Great Intergalactic War
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| Great Intergalactic War | |||||||
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 Clockwise from top left: The Concordian Perseus Fleet engages the Commonwealth 1st Fleet, Commonwealth heavy infantry making their way through the ruins of Terra Farum Capitola, Concordian and Commonwealth starfighters battle it out in Majoris Cavaris, Concordian marines advance forward on Ligo-1, the Vyrainian military stronghold of Sanctara-Alpha is destroyed, Concordian FX-92 Furies on an attack run. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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File:Flag of the Interstellar Federation.png Jason Hiricraft (President) |
Mineth Rogeth Hugo Boris-Kilenti | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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10 quadrillion personnel 2.5 million starships |
4.92 quadrillion personnel 1.24 million starships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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87.2 trillion dead or injured More than 250 trillion civilians dead or injured | 129 Trillion dead or injured | ||||||
The Great Intergalactic War, also known as the Great War was a massive, multi-galaxy spanning conflict that lasted from 3251 to 3281. It involved two key sides; the Terran Concordium-led Milky Way Alliance and The Oderran Commonwealth-led Resolution Coalition, in a struggle to maintain control over the galaxies of the Milky Way and Andromeda. The cause of the war was determined to the long standing rivalries between the Concordium and neighboring powers competing for resources throughout the two galaxies. The conflict came to a head with the provocation of tensions in the outer territories of the Concordium by the Oderran Commonwealth, causing widespread rebellions across the outer territories. This caused the Concordium to accuse the Commonwealth of supporting insurrection, leading to what has been described as the most destructive war in the history of the Milky Way. Despite initial Oderran successes in the early stages of the war, the Concordium eventually gained several strategic gains over the Oderran Commonwealth, leading to a lengthy string of major defeats over several years. However, the Oderrans had also allied themselves with other nations throughout the Andromeda Galaxy, such as the powerful Vyrainian Empire, whose militaristic expansionism envied for the Concordium's grasp of the Milky Way allowed the Resolution Coalition to maintain the war for decades. The war would subsequently involve bitter fighting across the regions bordering the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies, with attempts by both sides to invade and conquer in each other's home galaxies.
Ultimately, the Concordian-led Milky Way Alliance achieved a costly and hard-fought victory over the similar Commonwealth-led Resolution Coalition. The Milky Way Alliance was able to gain several technological, industrial and logistical advantages, whittling down the Resolution Coalition, allowing for a final major thrust into the Andromeda Galaxy that shattered the resolve and will of the Coalition and led to multiple schisms its member states' governments. By the end of the war, the nations of the coalition had collapsed militarily, societally and economically. Over 10 quadrillion troops were deployed by both sides in total during the war and it led to over 250 trillion civilian deaths and injuries and over 200 trillion military casualties, making it the costliest war in human history in both terms of life lost and financial damages. Thus the war directly lead to the commissioning of the Galactic Peace Initiative, to prevent another devastating conflicting from ever occurring again. The Commonwealth was stripped of many of its colonies and territories and forced to disarm its military forces to a purely civil defence service. The Vyrainian Empire's expansion efforts past Andromeda were halted indefinitely as they receded back into the inner reaches of the galaxy, allowing the Concordium to replace the Vyrainians in many territories throughout Andromeda. The economic impact of the war would have far reaching effects that caused a massive universal recession and fractured dozens of nations across the vast expanse of the Universe which would last for decades.
Background
Tension in the Outer Territories
In the mid 3200s, the Federation was the largest power in the Local Group of galaxies, with influence extending for billions of light years from the Milky Way Galaxy, the heart of the Concordium's territory. As a result, many smaller powers whose territories ranged from a few planets to several star clusters, were displaced in the intergalactic scale. This was to the chagrin of many nations, but few had the power to challenge the Concordium, whose government were well aware that they were surrounded by several displeased "neighbours".
One nation that did challenge the Federation was the Oderran Commonwealth, a relatively large interstellar commonwealth of several thousand star systems that resided in the Andromeda galaxy. The Commonwealth's leader, Logan Jackson, became more and more militant against the overarching dominance of the Federation. He demanded to the Commonwealth Senate for war, but was refused in fears of facing a far more powerful nation. This attitude would quickly change when a pirate attack raided a Commonwealth trade vessel in Concordian territory, but were refused aid from the Federation, citing it as a "purely Commonwealth matter". The result was a costly ransom paid by the Commonwealth government and the loss of one of their largest trading vessels in a failed rescue attempt. This angered the Oderran Senate, to the point that when Jackson addressed the senate again with a casus belli against the Concordium, there was a unanimous agreement.
Jackson's plan was to incite unrest in the outer regions of the Concordium's outer Milky Way territories, which were primarily industrial, and resource orientated worlds. They were disadvantaged compared to the inner and middle regions of the Milky Way in terms of access to infrastructure, living conditions and socioeconomic status. It was believed that inciting insurrection in these regions would sow the seeds of secession and cause significant damage to the Concordium's major industries, coupled with a rapid military campaign that aimed to humiliate the Concordium to accept peace terms in the favour of the Commonwealth.
