( May)
( May) The Taurian Concordat relocates its rimward forces to the FedSuns border, along with its newly unveiledQuixote-class WarShip,Vendetta.
( May)
( May) The Taurian Concordat launches a renewed invasion of the Federated Suns. ( - June)
( - June) The first wave of Taurian assaults captures Bromhead, Midale, Brockway, Hyalite and Lothair. At Bromhead, Brockway, and Midale, nuclear weapons are used to support the incursions, laying waste to several FedSuns military pickets. Within two weeks of the first strikes, over ten million FedSuns citizens and troops are dead. ( June)
( June) The Word of Blake launches its long- anticipated assault on Skye.
( July)
( July) The Word of Blake’s Fiftieth Shadow Division hits Bolan again, seizing control over the Quetta City State. ( - July)
( - July) Taurian forces continue to advance into FedSuns territory, taking Lindsay, Carmichael, Diefenbaker, Lothair and Warren, creating two pincers aimed at the Pleiades Cluster.
( July)
( July) In an effort to break the weeks-long stalemate for Skye, Devlin Stone personally leads an ad hoc battalion into a flanking action that slams the Word’s Third Division command center, capturing Precentor Callen at the peak of the fighting. The thin- stretched and leaderless Blakists quickly withdraw. A victorious Stone vows that the next target for liberation will be Hesperus II. ( August)
( August) After almost two years in hiding, Lindon Ashley resurfaces on Virtue and rallies the Democracy Now movement once more. The Kaumberg Planetary Guard, already scattered to train a credible defense force for the Kaumberg Archonette, is slow to respond.
( September)
( September) The Word of Blake forces on Bolan suddenly depart, but not before abducting thousands of Bolan citizens. ( September)
( September) The Word of Blake forces on New Avalon are recalled.
( September)
( September) While departing New Avalon, the Word of Blake’s Forty-fourth Shadow Division detonates high explosive charges that partially collapse Mount Davion and seal up the entrances to the Fox’s Den. ( - November)
( - November) An allied coalition assembled by Devlin Stone—and including forces from Clan Wolf, Skye, and ComStar—launches its assault on Hesperus II, taking on three defending Word of Blake Divisions. ( December)
( December) Archon Adam Steiner and Baroness Fyhne of Arcturus are wed in an understated ceremony on Tharkad. Within days of the wedding, it is announced that the Baroness is pregnant with the couple’s first child.
( December)
( December) Clan Ghost Bear forces unexpectedly assault and overpower the Word of Blake defenses at both Luthien and Pesht. Ignoring all hails, the Bears eradicate the Word of Blake troops on both worlds (as well as any Combine forces that attempt to interfere) without once offering zellbrigen. ( December)
( December) Coalition forces finally shatter the last Blakist fortifications around Maria’s Elegy on Hesperus II.
( December)
( December) The Ghost Bear forces on Luthien and Pesht have destroyed all Blakist presence on both worlds at this point, leaving very few survivors to flee or be captured.
( January)
( January)Taurian forces launch invasions against Robsart, Horsham, and Brusett. Robsart and Horsham fall quickly, but on Brusett, the newly formed Fourth Taurian Lancers encounter elements of the Hansen’s Roughriders. Despite employing nuclear weapons against the planetary capital and primary spaceport, the Fourth fails to destroy the Roughriders, and are destroyed instead by a Roughriders ambush. ( January)
( January)Princess-Regent Yvonne Steiner- Davion and Tancred Sandoval-Davion return to New Avalon, re-establishing central authority on the FedSuns capital with a public display and a tour of the wreckage of Avalon City. ( January)
( January)The Word of Blake’s Fiftieth Shadow Division raids Aur, shattering the Edasich Motors facilities.
( January)
( January)As suddenly as they arrived, the Ghost Bear forces on Luthien and Pesht depart from both Combine worlds, even as the nearest available DCMS commands scramble to fortify them.
( February)
( February)The Lyran Alliance formally places the Odessa system under “quarantine” due to extensive plague outbreaks that began nearly a year earlier.
( February)
( February)Taurian forces invade and capture Mendham. At the same time, AFFS and FedSuns militia forces, backed up by the Hansen’s Roughriders, strike at Lothair, Warren, and Hyalite. Though the Taurians hold Lothair, Warren becomes a stalemate. On Hyalite, the Roughriders’ use of fuel-air explosives quickly shatters the defending Gordon’s Armored Cavalry, and allows the FedSuns to reclaim that world. ( February)
( February)Magestrix Naomi Centrella-Liao departs Sian, bound for Canopus. ( February)
( February)DCMS troops finally begin to arrive on the war ravaged worlds of Luthien and Pesht, finding no sign of Blakist troop presence in the wake of the Ghost Bear withdrawal. Also on this date, the Word of Blake’s Twenty- second Division raids Wrentham.
