J2-PZ6, SCALDING PASS - One hundred and sixty-six capital class vessels met their demise in a fierce, hour long engagement that began around 23:48 last night.
The incident touched off when a combined Atlas Alliance [ATLAS] and Against All Authorities [.-A-.] fleet numbering around seventy-five capitals reportedly hot dropped a fifteen to twenty man RAZOR Alliance [-RZR-] "capital bait fleet" who were sieging a Cult of War [-COW-] station. Minutes later ten GoonSwarm [OHGOD] dreadnoughts entered the fray followed by an estimated forty Pandemic Legion [-10.0] dreadnoughts at sniping range.
According to VileLust of -RZR-, only five -RZR- dreadnoughts remained as Pandemic Legion entered the scene giving ATLAS and -A- a thirteen ship advantage. Additionally, a miscalculation of bridge range resulted in a critical lack of Pandemic Legion interdictors. Later on, Minor Threat [KARMA] was able to fill the breach by scrambling an interdiction fleet to assist.
Soon after, -A- obtained a warp-in on the Pandemic Legion fleet and a close range battle ensued that resulted in the eventual destruction of the outnumbered Pandemic Legion sniping fleet.
"We fully expected Pandemic Legion to show up and about five minutes in, true to form, Pandemic Legion came in at snipe range. The -RZR- cap group was quickly obliterated with warpins [also] gained on Pandemic Legion," Bobby Atlas says of the first half of the battle. "…both -A- and ATLAS warped caps on Pandemic Legion and began to lay waste to them."
Round two began fifteen minutes after midnight when -RZR- cyno'ed in a new wave of thirty dreadnoughts according to Shadoo of Pandemic Legion who also reported that his own destroyed capital group returned with new ships just minutes later. The combined weight and positioning of the reshipped fleets along with the arrival of KARMA's interdiction gang spelled disaster for the remaining ATLAS and -A- capitals. However, despite losing the field, they succeeded in destroying seventeen more capitals then they lost.
Numerical Analysis
Per an individual counting of loss records of the involved alliances as of 11:50 this morning, one hundred and sixty-six capitals were lost last night - smashing the previous record of one hundred and twenty-four. Of this number, Pandemic Legion, RAZOR Alliance, and GoonSwarm lost ninety-two ships (forty-six, thirty-seven, and nine respectively). Atlas Alliance and Against All Authorities lost seventy-four ships (thirty-six and thirty-eight respectively).
The shear value of vessels lost and the seemingly increasing predictability of universal, multi-fleet engagements whenever a major alliance deploys capitals speaks volumes to the wealth of today's region holding alliances. It has also been noted by several of the involved parties that the actual objective, a -COW- station, was of little to no value to any of the involved parties.
"[The loss count] is pretty irrelevant… considering the incomes of most alliances in that battle," observed Mr. Rive of Pandemic Legion.
Galnet Battle Records
[Pandemic Legion](https://www.pandemic-legion.com/killboard/view_battle.php?start_time=2009-08-17 23:40:00&end_time=2009-08-18 01:25:00&system=J2-PZ6)
RAZOR Alliance
GoonSwarm
Atlas Alliance
Against All Authorities 1
Against All Authorities 2
Galnet References
CAOD Discussion
SHC Discussion
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