ZID-LE system, Feythabolis region. On the 25th of June, at 15:00 EVE Standard Time, 6 ratting Carriers belonging to the Stain Wagon coalition were tackled by members of Nulli Secunda [S2N] and Fraternity. [FRT], leading to their eventual demise as Pandemic Legion [-10.0] forces arrived on the field to help the attackers.
In the deep areas of Null Security space it is not uncommon to see Carriers used to rat, often times clearing anomalies in systems. The advantage of the large drone bay and the ability to field twice the number of drones, coupled with a huge tank allows for an easy and efficient way to make ISK at a low risk and investment. With the Phoebe patch, changes to jump ranges and the addition of the jump fatigue mechanic also allowed for greater safety to these vessels, as the danger of being hit by a drive by Doomsday of a Titan or jumped upon by a Super Carrier has significantly declined.
However, this new found confidence my have been misplaced, as in the last few weeks have seen an increase in the deaths of ratting Carriers, due to the new highways of Null Security space: Wormholes. With Wormholes, sub-capital fleets have been able to penetrate to the depths of Null Security space and hit ratting Carriers unaware, avoiding intel channels completely. The loss of these 6 ratting Carriers proves to be yet another example of how deadly they have become.
The whole thing started when a roaming fleet of [S2N] and [FRT] members in shield nano Cruisers was traveling through the region looking for targets of opportunity. The two alliances maintaining friendly relations after the dissolution of the N3 coalition. One of the Interdictor pilots managed to catch a Chimera Carrier in a Sanctum, ratting. It was quickly bubbled and the joint fleet warped to it, quickly applying damage. The two Interdictors keepingt it bubbled while the fleet hammered it.
As this was going on, 2 more Chimeras warped to the site, to aid their friend. With 3 Chimeras tackled now, the small fleet could not hope to break their tank. Whats worse, one of the Interdictors was caught, leaving only 1 Interdictor on the field to keep the Carriers tackled. The call was quickly made to invite anyone in range, while the lone Interdictor kept the ships tackled. Two groups responded to the call: [-10.0] and Lazerhawks [LZHX].
It soon became apparent that arriving in time would prove to be challenging. Both groups could not arrive fast, since the Wormhole connections from their staging systems and to the fight were unclear, and even after scouts were dispatched with haste to find connections to the vicinity of the tackled Carriers, the best they could come up with were routes of 20+ jumps. Regardless, [LZHX] and [-10.0] burnt tackle and Interdictors ahead, while [-10.0] organized an Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet and started moving it to the destination.
While this was going on, 3 more Carriers joined up, 2 Chimeras and a Nidhoggur, bringing the total of Carriers on the field to 6. It is unclear why this was done, perhaps an attempt to clear the lone Interdictor on field. In actuality, this maneuver just doubled the number of tackled Carriers. For nearly 50 minutes, 1 Interdictor kept those Carriers tackled while reinforcements slowly arrived. First came the fast tackle and Interdictors, who helped keep the hostile Carriers well bubbled.
Next came the Ishtar fleet, warping to a ping then down to the field, dropping sentry drones and attempting to apply damage to the Carriers, while the Logistics ships kept, or at least attempted to keep Interdictors alive. It soon became apparent that [-10.0] did not have the needed amount of damage to break the Carriers’ tank, which was further aided by remote repairs. A call was made for more reinforcements, and a second fleet was organized and burnt to the system. In the meanwhile, those present in the system made sure to clear any hostiles who attempted to free the Carriers, blapping a few sub-capitals as they warped to the site one by one.
With the reinforcements in system, the added damage output increased dramatically, as the fleet swelled to nearly 70 pilots. First the Nidhoggur went down, judged as the weakest link, then 2 more Chimeras followed. The last 3 proved to be a bigger challenge, tanking well and overheating their shield hardeners. However, with the increased number of Logistics ships and the removal of 3 Carriers, the Ishtars felt confident enough to approach the Carriers and neutralize their capacitor. One by one they succumbed to the onslaught and finally, they were no more.
With the field secured, [-10.0] quickly looted what it could and departed from the system, bidding farewell to the [S2N], [FRT] and [LZHX] pilots, each going their separate ways.
Battle report for the ZID-LE system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted 90 minutes, with local reaching 100 pilots near the end. Time Dilation was not reported.
Allied forces received 1.4 Bil ISK damage, losing 13 ships. Stain Wagon coalition received a total of 28.8 Bil ISK damage, losing 13 ships as well, though including 5 Chimeras and 1 Nidhoggur.
In the end, thanks to the skill of the Interdictor pilot, and the hard work of scouts and the Logistics pilots involved, 6 ratting Carriers were downed, for a nice juicy battle report. However, this is only a drop in the ocean, as such ganks have been occurring almost daily now, though, granted for much smaller figures.
Salivan Harddin writes for The EVE Scribe, Providence Bloc’s News Portal. When he isn’t busy writing articles, he usually looks for Capitals to gank.
