The situation on the border between the Imperium and the F.D.P.C. had always been tense, but never had it escalated into full scale armed conflict. There had been occasional shows of force between the two enemy nations, but not a single shot had been fired since the turbulent times marked by the Core Wars, several decades ago. After that period of bloody conflict, both sides had preferred to keep a watchful eye on each other, their scanners and observation posts relentlessly keeping track of the enemy's movements on the other side of the border and neutral space.
All this was about to change.
The event that came to shatter this uneasy peace was a military exercise done by Imperial forces, in neutral space. The Federal government reacted violently to this display of military force in a previously unviolated area of space. With the paranoia brought about by Malegorran pressure in the West, the Federation accused the Imperium of trying to destabilise the Core and impinging on sovereign Federal territory. However, what may have appeared to be a simple argument between two nations quickly took on a more dangerous turn as the Federation's leaders began to mobilise their country for war.
Extraordinary Conference, Palace of the Federation:
"I declare this meeting open", said Premier Duquesne from his seat at the end of the large, oval conference room. Representatives from every planet of the Federation were present as well as members of the military staff. No holovision cameras were present.
"Comrades, we are here today to discuss the possibility of a war with the falsely named Imperium Galactica. As you have all seen, the Imperium has recently made potentially hostile manoeuvres in neutral space along our Core border. Considering our recent troubles with the Malegorran cultists and our troubled past with the Imperium, we have tried to obtain intelligence regarding this unexpected move by the Imperium. Sadly, we obtained no conclusive information."
"Permission to speak, comrade Mediator", said the Kronstadt representative.
"Permission granted", said the conference's mediator from his lodge above the room, "you have two minutes."
"Our nation is not ready or willing to go to war with an industrialised power. The people have already suffered heavily from fighting with the Malegorran hordes, and I believe that is the case in the Imperium too. We should try to encourage peace with our neighbours and avoid another war at all costs, we must try and come up with a peaceful solution to the problem by engaging in talks with the Imperium."
The representative stopped speaking and nodded to show that he had finished talking.
"Not ready or willing, comrade Kashu?", Said Duquesne, "do you not remember the humiliation and loss inflicted upon our people and the working class during the Core Wars? Our people most certainly remember the death of their friends and family at the hand of Aresian legionaires, and nobody has forgotten the siege of Trantor, our capital planet! The Federation's industry and army stand ready to crush the False Empire and its legions of oppression..."
Voices rose in support or opposition, and soon the Mediator had to intervene and call for order. Once the room had quieted down, Duquesne beckoned a uniformed man to step into the centre of the oval room.
"Comrade Marshal Ferrus, please expose the situation to the Council."
Ferrus stepped forth, and a hologram sprung up in the centre of the room. The officer cleared his throat before addressing the Council, his voice amplified by the micro-vox in his coat's collar:
"Comrades, I shall now show you what our military and economic situation is, and I will also reveal our plan for the invasion of the Imperium."
He ignored the angry mutters coming from the pacifist representatives and soldiered on.
"Our army is currently the largest and most mobile force in the galaxy, and it is backed by considerable industrial and economic power. Should push come to shove, our experts have calculated that Federal military industry will outproduce its Imperial counterpart, and our army will thus be able to field twenty grav tanks for every five mechs the Imperium produces. The same goes for air units. Now for the grand plan. We have been elaborating an invasion plan for several years now, adapting our Deep Battle doctrine to the Imperium's considerable technological advantages, and we have come up with the Plan Thunder."
The hologram changed to show a map of the space border between the Imperium and the Federation.
"We determined that a key factor in Imperial strategy was its fleet. The Imperial fleet is a formidable foe, capable of decimating opposing fleets and giving the Empire a decisive logistical advantage by ferrying troops and materiel to the front. In order to defeat the enemy, we must disorganise or deceive the navy. Intelligence indicates that the Imperial navy is heavily involved in patrolling the border with Wild Space, leaving the fleets in our sector of space in numerical inferiority. Sabotage will easily immobilise many elements of the Imperial navy, leaving us free to act.
"The determining factor in Plan Thunder is speed. Two hours after declaring war, we will have to send in special teams to sabotage orbital defence systems. Once this is done, we will launch several simultaneous incursions on several points of the border. Orbital supremacy will have to be secured, and then we will send grav troops planetside with substantial aerospacial support in order to secure multiple beachheads and disorganise Imperial ground defence. Once this is done, we will send in the bulk of our forces. Hypermobility is also a key factor to success. Our troops will have to outmanoeuvre, encircle the enemy and pierce into operational depth, making organised resistance impossible. As we all know, surrender is seldom an option for legionaires, as they are fanatically devoted to their leaders. Encirclement and total destruction will have to be applied, but should they wish to surrender their wish will be respected."
"Once the border worlds have been overwhelmed, we will take advantage of the strategic disarray of the enemy to launch a massive offensive aimed at Aresia. If Aresia and the core worlds fall, the Imperium will ask for peace."
Ferrus stopped speaking and Duquesne nodded in satisfaction.
"Very well", he declared, "we shall now hold a vote. Those in favour of war please raise their hands."
Thousands of hands, human and non-human, male and female, rose.
"Those against?"
The opposition was distinctly smaller than those supporting the war. Duquesne nodded again, curtly, and declared:
"The proposition has passed. A formal declaration of war will be issued in two hours. For freedom and the Federation!"
Planetary Commune of Arion, several hours later:
The system's troops had been on standby for several days ever since Duquesne and Ferrus had issued orders for mobilisation. Two hours after war was declared, stealth ships took off from camouflaged landing pads and headed for Imperial space to take down orbital defences. The actual invasion force took another day to get ready, and in the meantime, warships left for Imperial space, ready to battle the enemy's fleet as well as carrying grav troops.
