C-J6MT system, Insmother region. Drone Regions Federation (DRF) forces have been stepping up their attempts to capture the system, which serves as Red Menace Coalition (RMC)’s main staging in the region. While previous attempts have failed, this time DRF seem to be fully committed, prompting a series of long bloody battles that are not expected to end before the conclusion of the week.
For three days DRF and RMC forces had been skirmishing over timers ranging from Territorial Claim Units (TCU), infrastructure hubs and the station itself. For the most part DRF forces managed to win most of them, allowing RMC to capture the station in order to reinforce it again later for a more favorable timer.
The battles themselves were mainly skirmishes, though bloody, rather small in scale as the DRF focused its attention on other systems in the Insmother region in a continuation of its invasion.
With the station coming out of its first reinforcement timer, both sides prepared to fight. For the DRF winning the timer would put it one step before final conquest of the system while for the RMC winning would delay its fall and perhaps give it an opportunity to turn the tide.
However, after a week of fighting and three brutal battles, both sides seem to have been exhausted by the ordeal. Not helping of course was the timer itself, which was set to expire in the morning of the 20th of November.
Thus, DRF forces managed to muster an estimated 160 pilots in two Machariel battleship fleets.
Against them RMC and its allies assembled two fleets as well, a Machariel battleship fleet and a Proteus strategic cruiser fleet, totaling approximately 130 pilots.
At 8:00 EVE Standard Time the two sides clashed as DRF forces entered the system and set up at a distance from the C-J6MT station, camping its undock. RMC forces undocked and engaged the DRF fleet, starting the actual battle.
Once more artillery cannons roared as the two sides exchanged fire at a distance, shells ripping through ships. However it was the RMC force that was unable to break the tank of the DRF Machariels while its own ships were simply volleyed, turn to shreds by artillery fire. At the same time the Proteus fleet attempted to hunt Entosis link ships to slow and even stop the DRF from capturing the station’s command nodes but with no success.
As casualties mounted on the RMC side the Proteus fleet warped back to the station grid and joined the fray, targeting the logistics wing of the DRF Machariel fleets. Losing quite a few ships, DRF forces quickly switched to the Proteus and Legion strategic cruisers which were simply obliterated. Hard pressed against the Machariels, the Proteus fleet lit a cynosural beacon and brought in three triage Archon carriers to stabilize itself.
With the two RMC fleets on field, their combined damage output was enough to overwhelm and confuse the logistics wing of the DRF, turning the battle from a one sided affair into an actual exchange as both sides traded ships evenly. Yet the DRF was able to capture all the command nodes for the station, effectively causing it to enter a 48 hour free port mode, winning the strategic objective.
With their objective met, DRF fleet commanders lit a cynosural beacon of their own and ushered in a supercarrier squadron. The supercarriers quickly targeted the triage carriers which simply melted, forcing the RMC fleets to retreat. With the field secured, DRF forces safely extracted from the system, putting an end to hostilities.
Battle report for the seventh day of the assault of C-J6MT can be found here.
The seventh day of fighting has been as long as the third day but far less bloody, with the two sides engaging for only two hours with the system hosting approximately 400 pilots throughout the battle. Time Dilation was not reported by any of the combatants as being an issue during the engagement.
The destruction caused by this battle is once again less than that of the previous days, with only 109 ships destroyed for a total of 42.53 billion ISK damage.
DRF forces lost 41 ships including 8 battleships for a total of 8.31 billion ISK damage.
RMC and their allies lost 68 ships including three carriers, 19 battleships and 14 strategic cruisers for a total of 34.22 billion ISK damage.
The fighting is expected to continue for at least two more days. Should DRF forces manage to win the assault, it will be a terrible blow to RMC, as well as being the first time a constellation capital system has been captured under the new Aegis sovereignty system. Regardless, EVE News 24 will continue to report on the assault on C-J6MT.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
