First Battle of Norsus

Background
Shortly before Sledgehammer commenced, General Gorach was given the task of defending Norsus' stealth generators. At the time of his appointment, the situation was dire; the generators' defenders were both undermanned and ill equipped even by Rach standards, many of their troops and resources having been spent in the war. Correctly concluding that an attack on the generators was imminent, Gorach collaborated with Commander Cloudreaver, leader of the Skyborn Legions, as well as various Alliance officials to completely overhaul the generator's defenses into what informally became known as the "Gorach-Cloudreaver Line". Gorach relocated most of the generators' original garrison, most of whom had seen little combat, deeper into Rach territory and had them replaced with veteran soldiers, particularly those who agreed with Gorach's unorthodox methods and felt that the Rach's traditional style of fighting was insufficient. The general was also granted a number of auxiliary battalions from the Peacekeepers, and despite the controversy, employed a small number of former Pact soldiers who had defected to the Alliance and who had pledged to protect the Rach from the aggression of their former masters. A number of Kastalians also stepped forward to help. Likewise, due to the dwindling number of Rach weapons and armor, Rach soldiers were predominantly equipped with Alliance weapons and armor as well as equipment stolen from the Warlords during Operation Stormbreaker including, most notably, two Zaretian citadel walkers, which were each deployed at separate generators. Pact defectors acted as consultants when able, teaching their new allies on how to best make use of their equipment. The auxiliaries were to act as the main line of defense, establishing fortifications and engaging threats directly while Rach forces stationed in strategic positions harassed, flanked, and ambushed invaders. At the onset of Sledgehammer, Pact forces were unaware of Gorach's reforms, and believed that the generators would be protected only by what remained of the Rach's military. As a result, the Rach wing of Sledgehammer was the smallest, with only the Margan contributing a substantial number of troops, the Zaretians having sent the bulk of their available forces to the other wings. The Rach wing was also comprised chiefly of troops trained and equipped specifically to counter traditional Rach strategies. Due to their limited numbers, the wing's commanders decided to attack the generators one at a time rather than all at once, so as to not spread their numbers thin and leave their logistics vulnerable to harassment. The Pact first grew suspicious during the opening engagements, during which a varied array of Peacekeeper vessels were defending the planet when the Warlords had expected other Alliance forces to be focused on their own respective fronts. After breaching the Alliance's defenses, Pact forces landed on the planet, and ran headlong into the Gorach-Cloudreaver line. The combination of Rach harassment, Skyborn jumps, auxiliaries, and both Pact and Alliance armor elements and weapons caught the invaders by surprise, leading to the near-total annihilation of all Warlord forces in the first wave. Unable to bombard the planet due to the presence of anti-orbital guns, the Pact was forced to commit to a ground assault. Through sheer attrition, the Margan were able to establish a safe landing zone, allowing Warlord forces to slowly advance towards the generator. Despite mounting casualties, the Pact reached the generator, but were forced to withdraw when they encountered one of the stolen citadel walkers, Kastalians, and an expansive network of fortifications. Unable to advance much further, the wing retreated to defensive positions and requested reinforcements. With the aid of extra troops, most of which originated from the Holy Dynasty, the Pact was finally able to break the Alliance's defenses and eliminate the generator. Surviving alliance forces fell back to the other generators, the Warlords following in pursuit. The other generators would soon fall under attack, and while Gorach employed every tactic and element he had, the Warlords, through nonstop attacks, continued to slowly advance towards their target. Days after the destruction of the second generator, General Gorach was contacted by Emperor Zinmar. Though Gorach expected the emperor to gloat, Zinmar was instead offering the beleaguered Rach his support, as while the Magellan populace at large firmly supported the Warlords, Zinmar, Captain Omard, and others had only grown increasingly ashamed of their actions, and were now driven to act before the Rach were entirely wiped out despite the risk of Warlord retaliation. Unable to provide direct military support due to Omard being deployed in Diabloian space, Zinmar offered to construct new stealth generators for the Norsus system. In exchange, the Magello would join the Peacekeepers, receive Alliance support, and be pardoned for their past atrocities. Gorach, with Coradine's backing, approved the deal, and Zinmar deployed a team of engineers to begin construction of the generators deep in Rach territory.

