Elector War

Introduction
The Elector War was a galaxy defining civil war between opposing faction claiming de jure right to rulership of the Agnazari Empire following a controversial succession election.

The conflict reached all corners of settled space, a state of total war emerged which included all the major powers.

The war began in 813 and ended in white peace in 836. It is estimated the war claimed at least 26 billion lives, and rendered 71 worlds completely uninhabitable. Including Home, the cradle of humanity

Prelude
It began with the death of Emperor Jupiter III. He was found dead in his chambers on New Nacai in 812. His death was investigated and ruled a suicide. He died without a formally nominated heir. Members of the Necazari dynasty claimed foul play. The loudest opposition was his son, Taius Necazari, who was appointed Dowager upon Jupiter's death.

The Serene Directorate was convened to elect a successor to the Imperial Seat, where Taius nominated himself. Which war considered orthodox. In less than a day of deliberation he was rejected by Directorate leaders.

A prominent Directorate leader, Thade Rachten, the Basian Director stated he was a viable candidate, but it was the conclusion of the Serene Directorate that it was time to change the succession laws. In stead of the Emperor naming an heir, an open election should be held among the viable successor dynasties.

Dowager Taius rejected the notion as absurd. The Directorate came to a standstill, and after six months of deliberation the Dowager accepted the proposal to avoid another gridlock.

The Election
The election date was set in early 813, which gave a three month period of campaigning. Six of seven dynasties produced a candidate. The Hickory Low's decided to abstain from producing a candidate, but kept the right to vote.

The major contenders were among the Necazari, the Ashanar and Ignachi. The Necazari named Taius. The Ignachi of Maketal named Izker, the Maketali Director. A tried and tested master of statecraft with over forty years of experience.

Surprisingly, the Ashanar named Illion, a fledgling youth who was a direct descendant of Corentin, by the way of famed Navarch, Ticana Ashanar. Only twenty years of age, but proved more able than her years. Her public speaking skill, acute mind and hailing from a long line of military strategists gave her an unexpected advantage.

The three months leading up to the election was ripe with controversy. Alleged blackmailing, the controversial death of Director Rakin Zahar, along with other irregularities was a black stain of the election.

Dowager Taius won the popular vote. The result was contested by the Ashanar, along several members of the Directorate leadership. Claiming vote tampering. Clamoring for an another election.

Dowager Taius rebuked the accusation, and took the Imperial Seat.

Beginning a Rebellion
Late in 813, Illion Ashanar launched a sneak attack on New Nacai. Kidnapped key officials, including Ezram Necazari, the Emperor's son, along with successfully hijacking important server nodes before crashing them. Before the imperial forces could respond in any meaningful manner, Illion personally led a full scale invasion into Arcazar with Tyraphi, Maketali, and Coptic forces. The invasion was met with limited resistance. It is widely considered that Arcazari leadership in reality were Ashanar supporters.

With the support of three out of four original Serene Republic Sectorates and having occupied Arcazar, the beating heart of the empire, along with mountains of critical data, and with Emperor Taius's son captive she opened diplomatic channels. She demanded the immediate resignation of Emperor Taius and called for a new vote.

Taius's respone was late but definitive. A massive armada composed with Basian, Carrowese, Ocklan, Dar'Abban, Dar'Qachan forces, along with the Imperial Navy launched a devastating attack on Coptic space, the home sectorate of the Ashanar.

Bartholomew Low, the Lord of Arlow, the de facto leader of the Hickory Nations declared independence following the Coptic invasion.

Old Republic Space
From 813 to 815, the old republic space was the main theater of the war. The imperial forces threw everything at Copti. The sheer brutality of the invasion was intended to intimidate the Ashanar rebellion into submission. The destruction caused set the tone for the war. The rebellion was unable to rebuke the sheer size of the imperial forces.

The Ashanar forces retreated from Coptic space. Reinforcing the defense of key territory in anticipation of attack. Along with splintering their forces to focus on other theaters of war. In 815 Coptic space was under complete occupation.

The following years did not see a major attack on other sectorates within old republic space. The commanding Stratarch of the theater, Santon Hurano focused on repelling constant smaller attacks all across the theater.

In 819, a major invasion was launched across old republic space. It was unexpected as the imperial forces were busy defending Nacaius, the seat of government.

The imperial forces launched two simultaneous attacks into Maketal and Tyraphi. Both attacks were successful in its objectives. Means of production were destroyed. Key worlds were either nuked from orbit or suffered catastrophic orbital bombardments. Key members of the sectoral hierarchy were either captured or assassinated.

