Update: The article has been edited to add the District-85 fleet commander’s point of view.
X-CYNC system, Oasa region. On the 5th of March at 21:00 EVE Standard Time, a tackled supercarrier prompted a long arduous skirmish between local alliances and Hard Knocks Inc. [HRDKX].
The Hard Knocks Inc. crew had encountered the Nyx supercarrier before in the constellation and had attempted to catch it several times in the past with no success. This time with a direct wormhole exit to the system, the Hard Knocks Inc. crew gathered for another attempt. A 50 pilot Cerberus heavy assault cruiser fleet was assembled with two whole squadrons of interdictors.
The interdictors were sent ahead to attempt and catch the Nyx in a site. The Nyx was actually in warp to a site when the interdictors entered the system and landed right on top of one of the Hard Knocks Inc. interdictors who proceeded to bubble it.
The Nyx Tackled at a Site and Being Fired Upon by Hard Knocks Inc. Forces
With the Nyx firmly tackled, the Hard Knocks Inc. crew brought in the rest of their fleet and started the long and painful task of chewing through the supercarrier’s defenses. While tackled, the Nyx quickly alerted its allies to its predicament. In no time local residents such as InPanic [-INP-], District-85 [D-85], Alternate Allegiance [ALTS], Phoenix Company Alliance [P0CA] and The Explicit Alliance [XPLCT] organized several fleets in order to rescue the tackled Nyx.
The first to arrive on the scene was a District-85 30 pilot Gila fleet which landed in the site, but was dragged by interdictor bubbles a 120 kilometers away from the tackled Nyx. It tried to burn towards the Nyx and clear the many interdictors on the field but The Hard Knocks Inc. crew quickly responded to its presence, opening fire on it and managing to quickly annihilate most of the fleet before returning its attention to the tackled Nyx.
Not despairing, the locals once again formed, this time bringing a bigger fleet of Cerberus and Caracal cruisers. Once more the local defense fleet entered the system, warping on top of the Nyx and quickly brawling with the Hard Knocks Inc. crew. The locals had also organized a disposable triage carrier in order to repair the ship and quickly rushed it to the system.
A quick close range exchange of missile volleys proceeded, with the Hard Knocks Inc. fleet proving the clear winner, decimating the defenders. By now other local fleets had arrived to reinforce the defenders, including an InPanic Cormorant destroyer fleet that attempted to clear as much tackle as possible before being once again forced off the field by the Hard Knocks Inc. Cerberus fleet.
By this point the Nyx had taken quite a beating, its armor slowly dropping to dangerous levels, at one point reaching 40%. Hard Knocks Inc. kept bringing in reinforcements, mainly more interdictors to keep the Nyx tackled, as the defense fleets had often focused their fire on destroying them. However with the triage carrier landing on the field and getting close to the tackled supercarrier, it managed to remote repair the Nyx’s armor, helping it to tank the incoming danger and alleviate the immediate danger.
Even though the Nyx was no longer in any immediate danger thanks to the triage carrier, it was still tackled by the Hard Knocks Inc. crew. Thus the local alliances continued to bring in more fleets as well as constantly re-ship, not deterred by the previous losses and determined to free the supercarrier. A much bigger Cerberus\Caracal fleet was gathered and sent to the system while individual pilots continued to pour into the system in haphazard gangs and use whatever ship they had to fight the Hard Knocks Inc. crew and attempt to clear the interdictors around the Nyx.
Finally, the defense fleet arrived on the field for the fourth time and immediately focused on the logistics wing of the Hard Knocks Inc. Cerberus fleet. The incoming fire proved too great for the Scimitar logistics cruisers to handle, and in rapid succession they simply evaporated, the missile volleys overwhelming them. With their logistics backbone obliterated, the Hard Knocks Inc. fleet had no other option but to retreat or risk total annihilation, conceding the field to the local defenders while taking a few losses during the extraction.
The Field Near the End of the Battle from the Perspective of the Hard Knocks Inc. Fleet
Thus the Nyx was finally free, allowing the local defense fleets to return to their staging systems and scatter, having won the field and the objective and bringing an end to the fighting.
Battle report for the X-CYNC can be found here.
All told the battle lasted an hour with Time Dilation not reported and the system hosting 180 pilots near the end according to reports.
Hard Knocks Inc. lost 38 ships in the fight including 2 heavy assault cruisers and no less than 26 interdictors for 7.16 billion ISK damage.
The local residents lost 132 ships during the fight, including but not limited to 7 heavy assault cruisers, 72 cruisers and 10 destroyers for a total of 14.56 billion ISK damage.
*All the screenshots used in this article were taken by Franky Saken of Hard Knocks Inc., Hard Knocks Citizens [HKRAB], and used with his explicit permission.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
