E02-IK system, Great Wildlands region. In the early hours of the 11th of September a capital battle erupted in the system.

The battle saw Rote Kapelle [STUGH] and Hashashin Cartel [HASH] face off against Triumvirate. [TRI] and a band of local alliances such as Electus Matari [-EM-], True Reign [TRUE] and United Interests [UI]. The two alliances had moved to the region a few months before and started evicting long time residents from the area. Having lost ground in a series of small battles, local entities reached out to Triumvirate. where they had contacts in order to halt the invasion. Triumvirate. agreed to aid and a plan was hatched.

An Astrahus in its final reinforcement timer was chosen

An Astrahus in its final reinforcement timer was chosen as the site of the battle. The structure had been previously reinforced by Rote Kapelle and Hashashin Cartel and the two were expected to finish the job. Triumvirate. prepared an 80 pilot Loki strategic cruiser fleet which included capital support in the form of force auxiliaries, a squadron of combat carriers and three squadrons of dreadnoughts. Local forces provided interdictor support. The Triumvirate. fleet moved to get in titan range of the system and waited for the hostiles to make their move.

Rote Kapelle and Hashashin Cartel formed a joint 40 pilot combat carrier fleet with force auxiliary support and moved to the system in question. The fleet arrived at the stricken citadel and launched fighter squadrons to finish off the vulnerable structure. The fighters chewed through the Astrahus remaining hit points uncontested, Triumvirate. forces not moving until the last moment to spring their trap in order to lull the hostiles into a false sense of security. When the structure hit less than 5% structure, a cynosural beacon suddenly lit up near the fleet and the Triumvirate. forces jumped through.

The strategic cruisers along with the combat carriers quickly targeted the swarm of fighters, artillery barrages and space superiority fighters ripping through them. The combat carriers reacted immediately, focusing their ire on the interdictors. However the loss of fighters was quickly felt and more interdictors streamed in from local entities to keep the combat carriers tackled.

Triumvirate. next targeted the force auxiliaries but did not have the sufficient firepower to break through their formidable armor. Rote Kapelle\Hashashin Cartel tanked the incoming fire comfortably and brought a couple of dreadnoughts to substitute its diminishing fighter firepower. The dreadnoughts, equipped with high angle weapons to target sub capitals, materialized on the field and went to work. They targeted the strategic cruisers, bombarding them with little success as the Triumvirate.’s logistics wing negated the damage with little effort. Triumvirate. then targeted the dreadnoughts, bringing one down while reinforcing its fleet with three dreadnoughts.

The Triumvirate. dreadnoughts jumped into the field in order to break the hostile force auxiliaries. The dreadnoughts entered their siege cycles and started blasting the force auxiliaries, bringing them down slowly but surely. Rote Kapelle and Hashashin Cartel in the meantime had been calling for reinforcements, forming nearly two squadrons of dreadnoughts in response. As Triumvirate.’s dreadnoughts ground through the remaining force auxiliaries which caved in one by one, Rote Kapelle\Hashashin Cartel brought in its reinforcements escalating the battle into a fully fledged dreadnought brawl.

This was the moment Triumvirate. had waited for

This was the moment Triumvirate. had waited for. Instantly, as the Rote Kapelle/Hashashin Cartel dreadnoughts appeared on field, their Triumvirate. counterparts emerged as well. The two dreadnought forces squared off, exchanging furious volleys between each other. Unsurprisingly, Triumvirate. had the upper hand; its combat carriers, strategic cruisers and greater dreadnought numbers giving it a decisive advantage. Regardless, Rote Kapelle and Hashashin Cartel fought on and managed to inflict losses on the enemy even as their own numbers were cut down ruthlessly. In a matter of minutes the Rote Kapelle\Hashashin Cartel dreadnoughts were destroyed and the Triumvirate. fleet turned its attention to the still-trapped combat carriers.

With no fighters left and facing the overwhelming firepower of the remaining dreadnoughts, the combat carriers quickly succumbed as well to the onslaught. Only a few managed to warp off and jump out of the system. With its remaining ships in retreat, Rote Kappelle\Hashashin Cartel’s fleet was done and Triumvirate. disposed of the few stragglers remaining. That said, the fleet did manage to destroy the Astrahus, achieving its original goal.

The battle won, Triumvirate. forces looted what they could before extracting with their capital ships and returning to their staging system, bringing an end to the fighting.

A battle report for the E02-IK system can be found here.

All told, the battle lasted 35 minutes with Time Dilation not reported and the system hosting an estimated 150 pilots at the peak of the battle.

Triumvirate. and its allies lost 29 ships including 9 dreadnoughts for a total of 28.04 billion ISK damage.

Rote Kapelle and Hashashin Cartel lost a combined 51 ships including 16 dreadnoughts, 4 force auxiliaries and 12 combat carriers for a total of 87.39 billion ISK damage.

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