Later that year, the Necazari capital ship Khaz, launched a suicide mission into Arcazar, and crashed into the one-of-a-kind Daghazzat Foundries. Permanently destroying a crucial part of the foundry. The attack severely limited the functionality of the Tarazi Gateways.

Tyraphi and Arcazar became the focus of imperial advance. The invasion of Arcazar was successful until the battle of Ushtur and Necazari forces were routed. The Arcazari navy followed the rout and managed to completely destroy the imperial armada. The Tyraphi advance was completed with the occupation of Tyraphi in 821.

In 821, Ashanar forces were defending on all fronts. A massive surge of piracy slowed the advance of imperial forces, along with revolts in both occupied and imperial space. In the following year, Ashanar forces went on the offensive, committing substantial resources into the liberation of Tyraphi. It was met with heavy opposition.

In reality it was a feign maneuver. A surprise attack was launched on Copti the same year. In one fell swoop the Copti occupation was lifted. The occupation forces retreated into Basian space. The Ashanar navy followed and spontaneously invaded Bas. By that time Bas was almost undefended with little means to defend. A small Ashanar contingent remained to slowly and steadily subvert the sectorate, finalized in 825. Basian separatists managed to break the occupation in 829.

In 824, occupied Tyraphi became the staging point for an invasion into Maketal. It was a long winded campaign. Maketal did not possess a sizable navy to counter the imperial navy, but an elaborate system of orbital cannons considerably halted the progress of the Necazari. In 827 the Necazari navy retreated out of the sectorate, but immediately launched a second invasion with a fresh navy. Which ultimately retreated in 831, after sustaining heavy losses. Tactically, the invasion was considered a pyrrhic success. Even though Maketal was still under Ashanar control, the destruction caused in the sectorate rendered it useless to the war effort.

In 832, as a response to the successes of the Privateer Fleet in imperial space, a terror campaign was launched by imperial forces. The occupation in Tyraphi committed atrocities. Rumors spread word of genocide. Before Ashanar forces could respond, Chorgan Yrgo invaded Copti yet again. After swiftly defeating the present naval forces, he launched terror bombardments on unsuspecting worlds. After finishing the last warhead, his fleet gathered asteroids and launched them at defenseless worlds. Home was rendered uninhabitable in the terror campaign.

Darian Coups
Having lost Copti and reinforcing old republic space, Illion changed theater of war. Taking it to Dari space.

In 815, she ventured to Dar'Abbah with Arcazari's finest to challenge the Dari leadership in both Dar'Abbah and Dar'Qacha.Though she was Copti born, with the culturally specific title Praeton, she was of Arcazari descent, and thus, Dari, and had the ancestral right to challenge the rule of Chargon Kobla Dar'Abbah and Chargon Yrgo Dar'Qacha. She declared her self Kha'Chargon Na-Dari. (The great shepard of the people) and wreaked havoc in Dari space. The challenged caused Chargon Kobla and Chargon Yrgo to remove their forces from the Coptic invasion to defend their titles.

In 816 Chargon Kobla was captured and deposed. In shame he took his own life. Later that year a revolt within Dar'Qacha split the sectorate into two, creating a new entity called Dar'Uschu, led by Chargon Juf, determined to abstain from the war. By mid 817, Dar'Qacha's navy was utterly defeated. Chargon Yrgo disappeared and they were effectively out of the war.

Soon after Illion's forces abandoned Dar space, infighting began for the coveted Chargon title. Between 818 and 831, depending on who is asked, somewhere between eight and thirty one different persons held the title of Chorgan in Dar'Abbah, Dar'Qacha, and the new Dar'Uschu.

in 831, soon after the end of the Ezram Ceasefire, Chorgan Yrgo Dar'Qacha resurfaced. Quickly reclaiming Dar'Qacha, assimilating the fledgling Dar'Uschu, and subjugating Dar'Abbah, all in less than a year.

Imperial Front
Nacaius, the governmental center of the empire came under attack from Illion's Arcazari fleet, along with Dari contingents in 818. The campaign began with a series of surprise attacks to observational systems, and ultimately evolved into occupations key worlds and destruction of strategic targets. The swift pace of the Ashanar forces made them hard to catch. In 819, the rebellion had managed a real foothold within the sectorate.

The Necazari attacks on old republic space in 819 hindered the Ashanar effort in Nacaius. The attack on Daghazzat had limited the means to resupply and reinforce.

