Battle of Helia

Battle of Helia & Third Battle of Falkeos
With the Rathakern threat abolished, Diab command prepared for another major push into the southern salient. Months of preparation would see the formation of the largest Diab fleet thus far in the Repzork theater. This buildup did not go entirely unnoticed by the Pact, but a successful deception campaign misled the Pact on the fleet's size, where it was attacking, and when. Though the bulk of the 355th and 14th armadas would remain in the salient, elements of the two fleets, as well as the 277th armada and many Magellan, Skrey, and Zaretian units, were relocated to the supposed target.

Diab forces attacked the salient a full week earlier than the Pact had anticipated. The unprepared defenders, though they put up heavy resistance, did not have the manpower to repel the Peacekeepers; the salient was breached on three different fronts, and Diab forces spilled into the region, dividing the salient into several distinct pockets and throwing the defenders into disarray. The foothold sent all available forces to the salient, though it would be several hours before the bulk of their forces arrived. A relief fleet spearheaded by the 277th charged into the thick of the fighting, bisecting Diab lines as they raced to rescue encircled troops. As elements of both armadas were retrieved, casualties were withdrawn while the rest stayed behind to continue fighting. As more troops entered the salient, the entire battle would be thrown into disarray as both sides were forced to fight on multiple unpredictable fronts.

As the battle in the salient raged, Diab forces attacked Falkeos to disrupt Pact logistics and repair stations. Though most of Falkeos' garrison had been sent to the salient, a sizeable force remained on the planet, though they were stationed around the orbital elevators, leaving portions of their defense vulnerable. The Diabs used these weak-points to breach Falkeos' orbital defenses and deploy shock troops to the surface. A landing zone was established, and Diab forces pushed swiftly across the planet, with Valkyries moving ahead of the main force to disrupt defenses and supply stations. Peacekeeper forces made substantial gains in the first months of the battle, having captured several fortresses, the old capitol, and destroying one of the planet's orbital elevators. But they were eventually driven off the world by Magello troops and elements of the 355th and 14th that had escaped the salient.

Vicious fighting would continue in and around the salient for a little over a year in some of the bloodiest battles since Operation Sledgehammer. The Pact ultimately failed to repel the invaders, and suffered severe losses during the battle. Combined with outside pressures such as the dissolution of the Saracin Empire, which necessitated that troops be sent to reinforce the Karahotdoum front; the invasion of Batel space, and the continued withdrawal of Zaretian forces from Diab space, the Pact was forced to cede the salient to the Peacekeepers and retreat. Though they had dealt a decisive blow to the Warlords, the Diabs' victory had cost them in almost equal measure.

Second Battle of Baltreos
The Warlord's retreat from the salient had been disorganized, creating gaps from which the Diabs plunged headlong into the foothold and attacked Baltreos, believing that this could be their only opportunity to shatter the foothold in the foreseeable future. This surprised some Warlord officers who had believed that Falkeos would be their next target. Though battered and bloodied, Pact forces who had fought in the salient assisted in defending the planet, with Admiral Kiryusa Luok and the remains of the 14th armada notably leading Pact naval forces in and around the system. During the Battle of Helia, the garrison at Baltreos had been granted access to much of the Repzork's next-generation equipment, which included the first two Helia-class battlecruisers, the HLBC Hruthvar and Hruthvair, which were equipped with new Planet-Cracker Superheavy Railcannons; a third Planet Cracker that had been built on the surface of Baltreos as an anti-orbital gun, ships equipped with gravity wells, mobile shield generators both on the ground and in space, RS18 Firestorm missiles, and a slew of updated vehicles and weapons. Imperial command had initially aimed to deploy their new assets during the battle in the salient or at Falkeos, but the chaotic nature of the conflict and the fact that their new equipment was still few in number led to command retaining them at Baltreos for the exact circumstance they now found themselves in. The planet cracker on Baltreos was located in the planet's capital city, which had been converted into a vast, fortified complex that stretched deep underground.

As Diab forces entered the system, they were almost immediately attacked by the Hruthvar and Hruthvair, whose guns outranged most of the Diab fleet. The Diabs attempted to deploy hunter-killers, but their ships could not get accurate coordinates due to the Repzork's gravity generators, forcing the Diabs to close in and fight conventionally. The Pact fleet maintained position, firing potshots at the approaching Peacekeepers as they drew nearer to Baltreos' Planet Cracker. A Diab destroyer was among the first ships to step into range, and in moments had its entire front-half vaporized by the cannon. Realizing the trap, the Peacekeepers attempted to retreat, but it was then that the Pact fleet closed in and engaged, preventing the Diabs from escaping.

Left with no other option, the Peacekeepers focused their efforts on eliminating the Hruthvar and Hruthvair, which were protected with a mobile shield array and both Admiral Luok's and Falser's flagships. The shield eventually gave way to concentrated fire, giving the Diabs a small window of opportunity to attack the vessels directly. The two vessels proved resilient to the barrage, but the battle took a sudden turn when a badly-damaged Cruiser accelerated its engines and made a beeline towards the Hruthvar. Rather than moving, the Hruthvar's commanding officer turned his ship towards the cruiser and prepared to fire; however, the commander had underestimated the charge time for the cannon, and the gun fired just as the Diab cruiser impacted. The result was a catastrophic detonation that destroyed the cruiser but severely damaged the Hruthvar's bow, crippling its main gun, killing or wounding hundreds of crew members, and disabling many of its weapons systems. Repzork ships moved to defend the crippled ship, with the Hruthvair placing itself between the Hruthvar and the Diabs, preventing them from landing any more hits on it. The mobile shields reactivated several minutes later, giving the Hruthvar sufficient time to escape the battle and return to the homeland for repairs. For his blunder, the Hruthvar's commanding officer would be stripped of his command and replaced.

