The system saw one of the largest sub capital engagements recently, with more than six hundred pilots in the system at the height of the fighting. Providence Bloc forces were organized in a hundred and eighty Battleship class fleet and set up on the BR-N97 gate in S25C-K system, expecting HERO Coalition forces to jump into them.
Instead, HERO Coalition forces opted to bridge into the system in three fleets: A hundred and forty Brave Collective mixed Moa class Cruisers and Eagle class Heavy Assault Cruisers with Ferox class Battlecruiser support, a hundred and ten The Unthinkables Tengu class Strategic Cruisers and a Test Alliance Please Ignore forty Ishtar class Heavy Assault Cruisers. All told, HERO Coalition forces had two hundred and ninety pilots on the field.
HERO Coalition forces decided to warp to the BR-N97 gate in order to engage Providence Bloc forces, but the Brave Collective fleet was caught by the mobile field disruptors set by Providence Bloc, while The Unthinkables' Tengus managed to land at range. With both forces on the grid fighting quickly broke out.
While Brave Collective and Test Alliance Please Ignore exchanged losses with Providence Bloc, partly due to their bad positioning, The Unthinkables managed to tank the incoming damage, and with their help, Providence Bloc forces were soon being overwhelmed, losing ships at an alarming pace.
A fleet of sixty Pandemic Legion Proteus class Strategic Cruisers attempted to intervene on Providence Bloc's behalf at the height of the battle (Though sources within Providence Bloc claim Pandemic Legion shot a few Providence Bloc ships as well) but was quickly brushed aside when its logistics wing was annihilated by the combined Unthinkables and HERO Coalition fleets. Thus Pandemic Legion was forced to retreat from the thick of the fighting, though it did continue and attempt to harass the combatants until the end.
However, the outcome was predictable, Providence Bloc forces were completely decimated by the superior numbers and doctrine fielded by HERO Coalition. Though struggling for almost an entire hour, Providence Bloc was forced to finally concede the field, after most of its fleet was destroyed, with many of the Fleet Commanders and logistics taken off the field during the fighting itself. This loss continues the chain of defeats experienced by Providence Bloc ever since the fall of 7MD-S1 on the 14th earlier this month.
The butcher's bill saw more than three hundred ships destroyed during the fighting, representing a forty-eight billion ISK loss by all parties. Time Dilation was a factor in the fighting, reaching upwards of more than sixty percent. Bomber activity was high as well, with both sides targeting each others' logistics wings, though HERO Coalition saw much less success than usual with its bombing runs.
Fixed Battle Report can be found here.
Brave Collective's Fleet Commander, Blue Ice, commented that The Unthinkables were present mainly in order to deal with any interference made by Stain Wagon forces, which intel indicated were suppose to show for the timer, but did not appear for the fight. Stain Wagon has been an active participant in the fighting since the beginning of the campaign, often aiding Providence Bloc against HERO Coalition.
Though Providence Bloc forces claimed it was overall a good fight, much resentment has been expressed by individuals in the coalition, mainly at the tactics continuously employed by HERO Coalition Fleet Commanders, specifically Blue Ice, such as decapitating Fleet Commanders and eavesdropping coms. These, they claim, run anathema to everything Brave Collective claims to hold dear, such as "Classiness" and "Fun-per-Hour".
Regardless, since 7MD-S1 the tide of war seems to have shifted strongly in HERO Coalition's favor, with two systems already captured and another one on the way. One must ask whether HERO Coalition is able to maintain this momentum or will Providence Bloc be able to stem the tide?
a clip of the fighting from The Unthinkables perspective
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