Great War (Branding)

The Great War, also known as the Epic War, is an ongoing interstellar conflict between the Peacekeeper Alliance and the Warlord Pact. It is the largest and bloodiest conflict in the history of the known galaxy, directly or indirectly involving over thirty sovereign states and being responsible for the deaths of billions of soldiers and civilians, the total collapse of several governments, and the ruination of numerous worlds, most infamously Norsus, the former homeworld of the Rach.

The Rach founded the Peacekeeper Alliance to defeat the Margan Empire and protect empires that could not protect themselves. The Margan then reached out to the Zaretian Monarchy to propose an alliance. Rach agents attempted to assassinate King Breys and High Priestess Massachiah but failed, ironically bringing the two powers together. The new alliance, the Warlord Pact, launched a counterattack against the Peacekeepers, who suffered several quick defeats, particularly the Rach, who were unprepared for large-scale warfare. Several nations would join both sides over the next three years, but the Pact maintained an advantage over Allied forces. In the fourth year of the war, the Empire of Diablos joined the Peacekeepers and spearheaded Operation Stormbreaker. Though the Warlords suffered grievous losses, the Peacekeepers were forced to call off the offensive as it ground to a halt. The next year, the Warlords counterattacked and ultimately invaded Norsus. At the climax of the battle, the Rach retreated into Abyssal Space. The Margan pursued their hated enemy, and both vanished for the next ten years, leaving their allies to fight on their own.

During what would become known as the Interim Era, the Warlords would be forced on the defensive. The Karahotdoum committed military support to the Peacekeepers in the year following Norsus while the Nuverian Union launched an invasion of the Zaretian Monarchy. The Telkevon initiated the Keros Offensive into Diab space, but the operation would end in disaster at the Battle of Helia three years later. The Saracin Empire dissolved following the assassination of Emperor Saracin IX while the Necraal succumbed to civil war and had much of their empire cut off by an ion storm. In the 13th year of the War, Peacekeeper forces conquered Nu-Zartar, though the Telkevon successfully repelled Peacekeeper forces from their territory.

The Rach returned to the galaxy in the 15th year of the war and attempted to recapture Norsus. Peacekeeper forces were nearly successful but were routed following the return of the Margan weeks later. The return of the Dynasties revitalized the Pact, who began to reclaim territories long lost to the Peacekeepers, and brought about the Neutrality Crisis as the Red Rose began a push into neutral space. The ion storms blanketing Necraal space soon dissipated, allowing the Sovereignty to rejoin the war in force in time for the Pact to begin a new offensive to drive out the Peacekeepers from Zaretian space, which would erupt into civil war between Peacekeeper and Warlord aligned forces. Elsewhere, the Telkevon would push into a sector contested with the Holy Nepharian Empire, opening an entirely new theatre of operations.

Despite the enormous material and manpower costs of the war, the conflict continues to drag onward even after 17 years of nonstop fighting which has continued to see the war grow larger and larger, dragging more and more nations into the bloody, inconclusive struggle.

Destruction of the Seraphim Dynasty
The Seraphim Dynasty was one of the oldest of the Margan Dynasties alongside the Holy and Golden Blade Dynasties. They were best known for their grandiose theatrics and incredible egos; they truly saw themselves as divine beings, and believed that the Margan people had a glorious future ahead of them. This mentality carried over to the battlefield, where commanders would give their troops bombastic speeches and every conflict was viewed as a grand spectacle for all to see. Though zealously loyal to the Holy Goal for centuries, they began to stray from it when they noticed that lesser races were seeing them as literal gods and had begun to worship the Margan. Jisa, the Matriarch of the Seraphim, decided to allow these races to live so long as they served the Margan and paid them tribute. The Matriarch planned to exterminate the servants when the Margan's campaign of genocide came to an end, but for the time being, relished in the possibilities they brought.

When the other Dynasties discovered what the Seraphim had done, they were outraged, denouncing the dynasty for straying from the Margan's teachings. The Seraphim argued that the slaves were little more than temporary allies and that they posed no threat. The debate was settled when Li-Hosan, Matriarch of the Golden Blade, suggested eliminating the Seraphim before they went rogue. The Dynasties then all simultaneously attacked the Seraphim fleet, overwhelming them and leaving no survivors. When the Matriarchs confronted Jisa face to face, they offered her a chance to repent. She refused, and instead impaled herself on Li-Hosan's blade. The remains of the Seraphim fleet were left to drift through space, some of it falling unto nearby planets as artificial meteors.

