History - Unification War (2505-2511)

Taken from BDGP

Battle of Qin Shi Huang: The Invasion of Persephone made all the Opposition worlds sit up and take notice. They now had undeniable proof that the Alliance was committed to Unification, by force if necessary. Recruiting and planning began in earnest and the Border and Rim worlds began to arm. The first military response was the dispatch of armed vessels to Qin Shi Huang to disrupt the Alliance's efforts to conquer the rest of the worlds near Persephone. Former patrol vessels from worlds like Boros, Beaumonde and Meridian arrived and began hunting Alliance transports and their escorts in a wild free for all around the moons of Qin Shi Huang. There were several cases of friendly fire on both sides, and the battle began to escalate as heavier vessels from the former Core Worlds fleets arrived and dealt out serious losses to the lighter Independent ships.White Sun Campaign: While the White Sun system is home to the Core Worlds and the birthplace of the Alliance, there are many less populated and less advanced worlds that are considered Border or even Rim worlds in the system. After Persephone was conquered in June of 2505, the Alliance turned its attention to the other worlds in White Sun, wanting to establish its military control over the system. Some worlds like Bellerophon and Gonghe were simple matters of landing troops and declaring occupation, as the inhabitants were too busy with their own affairs to care. There was fighting on Pelorum and Parth and Independent ships made regular attempts to run the blockades and deliver supplies. In the end, these worlds were simply too close to the Core Worlds and too far from help. By December of 2505, the White Sun system was fully under Alliance control. But it was a major leap from conquering the neighboring worlds to invading the more distant ones like Boros or New Melbourne. Alliance planners were forced to undertake a long period of preparation for the next stage in the war. During this time, there were no more land battles. Instead, all of the conflict was in space as Independents and their sympathizers attempted to move people and vital war material to the outer worlds.

Red Sun Blockade: Several of the worlds of the Red Sun system were pro-Independence, especially New Melbourne and St. Albans. On March 14th of 2507, an Alliance task force moved into the Red Sun system and blockaded both worlds. Military vessels were destroyed in a brief battle, skyplexes were occupied and all movement to or from the worlds was halted. This was not a huge issue for the people of New Melbourne, as they were self sufficient in food and were a major exporter of fish. St. Albans,on the other hand, is a frigid mining world which depends on off world supplies bought with its mining products. St. Albans surrendered after six months and was occupied on October 11th, 2507. After occupation, there were a number of guerrilla attacks on the Alliance forces. The Alliance garrison responded by withdrawing into the fortified spaceport and stopping food deliveries to outlying areas. Faced again with starvation, attacks diminished and by January 26th of 2508, St. Albans was listed as pacified and joined the Alliance. New Melbourne held out until November 10th, 2507. The successful blockade of St. Albans allowed the Alliance task force to send extra ships to support the Meridian units and key points on the surface were captured. New Melbourne formally surrendered and joined the Alliance on November 20th, 2507.

Aphrodite Campaign: (In the RPG book, Athens is the world that was the Alliance supporter on the Rim. But Athens has four habitable moons, so I made Athens a gas giant and transferred Athen's description to a new world, Aphrodite, which is near Hera). Aphrodite was the only major Rim world to support Unification. Its location in orbit around the companion star Murphy put it close to the major Independent worlds of Hera and Shadow. On May 17th, 2506, Independent Forces took control of Aphrodite. Now, while the majority of Aphrodite's population supported Unification, it was not a huge majority. Independence supporters were common and the takeover was relatively peaceful. That's not to say there wasn't fighting and a fair number of incidents. Some towns resembled Belfast of Earth-That-Was as locals had gunfights and bombings in the streets.

