T-RPFU system, Providence region. On the 5th of January at 21:00 EVE Standard Time, Providence Bloc and Pandemic Legion [-10.0] with allied forces clashed in the system over a sovereignty timer in a battle that saw more than 900 pilots fight and 247 ships destroyed for a total of 38.22 billion ISK damage.
Pandemic Horde [REKTD] once again provoked Providence Bloc to a fight, reinforcing the D-GTMI system. With one of the timers set to expire at a prime time for Providence Bloc, both sides geared up for a major clash.
Providence Bloc formed 3 fleets including a Machariel battleship fleet headed by The Volition Cult [VOLT], a Cerberus heavy assault cruiser fleet and a “Goku” (Stealth bombers used without covert ops cloaks and with a logistics wing) fleet. The force was also assisted by a regular stealth bomber wing. All told Providence Bloc had an estimated 330 pilots assembled to defend the system.
This force chose to set up on the D-GTMI gate in the T-RPFU system, with the Goku fleet sitting near the gate while both the Machariel and the Cerberus fleet maintained a moderate range of about 70 to 90 kilometers from the gate itself.
Against this force Pandemic Horde formed an 80 pilot Ferox battlecruiser fleet supported by a 40 pilot Northern Army [NARM] Confessor tactical destroyer fleet and a 160 pilot Pandemic Legion Proteus strategic cruiser fleet with triage carrier support. Additionally, two stealth bomber wings were supplied by Pandemic Legion and Brave Collective [BRAVE].
Pandemic Legion’s Proteus Fleet with its Triage Support in Warp
As the attacking fleets started moving towards the D-GTMI system from their respective staging systems, the Pandemic Legion fleet took a route through the Catch region in order to reach its destination. As the fleet made its way to the F4R2-Q system, entering through the 1P-WGB gate, a Stain-Wagon coalition (SW) heavy interdictor which sat on the gate quickly activated its interdiction field while lighting a cynosural beacon.
As the Pandemic Legion fleet loaded grid, it was greeted by a 180 pilot Typhoon battleship fleet belonging to SW which bridged on top of it. As it turned out, Providence Bloc had reached out to SW for help who decided to try and waylay the Pandemic Legion fleet en-route, choosing to strike as it entered the system. Quickly the Pandemic Legion fleet anchored up and opened fire on the battleships, starting the engagement.
The two fleets fought a brutal exchange on the gate at close range. At first the two fleets traded ships as battleships and strategic cruisers evaporated in the ensuing fire. Whats more, Pandemic Legion’s stealth bomber wing chose to strike at the start of the battle, landing a successful bombing run which put many of the battleships into deep armor.
The Two Fleets Fight on the 1P-WGB Gate in F4R2-Q
However with the two fleets engaging at such a close range and with the Proteus fleet still scrambling into formation, a large portion of the strategic cruisers was also hit by the bombs. This in turn put a strain on the Proteus fleet’s logistics wing which resulted in a few losses.
However with the triage carriers for Pandemic Legion on the field, having traveled with the main fleet from its staging system, and the fleet itself anchoring properly at a short distance from the Typhoons themselves, the Pandemic Legion force managed to stabilize itself. The same could not be said for the Typhoon fleet who brought only one triage carrier with it. Even with their triage carrier present, the SW logistics wing tried and failed to soak the incoming damage of the Proteus fleet.
With wave after wave of bombs hitting the battleships while the Proteus fleet continued to rain fire on the Typhoons, the SW logistics wing was simply overwhelmed. Unable to render assistance anymore to the battleships, the amount of casualties increased rapidly as Pandemic Legion continued to hammer away at the SW fleet.
Whats more, Pandemic Legion’s allies started filtering into the system including Pandemic Horde and Northern Coalition. [NC]. Northern Coalition. had brought a 140 pilot Proteus fleet of its own. Though it had knowledge of the timer, the fleet had actually formed in order to assist Out of Sight. [OOS] who managed to tackle an Imperium super capital force in the Venal region. However by the time it was on its way, the Imperium managed to rally several sub-capital fleets to extract their stranded super capitals. Thus, notified by Pandemic Legion that the fight was going on, the Northern Coalition. Proteus fleet made its way to F4R2-Q.
With mounting losses and the number of hostiles increasing, the SW fleet attempted to extract itself, its battleships activating their micro jump drives to teleport out of the interdiction fields active on the gate and away from the Proteus fleet. Once out, the Typhoons quickly warped to the station, docking up. Pandemic Legion tried to tackle as many of the battleships as it could, also bringing a small super capital wing to the gate to dispose of the SW triage carrier and help the process of clearing the field.
With the field won and the SW forces camped into the station, the allied fleets continued on their way towards D-GTMI.
The F4R2-Q Battle from the Perspective of the Pandemic Legion’s Proteus Fleet
Battle report for the F4R2-Q system can be found here.
After clearing the last hostiles from F4R2-Q, the allied fleets continued on their way to D-GTMI, bridging into the system and quickly warping their fleets to the T-RPFU gate along with their triage carrier support. Upon landing on the gate, the two Proteus fleets jumped in, followed later by the Ferox and Confessor fleets.
As the Proteus fleets loaded grid and anchored up, they were greeted by a hail of artillery fire and missile barrages from Providence Bloc. Bombers on both sides made their presence known, with the two Proteus fleets quickly receiving a hefty dose of bombs from the Goku fleet. Regardless, the allied Proteus fleets pressed on, one burning at the Machariel fleet while the other positioning itself between its ally and the Cerberus fleet.
