O-9G5Y system, Insmother region. In the early hours of the 16th of October Red Menace Coalition (RMC) forces clashed with Drone Regions Federation (DRF) over the system.
The system had been recently secured by Triumvirate. [TRI] and DRF forces had decided to use it as a forward staging system in their war with the RMC. However the system was quickly reinforced by RMC forces. Losing it would hurt DRF staging thus Triumvirate. and allies prepared to defend it, not expecting much resistance.
And yet, it soon turned out that RMC forces made a Call to Arms for the system. With the timer of the system set past most DRF alliances’ prime time, it soon fell upon Triumvirate. and a few allies to face the RMC head on. A 60 pilot Cerberus Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet was fast assembled and Dreadnoughts moved into jump range, anticipating Capital escalation from the RMC side.
RMC managed to assemble an estimated 60 pilot fleet of its own, mostly in Typhoon Battleships but also Harbinger Navy issue Battlecruisers. The force made its way to the O-9G5Y system and bridged on the RZ-TI6 gate. It quickly found Triumvirate. forces waiting for it, having warped to the gate at 60 kilometers, starting the fight.
A mistake on the Triumvirate. side allowed the Logistics wing of the fleet to warp too close to the RMC forces at the start of the battle, resulting in a couple of ship losses before Triumvirate. forces could pull back. Settling into an orbit around the RMC force, the Cerberus unleashed their missile volleys, managing to decimate the RMC Logistics wing. RMC attempted to return fire only to find that the Triumvirate. forces managed to soak the damage.
With the RMC fleet starting to bleed support and mainline ships, its Battleships and Battlecruisers fired their Micro Jump Drives, allowing them to put a distance of more than 100 kilometers between themselves and Triumvirate. forces. However Triumvirate. did not pursue, choosing instead to obliterate support and Logistics ships which were left behind and attempted to link back with the main force.
Once most of the RMC ships around the gate were destroyed, Triumvirate. forces warped to a ping near the RMC fleet, only to see it use its Micro Jump Drives once again and land near the RZ-TI6 gate itself. Quickly they lit a cynosural beacon and a Triage Archon Carrier entered the field, brought in to supplement the crippled RMC Logistics wing. Triumvirate. having expected this, lit their own beacon on the Carrier as their forces anchored up near the gate once more and resumed skirmishing with the RMC fleet. 3 Triumvirate. Dreadnoughts entered the field and quickly annihilated the Triage Carrier while the RMC fleet continued to bleed ships.
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The RMC fleet, regardless, pushed forward. A second Carrier was brought in as well as 7 Dreadnoughts which targeted the Triumvirate. Dreadnoughts. Outnumbered and without a Carrier to re-fit off, the Triumvirate. Dreadnoughts succumbed to the onslaught. At this point the Triumvirate. Fleet Commanders planned to counter this drop with one of their own. A pilot was tasked with lighting the second Cynosural beacon when ordered, but when the command arrived he was nowhere to be found. Thus precious time was squandered before a new Cynosural beacon could be secured.
Finally a beacon was lit near the Triumvirate. Cerberus fleet, ushering in more Dreadnoughts and a few Wyvern Supercarriers who wanted to join the action. This force quickly obliterated the second Triage Carrier for RMC. However a failure of the Triumvirate. Interdictor team caused the RMC Dreadnoughts to remain free from interdiction probes. Thus they managed to clear their jump reactivation timers and jump out of the system, in front of the Triumvirate. Supercarriers no less.
At this point without Triage support and with more Triumvirate Dreadnoughts and Supercarriers on the field, the RMC sub-Capital fleet had no alternatives but to concede the field, retreating back to its staging. With no more hostiles in the system, Triumvirate. forces extracted their Capital and Super Capital forces and secured the system, extracting safely to their staging.
The Battle from the PoV of a Stella Nova Cerberus
Battle report for the O-9G5Y system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted 28 minutes and saw approximately 140 pilots at the peak of the fighting. Time Dilation was not reported.
RMC forces lost 2 Dreadnoughts, 2 Carriers, 7 Battleships and 11 Combat Battlecruisers for a total of 21.17 Bil ISK damage. Triumvirate. and its allies lost 4 Dreadnoughts and 2 Heavy Assault Cruisers for a total of 13.99 Bil ISK damage.
