DO6H-Q system, Fade region. On the 24th of November at 8:05 EVE Standard Time, a battle unfolded in the system which resulted in the loss of a Hel super carrier.
The battle was sparked by V.O.I.D. [V01D] alliance which attempted, quite successfully, to draw a capital battle from its neighbor Brave Collective [BRAVE]. V.O.I.D. assembled a 24 pilot capital fleet consisting mainly of dreadnoughts, carriers and force auxiliaries. The fleet’s plan was to bait Brave Collective using 2 carriers, the carriers would be jumped directly into Brave Collective’s staging system of DO6H-Q and hit one of its towers. With the tower chosen containing quite a few electronic warfare modules, the carriers were certain to get tackled, presenting Brave Collective with an irresistible opportunity.
The 2 carriers jumped to the system without trouble, landing near the tower and broadcasting their presence loudly. Without pause, the carriers deployed their fighter squadrons, hitting the tower. Notifications started flooding Brave Collective channels, informing its command echelons that a tower was under attack in their home system. Luckily, several fleet commanders and leadership figures were around to receive the news, and decided to respond. A carrier and dreadnought were quickly prepared and un-docked. The dreadnought warped in first, landing at the besieged tower before burning out of its protective shields to meet the V.O.I.D. capitals, with Brave Collective interdictors and standing fleet, Brave Armada, coming in to aid it and keep tackle on the hostiles.
By then, V.O.I.D. had gated another carrier and a dreadnought to the system, warping them to their brethren on the tower in the hope of presenting a more enticing target. Brave Collective obliged it, the Brave Armada descending on the capitals, trying to keep them tackled. The Brave Armada was a disorganized fleet, its many ships and pilots forming a ragtag group. The fleet engaged the capitals without hesitation, keeping their interest and offering warp in points for interdictors. The V.O.I.D. carriers targeted Brave Armada’s members, the fighter squadrons ripping apart frigates, destroyers and cruisers. Yet as the Brave Collective fleet kept taking losses, it kept the enemy occupied enough for its dreadnought to clear the shields and open fire.
Within moments, the V.O.I.D. dreadnought was locked in a duel with its Brave Collective counterpart. The two exchanged blows, the Brave Collective one proving to be victorious and overwhelming its hostile brethren. However, before it could celebrate its victory, V.O.I.D. lit a cynosural beacon in its midst and brought in the rest of its fleet. The new arrivals swiftly targeted the victor of the duel, dispatching it with ease. Among the V.O.I.D. capitals was a Hel super carrier, its pilot aware of the risks but nevertheless committing his ship to the fight.
Brave Collective responded, rushing interdictors and spreading a thick blanket of warp disruption probes on the V.O.I.D capital fleet. Reinforcements kept streaming to the grid, including a Brave Collective carrier which was suppose to come in with the dreadnought but did not make it in time. As V.O.I.D. fought to clear the grid, especially of interdictors, a cynosural beacon suddenly lit above it, heralding the arrival of a Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) Proteus strategic cruiser fleet.
GotG became aware of the V.O.I.D. capitals when one of its member alliances roamed the area just as V.O.I.D. was setting up its trap. Solyaris Chtonium [SLYCE] had a small cruiser gang moving through the area in search of a fight when its scouts spotted the carriers in DO6H-Q. Realizing those capitals were probably bait for a much larger V.O.I.D. fleet, the gang turned back, returning to its staging system in order to re-form and gather more pilots. The organizing fleet managed to secure 70 pilots as well as several dreadnoughts, not to mention a titan to bridge it straight to its destination, as the alliance lived in the vicinity of the fight.
The GotG fleet commanders established contact with Brave Collective, the two groups deciding to collaborate, especially with the prospect of netting a Hel. The GotG fleet materialized above the grid and quickly descended into the fray, choosing to swarm the Hel super carrier which was by then burning out of the cover of warp interdiction probes. The strategic cruisers were able to apply enough warp scramblers to overcome its warp engines, making it a sitting duck. With the Hel secured, GotG brought its dreadnoughts. Since V.O.I.D. had deployed cynosural inhibitors on the grid, the dreadnoughts had to be jumped to the original beacon above the grid and warp down. The dreadnoughts landed near the Hel and entered siege cycles, opening fire.
However the first target of the GotG fleet was not the super carrier but the V.O.I.D. capital force. Force auxiliaries, carriers and dreadnoughts were targeted and slowly overwhelmed. The coordinated volleys of the GotG dreadnoughts, assisted by their sub capitals overcame the V.O.I.D. capitals. V.O.I.D. returned fire, managing to take down a couple of GotG dreadnoughts but it was losing firepower fast as the GotG strategic cruisers targeted its fighter squadrons. With each squadron lost to GotG volleys, the firepower of the V.O.I.D. fleet sverely lessened.
