D-GTMI (Battle of)

This article documents a battle that took place at the start of the 2010 Providence campaign, between CVA / Holders and a combined group of Against All Authorities / Ushra'Khan and allies

Background

In the weeks leading up to the battle, tension had been growing between the primary occupants of Providence and their neighbours in Catch. LFA had recently decided to expand their territory, and as part of their move had claimed sovereignty over neutral systems within Catch. Until recently, these systems had been fully occupied by AAA, and although sovereignty had been dropped, AAA had not given up their claim to these these systems.

Whilst AAA went through diplomatic channels to try and restore the buffer zone, CVA/Holders, emboldened by their taking of these buffer systems, decided to continue their advance into Catch by attacking HED-GP, an entry point into 0.0 space and regional hub controlled by AAA.

As diplomacy had failed, AAA and Ushra'Khan opted to strike back, with D-GTMI being selected as the primary target.

Involved Parties

Defenders

The defending fleet primarily consisted of members from: CVA, LFA, Paxton, Sev3rance, Cold Steel Alliance, Fidelas Constans, Core Factor and Sylph. This fleet was estimated to be around 600 ships in size, with a heavy weighting towards capital vessels.

Attackers

The attacking fleet was composed of members from: Against All Authorities, Ushra'Khan , 0utbreak and Systematic-Chaos. The attacking fleet was larger than that of the defenders, with roughly 900 vessels taking part.

The Battle

The battle itself began late in the day on 28th January, 2010, with an offensive fleet being raised by AAA/U'K, and SBUs deployed. In response, a defensive fleet was formed by the Providence/Holders, and it prepared to move into D-GTMI to begin the defensive. Upon jumping into D-GTMI, the defenders got their first sight of the offensive fleet, and skirmish began. Given that they were clearly outnumbered, the defenders left the system in order to regroup and plan. After a brief period, they re-entered D-GTMI, ready to start the defence in earnest. Unfortunately, the presence of such numbers in the same area (over 1700 vessels), caused considerable disruption, with the majority of the defending forces failing to get weapons or defences operational in time. With the attackers already in position and ready, the battle turned into a rout, with heavy losses inflicted upon the defenders, and virtually no losses amongst the attackers.

Aftermath

Once the battle was over, it was clear that the fight had been one sided. The attackers had lost a handful of craft, with the largest being battleship class. The defenders had been nowhere near as lucky, with loses of over 100 dreadnaughts, 30 carriers and hundreds of support craft. In addition, sovereignty of D-GTMI had been lost, and was now in the control of the attackers.

Post-war

After the battle, an attempt at peace was made by AAA, offering the return of D-GTMI and a halt in all further territorial advances into Providence in exchange for a cessation of sovereignty warfare in Catch for the immediate future. This offer was immediately rejected by CVA, despite requests from various Holders to give the offer more consideration. With the recent demise of Goonswarm as a functional enemy, AAA were free to focus on carrying out their threats, and the conquest of Providence began in earnest.