In recent days the sporadic fighting experienced across the North has intensified, with Imperium forces fighting a desperate defense across Fade, Vale of the Silent and Tribute regions. Allied forces continue to press their attacks, leading to multiple large scale battles fought across Imperium territory.
A large scale battle took place in the E9KD-N system between allied forces and the Imperium, as the former continued their assault on Imperium sovereignty.
The battle saw an allied Proteus strategic cruiser fleet, supported by a Svipul tactical destroyer fleet and a stealth bomber wing, clash with an Imperium Machariel battleship fleet which was later reinforced by a Cerberus heavy assault cruiser fleet, Hurricane battlecruiser fleet and a Proteus fleet of its own.
Though Imperium forces managed to hold the field, they suffered heavy casualties. The allies, however, managed to secure their strategic objectives, including the destruction of infrastructure hubs and forcing the first Imperium station into free port mode.
Full article can be found here.
The first major battle fought in Imperium space was held in the 2DWM-2 system over a tower containing a Supercapital Ship Assembly Array (SSAA).
The allies gathered a long list of fleets including a Rattlesnake battleship fleet, 2 Proteus fleets, 2 Cerberus fleets, A Caracal Cruiser fleet, a Tengu strategic cruiser fleet and a super capital fleet not to mention the many stealth bomber wings in position. Against this the Imperium brought 3 Machariel fleets and Cerberus fleet of its own, as well as a few stealth bomber squadrons.
The two sides met for a brutal exchange on the tower itself, in which the allies were able to overwhelm the Imperium defenders, annihilating 2 of the Machariel fleets and destroying the tower.
The allies then used the momentum of the victory to launch an assault on Imperium sovereignty throughout its territories, as well as reinforce several SSAA towers.
Full article can be found here.
Allied forces formed up for an important infrastructure hub timer in the P3EN-E system. The system housed part of the strategic jump bridge network of the Imperium, and both sides were gearing up for a major confrontation.
Both the allies and the Imperium formed massive fleets, with the allies bringing a Rattlesnake fleet, 2 Cerberus fleets and a stealth bomber wing as well as a support wing of Imperial Navy Slicer frigates.
Against this the Imperium was able to muster 3 Machariel battleship fleets and a Proteus fleet. However with the allies arriving well ahead of the Imperium and Imperium fleets separated from each other, Imperium fleet commanders decided to retreat, allowing allied forces to destroy the infrastructure hub, disrupting Imperium logistics unhindered.
Fidelas Constans [FCON] forces were able to successfully defend their capital in the UQ9-3C system from allied assault.
The system and station were reinforced by allied fleets, who formed a formidable armada comprised of a Proteus fleet, a Tengu strategic cruiser fleet, 2 Cerberus fleets and bomber wings. However, due to previous operations, the allies were unable to reach the system in time, allowing the local defenders to secure it.
Regardless, allied operations simply reinforced the system once more before departing, continuing on to the Vale of the Silent where they took another moon from the Imperium
In a move that stunned many, a recently formed coalition of drone regions alliances banded together to invade the Tenal region. Striking from Cobalt Edge, the coalition was able to reinforce many systems in the north of the region, coordinating with other allied fleets which had launched a similar assault on the southern part of the region, striking from Venal.
This puts local Imperium defenders trapped between two fronts, with allied operations set to continue daily.
A Low Sec Voltron (LSV) Proteus fleet engaged an Imperium Hurricane fleet in the E-OGL4 system over 2 timers in the region.
The timers in question were two towers over valuable moons in the system which the LSV had previously hit and were coming out of reinforced mode, nearly an hour apart.
The LSV formed a Proteus fleet alongside a dreadnought squadron and got in range of the system, as Imperium forces only managed to form an Ishtar heavy assault cruiser fleet which guarded a few Nidhoggur carriers which attempted to quickly repair the tower.
The LSV however quickly bridged into the system, landing on the grid with its dreadnoughts and engaging the carriers, which were quickly destroyed, the Ishtar fleet powerless to engage the strategic cruisers and retreated.
LSV forces dispatched the first tower and traveled down to the M-OEE8 system which serves as Circle-Of-Two [CO2]’s staging system, attempting to draw a fight from the defenders but to no avail. Thus, the fleet returned to the E-OGL4 system for the second timer, taking down the other tower uncontested.
