Operation Sledgehammer

Assault on the Aeveria Border Blockade
The Aeveria Confederation presented a unique problem to the Warlords. Throughout the war, few large-scale attacks had been carried out against the Aeverian mainland. This left them as the most militarily powerful Peacekeeper, with more than enough experienced reserve units to defend their territory and to support Norsus in the event of an invasion. In order to sufficiently tie the Aeveria down, the wing needed to be both vast in size and quick in movement so as to breach the blockade before a proper defense could be established. Thus, the Aeverian wing became the largest naval armada in Sledgehammer, comprised of fleets from Golden Blade and Holy Dynasties, Repzork, Necraal, and the Zaretians. There was also a debate as to whether or not the Pact should attempt to hold any territory it captured or if it should instead bombard any and all colonies so as to deny the Aeverians resources. Given the Aeveria wing was seen as having the greatest chance at failure, it was decided that any and all settlements were to be bombarded, and few if any ground forces would be committed unless deemed necessary. Pact forces first attacked Aeverian frontier worlds that were outside the protection of the blockade. Varthos and his fleet, aiming to make up for the Monarchy's embarrassment at Zetta Secundus three years prior, spearheaded the assault from his Galaxy-class battleship, Varthos' Fist. The general's forces, with overwhelming numbers and firepower, overpowered local Aeverian militia fleets and subsequently bombarded civilian and military targets alike. They also captured a small number of stations that would be repurposed to provide logistical support to the Pact, including Fukushima Station. Unable to stem the tide, Aeverian militia forces focused on evacuating as many civilians as they could and retreating deeper into Aeverian space. The 47th, 290th, and 195th Aeverian fleets were dispatched from the blockade, but with the Warlords advancing rapidly and numerous worlds falling under siege, they were unable to launch a counterattack, instead devoting their resources to assisting the evacuation effort. This gave the Pact time to establish a supply line in preparation for the next phase of the assault. Once the frontier was under their control, the Warlords initiated their attack on the Border Blockade, launching attacks against several key positions. As the assault was underway, ACI, with the use of the blockade's sensor network, pinpointed the location of the ZMS The Shitfest, a Majesty-class mobile shipyard, which was acting as the backbone for Varthos' logistics network. Due to the speed at which Varthos' had advanced, the ship, which was making frequent subspace jumps across the front, had to take brief pauses in order to recharge its drives, which gave ACI a roughly ten minute window of opportunity to attack. With most of their assets damaged or deployed elsewhere, the Aeverians sent out 1st CRUSRON and several figher escorts to engage the shipyard, which was protected by a small entourage. The Shitfest was heavily damaged during in the ensuing engagement, but managed to escape back into Zaretian space, where it would remain for several months while it was repaired. The loss of the ship crippled the Monarchy's logistics, and King Breys, angered that Zetta Secundus had been repeated again, called Varthos back to Zartar for questioning. With their flagship gone and their logistics in ruins, the Zaretians pulled out of the region, turning over their captured Aeverian stations to the rest of the pact. Though a blow to the Warlords, the Zaretian's withdrawal did little to slow down their advance. Pact forces continued to besiege the Blockade, engaging anything and everything they came across in well-coordinated strikes. During one notable attack, Repzork and Margan forces engaged Aeverian forces at Rhea Station, a regional headquarters for Blockade vessels. The Aeverians defended the station against waves of Pact ships, including numerous bombers and the HLC Korani. During the attack, Admiral Kiryusa Luok, operating from her flagship, the HLC Xelvalder, had been rapidly jumping her ship from location to location, a number of Aeverian vessels in pursuit. The Xelvalder eventually arrived at Rhea station and destroyed the MK1 Skybound cruiser, the AS Vatican. Luok, after being engaged by her pursuers, then warped back to Fukushima Station. Rhea Station survived the assault, but at the cost of over twenty warships and nearly sixty nearby orbital facilities. Luok efforts, though they damaged the drives on her ship, temporarily drew Aeverian forces away from other fronts and allowed Pact forces to plunge deeper into the blockade.

