Villasen system, Black Rise region. On the 26th of June, 22:30 EVE Standard Time, forces belonging to Snuffed Out [B B C] and Pandemic Legion [-10.0] clashed over a tower in the system, in a fight that saw [B B C] taste defeat.
The battle was over a WAFFLES. [N0MAD] tower in the system. [B B C] had been reinforcing towers belonging to [N0MAD] in the region, as part of the struggle for good moons. Since [B B C] are one of the strongest groups in Black Rise, and [N0MAD] is [-10.0]’s feeder alliance, [-10.0] came to defend the tower.
[-10.0] formed a 60 pilot Ishtar Heavy Assault fleet, which left their staging system in Curse and traveled through Wormhole space to reach the fight, arriving before the last tower’s timer in the Villasen system expired. The [-10.0] fleet held a few jumps from Villasen, waiting for [B B C] forces to commit.
[B B C] for their part had an estimated 50 pilot Bhaalgorn Battleship fleet with Armor Strategic Cruisers, 2 Triage Archon Carriers and 6 Dreadnoughts. The force had cleared 2 towers before in the system, and decided to remove the third tower as well, even though receiving reports on the nearby [-10.0] fleet.
With the [B B C] fleet warping to the tower and committing to the field, [-10.0] forces started burning to the system. Once they entered Villasen, they quickly warped in range of the [B B C] forces and anchored up, dropping sentry drones and starting the fight.
The battle from the start proved rather one sided, [B B C] losing a few Lokis and Bhaalgorns, unable to hit for the most part the fast moving Ishtars that kept kiting outside the range of their webifiers and energy neutralizers. After taking a few losses, the Triage Carriers of [B B C] managed to stabilize the fleet, causing a stalemate of sorts. Since they were slower than the Ishtars, and had limited mobility due to their reliance on Triage Carriers, the [B B C] Bhaalgorns’ only recourse was to try and remove the sentry drones, diminishing the damage on the field.
As this was going on, a [N0MAD] Ishtar fleet of approximately 30 pilots landed on grid and added its damage output to that of [-10.0], with a third fleet of Pandemic Horde [REKTD] in Maulus Frigates, estimated at 30 pilots as well, giving support with sensor dampeners. With the 3 fleets bearing down on them, the [B B C] ships were powerless to return fire. With the addition of [N0MAD] Ishtars, [-10.0] had enough damage to slowly bring down the [B B C] Triage Carriers. One by one they came down, resisting to the very end before finally succumbing to the relentless barrages.
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With their Triage gone, the [B B C] ships attempted to escape, a few getting caught while the rest quickly warped off towards the station, regrouping. Without their Triage, the Bhaalgorns were popped quickly, and the 3 fleets focused on 2 Naglfar Dreadnoughts that were unlucky enough to get caught. The slow job of breaking the Naglfars took a while, during which [B B C] jumped in fresh Triage Carriers. With one Naglfar down and the second one slowly breaking, [B B C] forces returned to the field once more.
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The [B B C] fleet had, however, only 1 Triage Carrier. The [-10.0] targeted it immediately while kiting away from the [B B C] fleet. The remaining Naglfar used the opportunity to refit its low slots and put warp core stabilizers, which allowed it to warp out as the [-10.0] didn’t have enough points to hold it down. In the meantime, the Triage Archon was going down, attempting to prolong its life by refitting reinforced bulkheads, a noble gesture which delayed its destruction by a couple of armor repair cycles.
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As their Triage Archon was destroyed, the [B B C] sub-capitals were once again defenseless. The [B B C] Fleet Commander was volleyed off, the rest of his fleet not waiting around but conceding the field, most of the pilots managing to safe up. At this point a 4th Triage Archon landed on grid, apparently given the order to warp in by the Fleet Commander just before the 3rd Triage Archon died. It was quickly tackled, forced to go into Triage mode and after enduring quite a beating, succumbed to the hostile fire and exploded.
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With this, the [N0MAD] tower was saved, the field looted by [-10.0] forces before extracting safely to their staging.
The Villasen system battle report can be found here.
The battle saw less than 200 pilots in local, with Time Dilation not reported. From start to end the fighting took 30 minutes.
[B B C] lost 16 ships including 4 Carriers, 1 Dreadnought and 7 Battleships for a total of 25.5 Bil ISK damage. [-10.0] and its allies lost 14 ships including 3 Ishtars, for a total of 1.12 Bil ISK damage.
This was not the first clash between [B B C] and [-10.0], the two groups often tangling in the area over the moons of Black Rise. This time, [-10.0] came with its hand on top, but next time, none can say. What is certain is the two groups may clash again, as [B B C] is rumored to be still after the Villasen moons, which is guarantees more timers, and hopefully, more fights.
Salivan Harddin writes for The EVE Scribe, Providence Bloc’s News Portal. When he isn’t busy writing articles, he usually tries to enact his vengeance on his friends, with no success.