In an desperate attempt to draw attention, Praeton Illion launched an attack both old and New Nacai. Both attacks were ultimately rebuked, but tactically they were wildly successful. As a revenge for the nuclear attacks on Tyraphi and Maketal worlds, Old Nacai was repeatedly nuked from orbit. The attack rendered old Nacai completely uninhabitable. The first world in the war to be rendered uninhabitable, but far from the last.

Illion's campaign continued within imperial space. She followed the initiative of the pirate surge and raided on a larger scale. She was successful in her efforts, but the Necazari Navy gradually got better at anticipating her moves. In 823, after six years of fighting behind enemy lines she retreated from Nacaius, but not before bribing several pirate fleets to fight under her banner, forming the Privateer Fleet under the command of the infamous Commodore Links, which continued to plague Nacaius in her absence.

In 827, the relatively untouched Carrow and Ocklay suffered numerous attacks on infrastructure along with grievous attacks on military targets which was a tough blow on the imperial armed forces. As Carrow housed several prestigious military academies, responsible for training the bulk of the imperial pilots. The attacks were attributed to the fleets that occupied Bas. The following year, Illion led a full scale invasion into Ocklay. Emperor Taius entered the campaign himself with the Honour Fleet.

The Ocklay invasion was ultimately defeated in 831. Illion and her forces were routed, but the campaign was ultimately a success, even with her fleet decimated. The damage caused to Both Ocklay and Carrow during the five year long campaign had seriously hurt the war effort.

Later that year, during the Ezram Ceasefire, was a sigh of relief for imperial space. Though the Necazari imperial forces had dealt crippling blows to the Ashanar, liberated their own territories and still occupied Tyraphi, the empire was weak.

The bulk of their ground forces were dedicated to suppressing rebellions across the empire. The revenue lost to piracy monthly was staggering. The pirates belonging to the Privateer Fleet adhered to the ceasefire, being under contract as an active participant in the war. But that did not stop every other pirate in the galaxy.

During the ceasefire, millions of refugees used the opportunity to join the Great Exodus. A staggering number of them fell prey to pirate elements.

The day after the end of the ceasefire, the Privateer Fleet, under command of the infamous Commodore Links redoubled his efforts in imperial space. launching a coordinated attack on eighty different targets at the same time. His competency as a fleet commander rivaled every Navarch in the war. His efforts caused an empire wide starvation.

Emperor Taius took a note out of Illion's playbook. Being unable to counter in Imperial space, in 832 he ordered his commanders in other theaters to launch savage attacks to draw the focus from imperial space. It drew Ashanar forces in general away from the Imperial front, but the Privateer fleet remained.

The Ezram Ceasefire
In 831, Ezram Necazari died in captivity. His death was attributed to heart disease. Shortly after the end of the invasion of Ocklay and Maketal. Navarch Tosothos without consulting Praeton Illion, contacted Emperor Taius to inform him of his Ezram's death. Emperor Taius offers a full galactic month of ceasefire in exchange for his remains.

All participants in the war respected the ceasefire. Refugees used the opportunity to join the Great Exodus as galactic travel was safer. An untold number of civilian refugees fell prey to pirate fleets.

The Final Push
The Terror campaign of 832 drew the bulk of the Ashanar forces from every front, save the Privateer fleet to keep the pressure on imperial forces. Chorgan Yrgo retreated as soon as the rebel forces showed up in the system. Yrgo was already out of supplies and was unable to fight an even battle.

In Tyraphi, the Imperial forces avoided direct naval conflict with rebel forces. Making planetfall on occupied worlds was ruled out as a possibility. Tyraphi had been under occupation for eleven years, and imperial forces were too well dug in with orbital defenses.

With galaxy wide shortages, Praeton Illion Ashanar and her high command were in agreement that they could not carry on much longer. In an act of desperation, they gathered all the Ashanar forces to join up with the Privateer Fleet in Nacaius, with intent on taking New Nacai.

The Ashanar forces rendezvoused with the Privateer Fleet in 833 in the Lonos system. Imperial scouts caught wind of their movements. Emperor Taius called all available fleets back to New Nacai. Not all responded. Several fleets defected to protect their own home worlds, or simply to turn pirate.

In 834 the second siege of New Nacai began. The siege lasted for two years. By the end of the siege, New Nacai had been assaulted several times. Entire districts had lost atmosphere. The bulk of the imperial naval vessels were either non functional or heavily damaged.

