Mercenary Coalition Titan destroyed.
On September 28 at 12:30 EST, the Mercenary Coalition's first Titan-class vessel was destroyed by a joint fleet consisting of pilots from Red Alliance [RA] and Against ALL Authorities [AAA]. The Ragnarok-class behemoth named Armageddon Dawn found its final resting place in FAT-6P, a system located in the south-eastern part of the Catch region. The Interstellar Correspondents travelled to FAT-GP and spoke with several people who played key roles in the destruction of the Titan in an effort to find out how this mighty ship could have been destroyed.
High-ranked personnel on both sides agreed that the destruction of Armageddon Dawn would not have been possible without the work of a Covert Ops pilot who managed to probe out and locate the Titan quickly. Indeed, the Covert Ops pilots responsible for scanning had an amazingly small window of opportunity to scan the vessel. It was only through intensive skill training, experience, top of the line fittings and a no small amount of luck that they were able to probe the safespot down. In a battle report recounting the events, it was stated that this particular probing had not in fact been the first time that Armageddon Dawn had been scanned down, but the third. It was certain to be the last, however.
Once the Titan’s safespot had been located, it was a matter of warping two interdictor-class vessels in and de-cloaking the vessel. Afterwards the rest of the sub-capital fleet warped in on top of the Titan and baited for the doomsday. What MC failed to realise, was that the doomsday would not effectively clear the field of threats. In a cunning move, RA had designed a specially-fitted interdictor able to withstand the detonation and drop another interdiction sphere post-blast. It was an unprecedented tactic that will likely be copied by many other alliances in the future.
The unique and somewhat unconventional speed fitting of the Ragnarok gave it sufficient momentum to escape the first pre-doomsday sphere however. It was a critical moment in the fight. Coupled with the loss of their other interdictor pilot, there was a moment of indecision before the blast came, on whether the specially-fitted interdictor should drop a second sphere in order to keep the Titan contained. The end decision to use this interdictor to hold the Titan proved the right one, as it was quite a while after the sphere had been dropped until the doomsday ripped across the battlefield, leaving only a small amount of time before it was once again able to drop a sphere and contain the Titan.
In his battle report posted on Galnet, AAA leader Evil Thug said the following: “To my surprise – Thulsa [Ragnarok pilot] decided to wait some time for [the] doomsday. So basically, he doomsdayed, killed a lot of our support, but the main guy XaHy [the interdictor pilot] - survived, and had only 40 seconds to get ready to launch next probe.”
A combined AAA and RA capital fleet came in shortly afterwards for the kill. Despite the fact that the doomsday weapon had destroyed a number of enemy ships, it had come too late, and the Ragnarok found itself inside an interdiction sphere and surrounded by hostile capitals. At 12:30, under the pressure of immense firepower, and with allied vessels only now realising something was wrong, the ship's structure succumbed to the onslaught.
Riled by the loss they were unable to prevent, MC and allied forces immediately set about taking apart the capital fleet responsible for Armageddon Dawn’s demise. Whilst it did not make up for the significant loss they took, the destruction of over ten capital ships left behind after the assault did mean that a price had been paid for the destruction of the Titan.
Seleene, head of Mercenary Coalition, would not comment on the exact setup of the ship for tactical reasons and added that it had apparently caused much speculation. "The ship was set up and piloted in a manner that made it very difficult to hold down or engage. RA and AAA managed to find the one way that we did not pay enough attention to", she remarked. Her comments were in reference to the fast speed and alignment the Ragnarok was capable of, enabling it to rapidly deploy a doomsday then quickly elude any pursuing fleets. "It was a one time shot…they took it and it paid off…a brilliant execution and well deserved kill on their [AAA/RA] part."
The destruction of a Titan comes as a major blow to any alliance. To the MC, Armageddon Dawn represented "logistical freedom and an enhanced defensive capability for us and our allies," according to a statement by Seleene.
For the slayers of the Titan this particular kill meant a huge boost in morale, and an early end to the sizeable advantages possessed by the MC when they owned the ship. Said the AAA official, "I think it reinforces to the other side that no matter what they do, we will find a way to hurt them, even against overwhelming odds, and that if they underestimate people, then they make a mistake"
