Branch & Tenal

"What we do in life, echoes in eternity."

The 12th of May saw a fleet of 170 invade LXWN-W.  There were only three large towers holding the system and they crumbled under the onslaught brought against them.  However, due to our initial rush we missed the opportunity to finish two of the towers off the next day.  M.Pire dropped five large towers and we waited for the D2 response.

Meanwhile, back in Deklien, Storm Armada took possession of the last remaining FLA stronghold.

13 May 07 – Storm Armada claims O-2RNZ

The 14th of May saw D2 losing sovereignty over eleven of their systems in Branch and Tenal as towers were torn down or abandoned.  On the same night, when the third tower we had hit on Saturday came out of reinforced, D2 had nearly 300 enemy pilots in local and the system locked down tight. They then used a force of 30 Coalition dreads to put three of M.Pire’s towers into reinforced.  The first came out the next night at 2117.

15 May 07 - This was to be the night that D2 died as an alliance.

Determined to save the tower, we gathered a force of 42 Dreads, 43 carriers and four Motherships. Supplementing this force were nearly 120 support pilots who had been piling into the system all day, doing their best to disrupt any enemy build up. The M.Pire tower was successfully defended and recharged. Intel later confirmed that that the Northern forces had 45 dreads on standby to jump us. When they elected not to, we put their capital shipyard starbase back into reinforced.

It was a morale breaking show of force that the North could not hope to equal.  No terms were offered to D2.  Their fate was sealed.

On the 16th of May, IRON became a historical footnote in terms of residency in the North:

16 May 07 – Aftermath Alliance claims JU-OWQ
16 May 07 – Vigilance Infinitas claims VFK-IV
16 May 07 – Vigilance Infinitas claims YA0-XJ

For the next two days, Alliance forces continued to patrol the LXW / BKG systems.  Alliance Carrier fleets began destroying several offline medium and small starbases on the moons in BKG, allowing M.Pire to begin placing large towers in D2’s capital system.

18 May 07 – M.Pire claims LXWN-W

With the fall of LXWN, Alliance logistics finally got a chance to catch up with our advance.  As we were moving in, D2 was moving out.  Numerous reports of Janus Drake’s titan moving more than a dozen freighters at a time via jump portal continued to come in. 

All of D2’s movement was not complete evacuation though.  They did attempt to blob up the area a few times.  The first attempt was on the 20th which marked the last time a major D2 fleet was assembled against us (killboard link).

The next day saw a mix of Morsus Mihi and other alliaces suffer a similar fate in LXW (killboard link).

As Alliance operations began to focus on dropping the large towers in BKG, the battles continued (killboard link)

The devastating results of these fights reduced all organized resistance in the area to practically nil.  Nightly operations to eliminate the last of the towers in BKG continued.  One of these towers was an online Cataclysm Enterprises capital shipyard.  Our intel suggested that there was a Nyx in build so we made plans to ensure it would never be completed.

On the morning of 28 May, a defensive force of several Carriers and two Motherships stood guard over the shipyard; they were all CE ships.  It was hardly the kind of defense such a target deserved and when the Alliance cap fleet jumped in all the CE ships could do was leave the area.  It turned out that our intel had been faulty – there was no Nyx in build; it was a Hel.  This news was absolute poetic justice and greeted with cheers inside MC.  “A Hel for a Hel!” 

The evening of the 28th also marked our first move against Razor Alliance in Tenal.  For the past couple weeks, Terror in the System and Triumvirate had been attempting to invade and take over OE-4HB. On at least one occasion, Alliance Motherships had jumped in to lend assistance but there was no formal relationship in place.  As we continued to conquer Branch, TITS and TRI found themselves the focal point of the entire Northern resistance.

As TRI decided to pull out of the area, talks were opened with TITS and they elected to formally begin working with the MC-led Alliance forces.  The first goal was to ensure we could better assist each other which meant we needed a better mid-point between the respective areas of operation.  S-EVIQ was next on the menu.

We made our move on the 28th of May, reinforcing three of the eight large Razor towers in the system.  The Northern response was quick and massive.  Just as our dreads began to exit siege and cyno out of the system, a battleship heavy fleet of nearly 150 MM, Razor and Hydra jumped into the system.  The battle raged for over an hour.  When it was over, nearly 90% of the attacking fleet was destroyed (Killboard link).

MC losses were light and our allies also came out very well.  The majority of the fight took place on the gate and our decision to warp in all of our carriers at the start of the battle to fight on the front line was obviously the correct one.

The next two nights saw smaller Northern fleets attempt to disrupt our capital operations, but they met a similar fate as the first.  While all of this was going on, another milestone in the campaign occurred:

30 May 07 – M.Pire claims BKG-Q2

Alliance logistics continued to pour into the area.  Allied Towers started going up all over Branch and Tenal.  Northern Coalition towers were either torn down and removed or destroyed at an incredible pace.  Allied Capital operations ran every single night from BKG.

The D2 towers in 1IX-C0 and K-8SQS ran out of fuel and went offline. Sparta Alliance moved in and claimed the systems for their own ends.  It didn’t matter to us as it was just one less area we had to plan operations for.

The last dramatic event for D2 as an alliance took place in D4R-H7 where an online Omega Enterprises capital shipyard had been put into reinforced.  A conversation with OE’s representative, Studi, indicated that there was a Nyx building in the yard.  A short negotiation took place as to the fate of the unborn super capital, with MC making an offer for ship.  Eventually Studi elected to honor the memory of D2 and not place such a weapon in MC’s hands for any price.  It was a decision that I both understood and respected. 

The 2nd of June saw the destruction of the OE shipyard with no resistance mounted.  The killing blow on the yard was reserved for Max Teranous who had been the primary builder of the Hel we’d lost weeks earlier.  From this point on, the conquest of Branch and Tenal went forward without much more fanfare.

3 June 07 – Mercenary Coalition claims I-7JR4

4 June 07 - D2 formally disbands.
4 June 07 – Sparta Alliance claims 1IX-C0
4 June 07 – Sparta Alliance claims K-8SQS

5 June 07 – Mercenary Coalition claims QYZM-W

6 June 07 – FATAL Alliance claims EQI2-2

7 June 07 – FATAL Alliance claims D4R-H7
7 June 07 – Terror in the System claims S-EVIQ

The 7th of June saw Alliance forces begin to finish what TITS and TRI had started – the takeover of OE-4HB.  This night marked the last major fleet engagement of the war as a medium sized Razor and Hydra fleet was annihilated.  Allied towers soon outnumbered those of the enemy and it was only a matter of time.

10 June 07 – Mercenary Coalition claims V7-MID
10 June 07 – Terror in the System claims R-YWID

13 June 07 – Terror in the System claims OE-4HB

15 June 07 – Anarchy Empire claims 6OYQ-Z

Introduction - Prelude to War - Querious & Lonetrek - Period Basis - Tribute - Pure Blind

Fade & Deklein - Branch & Tenal - Bonus Wallpaper