QY2Y-N system, Oasa region. On the 19th of May, 15:00 EVE Standard Time, 3 Super Carriers belonging to SOLAR FLEET [SOLAR] were destroyed in the system by forces belonging to Northern Coalition. [NC], Alternate Allegiance [ALTS] and Pandemic Legion.
The story begins 2 weeks ago, when the system of QY2Y-N was snatched along with another from [ALTS] during a sovereignty transfer by [SOLAR] who have been aggressively pushing into the Drone lands for quite some time. However, [ALTS] did not take this lying down, and instead mounted a campaign to keep the system reinforced, hoping to snatch it from [SOLAR]’s clutches.
Yet, as time went by, the Sovereignty Blockade Units of [ALTS] were taken down time after time by a squad of Super Carriers in an almost clockwork regularity. Thus the stalemate was kept until yesterday, when a Wormhole was discovered just a couple of jumps out of QY2Y-N and leading to Catch, in a system close to the Providence region as well. Since [NC] has been deployed nearby and were active in the region, they were contacted by [ALTS] for help. A plan was formed, to attempt and catch the Super Carriers in the next timer. Since there was a choice of three, [NC] chose to form for the second one, which was a bit closer to the EU Time Zone and would allow [NC] to field greater numbers, as well as see if the Super Carriers were active at all. Pandemic Legion was informed as well.
This time, the Super Carriers did not log in for the first timer, which forced [ALTS] to bring a small Dominix Battleship fleet for the second timer, an Infrastructure Hub one, and start grinding the structure, hoping the fleet will lure the Super Carriers in. The bait worked, as a Rapeir Force Recon Cruiser decloaked near the Battleships and lit a cynosural beacon, ushering in 3 Super Carreirs; 2 Nyx and 1 Aeon, as well as 2 Triage Archon Carriers. A lone [ALTS] Interdictor, as the majority of the fleet re-shipped into Battleships, managed to bubble the Super Carreirs, and [NC] started racing in with reinforcements, bringing more Interdictors as well as 40 pilots, mostly in Talos Battlecruisers and Tengu Strategic Cruisers.
A fight broke out on the Infrastructure Hub, with [NC] and their allies struggling to break any of the ships and only having 1 of the Super Carriers tackled, the other Nyx managing to warp off and safe up. Desperate for more reinforcements, Pandemic Legion was called, and [ALTS] dropped a few Dreadnoughts. This caused the other Nyx to warp back into the fight, and all 3 Super Carriers were tackled, with the Dreadnoughts clearing the Archons but dying to the Super Carriers, as [NC] forces attempted to remove Fighter drones from the field and lessen the damage output.
[ALTS] Dreadnoughts and the Wrecks of the Unfortunate Ones
Click for Killmail
Click for Killmail
Click for Killmail
With [SOLAR] forces vanquished, the allied fleets extracted from the system, putting an end to the fighting.
Footage of the Battle from [NC] Interdictor PoV
Battle report for the QY2Y-N system can be found here.
The battle saw less than 150 people in the system, with Time Dilation not reported by any of the sides. From start to end, the battle took nearly half an hour.
[SOLAR] lost 79 Bil ISK in 2 Nyx and 1 Aeon Super Carrier, 2 Archon Carriers and assorted ships, adding up to 8 altogether. [ALTS] lost 6 Dreadnoughts, while its allies [NC] and Pandemic Legion lost mainly Interdictors, reaching to 22 ship losses for a total of 18 Bil ISK of damages.
Following the loss of The Kadeshi Super Carriers, these losses once more demonstrate the dangers of operating Super Carriers without a decent sub-capital fleet for support. While true that the Phoebe jump mechanic changes drastically decreased the possibility of enemy Capital fleets dropping on Super Carriers, thus allowing people to field them more freely, but they also made it close to impossible for friendly Capital fleets to make it in time, especially if operating far from staging, as these Super Carriers learned quite painfully. Hopefully, others will heed the lessons.
Salivan Harddin writes for The EVE Scribe, Providence Bloc’s News Portal. When he isn’t busy writing articles, he usually forgets his whore drone behind.
