Dropping the Hammer

As I promised earlier today, what follows is a more lengthy account of the events that occurred last night. My apologies in advance…I was not online last night (date night with my wife). As such I’m working with second-hand accounts of what transpired. If any Cal or Gal Mil have differing opinions on what happened, I’d love to incorporate them into a wholistic, unbiased account.

As previously stated, Cal Mil flipped an additional four systems last night: Alamel, Alsavoinon, Evaulon, and Renarelle. During this time frame, the FC received intel of large Gallente gang consisting of Battleships and T2 Logi, with BC/Cruiser support. Their position was reported in Renarelle, and the fleet made best speed after flipping the system they were in.

On jumping into Renarelle, the Cal Mil gang was presented with a large number of Gal Mil pilots hanging 10-20km off-gate. 20+ battleships opened fire on the friendly fleet of 75, while Cal Mil streamed toward the Guardians. They dropped quickly, as did an Oneiros, before the FC called for a warp out. Reports on friendly losses are mixed, but CSSYN lost three pilots in the initial engagement. The extreme DPS of the Gal Mil-fielded battleships meant that any straight-up engagement would be a costly one, despite the overwhelming numbers available on our side.

At this point in time, Best Korea pirates took advantage of the situation. Friendly pilots were off-field when local climbed and cynos appeared. A quick temp-NAP was arranged between Cal Mil and the pirates, and our fleet landed back on-field to see the addition of four dreadnaughts, two faction battleships, five T1 battleships, and 1 HAC from Best Korea, and a heavily tackled Archon on the Gal Mil side.

Reinforced (temporarily), Cal Mil dropped the hammer on the Gallente. We shredded their fleet, while sustaining heavy losses of our own. Down went the Archon, fifteen Battleships, their remaining Logi, and much more. As the remnants of the Gal Mil fleet fled, Best Korea and the other pies on field turned on the Caldari. With multiple dreads, faction battleships, and other high DPS/high tank ships still on the field, the Cal Mil FC made the call to extract from the fight and continue on our way. We were still able to flip the system, bringing yet another capturable point back into the loving arms of the Caldari State.

The following Battle Report shows us the clearest picture of the fight, with the Pirates remaining in the neutral column (thanks to Andre for linking a much better BR summary in the comments below…I’ve updated the link here as well): http://dog-net.org/brdoc/?brid=21102

Loss Totals (hand tabulated based on the above BR):

Cal Mil – 3.369B isk

Gal Mil – 8.665B isk

Best, Cal Mil finished the strategic objective they’d started on the previous night before in Fliet. At 06:33, the Qcats Small Control Tower exploded, followed shortly thereafter by its accompanying Ship Maintenance Array.

Alamel, Alsavoinon, Evaulon, and Renarelle aren’t Gallente core systems. Their fleet in Renarelle wasn’t made up of the only ships they had in their hangars. This was not a final victory against the faction that has dominated us for months. But it was continued, steady progress. Those four systems join the growing list of liberated stars: Hallanen, Hikkoken, Immuri, Mantenault, Arderonne, Reschard, Athounon, Aldranette, Odamia, Pavanakka, Murethand, Melmaniel, Hevrice, Alamel, Alsavoinon, Evaulon, and Renarelle. What have the Gallente taken in that time? Nothing.

Let’s keep it up. Fly dangerous.