Shortly afterward, the third generator was destroyed, and a large number of prisoners were taken by the Zaretians. General Gorach, along with Special Operations Lead Kertak, deployed with a small team behind enemy lines to rescue them. Due to their limited numbers, Kertak employed the use of the "fear mist", nanites that combine together to form manifestations of a target's deepest fears, to disorient the Zaretian garrison. Though it was successful, the mist also affected some of Gorach's men before dissipating. Gorach, not waiting for the affected soldiers to come to, marched ahead on his own, single-handedly fighting his way through the Zaretians. Before he could reach the prisoners, Gorach was intercepted by General Gancarda, who engaged the Rach in a duel. Gorach attempted to convince the Knight of Zartar that the war was going to consume the Monarchy, but Gancarda remained undeterred, declaring that it was the Rach who had started it. The two were at a stalemate until Gancarda, enraged by Gorach's statements, drove his blade into Gorach's shoulder. It was then that Kertak and his men, as well as a number of Skyborn legionnaires, intervened, driving Gancarda away and rescuing the prisoners before evacuating on the battleship, Karadin. Due to injuries sustained in the fight, Gancarda was relieved of command and given time to recover, his position being taken over by High General Vipenite.

With the Gorach-Cloudreaver line gradually unraveling and the Warlords inching closer to the homeworld, Gorach returned to Norsus to demand that Coradine grant clearance to the Rach's most powerful weapons as part of a last-ditch effort to turn the tide. Emperor Coradine denied Gorach's request and ordered the general to leave his office. Furious, Gorach forced his way into a secret chamber housing the Veteran Warsuits, Rach who had served in past conflicts and who had pledged to continue serving the empire by having their bodies entombed in advanced battlesuits after having been grievously wounded in battle. The general awakened the veterans and explained the situation. As he did, alarms roared throughout the city, and communications became jammed with panicked officers declaring that the Norsus system was now visible. Gorach and the veterans raced back to the surface, only to be attacked by a squad of Margan. Entering Coradine's office, they found that the emperor was gone, and that the royal guards had all been killed by Margan. The lone survivor, a sniper who had entered moments prior to receive a promotion, explained that Coradine had killed one of the guards and fled with the invaders. Upon reading over files left behind on Coradine's desk, Gorach discovered that the emperor had deactivated the remaining stealth generators and gave the location of Norsus away to the Warlords, leaving the Rach entirely exposed and nullifying the efforts of the Magello, who had not yet finished the first generator. Furious, Gorach cleaved the desk in two and declared himself emperor, his first decree being to grant clearance for everything the Rach had left in order to protect the homeworld. What remained of the Gorach-Cloudreaver line subsequently fell back to Norsus.

Invasion of Norsus
With Norsus revealed, Operation Sledgehammer came to an end, and Operation Downfall was activated. Pact forces that had been attacking the generators immediately made way for Norsus, as was the fleets of the Margan Dynasties. With the Alliance battered and bloodied from fighting, only the Kastalians, Aeverians, and Diabloians were able to send troops to reinforce Norsus, but the Aeverians were intercepted on the way there. The Diabs could have been intercepted by Magellan troops, but Captain Omard, hoping that the Alliance could beat the odds and hold Norsus, allowed the Diabs to pass unimpeded, explaining to the Pact that he had no knowledge that they had mobilized. This was political suicide for Omard, whose once excellent reputation among his people was immediately destroyed. Omard was recalled to Sculpterra and replaced with a new official. Publicly, the reason was for questioning, but in private, Zinmar was attempting to protect the captain from retaliation. With the whole of Margan civilization and a Warlord armada on course for Norsus, Gorach was forced to concede that Norsus would be impossible to defend. Thus, instead of organizing for a defense, he began the process of evacuating the planet. Civilians were led to vast exodus ships hidden beneath the planet's surface while the planet's defenders prepared to buy them time with their lives. Within hours, Warlord ships started streaming into the system, and fighting broke out throughout Norsus' atmosphere as the Pact attempted to bomb the surface and deploy troops via drop pods. As Warlord forces were beginning to make planetfall, Diab reinforcements arrived, and drew much of the Warlord's attention away from the homeworld. But while the Diabs were able to buy the Rach more time, the combined might of the Margan Dynasties, whose vast numbers had blocked sunlight from reaching the planet, was on the verge of completely overwhelming the Peacekeepers.

With no way to break the siege or to escape, Gorach entered into the depths of the Rach's laboratories in a desperate search to save his people. Scientists then directed the emperor to a chamber containing a large device that they claimed opened a portal to a realm they referred to as the "Warp". Coradine had a keen interest in the dimension, and had been studying it in secret, despite the reluctance and concerns of many of his advisors and cabinet members. With no other available option, Gorach activated the device, which opened a continent-sized tear in reality that led straight into the depths of the Warp. Though reluctant, Gorach ordered all Rach to retreat into the portal. The Diabs, the remaining Veteran Warsuits, and scattered Rach forces volunteered to defend the portal while the Rach escaped, despite knowing that they would almost certainly die. Enraged that the Rach may escape, the Margan deployed all of their forces to the portal's source in an effort to close it. The defenders fought to the last, buying just enough time for the exodus ships and what remained of the Rach navy to escape into the Warp. The Margan, in a move that shocked their allies, kept the portal open and charged headlong into the tear to give chase to the Rach. The portal closed as the last of the Margan's ships entered the tear, and both the Rach and Margan empires disappeared from the galaxy.

