THE CATCH
The fight in MN-Q26 was small on paper, but expensive where it counted. An Orthrus flown by Shunsuke Amouh of Goryn Clade was the clear prize of the encounter, and once it was committed the ship became the focus of a Goonswarm Federation response that included 12 attackers in the final blow sequence. In a system where every warp-in can decide whether a fast cruiser lives long enough to escape, the Orthrus appears to have been the target that slipped into danger at exactly the wrong moment.
THE PRESSURE BUILDS
Goonswarm’s damage came from a compact but flexible group: Sleipnir, Vagabonds, and an Osprey Navy Issue all took part in wearing the Orthrus down. Dema1’s Sleipnir led the damage listed on the attackers, while PsychicSword, Justin Chronos, and GuardianMymMei in Vagabonds helped keep the pressure on. The final blow came from Autumnchin in an Osprey Navy Issue, a reminder that in New Eden, the ship that lands the killing shot is not always the ship that does the heavy lifting.
THE BREAK
The Orthrus was not a cheap hull to lose. With total losses reaching 1.4 billion ISK, most of that value was destroyed outright, while only a smaller portion was recovered as drops. The ship’s missile racks and ammunition were caught in the collapse as well, with large quantities of light missiles destroyed or left behind in the wreckage. That kind of loss is more than a line item; for a fast heavy assault cruiser like the Orthrus, it is the kind of mistake that turns a roaming fight into a painful write-off.
THE AFTERMATH
This was the sort of engagement that can vanish into the noise of low-level combat, but the value involved makes it stand out. A 15-participant clash in MN-Q26 produced a single, high-impact loss rather than a prolonged fleet exchange, and that is often enough to change how the next trip through the region feels. For Goryn Clade, the Orthrus is gone. For Goonswarm Federation, MN-Q26 produced a clean and costly catch.
