Disclaimer: Due to the chaotic nature of the fight and the multiple fleets taking part in it, all figures presented in the articles are estimates only.
EWoK-K system, Pure Blind region. On the 27th of October at 22:00 EVE Standard Time, forces belonging to Northern Coalition. [NC] clashed with the Imperium in the system.
The battle occurred over the G-M4I8 system, which Northern Coalition. forces reinforced its Infrastructure Hub before, prompting the Imperium to respond. For the defense of the system, the Imperium mustered no less than 3 fleets estimated at 300 pilots total which included a Tengu Strategic Cruiser fleet, a Cynabal Cruiser fleet and a Jackdaw Tactical Destroyer fleet.
To fight them Northern Coalition. brought a 110 pilot Proteus Strategic Cruiser fleet supported by a Mordus Angels [MOA] 40 pilot Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet, a Pandemic Horde [REKTD] 50 pilot Cormorant Destroyer fleet and a Pandemic Legion 50 pilot Tengu fleet.
While Imperium forces locked down the EWoK-K system in order to capture the nodes that would secure their Infrastructure Hub, Northern Coalition. forces bridged to the O-N8XZ system, linking with the Pandemic Horde and Mordus Angels fleets before jumping in into the EWoK-K system itself and straight into the Imperium Tengu fleet. The two sides quickly anchored up and started to exchange fire, signaling the start of the battle on the O-N8XZ gate.
With Northern Coalition. forces in and engaging the Tengu fleet, Pandemic Horde and Mordus Angels entered as well, lending their support. The battle quickly became a brutal exchange of support ships, as most of the mainline ships managed to tank the incoming damage well.
Imperium forces found it hard to apply their damage due to the many sensor dampners present both in the Northern Coalition. and Pandemic Horde fleets, forcing them to engage at a closer range and often slowing their ability to lock and switch fire effectively. However, Northern Coalition. forces quickly found they had a problem projecting damage as well due to the many tracking disruptors fitted on the Imperium Tengus.
As the two sides maneuvered around each other, the Cynabal fleet came to help the Tengu fleet in clearing the many damping ships on the field and putting pressure on the Proteus fleet. However this turned to be a mistake. The fleet had been camping the entrances to the system from the Lonetrek region, where a Pandemic Legion Tengu fleet attempted to link with the Northern Coalition. forces. With the Cynabal fleet lending help to the Imperium Tengus, Pandemic Legion seized the opportunity and entered the system, adding its fire power to the Northern Coalition. side.
The addition of the Cynabals on the field proved to be overwhelming for the Northern Coalition. Logistics wing, and the fleet started to bleed mainline ships. However, the Cynabals themselves proved to be far more squishy, and were forced off by the Northern Coalition. fleet time and again, losing a few ships each time.
After a quick re-positioning on the grid, the Imperium Tengu fleet and the Northern Coalition. Proteus fleet resumed their fire exchanges. By this point both sides were holding well and only the occasional ship would be lost due to a late broadcast. Pandemic Legion forces started warping in and off the grid at range of the Imperium Tengus, putting pressure on their support and Logistics wing.
First to be knocked out was the Cynabal fleet. It had been putting pressure on the Northern Coalition. Logistics for a while. Each time Northern Coalition. managed to fend it off but this time with Pandemic Legion on the field, the two fleets collaborated and quickly decimated the Cynabals, whose remnants quickly fled from the battle.
With the Cynabals gone, the main focus was the Imperium Tengu fleet. Pandemic Legion continued to put pressure on both support and Logistics ships while Northern Coalition. continued to skirmish with the Tengus, slowly grinding their support. With only a few support ships remaining, the Imperium brought 2 Triage Chimera Carriers to the field in order to help stabilize the fleet.
As time wore on, the three fleets started to warp across the grid, leading to little action. The Jackdaw support fleet of the Imperium though focused on the Pandemic Legion Tengu fleet. It attempted to warp on top of it a few times but only managed to nab one Tengu that did not align properly. Realizing the Jackdaws were gunning for their fleet and unable to counter them properly, the Pandemic Legion Fleet Commanders decided to retreat, rather than risk further losses.
With 2 of the 7 fleets out, the Imperium Tengu fleet decided to get rid of the Mordus Angels Ishtars before taking on the Northern Coalition. Proteus once again. It warped on top of the Mordus Angels fleet, quickly obliterating it. However, this was the chance Northern Coalition. Fleet Commanders were waiting for. Using the many wrecks that littered the gate grid, the Northern Coalition. fleet managed to warp on top of the Imperium Logistics wing and web down its anchor. What followed was a massacre as Scimitar Logistics Cruisers were simply volleyed by the Proteus and Legions present, unable to break anchor.
With most of its Logistics gone, the support ships of the Imperium fleet were brought down next, and then the Triage Carriers themselves. With their Logistics wing completely obliterated, the Tengus were quickly brought down, Northern Coalition. Interdictors managing to trap quite a few for their fleet to quickly dispose of as they attempted to flee.
Their fleet broken, Imperium forces retreated to a tower in the system. However, it turned out the tower was password protected and the password itself not shared among all members of the fleet, leading to non GoonSwarm Federation [CONDI] pilots to be trapped outside the shields. Northern Coalition. took advantage of that fact and destroyed several more Tengus on the tower’s shields, in full view of their fleet members.
Once done, Northern Coalition. and its allies left the system, safely extracting. This allowed the Imperium fleet to secure the Infrastructure Hub, thus preventing its destruction before limping back to its staging, having lost the battle but secured the strategic objective. Thus, hostilities in the system ended.
The Second Half of the Battle from the PoV of the Northern Coalition. Proteus Fleet
Battle report for the EWoK-K system can be found here.
All told, the battle lasted 90 minutes with local reaching 500 pilots at the peak of the fighting and Time Dilation not reported.
Imperium forces lost 201 ships, including but not limited to; 2 Carriers, 31 Strategic Cruisers and 26 Cruisers. The total damage received is valued at 43.89 Bil ISK. Northern Coalition. and its allies lost 113 ships including 19 Strategic Cruisers and 7 Heavy Assault Cruisers for a total of 19.19 Bil ISK of damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