The Alliance sent an invasion force to Aphrodite in November of 2508. The planet was occupied and government control returned to pro-Unification politicians who joined the Alliance on November 22nd, 2508. Guerrilla and street attacks by Independence supporters went through the roof and in February of 2509, the Independents attacked, defeating the Alliance orbital patrol, bombing garrisons and landing troops to retake control of the planet. Browncoat forces finally regained control following the defeat of the last Alliance holdouts in Kashmir. Aphrodite was key to Alliance plans to conquer the Georgia system. It would provide a forward base for the reduction of Boros, Shadow and Hera. So, the Alliance re-invaded in August of 2509. It was a very long, drawn out campaign lasting into early 2510. This time, the Alliance forces were repelled with heavy losses on both sides. Browncoat units raised on Shadow were prominent in the defense, especially in the final battle at Du-Khang. Independent forces were rotated out after the planet was reclaimed, battle weary troops were transferred to Hera and fresh troops sent to replace them.

This forced a reconsideration of Alliance plans. While the Core Worlds had much higher populations to draw upon, too many troops had been lost already and more troops would be lost conquering Aphrodite before moving on to other worlds. The Alliance decided instead to reduce Aphrodite and orbital bombardment began on April 18th, 2510. The population was given six hours to clear out before the attack began. Some did, many did not, planning to call the Alliance's bluff or unable to believe it would actually happen. Major cities, transportation centers and manufacturing facilities were subjected to heavy kinetic attack from orbit. Some areas were instead hit with biological weapons. After three days, civilization had been crushed. The survivors fled to the farms and outback and set up refugee camps. Mortality rates in the camps were high, but there was a relief effort and many people were evacuated to Boros and Hera. Except for self sufficient farmers in the back country, Aphrodite was effectively depopulated. Even today, there are few native inhabitants.

Bombing of Shadow: Shadow was one of the most fervent supporters of Independence. It was a world of small towns surrounded by farms and ranches. Despite its low population, Shadow was one of the major sources of volunteers for the Independent forces. The Alliance knew invading Shadow would be a high cost, low return effort, so in May of 2510, the bombardment fleet that reduced Aphrodite turned its attention to Shadow. Shadow's towns and infrastructure were bombed without the warning Aphrodite's cities were given. Major farms that could be identified were also hit. There was no attempt at conquest, the Alliance simply bombed the world and withdrew. Once the fleet was clear, Independent ships spacelifted the survivors to Hera. Shadow was left an empty world with effectively no inhabitants. The bombing of Aphrodite and Shadow did have two effects on the war. It angered the Rim worlds beyond compare. Recruitment went way up and the Browncoats developed a fanatical hatred for the Alliance. It also outraged the population of the Core Worlds. The Alliance government and military were forced to admit the bombings had been too severe and that such scorched earth policies would not be employed in the future. Alliance invasions were temporarily halted as more troops were drafted, trained and equipped for the next battles.Kalidasa Campaign: The Kalidasa system is a study in contrasts. The major world, Beaumonde, is a very Earth like world and required very little terraforming. It was settled early in the 'Verse's history. It was pro-Independence, but not with the strength of the worlds of the Georgia system. Most of the other inhabited worlds were borderline terraformed moons with very low populations but strong Independence support. In July of 2510, the Alliance mounted its first major campaign since the bombing of Shadow. A strong naval force moved into the system, flushed out the Independents' warships and settled in for a blockade of Beaumonde. The people of Beaumonde were given a warning: there would be no wholesale bombings of population centers, but if they did not surrender, their substantial space and planet based industry would be destroyed. The people of Beaumonde surrendered after a week. On July 21st, 2510, Alliance forces landed without resistance and occupied the capital. Beaumonde's armed forces surrendered their arms and went into temporary internment camps. Alliance representatives, backed up by the invasion force, convinced the other worlds of the Kalidasa system to accept Alliance control and by January of 2511 the Kalidasa system was fully under Alliance control.

