Karahotdoum Theatre

Year 1: Karahotdoum Entry
As the Great War was starting, the Yami Trade Union suffered a number of disasters that greatly hindered its ability to compete with the Karahotdoum. These included raids on its outer colonies and an infestation of Biomatter from hive Fafnir. This forced the Yami to sign a treaty with the Karahotdoum; in exchange for peace with them and the Peacekeepers, the Yami gave the magistrate several of its westernmost colonies. The Karahotdoum agreed, easing tensions between the two and allowing the Yami to redeploy troops that had been stationed in the Yami-Karahotdoum border sectors. In secret, the Magistrate was considering invading the Yami, but news of the Warlord's relentless offensives against the Peacekeepers had sparked outrage in the general populace, who pressured the government to provide military support to the Alliance. The magistrate voted to pledge military support, and mobilized its forces. Within two months, so many citizens had volunteered for service and so many weapons and vehicles had been produced that Magistrate logisticians were starting to lose track of it all.

When the Magistrate felt itself sufficiently prepared, they deployed their troops en masse against the Zaretians and Margan, providing beleaguered Alliance troops time to organize and fortify their positions. This came at a heavy price, as the Karahotdoum's first waves took grievous losses, particularly against the Margan, who were unfazed by the Karahotdoum's tactics of mass artillery fire and infantry charges. In fact, these tactics attracted the attention of the Reaper's Fist, who redirected their fleets to tie down the Karahotdoum, grinding their advance to a halt.

Year 5: Operation Downfall
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.

Years 10-12: Collapse of Pact front
With the Margan, Saracin, and now the Necraal effectively out of the war, the Repzork, alongside a dwindling Zaretian garrison, were the only major powers manning the vast front that had contained the bulk of the Karahotdoum's forces. Fighting against Var had only worsened the situation, with countless soldiers having been wounded or killed and large sections of the Pact's fortifications having been damaged during the fighting. The Karahotdoum had already begun to push the initiative during the Necraal Schism and had breached positions along the front and were contained only by costly counterattacks. With seemingly endless waves of Karahotdoum reinforcements arriving at the front, Imperial Command predicted that the Magistrate would soon overwhelm the defenders, leaving Repzork and Zaretian colonies vulnerable to invasion. High Marshal Tarsovis Visaria personally ordered the 77th and 150th Armadas to hold their ground and delay the Karahotdoum for as long as possible so that the mainland could prepare; they were to withdraw only when the High Marshal gave the order.

Lacking the troops necessary to adequately cover the entire front, the Pact laid out a vast number of passive and automated defenses in the form of mines, turrets, traps, and robots. Bunkers and other structures were rigged to explode, often releasing crystals or chemical agents in the process. Troops on the front were also supplied with experimental FTL mines. Operating in a sensor network connected to a buoy, the buoy would ping targets that the mines would then accelerate towards at FTL velocities similarly to an FTL torpedo. Though many of the mines were laid out in front of the Pact's defensive positions, the majority were laid out behind them, so that even when the Karahotdoum broke through, they would be unable to effectively pursue retreating Pact fleets.

Nearly a month following the end of the Necraal Schism, the Karahotdoum began a massive offensive across the front. In the span of a few days, numerous locations across the front had been breached, and the Pact initiated a scorched-earth campaign as they withdrew. Though artillery barrages had nullified some of the traps the Pact had laid, many of them operated as intended, inflicting casualties to the Karahotdoum and slowing their advance. Magistrate forces would also find themselves bombarded with crystal munitions, but they continued fighting regardless. Following the intentional destruction of one of the Pact's primary command centers via a nuclear warhead by Repzork forces, Tarsovis gave the order to retreat, and the 77th 150th evacuated the sector and moved to defensive positions in the mainland. The FTL mines proved instrumental in preventing the Karahotdoum from giving chase, stalling their advance until they eliminated the sensor buoys.

Nevertheless, the 77th and 150th had suffered heavy losses, and with the front disintegrated, billions of Karahotdoum troops flooded into Repzork and Zaretian space. The Karahotdoum swept through several outlying Repzork colonies, but as they pushed deeper, they encountered the empire's subterranean cities. Here, with much of their air power and artillery effectively nullified, the Karahotdoum found themselves at a distinct disadvantage. Intentionally confusing and maze-like layouts that led into kill zones, traps and automated defenses, civilian resistance, and the Repzork's expertise in subterranean warfare bled the Karahotdoum severely, forcing them to retreat in most engagements; even when the Karahotdoum were successful, the victory would often prove Pyrrhic at best. However, while many cities were difficult to assail, they were also effectively cut off from the empire as the Karahotdoum had overtaken the surface. The areas surrounding these cities would see near-constant fighting as Repzork reinforcements from deeper within the mainland arrived, especially as the empire neared complete mobilization.

Years 13-14: Operation Counterweight
The Karahotdoum invasion of Repzork space had proven to be pivotal in uniting the population against the Peacekeepers following the disasters of the previous years; though many still criticized the actions of certain military officials, none could deny the threat right on their doorstep, and many who had protested now found themselves doing everything in their power to support the war effort. Frequent but oftentimes costly counterattacks had stalled the Karahotdoum's advance and bought time for the mainland to complete full mobilization. This allowed the military to draw in countless recruits and boost weapons and equipment production to record levels. The timing was fortunate in that the Repzork's next-generation equipment, which had proved itself during recent engagements, was pressed into service and enjoyed rapid production. As this was taking place, the Marshal's Council drafted Operation Counterweight, a vast offensive that aimed to relieve the besieged underground cities and repel the Karahotdoum from imperial space. For this operation the 355th armada, which had by then completed replenishment, was sent to support the 77th and 150th. Commandant Tor, with the Necraal having settled, volunteered to take part in the operation as a show of good will to the Pact and to ensure the safety of his people's new home.

After weeks of harassment and sabotage operations by special operations units, Operation Counterweight began with a titanic frontal assault across the entire front. Karahotdoum positions were pounded with tens of millions of artillery shells and bombs as armored columns protected by mobile shield generators engaged the defenders in what culminated in some of the largest tank battles in imperial history. Necraal forces exploited breaches in the Karahotdoum's defenses to wreck further havoc. Though the Karahotdoum put up a determined fight throughout the entire operation, the Pact made staggering gains over the course of the next several months, pushing the Karahotdoum to a few heavily fortified positions near the edge of imperial space. But before they could engage, Operation Dark Angel, the Galderan invasion of the empire, began, forcing the Repzork to divert the majority of their troops to contain the threat as the rest contained the Karahotdoum.