Aubenall system, Placid region. On 17th of April at 20:45 EVE Standard Time, a long and bloody battle unfolded in the system between the Gallente militia and Separatists [-SPR-] forces supported by Suddenly Spaceships. [CYN0] and WE FORM V0LTA [GLHF].
The battle was prompted by the Gallente militia, as it reinforced Separatists towers in retaliation for its continued attacks of allied assets. The alliance had taken advantage of the fact that the bulk of the allied forces was tied up in the north due to the war and launched a campaign to claim valuable moons in and around the Placid region uncontested. Though Separatists attempted to avoid an outright confrontation, the Gallente militia finally managed to secure a favorable reinforcement timer, forcing the former to fight.
The Gallente militia formed a 60 pilot Proteus strategic cruiser fleet, supported by a 15 pilot armor battleship fleet which was later provided by No Handlebars. [SWEG.]. The force made its way to the Oulley system where Separatists forces were prepared to engage them.
Separatists had an estimated 40 pilot armor battleship fleet supported by a triage carrier, with Suddenly Spaceships. supplying a 40 pilot Proteus fleet of its own held in reserve. WE FORM V0LTA would arrive later in the fight with an estimated 30 pilot Cerberus heavy assault cruiser fleet to help Separatists forces.
The Separatists fleet was already set up on the Aubenall gate, the most likely entry point of the Gallente militia, leading the latter to jump in into the waiting battleships. The strategic cruisers anchored up and opened fire on the Separatists fleet, starting the fight.
The battle at the start was quite one sided. The two sides clashed over the Aubenall gate at close range, the battleships unable to tank the incoming damage and were cut down by the strategic cruisers. As the Separatists fleet started to lose mainline ships, a cynosural beacon was lit on the gate and into the system bridged the Suddenly Spaceships. reinforcements.
Living up to its alliance name, the Suddenly Spaceships. strategic cruisers landed on grid and targeted the Gallente militia. Realizing its bad position and knowing it couldn’t escalate further in the Oulley system due to jump ranges, the Gallente militia held its fire, attempting to clear aggression timers and jump back to Aubenall. This allowed the now combined fleet of the Separatists and Suddenly Spaceships. to pummel the attackers with impunity, managing to inflict some losses on the force before it jumped out.
The Gallente militia, of course, had no intention of running away, instead setting up in Aubenall on the Oulley gate in order to bring in its triage and dreadnought support, some of which was already stationed in the system. Separatists and Suddenly Spaceships. followed the Gallente militia and the two fleets collided once more in a brutal close quarters melee.
The battle that unfolded proved to be a bloody affair, as both sides traded heavy blows. The Gallente militia was able to tank the incoming damage, thanks in part to its logistics wing and triage carriers. The strategic cruisers directed their fire at the Separatists battleships, bringing them down in rapid succession. The militia was also able to target the Suddenly Spaceships. robust logistics wing, bringing down many of its Guardian logistics cruisers while holding its ground.
At the same time, the Separatists and Suddenly Spaceships. focused their might on the Gallente militia triage Archon carrier, bringing it down with their combined firepower. This forced the Gallente militia to bring in more triage carriers to the field. In order to combat the enemy triage carriers, the Gallente militia warped its dreadnoughts to the gate. However due to the size of the system and the fact the dreadnoughts arrived in piecemeal fashion, they were easily cut down by the enemy forces, though managing to destroy one of the triage carriers.
By now reinforcements for both sides poured in. No Handlebars. battleships had joined the fray on the Gallente militia side, while Suddenly Spaceships. brought dreadnoughts of its own, jumping them straight into the battle from Oulley to counter the militia’s own capitals, including the replacement triage carriers it jumped into the fight. Both sides traded losses as dreadnoughts and carriers were felled on either side, brought down by capital turret barrages and relentless sub-capital fire. In the end it was the Gallente militia that decidedly lost the capital engagement, its triage carriers and dreadnoughts brought down by Suddenly Spaceships.’s capital squadron.
No Handlebars. in its battleship fleet was next to be ruthlessly cut down, nearly its entire force annihilated by Separatists and their allies. However by now the Gallente militia had thinned the number of logistics cruisers on the enemy side, which allowed it to chew threw the hostile strategic cruisers and inflict further losses.
Separatists, having lost the majority of its mainline ships, chose to retreat at that moment and re-ship to a Cerberus fleet while their allies continued to fight head on with the Gallente milita, who by now commanded the field. Tanking the incoming damage, the Gallente militia was able to volley the Suddenly Spaceships. strategic cruisers as the battle continued to rage on the Oulley gate.
