PR-8CA host to latest Delve capital melee

A hotly contested capital battle unfolded earlier today in the Delve system of PR-8CA. Early numbers from the battlefield suggest a slight numerical win by Band of Brothers, although it has come at the cost of crucial towers holding sovereignty in QY6-RK.

According to an initial account of the battle given by Perpello from Band of Brothers, Red Alliance capitals were spotted at a starbase in PR-8CA without sub-capital support. Moving in with support of their own, the BoB forces pinned the RA fleet down, eventually sending their own capital vessels up from QY6-RK to engage. From there, various attempts by the Coalition to cyno in support failed under heavy fire.

Eventually however, an entry field successfully opened inside the system, paving the path for capital reinforcements to counter the BoB attack. A brutal slugfest that saw the loss of dozens of capitals ensued. Despite many accounts that the conflict up until this point was a close fight, it is understood that the call was given for Coalition capitals to pull out from the battle.

This move cost them a few more capital losses in a chaotically overloaded system already wreaking havoc with many captain's navigation systems. Considering their overall strategic position and likely aims in the region however, most are seeing the withdrawal as a temporary tactical retreat designed to preserve capital forces ahead of larger, more important assaults.

The capital numbers of both sides remains unclear at this time and difficult to verify with complete accuracy. It is clear however, that both parties were wielding somewhere in the area of at least 40 each, with the coalition having a greater amount to throw at the Band of Brothers, who supplemented their fleet with two Nyx motherships and a large number of support initially.

The battle in PR-8CA is being seen by many as a move by Coalition forces to shift BoB away from defense of the QY6-RK system, where crucial starbases fell as the capitals were busy fighting. The loss of towers there has all but removed the Band of Brother's claim of sovereignty, with GoonSwarm now holding a starbase majority in the system. Less than a day remains at this point for BoB to reassert their control of the system.

From there, Coalition forces will be free to work towards the unprecedented capture of the first BoB station inside Delve – a victory that, if attained, will be hailed by many as perhaps one of the final turning points in the war.

As put by Notoreus from GoonSwarm: “With capital and sub-capital fleets from TCF, RA, Goons, Razor, IRON, MC and many others participating in this week-long battle, sovereignty in the system is set to flip to neutral [tonight]...it may even flip to Goonswarm. This will be the first station system lost by Band of Brothers in Delve. This will also jeopardize Sov 4 in F-TE1T, home to the famous capital battle from last year and capital system of the W-4U1E constellation.”

Over the coming days and weeks, all eyes will be on BoB, who so far have continued to relentlessly clash against the superior numbers amassed against them. For many, it is only now a matter of time until the “Alamo” - what will undoubtedly be one of, if not the largest capsuleer-waged battles the cluster has ever witnessed.