This plan, named Operation Divergence, was begun on the 10th of February 3251. Hundreds of representatives of the Commonwealth contacted the more disloyal peoples of the outer regions, and began to fuel the embers of a rebellion. Unfortunately Concordian intelligence operatives and moles were able to catch wind of the operation and inform Concordium High Command of suspicious activities perpetrated by the Oderrans. The first major insurrections occurred on the systems of Janor III and Yanis V. Despite fierce resistance by planetary security forces, the arrival of several Commonwealth fleets within caused the surrender of most of the Outer Rim to Oderra by March 16th. Fate was now locked in; a war between the two was inevitable.
Course of the War
War Declared (3251)
On 17 March 3251, the first official shots of the war were fired by the Concordium 751st Battlegroup, whose starships engaged a flotilla of Commonwealth starships in orbit over the industry world of Terra Farum, seconds after the Concordium declared war on the Commonwealth in retaliation for the invasion of the Concordium. War Fleet Perseus, the primary Concordian fleet of the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way of over 10,000 warships, was ordered to launch a mass counteroffensive to retake the outer territories. Their first engagement was over Terra Farum, assisting the 751st against the Commonwealth flotilla. This was where the first battle of the war, the Battle of Terra Farum, was fought. Despite the surprise arrival of elements of Warfleet Perseus, the Commonwealths put a tenacious defense. The fierce battle, which lasted just two days, involved over a thousand warships on both sides. However, the Concordium was able to eventually breakthrough and overwhelm the Commonwealth, causing them to rout and securing the Concordium their first major foothold back in the Outer Rim.
It was decided by the Concordian High Command (HIGHCOM) that the Perseus Fleet should pursue the Commonwealths through riftspace, and they led the Concordians to the Farum Major System, which was the primary Commonwealth stronghold. The Concordian armada began their assault on Farum Major Stronghold on March 21 and the two factions waged a long slug fest in orbit.
Based on the intelligence gained from the Battle of Terra Farum, the Commonwealth altered their tactics. Instead of attacking the Concordian starships head on as the Commonwealths had done during the previous battle, smaller Commonwealth starships like destroyers and frigates would launch hit and run attacks against the Concordian fleet while fighters from Commonwealth carriers would distract their point defences. For a while these tactics worked leading to the destruction of several Concordian vessels, until the Concordian fleet began to adopt specific formations of vessels to counter this. In the meantime, Concordian ground forces were dropped from orbit to take the planets of the system. It was a long and bloody fight, lasting seven months. Finally on October 20 the system had been cleared of all Commonwealth forces, with a majority of forces fleeing back to Commonwealth-controlled space, while others were captured.
Perseus Offensive (3251-3252)
The Perseus Fleet then discovered the Strip Defensive Line, a gargantuan defensive sector that was defended by thousands of warships and covered the area between the outer section of the Perseus Arm and Outer Arm, which contained the sovereign territory of the Commonwealth. This would begin a major military campaign known as the Perseus Offensive. Several major engagements with Concordian and Commonwealth warships occurred from March to October of 3251. The Perseus Fleet was heavily engaged with Commonwealth naval assets that evened the odds against the Concordians with superior ship numbers. With no breakthrough in sight and the mounting casualties of the Perseus Fleet, Concordian HIGHCOM ordered the 2nd Concordian Auxiliary Fleet to relieve the Perseus Fleet with a surprise flanking assault on the Strip Defensive Line.
With the arrival of the auxiliary fleet, the Strip Defensive Line began to falter and was ultimately defeated in November. Thousands of warships had been either destroyed or damaged on both sides, impeding a planned Commonwealth counterattack. The Concordians however, were less affected due to the arrival of the 2nd Auxiliary Fleet. An immediate order to push further into Commonwealth territory was given and on October 23, the Perseus Fleet and 2nd Auxiliary Fleet entered Commonwealth territory. This would mark the first large scale military campaign pursued by the Concordium in two hundred years.
The Commonwealth response to the offensive was initially confusion and miscommunication due to the destruction of communication links between the Outer and Perseus Arms. Several major quantum relays in between the two arms of the galaxy were severed upon the loss of the Strip. This severely disrupted Commonwealth logistics and caused a flurry of confusion that slowed down the Commonwealth's coordination of a defence. News of the loss of the Strip took days to relay to Commonwealth Central Command, giving the Concordium valuable time to prepare for further assaults into Commonwealth territory. Despite the best efforts of local commanders of scattered fleets and squadrons, the border was breached in mere hours by the Perseus and 2nd Auxiliary Fleets, encountering barely any coordinated resistance. Knowing that the push into the Oderran Commonwealth would require far more materiel then currently available, Concordian High Command mobilized War Fleet Orion, the largest fleet of the Concordium, consisting of well over 25,000 warships and ordered their immediate arrival at the Commonwealth border to bolster War Fleet Perseus and the 2nd Auxiliary. For the time being, the forces already present were ordered to hold their position and brace for a predicted Commonwealth counterattack.