Battle of Terra (3151)
Sarna News
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| Factions | ||||||||
| Attacker Wolf Empire |
Attacker Clan Jade Falcon |
Defender Republic of the Sphere |
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| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
| Khan Alaric Ward | Khan Malvina Hazen | Exarch Devlin Stone | ||||||
| Forces involved | ||||||||
| Clan Wolf Touman | Clan Jade Falcon Touman | Republic Armed Forces | ||||||
The Battle of Terra in early 3151 was a conflict fought between the Republic of the Sphere and the two Clans invading Terra in order to claim the mantle of ilClan and restore the Star League under Clan leadership. Fighting independently of one another, Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon between them crushed the RAF defenders of Terra after three and a half months of combat across humanity's birthworld. The battle ended with the Republic's surrender and dissolution, followed shortly after by the ilClan Trial between the victors.
Contents
Background
The ilClan ideal
The concept of one Clan becoming the ilClan, paramount among the others, appeared early in Clan history in the writings of Nicholas Kerensky. However Kerensky himself never really outlined in detail how this status was to be attained, and the idea lapsed in Clan consciousness for over two centuries. When Operation REVIVAL was being planned, ilKhan Leo Showers and Jade Falcon Khan Elias Crichell built upon Kerensky's fragmentary notes to declare that whichever Clan "[set] foot on Terra in victory" would become supreme ruler over the others; likewise, its Khan would be ilKhan for life.[1]
During the invasion itself no agreement was reached as to how this was to determined: some Clans felt merely being first to land on Terra was sufficient, others claimed that in accordance with Clan custom only an undisputed conquest of Terra would be acceptable. In the event, the Clans' collective defeat on Tukayyid and subsequent halt to the invasion rendered the issue moot for several decades.[2]
Alaric Ward's ambition
From his earliest days in the sibko one ambitious Wolf warrior made it his life's work to fulfill his Clan's dream of seizing the mantle of ilClan. The future Khan Alaric Ward spent his first years as a warrior with detailed planning of invasion scenarios and assembling a team of other Clan warriors with expertise that he lacked, including fellow Wolf and sibkin Chance Vickers, naval prodigy Haake Sukhanov of Clan Snow Raven, and tactician Ramiel Bekker of Clan Ghost Bear.[3]
Following his election as Khan of Clan Wolf and the subsequent formation of the Wolf Empire in 3142, Alaric directed his Clan's energies towards carving a path towards Terra, still protected by the Fortress Republic barrier. By late 3150 Clan Wolf stood a single jump away from humanity's birthworld.[4]
Wolf scientists had long been stymied in their efforts to find a way for the Wolf fleet to pass through the Wall. On New Earth in October 3150, they received the final pieces of data required from an unknown source. Alaric Ward ordered two unmanned JumpShips to attempt a transit to the Terran system; upon their successful return on 6 November, Khan Ward set Operation Mercury in motion. This entailed assembling nearly all of Clan Wolf's fourteen Galaxies at New Earth, stripping the Wolf Empire bare of warriors for the assault. Allowing time for his touman to reach the final jump point just half a light year from Terra, Alaric set the date of Clan Wolf's invasion, named Operation NOSTOS, for New Year's Day, 3151.[5] [6]
Malvina Hazen's drive on Terra
Rivals of Clan Wolf for over three centuries, Clan Jade Falcon had often sought to claim the mantle of ilClan for its own. In November 3150 Falcon Khan Malvina Hazen, who had up to this point been pursuing a war of conquest against the Lyran Commonwealth, learned of how close Clan Wolf was to striking at Terra. Abandoning her planned assault on Donegal, Hazen swiftly organized her warriors into three task forces and ordered them to secure a path to Terra. Crushing both Republic and Wolf forces in the process, the Chinggis Khan stood upon Rigil Kentarus as 3150 came to an end, virtually on Terra's doorstep.[7]
Unlike her rival, Malvina had been unable to assemble her entire touman for a single unified strike. Instead, those Galaxies already with her would hit first and hard, securing key objectives on Terra, while others would reinforce the Falcon war effort as they arrived. Unfortunately for Hazen, her scientists could not discover a way to breach the Wall and thus the Jade Falcons were forced to continue their preparations as the days went by.[5]
Phase One: The Wolf Invasion
Battle for the Terran System