The situation was even more dire among the Ashanar forces. They had also suffered substantial losses. The Privateer fleet was closer to being a squadron than a fleet. They suffered heavy losses as they served as the vanguard in the assaults on New Nacai. Their inability to resupply due to hostile pirates had caused a fleet wide famine.

By the end of 834, a Hickory destroyer appeared in the system. it was the Enoch, the capital ship belonging to the Lord of Arlow, Bartholomew Low. He placed his ship in the middle of the dead zone between New Nacai and the Ashanar navy.

The Lord of Arlow claimed to have a fleet at the ready in the Ithos system, less than a parsec away. He demanded that Emperor Taius and Praeton Illion would enter peace talks aboard the Enoch. If his demands would not be met, he would call in the fleet to eradicate the Ashanar fleet and destroy New Nacai.

Neither Emperor Taius or Praeton Illion were prepared to call his bluff, so they accepted to board the Enoch.

Little is known about the exchange between Taius and Illion aboard the Enoch, but three days later they had brokered a peace. To split the empire. Illion would retain Arcazar, the old Serene Republics, except for Bas. Taius was to remain Emperor of the Imperial and Dari space.

Hickory Intervention & The Great Exodus
The conflict following the imperial election of 813 impacted the Hickory Nations in many ways. As the Agnazari Empire broke into civil war, the Hickories declared independence. They had every intention on staying out of all matters relating to the war.

The Agnazari civil war following the imperial election of 813 impacted the Hickory nations in many ways.

The conflict following the imperial election of 813 had a tremendous unexpected impact on the Hickories. As the Agnazari Empire broke into civil war, Bartholomew Low, the Lord of Arlow declared independence on behalf of the Hickory Nation. They had every intention on staying out of the war. But when the war arrived on their doorstep in the form of refugees, they were forced to act.

In 818, after five years of fighting, refugees arriving at the Nebulae were in the millions. The number grew exponentially, and in 823 the Hickories were forced to act, as the estimated number of refugees in the Nebulae had reached 78 million people.

Bartholomew Low, who was by no means an uncontested ruler of the Hickory Nations, rallied the Hickories to form a retrofitted fleet of cargo ships to transport refugees to the outer fringes. Across the Cabyssian Strait were numerous systems, already marked for colonization by the Agnazari Empire. Political turmoil of past decades halted the colonization efforts, leaving at least sixteen habitable worlds empty. This event is known as the Great Exodus, and the systems across the Cabyssian Strait are known as the Exodus Systems.

The influx of refugees was greater than their current rate of migrating them into the Exodus Systems. The Hickory Nation had to increase their capabilities, or simply stop accepting refugees. Hickory leaders and independent captains began to venture into imperial space, to freight refugees directly to Exodus. This effort sometimes led to Hickory vessels to get caught in the crossfire. The most prominent example is during the Ezram Ceasefire. Hundreds of Hickory vessels were destroyed or captured by pirates.

This humanitarian effort was not entirely out of sheer kindness. The Hickories could only support a limited amount of people. The unchecked flow of refugees could have easily caused a severe food shortage.

In 827 they had over 8000 vessels transporting refugees. By 831, by their own estimation, they had accepted, harbored, transported, and coordinated passage for at least 4,7 billion people.

In 836, Lord Bartholomew Low managed to broker peace between the Ashanar and the Necazari, under threat of violence. As he entered the siege of New Nacai, and demanded peace talks between Emperor Taius, and Praeton Illion. If his demands were not met, he threatened a full scale assault by the relatively untouched Hickory navy on both sides.

Both sides agreed, and both Emperor Taius and Praeton Illion ended the war aboard the Enoch.

Aftermath
After the peace talks, Ashanar forces were to leave imperial space, and Necazari forces were to abandon old republic space. The Agnazari Empire was declared defunct, to be replaced with the Necazari Federation as a successor state. The Necazari Federation relinquished control and claim on Arcazar, Copti, Maketal, and Tyraphi. The aforementioned sectorates from that date together was to be referred to as the Ashanar Confederacy.

Both parties acknowledged travesties were committed on all fronts. Neither entity was to attempt to claim reparations or prosecute for atrocious actions committed during the Elector War.

The new borders are to be respected. Official vessels are not to cross the galactic borders, doing so would be considered a violation of the treaty, and a cause for war.

Independent entities and/or companies are allowed to cross the borders for purposes of relocation and/or trade under supervision.

For the next thirty years, there was no contact whatsoever between the Federation and the Confederacy.

