Hothomouh system, Derelik region. On the 29th of December at 23:23 EVE Standard Time, Rekkingcrew super carriers were ambushed in the system by forces belonging to Snuffed Out [B B C].

Snuffed Out forces had set up an operation to trap the feared Rekkingcrew. The Derelik based group is renowned for hunting super capitals in and around the area and is composed of several alliances and individuals from across New Eden. The group is led by RoCkEt X of Sniggerdly, Pandemic Legion [-10.0] and has been active for several years, responsible for the demise of dozens of super carriers and titans.

In order to bait the famed group, Snuffed Out used a long time plant of theirs and equipped it with a Nyx super carrier. The ship then made its way into Rekkingcrew territory while leaving an obvious trail for the group to follow by destroying its own cynosural beacon characters, which would flag the ship immediately on killboards. This of course, drew the attention of the group, who had formulated plans to bring the ship’s demise, but with the holidays setting in decided to postpone them after the new year arrived. Whats more, with it being a low priority target, the group didn’t research much about the pilot, leaving it at the bottom of the “To do” list.

Snuffed Out was not going to be patient and decided to try a more active approach. Using a throwaway character named Boneless Steve, the alliance contacted the group, posing as a Providence Bloc pilot. The pilot then insisted on talking to RoCkEt X, claiming he has information about a super carrier in the area. The pilot spun a tale of friendship betrayed and a Nyx stolen, which was then forwarded to RoCkEt X. Seeing this information, RoCkEt X quickly concluded the Nyx he was hunting and the Nyx this character was talking about were the same one.

[09:56:06] Boneless Steve > hi

[09:56:12] Christopher Rya > hi friend

[09:56:20] Boneless Steve > i found you via the killboards ive been trying to get hold of rocket x

[09:56:26] Boneless Steve > as i have some interesting info

[09:56:44] Christopher Rya > you should then talk to rocket mate

[09:56:54] Boneless Steve > is he about

[09:57:05] Christopher Rya > not now

[09:57:24] Christopher Rya > what kind of info is it about ?

[09:57:39] Boneless Steve > ive got some info regarding a stolen nyx possibly on its way past your end

[09:58:32] Christopher Rya > ok once rocket is active should he convo you ?

[09:58:46] Boneless Steve > i have to work today

[09:58:51] Boneless Steve > can i pass the info to u

[09:59:13] Christopher Rya > ok

[09:59:19] Christopher Rya > give me the info

[09:59:24] Boneless Steve > a few days ago we got scammed by someone we thought was on good terms

[09:59:34] Boneless Steve > <url=showinfo:1379//90166170>VastoLorde Stark

[09:59:41] Boneless Steve > he took a nyx out of provi

[09:59:50] Boneless Steve > is trying to sell it back to us

[10:00:07] Christopher Rya > rgr

[10:00:08] Boneless Steve > hes held it up in <url=showinfo:5//30000111>Hothomouh

[10:00:21] Christopher Rya > so the nyx is somewhere in hoth?

[10:00:36] Boneless Steve > he has a tower using alt corp

[10:00:45] Christopher Rya > do you know his alt corp ?

[10:00:45] Boneless Steve > but im guessing hes going to move it next few days

[10:00:49] Boneless Steve > as we told him to fuck himself

[10:00:56] Boneless Steve > one sec

[10:01:08] Boneless Steve > https://zkillboard.com/kill/58439915/

[10:01:10] Boneless Steve > that toon

[10:01:13] Boneless Steve > 3 days go

[10:01:49] Christopher Rya > ok

[10:01:55] Boneless Steve > if you get him tell him pete and riddick send there regards

[10:02:03] Boneless Steve > the peice of shit

[10:02:20] Christopher Rya > rgr then

[10:02:26] Boneless Steve > o7

The Initial Conversation between Rekkingcrew Members and the “Betrayed” Pilot

Deciding to use this to his advantage, RoCkEt X contacted the pilot, making him into a bait in his operation. RoCkEt X however, was operating under the belief that the pilot was known to members of his crew. This was not the case, and as it turned out, would have devastating consequences.

On the 29th, RoCkEt X assembled his crew to try and fish the Nyx. The “Betrayed” pilot was invited on Rekkingcrew teamspeak server and given a Dominix battleship. The original plan called to coordinate with WAFFLES. [N0MAD] and remove the Nyx’s tower, thus forcing it to make an emergency jump out of the system to systems where friendly forces would be waiting to snag it. The revised version was to use the Dominix to reinforce the tower, causing the Nyx to exit the shields and dispatch the nuisance. At that point, Rekkingcrew battleships would descend on the ship, bumping it away from the tower and allowing its super capital force to join in and destroy it.

The plan seemed to work accordingly. The Nyx was online, loitering in the tower, the Dominix had set up and started shooting said tower and the Nyx burnt way from the shields to remove the battleships. Bumping Machariels and Vindicator battleships arrived shortly to push the immense ship outside the range of the shields and a cynosural beacon quickly lit up near it, ushering in the Rekkingcrew super capital force. However, Rocket X decided against committing titans, which proved a small comfort afterwards.

The “Betrayed” pilot, sitting on Rekkingcrew Teamspeak server kept relaying the information. With Snuffed Out forces seeing the Revenant hitting the grid and knowing no further super capitals were bound to join the initial force, sprung their trap. A cynosural beacon suddenly lit up near the super capitals and a heavy interdictor squadron bridged in. Before Rekkingcrew pilots could react, the ships had the super carriers tackled, focused interdiction fields trapping them on field. They were followed by a 70 pilot capital fleet which landed a few moments later amidst the panicking ships.

Snuffed Out had prepared a titan in range of the system and moved its entire capital force from its staging, unsupported, just before the operation. 40 dreadnoughts, 25 carriers and a full force auxiliary squadron materialized on the field, setting to work almost immediately on the Revenant. Within moments, the surprised super carrier was dispatched, the dreadnoughts in their siege cycles ripping it apart in their first salvos.

With the Revenant gone, came the turn of the other super carriers. Nyx super carriers and the odd Rekkingcrew capitals still on the field were destroyed one after the other. The carnage was joined by Providence Bloc, which Snuffed Out had contacted just as the operation started. With the long history shared between the coalition and Rekkingcrew, Providence Bloc jumped on the opportunity, bringing 2 capital squadrons to the field and letting loose on the trapped Rekkingcrew super carriers.

With the Nyx super carriers shredded by nearly 100 capitals, came the turn of the Aeon super carrier. The ship is known for its thick armor, but against the firepower amassed on the field it could do very little. The armor plating could not shield the ship from the bombardment unleashed on it and it caved in, leading to the ship itself exploding in a bright flash leaving behind another twisted wreck to join its brethren.

With the super capitals destroyed, the assembled force cleared all remaining Rekkingcrew ships, the vast majority though had already retreated as the initial capital force hit the grid. With the grid under control, the two capital forces safely extracted, leaving behind them a field of wrecks where once 6 proud super carriers stood.

With this, the fight came to an end.

The Entire Engagement from the Perspective of the Snuffed Out Fleet

Battle report for the Hothmouh system can be found here.

The entire engagement lasted 10 minutes with Time Dilation not reported and the system hosting 150 pilots at the peak of the fighting.

Rekkingcrew suffered the brunt of the losses, with 6 super carriers, 1 force auxiliary and 1 dreadnought destroyed for a total of 325.03 billion ISK damage.

Snuffed Out and its allies lost only 1 dreadnought in the operation, resulting in 2.53 billion ISK damage.

Salivan Harddin is a member of V0LTA, WE FORM V0LTA, and covers battles across New Eden