Extracting the dreadnoughts back, the LSV fleet noticed Imperium movements, as Circle-Of-Two formed a Svipul fleet, alongside an Imperium Hurricane fleet which seemed to be waiting in M-OEE8. To draw them in, the LSV fleet warped to a bubble above the M-OEE8 gate, allowing itself to get caught.
Noticing this, Imperium forces jumped into the system, quickly engaging the strategic cruisers.
The fire exchanges proved one sided as the strategic cruiser fleet was able to tank the incoming damage, volleying the battlecruisers and tactical destroyers. After a short fight and sustaining massive losses, the Imperium fleets were forced to retreat, allowing LSV to hold the field.
Having already achieved the strategic objective, LSV fleets simply extracted from the system, having secured another allied victory.
The Battle from the Perspective of the Low Sec Voltron Fleet
Battle report for the E-OGL4 system can be found here.
In an attempt to relieve some of the pressure on their space and force the allies to recall some of their alliances from the front line, the Imperium hit a few towers in the Syndicate region, including in the Y-W6GF system.
Allied forces responded, with The-Culture [-T C-] forming a Rattlesnake fleet and moving to the system to provide cover for local residents as they repaired the tower. Against this the Imperium formed an Ishtar heavy assault cruiser fleet, and the two soon clashed on the tower grid.
However the Ishtar fleet soon found itself at a disadvantage and after a quick fire exchange, attempted to flee the system, warping to a celestial only to be chased by the Rattlesnake fleet. Forced to leave the system, the Ishtar fleet called for reinforcements and an Imperium Hurricane fleet was quickly formed and brought down for backup.
The Hurricane fleet arrived to the system and engaged the Rattlesnake fleet on the 3MOG-V gate. The two fleets exchanged fire, with the Rattlesnake fleet able to volley the battlecruisers but losing logistics ships. After a prolonged fight, the Ishtar fleet rejoined the fight, at which point the Rattlesnake fleet’s logistics wing was sufficiently weakened, allowing the two Imperium fleets to annihilated the battleships.
An attempt of local residents to give aid in the form of a small capital squadron failed to tip the scale, as Imperium forces brought their own dreadnoughts to counter, securing the Rattlesnake fleet’s demise, its remnants retreating.
While Imperium forces were able to secure the field, the allies did manage to repair the tower, thus at least securing the strategic objective.
Battle report for the Y-W6GF system can be found here.
An allied Ferox battlecruiser fleet belonging to The-Culture, attempted to fight an Imperium Hurricane fleet in the O-ZXUV system and was ambushed by Imperium forces, leading to its inevitable destruction.
The allied force had spotted the Hurricane fleet in the O-ZXUV system as it was guarding an anchoring tower, and burnt towards it. However, declining to engage the Ferox fleet, the Imperium force attempted to disengage and quickly found itself pursued by the former.
The Hurricane fleet withdrew from the system, attempting to bounce between celestials in the the neighboring 1-NW2G system while calling for reinforcements, losing a few ships in the process as the Ferox fleet would not relent.
Finally, the Imperium Hurricane fleet returned to the O-ZXUV system, jumping in and warping to a belt, where it was finally pinned down by the Ferox fleet. The two sides were forced to brawl at close range, the Hurricane fleet losing decidedly when Imperium reinforcements arrived to the system in the form of a Temepst battleship fleet.
Unable to disengage, the Ferox fleet continued to fight as the battleships joined the fray. Hammered by both fleets, it managed to dish out punishment, but outgunned and outnumbered, there was not much it could do. Continuing to the last, the Ferox fleet was obliterated by the combined Imperium force, thus securing another victory to the Imperium.
Battle report for the O-ZXUV and 1-NW2G can be found here.
An Imperium Machariel fleet was annihilated by allied forces in the MSHD-4 system after it attempted to bait an allied fleet.
The Imperium force circulated in open channels that a friendly titan had been tackled in the MSHD-4 system, prompting several allied fleets to flash form and burn to the system. First in was a Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) Cerberus fleet, which the Imperium Machariel fleet quickly engaged, the two forces fighting on the 9OO-LH gate.
While the Machariels were able to volley the Cerberus fleet’s mainline ships, they were sustaining heavy damage and finding themselves quickly tackled as allied reinforcements flooded the system. In rapid succession, 2 more allied Cerberus fleets, 2 Proteus fleets and a Tengu fleet joined the GotG fleet in the system.