The drums of War were beating once again.
OoC: sorry for the vague post, I preferred to give a global overview than doing detailed action stuff.
All this was about to change.
The event that came to shatter this uneasy peace was a military exercise done by Imperial forces, in neutral space. The Federal government reacted violently to this display of military force in a previously unviolated area of space. With the paranoia brought about by Malegorran pressure in the West, the Federation accused the Imperium of trying to destabilise the Core and impinging on sovereign Federal territory. However, what may have appeared to be a simple argument between two nations quickly took on a more dangerous turn as the Federation's leaders began to mobilise their country for war.
Extraordinary Conference, Palace of the Federation:
"I declare this meeting open", said Premier Duquesne from his seat at the end of the large, oval conference room. Representatives from every planet of the Federation were present as well as members of the military staff. No holovision cameras were present.
"Comrades, we are here today to discuss the possibility of a war with the falsely named Imperium Galactica. As you have all seen, the Imperium has recently made potentially hostile manoeuvres in neutral space along our Core border. Considering our recent troubles with the Malegorran cultists and our troubled past with the Imperium, we have tried to obtain intelligence regarding this unexpected move by the Imperium. Sadly, we obtained no conclusive information."
"Permission to speak, comrade Mediator", said the Kronstadt representative.
"Permission granted", said the conference's mediator from his lodge above the room, "you have two minutes."
"Our nation is not ready or willing to go to war with an industrialised power. The people have already suffered heavily from fighting with the Malegorran hordes, and I believe that is the case in the Imperium too. We should try to encourage peace with our neighbours and avoid another war at all costs, we must try and come up with a peaceful solution to the problem by engaging in talks with the Imperium."
The representative stopped speaking and nodded to show that he had finished talking.
"Not ready or willing, comrade Kashu?", Said Duquesne, "do you not remember the humiliation and loss inflicted upon our people and the working class during the Core Wars? Our people most certainly remember the death of their friends and family at the hand of Aresian legionaires, and nobody has forgotten the siege of Trantor, our capital planet! The Federation's industry and army stand ready to crush the False Empire and its legions of oppression..."
Voices rose in support or opposition, and soon the Mediator had to intervene and call for order. Once the room had quieted down, Duquesne beckoned a uniformed man to step into the centre of the oval room.
"Comrade Marshal Ferrus, please expose the situation to the Council."
Ferrus stepped forth, and a hologram sprung up in the centre of the room. The officer cleared his throat before addressing the Council, his voice amplified by the micro-vox in his coat's collar:
"Comrades, I shall now show you what our military and economic situation is, and I will also reveal our plan for the invasion of the Imperium."
He ignored the angry mutters coming from the pacifist representatives and soldiered on.
"Our army is currently the largest and most mobile force in the galaxy, and it is backed by considerable industrial and economic power. Should push come to shove, our experts have calculated that Federal military industry will outproduce its Imperial counterpart, and our army will thus be able to field twenty grav tanks for every five mechs the Imperium produces. The same goes for air units. Now for the grand plan. We have been elaborating an invasion plan for several years now, adapting our Deep Battle doctrine to the Imperium's considerable technological advantages, and we have come up with the Plan Thunder."
The hologram changed to show a map of the space border between the Imperium and the Federation.
"We determined that a key factor in Imperial strategy was its fleet. The Imperial fleet is a formidable foe, capable of decimating opposing fleets and giving the Empire a decisive logistical advantage by ferrying troops and materiel to the front. In order to defeat the enemy, we must disorganise or deceive the navy. Intelligence indicates that the Imperial navy is heavily involved in patrolling the border with Wild Space, leaving the fleets in our sector of space in numerical inferiority. Sabotage will easily immobilise many elements of the Imperial navy, leaving us free to act.
"The determining factor in Plan Thunder is speed. Two hours after declaring war, we will have to send in special teams to sabotage orbital defence systems. Once this is done, we will launch several simultaneous incursions on several points of the border. Orbital supremacy will have to be secured, and then we will send grav troops planetside with substantial aerospacial support in order to secure multiple beachheads and disorganise Imperial ground defence. Once this is done, we will send in the bulk of our forces. Hypermobility is also a key factor to success. Our troops will have to outmanoeuvre, encircle the enemy and pierce into operational depth, making organised resistance impossible. As we all know, surrender is seldom an option for legionaires, as they are fanatically devoted to their leaders. Encirclement and total destruction will have to be applied, but should they wish to surrender their wish will be respected."
"Once the border worlds have been overwhelmed, we will take advantage of the strategic disarray of the enemy to launch a massive offensive aimed at Aresia. If Aresia and the core worlds fall, the Imperium will ask for peace."
Ferrus stopped speaking and Duquesne nodded in satisfaction.
"Very well", he declared, "we shall now hold a vote. Those in favour of war please raise their hands."
Thousands of hands, human and non-human, male and female, rose.
"Those against?"
The opposition was distinctly smaller than those supporting the war. Duquesne nodded again, curtly, and declared:
"The proposition has passed. A formal declaration of war will be issued in two hours. For freedom and the Federation!"
Planetary Commune of Arion, several hours later:
The system's troops had been on standby for several days ever since Duquesne and Ferrus had issued orders for mobilisation. Two hours after war was declared, stealth ships took off from camouflaged landing pads and headed for Imperial space to take down orbital defences. The actual invasion force took another day to get ready, and in the meantime, warships left for Imperial space, ready to battle the enemy's fleet as well as carrying grav troops.
The drums of War were beating once again.
OoC: sorry for the vague post, I preferred to give a global overview than doing detailed action stuff.