The betrayal and subsequent annihilation of the Seraphim Dynasty did little to stifle the Margan's intense paranoia; in fact, it worsened it, as the Margan now knew that they not only had threats on the outside, but also within. Margan now face intense scrutiny if they show any signs of straying from the path, and in modern times, such individuals will more often than not be quietly killed by groups such as Confessors and the Mask of Ferivus.

Breys' Coup
The Zaretian Monarchy had undergone drastic reforms throughout the reign of King Moscassin, who sought to pull the Zaretians away from their brutal and militaristic tendencies. The king abolished slavery, sough peaceful diplomacy with foreign powers, and reduced the size of the military to the point that Breys was the only general left. These reforms had a negative impact on the economy, which was built upon the military and the slave trade, and were deeply unpopular with the general populace, which had long grown accustomed to the Monarchy's aggressive authoritarianism. General Breys, promising that he would bring back the glory days of the Monarchy if he was crowned king, instigated a coup and overthrew Moscassin, who was banished into exile. Breys would prove to be a ruthless dictator willing to purge anyone who sought to challenge his rule, but his reforms, which included the reintroduction of slavery and the rearmament of the military, brought prosperity back to the Monarchy.

Moscassin would continue to combat Breys' rule in a guerilla campaign waged across Zaretian space, but while his efforts were a hindrance, they were unable to seriously jeopardize Breys, who soon began a period of conquest that would bring the Monarchy into war with many neighboring empires, notably the Madarians and the Spytrus, whose homeworld would eventually fall to the Monarchy, who took the inhabitants as slaves.

First appearance of the Xenochytrids
Years before the onset of the war, the Xenochytrids made their first recorded appearance in the region when a spore of Hive Fafnir landed on a planet rich in biomass. The planet's inhabitants, unaware of the Biomatter's true nature, recovered samples from the then-dormant spore for study. Less than an hour later, the Xenochytrids became active, and rapidly overran the lightly defended colony. In the years that followed, more hives, most notably Apophis, Piru, Cronen, and Tiamat, would emerge in other sectors and infest colonies such as Qualiot, which had to be evacuated and bombarded from orbit. News of the swarms spread quickly, and nations began efforts to curtail the swarm's spread. Such operations were oftentimes met with limited success as the Xenochytrids were and remain poorly understood. Scientists attempting to study the swarms frequently ran into dead-ends, or worse yet, triggered an infestation. In one of the most famous examples, a Salatran research team recovered samples from the hives on Qualiot for research. The Xenochytrids escaped containment, infesting everyone in the building, but not before they could initially a site-wide lockdown. Rather than outright destroying the installation, the Salatrans used the facility's cameras and remotely-operated drones to monitor the Biomatter from outside. The information acquired from the incident would be later be passed along to the Anti- Xenochytrid Task Force.

Barrakru Kaat Unification
For decades, the Barrakru Kaat had been under united under the leadership of the Ulthubag Clan. Like many clans before it, Ulthubag was overthrown by an alliance led by the Otguhl clan. The alliance fell apart immediately as the clans vied for supremacy, plunging the Barrakru Kaat into years of bloody civil war. The up-and-coming Tazorag clan would eventually claim the throne and unite the clans under its rule through a system of intricate alliance and technological superiority. With the war over, Tazorag would work towards modernizing Barrakru Kaat technology and military docttrine to better prepare them for conflict with foreign powers. These efforts mostly benefited Tazorag and its closest allies, the great clans, leaving many lesser clans to remain stagnant.

Telkevan-Nephani Cold War
Main page: Telkevan-Nephani Cold War.

The Holy Nepharian Empire had spent the past several years spreading its influence throughout a sector of space inhabited by various nations that the Nepharians had been slowly converting into dependencies. The Nepharians provided the natives with weapons and technology in exchange for ancient relics. They also established migration routes through the region for Nepharians citizens. These efforts were disrupted when the Telkevon began expanding into the region. Seeking to claim relics and territory for themselves, the Telkevon provided the aliens with offers of their own and exported their culture and religion to turn the inhabitants over to their cause. Some were more than willing to negotiate with the Telkevon due to disagreements or distrust towards the Nepharians. The conflicting ideologies sparked tensions throughout the sector which soon gave way to fighting, beginning a proxy war between the Telkevon and Nepharians. But while the two are officially enemies, they rarely fight one another directly, with only small skirmishes for particularly valuable relics. Both governments deny that any conflict is occurring due to mutual benefit. Despite the tension, the Telkevon often sell worthless artifacts back the Nepharians, allowing the Nepharian government to keep the peace within their own borders while providing the Telkevon with funds.