With GotG entering the fight, V.O.I.D. contacted their allies in Pandemic Horde [REKTD] for aid. Pandemic Horde answered the call and organized an estimated 60 pilot Hurricane battlecruiser fleet. This force made best speed to the system, entering it and warping to the grid without delay. It landed on a ping above the grid before warping down to the Proteus fleet, stopping 100 kilometers short from the main bulk of the strategic cruisers and burning in to nearly 60 kilometers range. The Hurricanes opened fire, artillery cannons blasting the strategic cruisers, trying to volley them off the field. GotG managed to weather the bombardment, its logistics wing straining under the effort but keeping the fleet intact. With Pandemic Horde on the field, the strategic cruisers changed their targets, concentrating on the battlecruisers.
Volley after volley of beam laser and super heated plasma was hurled at the battlecruisers, overcoming their shields and wrecking the hull beneath them. After a grueling exchange it became clear to Pandemic Horde fleet commanders that they lacked the firepower to overcome GotG. With losses mounting and GotG reinforcements streaming in, as well as Brave Collective organizing a secondary fleet, it was better to cut losses short than risk a total annihilation. Thus the Pandemic Horde fleet was forced to retreat, leaving the V.O.I.D. capitals to fend for their own.
With Pandemic Horde gone, GotG and Brave Collective were free to focus once more on the V.O.I.D. capitals. The two groups were able to clear the cynosural inhibitors on the grid, allowing GotG to light a cynosural beacon in the midst of its fleet and stream in reinforcements. More strategic cruisers and dreadnoughts poured in, swelling GotG fleet numbers to nearly 120 pilots. Brave Collective itself was not idle either, and formed a Hurricane fleet of its own, estimated at 40 pilots.
Without delay, the two groups continued the task of dispatching V.O.I.D. capitals while keeping the Hel tackled. V.O.I.D. managed to extract some of its capitals, mostly those that were too far from the main body of enemies and could burn out of the overlapping warp interdiction fields. However the majority of capitals was not so lucky. GotG dreadnoughts had little difficulty dispatching the last of the remaining carriers, de-fanged by their support fleet and thus presenting no danger to the GotG capitals.
With the grid cleared of all hostiles save the Hel, the Brave Collective Hurricane fleet entered the grid. Together with the GotG capitals and sub capitals, it opened fire on the Hel. It languished for a while under the immense firepower poured on it, its shields resisting for as long as they could. But it ultimately proved futile. The protective fields collapsed, disappearing without a trace and the munitions fell on the exposed hull. Armor plating was gouged out or burnt through. Massive gashes started appearing in the hull as the bombardment continued. Shells and missiles exploded within the super structure, tearing apart chunks of the ship.
Finally the super carrier could take the punishment no more. It gave in, rocked by series of explosions as reactors melt down and unleashed their fury. Slowly, the explosions traveled through the behemoth, lashing out in angry tongues of fire. After what seemed like an agonizing eternity, the ship finally came apart in one last giant explosion, bathing the entire grid with brilliant, blinding radiation. As the light subsided and the fires put down by the vacuum of space, nothing but a tortured wreckage remained.
With this, the last V.O.I.D. ship was destroyed, netting a victory for Brave Collective and GotG. The two fleets started looting the field with GotG preparing and slowly extracting its capitals. The extraction itself proved mostly uneventful, except for a small Test Alliance Please Ignore [TEST] Venture mining frigate gang which heard of the fight but came too late. Regardless, it warped to the field and was easily dispatched by those present.
Thus, GotG finally extracted safely, bringing an end to the fight.
The Second Part of the Fight, After V.O.I.D.’s Escalation and Guardians of the Galaxy’s Proteus Fleet Arrival from the Perspective of a Brave Collective Interdictor
Battle report for the DO6H-Q system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted 80 minutes, with Time Dilation not reported and local player count estimated at 300 pilots at the peak of fighting.
V.O.I.D and Pandemic Horde lost 45 ships in the fighting, including 1 super carrier, 3 dreadnoughts, 5 force auxiliaries and 5 carriers as well as 9 battlecruisers for a total of 82.16 billion ISK damage.
Brave Collective and GotG lost 90 ships during the battle, including 5 dreadnoughts and 1 carrier for a total of 20.63 billion ISK damage.
Salivan Harddin is a member of V0LTA, WE FORM V0LTA, and covers battles across New Eden