Diab forces used the opportunity to push through a thinned section of the Pact's defenses and relocate their forces to a region outside of the range of Baltreos' Planet Cracker. Knowing that they may only have a few hours until they were back in the cannon's range, the Peacekeepers deployed all of their available ground forces in a bid to overwhelm the cannon. As the battle resumed in orbit, Peacekeeper forces on the ground established a landing zone and attacked nearby Warlord positions. The defenders were swiftly overwhelmed, but constant aerial harassment and Warlord orbital drops disrupted the Alliance's advance. Alliance ground forces set their sights on the port city of Avgorod, whose capture could allow for an amphibious assault on the Pact's command center. Like most settlements on the planet, the city had been extensively fortified with bunkers, hidden machine-gun nests, and entrenched anti-tank guns, but it lacked a large shield generator, allowing for artillery and air strikes. A blitzkrieg led by Monolith and Ironhead tanks shattered the defenses as troops stormed the city. After hours of intense street-by-street fighting, during which Diab fleets narrowly managed to elude the Planet Cracker's effective range, Avgorod was captured. But before an attack could be mounted on the Planet Cracker, General Likana, upon hearing of Avgorod's capture, authorized the use of one of the Repzork's RS-18s on the city. General Gusavig Wazari of the 355th, still wary of crystal weapons, was initially reluctant to use the device, but when it became clear that the Planet Cracker could very well be destroyed, gave his authorization. Diab ships attempted to shoot the missile down as it reached its peak altitude, but it broke into several warheads before they could do so. The Firestorm warheads sparked instantaneous and explosive crystal growth throughout the city upon detonation, creating what is known today as "The Demon's Scar". Almost all of the Diabs in Avgorod were killed save for those who had been extracted or a small few who had hidden themselves in shelters that had not been breached by crystals.

With their ground forces in shambles and the navy unable to make any further progress, the Peacekeepers retreated from Baltreos and returned to Diab space, signalling the end of Operation Iron Gauntlet. Warlord forces did not pursue, staying within the Foothold to rebuild. Both the 14th and 355th armada returned to the mainland for replenishment, their positions taken over by the 980th and 537th armadas respectively. Both the 355th and 14th would require years to replenish their numbers, with the 14th being out of commission for the next four years. With both sides exhausted from the past four years of fighting, no offensive operations would be undertaken in Diab space for the next two years, with only sporadic skirmishes occurring at the border of the foothold.

Though Repzork propaganda emphasized the Pact's victory at Baltreos and on other theaters, it proved impossible to minimize their catastrophic losses, particularly during the Battle of Helia, which had dramatic ramifications for the empire's involvement in the war. The previous four years remain the bloodiest and most destructive in Repzork history, with well over a billion casualties, of which tens of millions had died and countless more were disabled. Millions of armored vehicles and thousands of starships had also been damaged or destroyed. Of note was the namesake of the Battle of Helia, the 14th armada, which had been reduced to less than half of its original size; likewise, the 355th had lost roughly 45% of its fighting force. Proportionally, the Magellan military suffered similar losses, with their effective fighting force unfit for an anything more than defensive operations. Worse yet in the eyes of many in Imperial Command was that these losses had been for nothing; with the failure of the Keros Offensive, all of the Pact's territorial acquisitions had been erased save for Falkeos.

Though Repzork propaganda emphasized the Pact's victory at Baltreos and on other theaters, it proved impossible to minimize their catastrophic losses, particularly during the Battle of Helia, which had dramatic ramifications for the empire's involvement in the war. The previous four years remain the bloodiest and most destructive in Repzork history, with well over a billion casualties, of which tens of millions had died and countless more were disabled. Millions of armored vehicles and thousands of starships had also been damaged or destroyed. Of note was the namesake of the Battle of Helia, the 14th armada, which had been reduced to less than half of its original size; likewise, the 355th had lost roughly 45% of its fighting force. Proportionally, the Magellan military suffered similar losses, with their effective fighting force unfit for an anything more than defensive operations. Worse yet in the eyes of many in Imperial Command was that these losses had been for nothing; with the failure of the Keros Offensive, all of the Pact's territorial acquisitions had been erased save for Falkeos.

News of these disasters sparked outrage within the homeland. The general public, which was normally in favor of war, held demonstrations across the empire demanding that those who were responsible be held accountable and that the empire do more to protect its men; amid these protestors were also groups that opposed the war altogether and demanded that the Repzork abandon the conflict. Military and government officials also joined in on the protest. Officials operating in the foothold were quick to pin the blame on various factors, such as the Margan's disappearance, the Zaretian's withdrawal, the Magello, and each other. Emperor Zervath, speaking on behalf of the Marshal's Council, spoke on the matter in a speech a week after the Second Battle of Baltreos. He admitted that the Peacekeepers had put up more resistance than Imperial Command had initially anticipated, but that there was no one figure to blame for the disaster. The emperor also announced that all available civilian and military assets would be dedicated to the war, and that instead of pointing fingers, the public should instead focus on avenging the fallen by uniting against the 'Peacekeeper hordes'.

The controversy subsided soon after as the military worked to rebuild and mobilize its assets. Propagandists made use of both Zervath's words and the Diab campaign as a whole to drum up support for the war with slogans such as 'Vengeance for the 14th!".