Operation: Xarvok's Hammer

Operation Xarvok's Hammer, also commonly referred to as the 'Hammer Offensive,' was the code name for the Empire of Galdera's invasion of the Empire of Diablos, which began mere hours after the Margan-Galderan join-offensive on the Aeverian Border Blockade had ended. The offensive marked the beginning of direct hostilities between the two powers, and had been up to that point the largest offensive the Galderans had conducted in the Great War. The primary goal of the offensive was to establish a foothold of captured worlds with which the Galderans and their Warlord allies could use to push into the inner portions of the Diabloian Empire.

Beginning with a surprise invasion of the Diabloian colony of Sevethos, Galderan forces rapidly began to attack numerous planets within the Diabloian's outer rim territories, placing severe strain on the now-thinned Diabloian defenders. The event rapidly escalated as Diabloian reinforcements from the Outer Fleet, as well as fleets from the Aeveria Confederation and Sauran Solidarity, came to lend assistance to the Diabloians. The Transmetallic Confederation also came to their aid, but took no part in direct combat. Though this initially slowed the Galderan's advance, the arrival of a second armada and the Orion Dynasty of the Margan evened their odds. The now-joint Warlord Offensive once more began to advance into Diabloian territory, launching several attacks against various colonies.

The turning point of the conflict was the disastrous Battle of the Seldos System; though Warlord forces technically won, it was a devastating Pyrrhic victory they were unable to recover from. Despite winning various small skirmishes afterward, the Warlords were pushed back into the foothold of worlds captured at the beginning of the assault. Despite their best efforts, Peacekeeper forces, while they inflicted heavy casualties on the Galderans and Margan, were unable to push them out and retake the foothold, which today remains in Warlord hands.

Background
Since joining the Warlord Pact, the Empire of Galdera has been planning to launch an attack against the Empire of Diablos. The reasons for such are numerous, the first and foremost being that the Korvar see the Diabloians as the primary military power of the Peacekeeper Alliance, and believe that without Diabloian support, the rest of the Alliance would fall. With other Warlords already engaging the Diabloians on multiple fronts, the Korvar believed a rapid and overwhelming strike would overrun the already stretched Diabloian military. The other major reasons were ideological; many Korvar view the Diabloians as an almost perfect 'brother race,' a race that could have been a viable ally of the Korvar and worthy of entering heaven. By joining the Peacekeeper Alliance, they have betrayed the nature of creation itself, and thus must be put down or 'convinced' to change their ways. Others viewed the Diabloians as the ultimate challenge, something to fight and eventually defeat so that they could prove their strength and superiority as a species. Regardless of reason, many sought to combat the Diabloians, and thus, war was inevitable.

Large-scale preparations began within the Zykorus System five months before the Warlord Conference. Regiments were pulled from all across the empire to bolster the invasion force. Factory worlds and star-docks were sent into overdrive to keep up with the demand for supplies, armor, and naval vessels. High Command was still at work planning the details of the attack using information from previous encounters between the Diabloians and other Warlord powers as well as their own reconnaissance operations. Initially, Valxelva Kelevian was to lead the assault, but this changed when she was placed in command of forces attacking the Aeveria Border Blockade. In her place was Varo Arvintis, who had recently been relieved of command from the Betel front. As the border conflict raged, Varo worked out the final details of the attack.

The Korvar's plan was to gain the advantage of surprise early on in the assault. If all went according to plan, the Diabloians would realize what was happening just as they detected Korvar vessels within their borders, barely giving them enough time to react. The Korvar would then spread out the assault along multiple fronts in an effort to stretch the defenders thin. Captured colonies would be razed, the only surviving structured being factories, mines, or military facilities which could be retrofitted to fit Korvar needs. These colonies would be heavily fortified and used to safely send reinforcements and push deeper into Diabloian territory. If a location was likely to fall back into enemy hands, the Korvar would utilize a scorched-earth policy and raze anything left to the ground before the Diabloians could reclaim it. The main goal of the offensive was complete destruction, not occupation.

Preparations for Xarvok's Hammer had concluded as the combined offensive against the Aeveria Confederation began to end. Despite the loss of the Golden Blade armada and the heavy casualties faced by Korvar forces, high command decided not to delay, and came to believe that the disarray created within formerly Aeveria-controlled Zaretian space would pull away Aeverian resources from reinforcing Diabloian troops. As Kelevien's fleet returned from the Blockade, Varo and his armada set on their course straight towards Diabloian territory.

Invasion
In the waning hours of the 13th of Lunvr, 577 AU Kovas time, Varo's armada reached the Diabloian's outer territories. As they arrived, Diabloian sensors picked up the encroaching armada, and an alert was broadcasted to all nearby sectors as well as a request for reinforcements to the Diabloian Outer Fleet. All attempts to contact the invading armada were ignored. Defense forces on threatened colonies hunkered down and prepared for the attack, but as the Korvar had planned, there was little time for the defenders to prepare or for reinforcements to arrive before the armada was upon them. Several systems simultaneously fell under attack, and within the span of a few hours, a wide front had formed as fierce naval and ground battles broke out across the sector.