Western War

Military: War

To ensure a permanent presence in this sector of its space as well as to develop trade in the south. The Republic had begun thirty years earlier the colonization of several planets being located to the west of the Arkanis Sector and close to the Onatach border. However, the Republic was unaware that the onatachs discovered this some 20 years after colonization. Considering this as a direct threat to their national interests since a military presence would threaten their own border, the onatach government launched preparations for a surprise attack on the newly colonized area. The Republic, on the other hand, had never taken very seriously the threat of an onatach's invasion, because even if they were hostile to the Republic, they had never really provoked it militarily on it's own territory. This is why the defense of this newly colonized area was quite weak, the bulk of the military forces being positioned around Voga, which was in fact a much important planet than the newly colonized one. Unfortunately, that was when the onatachs decided to attack in 2520 with all their might. They began by attacking the weak defenses of the border systems which, taken completely by surprise and a breakthrough at the borders succeeded thanks to a very poorly fought battle by Rear Admiral Erbil Bhatti, fell at lightning speed. The Republic, underestimating the Onatach forces, organized an orbiting defense of Ferdera, but they were completely overwhelmed by the Onatach firepower and the battle was a crushing defeat for the Republic. The onatachs then moved towards Voga and once again succeeded in defeating the orbiting defenses. However, a few battles will pin them preventing their forces to advance beyond Pakoro for several months. First, a much more fierce resistance than expected on Voga. Second, the capture of Mirial, a neighboring planet, made necessary to prevent the Onatachs from being attacked on the flanks. Finally, the conquest of the rest of the surroundings which had a particular geography forming a large group of systems isolated from the rest of the Republic. Seeing this and after the loss of Mirial, the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered a general withdrawal for the majority of the forces towards the Sitete system to reorganize and allow the armed forces time to breathe. This gave precious time to the Republic who organized a counterattack a few months later which destroyed a good part of the invading Onatach fleet in orbit of Voga which allowed them to reconquer the planet. Taking advantage of their momentum, the Republic reorganized the fleet after the victory over Voga and launched an assault on the rest of the occupied territories. Their attempt was successful as far as the Trujila system, where the planet Ferdera is located. The Republican forces initially succeeded in defeating the Onatach forces in orbit and even went on to recapture the planetary capital with their ground forces. However, this was short-lived as the Onatach counter-attack took the Republican forces by surprise which forced them to retreat to the Stenlar system where a status quo took place. The two belligerents failing to break through the other's line of defense. New attempt by the onatachs to break through the Republic front line on August 15, 2523, the Battle of Icheon will end after four days in defeat for the onatachs whose momentum will be broken. Reinforcements will arrive around the third day of the battle to support the defenders which made it possible to definitively defeat the attackers. Despite this outcome, the battle will be very close since the attack took place on the least defended sector of the Republic which will result in heavy losses for it. Taking advantage of their victory at the Battle of Icheon, the Republic, with the support of elements of the zelvan Navy, after having recovered and made their preparations, launched an offensive in October 2523 to take some onatach systems and thus have a currency of exchange against concessions. The latter culminating in the Battle of Gossok on October 29, 2523, where the Republic Navy and zelvan Navy defeated the onatach fleet. However, the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided not to tackle the Ibacca system at the first sight, reports suggesting it was heavily defended and defeat would mean the loss of what had been gained so far as the other conquered systems would find themselves vulnerable. However, the latter will very quickly change his mind during the year 2524. Indeed, the system's strategic position, the fact that onatach forces constantly use it as a rear base to launch raids on occupied systems, and a desire to deal great blows to onatach morale will cause the Republic to prepare an attack to take the system. On July 11, 2524, the Battle of Oldara begins, the space battle lasts about three days and is won by the Republic and his allies, but at the cost of very heavy losses which will be even more catastrophic for the onatachs. After that, the Marine Force will be sent to take the planet, which they will do, but only after two months of hard fighting and very heavy losses due to the fierce resistance of the defenders who will fight hard. Following its victory, the Republic decided not to continue his advance. On the one hand because she did not know what will be beyond the Ibacca system and sending civilian scientists to cross the gates of the Ibacca system was considered too dangerous by the armed forces. On the other because the latter were not ready to engage in another battle as she had just lived. Despite multiple attempts by the onatachs to recover the four seized systems, the Republic and his allies managed to hold their positions until the end of the war. With the exception of the Battle of the Ring, the rest of the war consisted of minor skirmishes close to the front line. The last battle of the war, called the Battle of the Ring, was triggered when the onatachs attempted a final breakthrough in the Republican line of defense on November 18, 2525. Fortunately for the Republic, it had stationed an important force in the system. This allowed the Republic, with his myrran and zelvan allies, to completely overwhelmed the onatachs as soon as they arrive in multiple locations within the system. This battle will be a big blow to the morale of the onatachs who will decide, after a few months of the battle, to request a negotiation for a peace agreement. Peace was finally signed in 2526 after one months of negociation, this war had heavy geopolitical consequences. Both the Republic and the Onatach Empire will lose territory to the benefit of a neutral zone set up to create a buffer zone between the two powers, but since these losses are relatively minor, this will not affect them too much. Although the Republic will emerge from this war with an increase in its military prestige and its great power status reaffirmed, it will also expose the slow loss of solidarity between the members of the Alliance of Alpha Quadrant. Indeed, the loss of influence of the Republic, the old resentments of the Continuation War, the desire of the Zelvan Council to take advantage of the opportunity to slightly weaken the Republic and the distance of the Myrran Trade Union will limit the sending military aid to the Republic. The Onatach Empire will emerge weakened from the war, but the fact that it did not mainly take place on its territory will allow it to recover fairly quickly.