As the Imperium continues it’s campaign to bring it’s contentious Viceroyalty program to LowSec space, the local residents are all too happy to resist. The small skirmishes had throughout various LowSec regions culminated in a large brawl in the Black Rise system of Nisuwa. The total number of pilots involved approached 600 throughout the several hours-long fight.
A variety of Imperium entities showed up for the fight, with the usual breadth of fleet compositions expected with large scale fights. SMA brought a Drake Battlecruiser fleet to support the mainline Tengu doctrine with Celestis Ewar fielded by other Imperium alliances. Friendly local groups to the Imperium also brought Armor Battleships with Triage Carrier support. The total number of Imperium pilots involved crested 350.
Against this, Snuffed Out and Psychotic Tendencies. assembled a joint fleet of 130 pilots in Machariel battleships with triage carrier support. The force traveled to the Nisuwa system while Imperium forces were busy destroying two of the three reinforced towers in it. However, with their scouts reporting on the approaching Machariel fleet, Imperium forces quickly re-positioned their fleets and set up on the Oinasiken gate in the system, the only point of entry possible for the joint Machariel fleet.
As the LowSec residents friendly to the Imperium were closest to the Machariel fleet, they were the first to engage as the Machariel and their Logistics came through the gate. The primary target for the Machariels were the Celestis Ewar ships as they posed a significant danger to the Logistics support of the Machariel fleet. As salvos between the two fleets were traded, Ewar ships were quickly volleyed off with minor damage being done to the Machariel fleet. This relieved pressure on the Snuff/TISHU Logistics and allowed the maintain against superior numbers.
The Imperium Tengus and Drakes moved in to try and fill the gap and fully engage the Machariels. This prompted a mid-fight doctrine change from said Machariels. A refit using Nestor battleships from Artillery to Autocannons was ordered and subsequently completed. Slowly, the job of breaking the triage carriers of the hostile battleship fleet was carried out by the Machariels, switching at times to the other battleships and the few dreadnoughts present which were brought to fight them. Auto-cannons fired furiously at the resisting hulls of the Archon carriers who slowly but surely succumbed to the oncoming fire.
Even as the withering fire of Imperium Tengus managed to melt two of three Archons supporting the Machariels, the tide of the battle began to turn as the Machariels were able to annihilate the Armor Battleships and switch fire to the Dreadnaughts on field. In response to this, SMA made the call to jump their Drake fleet right into the middle of the fighting. This made them nothing more than an easy target for the Autocannon Machariels, who dispatched a majority of the fleet in quick succession.
The next phase of the fight saw the Logistics wing of the Machariels unable to hold under Tengu missile volleys without most of their Archons. This meant Guardian Logistics cruisers were simply annihilated as soon as they could be targeted by the Imperium’s superior numbers. As the battle raged, Northern Coalition. slipped into the system with a small reinforcement fleet of Machariels that began hammering the Imperium Logistics from long range.
This increased pressure saw more Imperium and allied forces fall. This signaled the closing minutes of the fight as the battered remains of the Imperium and their allies ceded the field to TISHU and Snuffed Out. The moons that had been the catalyst for this fight were claimed at this point.
Battle report for the Nisuwa system can be found here.
