SOLAR Fleet faced off against Fraternity pilots February 10 in XW2H-V, killing multiple Rorquals but ultimately losing a Titan as the battle turned.
The initial conflict began at 08:50 as the SOLAR fleet consisting of 169 pilots and including four Titans and five supercarriers, and supported by three Force Auxiliaries, began its attack. The first Rorqual was lost at 08:56 and Rorquals dropped continually until 09:11. Had the battle ended at this point, with SOLAR withdrawing, it would have been a successful operation. Unfortunately for SOLAR, however, it failed to extract its fleet, with the first carriers lost at 9:27.
It was at this point that capital ship fleets began to engage in earnest. 375 Fraternity pilots in total responded, fielding a fleet consisting of 48 dreadnoughts and supported by six Force Auxiliaries and three supercarriers, as well as a healthy sub-capital fleet. Fraternity pressed strongly on the attack, committing its sizable dreadnought and battleship fleet and removing SOLAR’s own dreadnoughts and carriers from the field rapidly. Now, unable to escape, and with rapidly diminishing firepower, SOLAR lost all eleven of its carriers, as well as eleven of its dreadnoughts and all of its FAXes.
The true scope of SOLAR’s defeat would not be seen until 09:59, however, when one of its four Titans exploded, followed almost immediately by a Nyx at 10:00. At this point SOLAR scrambled to withdraw, only suffering losses until the battle disengaged at around 10:10.
In total, SOLAR lost roughly 220 Billion ISK worth of offensive material, including strategic assets in the form of a Titan and a Supercarrier. The attack destroyed 7 Fraternity Rorquals valued at about 42 Billion ISK, as well as 75 Billion ISK worth of Fraternity’s defensive fleet. Fraternity fielded no Titans and only three Supercarriers, losing none of them. SOLAR’s miscalculation brought them a staggering loss not only in terms of ISK, but also in credibility: a Titan traded for a handful of Rorquals does not a convincing show of force make.
