which was used as [TRI]’s warp off point. Another bubble went up and fleeing Machariels were soon tackled and destroyed. As [TRI] and the [CO2] fleets continued to tangle with each other on the station, Pandemic Legion used the opportunity to grab a warp in on the Machariels and enter the main battle.
A warp in was secured, right in the middle of the [TRI] Machariel fleet. Another bubble went up, points were spread by Proteus Strategic Cruisers and more Machariels were destroyed. This proved to be the finishing strike for the battle as [TRI] and its allies retreated to their towers having suffered heavy losses. Having to contend with the GemCo fleets, the [CO2] Ishtars, the [S2N] bombers, who hovered over the field, and Pandemic Legion warping on top of them made victory seem impossible. Rather than risk further losses, it was more prudent to concede defeat.
This allowed GemCo to secure the station, taking down the Sovereignty Blockade Units deployed by [TRI], thus making sure the system was invulnerable. [CO2] for their part seemed to have decided to retreat as well, not wishing to fight both Pandemic Legion and GemCo on its own. Pandemic Legion extracted as the fight seemed over. Bringing an end to the large scale brawl.
The battle report for the LXQ2-T system can be found here.
During the peak of the fighting, the system hosted more than 800 pilots, with Time Dilation being a constant factor influencing the fight. All told the battle took 30 minutes from start to finish.
The butcher’s bill to date, stands at 133 ships lost, for a total of 33 Bil ISK in damages. [TRI] and its allies lost the bulk of ships, 69 for a total of 19 Bil ISK. GemCo and its allies lost 30 ships for 8 Bil ISK damages and [CO2} lost 31 ships, at 5 Bil ISK damages.
The battle stands out in several ways, being largely a Battleship heavy fight, with little to no Capital ship usage or escalation (though some people commented that [SOLAR] Super Carriers logged in at one point, but no proof of this was offered). Another interesting point is the size and the amount of participants, no less than 4 coalitions were represented on the field, and no less than 7 fleets clashed with each other. If anything, this once more proves the effectiveness of Phoebe in encouraging local conflicts.
Whether LXQ2-T proves to be the end of [TRI] and [SOLAR]’s ambitions to expand into the Drone regions, or just a temporary setback, is yet to be seen. However, it is clear that the Drone regions are once more home to the violent upheavals of war.
Salivan Harddin writes for the EVE Scribe, Providence’s News Portal. When he isn’t busy lemminging into hostile camps, he edits for EVE News 24.
