Aedald system, Molden Heath region. On the 7th of February at 6:40 EVE Standard Time, DropBear Sanctuary [DROP] and allies clashed with Rabble Alliance [RABLE] forces and their allies over a tower in the system.
The Molden Heath region has seen in recent weeks an influx of alliances settling in, which in turn caused a marked increase in hostilities as new and old arrivals competed over the limited moons present in the region. One of the latest series of wars saw Iron Armada [FLEEP] attack their former allies Rabble Alliance after relations between the two alliances deteriorated to the point of open warfare, with sources claiming a rift between the two executors to be partially blamed. DropBear Sanctuary had joined Iron Armada in its war against Rabble Alliance, and the two have been steadily pushing Rabble Alliance out of the region.
Rabble Alliance has not been passive either and with the help of allies tried to regain some of its moons, thus attacking the tower in question in the Aedald system now held by DropBear Sancuary. With the reinforcement timer set to expire in the morning of the 7th, both parties prepared for a major clash.
DropBear Sanctuary, Iron Armada and a few other allies assembled a joint fleet of 70 pilots in assorted armor battleships including a whole capital squadron which had a few tracking dreadnoughts besides triage carriers. Most of the force waited outside of the system, with a small portion of the battleships brought in and waiting in the tower’s shields. This was done in order to bait the Rabble Alliance fleet to engage, as scouts reported suspicious movement in the nearby systems alerting the allies to the possibility of a trap or a capital counter escalation.
Rabble Alliance entered the system and warped a small Megathron battleship fleet, estimated at 15 pilots, to the tower with two triage Archon carriers in tow. Seeing this, the DropBear Sanctuary battleships burnt out of the tower’s shields to engage the hostiles, starting the battle.
As the two sides exchanged fire, DropBear Sanctuary quickly lit a cynosural beacon on the field, bridging in the rest of its fleet including its capitals. The Rabble Alliance fleet soon found itself outnumbered and outgunned, its triage carriers swiftly brought down by the overwhelming firepower possessed by the DropBear Sanctuary allied fleet.
However, before the allies could celebrate their victory and completely annihilate the hostile fleet, reinforcements arrived for Rabble Alliance. Dead Terrorists [IKILU] brought a Proteus strategic cruiser fleet to aid Rabble Alliance, with Shadow Cartel [SHDWC] arriving a few minutes later with more strategic cruisers.
With these reinforcements, Rabble Alliance managed to equal the numbers of its enemies and the two sides continued to exchange fire at close range. While Rabble Alliance and its reinforcements were able inflict some casualties on the allied fleet, they were ultimately unable to break the battleships’ tank. Whats more without triage carriers, the allied fleet was able to slowly grind Rabble Alliance and its allies’ logistics wings.
The presence of many energy neutralizer battleships within the allied fleet soon spelled disaster to the Rabble Alliance logistics wing coupled with the activities of allied fleet command destroyers. With logistics cruisers shut down by energy neutralizers or simply teleported out of range of the fleet, the logistics wing simply crumbled.
Losing Guardian logistics cruisers and bleeding strategic cruisers as well as battleships, Rabble Alliance and their allies could not continue the fight, especially with DropBear Sanctuary bringing a third triage carrier to the field. Preferring to retreat rather than lose their entire fleet, the order was given for all pilots to retreat.
As Rabble Alliance forces withdrew from the system, the allied fleet secured the field, disposing of any hostile ship that was still tackled. Once the grid was clear, the allies quickly repaired the tower before departing the system, putting an end to the battle.
The Battle from the Perspective of the Allied Battleship Fleet
Battle report for the Aedald system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted approximately 20 minutes with Time Dilation not reported and the system hosting an estimated 130 pilots at the peak of the fighting.
Rabble Alliance and its allies suffered the brunt of the losses, 37 ships in total including 2 carriers, 6 battleships and 12 strategic cruisers for a total of 20.64 billion ISK damage.
DropBear Sanctuary and its allies lost 13 ships in comparison for a total of 2.64 billion ISK damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
