Talk:Diab Front

Year 4

 * Operation Stormbreaker - Empire of Diablos joins Peacekeeper Alliance and spearheads a major offensive aiming to relieve the Rach, who are on the brink of collapse, and decimate Pact military forces


 * Despite spectacular victories at the onset of the offensive, changes in Warlord tactics, attrition, & Asanian intervention (?) cripple Peacekeeper forces, who are forced to withdraw to defensive positions.

Year 5

 * Operation Downfall - Pact launches a counteroffensive, the largest thus far in the war, with the goal of ultimately invading Norsus. Repzork, Zaretian*, Necraal* and Margan (Reaper's Fist dynasty) forces launch an invasion of Diab space as part of the operation.


 * A number of outlying Diab colonies are captured before Pact offensive converges on Baltreos, a major, heavily urbanized colony. Both sides pour significant resources into the battle, which devolves into bloody house-to-house fighting on the ground. Pact forces ultimately succeed in capturing the planet.


 * A strategically minor but notable engagement takes place at the icy colony of Alvainos, home predominantly to underground mining facilities. Unaware of the scale of subterranean facilities, initial Pact landings end in disaster as Diab forces emerge from the ground. Though the Pact quickly attain air superiority, clearing the tunnels takes months even with the Repzork's expertise in subterranean warfare. Alvainos holds propaganda value for expressing Diab resolve and due to the fact that the inhabitants, largely unable to retreat, were killed to the last man.


 * Pact forces continue their advance until the Repzork suffer a significant defeat at Veos in which their Starbase is scuttled. Combined with mounting Diab resistance and news of the Rach being at the point of collapse, Pact forces consolidate their gains, creating the Diab foothold. Diab forces try and fail to repel the invaders. Reaper's Fist forces advance to Norsus.


 * Despite their losses and continued Pact harassment, a Diab detachment reaches Norsus in time to buy time for the Rach to evacuate into the Void.

Year 6

 * With the Margan having vanished into the Void, Pact reinforces & reorganizes its forces in the foothold. No major offensive operations take place as both sides recuperate from Operation Downfall & due to Karahotdoum* intervention forcing the Pact to redirect some of its resources


 * Zaretian forces under General Gancarda invade Lichos (formerly Lichen) for its abundant natural resources; Lord Atlas soon commandeers the operation. Monarchy successfully capture the planet.

Year 7

 * Repzork High Chamber authorizes weaponization of Marganite crystals.


 * Pact forces launch a second attack at Veos, which sat at the edge of the Pact foothold. Pact successfully capture the planet, but not before the incident at Vigríar fortress, in which Diab forces held out for days despite constant artillery bombardment. Pact troops advanced to clear the facility on foot, only to have the garrison emerge and engage the attackers at melee range, spreading panic within Pact ranks and scoring several casualties.

Year 8

 * Keros Offensive - Hoping to repeat Downfall, Pact forces launch a three-pronged advance into Diab space. The north prong, spearheaded by the aggressive Repzork 277th armada, reaches Embaelos, which had acted as a regional command center following the loss of Veos. The Diabs successfully lure the 277th's command fleet into an ambush and ultimately board the 277th's flagship, hospitalizing Field Marshal Likana Raldalvi in the process. Though reinforcements save the 277th and Embaelos is ultimately captured, Keros' momentum is lost soon after.

Year 9

 * Operation Iron Gauntlet - Diab forces launch a counterattack against the Keros advance, stalling the offensive completely. Pact defenses initially hold, but cracks gradually form as Diabs take the initiative.

Year 10

 * Battle of Helia - Iron Gauntlet begins a new phase as Diab forces break into the 'Keros salient'. Many of the fleets of the Repzork 14th armada are subsequently cut off from each other and the foothold. Fierce fighting ensues as the Repzork attempt to relieve the 14th. Field Marshal Zirnak Gilosa is mortally wounded by Diab shock troopers (a huge blow to the Repzork - Field Marshals very high up the chain of command, being only 2 rungs below the High Chamber itself).

Year 11

 * Iron Gauntlet cont./2nd Battle of Baltreos - Pact forces make a hasty & disorganized retreat from Keros in the face of mounting casualties. Diabs take the chance to advance straight into the Pact foothold itself, focusing their efforts on the area around Baltreos, which had become the Pact's command center. The bloodiest fighting since OP. Downfall takes place. Next-gen Repzork technology takes part in the battle, including the Helia-class Hruthvar and Hruthvair dreadnaughts and a stationary 'Planet Cracker' antimatter railcannon (which both Helia-class vessels were also equipped with) situated on Baltreos' surface.


 * Though initially taken aback by the range and firepower of the planet cracker, Diab forces continued the attack. The battle took a turn when a badly-damaged Diab ship made a beeline towards the Hruthvar, which turned to fire on the ship but underestimated the time it took to charge its main gun. The result was that the planet cracker fired just as the vessel impacted the Hruthvar; the resulting detonation vaporized the Diab ship, but mauled the Hruthvar's bow, forcing the ship to retreat. In the ensuing chaos, Diab forces punched a role through the Pact's defenses and landed troops on Baltreos' surface.


