C-N4OD system, Fountain region. On the 26th of September at 19:30 EVE Standard Time, a Red Menace Coalition (RMC) fleet was ambushed in the system by forces belonging to The-Culture [-T C-].
The battle occurred after an RMC Machariel battleship fleet, estimated at 80 pilots, was making its way home after reinforcing The-Culture towers in the region. The-Culture was not oblivious to its presence and had formed up in response a 150 Rattlesnake battleship fleet which included 2 super capital squadrons and 3 capital ones, dreadnought heavy. The force waited on a titan to bridge as scouts kept eyes on the RMC fleet and relayed its position. The-Culture had waited for the RMC fleet to advance closer to its staging, finally attempting to waylay the fleet in the 00GD-D system without success.
Realizing the RMC fleet may get away, The-Culture fleet commander had the sub-capital portion of the fleet bridge in on the 00GD-D gate in the C-N4OD system, blocking the RMC’s fleet advance. The RMC fleet itself stacked up on the opposite side and both sides simply stood there, motionless for what seemed like forever. In order to break this forced stalemate, The-Culture jumped in 2 titans and had them use the gate. The titans in a feat of luck uncloaked on opposite sides of each other on the C-N4OD gate in 00GD-D and activated their bosonic field generators. Two cones of energy shot from the titans, meeting in a deadly crossfire on the gate itself and washing it with immeasurable deadly energy. The RMC fleet had a split second to make a decision; Jump in and face the Rattlesnake fleet or try to warp off the gate and lose its fleet. Without a second thought, its commanders chose the former and the majority of battleships avoided an agonizing fate.
On the other side the Rattlesnakes waited, with the Machariels uncloaking and anchoring up, burning away from the gate, they opened fire. Swarms of missiles rained on the fleeing Machariels as artillery cannons fired back salvos of high explosive munitions. Within seconds the 00GD-D gate descended into utter chaos. For the most part, The-Culture managed to soak up the damage of Machariels, thanks in part to its Minokawa force auxiliaries. The same could not be said for the RMC side, as missile impacts detonated against the hulls of its Machariels, breaking through shields and armor plates to cause havoc on the structure below. In order to bolster its numbers, RMC lit a cynosural beacon at the start, allowing its allies LowSechnaya Sholupen [-LSH-] to bridge in to the fight. LowSechnaya Sholupen itself had a Rattlesnake fleet of its own, estimated at 40 pilots, and it quickly joined the fight, remaining at close range to The-Culture Rattlesnakes. At the meantime, the Machariel fleet continued to burn away, increasing its distance to the gate to more than 60 kilometers.
The-Culture itself did not seem fazed by this. It had no need to chase the fleeing Machariels as its missile salvos were hitting the battleships with precision. What it did do in response, was drop the hammer. The call went in for all the super carriers and dreadnoughts to jump in as the initial cynosural beacon The-Culture used to bridge in was still lit on the grid. Into the system materialized dozens of super carriers of myriad types, all unleashing squadrons of fighters which went after the Machariels and hostile Rattlesnakes in great swarms. By now the battle was no longer a fight, but a one sided massacre as dreadnoughts hit the field, entering siege cycles and simply free firing on any hostile battleship they could lock fast enough.
The last insult added to the injury was the Avatar titan which followed the fleet, hitting the grid and firing its lance weapon, sending a searing beam of light that simply incinerated the Machariels and Rattlesnakes which happened to be in its path. By now RMC forces and their allies were in complete disarray, with mounting losses. Those who could, attempted to flee while returning fire, managing to inflict some minor causalities on The-Culture, though unable to break any of its mainline ships.
At last, the remnants of the RMC fleet and its support, those that managed to make it far enough from the warp disruption probes and interceptors which dotted the gate grid, warped off, leaving The-Culture to loot the field. However, The-Culture did not delay in extracting its forces, as word of its capitals and super capitals reached RMC’s allies in Goonswarm Federation [CONDI] which started to form with the intent of hunting them down. Yet, The-Culture managed to withdraw its forces from the system uncontested, having secured another victory in its struggle to defend its Fountain holdings from the assault of RMC.
The Battle from the Perspective of The-Culture’s Rattlesnake Fleet
Battle report for the C-N4OD system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted 12 minutes, with Time Dilation not reported and the system hosting an estimated 270 pilots at the height of the fighting.
The-Culture lost 4 ships for a total of 2.87 billion ISK while its enemies, namely Red Menace Coalition and LowSechnaya Sholupen lost in contrast 51 ships including 34 battle ships for a total of 18.48 billion ISK.
Salivan Harddin is a member of V0LTA, WE FORM V0LTA, and cover battles across New Eden
