6W-HRH system, Venal region. on the 8th of May, 21:00 EVE Standard Time, Circle-Of-Two [CO2] lost no less than 7 Carriers to an ambush executed by Pandemic Legion and local residents of Venal. Though the loss itself is not as substantial as last time, the story behind it is quite interesting in itself.
For those who have not been following, the conflict in Venal has been raging for close to a month, as CFC forces (Now re-branded as The Imperium) have been waging a war against the local residents over the moons in the region. [CO2] have been mostly left in charge of the campaign, reinforcing towers and attempting to clean the region of any pirate group who live there. Groups such as Out of Sight. [OOS] have attempted to resist this, but lacking the backing and organization of the CFC, have been forced to mainly fight a guerrilla war.
After the last disaster, [CO2] decided to change its staging to the N5Y-4N system as it attempts to clean the pocket. The station is also home to [OOS] who came in direct conflict as a result, for [CO2] forces started camping the station. Seeing this situation, [OOS] and their allies contacted other entities, including Pandemic Legion, to come to their aid. A plan was formulated, with Pandemic Legion bringing an Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet, 90 pilots strong, through Wormhole space, arriving 1 jump from N5Y-4N system and logging off to remain undetected by [CO2] forces. At the same time, [OOS] and their allies formed a Remote Repair Battleship gang in order to bait the [CO2] camp to engage them on the station, hopefully leading to an all out brawl.
The plan worked to a certain extent, as [CO2] brought out Triage Carriers by the dozen. With such overwhelming force presented, [OOS] and their allies were forced to retreat to the 6W-HRH system, losing a few ships in the process. However, seeing [CO2] keeping eyes on them, a decision was made to lure [CO2] into the system. One of the members was ordered to re-ship to an Archon Carrier and join the gang. [CO2] seeing the Triage Carrier enter W6-HRH, came in hot pursuit. A Sabre Interdictor, along with a Pilgrim Recon jumped after it, lighting a cyno to which no less than 13 Carriers jumped to.
At this point Pandemic Legion logged in, Interdictors racing to keep the Carriers tackled while the Ishtars followed. A short brawl developed in W6-HRH on the N5Y-4N gate. The [CO2] Carriers melted one after the other, having no support at all, prompting their sister Carriers to de-aggress and jump back to N5Y-4H, only to be greeted by other Interdictors who sat there ready for them. Pings fly on the Alliance and CFC jabber as 6 Carriers are destroyed in 6W-HRH. The battle then moves into N5Y-4N, where the rest of the Carriers remain tackled. Another Carrier is destroyed and an 8th one is put into deep armor.
However, the party is shut down. The pings alert a nearby CFC Tengu Strategic Cruiser fleet, some 120 pilots strong who was escorting a Capital force, reinforcing structures around Venal as well. They quickly come to the aid of [CO2]. [CO2] for their part managed to get an Apocalypse Navy Issue Battleship fleet organized as well, perhaps 30-40 pilots strong. Though it gets caught in a drag bubble off the 6W-HRH gate, for Pandemic Legion its a sign to retreat. The Ishtar fleet quickly extracts through the Wormhole, leaving 7 dead [CO2] Carriers behind, with only minimal losses. [OOS] and allies manage to dock up as well, even saving their Triage Archon and only losing a few Battleships in the entire affair.
Battle report for the 6W-HRH system can be found here.
All told the butcher’s bill is quite lean, with only 7 Carriers killed, resulting in 16 Bil worth of damages, while [OOS] and allies lost approximately, 2 Bil ISK in ships, mostly tackle and Interdictors, but some Battleships as well in the early fighting.
Regardless, this once more shows the lethality Wormholes can posses, allowing alliances such as Pandemic Legion to strike fast and hard behind enemy lines, even if they stage half the universe away. Alliances such as [CO2] may have to become ever more vigilant, or once more fall victim to those tears in space.
Salivan Harddin writes for The EVE Scribe, Providence Bloc’s News Portal. When he isn’t busy writing, he usually gets trolled by his allies on comms.