Impact
Estimates for the total number of casualties in the war vary, because many deaths went unrecorded. Most suggest that some 26,4 billion people died in the war. Estimated 6 billion military personnel, 20,4 billion civilians. many of the civilians died of deliberate genocide, massacres, mass-bombings, disease and starvation. In the decade following the war, it is estimated that an additional 12 billion people died to complications tied to the war. The conflict displaced over 75 billion people. Many of whom joined the Great Exodus. An effort led by the Hickory Nations to funnel refugees to worlds outside imperial jurisdiction

71 worlds were rendered permanently uninhabitable, including Home, the cradle of humanity.

Today, in 917, the impact of the war is still observable.

Timeline of the War
813 - Ashanar invade Arcazar. Successfully occupying it with minimal fighting. Raids New Nacai

813 - Necazari invade Arcazar and Copti. Arcazar unsuccessfully. Copti partially occupied.

813 - The Hickory declare independence.

813-815 - Ashanar forces fail to repel Necazari forces.

815 - Illion declares herself Kha’ Chargon Na-Dari, challenges other Dari

815 - Ashanar invade the Dar’Abbah and Dar’Qacha territories

815 - Dari territories become the main theatre of the war.

816 - Kha’Chargon Illion captures Chargon Kobla Dar’Abbah. Deposes him. Kobla takes his own life.

816 - Half the major Dar’Abbahan worlds switch sides. Other half withdraw from the war and declare independence under the name Dar’Uschu.

817 - Dar’Qacha becomes ineffective as a naval fighting force. Chragon Yrgo nowhere to be found.

818 - Ashanar invade Nacaius

819 - Necazari capitalship, Ozir, deployed to a suicide mission though the Tarazi Network, to Daghazzat, to destroy the Daghazzat Foundries. Does so successfully. Tarazi Network is crippled

819 - Necazari forces in a sneak attack, nuke Tyraphi and Maketal worlds.

819 - Massive refugee exodus begins. Partially funded by the Hickory

820 - The first battle of Nacai. Ashanar forces repelled.

820 - Necazari forces drive Ashanar forces back to Arcazar. Pushing their advance it turns into an invasion, which fails miserably.

821 - Necazari turn their attention to Tyraphi. Successfully conquering the sectorate within the year.

821 - Massive surge of piracy and dissidence in Necazari space..

822 - Ashanar devote substantial resources into freeing Tyraph.

822 - Ashanar forces recapture Copti.

822 - Ashanar invade Bas

823 - Ashanar forms the Privateer fleets. Hiring a substantial amount of pirates to join their cause.

823 - Necazari forces repel the Ashanar fleets from Nacaius.

823 - Nacaius plagued with pirate raids

823 - The Hickory lead a refugee relief effort. Numbers are in the tens of millions

824 - Necazari invade Maketal.

825 - Bas falls to the Ashanar

827 - Necazari forces repelled from Maketal. Launching an immediate second invasion.

827 - Ashanar navies cross over to Ocklay and Carrow. Assaulting key military facilities.

828 - Full scale invasion of Ocklay begins.

829 - Basian separatists break the occupation of Basian territories.

829 - Seperatist element rise in all sectorates.

830 - The massive surge of refugees fleeing from core worlds is labeled The Great Exodus. Estimated over a two hundred million people have abandoned both the Necazari and the Ashanar.

831 - The invasion of Ocklay fails. The attacking armies are routed through Ocklay and Carrow. Ashanar forces manage to deal crippling blows to both Sectorates.

831 - Maketal successfully repel the Necazari invasion.

831 - Ezram Necazari, the son of Taius, dies in Illion’s captivity. Cause of death was reported as heart disease. As a gesture of respect, Ezram’s body is delivered to Taius.

831 - Chargon Yrgo Dar’Qacha resurfaces. Quickly assimilating Dar’Abbah’i forces

831 - The Privateer fleets are wildly successful. The bulk of the Nacaius worlds withdraw from the war. Sectorate wide starvation.

832 - Genocide reported in Tyraphi.

832 - Chargon Yrgo launches sneak attack on Copti. Launching asteroids on populous worlds. Including Home.

833 - Ashanar forces redouble their efforts to take over New Nacai.

833 - Shortages of all kind plague most of the galaxy.

834 - The siege of New Nacai begins.

836 - Bartholomew Low, the Lord of Arlow arrives in Nacai on his capital ship without an escort. Brokers peace between Taius and Illion.

836 - The galactic empire is divided between two entities known as the Necazari Federation, with Taius as emperor. And Ashanar Confederacy, with Illion as empress. The end of hostilities was classified as white peace.