KBP7-G system, Providence region. On the 26th of December at 22:20 EVE Standard Time, forces belonging to the NPSI (Not Purple Shoot It) community clashed with Pandemic Legion [-10.0] head on in the system in what became a rather bloody and one sided fight.
Celebrating another milestone for the Ganked fleet events as well as an anniversary for Spectre Fleet, the two organizations joined hands to field a massive fleet. The force assembled in The Forge region numbered 400 pilots split into two fleets: a Rattlesnake battleship fleet with 23 Chimera carriers and a Wyvern supercarrier as well as a Tengu strategic cruiser/Eagle heavy assault cruiser fleet.
This force toured both the Minmatar and Amarr war zones in an attempt to draw a fight from local residents with no success, encountering only a Northern Coalition. [NC] Proteus strategic cruiser fleet, estimated at 80 pilots. The Proteus fleet however was unable to take the opposition head on and chose instead to keep its distance, shadowing the event fleets and nabbing stragglers.
Thus, the force made its way to the Providence region, believing that either Providence Bloc or Pandemic Legion which had deployed to the nearby Curse region would grant them the fight they desired.
Pandemic Legion had been keeping tabs on the event fleets. Seeing the force getting closer, it started organizing its own fleet which included 60 Archon carriers also known as “Slowcats”, 50 supercarriers and 30 titans, along with other support ships. The fleet reached 150 pilots. This force moved into range of the Providence region as interdictors and heavy interdictors raced ahead in order to secure tackle and supply a cynosural beacon for the fleet to jump to.
While this was going on, the event fleets managed to reach the KBP7-G system in Providence, one of the region’s main entrances. The Rattlesnake fleet with its carrier and supercarrier escorts had set up on the Dital gate in the system while the Tengu\Eagle fleet sat at a distance of a 100 kilometers of the gate itself. Both fleets waited for either Pandemic Legion or Providence Bloc to show up.
Pandemic Legion obliged the event force when its heavy interdictors entered the system and warped to the Dital gate, tackling the Wyvern and lighting a cynosural beacon. While the event force busied itself with removing the interdictors and heavy interdictors, Pandemic Legion’s fleet jumped into the system. 60 Archons and 30 titans hit the grid, starting the actual battle.
As the titans loaded grid they fired their doomsday weapons at the Chimeras assembled on the gate. Almost instantly a dozen carriers were destroyed with the rest following suit. The Archons in the meantime deployed their sentry drones and started targeting the Rattlesnakes, volleying them one by one as the battle unfolded.
As it is often the case when a large super capital force jumps at the same time to the same beacon, several titans bumped away from the main fleet. Two Leviathan titans had been catapulted away from the main force. Thus the Rattlesnake fleet burned at one of the bumped Leviathans, putting all its damage and heavy energy neutralizers on the behemoth in the hopes of at least snagging a titan kill.
Due to a miscommunication, the joint Tengu/Eagle fleet had gone after the second bumped Leviathan, effectively splitting the damage of the fleet. By the time the Tengu/Eagle fleet had tackled the second titan and started to apply its damage it lit a cynosural beacon and unto the field entered Pandemic Legion’s supercarrier force.
Quickly, the Tengu/Eagle fleet disengaged and pinged on the grid, warping again to aid the Rattlesnake fleet which was working on breaking the first Leviathan.
With the addition of the supercarriers and their fighter drones to the mix, the Rattlesnake fleet’s losses were accelerated as the combined damage on the field overwhelmed the battleships. Regardless, the event fleets stayed on grid and fought on, attempting to break the tank of the Leviathan who seemed to ever so slowly drop.
As this was going on, the Wyvern belonging to the event fleet and piloted by the Rattlesnake fleet’s commander was finally destroyed after its last remaining escort carriers were annihilated.
The Wyvern Belonging to the Event Force
By this point Providence Bloc made its appearance on the field, its stealth bombers hitting both the tackled Leviathan and the Rattlesnake fleet which swarmed around it. The bombing runs seemed to have hit both the fighter drones of Pandemic Legion as well as the Leviathan, but also put further pressure on the Rattlesnakes and their support.
Finally the event fleets had managed to bring the Leviathan’s shields down to 15% only to see it boost back up. Realizing they couldn’t break the Leviathan as their losses continued to mount and with reports of Northern Coalition.’s Proteus fleet entering the system and joining the fray, the event fleet commanders ordered a retreat.
The Tengu/Eagle fleet managed to extract with minimal losses but the Rattlesnake fleet was decimated, more than half its mainline ships destroyed as survivors fled to high security space, leaving Pandemic Legion to hold the field.
Pandemic Legion, having won the battle, extracted its capital and super capital assets with the help of the Northern Coalition. Proteus fleet which stayed behind to give cover. Once the last of Pandemic Legion’s capitals left the system, the Proteus fleet extracted as well, bringing an end to the battle.
The Battle from the Perspective of the Tengu\Eagle Fleet
Battle report for the KBP7-G system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted an hour with Time Dilation reaching 10% at times and remaining high throughout the fighting. It is believed that at the height of the fighting more than 650 pilots were present in the system.
Pandemic Legion and its allies lost 32 ships, mainly interdictors and heavy interdictors for a total of 4.32 billion ISK damage.
The event force lost 194 ships including 1 supercarrier, 19 carriers, 57 battleships, 2 strategic cruisers and 4 heavy assault cruisers for a total of 103.74 billion ISK damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