 * Peacekeeper forces made rapid progress as they secured a landing zone and captured the port city of Avgorod, through which they planned an amphibious assault on the planet's railcannon. However, Field Marshal Likana Raldalvi authorized the use of an RS-18 Firestorm, a WMD that causes aggressive crystal growth over a vast expanse of land. Avgorod was completely enveloped in crystals, creating what is today known as the 'Demon's Scar'. Almost all personnel in the city at the time of detonation were killed. Diab forces withdraw from the Pact foothold as they are unable to make any further headway at Baltreos.


 * Though a victory for the Pact on paper, the Battle of Helia proves to be a political disaster for the Repzork. The prestigious 14th armada, among the largest to partake in the Great War up to this point, is reduced to less than half strength. The 277th and 355th also suffer tremendous losses. In total, the Repzork suffer over one billion casualties, with hundreds of millions dead, marking the past two years the bloodiest period in Repzork military history. Protests erupt across the empire as friends & families of the dead demand answers. Fully realizing the scope of the war they found themselves in, the High Chamber begins mobilizing the entire civilian population for war.


 * The Necraal Split* - Months after Baltreos, the Necraal civil war breaks out and spreads to the Pact foothold. The Pact attempt to subdue the loyalist but were unsuccessful. Necraal fighting strength is diminished significantly, but continues after the split under the leadership of Commandant Tor.

Year 12

 * A lull falls on the front as both sides are once more too exhausted to commit to major offensives, but the Pact suffers another blow as some Zaretian troops are recalled to the mainland to shore up the defenses around Nu-Zartar. Diab forces make frequent low-intensity attacks to frustrate Pact defenders. Repzork alter chain of command, recalling the 14th and 277th to the mainland for replenishment, their places being taken by the 537th and 980th armadas. Sector Marshal Yuluvar Eras is sacked and replaced with Thalkae Xelnir, who immediately sets out to bolster the foothold's defenses.


 * War of the Mech King - An unusual engagement takes place when Pact forces discover a gigantic, abandoned walker buried partially underground on an otherwise dead planet. Diab forces intercept Pact communications and make a move to secure the machine before the Pact. Both sides wage a pitched battle over the machine, whose interior is guarded by robotic proxies of unknown origins. Zaretian forces, upon realizing that the Diabs were clearly winning, fought their way to the machine's reactors and overloaded them, destroying the walker.

Year 13

 * War in the Shadows - Though officials in Diab high command push for another major assault, this time aimed squarely at the foothold's logistics facilities in and around Sevethos, the continual buildup of Repzork military forces due to mobilization puts all plans on hold as the Diabs attempt to assess the situation. Likewise, though the Pact also wants an offensive, the disasters of the previous years, changes in Repzork command, and the Peacekeeper's progress towards Nu-Zartar makes officials hesitant to commit until an opportunity presents itself. Low-intensity attacks continue as Diab Valkyries and Pact special operatives work to sabotage their respective enemies.

Year 14

 * Emboldened by recent Peacekeeper victories, the Diabs surprise the Repzork by launching an attack at the Repzork mainland, near the logistics bases supplying the foothold. After initial shock, Repzork forces counterattack with numbers bolstered by mobilization. Foothold likewise takes Diabs by surprise by launching an offensive of its own in an effort to draw attention away from the mainland.

Year 15

 * The sudden return of the Margan during the ongoing Second Battle of Norsus turns the tide completely in the Pact's favor as the Orion Dynasty launches an attack on the Diabs. Repzork forces at the mainland initiate Operation Sidewinder, encircling the Diab attackers and dealing a grievous blow before the Diabs are able to break free and retreat. The foothold's offensive continues and is bolstered by Pact and Margan reinforcements.

Year 16
- No proposals at this time-

Year 17
- No proposals at this time-

Notes, etc
(*) = If accepted for branding. If not, will be removed.

The Pact's unrestricted use of chemical, biological, and Marganite-based munitions have turned many planets in and around the foothold into inhospitable wastelands in which personnel require protective equipment in order to survive. The worst areas resemble a cross between Kralkatorrik's Brand and a World-War 1 battlefield. Some planets are in the process of being slowly terraformed into a colder climate so as to slow the growth of Marganite infestations, even as their use in weaponry continues.

Part of the reason for the continual back-and-forth stalemate is the Diab's expertise in offensive warfare running headlong into the Repzork's own expertise in defensive and attrition warfare. Well-established positions can prove exceptionally difficult to crack; conversely, as seen in Iron Gauntlet, if the Diabs strike before said defenses can be fully established, the Pact will likely shatter. Even as Repzork doctrine shifts towards more aggressive tactics (particularly for the navy), this dynamic continues. [I also personally like it so as to make it distinct from the 'island hopping' mobile warfare seen in the Zaretian theatre]

In case any questions about the Hruthvar ramming incident come up: the vessel's antimatter railcannon has a two-stage projectile; the first phase simply pierces the ship, while the second phase sees the internal antimatter charge detonate. This was new, state-of-the-art technology for the Repzork, and as a result, officials still needed to familiarize themselves with the weapon, leading to the captain's botched decision to vaporize the Diab ship rather than trying to move out of the way. At the same time, Helia-class vessels are 25 kilometer (16 miles) in length, making the vessel slow in general.