Fiction:Second War of Mirusian Coalition

"The most improbable moments in history hinge on desperate gambles. This is mine."

- Emperor Alexandre I of France

The Second War of Mirusian Coalition is a complex three-way armed conflict fought during the Great Xonexian Schism between the French Colonial Empire, the Sovereign Mirusian Coalition, and the Imperium of War over the former territories of the Drakodominatus Tyranny. Beginning on June 1, 2803, the war is a direct continuation of the First War of Mirusian Coalition, which saw the official withdrawal of the Xonexi Allies from the Mirus Galaxy.

The Treaty of Manticore had relinquished all Allied colonies in Mirus to the Sovereign Mirusian Coalition, an unlikely and fragile alliance of Mirusian natives assembled to challenge Xonexi dominance over former Dominatus Mirus. Included in the territories that were handed over was the colony of French Mirus, even though the French Colonial Empire had not participated in the negotiations or given its consent. On May 3, Emperor Alexandre I of France officially denounced the Treaty of Manticore, believing it illegitimate. He was joined on May 10 by High King Sylo Ethland of Eldarisia, who also refused to acknowledge its legitimacy. Despite being ostracized by the Xonexi Allies, the two monarchs enjoyed an undercurrent of covert support from a number of Allied nations, especially the Tybusen Intergalactic Allied Federation. In response to the French declaring that they would take a stand in Mirus, the TIAF Expeditionary Force under the command of Admiral Ariana Draccard "defected" and joined the French Empire. Emboldened, Alexander and Sylo repeatedly denied demands by the Mirusian Coalition to withdraw from Mirus, instead relocating the majority of their militaries to the galaxy.

During this intense one-month peace, the two sides repositioned their forces for the inevitable conflict. The French Grand Navy of the Empire––plagued by chronic logistic, morale, supply, and leadership problems––continued serious reorganizations of its command structure, seeing Grand Marshal Delacroix removed and replaced by the Emperor himself. The Sovereign Mirusian Coalition also saw some reshuffling as they prepared themselves to confront a formidable foe on equal terms. However, the first shot of the conflict came not from the Mirusian Coalition as expected, but from the Imperium of War.

Opening moves
Perhaps the most unlikely participant in the Sovereign Mirusian Coalition was Imperator Caligustus of the Imperium of War, and for good reason. Reputed for his outright rejection of diplomacy and adherence to a creed of eternal, unending war with his neighbors, it was almost unthinkable that he would join his rivals in confronting a larger foe. Yet, Dragowar troops had fought alongside other Mirusian forces during the First War, marking a sudden shift in his tactics. Even more encouraging was his subsequent gift of the choicest bits of territory he had acquired in the Treaty of Manticore to the Bygorians in return for positive relations. The Dragowar's return to diplomacy was lauded in international circles as a triumph, not least by representatives of the Sovereign Mirusian Coalition. Yet, unknown to all, the Imperator Caligustus had pledged himself to darker masters than his doctrines of unending conflict.

As the rest of the Mirusian Coalition's forces redeployed to form a cohesive front against the French, Imperator Caligustus's troops seized large portions of the Trans-Territorial Hyperlane in the north on June 1st, interrupting the main artery of supplies and reinforcements to Mirusian armies in the south. As the Imperium of War's light fleets poured into undefended portions of the Former Dominatus Territories, the bulk of the Imperial Warlegion––under the command of Warlord Ionius––advanced on the rear of the Mirusian line. With his invasion well underway, Caligustus sent a secret envoy to parlay with the French. His offer was simple: the Imperium of War and the French Empire would collaborate to wipe out the Mirusian Coalition and partition the Former Dominatus Territories among themselves.

The unfolding scenario was a nightmare for Mirusian commanders as they frantically turned formations around to face the oncoming force. The Mirusian rear, composed mostly of Ugandal troops under the leadership of Commander Aeddan, engaged Ionius' vanguard in an attempt to buy the main line more time to reposition. However, the Mirusians could not bring their entire force to bear against the Imperium of War, as a significant portion of their deployment was pinned down by French forces across the border. It was less a question of whether the French would take this opportunity to attack, but when. The thought that Caligustus and Alexandre might be working together terrified a great number of the Mirusian leadership.

France joins the fray
On June 2nd, the French made their move.

The Descendants attack the War-Imperial mainland
While having stayed neutral for the beginning of this conflict for a variety of reasons the United Persan Descendants were quick to catch news of what had been going on. After quick discussion the Alpha Senate and Beta Senate agreed to strike against the Imperium of War, knowing full well that they would attack them eventually, while further enforcing their newly gained former Drakodominatus Tyranny territories. On June 5th they began to further enforce their position in former Tyranny space, locking out Xonexi forces, making a very clear statement that they could and would defend what they had gained through violence if attacked.

Not soon after they made their attack on the Imperium of War. Taking several tactical potshots against the Imperium on a separate front from the one the SMC was fighting on,they caught their enemies off guard. The Imperium of War, used to fighting agile yet fragile Vanara Empire ships, instead found themselves facing off against ungraded UPD ships, that while maintaining their speed and maneuverability, were far tougher, with better armor, shields, and anti-missile systems. All finished off with withering fire power to match, allowing them to turn quick tactical strikes into full on sieges. New weapons also served to upset the balance, such as the which turned a ships own armor into it's tomb.

Several key battles of note were fought during the course of the UPD's initial strike against the Imperium. The first was the Battle of Haborym, which counted as the first full on assault led by Admiral Kirji for the space attack and Marshal Krel for the ground invasion. The battle resulted in victory for the UPD forces with Kirji luring the Imperium forces in the asteroid belt of systems and used the asteroids present in a surprisingly clever way by using Nightmare Torpedoes to turn large numbers of asteroids into massive mine fields. Afterwards he cut them off from the planet and Krel was free to launch her ground assault, sending bomber and gunship squadrons to cripple the defenders and then striking from the weakest point opened by the bombings. The end result being the UPD taking the planet from their enemy.

The next was the Battle of Laran and the Battle of Decarabia. Though the battle of Laran was technically a victory for the UPD, it was considered more of pariah victory as they were forced to glass the planet from orbit. The Battle of Decarabia on the other hand was a counter offensive by the Imperium of War in which they tried to take the UPD planet of Decarabia. Though initially successful, the UPD's population off citizen soldiers put up a successful resistance until a Persan Task Group arrived to drive the Imperium off.

However the Imperium of War was able to reinforce their position and put up and effective resistance against the UPD onslot. The two forces ended up grinding each other to a halt. Both sides were left facing off with neither making a fully committed attack, instead conflict having come down to many small skirmishes. The Descendants and the Imperium both readying themselves for another full on confrontation. This forced the Imperium into fighting on an offensive and defensive front simultaneously, giving the SMC some breathing room for further engagement. Meanwhile and Akanri of the Elemental Hunters Freelancers(acting as a independent force) began a civilian rescue operation to get as many none combatants possible out of the line of fire and into stable space full well knowing their action would bring them to clash with Xonexi Allies. Both Seerkar and Akanri(being parents themselves) secretly relishing the idea of slaughtering Eldarisian for the deaths of Waptoria children during the Eldarisian genocide against the WAoS.

Trivia

 * In France and Eldarisia, there is no distinction between the First and Second War of Mirusian Coalition, as they are considered the same war. The ambiguity arises from French and Eldarisian refusal to acknowledge that the Treaty of Manticore ever happened.