Blue Sun Campaign: At the time of the War of Unification, as is true now, the colony worlds in the Blue Sun system were low population, recently terraformed worlds. These worlds were still being administered by the Colonization and Settlement Authority and had little individual culture or government yet. Only Meridian and New Canaan had any local industry, and that was poorly suited for conversion to military production. Some local patrol ships were sent forward to help in the Battle of Qin Shi Huang, but they were few. Surviving ships were recalled during the war as local worlds were attacked by bands of psychotic pirates who killed and maimed their victims in random horrific attacks on ships and settlements. Far from the front lines and allies, with little help to give, these worlds were mostly overlooked during the war. A small garrison force was sent to the system to enforce Unification, but other than some disorganized guerilla attacks and vandalism, there was no serious resistance and induction into the Alliance was without incident. Many locals welcomed the Alliance garrisons as protection against the new breed of space marauders who came to be known as the Reavers.

Battle of Serenity Valley: On May 2nd, 2511, the Alliance returned to the Georgia system and began the invasion of Hera. With the other systems of the 'Verse pacified and Aphrodite and Shadow destroyed, the Independents had withdrawn to Boros and Hera. If no other worlds were going to be free, then at least the Georgia system would remain independent. Prohibited from extensive planetside bombings and faced with the heavy air defenses around Hera's capital and spaceport, the Alliance moved in and defeated Hera's limited space based defenders. Once the skies were clear, Alliance forces began landing troops a safe distance from Hera's capital, planning to mount a land campaign to defeat the Independents. The path of the invasion would take them through Serenity Valley and the Independents were waiting. It became a bloody fiasco for the Alliance as the Browncoats refused to yield and fought for every rock and tree before retreating. The battle began on May 11th, 2511 and lasted a total of seven bloody weeks. On June 18th, word came from the Independent High Command ordering the troops in Serenity valley to lay down arms and surrender. They refused. The battle lasted another two weeks before the Independents in the valley finally surrendered.Battle of Sturges: The Battle of Serenity Valley holds the undisputed title for the longest and bloodiest groundside action in the war. But among those who sail the Black, it's the Battle of Sturges that dominates. With the pacification of the other inhabited systems, the Independent Space Navy fell back to the Georgia System. On June 17th, 2511, while the Independents' ships were forming up to relieve Hera, a massive Alliance fleet dropped out of pulse drive almost on top of them. The Alliance probably intended it to be an overwhelming blow that crushed their enemies. And in some ways, it was. The Battle of Sturges was a complete surprise, and the Independent fleet was all but destroyed. But it was hardly overwhelming. Alliance planners hadn't been prepared for the ferocity of the Independents. These were the most skilled and capable crews who had survived everything the war had thrown at them. Despite the superior numbers of the Alliance, the battle was almost a draw as the two sides annihilated each other in less than a day. More ships and spacers' lives were lost in that final battle than in the entire war. With the Independents' space forces broken, the Alliance was free to reinforce the troops fighting on Hera with the largest combat landing of troops in history. Only Hera and Boros remained and the Battle of Serenity Valley was turning against the Browncoats.

Aftermath and Amnesty: After the loss of almost the entire Independent Space Navy at the Battle of Sturges, and the conquest of Hera (and the bloody losses of the Battle of Serenity Valley), the Independents were left with only Boros. Faced with defeat, the government of Boros surrendered on September 25th, 2511 and Boros was occupied. The Alliance placed a major garrison on Boros to maintain control and even today, more Alliance troops are stationed here than any other world in the 'Verse outside of the Core Worlds. Browncoats captured during the war and held in prison camps were documented, listed as resistance members and then amnestied as part of the end of the war. Most were returned to their home worlds, troops formerly from Shadow or Aphrodite were settled on other worlds of the Georgia system. On October 16th, 2511, the Alliance government officially stated the war was over and the worlds of the 'Verse brought together in one peaceful union and declared Unification Day. However, any former active resistance members are barred by law from holding any public office (appointed or elected) or voting. Beaten in battle, disenfranchised after their surrender, these former Independents have no means to add their voice to Alliance affairs. The Disenfranchisement Act is suppose to expire in 2521, but there are those who wish to see it extended. Or even made permanent.