The sheer number of interdictors present was enough to keep the battleships under a thick cover of interdiction probes as reinforcements kept streaming in, with the allies pulling nearly 1,000 pilots at one point. Realizing their plan backfired, Imperium fleet commanders gave the order for the fleet to clear aggression and burn towards the gate, hoping to jump out of the system.
This proved impossible though, as by that time the amount of allied fleets present was simply able to volley the battleships, having disposed of their triage carriers early on. Not even one battleship made it to the gate, with only a pitiful few managing to escape the slaughter.
Realizing they were tricked, allied forces continued on to their next operations, having disposed of the remnants of the Imperium Machariel fleet and secured an allied victory.
The Battle from the Perspective of the Guardians of the Galaxy Cerberus Fleet
Battle report for the MSHD-4 system can be found here.
An Imperium Proteus fleet was lured into the X36Y-G system by allied forces, leading to its destruction by a two allied Proteus fleets.
The allies continued their assault of the Fade region, with Northern Coalition. [NC] supplying a Proteus fleet which traveled to the YKSC-A system, where it sat on the X36Y-G to block Imperium fleets. At the same time, a joint Pandemic Legion [-10.0]\Psychotic Tendencies. [TISHU] Proteus fleet hid in wormhole space, ready to join the fray.
The Northern Coalition. fleet started mobilizing its entosis link pilots, who carried their operations on the region’s infrastructure hubs and stations, drawing the Imperium’s attention. With only one visible Proteus fleet, the Imperium sought to form its own, alongside a Hurricane fleet. The two fleets traveled to the fade region, the Imperium fleet arriving first to the X36Y-G system, setting up on the YKSC-A gate.
The two opposing Proteus fleets waited for the other to jump through, leading to an uneasy standoff. Finally, the Northern Coalition. Proteus fleet jumped in, and the two sides engaged at close range on the YKSC-A in the X36Y-G system.
With the Imperium fleet engaged, the joint Proteus fleet also sprung into action, entering the system and warping to the grid, where the two Proteus fleets were exchanging fire. warping in and adding its firepower to the mix, the two allied Proteus fleets simply tore apart the Imperium’s fleet, its strategic cruisers simply volleyed off the field, individual pilots attempting to flee from the cover of interdiction probes.
Having lost nearly half of the fleet, the Imperium fleet docked up, allowing allied operations to continue unchallenged, leading to an entire constellation in the Fade region being reinforced, stations included.
The Hurricane fleet arrived too late to aid the Imperium Proteus fleet and was chased by the Northern Coalition. Proteus fleet, only to withdraw into a tower, allowing the allies to claim both tactical and strategic victory, continuing their streak.
Battle report for the X36Y-G system can be found here.
The SpaceMonkey’s Alliance [SMA]’s station in the C-OK0R system fell to allied forces without a fight. This marks another milestone in the allied campaign, as this is the first station to be captured by the allies, especially in the Fade region which Imperium still attempts to defend.
A Vanguard Coaliton (VC) Tengu fleet, working with a Test Alliance Please Ignore [TEST] Maelstrom battleship fleet engaged Imperium forces over a tower in the 1IX-C0 system.
The tower in question contained a Supercapital Ship Assembly Array, and was previously reinforced by allied forces. With the tower coming out of reinforced mode, Imperium gathered a Cerberus fleet, as well as two squadrons of Chimera carriers to quickly restore the tower’s shields while interdictors were sent ahead to delay allied movement, as Imperium scouts managed to only spot the Maelstrom fleet which was traveling through the Deklein region.
However, as the Cerberus fleet set up on the tower grid, and the carriers landed near the tower’s shields, the allied Tengu fleet entered the system from the opposite direction, catching the defenders off guard.
The Tengu fleet warped to the grid, engaging the defenders as several VC dreadnoughts which were brought alongside the fleet warped on top of the carriers. A fierce fire exchange ensued as the two sides anchored up.
The dreadnoughts entered their siege cycles immediately and set to work on the carriers which could do nothing but attempt and burn into the tower’s shields, nearly half of them destroyed by the capital gun batteries’ volleys. At the same time, the Tengu and Cerberus fleets continued to trade blows, the Cerberus fleet unable to soak the incoming damage, losing mainline ships while the Tengu fleet only suffered light losses.
Things became even worse for the Imperium defenders when the Maelstrom fleet finally managed to reach the system, warping to the tower grid and joining the fight. Forced to fight against the two fleets and pummeled on either side, the Cerberus fleet had not choice but to concede the field, saving what few carriers it had leaving the field.