( February)
( February)Lindon Ashley’s Democracy Now movement stages uprisings while its “Democratic People’s Army” raids the neighboring worlds of Akfata and Vermezzo. On Akfata, anarchy reigns after the ruling family flees the DPA assault. On Vermezzo, most of the three highest-ranking noble families (and their supporting government staff) are either killed or taken hostage by DN agitators.
( February)
( February)A FedSuns entourage journeys to the Outworlds Alliance to negotiate a settlement with the Snow Ravens, including the release of captured elements of the Third Crucis Lancers and Snow Raven aid in Devlin Stone’s coalition. The Ravens assure the FedSuns that they will not strike again without provocation, but claim the captured Lancers asisorla of the “Raven Alliance” and refuse to join Stone’s coalition. ( February)
( February)As a sign of goodwill, Yvonne Steiner-Davion gifts the captured Word of Blake vesselDark Light (now re-christened the FSSExcalibur ) to Devlin Stone. ( March)
( March)Pro-Democracy Now agitators bomb the Capital Arcology Complex on Ferihegy, killing over five thousand Ferihegy residents and producing a massive public backlash against the Democracy Now leader and his followers throughout the Kaumberg Archonette.
( March)
( March)Cybernetically-augmented forces from the Circinus Federation assault and conquer Khon Kaen and Poulsbo. Additional Federation troops attack the Marian Hegemony worlds of Blantleff and Maximilian.
( March)
( March)During a raid against the Isesaki Shipping headquarters on Isesaki, the Word of Blake’s infamous Opacus Venatori kill Viscount Ernest Machida and level a wide swath of the Ukonosi City commercial district, including the Isesaki Shipping headquarters building itself. ( April)
( April)Ryanne Nellis is elected Director of the Niops Association’s ruling government after a hotly contested three-month campaign. ( April)
( April)Taurian forces attack and seize Wrentham, capitalizing on the damage inflicted by the Word of Blake raid there in February. ( April)
( April)As public outcry mounts over the increasingly radical actions of Lindon Ashley and his Democracy Now agitators, Kaumberg Archonette forces launch a two- pronged assault on Akfata and Vermezzo. ( April)
( April)Citing no confidence in the League’s central government, the Rim Commonality formally bars all high-ranking Free Worlds representatives and invokes Camlann vs. Free Worlds, essentially breaking away from the Free Worlds League.
THE JIHAD IN REVIEW
THE JIHAD IN REVIEW
connection
/JIHAD: FINAL RECKONJIHAD: FINAL RECKONINGING
/section04: THE JIHAD IN REVIEW
( April)
( April)Hansen’s Roughriders attack Amber Grove in Taurian space. Using a combination of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons secured from their victory on Hyalite, the Roughriders obliterate the central military headquarters, spaceport facilities, and the local militia, then spend the next few weeks smashing any target of significant industrial or military value.
( April)
( April)An unidentified Word of Blake Shadow Division reportedly retakes Gabriel in the Odessa system, backed up by an
Essex -class destroyer and aBlack Lion-class battle cruiser.
( April)
( April)Naomi Centrella-Liao visits Andurien as an envoy of both the Capellan Confederation and the Magitracy of Canopus. During the tense visit, the Magestrix reminds the Anduriens of the shared history of Canopus, Andurien, and House Liao, and pointedly warns Andurien against pursuing “ambitions of the past”. ( April)
( April) As part of an effort to reinforce the fragmenting Periphery front, the AFFS redeploys several Crucis March Militias to areas along the Malagrotta-Filtvelt region. ( May)
( May) Kaumberg Planetary Guard forces reclaim Akfata, but in the fighting to retake Vermezzo, Democracy Now forces resort to scorched earth tactics and taking hostages to stave off their inevitable defeat. The destruction leaves thousands homeless, dead, or injured. On this same day, Magestrix Naomi Centrella- Liao departs from Andurien, en route to Canopus with a signed non-aggression pact that covers the Capellan, Canopian, and Andurien states.
( May)
( May)The Taurian WarShipVendetta
unleashes an orbital attack on Hyalite, aimed at destroying the military facilities and planetary HPG compound that were subverted by the Hansen’s Roughriders. ( May)
( May)Prince Titus Cameron-Jones of Regulus marries Michelle Ryan in a modest ceremony in Regulus City.
( May)
( May) Word of Blake forces raid New Valencia, damaging the GM/Blackwell production lines there, but several of their escaping transports are intercepted and destroyed by AFFS aerospace forces. ( May)
( May) The Kaumberg Archonette hires the Kirkpatrick’s Invaders mercenary command to augment its damaged military. Also on this date, Marshal Photon Marik strikes a deal with the Buena Archonette for a joint mission against the Circinian forces on Poulsbo and Khon Kaen. ( May)
( May) Lyran and Exiled Wolf WarShips arrive at Odessa to break the Blakist occupation there. The initial battle ends with a standoff.