Fighting continued in and around the Border Blockade throughout Operation Sledgehammer, concluding only a week before Operation Downfall when the Aeverians enacted a desperate gambit in a last-ditch attempt to deal a decisive blow to the Pact. Across the region, Aeverian assets withdrew en masse. Believing that they had finally broken through the blockade, the Pact advanced into the Aeverian mainland. In truth, several Aeverian fleets were moving to flank and encircle the Warlords. Once they were in position, the Aeverians closed in and engaged the Pact from all directions. What followed was the largest and bloodiest naval battle in Operation Sledgehammer, with both sides suffering enormous casualties in the span of a few hours. At the height of the battle, General Alo'Kizan concentrated all of his forces on a weakened portion of the encirclement, breaking through and allowing the rest of the Pact to escape at the cost of himself and Firewing Fleet, which was destroyed to the last ship. Warlord forces retreated from Aeverian space, but not before destroying the orbital stations they had captured during the frontier assault.

Though an Aeverian victory in that the Blockade still stood, the assault is considered a strategic victory for the Warlords as it had achieved its goal of distracting the Aeverians and dealt a serious blow to the Confederation, which would take years to recover from the damage.

Invasion of the Kardhotdoum Empire
Throughout the war, though the Repzork and Reaper's Fist had been able to hold the bulk of the Karahotdoum empire at bay, they had been unable to advance very far themselves up until Necraal troops under the leadership of Commandant Var arrived. With the Margan and Repzork holding the line, Necraal shock forces scored several victories against the Magistrate. But the Karahotdoum were finally able to punch through the Warlord's defenses during Stormbreaker, and even after the Peacekeeper retreat, managed to retain some of the territory they had captured during the offensive. Sledgehammer's goal for the Karahotdoum wing was to reclaim the lost territory, reestablish a defensive line, and deal a blow to the magistrate's logistics. To achieve this, the Kara wing focused heavily on shock and awe tactics and mechanized warfare.

With Titans acting as a vanguard, the Necraal and Repzork engaged the Karahotdoum directly, General Apulon establishing a back line from which the Margan would continually pelt Karahotdoum positions with biological weapons. Eventually, the Margan paused their bombardment, giving time for both Grand Beyir Yalacin and War Chief Bhatuzorig's forces to drop directly on top of the Karahotdoum. The assault shattered the Karahotdoum's front-line within a few weeks of fighting, forcing them to retreat back to their pre-Stormbreaker positions as Pact forces advanced. The Warlords pushed the initiative, with Var, Yalacin, and Bhatuzorig pushing through gaps in the Kara's defenses while the Repzork and Margan kept the bulk of their troops tied up at the front. Striking at their supply chains, the Pact cut off Karahotdoum forces from the rest of the Magistrate, leaving them stranded. Some surrendered or were captured, but many instead fought to the death or were slaughtered in the ensuing skirmishes.

With the Karahotdoum's forces scattered, the Pact turned its attention to the mainland. Numerous colonies were first bombarded with Reaper plague munitions, sometimes severely weakening the defenders before ground forces moved in to secure the planet. This method slowed the advance, much to the annoyance of Bhatuzorig, but was undeniably effective, especially in the first few months of fighting, during which a number of colonies were captured or reduced to poisoned, crystallized wastelands. Fighting continued throughout the Magistrate's outer colonies and into the middle rim until the activation of Operation Downfall, when Warlord forces retreated to defensive positions.

