Snapshots: Providence

As capsuleers return to active service following the holidays, I provide a brief update on where things stand in several nullsec theatres. I'll begin with Providence and follow up with a separate post on where Catch and Fountain stand
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Providence: 

Curatores Veritatis Alliance (CVA) got a recent assist from an unlikely source. Against All Authorities (-A-) dropped a Supercapital fleet on what was a routine system takeover by NCDOT, with CVA providing the cyno-ship. NCDOT got out of the engagement lucky, losing only one Supercapital (a Nyx) from their fleet due to the absence of Heavy Interdictors in the CVA/-A- fleet.

Indications are that CVA and -A- are blue to each other at the moment owing to NCDOT providing Supercapital support to The Initiative in Catch. -A- is attempting to re-take that region and their and hot-drop on the NCDOT fleet will force NCDOT to keep a strong Supercap presence in Providence - Supercaps that won't be readily available for use against -A- in Catch.

With CVA in need of -A- assistance and able to provide only limited assistance in Catch, they have more to gain from a thawing of relations with -A-. That would indicate that -A-'s outreach represents no more than a moment of mutual convenience. However, -A- may be playing a long game and thinking of using CVA as a vassal to hold Providence as a buffer guarding the back door to Catch against -A-'s enemies.

In the end this joint action is only a single data point in the ongoing CVA/-A- relationship. The depth and sincerity of their current rapprochement is remains to be seen.

Elsewhere in Providence, NCDOT appears to be focusing on the H-KW4A constellation in its effort to control the Providence South and squeeze CVA and Legio Astartes Arcanum (Legio) out of the region.

Ev0ke, meanwhile, has made little progress in mopping up Providence North. Ev0ke and vassal fleets have been encountered in the Northern regions of nullsec, far from Providence. Given the distance involved (a long way to go for a few good fights) it's likely Ev0ke is acting at the behest of a third party. Or it may be that Ev0ke is using the holidays to give its pilots some time off from the grind of sovereignty warfare. In any event, it's interesting that Ev0ke would take its collective eye off what has looked to be end-game in Providence to pursue PvP on the far side of nullsec. We'll see if CVA has the wherewithal to make them pay for that distraction.