Nevertheless, the Telkevon still considered conflict with the Nepharians to be a real possibility. Several armadas were mobilized in case the two nations went to war, including the 14th, 277th, 355th, and 77th. A military modernization initiative was underway to update portions of the military, such as the navy, whose ships were, for the most part, outranged by the high-powered lasers of Nepharian ships. This led to the development of the first 'hunter killer' ships that would form the basis for imperial alpha-strike doctrines several years later.

Karahotdoum-Yami Relations
The Karahotdoum had a fierce economic rivalry with the Yami Trade Union, a collection of empires that had banded together that was on course to becoming a major galactic power. They rivaled the size of the Karahotdoum, whose allies at the time consisted of little more than protectorates that could contribute little to a war, which was becoming more and more likely as relations continued to worsen. Though the Karahotdoum did not believe that war would not threaten the survival of the empire, it would likely cost billions of lives and many dozens of colonies. As a result, the Karahotdoum kept the bulk of their troops at the Karahotdoum-Yami border zone.

Sauran liberate Zaretian slave colony
See also: Sauran Theatre

Sauran of the Forces of Freedom raided a sizeable Zaretian slave colony in an effort to free the prisoners. After a brief skirmish, they forced the defenders to retreat. But as they reached the slave holding area, they encountered the prisoners, who had managed to overthrow the guards and escape on their own, though it is unlikely that they would have been able to progress any further without the Solidarity's aid. The monarchy retaliated by declaring war on the Sauran and launching several probing attacks into Sauran space.

Appearance of the Margan
The first known appearance of the Margan in the local galactic sector occurred when troops of the Golden Blade Dynasty invaded a minor power that, though it put up stiff resistance, was quickly overwhelmed and wiped out by the vastly larger force. Soon after, the other dynasties soon appeared elsewhere, strip-mining any planets and exterminating all life that they came across. The sheer, uncompromising brutality displayed by the Margan sent a ripple throughout the region as word spread through survivors and witnesses. Many nations formed contingency plans in the event of a Margan invasion or were actively preparing to attack them, including some that would become Warlord powers in the months or years that followed. Some historians argue that it was at this point that the Great War became inevitable.

The War
For an outline of the war, see Timeline of the Great War (Branding).

Year 1
See also: Rach Theatre, Raid on Zartar, Raid on Station SRD72.

Shortly after the emergence of the Margan in the local galactic sector, the Rach began to covertly harass the Margan by targetting their logistics and command structure while supplying states that were fighting the Dynasties. These efforts proved disruptive to the Margan, but were unsuccessful in stalling their advance. These efforts continued with impunity for months until Rach operatives were captured while attempting to rescue civilians. The Margan declared war on the Rach, and while they had difficulties locating Rach colonies and were constantly harassed with hit-and-run attacks, began to advance through Rach territory at a slow but steady pace as Rach doctrine was not accustomed to a war of attrition.

Rach officials, namely General Gorach, called for drastic reforms to Rach doctrine, but his calls were ignored. Nevertheless, it was decided that a more direct approach would be needed to defeat the Dynasties. The Rach sent delegates to several neighboring states: the Nuveria Union, Karahotdoum Empire,  and the Sauran Solidarity, to propose the formation of a coalition with the goal of defeating the Margan and protecting those that could not defend themselves. All accepted, though the Karahotdoum, due to tensions with the Yami Trade union, declined to offer direct military support, instead supplying the new alliance with money and weapons. Ironically, they would simultaneously provide these same resources to Warlords that they did not consider too radical. The new alliance called itself the Peacekeeper Alliance.

The Peacekeepers launched a surprise attack against the Margan and quickly overwhelmed them. Emboldened, they launched further attacks with similar results, bringing more nations into the alliance. The Matriarchs of the Margan convened on the worldship of Holy Thereia to discuss their options, and despite their hatred of aliens, decided to establish an alliance of their own. They soon after requested an audience with King Breys of the Zaretian Monarchy. The Zaretians were wary, but due to their ongoing conflict with the Sauran Solidarity, agreed to talks on the Zaretian homeworld, Zartar.

