Siege of the Scarlet Palace

*"As long as a single knight still draws breath, the Scarlet Palace will not fall"*

-High Admiral Katla during the defence of the Palace-

### Result

Phyrric victory for the Enlightened Kingdom

## Forces

### Defending forces

Start of the Siege:100 knights of the royal guard

2,000 armed servants

2nd week of the siege:

200 veteran knights

1,000 armied levies

## Casualties

### Civilian casualties

Unknown

While not one of the bloodiest battles of the Yadran Civil war, the **Siege of the Scarlet Palace** (2297/01/05-2297/03/01) was still one of the most important battles of this conflict, as it nearly brought down the Enlightened Kingdom of Ra'Tagrass.

Fought for nearly 3 months, the siege took place in the Scarlet Palace, seat of the ruler of the Enlightened Kingdom: Hask Endek. After the Battle of the 100 wrecks, the fleets of the Enlightened Kingdom were so dispersed, it allowed the generals of the Kingdom of Yadra a chance to behead the government of the Enlightened Kingdom and thus end the war in one, quick blow.

Nearly taken several times, the Scaret Palace held due in no small part to the arrival of High Admiral Katla  and a reinforcing force of veteran knights and soldiers. While a victory for the forces of the Enlightened Kingdom, the Siege of the Scarlet Palace costed the Enlightened Queen not only a large number of trusted nobles and advisors, but also one of her best generals, as Katla fell during the last stages of the siege.

Seeing the Kingdom's weakness, the surviving members of the Second Quadrumvirate chose to betray Hask'Endek and create an empire of their own, a move which would start the last stages of the civil war.

## Background

### The Kingdom of Yadra

Despite numerous setbacks at the hands of the four generals of the Enlightened Kingdom, the Kingdom of Yadra still managed to hold to important territories and rebuild many of its battered forces, including its navy. Veterans of numberless battles and skirmishes soon became generals and admirals, many of whom not only managed to slow down the Enlightened Kingdom's advance, but also win a few battles that prevented the Kingdom of Yadra's fall.

After the mostly-inconclusive battle of the 100 wrecks, the Kingdom of Yadra had lost a good number of vessels, yet its fleet of transports remained intact. Seeing an opening, Dirien'Sakat, one of the Empresse's most daring commanders, proposed a direct attack on the now-defenceless Ra'Tagrass.

The strategy was far more sound than one might asume. With many of the Enlightened Kingdom's armies busy at the front lines, the planet only had its garrisons to push back any invaders. Better still, the Scarlet Palace, seat of the Enlightened Kingdom's power, only had a few knights and inexperienced servants to hold it. Unable to pass such a chance to finally end a bloody war, the Empress accepted the strategy.

### The Scarlet Palace

While the fleet began its journey, in Ra'Tagrass things were not as peaceful as the Empress might think. After far too many reports of the increasingly-rebellious attitude of her generals, Hask'Endek began to grow more and more paranoid. Despite the increasing lack of resources, the High Queen began to fortify some of the capital's most important locations and increase the size of the garrisons.

Fearing more an attack by her own troops than she did the forces of the Kingdom of Yadra, Ra'Tagrass was not ready when the first reports arrive of Yadrani transports and a few corvette squadrons appearing in the system. By the time Hask'Endek realized these were not traitors but loyalists of the Empress, the first transports had already released their cargo. Loyalists and rebels faced each-other in cities and fields, until the whole planet seemed to have become a battlefield.

While this happened, a force of 8,000 loyalists made landing near the Scarlet Palace. As all the other garrisons were already busy with their own foes, Queen Hask'Endek, her court and servants were left alone to man whatever defences they had managed to build before the invasion. Knowing that they would not hold for long, a message was sent to the front, so those who still remained loyal would come back and help. In the meantime, the few knights and servants who knew how to wield weapons took positions and got ready for what they knew, might be the last fight of their lives.

## The Siege

### First week

While the situation was desperate within the Scarlet Palace, the 8,000 strong force coming to take it did not have an easy task ahead of them either. Prepared for battle as they were, none of the Karthemas  marching to the palace had expected it to be so fortified, its gardens now covered with deep trenches and even bunkers with heavy, rapid fire weapons and a few light pieces of artillery.