Returning to the field, the Separatists Cerberus fleet started to target the much smaller logistics wing of the Gallente militia. However, it did not manage to do much, often forced off the field by the strategic cruisers who managed to inflict losses on it at every turn. Regardless, the Gallente Militia soldiered on, fighting Suddenly Spaceships. without a reprieve. However, by now the Gallente militia had been driven away from the gate itself, as it was unable to bring in triage carriers due to the presence of the victorious Suddenly Spaceships. dreadnoughts.
The tide of the battle turned against the Gallente militia when WE FORM V0LTA entered the field. More skilled than the Separatists fleet was, WE FORM V0LTA was able to easily kite around the slower strategic cruisers while targeting its logistics wing and hammering it hard. The Gallente militia attempted to deal with this new threat, but was unable to inflict much casualties on the nimbler heavy assault cruisers, who simply burnt out of the range of the strategic cruisers. The Gallente Militia was now bleeding Guardians and unable to sustain the constant pressure exerted on it by the two hostile fleets. Finally it was forced to leave the field temporarily as it waited for more triage carriers to arrive on the field, the enemy forces finally managing to break the tank of its strategic cruisers.
With another triage carrier brought to the field, this time at a distance from the Suddenly Spaceships. dreadnoughts, the Gallente Militia returned to the gate, continuing the fight. Yet, even with the triage carrier on the field the Gallente militia was hard pressed by WE FORM V0LTA and Suddenly Spaceships., as the two fleets unleashed their fury on the battered strategic cruisers. The two sides continued to trade losses, though with the Gallente militia slowly stabilizing as its enemies focused their fire on the new triage carrier on the field.
The Separatists fleet in the meantime re-shipped for a second time, this time choosing to downgrade to frigates in order to provide tackle for its allies. The swarm of frigates entered the battle once more and burnt into the Gallente militia, attempting to hold down the strategic cruisers for their allies to hit. This forced the Gallente militia to change its focus, clearing as many of the frigates as possible.
By now the fighting had raged for a good hour. Both sides had taken losses and were exhausted. Suddenly Spaceships. had started extracting its dreadnoughts while its sub capital force continued to battle the Gallente militia, supported by 2 triage carriers at this point. It was clear Suddenly Spaceships. was planning to withdraw, and the Gallente milita was unwilling to let it depart, especially as No Handlebars. had managed to finally move its dreadnoughts in range of the system after having been delayed by unrelated fighting in the Aldranette system.
Targeting once again the Suddenly Spaceships. fleet, the Gallente militia was able to force one of its carriers to enter its triage cycle again, thus prolonging the engagement. This was the moment No Handlebars. dreadnoughts were waiting for, and promptly entered the field, opening fire on the Suddenly Spaceships. triage carriers. One of the carrier was on the Oulley gate and able to jump out immediately, but the other was still in its triage cycle. Unable to resist the onslaught, in languished under the fire of the No Handlebars. dreadnoughts and was easily dispatched.
Losing their triage and having already extracted their dreadnoughts, not to mention suffering losses throughout the long and bloody battle, Suddenly Spaceships. decided to withdraw, leaving the field. Separatists forces had already been thoroughly exhausted at this point and not present on the field, leaving WE FORM V0LTA to fight on its own. WE FORM V0LTA declined to fight, and left shortly as well, allowing the Gallente militia to claim the field.
With the hostiles withdrawing, the Gallente militia covered its allies’ extraction of capitals before returning home as well, bloodied but victorious. As for the tower itself, Separatists forces were able to secure it, as the Gallente militia did not pursue the strategic goal, allowing Separatists to claim a successful defense of the objective.
The Battle from the Perspective of the Gallente Militia Proteus Fleet
Battle report for the Oulley and Aubenall systems can be found here.
All told the battle lasted an hour and a half, with Time Dilation not being present and the systems holding at most 200 pilots at the peak of the fighting.
Separatists and its allies suffered 106 losses, including 1 dreadnought, 2 carriers, 16 battleships, 11 strategic cruisers and 7 heavy assault cruisers for a total of 28.71 billion ISK damage.
Gallente militia and its allies lost 44 ships in the fight, including 3 dreadnoughts, 4 carriers, 7 battleships and 7 strategic cruisers for a total of 29.2 billion ISK damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of Reikoku, Pandemic Legion, and covers battles across New Eden
