X-M2LR system, Syndicate region. On the 9th of March at 19:50 EVE Standard Time, The Initiative. [INIT.] forces suffered a major defeat by the hands of The-Culture [-T C-] and Northern Coalition. [NC].
The battle was prompted by The Initiative. attempting to reinforce a Suddenly Spaceships. [CYN0] tower in the system. The Initiative. formed a 70 pilot Rattlesnake battleship fleet with several dreadnoughts as well as triage carriers in tow. The force moved to the X-M2LR system where it quickly set up on the tower and started the process of reinforcement.
However, the fleet had been scouted by The-Culture who had watched it form and move out, finding its destination without much trouble. The-Culture had already a standing fleet of 80 Rattlesnakes of its own, having just fought a skirmish with LowSechnaya Sholupen [-LSH-] and Red Menace Coalition (RMC) forces in the Fountain region. This force was joined by an 80 pilot Northern Coalition. Proteus strategic cruiser fleet which had helped it in the previous fight.
As the allies raced a ship to the system to light a cynosural beacon in it, they merged their fleets and got into position on a titan. Once the ship had arrived in the system, it quickly lit a the beacon on the station, allowing the joint fleet to bridge in. By now The Initiative. had managed to extract its dreadnoughts, having reinforced the tower, and had moved to a ping on the grid thus defying allied expectations that it would try to retreat to the station.
Thus, the allied fleet warped to The Initiative. force, which by now set up defensive bubbles all around it. Landing 20 kilometers away from the main enemy fleet, the allied force quickly anchored up, The Rattlesnakes exchanging missile volleys as the strategic cruisers burnt it to grab tackle, starting the fight.
The early fire exchanges proved brutal as battleships simply overwhelmed one another with missile volleys at close range. Logistics wings for both sides were unable to tank the incredible damage output each fleet possessed and mainline ships in both fleets simply evaporated. However as time went by, The Initiative.’s position worsened. The allies had focused fire at the start on its triage carrier, taking it down relatively easy before swapping to the battleships.
Without its triage backbone, The Initiative.’s Rattlesnakes could not hold at all and were easily taken out. With the number of enemy Rattlesnakes lessening, The-Culture battleships were able to tank far better, allowing the fleet to finally stabilize.
Whats more, with the strategic cruisers swarming over them and holding many battleships down, The Initiative.’s Rattlesnakes were forced to commit to a fight that was going worse by the minute. With its logistics wing destroyed and being severely outnumbered, The Initiative. fleet was simply obliterated, few ships managing to escape the grasp of the allied fleet as Rattlesnakes simply popped one after the other in a rapid pace.
Holding the field, the allies cleared the last of the stragglers before safely extracting, bringing the fight to a close.
Battle report for the X-M2LR system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted 10 minutes with Time Dilation not reported and the system hosting an estimated 250 pilots at the start of the battle.
The allied fleet lost 11 ships, including 6 battleships for a total of 3.23 billion ISK damage.
The Initiative. lost 48 ships, including 1 carrier and 36 battleships for a total of 23.07 billion ISK damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
