Invasion of Beta Canum Venaticorum

Considered to be the most influencial and important space battle in human history, the tactics, strategies and outcomes of the invasion of the Northup Alliance capital world of Beta Canum Venaticorum by the Federation of Xah is still studied and used as a teaching engagement almost ten thousand years later.
What was initially a surprise attack by the Xahians, using newly reaquired technologies, quickly turned into a battle of attrition that the Xahians could not sustain. A sequence of brilliant tactical decisions by the Northup Alliance Navy forced the Xahians into disadvantageous positions, losing a large proportion of their fleet. Faced with defeat, the Federation of Xah withdrew, and the balance of power in Known Space was forever altered.

The Conflict

Prelude

In the days well before the Amnesiac Virus, before the Great Expansion, faster-than-light travel was accomplished using wormholes known as Krasnikov-Hiraski Events, or KHE Holes. After the invention of the FourDrive, this network of wormholes was largely abandoned, mainly due to the relativistic issues that affected their use; whilst transit was instantaneous for the occupants, it could take relative years from the perspective of the destination system, compared to the almost instant FourSpace travel.
When the Amnesiac Virus hit, a number of systems close to each other, barely a few dozen lightyears from Sol, managed to escape relatively unscathed, thanks to forward looking authorities, and a population that didn't devolve into panic and riots. The old KHE Holes were brought back into use, and with a hundred years, a network of trading systems had arisen, including the ruins of Old Earth, now a broken shell of its former glory.
About 500 years after the Amnesiac Virus, word of the Federation of Xah's inexorable advance across Known Space came to the attention of the leaders of the world of Secondus soon after the annexation of Sol, as refugees fleeing the Xahian conquest started arriving through the old Keyhole from that direction. Quickly realising the magnitude of the danger, envoys were sent to the three systems nearby that was known to hold advanced civilisations; Beta Canum Venaticorum, Tondigawa, and Xelnore. A quick alliance was formed within a matter of months, largely due to the overwhelming evidence that was amassing regarding the Federation of Xah, and its methods and tactics for spreading its The Sevenfold Path ideology. The invasion of Beta Canum Venaticorum followed very soon after.

Deployment

The Federation of Xah arrived in system not expecting much resistance, as its Leaders believed that humanity was split apart, with few worlds retaining a technological basis, and even fewer having a large-scale functioning government. Military doctrine up until this point had been to take out what little space-based forces were in system, neutralise resistance on the world from orbit, then launch a quick ground invasion; almost all worlds had fallen within a few weeks, and none had lasted more than four months. As such, only 5 of their FourSpace carriers arrived in system, with a total troop numbers of 60 million Warriors, and a dozen or so gunships for support.
The Northup Alliance were not taking any chances, their entire combined fleet of 45 large combat vessels, with many more smaller attack ships, were waiting in system, and almost the entire world's population had been mobilised to provide industrial support, making guns, vehicles and armour. Beta Canum Venaticorum's ancient but effective orbital defences had been re-activated too, although most of it consisted of missiles; the laser arrays lacked their complex targetting computers. The Northup Admirals knew from prior intelligence and old scientific documents, that FourSpace arrivals in system were always accompanied by bright flashes, and were far above the orbital plane, which would allow them to get their fleet into position in time.

Battlefield

Beta Canum Venaticorum System Map by Xah

The Beta Canum Venaticorum system has five main bodies and a number of asteroid fields in both their own orbits, and in trojan belts. The main world is Beta Canum Venaticorum III, or Chara, and is considered one of the most beautiful Earth-like worlds in Known Space. With a population of over 12 billion at the time of the invasion, it was also one of the most heavily populated worlds humanity had.
The innermost planet was a barren rocky sphere, used almost exclusively for mining and the collection of solar power, with the next one out an arid world with a marginal atmosphere also used for mining. Further out from Chara were two giants, one an ice giant, important for its nitrogenous compounds, and the other a gas giant, vital for the supply of Hydrogen.
The Xahian fleet arrived above the orbital plane, almost 1 AU 'above' Chara. Most of the native fleet was stationed either in orbit around Chara, or around Nirgal, protecting the vital mining operations there.

The Engagement

Arrival

The invasion was signalled by the bright flash of a vessel arriving from FourSpace, easily visible across the system. Initial monitoring of Xahian ship movements indicated that the five large FtL vessels had released almost a thousand smaller craft, most of them on course for the main populated world, Chara. The number of craft alarmed the defending admirals, until high resolution telescopes revealed that they appeared to be carrier type vessels, with a dozen or so smaller craft making up most of their bulk.

Interception

Knowing nothing about the capabilities of the incoming ships, the defending admirals sanctioned the sacrifice of a small force of gunships to perform a fly-by intercept of the incoming vessels to assess their capabilities. The encounter took three weeks to occur and was over in less than eight seconds. All nine of the defending craft were destroyed, with three of the incoming ships damaged enough that they were forced to drop out of formation. Whilst a significant loss of material to the defenders, it became clear that of the thousand or so incoming, only a dozen were actual warships; the rest appeared to have very limited offensive capabilities.