Zaretian rebels under the leadership of the exiled king Moscassin learned of the meeting and relayed it back to the Peacekeepers. Though an opportunity to eliminate both Breys and High Priestess Massachiah, Rach command deemed the operation too risky. However, Emperor Coradine, without notifying his generals, deployed a small team of assassins to intercept the meeting. The assassins attacked as the meeting began, but the operation proved a colossal failure, with all of the assassins captured or killed. The operation had the opposite effect than intended, convincing Breys to put his reservations toward the Margan aside and establish a formal alliance. The new alliance, dubbed the Warlord Pact by Peacekeeper media, declared war on the Peacekeepers, marking the official beginning of the Great War. Now fighting both the Margan and the Zaretians, the Rach suffered several disastrous defeats, their military almost entirely unable to put up any serious resistance to the invaders. The Peacekeepers attempted to support their ally, but were having to defend their own territory from the Pact.

Year 3
See also: First Battle of Aserai, Doramis-Vectramil War, Second Battle of Aserai.

The Zaretian Admiralty had spent the previous year since their defeat at Zetta Secundus updating their navy with new warships and tactical doctrines. Though eager for revenge against the Nuverians, the Monarchy opted to instead test these changes on the Doramis Monarchy, who had recently pledged their support to the Peacekeepers, as it was believed that an attack would elicit an Nuverian response without having to risk an assault on the Nuverian mainland. Three fleets were sent to the Doramis homeworld of Aserai, where they swiftly outmaneuvered and overwhelmed the defenders and began bombing the planet. As anticipated, the Nuverians sent a relief fleet which was then intercepted and forced to withdraw. A combined force of Nuverian and Rach ships finally arrived hours later and repelled the Zaretians. Though economically and militarily devastated, the Doramis retaliated by deploying troops against the Zaretians.

During the attack on Aserai, the Doramis colony of Dralix ceased communications with the rest of the Monarchy. Believing the Monarchy to be responsible, a small force was sent to the planet following the Zaretian withdrawal. Instead, it was found that Xenochytrids of Hive Apophis had overtaken the planet. Teams were deployed to the surface to search for survivors, but within hours, all teams vanished. Several ships then attempted to leave the planet, but were shot down when they did not respond to communication requests. The fleet was then contacted by one of the search teams, who reported that they had been dragged to the ground by a tendril of the hive and required immediate evacuation. Special operations forces were sent to the surface and retrieved the team. Rather than bombing the planet, the Doramis king decided to quarantine the planet and use it to study the Xenochytrids.

Months after the assault on Aserai, Doramis Captain Bestos went missing while investigating an unidentified vessel. Days of inconclusive searches followed until the Monarchy received a distress signal from the homeworld of the Bulorians, a young interstellar empire. A team was sent to investigate and soon found Bestos, who explained that he had been attacked by the Vechtramil Directorate, radical isolationists who claimed that Bestos had unlawfully entered their territory. Delarus crash landed on the planet, which was subsequently invaded by Vechtramil soldiers who had enslaved the populace. Though still recovering from the Zaretian assault on Aserai, the Doramis amassed its forces and attacked, driving the Vechtramils from the planet and liberating the Bulorians. The Vechtramils declared war and declared themselves members of the Warlord Pact.

The Doramis lacked the troops to adequately defend their territory, instead focusing their troops at key locations while harassing the invaders with hit-and-run attacks. The Vechtramil, though puzzled by the lack of resistance, pushed the initiative. Desperate, the Doramis took Xenochytrid samples from Dralix and synthesized an airborne virus that was then deployed at a Vechtramil outpost. The virus was more potent than intended, sparking a large-scale infestation that delayed the invaders but spread to several other nearby colonies. The Monarchy attempted to cover up the incident, but were soon found out by the Peacekeepers, who harshly condemned the attack and ordered the Monarchy to destroy remaining samples of the virus. The Doramis complied and burned their remaining stockpile.

Days later, the Doramis king died. The Monarchy moved the bulk of its troops to the area around Aserai as a new king was crowned. Vechtramil spies discovered the proceedings, and the empire responded by sending the entirety of its military to Aserai, culminating in the largest confrontation between minor powers in the war. The Vechtramil initially held the upper hand, but lost several prominent officers, all of whom held prominent political positions, to assassins, and were later encircled and eliminated by the Doramis. This caused the Vechtramil government to collapse into complete chaos. By this point, the Doramis were drained, and would be unable to provide any military or economic aid to the Peacekeepers for the next several years. In the aftermath of the war, the Peacekeepers declared the use of the Xenochytrid as weapons to be a war crime. The Doramis narrowly avoided charges, but were forced to destroy all of their research regarding the virus.