C-J6MT system, Insmother region. On the 8th of November at 14:43 EVE Standard Time, forces belonging to the Drone Regions Federation (DRF) fought against the Red Menace Coalition (RMC) over the station and infrastructure hub timers.
The system serves as the main staging of RMC forces in Insmother and should it fall, a terrible blow would be inflicted on the RMC. Thus it was obvious to both sides that the battle will become an all or nothing affair.
The DRF mobilized a massive force of 600 pilots divided into 3 fleets; 2 Typhoon battleship fleets and a Machariel battleship fleet. This force was aided by a skirmishing small gang of Cerberus heavy assault cruisers and a Northern Coalition. [NC] Proteus strategic cruiser fleet, estimated at 70 pilots, not to mention a stealth bomber wing.
The RMC also pulled maximum numbers, calling in every ally it could. In the end it formed an estimated 250 pilot Tengu strategic cruiser fleet with Stain-Wagon (SW) coalition bringing a similar number in Loki strategic cruisers and Out of Sight. [OOS] coming with a stealth bomber wing.
As the two sides formed up and prepared for the fight, SW forces started moving from their staging to the system in question. DRF forces had eyes on the fleet and as it was moving bridged into C-J6MT, setting up on the 88A-RA gate with their Typhoon fleets at zero while the Machariel fleet maintained range.
As the SW fleet entered system it was quickly welcomed by a barrage of missiles and artillery shells, starting the fight. SW forces anchored up and started returning fire, with RMC forces undocking and warping to the gate to render assistance.
The fight was truly bloody as ships on both sides were simply volleyed off by swarms of missiles and a rain of artillery shells. The RMC Tengu fleet kept distance while the SW Loki fleet was forced to fight in close range with the Typhoons, the Machariel fleet keeping distance from the two and bombarding them with its long range artillery cannons. Stealth bombers made their presence known, executing devastating bombing runs on the different fleets and helping to increase the confusion as the two sides slugged it out.
As time wore on, RMC and its allies found themselves at a disadvantage, losing 4-5 mainline ships for each one of their adversaries. Already at a numerical disadvantage and harassed by enemy stealth bomber fleets, a continued engagement on the gate could prove costly for it and its cause.
Luckily enough, 20 minutes after the fight began the command nodes for the infrastructure hub and the station de-cloaked in the system. RMC forces quickly retreated, preferring to concentrate on defending the nodes rather than engaging the DRF fleets head on.
Quickly, the battle broke out into a series of skirmishes, each side attempting and failing to apply the Entosis links to the nodes as the opponent’s fleets would simply warp at range and volley the ship. The other side would attempt to engage only to see their enemies disengage after a quick fire exchange and warp off.
This continued for the next 2 and a half hours as DRF fleet commanders became ever more desperate in their attempts to capture the nodes, attempting to use even their triage carriers in the hopes that they could hold against the RMC missile barrages with little luck. An attempt to camp the system’s gates and send squads to neighboring systems and capture nodes also failed, as interceptor swarms simply obliterated the Entosis ships, slipping through the blockade easily.
Finally, with the station safely under RMC control and the infrastructure hub expected to follow suit, one of the DRF Typhoon fleets tried to instigate a fight on the 78-0R6 gate to no avail, as RMC forces simply chose to disengage. Unable to capture nodes and unwilling to remain idle in the system any longer, DRF forces chose to simply withdraw, allowing the RMC to claim victory of the field.
The Battle from the Perspective of the RMC Tengu Fleet
Battle report for the C-J6MT system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes, with local reaching an estimated peak of 1250 pilots. Time Dilation was a constant factor in the fighting, ebbing and flowing, reaching around 30-40% during engagements and subsiding quickly after.
DRF forces lost 296 ships including 3 carriers, 53 battleships and 15 strategic cruisers for a total of 56.05 billion ISK damage. RMC forces lost 262 ships including 63 strategic cruisers for a total of 57.01 billion ISK damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
