The Imperium’s Reavers SIG has unveiled a new fleet composition in the ongoing conflict with Darkness. in Querious: Cruise Missile Ravens. Designed to counter the range advantage of the Darkness TFI fleets, the Ravens were first unveiled during the May 25-26 overnight, and were used to reinforce the I1Y-IU station’s shields virtually unopposed.
The Ravens’ second outing was far less successful. While in the process of assaulting an enemy POS in ED-L9T, the Reavers’ fleet, including a pair of dreadnoughts, came under attack by a flurry of Darkness and Illuminati Confirmed (MYTH) Sabres. The Sabres were unable to hold the field long enough to prevent the dreads from warping off, but Darkness was not finished yet. Aware of the likelihood of additional enemy action, the Reavers decided to bring in additional support from Deklein.
Half an hour later, a fleet of mixed armor Strategic Cruisers entered system to engage the Ravens. The initial passes consisted of each fleet warping around the tower grid, with slow–aligning battleships being picked off whenever possible. As the battle was joined in earnest, a decision was made to bring out the Reavers’ mobile refit platform, a shield-tanked Nestor, to enable the Ravens to refit for fighting T3s. Unfortunately, just after giving the all-clear to warp the Nestor to the fleet, the Ravens fired off their Micro Jump Drives to escape an imminent interdictor bubbles. The Nestor landed just outside the bubble, but was unable to escape the T3s’ Warp Scramblers, and quickly melted.
As losses mounted, the Reavers quickly docked to switch back to their Ishtar fleet. At that point, Darkness brought in a triage Archon – a move that has worked extremely well for them against the Heavy Assault Cruiser doctrine. It would prove successful this time, as well, with the Ishtars unable to overcome the carrier’s remote repair capability. The reinforcement fleet from Deklein – a Harpyfleet – entered the fray, but the Strategic Cruisers made short work of most of the Assault Frigates.
With the carrier on-field, the Reavers reshipped again to their Ravens. The reduced numbers, however, made breaking the Archon’s tank before it exited triage impossible, and the Reavers again were forced to cede the field. In the end, the Imperium forces lost 8.18b ISK, while Darkness took only 833m ISK in casualties.
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Arrendis.