( May)
( May) Even as the Blakist forces at Gabriel continue to search and plunder their fallen facility, a Ghost Bear attack force arrives from a pirate point nearby and immediately orders the Lyran and Wolf ships to stand down. After crippling one of the Lyran ships that attempts to intervene, the Ghost Bears engage the Blakists, but are unable to prevent them from escaping or scuttling the Gabriel facilities. ( May)
( May) The Word of Blake’s Twenty-second Militia raids Brusett. The FedSuns mobilizes the WarShipKathil and a small flotilla of supporting vessels to the planet, determined to head off the next Taurian attack. ( June)
( June) Black Dragon Society elements attempt to raid the FedSuns world of Bryceland for supplies, but are thwarted when the Davion commander orders the underground bunkers’ demolition charges triggered.
( June)
( June) Unidentified raiders strike at the Protectorate worlds of Caph, Epsilon Indi, and New Home simultaneously, damaging Blake Protectorate forces, sparking theories of a rift in the Word of Blake leadership. ( June)
( June) A joint mission between FWLM and LAAF troops strikes at Poulsbo and Khon Kaen. The defending Circinus forces— including a mix of Word of Blake “irregulars” and Circinian “chain gang” troops—sell themselves dearly against the attackers, indicating that the Word of Blake is raising new Shadow Divisions in Circinus space. ( June)
( June) A Davion naval force led by the
Kathiland her escorts meets the Taurian WarShipVendettaat Brusett. Both sides employ nuclear weapons above and within the planetary atmosphere. TheKathil is destroyed, but the Taurians are forced to retreat, while several major cities on Brusett suffer horrendous collateral damage. ( July)
( July) An eight-kilometer wide asteroid (dubbed SH -A) slams into the highly populated Narosi continent on Shinonoi, a Combine world near the Blake Protectorate, creating widespread chaos.
( July)
( July) An insurrection against the Word of Blake on Tikonov finally shatters the Word’s control over the planet. The retreating Blakist forces level over half the Tikonovian factory complexes.
( - July)
( - July) CCAF forces launch attacks against Wei, Menkar, and Pleione. In all three cases, the CCAF employ atomic weapons to crush the Protectorate defenders, leaving tens of thousands dead. Also at this time, the Hansen’s Roughriders strike at Perdition, and subvert the Longwood’s Bluecoats mercenary command there. Before departing, the Roughriders raze the Perdition factory complexes.
( August)
( August)Kanrei Minamoto joins with Devlin Stone in promising aid to the devastated world of Shinonoi, an act that spurs outcry from many Arkab world leaders. ( August)
( August) Magestrix Naomi Centrella-Liao leads a combined Capellan-Canopian force against the surviving elements of the Word of Blake’s Thirty-fourth Militia on Canopus, reclaiming the capital world after a brief, but bitter struggle.
( - August)
( - August) Ghost Bear forces advance through Combine space, ignoring all hails. Their first strikes land on the Blakist-held worlds of Cebalrai, Vega, Eltanin, Alya. A second wave hits Kaus Borealis. ( August)
( August) During their desperate defense of Cebalrai, the Blakist forces there resort to detonating a large neutron weapon that wipes out the Seventh Bear Regulars and the Sixty-ninth PGC, the Blakist defenders themselves, and thousands of civilians. ( August)
( August) Mercenary-supported forces from the Kaumberg Archonette assault Virtue in force. The DPA defenders surrender after a two-week siege and Lindon Ashley is taken prisoner. ( September)
( September) On Baranda, the Remagen CrMM—commanded by Major General Raymond-Roger Marsin—soundly defeats a pirate incursion coming from the Malagrotta region.
( September)
( September) Magestrix Naomi Centrella-Liao formally returns to the remains of Crimson in a symbolic reinstatement of her birthright. ( September)
( September) The first aid ships arrive at Shinonoi to assist at local crisis centers. Also at this time, the Hansen’s Roughriders’ attack Grossbach. ( September)
( September) Devlin Stone leads a small diplomatic force to meet with the Ghost Bear troops on Kaus Borealis. ( September)
( September) The Ghost Bears agree to assist Devlin Stone’s growing allied coalition. ( September)
( September) Unknown raiders (once more rumored to be Shadow Divisions) attack the WoBM and Protectorate Militia forces on Castor, Graham IV, and Pollux. ( October)
( October) Ghost Bears forces hit Kaus Media, Kaus Australis, and Ascella. At Ascella, Word of Blake Pocket WarShips destroy half of the Bears’ inbound DropShips, stalling their advance. ( October)
( October) After working for the Malagrotta Collective breakaway government for several months under Letters of Marques, the Death’s Consorts pirate group undergoes a sudden “change of management”, and turns on Malagrotta itself.
( October)
( October) Gary Tiqualme, the new leader of the Death’s Consorts, completes his coup on Malagrotta. On the same date, the Remagen CrMM shatters a suspected Consorts pirate base on the world of June.