The Battle Unfolds on the D-GTMI Gate in the T-RPFU System
The two fleets took a few shots at the Goku fleet before turning their attention to the Machariel fleet. The Machariel fleet commander refused to withdraw from the grid when asked to by the Cerberus fleet commander, forcing the rest of Providence Bloc to engage the two Proteus fleets . This decision would turn out to be costly as the Machariels stayed on grid. Further more the battleships did not even try to burn out of the range of the Proteus fleets. This mistake allowed one of the Proteus fleets to quickly close in and start volleying the battleships. What’s more, the bomber wings allied with Pandemic Legion zeroed in on the Machariels, unleashing their devastating payloads in dive after dive.
Hastily, the Machariels realized their mistake and started pulling range before withdrawing from the grid later as the hostile bomber wings forced the battleships off the field. This allowed the allied fleets to concentrate on the Cerberus fleet in turn which attempted to keep maximum range from the two Proteus fleets while circling towards the friendly Machariel fleet. The two sides quickly settled into a long range fire exchange, both trading losses, though Providence Bloc ended up losing far more mainline and support ships for each loss it managed to incur to the hostile fleets.
As the battle continued, a The Initiative. [INIT.] 65 pilot Ishtar heavy assault cruiser fleet entered the field. Seeing the map light up with the movement of the fleets and the subsequent fire exchange, The Initiative. quickly formed its fleet and raced to the system, entering through the D-GTMI gate. The arrival of the Ishtars caused the Proteus fleets to change targets once again. The two Proteus fleets quickly converged on the Ishtars, the first target on their list its fleet commander.
The Initiative.’s Fleet Commander Quickly Dispatched by the Allied Proteus Fleets
In rapid succession the Proteus fleets dispatched the Ishtars, forcing them to attempt and pull range as they were volleyed, their anchors spotted and destroyed one after the other, adding to the chaos. Finally, the Ishtars managed to escape the Proteus fleets, remaining out of the range of the strategic cruisers. Later, they were beset by the Confessor fleet of Northern Army.
Meanwhile, the Pandemic Horde Ferox fleet was in trouble. Though active in the system and supporting the two Proteus fleets alongside the Northern Army Confessor fleet, the large signature of the battlecruisers proved too easy a target for Providence Bloc’s stealth bomber wing. Again and again the bombers dove on the unsuspecting battlecruisers, unleashing lethal bombing runs. As damage piled on quickly, a single devastating run managed to take a quarter of the fleet out of commission!
Yet, with both the Machariel and Ishtar fleets out of the picture, the Proteus fleets quickly perched on grid before attempting to land on top of the Cerberus fleet. A partial success was made when one of the Proteus fleets managed to hit the Cerberus fleet’s logistics wing while the other landed near the main body of the fleet. In rapid succession heavy assault and logistics cruisers were torn apart by the two Proteus fleets. However, the Cerberus fleet quickly increased its distance from the two fleets, utilizing its speed to get away from the strategic cruisers. Realizing quite quickly it could do little against the combined number of 200 strategic cruisers, the Cerberus fleet withdrew, conceding the field.
With its allies gone, the Goku fleet also retreated, leaving the allied Proteus fleets to claim victory.
Having secured the field, Pandemic Legion and its allies extracted from the system, allowing Providence Bloc to save the timer.
The Battle in T-RPFU from the Perspective of the Northern Coalition. Proteus Fleet
Battle report for the T-RPFU system can be found here.
During their extraction, the Proteus fleets were harassed by SW reinforcements in an estimated 70 pilot Cerberus fleet. The SW force attempted to engage the Proteus fleets as they entered the D-GTMI system from T-RPFU, firing at the de-cloaked strategic cruisers from maximum range. However, it failed to incur any losses and was quickly chased by the allied fleets, retreating back into the Catch region and preferring to reinforce a hostile tower instead.
The Stain-Wagon Coalition Cerberus Fleet Attempting to Snatch a Quick Kill
This marked the last engagement of the night, as each fleet returned safely to its respective staging system, putting an end to hostilities for the day.
Pandemic Legion and its allies managed to win the battle, thus achieving their goal of having an actual fight. At the same time Providence Bloc managed to secure its main objective of protecting their timer, thus achieving victory from its perspective.
The battle on its two parts lasted an hour with Time Dilation being noticeable, reaching 10% at times and remaining high throughout the fights. The system of T-RPFU hosted 900 pilots at the peak of the fighting, while F4R2-Q had nearly 600 pilots near the end of the engagement.
The losses are as follows:
Stain-Wagon Coalition lost 84 ships including 1 carrier and 64 battleships for a total of 21.59 billion ISK damage.
Pandemic Legion and Northern Coalition. lost 25 ships including 13 strategic cruisers for a total of 11.67 billion ISK damage.
Pandemic Horde, Northern Army and Brave Collective lost 86 ships including 40 battlecruisers for a total of 4.46 billion ISK damage.
Providence Bloc lost 107 ships including 23 battleships and 22 heavy assault cruisers for a total of 22.35 billion ISK damage.
The Initiative. lost 35 ships including 28 heavy assault cruisers for a total of 7.38 billion ISK damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
