CNC-4V system, Catch region. On the 4th of January at 8:00 EVE Standard Time, Stain Wagon (SW) coalition forces, backed by Goonswarm Federation [CONDI] assaulted a Fortizar belonging to Tactical Supremacy [TIKLE] in the system.
The citadel, which serves as Tactical Supremacy’s staging base in the system, had been reinforced previously by SW forces and was exiting its second invulnerability phase. With an important asset on the line, both sides formed for a major confrontation.
SW forces assembled an 80 pilot Machariel battleship fleet supported by a Goonswarm Federation Maelstrom battleship fleet numbering 110 pilots. The two fleets managed to enter the system first, warping to the citadel as it was exiting its reinforcement mode and starting to fire at it. However, they faced a few setbacks before they could destroy the structure, the Maelstrom fleet in particular suffering heavy casualties as void bombs fired by the citadel were soon joined by Dangerous Voltage’s daring bombing run. The void bombs drained the capacitor of the Maelstroms, turning off shield hardeners before the bombers’ payloads hit the defenseless ships. A dozen Maelstroms were destroyed in one bombing run, and before the attackers could recover, they were forced to flee to a friendly citadel in the system as Tactical Supremacy jumped into the system.
Tactical Supremacy and its ally Dangerous Voltage [DV] managed to pull a 110 pilot Rattlesnake fleet with a mixed capital squadron of combat carriers and force auxiliaries, and had set up on the Fortizar itself. Joining them was a Drone Regions Federation (DRF) Machariel fleet, a Vanguard (VG) coalition Gila cruiser fleet, two Proteus strategic cruiser fleets, one belonging to Mercenary Coalition [MC] and one a joint fleet of Pandemic Legion [-10.0] and Northern Coalition. [NC], a Pandemic Horde [REKTD] electronic warfare fleet comprised of frigates and a combined Test Alliance Please Ignore [TEST]/Circle-Of-Two [CO2] and Fidelas Constans [FCON] Hurricane battlecruiser fleet.
Against such forces, SW and Goonswarm Federation were unable to prevail, and were forced to allow the Fortizar to safely exit its reinforcement mode and repair itself, restoring its shields and armor before resetting itself. With a fight seeming unlikely, Tactical Supremacy and Dangerous Voltage’s allies began filtering out of the system, leaving the Rattlesnake fleet to maintain its vigil on the citadel as it moved towards its scheduled invulnerability mode.
Seizing the opportunity, both SW and Goonswarm Federation fleets warped back to the citadel, landing at perches before choosing to warp in at long range of their artillery cannons and opened fire. The SW Machariel fleet started lobbing shells at the Fortizar, quickly joined by the Goonswarm Federation Maelstrom fleet while the Rattlesnake fleet remained tethered to the structure, contemplating its choices.
The Rattlesnake fleet opened fire, deciding to focus its missile salvos on the Machariel fleet, which was chipping away at the Fortizar’s shields. Swarms of missiles, augmented by sentry drone fire, slammed into the Machariels, which exploded in bright light. The inferno unleashed by the hundreds of missiles was able to overcome the thick armor plates of the Machariels, annihilating several battleships.
At the same time, the point defense batteries of the Fortizar had locked onto many of the frigates in the Maelstrom fleet. Most of the frigates acted as cheap electronic warfare ships, which made them quite a nuisance. The point defenses were more than enough to overwhelm the fragile ships, who were dispatched at an alarming rate, the Maelstrom fleet’s logistics wing unable to lock them in time before the Fortizar’s munitions ripped the small ships apart.
Sustaining heavy fire and only making a dent in the Fortizar’s shields, the SW fleet decided to withdraw, warping out and leaving the Maelstrom fleet to hold the field. The Goonswarm Federation force suddenly became the center of attention for the Rattlesnake fleet, whose interdictors burnt in to pin down. Half a dozen interdictors soon had the entire fleet caught in warp disruption probes, making it impossible for the battleships to hastily retreat. With the Maelstroms caught in the sights of the Rattlesnakes, the battle turned bloody.
A barrage of missiles and sentry drone fire was laid on the trapped Maelstroms, overwhelming their shields and destroying the relatively defenseless hulls beneath them. One after the other, the battleships exploded in bright flashes, the rate of their demise increasing rapidly. In their desperation, the Maelstroms turned their formidable guns on the interdictors, clearing as many of them as they could and attempting to burn away, so as to warp off of the citadel grid.
After a few minutes, the remaining Maelstroms managed to warp off, leaving the grid for Tactical Supremacy and Dangerous Voltage to claim. With the field secure and the last stragglers dispatched, the two alliances stood down, the Fortizar having entered its invulnerability mode safely. Thus, the battle of CNC-4V came to an end.
The Battle from the Perspective of the Tactical Supremacy\Dangerous Voltage Perspective
Battle report for the CNC-4V system can be found here.
All told the battle itself lasted 36 minutes, with Time Dilation not reported and the system hosting nearly 300 at the peak of the battle.
Tactical Supremacy, Dangerous Voltage and their allies lost a total of 16 ships in the fighting, mostly interdictors for 1 billion ISK total damage.
Goonswarm Federation and SW lost 100 ships combined, with 48 battleships destroyed resulting in 22.31 billion ISK damage all told.
Salivan Harddin is a member of V0LTA, WE FORM V0LTA, and covers battles across New Eden
