Battle of Skull Crusher's Barge
| Battle of Skull Crusher's Barge | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Vega-Nova War (2025) | |||||||
 The Vegan fleet engaging the Novan Battlecruiser after reinforcements had been sunk | |||||||
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| Participants | |||||||
 Imperial Nova |
 Oblivion | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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20k Battlecruiser (NovaManGood2110) ☠
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20k Battlecruiser (AssassinXX)
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 7 ships lost (49620 blocks, including 1 Battlecruiser) | 4 ships lost (15154 blocks) | ||||||
The Battle of Skull Crusher's Barge was a major military engagement between the nations of Imperial Nova and Vega in the Vega-Nova War. The battle was fought in Trench over Skull Crusher's Barge, which the Novans planned to ambush and sink.
The Battle of Skull Crusher's Barge resulted in the second Battlecruiser to be sunk in server history, and is the largest loss in the Vega-Nova War.
Context
On the evening of 17 March 2025, Skull Crusher, a citizen of Vega, traveled to Trench with the Vegan Barge "VS Malibu" alone while the Vega military was offline. The Novans, seeing an undefended barge in Trench, deployed 2 1k Gunships to sink the barge uncontested.
Vega received notice from Skull Crusher that the Novans were in Trench shortly before the barge was attacked, prompting the Vegan forces to log on and defend the barge.
Summary of Events
The initial Novan assault force consisted of _Longy and NovaManGood2110, both in 1k gunships. The barge, unable to escape the gravity wells employed by the gunships, simply played evasively until Vegan backup was able to arrive. The initial Vegan relief force consisted of Sherbet_S, MaidPierce, GigaJeff, and BlockBuster019, all also in 1k Gunships. Both Novan 1ks were sunk, and the Vegan forces then moved to escape Trench. After being sunk, the Novans deployed the Battlecruiser "NIF Repentance", piloted by NovaManGood2110, to Trench, supported by _Longy in a 1k Gunship and Thrawn31 in a Starfighter, but were unable to catch the Vegan Barge before it evacuated to safety.
The Vegans, seeing the enemy Battlecruiser, chose to engage, with the hopes of sinking the Battlecruiser. Vegan forces further rallied AssassinXX and Solesey to assist in the fight, bringing the Vegan Battlecruiser "APOCALYPSE" and a 12k Destroyer, respectively. The Novan 1k and Starfighter were swiftly sunk by the larger Vegan fleet, which then activated gravity wells to trap the Novan Battlecruiser while the Vegans awaited the arrival of their own Battlecruiser.
_Longy came back to counter the fleet with a Starfighter, but was again sunk. He then returned to Orlandia to pilot a 12k Destroyer. The Destroyer jumped into Trench, successfully bypassing Sherbet_S' attempt to trap it in a gravity well, and joined the fight. The Novan 12k engaged with the Vegan forces, and was able to sink Sherbet_S' Gunship. The 12k and Battlecruiser continued to fight the Vegans until Solesey was able to sink the 12k, sacrificing his own 12k in the process.
Thrawn31 during this time was traveling in a Vesta from Ilius to Aret in order to redeploy with _Longy, but by the time both pilots had left Aret to reengage, Sherbet_S had already arrived in another 1k Gunship, and was able to hold both ships down in a gravity well (thus preventing them from reaching Trench) for the rest of the fight between the Novan Battlecruiser and the remaining Vegans.
The Novan Battlecruiser, now having no support, continued to be fired upon (with the bulk of damage being done by the Vegans' own Battlecruiser), until the Vegans were able to land the finishing blow. Solesey's second 12k, "VS BURGER", took major hull damage, MaidPierce's 1k took minor hull damage, and the remaining fleet including AssassinXX's Battlecruiser remained undamaged.
Vegan forces then escorted their Battlecruiser to safety at space station Fraternity outside Qatra. After securing the Battlecruiser, the Vegans were notified that _Longy and Thrawn31 were still pinned by Sherbet_S' gravity well in Regulus. Forces regrouped and traveled to Regulus, where they were able to sink Thrawn31's 1k, and then _Longy's 12k, with the only casualty being Skull Crusher's 1k. _Longy successfully navigated his Destroyer to the Novan space station Threshold outside Aret before sinking, ensuring the Vegan forces were unable to recover the wreck.
Related Events
Before the Novan Battlecruiser sunk, Thrawn31, on behalf of Nova, offered 17,500 credits to Lonestar Executive Sovrah in exchange for bringing his own Battlecruiser to reinforce the Novans, which Sovrah refused and publicly disclosed.
Skull Crusher, while securing the Regulus to Trench gate, encountered player emeraldknight57, who was trying to pass into Trench. after Skull Crusher declined entry, emeraldknight57 became surly, declaring "Vega is my arch nemesis." The Vegan forces then recognized emeraldknight57 from Star Legacy, recalling fights they'd had in the distant past. The order was then given to Skull Crusher to dispatch emeraldknight57's Vulture, which he successfully did.
Legacy
The Battle of Skull Crusher's Barge was the second ever Battlecruiser sink, and the third ever Battlecruiser loss on Horizon's End, after the Vask Authority Battlecruisers ARMAGEDDON and CATACLYSM.
The battle was also the first ever instance of two Battlecruisers fighting each other directly on survival.