Providence Fight Club: T-RPFU 19.7.2014

T-RPFU system, Providence region. On the 19th of July, the system saw two large scale engagements between Providence Bloc forces and HERO Coalition, as well as RvB fleets, resulting in more than a hundred and fifty ships destroyed and six billion ISK in damages.

The first engagement was between a ninety-eight pilot Rupture class Cruiser fleet fielded by Providence Bloc and a large mixed HERO Coalition fleet of Moa class Cruisers and Ishtar class Heavy Assault Cruisers, estimated at a similar size. The two fleets met in the SV5-8N system in the Catch region. However, due to HERO Coalition's superior logistics capability, Providence Bloc forces declined a head on confrontation, instead retreating to the F9E-KX system, luring HERO Coalition forces to pursue them. As HERO Coalition's fleet jumped into the F9E-KX system, it was greeted by Providence Bloc's fleet positioned at optimal range of the SV5-8N gate. After a couple of volleys, Providence forces warped off and retreated again, this time to the D-GTMI system.

This pattern of hit and run attacks was replicated in the D-GTMI system, as Providence Bloc forces continued their retreat to the T-RPFU system, where on the D-GTMI gate they decided to make their final stand. As expected, HERO Coalition forces, though bloodied, kept to the hunt and jumped into the system. What unfolded was a large brawl, with Providence Bloc forces able to decimate the attacking HERO Coalition fleet, though taking some losses themselves. 

The original battle report can be found here.
The fixed battle report can be found here.

It has been claimed that the HERO Coalition fleet actually split after entering the system, with the Ishtar class Heavy Assault Cruisers warping to a jump bridge present in the system, expecting Providence Bloc forces to attempt an extraction through it. This led to HERO Coalition's damage and logistic to be halved, thus becoming ineffective against the suddenly numerically superior Providence Bloc force. However, there has yet to be confirmation of this claim.

Still recovering from the engagement and hunting stragglers, reports came in of a RvB gank fleet, one hundred and twenty strong, mostly in Cruiser class ships, with a moderate logistics wing. In order to combat this new threat, Providence Bloc forces quickly extracted from the T-RPFU system and raced to their staging system in order to re-ship. A quick re-form was made, with Providence Bloc forces exchanging their Rupture class Cruisers for a one hundred and four strong Battleship and Battlecruiser class fleet, with moderate logistics support.

The reformed fleet raced to intercept the RvB fleet, and managed to stop it on the D-GTMI gate in the T-RPFU system, sparking a second battle on the gate. The fight itself saw around two hundred and fifty pilots on grid, with Time Dilation kicking in at sixty-six percent. However, it was clear that Providence Bloc had the advantage, as the logistics backbone of the RvB fleet was wiped out in the first minutes of the engagement. 

With their logistics gone and unable to break the tank of the Providence Bloc Battleships, the RvB fleet quickly attempted to retreat from the Providence region, with Providence Bloc forces in hot pursuit. The fight quickly spilled from T-RPFU to 4B-NQN and 9-F0B2 systems, all the way to the Assah system in the Derelik region, which serves as one of the main entrance way into Providence.

The fixed battle report can be found here.

With no other large hostile fleets reported in the vicinity of Providence, Providence Bloc forces chose to stand down, thus ending large scale operations for the day.