Disclaimer: Due to pilots re-shipping multiple times and the different figures provided by both sides, any and all fleet numbers given here are estimates.
3L3N-X system, Tenerifis region. On the 26th of September at 7:00 EVE Standard Time a Stain-Wagon Coalition Super Capital squadron was annihilated by the combined forces of Pandemic Legion [-10.0] and Gentlemen’s.Club [GCLUB].
Stain-Wagon Coalition has been making inroads into the region of Tenerifis, claiming a few systems and repeatedly clashing with Gentlemen’s.Club forces who own a few key stations in the region. When Gentlemen’s.Club fielded capitals, Stain-Wagon Coalition would sometimes counter with their super capital fleet, decimating Gentlemen’s.Club’s capital force.
This led Pandemic Legion, who has been keeping an eye on the situation, to decide upon collaboration with Gentlemen’s.Club in order to plan a trap for the Stain-Wagon forces. On the 26th, opportunity presented itself for both entities to lure Stain-Wagon Super Carriers in to the jaws of their trap.
Stain-Wagon Coalition had called for a full mobilization. The target was the final station timer of the C3-0YD system. Though of relatively no importance for Gentlemen’s.Club, it seems Stain-Wagon forces saw it as an important strategic objective. They assembled a 150 pilot-strong Loki Strategic Cruiser\Cerberus Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet and made way to the system.
Against this force, Gentlemen’s.Club amassed a 130 pilot Machariel Battleship fleet with Triage Carrier support. The force quickly moved to intercept the Stain-Wagon Coalition fleet, reaching the 3L3N-X system and setting up camp on the Q-S7ZD gate, through which Stain-Wagon forces must travel in order to reach their destination.
At the same time, Pandemic Legion assembled a Proteus Strategic Cruiser fleet, estimated at 150 pilots, including a few Northern Coalition. [NC] pilots who joined the fleet before roll out. The force used a wormhole chain to reach a system within bridging range of 3L3N-X, where a Gentlemen’s.Club Titan was prepared beforehand for that very purpose. There the force sat, waiting for the right moment.
At 6:15 EVE Standard Time, the Stain-Wagon and Gentlemen’s.Club fleets clashed, the former jumping into the latter which was situated on the gate itself. A quick brawl ensued with both sides exchanging fire in close quarters. The Stain-Wagon fleet quickly maneuvered into close proximity of the Gentlemen’s.Club Machariels and a murderous exchange started, Gentlemen’s.Club losing Battleships while Stain-Wagon forces managed to tank the incoming damage.
At this point apparently, a few of the Super Carrier pilots wished to bring in their ships in order to quickly dispatch the Gentlemen’s.Club’s Triage Carriers. With the field seemingly almost won and no indication of any danger, permission was granted and into the system jumped no less than 7 Wyvern Super Carriers on a perch above the gate.
This was the moment both Gentlemen’s.Club and Pandemic Legion were waiting for. Quickly, Gentlemen’s.Club Interdictors scurried to the Super Carriers and bubbled them completely. A cynosural beacon was lit and Pandemic Legion reinforcements jumped into the system, joining the fray.
With the Pandemic Legion reinforcements on field, the Stain-Wagon force found itself outnumbered and outgunned, the close proximity to the Machariels which was suppose to negate their tracking, now became a curse as the Proteus spread points and tackled them, allowing the sheer firepower of the combined fleets to annihilate them. In rapid succession, Lokis were destroyed as both Gentlemen’s.Club and Pandemic Legion kept pouring in reinforcements, mostly Interdictors, to keep the Wyverns tackled.
At this point, Stain-Wagon chose to abandon the Super Carriers, beating a hasty retreat to their staging in order to re-ship, bringing this time Cerberus Heavy Assault Cruisers in the hopes of clearing all the tackle and freeing their Super Carriers so they may jump out of the system.
At the same time, Gentlemen’s.Club and Pandemic Legion attempted to break the tank of the Wyverns, but even with their combined sub-capital numbers found the task hard. Attempts to neutralize their capacitor and bump them away from the range of shield transfers proved futile as well. Thus, Pandemic Legion set to the task of quickly organizing and moving a Super Carrier wing from their staging in Delve to the Tenerifis, a distance of 3 regions(!).
Stain-Wagon forces re-entered the system and quickly focused on Interdictors, managing to nearly free the Wyverns a couple of times. However, the Gentlemen’s.Club and Pandemic Legion fleets quickly re-positioned themselves between the Wyverns and the Stain-Wagon forces, allowing several Interdictors to remain out of the Cerberus’ range to keep the Wyverns tackled.
While this went on, Gentlemen’s.Club brought in a few more Triage Carriers and a few Dreadnoughts in an attempt to break the Wyverns’ tank, fearing they may lose tackle at any moment. This proved costly as the Wyverns managed to destroy a few Carriers and Dreadnoughts before the sub-capitals were able to destroy their fighter bombers.
By this point, it all became moot as the Pandemic Legion Super Capital force made their final jump into the system. The force of nearly 50 Super Carriers jumped in close proximity of the tackled Wyverns and set to the task of annihilating them. One by one, the Stain-Wagon Wyverns succumbed to the onslaught, until all that was left on the field was nothing but their smoldering wrecks.
With their Super Carriers destroyed and an overwhelming enemy fleet on field, Stain-Wagon forces chose to retreat. Gentlemen’s.Club for their part extracted back to their staging, having used the opportunity to capture station nodes and secure it from further attacks. Pandemic Legion managed to extract as well with no further incidents.
All told the battle lasted nearly 2 hours with approximately 500 players in system during the peak of the fighting. Time dilation was reported throughout the fight and was quite noticeable, swaying radically between 60% to even 15% at times.
Stain-Wagon Coalition lost 7 Super Carriers, 23 Strategic Cruisers and 35 Heavy Assault Cruisers for a total of 220 Bil ISK. Gentlemen’s.Club lost 2 Dreadnoughts, 4 Carriers and 27 Battleships for a total of 33 Bil ISK. Pandemic Legion lost 1 Strategic Cruiser for a total of 3.8 Bil ISK.
While Stain-Wagon suffered quite a blow, losing both the strategic objective and 7 Super Carriers to boot, it is far from being a decisive defeat. However, it is certain to impact the usage of Super Carriers by the coalition in the future. How that will shape the continued battle over Tenerifis though, is still to be seen.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden.