The first attacks therefore were quickly repelled by the defenders, both sides suffering only light losses as attackers and defenders began to test each-other out. Dirien'Sakat, maybe realizing he had a long battle ahead of him, chose to build some fortifications of his own while calling down some much-needed artillery to batter the palace's defences. Time might be important, but the Yadrani general did not dare to lose to many of his warriors in what might have been pointless assaults against a much stronger force.

Had Dirien known about the true strenght and training of the garrison however, he would have attacked without a moment of doubt. Hask'Endek was no general and neither were any of those nobles standing at her side. The only veteran leader, knight-captain Gomessus, died during the early days of the siege due to a stray bullet piercing through his helmet while he was inspecting the front lines. A few servants tried to flee to the other side and were silently executed before they could reveal the true situation within the palace. A defeat, it seemed, would only be a matter of time.

### Reinforcements

Just as Dirien prepared to launch a proper assault, Katla , High Admiral of the fleets of the Enlightened Kingdom, arrived at the head of a mixed force of knights and lowborn soldiers. Unlike the other generals who had ignored their queen's plea, Katla had rushed with what forces she could muster and broken the blockade for just enough time to deploy some much-needed reinforcements to the palace. Lacking proper anti-air weaponry, the attackers could only damage a few vessels before they safely delivered their cargo.

Now at the command of the garrison, Katla properly divided her forces and pulled back closer to the palace itself, knowing how she could not defend every inch of ground with the few soldiers she had under her command. As the two forces prepared for the real battle, several duels were performed in no-mands-land, many of which ended when one of the sides drew first blood. This chivalrious attitude though only lasted until Katla fought and beheaded a knight of the Kingdom of Yadra in a duel. Having broken the codes of coduct, the besigeing forces immediately fired at the Admiral, nearly obliterating her as she jumped back to her positions.

At that moment, the time for chivalrious fighting was over. The siege, could properly begin now.

### Bloody halls

The next weeks saw assault after assault against the walls and trenches of the Scarlet Palace. Bedrooms and art galleries became small battlefields of their own, each square meter of ground taken and retaken several times in a single day.

Using artillery and sappers, the besiegers managed to bring down a few of the more fortified positions of the defenders, their assaults taking them for a few hours before a costly counter-attacked pushed them back. Katla seemed to be everywhere at once during the battle, her blades covered in several layers of loyalist blood as she charged at the head of several attempts to recover important rooms and fortifications.

Yet Katla was only one knight and with each passing day, her forces had to give more and more ground to the attackers. The Throne room itself was one of the few places the defenders managed to held through the entirety of the siege and even then there were several times where the besiegers managed to reach the throne itself. After long, tiring weeks, Katla finally realized that battling alone would change little. Sooner or later, the palace would fall. A new strategy would be needed. Otherwise, the Enlightened Kingdom of Ra'Tagrass would fall.

### Last bet

Starving and nearly out of ammunition, Katla decided to risk one last attack in an attempt to break and force back their besiegers. Taking what few warriors still could walk, the High Admiral waited until the foe fell back after another failed assault to charge out of the ruins of the palace and slam into the unprotected rear of the stunned attackers.

Nearly as exhausted as their enemies, the soldiers of the Kingdom of Yadra reacted to late to the sudden assault, the smoke and fire making it seem like there were many more foes than they really were. A battle between two armies became a mindless brawl, guns and artillery forgotten as knives and swords were wielded by both sides to cut their foes down.

By the time the dust finally settled, the forces of the Kingdom of Yadra had fallen back, some slowly and in good order, others dropping their weapons and fleeing for their lives. Across the planet, other forces of the Kingdom of Yadra too were falling back, their resources nearly spent as small fleets of enemy corvettes raided their thinning supply lines. Unable and unwilling to keep going, the loyalists retreated, leaving the defenders ot lick their wound and count the dead.

## Aftermath

While a victory for the forces of the Enlightened Kingdom, the Siege of the Scarlet Palace was a bloody affair which nearly saw the end of this rebel realm. Aside from the death of many important nobles and qualified administrators who took part in the palace's defence, the Queen's best admiral, Katla , also died, the holes and cuts in her body far to many to count.

Seeing the weakness of the Enlightened Kingdom, the Queen's generals finally decided to become rulers of their own, using their large armies to carve their own empires.