Invasion of the Empire of Diablos
Though the Empire of Diablos had depleted itself during Operation Stormbreaker and was in no position to deploy any major offensives anytime soon, the Pact still considered the Diabs to be a potentially significant obstacle in invading Norsus and took a proactive view towards them, aiming to cripple their efforts in the war before they could organize another attack. Additionally, many within the Pact sought revenge against the Diabs for the blood spilt in the previous months. To these ends, with the exception of Captain Omard, the officers selected to lead the Diab wing of Sledgehammer were those who were seen to be capable of fighting the Diabs on equal footing with little to no regard for collateral damage or civilian life. The officers planned to "bleed Diablos dry" by launching a multi-pronged offensive into Diab space and establishing a foothold from which future offensives could be deployed deeper into Diab territory. So long as the foothold remained, the Diabs would be forced to devote troops to contain it, diminishing the empire's offensive capabilities. After some reconnaissance, the officers decided to attack a region of Diab space that was contributing a large number of recruits and material to the Outer Fleet. Pact forces made contact with the Diabs around the urbanized colony of Sevethos, and soon after at Alvainos, Neheldos, Sakanos, and other outer-rim settlements. The Warlords obtained orbital superiority over much of Sevethos and Alvainos and landed troops before the bulk of the Diab's forces arrived. Sevethos was hardest hit by the first wave, with the Repzork employing an Ikatan Platform and the recently-developed ODV-3 Vasekar. Warlord forces made rapid gains across most fronts, but suffered an embarrassing setback at Alvainos, where the Diab's subterranean settlements gave them a distinct advantage against invaders despite being significantly outnumbered. Such events did little to slow the Pact advance, and most colonies hit by the first wave would fall in the weeks and months following the opening assault. As Pact forces advanced onward, reserve troops moved in to establish fortified positions.

The offensive converged upon the world of Baltreos, a highly developed colony considered to be a sort of capitol for the surrounding region. Having had time to prepare, Diab forces put up fierce resistance which was met with equal aggression by the Pact. Both sides poured a significant amount of troops into the engagement, which largely consisted of street-to-street and room-to-room fighting as Pact forces advanced through Baltreos' dense urban centers. In an attempt to divert Diab attention, the Pact attacked the nearby world of Falkeos, which acted as the nerve center for Diab military forces in the area. But while Falkeos experienced a prolonged crystal bombardment by the Margan, Diab forces successfully held unto the planet, though the diversion was sufficient for the Warlords to finally capture Baltreos in the process. The planet would become the Warlord's headquarters for their efforts in the sector.

The loss of Baltreos and the chaos at Falkeos severely weakened local Diab forces. But the Pact was nevertheless halted after suffering a major setback at Veos, where the Diabs crippled the Repzork's Ikatan Platform, forcing imperial forces to scuttle the vessel. With Diab resistance stiffening and the Rach's defenses crumbling, the Pact initiated a strategic withdrawal back to the foothold before they spread themselves thin, but not before bombarding Diab colonies with crystal and conventional munitions as they retreated. The Diabs chased the Warlords and attempted to repel them from the foothold, but were forced to withdraw after weeks of bloody and fruitless fighting.

Invasion of the Sauran Solidarity
The Asanian Syndicate and the Margan both had a strong desire to eliminate the Sauran Solidarity as they saw the Sauran as the antithesis to their very way of life. When the Sauran wing of sledgehammer was being planned, the Asanians petitioned to spearhead the assault, causing some irritation with General Ganos, who had been leading the Sauran front for most of the war. The Margan, seeking to further prove the Syndicate's worth to wary allies and confident that a combined assault could devastate the Solidarity, supported the Syndicate. Frustrated, Ganos decided his forces would engage a second front with the Solidarity while the Asanians and Margan opened a second combined front elsewhere.

The Margan and Asanians slammed into the Sauran's defenses, who were not prepared for the Syndicate's forces. As the Solidarity redirected fleets to the front, Ganos struck, breaching a hole in the Solidarity's now thinned defenses. Asanian and Margan forces dug deep into the Sauran's outer colonies, indiscriminately destroying everything in their wake and killing civilians and soldiers alike. With the Solidarity focusing most of their efforts on the combined assault, Ganos focused on capturing and holding colonies to establish a new foothold within Sauran space; though some of those captured by Zaretian forces would be brought back to the Monarchy as slaves, most were instead executed to satiate Ganos' temper. When Operation Downfall was initiated, the Zaretians ended their offensive, pulling back into their newly captured colonies. The Syndicate, meanwhile, continued to engage despite the Hammer Dynasty relocating to Norsus.