At 0711 GMT, on 1 January 3151 (which was designated "T-Day'), the first Wolf vessels entered the Terran System at its nadir jump point. Foremost were the ships of Task Force Ostend, six heavily-armored Piledriver-class assault DropShips crewed by aging solahma warriors. Seeking a glorious death, these Wolves bored in on the two naval defense stations guarding the nearby jump point, Forts Akkayev-Cameron and Monroe, and destroyed both at the cost of Ostend's entire force.[8]
Wolf WarShips, including the hallowed SLS McKenna's Pride, arrived at the same time, followed by the transports carrying the entirety of Clan Wolf's touman. RAF Admiral Jean-Jacques Labbé took his Task Force Hannibal to intercept this armada and end the invasion in space; in the resulting engagement the Wolf fleet under Star Admiral Sukhanov ultimately prevailed, opening the path to Terra.[9]
The next order of business for Sukhanov was securing the Titan Shipyards for his Clan. Despite meeting heavier than expected resistance from Warwick Station and the local aerospace forces, the Wolves' Task Force Hyperion accomplished its objective, leaving the remaining RAF naval assets in the system devoid of repair facilities.[10]
Ignoring RAF defenses on Mars, Luna and elsewhere in the Terran system, the Wolf fleet headed directly for Terra. Only four of the twelve orbital platforms around Terra were attacked and destroyed or neutralized; this was sufficient to clear the orbital-insertion lanes for the Wolves' intended landing zone. Devlin Stone had expected a formal batchall from any Clan opponent invading Terra, but when he contacted Alaric Ward to arrange a series of Tukayyid-style Trials the Wolf Khan simply informed him that no such Trials would be fought. Ward's understanding was that the Republic would fight with all of their available forces so Clan Wolf would do likewise, and winner take all.[11] [12]
W-Hour and Subduing Australia
On 10 January the entire Wolf invasion force made landfall in central Australia, with 09:17 TST becoming known as "W-Hour". Ordering his Wolves to begin deployment, Alaric was instead informed by Chance Vickers that none would move until he had become the first Wolf to set foot on Terran soil. The Khan did so, and the Wolves began fanning out to secure the Australian cities of Perth and Sydney.[12]
This attack on one relatively small region blindsided the RAF High Command, who had expected any Clanners to strike at key targets across Terra and deployed the Republic's units accordingly in fortified redoubts. Nonetheless Australia had not been left utterly defenseless; the Redburn Guards under Paladin Damien Redburn had been training in Perth and were able to swiftly move against the Wolves. Attempting to buy time for reinforcements to arrive, Redburn and his troops mounted hit-and-run attacks against Khan Ward and Beta Galaxy while steadily falling back towards Perth. But the RAF High Command already considered Australia a lost cause and the Redburn Guards were ultimately cornered and wiped out in Perth while Redburn himself was downed and then escaped to Geneva.[13]
Meanwhile Garner Kerensky led Alpha and Delta Galaxies against Redoubt Sydney, which had been heavily fortified and whose garrison included a battalion of Hansen's Roughriders, veteran anti-Clan fighters. After two days of Kerensky's force struggling against Sydney's defenses and the Roughriders, Alaric dispatched his tactician Ramiel Bekker to end the stalemate. Using aerospace fighter Stars to smash a path through the defenses, Bekker gave the Wolf warriors the means to break into Sydney. The Roughriders, caught between Delta in the city and the newly-arrived Epsilon Galaxy to the west, broke out towards Melbourne while the First New South Wales Militia was eventually cornered in Sydney Harbour. A few escaped into the Pacific Ocean while the rest were crushed. The Roughriders were chased to the south until caught in Mittagong; after a fierce battle a company's worth of survivors surrendered[14]
Phase Two: The Falcon Descent
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Phase Three: The Republic's Defeat
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Aftermath
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References
- ↑ ilClan, p. 10
- ↑ ilClan, p. 10-11
- ↑ ilClan, p. 11
- ↑ Shattered Fortress, p. 91-92
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 ilClan, p. 12
- ↑ Children of Kerensky, Chapter 15 (PDF version)
- ↑ Shattered Fortress, p. 92
- ↑ ilClan, p. 14, "Task Force Ostend"
- ↑ ilClan, p. 15, "Mercury vs. Hannibal"
- ↑ ilClan, p. 15-16, "Clash of the Titan Shipyards"
- ↑ ilClan, p. 16-18, "Running the Gauntlet"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Hour of the Wolf, Chapter 4 (PDF version)
- ↑ ilClan, p. 20-21
- ↑ ilClan, p. 21-23, "Redoubt Sydney"
Bibliography
- Children of Kerensky (novel)
- Hour of the Wolf (novel)
- ilClan
- Shattered Fortress