Imperial War

The Imperial War, also known as the Imperium War and the Eight-Day War, was an interstellar conflict fought in 2558 between the allied United Nations Space Command and Swords of Sanghelios against the Imperium of Clarity, a sizeable successor state to the .
Starting out as a power play made by the burgeoning empire after it seized a remote human colony world, the conflict soon expanded into a brief but costly war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and irrevocably changed the course of several colonised systems.
==Background==
===The Imperium===
Situated in a remote fringe of the former Covenant Empire, the Sangheili colony world of Iradu was transformed into a thriving centre of industry and growth by Fleet Admiral Toru 'Makhan and his forces, who had been banished in all but name to the frontier after 'Makhan's desire for power became too obvious for the San'Shyuum Hierarchs to ignore. With a sizeable fleet under his command and little oversight from the rest of the Covenant, which was mostly occupied with its ongoing war against the human race, 'Makhan began to stockpile resources and weaponry in the war's final years and would eventually cut off all contact with his superiors as the occurred, choosing no side in the subsequent conflict.
Formed shortly before the Human-Covenant War's end, the Imperium of Clarity emerged as a formidable power on the frontier, led by the self-declared Imperial Admiral 'Makhan and a group of high-ranking officers, who took control of a number of systems over the next few years and bolstered their ranks by doing away with much of the former Covenant's specisism. In this time the Imperium would build up its military arsenal, going from a single patrol fleet to an entire armada's worth of warships that subjugated world after world and defeated numerous warlords and pirate bands. While the Imperium itself operated far away from the galaxy's larger powers, it soon became clear that it would become a force to be reckoned with if its rapid expansion was not curtailed.
===Outside Influence===
In 2558, the Imperium of Clarity was contacted by Isaac Kenner and Edward Thaler, two human merchants representing a group known as the Guild of Free Traders. A loose conglomerate of independent traders from various sectors, the Guild had been looking to expand into non-human territory and sought out the Imperium, with its relative safety compared to closer Sangheili systems and generally welcoming attitude even to humans, as its first customers. 'Makhan eventually met with Kenner and Thaler himself, and after days of negotiation was convinced by the merchants to help the Guild seize the mining colony of Montak.
Situated outside the furthest reaches of human-controlled space, Montak was a resource-rich world that would provide both the Imperium and the Guild with tremendous profits once seized, and had no settlements save for a single Liang-Dortmund mining facility on its surface. Seeing this as the Imperium's chance to finally prove its worth on the galactic stage, 'Makhan agreed to give Kenner and Thaler's men control of the station and sent a pair of cruiser to support the Guild in its endeavour while he prepared his supercarrier, the Watchful Custodian, for battle.
==Conflict==
===Invasion===
With little in the way of defences save for a few anti-aircraft batteries built to ward off lightly-armed pirate raiders, the facility on Montak was no match for the Imperium's forces and fell without any resistance. Leaving Thaler and several platoons of Guild-affiliated mercenaries to run the mining facility, Kenner quickly left the system to inform his superiors. The workers, though numerous, were quickly cowed into submission by the Guild mercenaries and their Sangheili allies, and got back to work, now under armed guard. With this first strike, the entire colony world now belonged to the Imperium of Clarity.
Montak's seizure did not go unnoticed for long. On August 14th, ten days after Kenner and Thaler's fateful meeting with 'Makhan, two warships from a joint UNSC-Sangheili patrol entered the Montak system to investigate a sudden loss of contact from the colony. These were the UNSC Haversham, a Halberd-class destroyer, and the Ferocity, a SDV-class heavy destroyer. With officials from each craft visiting the other shortly after their arrival in-system to promote interspecies relations, the warships were ill-prepared for first contact with the Imperium of Clarity. Before either vessel could act, the Watchful Custodian emerged from slipsace, annihilating the Ferocity in moments and immobilising the Haversham shortly after. The destroyer was soon boarded, and a party led by 'Makhan himself quickly captured the unresisting crew. 
Only Shipmaster Keyn 'Goras, who had been visting from the Ferocity, attempted to stop the Imperial Admiral, but he was quickly slain by 'Makhan's bodyguards. Captain Reynald Donnelly then officially surrendered the destroyer to 'Makhan, becoming the first POW of the Imperial War while a member of his crew secretly jettisoned the destroyer's black box. Donnelly and the Haversham's crew were then taken to an internment camp on Iradu, where many of the officers were briefly interrogated at 'Makhan's behest. Despite this treatment, none of the humans were permitted to be tortured or killed. This first strike was widely broadcast across the Imperium, boosting morale as 'Makhan's fleets assembled in the Yain and Voden systems. Shortly after this, a Winter-class prowler was dispatched to the Montak system to investigate the disappearance of the patrol ships, and stayed just long enough to recover the destroyer's black box before fleeing back towards Earth.
===Mobilisation===
Details from the missing destroyer's black box were taken to the United Nations Space Command's headquarters and handed over to military analysts while were alerted to the attack. On the morning of August 26th, a meeting was held in the Strategic Response Centre of HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6, chaired by Fleet Admiral Lord . Also in attendance were a number of high-ranking military officials, including General , Admiral Lin Zhi, Vice Admiral Ryan Samson and Rear Admiral John Hawkins. Having reviewed footage of the Imperium's invasion of Montak and unprovoked attack on a UNSC vessel, a decision had been made by both HIGHCOM and members of the United Earth Government to launch an immediate military counteroffensive. The UNSC's Sixth Fleet, bolstered by various warships taken from other battlegroups, would be expanded to a size not seen since the Human-Covenant War and sent under Admiral Zhi's command to retake Montak and neutralise the threat posed by the Imperium of Clarity. Accompanying them would be several ships from contacted PMC groups, and a sizeable fleet sent by the Swords of Sanghelios, who also viewed the Imperium as a threat. 
===Battle of Montak===
===Two Fronts===
===Battle of Bineb===
===Battle of Frendhal===
===Imperial Retreat===
===Battle of Iradu===
==Aftermath==
==Trivia==
*The Imperial War's events are depicted in full in the Imperium RP, which ran from 2018 to 2021.