During the invasion, the Sauran were contacted by representatives of the Repzork Empire, who requested an audience with representatives from the Council of Aradan on the remote neutral colony of Sethyr. The Solidarity reluctantly accepted, and sent Na'dak and Commander Lunéss Zru, who were met by Ambassador Orva. The Ambassador explained that the Repzork were intent on eliminating both the Margan and the Asanian Syndicate once the Great War had concluded, and that the Repzork sought to acquire the Sauran's advanced terraforming technology in exchange for offering the Sauran safe refuge from their enemies in the event that their empire collapsed, though with the implication that they would become a client state in the process. The Marshal's Council, whom Orva referred to as his 'benefactors', planned to use the terraforming to undo the damage the two Warlord powers had caused to 'Oltavar's Grand Design' and that the capacity to undo the Margan's work would serve as a trump card in the eventual conflict.

Invasion of WBI
By this point in the war, Warbot Industries was in rapid decline. The need to not only replace their losses, but also to expand their forces to support the Alliance, combined with colonies having been lost to Pact forces throughout the war and growing harassment from increasingly emboldened Kelmir had put tremendous strain on Warbot Industries' economy, which was unprepared for the sheer scale and length of the war. Unrest rose as a few officials called for the Minomits to formally withdraw from the war and sue for peace so that they could rebuild. Others shifted their allegiance to the Pact, either to ensure their own safety or because they felt that the Peacekeepers had let them down. Desperate, Warbot Industries had deployed the vast majority of its remaining Warbots during Operation Stormbreaker, only for the bulk of them to be destroyed as the operation drew to a close, dealing a crippling blow to their economy as they were now close to depleting their available resources. Due to a mixture of his seniority and influence from King Hor'or, Crown Prince Bael'thir Anduish'ent'mar was given overall command of the Warbot Wing. Though the prince publicly took the position with dignity, in private he was irritated, as he sought to prove himself worthy of the throne by earning glory on the battlefield, particularly against the Karahotdoum. Hor'or, wanting to keep the crown prince safe, instead put Commandant Var in charge of the Karahotdoum front. Bael'thir felt that fighting the weakened Minomits would be insufficient to proving himself. Making the best of his position, Bael'thir resolved to not only defeat the Warbots, but to utterly devastate them to the point that they would be unable to continue fighting in the war. He devised a bold plan to have Turos' forces invade the Minomit homeworld of Oruin while his forces assaulted the Minomit's inner-rim colonies.

Turos struck first. With most of Warbot Industries' forces focused in surrounding colonies, Oruin's orbital defenses were quickly overrun and the Margan made landfall, focusing their attention on the desolate planet's terraforming stations. As WBI forces arrived in the system, Bael'thir's forces moved in, and combined with the Margan, encircled and eliminated a large portion of WBI's remaining naval fleet. With orbital superiority achieved across much of the region,the crown prince initiated his attack on the core worlds, and was later joined by Turos once the campaign on Oruin was complete. Mining and production centers were bombarded first, cutting off WBI's flow of machines. With most unable to fight on their own, the Minomit were helpless, and most either died or were abducted by the Necraal to be brought back to the empire. The rest attempted to flee to the other Peacekeepers, though some of the ships were intercepted.

By the end of Operation Sledgehammer, WBI had been reduced to a few scattered and disorganized colonies. Oruin was once more an uninhabitable husk, the inner-rim had fallen to the Pact, the bulk of the population was now gone, and the military was reduced to a few scattered pockets of resistance. Bael'thir had been planning to hunt down and eliminate the remaining resistance when Downfall was initiated, prompting him to maintain his current position. Though lauded as a major success by the rest of the Pact, Bael'thir was criticized by the Kelmir, who had wanted to overthrow and take over WBI society. The crown prince silenced some of his critics when he promised to help the Kelmir build a new home for the Minomit once the war had ended.