Aftermath
As the shadow of the Margan armada dissipated and surviving Peacekeeper forces withdrew from the planet, the expansive damage dealt to Norsus became clearly visible. The once proud skyline had been reduced to ruins and was dotted with dozens of starships that had crashed during the battle. The rolling blue plains had been burned to ash, and the oceans had been polluted and discolored. Thousands of corpses littered the streets alongside the husks of armored vehicles. With the Peacekeepers having withdrew and both the Rach and Margan lost in the Void, Norsus, as well as most former Rach colonies, fell under the control of the Zaretian Monarchy. The Monarchy established a token garrison on Norsus whose main goal was to scour to desolate ruins in search of anything valuable that had survived the battle.

Operation Downfall was not the decisive action that would determine the outcome of the war as many on both sides had believed, but it nevertheless had drastic ramifications. The Peacekeepers had been badly mauled by Sledgehammer and would requite time to recuperate and reorganize. Their leaders, the Rach, were gone, and Warbot Industries was practically destroyed, their only effective fighting force comprised of little more than a small fleet within Aeverian space. Days after the Battle of Norsus, the remaining Peacekeepers convened to discuss the future and decide new leadership for the Alliance. Some suggested the Diabs due to their powerful military and honorable ideals, but Admiral Korsair rejected the offer, not wanting to be, as he himself described it, "Tied down by bureaucratic lunacy". The admiral instead suggested the Aeveria Confederation, which he considered to be much more familiar with working with aliens and organizing alliances. In the ensuing vote, the Aeveria received an overwhelming majority, and was subsequently declared the new leader of the Peacekeepers. The Aeveria immediately set to work, shifting the Peacekeeper's goals from its ideological origins of protecting minor races to ensuring the survival of the Alliance and defeating the Warlord Pact.

The Pact had been planning to press their advantage after the Battle of Norsus and resume their offensive against the Peacekeepers, but without Margan support, which had been crucial during Sledgehammer, these plans had to be cancelled. The Pact instead focused on consolidating their new holdings. The Marshal's Council's first action was to issue Mandate 527, which declared that the Repzork were to maintain their positions within Diab and Karahotdoum space at all costs as part of an effort to 'contain' the two nations. The Council also redeployed some of its forces and mobilized more armadas for the war. The 14th and 355th armadas, after having replenished their losses from the Aeverian offensive, were sent to Diab space, their position on the Aeverian front taken over by the 843rdth armada, "Vindication of Blood". The Zaretians moved Vipenite to the Karahotdoum front and Gancarda to the Diab front to support Lord Atlas. Crown Prince Bael'thir, having proved his capabilities during his offensive against WBI, was sent to the Aeverian front. Tor'vath Alth'met'ker, who had made a name for himself on the Karahotdoum front under the command of Var, was promoted to Commandant and was sent to the Diab foothold. In the Dynasties' absence, Warlord leadership fell upon the Zaretian monarchy.

Emperor Zinmar attempted to cover up his plot to assist the Peacekeepers, but he was outed by Warlord-aligned officials who had wormed their way into the stealth generator construction facility while Downfall was underway. In retaliation, both Repzork and Zaretian agents infiltrated Zinmar's palace and confronted the emperor, who attempted to defend himself but was swiftly subdued. Both Omard and Zinmar's son were captured; Omard, whose true intentions in allowing the Diabs to bypass his forces were made public, was publicly executed by a firing squad, his standing with the Magellan populace having been entirely erased. Zinmar's son was taken to Alrukai to be groomed into a Warlord-aligned monarch by Emperor Zervath. Zinmar's betrayal was kept secret, but he became a puppet of the Marshal's Council, and if he attempted to cross the Warlords again, would face Omard's fate. In the weeks that followed, Magellan officials who had supported Zinmar and Omard would be hunted down and eliminated by Repzork and Zaretian agents.

There was a month-long period following the Battle of Norsus during which no major offensive operations were undertaken by either side, the Warlords partially due to their redeployments and the Peacekeepers because of a need to build their forces back up. The only notable exception was that of the Asanian Syndicate, which continued its attack on the Sauran Solidarity. But without the support it had previously, they slowly began to lose their momentum in the face of increased Sauran resistance.