O-TVTD system, Venal region. On November 7, 16:00 EVE Standard Time, Imperium forces engaged Out of Sight. [OOS] over a tower in the NPC nullsec system.
The engagement came as Imperium forces continue to wage war against the Venal-based alliance, choosing this time to try to remove a tower at a valuable moon in the O-TVTD system. The tower had been reinforced the previous day with both sides able to prepare for the fight. The Imperium had two fleets, a Cerberus heavy assault cruiser fleet and a Hurricane battlecruiser fleet, for an estimated total of 200 pilots.
Out of Sight. formed a 20-strong Tengu strategic cruiser fleet with roughly the same number of stealth bombers.
The two fleets met on the tower grid, Imperium forces arrived first while the Out of Sight. fleet bridged into a neighbouring system before jumping in and warping to the grid.
The Out of Sight. Tengu fleet manoeuvred themselves at maximum range from both Imperium fleets, sniping from long distance and volleying a ship every few moments, while its bomber wing concentrated on the Hurricane fleet.
Out of Sight. were able to obliterate the Imperium Hurricane fleet with a number of successful bombing runs, taking few losses in the process. Their Tengu fleet was able to take advantage of the confusion caused by the well-placed bomb runs, attacking the ships which managed to avoid the brunt of the explosion. It took only a few minutes for the bulk of The Imperium’s Hurricane fleet to be destroyed causing the remaining pilots to retreat.
The Imperium’s Cerberus fleet continued on, attempting to engage Out of Sight.’s Tengu fleet as it they positioned themselves around the grid, occasionally using off-grid perches, to dictate range and take shots at the Cerberuses.
The stealth bombers continued to deploy wave after wave of bombs on the remaining Imperium fleet, forcing them off-grid at times.
As the fighting continued, the Cerberuses attempted to spread out to minimize the effects of the Out of Sight. bombing runs. However, they were unable to prevent the losses of their mainline ships, with nearly 20 destroyed by a well placed bombing wave.
The continued pressure by the Tengu fleet forced the Imperium FCs to switch from engaging hostile ships to targeting the tower to ensure they at least secured their strategic objective before leaving the field.
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Battle report for the O-TVTD system can be found here.
The 30 minute fight involved an estimated 250 pilots. Neither side reported TiDi in the system.
Out of Sight. lost 5 ships, worth a total of 379 million ISK. The Imperium suffered 14.83 billion ISK worth of losses, losing 118 ships, of those 26 were heavy assault cruisers and 36 battlecruisers.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
