News: Heavy Fighting in G-5EN2 Leads to Costly Victories for Providence Bloc

9-F0B2 system, Providence region. On the 29th of May, at 20:00 EVE Standard time, Providence Bloc clashed with Northern Coalition(dot) [NC] and Pandemic Legion [-10.0] in the system, resulting in a sound defeat on the battlefield, but at the same time, a strategic victory in the region.

A few days before, [NC] reinforced both the Infrastructure Hub and the Station in the G-5EN2 system. However, the first timer on the 28th of May went unchallenged, with Providence Bloc removing the Sovereignty Blockade Units and repairing the Infrastructure Hub. [NC] deployed more Sovereignty Blockade Units, resulting in some skirmishing, but for the most part no heavy fighting took place. However, as the shield reinforcement timer for the G-5EN2 Station came up on the 29th, both Providence Bloc and [NC] geared for a fight.

Providence Bloc brought a Nightmare Battleship fleet with a Stealth Bomber wing, 190 pilots strong. The force made it to the system first, and as the reinforcement timer expired was busy repairing the station.

[NC] brought a 110 pilot Proteus Strategic Cruiser fleet, and bounced around the G-5EN2 system, seemingly unwilling to engage Providence Bloc's fleet on the station, as it was within docking range.

[-10.0] was also aware of the timer, and brought a 130 pilots strong Proteus fleet of their own, and set up in the Irshah system in the Derelik region, where it waited patiently for hostilities to commence.

However, as Providence Bloc declined to fight and was busy repairing the damage to the station, a decision was made to lure Providence Bloc into a fight. The [NC] force jumped out of G-5EN2 while the [-10.0] force kept holding position in Irshah. With the station back to full shields and what seemed like an opening, Providence Bloc forces hurried to the 9-F0B2 gate, attempting to extract to their staging system.

However, due to the size of the system and the warp speed of the Battleships, [-10.0] was able to bridge in front of the Battleship force, into their destination system in fact of 9-F0B2. As the Battleships slowly cleared traffic control and entered the system, they were greeted by the [-10.0] fleet perched on the G-5EN2 gate, which warped on top of them, starting the fight.

 The Fighting on the G-5EN2 Gate, Courtesy of Paul Trier

The battle did not go smoothly though, as [-10.0] lost a few ships to the combined damage output of the Battleships. However, as the fight went on and a Triage Carrier brought in, as well as the [NC] force joining the fray, the tide decidedly went against Providence Bloc. It was losing ships one after the other, its Logistics, for the most part, unable to shield transfer fast enough to keep them alive.

After a few minutes of a rather one sided battle, as more Nightmares and Battleships popped, Providence Bloc managed to free enough Battleships and warp them off the field, abandoning its Logistic wing which was massacred nearly to the last, before docking up in the system's station.

With no more hostiles left on the grid, [NC] and [-10.0] safely extracted from the system, bringing an end to the fighting.

Footage of the Fighting from Providence Bloc's PoV, Courtesy of Mangraa Dementia

Battle report for the 9-F0B2 system can be found here.

During the peak of the fighting the system saw nearly 500 pilots, with Time Dilation being noticeable and a factor in it. All told the battle lasted close to 20 minutes.

Providence Bloc received the brunt of the losses, 76 ships for a total of 20 Bil ISK damage. [-10.0] and [NC] suffered some losses, 27 ships for nearly 5 Bil ISK damage, most of which were Interdictors and Interceptors.

Though Providence Bloc suffered a tactical defeat, it managed to win the strategic objective, securing the system and station. [NC] for their part seemed unwilling to engage Providence Bloc on their own, giving further evidence to the power showed by the coalition.

With the Imperium slowly deploying to the Providence region, the fighting is expected to intensify. What will happen as the Fozzie Sov changes loom over the horizon? The EVE Scribe will keep you posted.

Special thanks to, Jin'taan, of Pentag Blade, Curatores Veritatis Alliance for granting an interview and Mangraa Dementia, of Blue Tridents, Sev3rance, for supplying the video footage, as well as Paul Trier of Hoover Inc. Pandemic Legion and ISD for giving screenshots of the fight.