49GC-R system, Providence region. On the 23rd of February at 19:51 EVE Standard Time, a battle was fought in the system between Providence Bloc and RekkingCrew (RC) forces supported by Pandemic Horde [REKTD].

The battle was fought over an Azbel engineering complex anchored by Providence Bloc. RC scouts spotted the structure onlining; as the system was not jammed for cynosural beacons, RC fleet commanders saw an opportunity for a fight.

RekkingCrew formed a 60 pilot Ishtar heavy assault cruiser fleet while contacting Pandemic Horde for further reinforcement. Horde managed to bring an estimated 200 pilot Muninn heavy assault cruiser fleet to further bolster the attackers. The plan was for the Ishtar fleet to bridge in first and draw Providence Bloc’s response before bringing in the Muninn fleet. The Ishtar fleet arrived first in the 49GC-R system, bridging onto the Azbel and setting up to meet the defenders.

Providence Bloc did indeed plan to defend the structure, assembling a 160 pilot Machariel battleship fleet with some capital support to do just that. The battleships had been fitted with artillery cannons. The fleet waited in Providence Bloc’s main staging system, keeping tabs on the situation. Reports had filtered in of Pandemic Horde’s involvement however according to some sources, the actual fleet numbers reported were only half of what turned out to be the real fleet composition.

With the Ishtar fleet attacking the Azbel, Providence Bloc decided to take the fight. The battleship fleet bridged to a citadel on the grid before aligning towards the heavy assault cruisers for a warp in. Seeing this, RC interdictors deployed an interdiction probe screen, catching the battleships more than 80 kilometers from the main force. The Ishtars deployed their drones and attacked the defenders, the two sides deciding to close range, arriving at only a 40 kilometer distance between fleets.

With the distance shrinking, the battleships were able to track better and volley several heavy assault cruisers. The Ishtar fleet attempted to mitigate the incoming damage by using tracking disruptors, but these had only a limited effect. They also focused their firepower on Providence Bloc’s logistics wing, with drones destroying several logistics cruisers in the opening shots. As the two sides traded losses, Pandemic Horde bridged into the system. The Muninn fleet materialized at a perch above the fray before warping down to medium range (60 kilometers) and opening fire on Providence Bloc.

The Muninn fleet also focused their fire on the Providence Bloc logistics wing. Pummeled by both fleets, it didn’t take long to neutralise the logistics. Seizing on this opportunity, the heavy assault cruisers switched targets, firing upon the battleships themselves. Without a logistics wing to repair them, the battleships’ thick armor proved useless against the two hostile fleets. Battleship after battleship simply went down at a rapid pace. They tried to return fire, but were unable to track the fast moving Muninns. With dwindling numbers of Machariels, the effects of the tracking disruptors from the surviving Ishtars became more pronounced.

At this point Providence Bloc attempted to withdraw but found themselves trapped on the grid. RC and Pandemic Horde interdictors managed to cover the battleships in a thick cover of warp disruption probes, stopping them from warping out. Unable to escape, Providence Bloc attempted to keep fighting by bringing in force auxiliaries, lighting a cynosural beacon on the grid and jumping in two ships. However even with the force auxiliaries on the field the losses kept coming, the Muninn fleet able to chew through the armor of the battleships easily thanks to their combined firepower.

In the end, the Providence Bloc fleet was completely annihilated, and the two force auxiliaries brought down last. With the Machariel fleet destroyed, RC and Pandemic Horde dispatched the Azbel itself, securing both the objective and field victories. With this, the attackers extracted, bringing an end to the fighting.

The battle report for the 49GC-R system can be found here.

All told the battle lasted 30 minutes with the system hosting an estimated 450 pilots at the peak of the fighting and Time Dilation not reported as an issue.

Providence Bloc suffered the brunt of the losses, 161 ships including 2 force auxiliaries and 62 battleships for a total of 55.31 billion ISK damage.

RekkingCrew and Pandemic Horde lost 37 ships, including 11 heavy assault cruisers for a total of 7.94 billion ISK damage.

Featured image credit: Razorien