Operation Galactica

Operation Galactica was a large-scale military operation launched by Starblaydia against their Bekkside neighbour The Lowland Clans (also known as the Allied States or Alliance of Nine States) in retaliation for the attempted assassination of Starblaydia's leader, Lady-Protector Viannor Starblayde. The assassination failed and sparked a retaliation from Starblayia and her allies, the Strategic Alliance of Autocratic States.

Background

Ever since the formation of the Strategic Alliance and its rival - first the Federation of Like-Minded States and its successor organisation the Strategic Defense League - the general peace and stability of the Atlantian Oceania region had lay upon a knife edge.

The succession of Lady Viannor to the head of Starblaydia's governemnt spurned a sharp downturn in international relations. Whereas the former Lord-Protector, Tiberius Starblayde, had merely been perceived as a power-mad tyrannical dictator, Viannor actually lived up to that description. A quick succession of Starblaydi military actions in Atheistic Right and Djacor-Rysonia proved Starblaydia's newfound willingness to use military force to settle international relations.

Combining these factors with changes in the heads of government throughout Atlantian Oceania - Krytenia, Nedalia, Hypocria and Bazalonia all saw new leadership and new policy directions - as well as an arms race appearing between the Strategic Alliance and Strategic Defence Leagues' Paladin Technologies, saw tensions rise higher than ever. Krytenia left the Strategic Alliance, Hypocria left and re-joined, Nedalia proved to be tougher in its international negotiations and Bazalonia, too, took a harder line against the rest of the region, Starblaydia in particular.

The proverbial match for the powder keg though, came from the newly formed nation of Quirrith. A common illness within Quirrith proved to be a deadly plague for the rest of the region, infecting the Legal Republic. The plague was not discovered soon enough, and by the time news of the plague and the vaccine had spread, a highly organized group of Anarchists, led by Lucas vander Veer, revolted and began creating chaos within the Legal Republic. The Allied States Army deployed troops after the government of President Michele Law and Prime Minister Darren Popouvel collapsed in the anarchy that followed. The Anarchists quickly struck all over the Legal Republic, and turned the place into a warzone.

Organized, efficient, and heavily armed they were able to use guerrilla tactics to resist the 10th and 13th Army Groups deployed to the Republic to stop the violence. The deaths numbered in possibly 13 million people since the beginning of the plague and the collapse of the Legal government. The Army occupied small portions of former Legalese, and a new era of conflict began to dawn on the region. As winter drew near, the region of Atlantian Oceania did not look to be a happy place.

A Sniper's Bullet

A crack team of five soldiers from the ultra-secretive Section 31, a division within the Allied States' Department of Homeland Security, were captured by Starblaydi Special Forces shortly after attempting to assassinate Lady Viannor. In trying to make their escape from the island of Aquiliana, the location of Viannor's castle, they were captured within hours by Venators.

The Squad's leader, Sargeant Jonathan Parker, was filmed making a full confession to the attempt and this tape was broadcast to the entire region of Atlantian Oceania as Starblaydia's armed forces similtaneously crossed the border into the anarchic former-state of Legalese, heading straight for the Legal Republic, a piece of Legalese previously taken over and admitted into the Alliance of Nine States.

The Starblaydia's allies in the Strategic Alliance soon mobilised to their aid while the Strategic Defense League swiftly called a meeting of its members to discuss the situation. Various other reactions were present around the region, from statements of neutrality, offers to broker peace, immediate counter-declarations of war against Starblaydia, or mobilisations and declarations of war from those supporting the Starblaydi.

The War

Opening Moves

The first aggressive action was by Starblaydia, to neutralise the Allied States' Navy sitting in the mighty Bekk lake which bordered Starblaydia, the Lowland Clans and Footballia. Starblaydi planes assaulted, damaged and forced the withdrawal of the Flagship of the Allied States' Bekk fleet: the Gold Coast-class light cruiser Justus. For this action, the first real shots of a shooting war, Lamoni's President Stone declared war on the Strategic Alliance, leaping to the aide of their SDL allies. He then immediately resigned, leaving his Vice-President Andrew Stinson to take the Lamonian helm for the duration. Bazalonia, too, mobilised, while Nedalia swept forward to take the Southern Islands off their coast, previously infested by Miceland, to ensure their strategic value was on the SDL's side.

More battles were up in the north, however, with Starblaydi and Allied States' fleets coming into contact in the Nemyan Straights: the largest naval combat Atlantian Oceania had yet seen, between the fleets of two Flagships: the Starblaydi Tivoli-class Trimaran Heavy Battlecruiser Tiberius Starblayde and the Allied States' Graham-class Battlecarrier Winston Churchill. Legalese City, on the border between Legalese and The Lowland Clans, was the first ASA-controlled city to fall, overwhelmed despite a valiant defence. The surrounding cities of Plainsville, Okerson, Sagdineo and Nadiaville, all in the Allied States themselves, quickly became the next Starblaydi objectives.

Mobilisation of all participants was heating up, with Bazalonia, Lamoni, Khazaron and Quakmybush combining their fleets and transporting their troops to danger zones and to support their brothers in time of peril. But in response to this sweep of support to the Alliance of the Nine States, Xile responded by declaring war on her and her allies citing the Lavingrad Pact.

A Second Theatre

In a speech by Nedalian President Yasmine Dala'a, she called upon her country to go to war to defeat Starblaydia, the Strategic Alliance, and tyranny itself. As an immediate reply, a Starblaydi contingent of submarines unleashed nearly two-hundred cruise missiles in a single volley against the Nedalian port city of Honsfield, stretching the war into Verdena, Atlantian Oceania's south-central continent. The attack killed over three thousand military and civillian personnel, destroying thirteen ships and three civillian buildings. This action prompted the Capitalizt Defense Alliance, Krytenia and Milchama to enter the war on the SDL's side, even before it was proved the attack was instigated by Starblaydia.

List of Nations

Nations declared in military support of Starblaydia

• Abattoir (SAAS)
• Footballia (SAAS)
• Hypocria (SAAS)
• Xile (SAAS)

Nations declared in military support of the The Lowland Clans

• Bazalonia (SDL)
• Capitalizt Defense Alliance (non-aligned)
• Khazaron (SDL)
• Krytenia (SDL)
• Lamoni (SDL)
• Milchama (ASPIRE)
• Nedalia (SDL)
• Quakmybush (aligned with Bazalonia)

Nations declaring neutrality

• Az-cz (non-aligned)
• Chacor (non-aligned)
• Myrtannia (SDL)
• Neu Amerika (non-aligned)
• Nova Britannicus (non-aligned)
• Pacitalia (ASPIRE)

Nations with undeclared intentions

• Delesa (SDL)
• Manhattan Prime (ASPIRE)