Against ALL Authorities Victorious Over Perihelion Alliance in First Match of AT VIII

Against ALL Authorities claimed victory over Perihelion Alliance in the first match of Alliance Tournament VIII, but at the cost of heavy losses, with three of their Tengus surviving after complete destruction of the other team.

The match started poorly for Perihelion, with their initial warp-in positioning their Scimitar logistics ship between their main fleet, grouped on the central beacon, and Against ALL Authorities' fleet, rather than behind them and at long range to the enemy. Against ALL Authorities, meanwhile, started with their tacklers in a forward position and the main body of their fleet at long range to capitalize on the range capabilities of their heavy missile setups.

The match started with both teams releasing clouds of tech 2 Gallente drones, chosen for their high damage but acceptable speed. Some precise firing from Against ALL Authorities claimed first blood in the form of a Perihelion Sabre, but one of their Cormorants followed swiftly as Perihelion picked off the slower frigates to protect their range-dependant firepower from being pinned down by tacklers. .-A-.'s Dramiel was taking damage from the oncoming Perihelion drones, but mostly managing to evade them successfully, while the main firepower from Against ALL Authorities focused on the vulnerable Scimitar, slamming it down with a relentless missile barrage before it could pull back to a safe distance.

While Perihelion's battlecruisers closed range, their drones ran ahead, swamping the .-A-. Scimitar which gradually crumpled under their fire. With neither side receiving remote shield transfer, the field was wide open for some serious damage to be inflicted. Perihelion swiftly picked off the second .-A-. Cormorant, securing a few more points, but .-A-. was on to more serious targets - focused fire drilled through the shield tank of first one, then the second of the Perihelion Hurricanes, taking a major source of firepower off the field. Meanwhile, the Against ALL Authorities' Dramiel pounced on one of the Perihelion Cyclones, evading its fire while holding it down, stopping it moving with the rest of the Perihelion fleet.

The Against ALL Authorities' Tengus slipped backwards, holding range on the Perihelion BCs and kiting their drones out while firing on the tackled Cyclone, which pulled its drones back and set them on the .-A-. Dramiel. Perihelion picked away at the shields of the .-A-. Drake, slowly grinding it down. The Drake held up well but eventually fell some three minutes into the fight, but it was followed a few moments later by the last of the Perihelion Hurricanes, whose soft shields popped easily under fire from the Tengus.

With only three Cyclones and a Drake left on the field for Perihelion compared to three Tengus, a Dramiel, Keres and Drake for Against ALL Authorities, the balance of firepower definitely lay in .-A-.'s favour. The Tengus kept drifting back, keeping the Cyclones at range so that they could deal damage unilaterally, but the .-A-. Drake was too slow and its shields eventually collapsed, just as their nippy little Dramiel found a bullet in the space it flew into. It wasn't enough to save Almiel's Cyclone for Perihelion, but his teammates struck back and picked off Against ALL Authorities' Keres.

From there, the match was effectively decided. .-A-.'s Tengus kept moving back, keeping the slower Cyclones from reaching an effective firing range while barraging them with missiles. Kadra's Cyclone was the first to fall, followed by Khatr Velsox's. Minuteman attempted to back out of range in his Drake, but eventually fell just before time was called for the match.

A hard-fought match, with neither side fielding a flagship and both using relatively simple setups and tactics, saving their secret plans and weapons for the later stages of the game. Nonetheless, it was a clear victory for Against ALL Authorities, who spent the last 5 minutes of the match more or less untouchable - their light, fast Tengus proved an effective counter to Perihelion's close-range shield-tanking battlecruisers.