MQFX-Q system, Venal region. On the 8th of July at 20:00 EVE Standard Time forces belonging to the the Imperiun fought Out of Sight. [OOS], Pandemic Legion [-10.0] and Northern Coalition. [NC] in a massive battle that surprisingly enough, only saw light losses to both sides.
Imperium forces have been waging a war over moons in the region against the local residents, chiefly consisting of [OOS]. What began as a Circle-Of-Two [CO2] operation has steadily increased to a full scale war between the Imperium and [OOS]. The latter received help from [-10.0] and [NC] which led to Imperium forces suffering severe losses. This included Capital task forces on several occasions and even a capital convoy.
A string of recent humiliations forced the Imperium forces to step up their attack on [OOS] moons. Imperium forces also resorted to camping the NPC stations in Venal in an attempt to dislodge the local residents. RAZOR Alliance [RZR] and The Initiative. [INIT.] were supposed to reinforce and remove [OOS] towers in the vicinity of the MQFX-Q system. Their joint forces consisted of a mixed Tengu Strategic Cruiser and Rattlesnake Battleship fleet with a small mix of Capital squadron of Carriers and Dreadnoughts ready to roll. Numbers were unclear but estimated at less than a full fleet of 256 pilots.
[OOS] knew the Imperium was planning to reinforce their towers. [-10.0] and [NC] were contacted in advance. The two alliances then traveled down the Wormhole Highway to reach Venal in time. [-10.0] brought a 130 pilot Proteus fleet, while [NC]’s fleet consisted of 70 Lokis. [OOS] prepared a 50 pilot Cerberus fleet of their own.
The fleets, however, were scouted by Imperium forces in the wormhole, leading [RZR] and [INIT.] to call for backup. The Imperium hastily organized a second Tengu fleet with a mixed Assault Frigate wing. This bolstered the Imperium to nearly 500 combined pilots. This force made its way to the MQFX-Q system, the combined [RZR] and [INIT.] fleet arriving in the system through the 9-8BL8 gate.
[OOS] and its allies were positioned in the MQFX-Q system. The [OOS] force attempted to draw the [RZR] and [INIT.] fleet from the 9-8BL8 gate with little success. Finally the [-10.0] and [NC] forces which were kept in reserve warped to pings on the gate, when the second Imperium Tengu fleet bridged onto grid. [-10.0] and [NC] were soon on top of the Imperium’s Tengus, but delays in the deployment of interdiction probes allowed the majority of the Tengus to escape. A few Tengus and Logistics ships were tackled and annihilated.
The last stragglers were destroyed and [OOS], [-10.0], and [NC] retreated to the N5Y-4N gate. Imperium forces declined to pursue. Therefore [OOS], [-10.0], and [NC] resumed the offensive by warping to the 9-8BL8 gate grid once more. They probed and landed on one of the Tengu fleets, but delayed deployment of interdiction probes allowed most of the Tengu fleet to escape again. Stragglers were once again decimated while small skirmishes took place in which a few ships were lost but nothing significant happened.
[OOS], [-10.0], and [NC] then decided to retreat moving to the N5Y-4N system on their way home, Imperium forces attempted to chase but were unable to catch and engage. Instead they reinforced towers in and around the MQFX-Q system before returning home ending the hostilities for the day.
Battle report for the MQFX-Q system can be found here.
The battle lasted nearly half an hour, with Time Dilation peaking at 40% during the height of the battle as the system hosted close to 750 players.
Imperium forces lost 57 ships, including 9 Strategic Cruisers for a total of 11.55 Bil ISK damage. [OOS] and its allies lost 21 ships, including 2 Strategic Cruisers for 3.11 Bil ISK damage.
While the Imperium did manage to reinforce the towers in and around MQFX-Q, [OOS] and allies inflicted losses on the Imperium then safely retreated, earning a tactical victory.
[OOS] have successfully conducted guerrilla warfare against the Imperium while destroying numerous Imperium assets in the NPC region of Venal so far, aided by [-10.0] and [NC] forces. The Imperium was forced to bring additional forces to bear to handle the tactics, which could spell trouble for its rumored invasion of Providence. How the Imperium will respond remains to be seen. This smaller conflict could continue and further escalate.
Salivan Harddin writes for The EVE Scribe, Providence Bloc’s News Portal. When he isn’t busy writing articles, he usually blows up stuff in Minecraft instead.
