I1Y-IU system, Querious region. In the early hours of the 3rd of June, forces belonging to Guardians of the Galaxy coalition clashed with Imperium forces in a battle over the shield timer of the ED-L9T station, paradoxically in their own staging system of I1Y-IU.
The Guardians of the Galaxy coalition has attempted to re-gain the Querious region, often meeting opposition from the Imperium’s Reavers Squadron and Elite Space Coalition led by Confederation of xXPIZZAXx [PIZZA]. The ED-L9T system has been contested for weeks, with the Imperium managing to hold the system against repeated attacks by the GotG coalition.
This time, the shield timer of the station was running its last moments. The Imperium brought approximately a 110 pilot Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet. The fleet formed 2 hours before the timer’s expiration and moved to camp the GotG staging system of I1Y-IU an hour before the station was set to exit reinforced mode.
GotG for their part brought a mixed Armor Strategic Cruiser fleet of around 130 pilots, with Triage Carrier support, but found themselves forced to fight on the station as the Imperium Ishtar fleet was already in position.
The battle commenced at 4:00 EVE Standard Time, with both sides exchanging losses as Ishtars and Strategic Cruisers were volleyed off the field. After a while GotG’s side managed to hold remote repairs, in part thanks to the Triage Carriers, and in part to the arrival of their allies. Gentlemen’s.Club [GCLUB] brought a 50 pilot Harpy Assault Frigate fleet which harassed the Imperium’s Logistics wing, with Northern Coalition. [NC] en-route as well, with a 36 pilot Loki fleet.
However, Pandemic Legion [-10.0] was also en-route, with a 70 pilot Tengu Strategic Cruiser fleet. The Tengus arrived in system along with the [NC] fleet and after finding a good vantage point, warped to the station grid. [-10.0] chose to engage the GotG fleet, as it presented the costlier target. With the combined firepower of the [-10.0] and Imperium fleet, GotG lost its ability to tank the incoming damage, losing Strategic Cruiser after Strategic Cruiser, only one in a ten managing to receive remote repairs in time and hold.
At the same time, [NC] were targeting the Logistics wing of the Imperium, managing to snatch one or two before being beaten back to station, docking and re-shipping their Logistics losses before charging back again. [GCLUB] for its part started harassing the [-10.0] Tengu fleet, warping on top of it time after time, forcing it to warp back and forth from the station grid. This repetition helped halve the incoming damage to the GotG fleet, enabling them to tank once more after a while.
With [GCLUB] continuously warping on top of it, the [-10.0] fleet decided to retreat, rather than risk losing ships. With the [-10.0] no longer present, the Imperium fleet was quickly boxed in, as [GCLUB] Harpies and [NC] Lokis managed to land behind it, while the GotG fleet burnt into it. Caught between the two fleets, the Imperium fleet was quickly decimated, its remnants beating a hasty retreat.
With the Imperium unable to offer any more resistance, and only able to use the distraction to repair 4% of the ED-L9T station’s shields, the GotG fleet and their allies were able to easily push the station into its second reinforcement timer, thus securing their objective.
With the station reinforced, the different sides returned home, ending hostilities over the system.
Battle report for the I1Y-IU system can be found here.
All told, the system saw more than 400 pilots in local. Time Dilation was reported, ebbing and flowing as time went on, never peaking above 50%. The battle lasted nearly 50 minutes from start to end.
GotG lost the majority of ships, 98 for a total of 21.61 Bil ISK. The Imperium lost 76, for a total of 13.37 Bil ISK. [-10.0] lost only 1 ship worth 0.5 Bil ISK.
Though GotG lost the most in this battle, it managed to push the strategic objective and later on hold the field, thanks in part for its allies. As GotG continues to push for supremacy over Querious, it is only inevitable that more blood will be shed in the region, as both Elite Space Coalition and the Imperium attempt to stop it. Whether they succeed or GtoG manages to finally take ED-L9T is up to anyone’s guess at this point.
Salivan Harddin writes for The EVE Scribe, Providence Bloc’s News Portal. When he isn’t busy writing articles, he gets confused by the new icon changes.
