Hakonen system, Lonetrek region. November 12, 17:00 EVE Standard Time, Circle-Of-Two [CO2] fought Project.Mayhem. [16-13] and Pandemic Legion [-10.0] in the system.
The battle was sparked, once again, by Project.Mayhem reinforcing a tower owned by Circle-Of-Two. With the tower coming out of reinforce today, both sides prepared for a fight.
Project.Mayhem. fielded a 40-strong Machariel battleship fleet which entered system only to find Circle-Of-Two forces waiting inside the tower’s shields. Circle-Of-Two own Machariel fleet was estimated at 100 pilots. With Project.Mayhem. forces landing at close range of the tower, Circle-Of-Two forces quickly warped off, before warping back on top of the Project.Mayhem. fleet, starting the fight.
The battle was brutal, with both fleets fitting their Machariels with auto-cannons for a close-range brawl. Machariels on either side were simply torn to shreds as the fleets attempted to annihilate each other. However, the sheer numbers opposing Project.Mayhem. caused them to lose their fleet commander, as well as overwhelming their logistics wing.
One of the Machariel fleets burning in to engage on the tower’s grid.
Project.Mayhem. attempted to stabilize itself by bringing a triage Archon carrier to the field, but it was a futile gesture. With several Circle-Of-Two Bhaalgorn’s s on the field, the capacitor warfare pressure was immense, shutting down the triage carrier’s remote repairers as well as its local tank. Unable to even activate its hardeners the Archon was quickly destroyed, forcing Project.Mayhem. to retreat.
However, Project.Mayhem. refused to accept defeat, instead re-shiping and coming back. A second fight flared up by which time Pandemic Legion had appeared on field. The Pandemic Legion force of 40 pilots in Tornado battlecruisers landed at range, engaging the Circle-Of-Two Machariels as they battled the Project.Mayhem. fleet.
Pandemic Legion had noticed Circle-Of-Two’s preparations and quickly organized a fleet, traveling to the system and offering its help to the Project.Mayhem. Soon though, Pandemic Legion found the were unable to break the tank of the Circle-Of-Two Macharials, switching instead to the Circle-Of-Two’s logistics which was quickly decimated. However, Project.Mayhem. decided to withdraw to the Nalvula gate, setting up there. Circle-Of-Two gave chase and warped to the gate itself, re-igniting the fight.
Fighting on the Nalvula Gate
The two sides engaged on the Nalvula gate itself. With their logistics wing in tatters, Circle-Of-Two brought a triage carrier of its own, but Project.Mayhem. quickly countered it, jumping in a dreadnought. Under the combined fire of Project.Mayhem. fleet and Pandemic Legion, the carrier went down, forcing Circle-Of-Two to bring in another triage carrier while focusing its firepower on the Project.Mayhem. dreadnought which went down as well.
However, even with a new triage carrier, Circle-Of-Two was unable to make much headway as Project.Mayhem. brought in two more dreadnoughts to remove the second carrier. Once more the triage carrier was lost, but at the cost of two dreadnoughts. Yet, without their triage carriers and with Pandemic Legion obliterating its logistics wing, the Circle-Of-Two fleet was in a bad place. Quickly, its Machariels and Bhaalgorns simply evaporated under the combined, coordinated fire. Finally, Circle-Of-Two retreated, allowing Project.Mayhem. to hold the field.
Pandemic Legion Tornadoes sniping at range.
This though, did not end the fight. Just as in the earlier round Project.Mayhem. refused to back down, so now did Circle-Of-Two. As Project.Mayhem. forces moved to the Taisy gate they were greeted by Circle-Of-Two forces. The two fought once again, Circle-Of-Two instead fielding three triage carriers, taking no risks. Tired, bloodied and realizing they could not win the fight, Project.Mayhem. forces chose to simply disengage and retreat, conceding the field to Circle-Of-Two.
With Project.Mayhem. gone, Pandemic Legion knew it could not contend with the Circle-Of-Two fleet alone, instead choosing to withdraw, allowing Circle-Of-Two to claim victory both of the field and the objective, rescuing its tower.
Battle report for the Hakonen system can be found here.
All told, the battle lasted 90 minutes with local remaining around 200 pilots and Time Dilation not reported by any of the participants.
Circle-Of-Two lost 69 ships including two carriers and 21 battleships for a total of 23.18 billion ISK damage. Project.Mayhem. and Pandemic Legion lost 54 ships including three dreadnoughts, one carrier, 27 battleships and nine battlecruisers for a total of 56.12 billion ISK damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
