Geminate is down, Vale is conquered, may as well make a new thread for the invasion of Tribute.
Battlereport : May 31 - The Sick Man of Tribute
Preface
While DRF Legion forces have been tending house in Vale, with the final station falling this week, the NC moved en masse to "fortress Tribute" in H-W. Sounding every alarm they could find, the NC stood their ground and piled together to save Tribute from the onslaught they assumed was coming. For two weeks there was no assault on Tribute, save for one system in 3G-L. To say things for the NC in general were getting better, however, would be a gross overstatement. In the two weeks since Vale fell, twenty-five Super Caps, over 70 Technetium moons, and nearly every NC fleet fielded across all timezones fell victim to the vicious DRF Legion assaults. Still, Fortress Tribute was safe. The respite was short-lived, though, as this week saw increased hostility in Tribute.
Throughout the lopsided defeats and the face-slapping resets, the NC member-base stood strong in their resolve; they continued to show up with more and more numbers to cash the checks their leadership was writing. Traditionally NC Leadership has kept them in a position of power, but now NC High Command had become engrossed with bickering and in-fighting. Constant losses and super-capital miscues did nothing to ease the tensions. The fighting reached such high levels that Goons stepped in and relieved the NC Sky Marshall from power, replacing him with a much more accomplished leader: Goons own Rydis. The NC member base were happy by this decision, finally organizational structure existed. Fleets would meet up and be flying in a unified doctrine instead of a hodgepodge whatever-yo composition. All seemed well on the surface, but the backlash by the NC command structure was fierce as FCs exchanged conciliatory remarks. Still, in spite of all this the NCs members kept them in the fight. Just when it seemed that the NC were destined to become caricatures of their former selves Vuk Lau returned and lit a fire under the NC leadership. For a moment it seemed like the NC War Machine was on its way back.
On Friday the NC announced that they would finally stand up and dust off their Supercapital fleet in a massive counter-offensive that would last the weekend. After standing idly by as two regions burned to the ground, NC High Command figured they could flip the switch and go immediately back to their winning ways. Friday came and passed with little more than a whimper. The platitudes echoed in the empty halls, “tomorrow is another day” they said. Saturday came and went with few small skirmishes over what remained of NC Technetium moons. As TEST Alliance shockingly announced an NC reset, DRF Legion forces paraded through Tribute reinforcing CSAAs in the heart of the once-mighty fortress. Cracks were beginning to show in the foundations of Fortress Tribute.
To be or not to be
“Anyway at this moment war is not lost Y?T. As I said Tuesday is ‘to be or not be’ for the NC in its current structure, in true meaning of that expression. It’s purely upon us to choose the fate of ourselves.” – Vuk Lau. The gauntlet was thrown. PL’s own Sky Marshall, Phreeze, accepted the challenge. Together with DRF allies NCdot, Merciless, Raiden, and the relentless warriors of IRC, he formulated a bold plan. As the server loaded, the rambunctious PL forces amassed with their trademark, fear inducing, Thundercat fleet. In just moments the largest Tengu fleet ever seen was formed, with over one-hundred Tengus fielded in a stunning display of backwards-flying grace. Inspired by their Sky Marshall, PL was the first to respond and was able to get into WH-J before the NC could even form. The impetuous Legion took the cyno-jammer down as a slack-jawed NC stood shell-shocked. Testing the resolve of DRF Legion forces, the NC cautiously left the safety of their perch in H-W, into D-7, and set up on the WH-J gate. The NC knew they needed to regain control of the system if they stood any hope of keeping the cyno-jammer up; four hundred NC, with an additional two-hundred Capitals formed, couldn’t muster the courage to take the last plunge.
“Fortune favors the bold” Sky Marshall Phreeze chimed in, and with that DRF Legion forces did the unthinkable and gave up their tactical advantage to get a fight. It was up to High Admiral Shadoo and Elendar to conduct the Thundercat fleet, and so they did. Firing on all cylinders, the astute commanders harnessed the majesty of the Legion and, fighting heavy fleet-lag, inflicted massive amounts of damage on the NC fleets taking next to no losses whatsoever. Calling five simultaneous targets, the PL commanders overwhelmed the NC fleets with an unprecedented amount of carnage. Filled with blood lust, Shadoo tenaciously followed the fleeing NC fleets into H-W, again inflicting his will upon the hostile fleet. By the end of the encounter, the battlefield was littered with just shy of 200 NC wrecks. The fleets were broken, noses were bloodied.
The NC were now grasping at straws, having leveraged everything on this night they hoped that time would be on their side. PL numbers did dwindle as time passed, but the core remained intact. Conversely, the NC was getting some fresh blood to bolster their numbers. PL Advanced Scouts were taken aback as they spotted the movement of NC lapdogs –A- moving a 130 man BS fleet from Feythabolis. The NC were truly desperate, but their desperation netted them a mighty 800 man sub-capital fleet with 200 Capitals in reserve. With less than half of the support numbers, Phreeze retained his composure and refused to back down from a fight. “The road to glory is paved with brave souls”, the Sky Marshall began, “and you have enough spirit to pave that road forty times over. We can stand down now and say we got to the brink of glory and nobody would question our fight. Hey, we just about got there – that’s something right? Wrong. Nothing succeeds like success. I say we fight our way into the light, make our dreams become their nightmares.” And with that the PL War Machine was ready to fight the NC hordes. Taking everything to the gate, PL and allies waited patiently for what would be one of the largest fights of the campaign.
Seeing this, the NC fleet once again left the safety of their POS and motioned toward WH-J. Now with a much larger gang, facing a slightly smaller opponent, the outcome would surely be different. The NC gang still had cold feet; mistaking bravery for foolishness they unsuccessfully tried to goad the PL forces into giving up the position in WH-. The NC were at the precipice of redemption, staring fortune squarely in the eyes, and yet they still were reluctant to take the final plunge. Riddled with self doubt, the NC began to convince themselves that they were going to lose everything; it was clear their hearts were not in the fight. Plagued by their indecisiveness and an unwillingness to fight for something, the NC disbanded all 900 members.
The loss of seven CSAAs with active supers in build will not be significant in the long run; in fact it’ll be nothing more than a mere blip on the radar. What will be revealed, though, is that the fortress is not impenetrable. It begs to question how much longer will the NC leadership issue ultimatums to their member base while feeding them nothing but empty rhetoric, and for how much longer will allies prop MM up before they eventually get enveloped in their own decrepitude.
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lovely BR
=> dat BR
Originally Posted by HyJek
![Lowa [NSN]'s Avatar](image.php?s=95ba68b6619a64141131b8ab53929c6a&u=1329&dateline=1364741468 "Lowa [NSN]'s Avatar")
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