With the field won, the allies destroyed the tower and its contents before extracting safely, winning both the field and the objective.
The Battle from the Perspective of the Test Alliance Please Ignore Maelstrom Fleet
Battle report for the 1IX-C0 system can be found here.
A long and brutal battle was fought in the OE-4HB system between allied forces and the Imperium, as the two battled over an infrastructure hub timer for the system which serves as a major staging area for Imperium forces in the region.
Allied forces included a Tengu fleet and 2 Cerberus fleets supported by a bomber wing, while the Imperium brought 2 Sleipnir Command ship fleets and a Hurricane fleet.
The first engagement between the two sides was over a tower in the system housing the system’s jump bridge. While Imperium forces entered via the jump bridge, allied forces warped to the grid, engaging the Imperium force.
Both sides clashed spectacularly over the tower as the different fleets maneuvered on the grid, opening fire and attempting to maintain range from one another. The fight turned bloody from the start, as both sides suffered heavy losses.
However with the Hurricane fleets closing in and the allies needing to maintain distance, the fight soon deteriorated into a series of skirmishes across the system, as both sides shifted the battlefield from the tower to several of the system’s gates, and back to the tower again.
At the same time, allied entosis squadrons focused on capturing command nodes while the the hostile fleets were pinned down, held in place by allied forces who continued to engage them at a heavy cost.
The exchange lasted 4 long hours, as reinforcements for both sides continued to pour in. At one point one of the allied Cerberus fleets was nearly annihilated, losing half of its pilots due to bad warp in. Yet not despairing, many of its pilots simply re-shipped to Hurricanes, the force re-grouping and joining the fray once again.
Finally, the allied entosis squadrons managed to capture the last command node, causing the infrastructure hub to self destruct and winning the objective.
This meant the allies not only eliminated the Active Defensive Modifiers (ADM) of the system thus making it easier to capture, but also severed it from the Imperium jump bridge network, further slowing the Imperium’s response time to allied attacks.
With the strategic goal won, the bloodied allied fleets disengaged, leaving the system for Imperium fleets to claim a victory, but not before parting with a devastating bombing run that saw the entire Imperium Hurricane fleet destroyed.
The Battle from the Perspective of the Allied Tengu Fleet
Battle report for the OE-4HB system can be found here.
In a move that surprised some, the Imperium’s leader, The Mittani, announced the decision to abandon the region. Citing it as indefensible due to its size and distance from core Imperium space, The Mittani ordered resident alliances of the area, namely Get Off My Lawn [LAWN] and The Bastion [BASTN] to evacuate the region, promising them safe space in the Deklein region and calling them to consolidate their staging systems with the main Imperium one – Saranen of the Lonetrek region.
While making his address, Get Off My Lawn’s staging system of 2DMW-2 was camped by allied forces, who had the station under lock with several fleets as a dreadnought force was brought to dispose of the last reinforced towers belonging to the alliance in it. Having destroyed the towers uncontested, allied fleets departed.
Later on as a show of force, allied super capital fleets returned to the region and roamed it unchallenged, mainly incapacitating jump bridges and cynosural beacons, thus effectively severing the region from the Imperium’s logistics network and further complicating attempts by its inhabitants to safely evacuate their assets.
At the same time, allied entosis squadrons raided the region, able to reinforce and capture systems and stations without Imperium attempts to contest or even mount a defense.
This marks the fall of the region to allied forces, the first one to be lost by the Imperium. With this, allied forces are expected to shift their focus to the Tribute region.
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The following changes occurred during the period of fighting (Infrastructure hubs are not included):
24/3: Q-L07F, PXS-LK in Vale of the Silent and E9KD-N in Fade fall into allied hands, with the C-OK0R station in Fade entering free port mode.
25/3: P3EN-E in the Vale of the Silent fall into allied hands, with the Z-SR1I station in Tenal and the LS-JEP station in Vale of the Silent entering free port mode. The Imperium was able to reclaim the Y-C3EQ system in Pure Blind
26/3: YKSC-A, C-OK0R in Fade and Y-C3EQ in Pure Blind fall into allied hands, with the C-OK0R station in Fade conquered by the allies and the IFJ-EL station in Vale of the Silent and 0-ARFO station in Pure Blind entering free port mode
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