Chara Orbit

As the attackers approached Chara, the defenders put most of their forces into orbit around the planet’s small moon. Over the previous two weeks, the orbital defences had come under low level, but sustained attack from stealthy kinetic missile strikes, and all but two of the twelve orbital defence platforms had been rendered inoperable, along with three other craft. Moving the fleet to the moon has put them out of the path of strikes, and it was hoped that the attackers had not noticed them at all.
As the attackers arrived in orbit, the defenders struck. A massive battle began, with the limited number of offensive vessels in the Xahian fleet taking a heavy toll on the greater numbers of dedicated combat vessels of the defenders. Hundreds of small dropships were released into the atmosphere, displaying advanced defences of their own, more than capable of fending off airborne attacks. The battle lasted for three days; by the end of it, Xahian ships were firmly in control of the orbital space and their troops now on the ground. Some saw the outcome as largely pyrrhic for the Xahians; only three of their combat ships remained, and there were not enough dropship carrier vessels for the number of dropships estimated to have landed.

Ground Invasion

Once on the ground, the Xahian Warrior Caste was quickly showing their capabilities, pushing back Charan forces with ease in every engagement, using orbital strikes to great effect. Charan Generals realised that if the Xahians could gain enough ground, they could begin construction of ground-based orbital defences, and the planet might not ever be able to be re-taken. As a result, they authorised general conscription, and within a week, half a billion had been conscripted from all over the planet, given rudimentary training, a weapon, and used to plug gaps in an increasingly volatile front line.

Attack of the Resolute

These tactics slowed the Xahian advance, but could not halt it, not whilst the Xahians controlled orbital space. Something had to be done, and the captain of a warship called the 'Resolute' decided to act. Defying orders from his superiors, he drove straight for orbit of Chara, and before the Xahian's could react, detonated his ship's fusion core, scattering the wreckage into Chara's orbit. Faced with fast moving debris filling orbital space, the Xahian orbital support vessels were forced to withdraw from the more useful positions, ending their coverage of the ground assault.
With the threat of constant bombardment over, the Charan ground forces were now able to use their vastly superior numbers to overwhelm Xahian positions. Unwilling to lose large numbers of their valuable Warrior caste, the Xahians began evacuating the planet, although significant numbers of dropships were lost passing through the debris field.

Capture of the Carriers

Whilst the attack was on-going on Chara, a small force of ships from Nirgal had approached the largely defenceless vessels that had brought the Xahians to the system. It had been rightly assumed that up until this point, the Xahians had not faced any significant space-based forces, and so never thought that their FtL vessels would be under threat and be lightly guarded.
The defenders of Beta Canum Venaticorum were correct. The small force managed to evade the simple defences of the FtL ships and landed boarders on them. Resistance on the large ships was significant, and two of the boarding parties were destroyed quickly as easily. The other three were more successful, and took control of the reactors, disabling the craft.

Xahian Withdrawal

The Leader Caste had had enough; losses on Chara had been too substantial for what originally been envisaged as a simple annexation and the capture of three of the five FtL carriers was a massive blow. A full retreat was ordered, despite the protestations of the Warrior Caste who were convinced that an assault on the outer and inner worlds would cripple the Charan's resistance.
Within three weeks, the Xahians had pulled back to their carriers and unwilling to leave the other three in the hands of the locals, attempted to destroy them. They succeeded only on one, and were forced to abandon the other two. After four months of warfare, Beta Canum Venaticorum was safe.

Aftermath

The biggest and most significant outcome of the battle was that, for the first time, the Federation of Xah had been stopped. Their self-perceived aura of invulnerability had been stripped away, and both the Warrior and Leader caste had to engage in some serious reflections as to what had happened. Several prominent people faced serious disciplinary procedures, and it took some serious efforts on behalf of the propaganda teams to prevent a serious loss of morale across the entire faction. The entire focus of the The Xahian Crusade shifted away from the more highly populated sphere of stars around Sol to the wider area of Known Space, allowing the expansion of the newly formed Northup Alliance.
For the defenders, it showed, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Xahians could be stopped, if people worked together. The military alliance became deeper and more significant, with political conjoining following in the following months and years. The Northup Alliance takes Victory Day as the date of its founding, and has celebrated it every Standard Year in the ten thousand years since. The two FourDrive vessels that were damaged and left behind were quickly examined, and although scientists were horrified by the Ninyo Network that was used to enable it, it gave several pointers which led to the creation of the electro-mechanical computers used to this day.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The invasion laid the groundwork for The Long Truce and established the mindset of the two great powers that lay claim to almost all of Known Space. The Federation of Xah could conquer its smaller neighbour, but the effort would be substantial and not entirely guaranteed, leaving millions of worlds with a hostile population that would need pacifying. The Northup Alliance knew it could never compete with the Federation on military terms, but focused its attention on diplomatic efforts, hoping that the Federation might accept a peace treaty and until then, take as many independent worlds under its protection as it can.

Included under Conflict

The Xahian Crusade

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Space

Start Date

415 XC

Ending Date

416 XC

Location

Beta Canum Venaticorum

Outcome

Xahian invasion repulsed
Focus of Crusade shifted
Formal formation of the Northup Alliance