Great Crusade

> *"On this day, on this most auspicious of times, we proclaim that the Terran Imperium has brought law and order to the galaxy where the great 'Galactic Republic' has failed" - Imperium Commissar*
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## Great Crusade

### Location

Throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, primarily Outer Rim

### Outcome

* Imperial Victory
	+ Signing of the Treaty of Taris
	+ Majority of the Outer Rim annexed by the Terran Imperium
	+ Remainder of the Outer Rim annexed by the Galactic Republic
	+ destruction of the Hutt Cartel

Combatants| * Terran Imperium and Imperial allies

* Hutt Cartel
* Outer Rim Nations
* Outer Rim Warlords
* Outer Rim Pirate Bands

The **Great Crusade** is the first conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Terran Imperium. Ten years after Lelouch vi Britannia formed the Imperium and was crowned the Emperor and sole ruler of the Empire alongside his wife Kallen vi Britannia, they led a massive army on a campaign to spread the Imperium's rule over the Galaxy's vast and largely lawless Outer Rim. After making very successful gains in the first few months, Republic sent it's own forces to combat the Imperium where they pitted troops with little combat experience, and these such experience was in regards to dealing with Nobles in the Rebellions or the Hutts' often untrained mercs, against Imperial Guardsman who had served under Lelouch in his campaigns. After six years of bloody conflict, the Terran Imperium had gone from a regional power into a Galactic Superpower.

## Names

Known as the **'Great Crusade'** by the Imperium and the **'Rise of the Imperium'** by the Republic and other galactic civilizations. This six year period is the first recorded conflict of the Galactic Republic and the newly christened Terran Imperium in their ten thousand year long cold war. This is where the Imperium showed the galaxy their power, especially the might of their military.

## Background

The war had it's beginnings during the after math of the Unification Wars. After many long and brutal years, Lelouch vi Britannia, his wife Kallen vi Britannia, and their associates managed to unite the Terran worlds from the edge of Wild Space to the Orion's Arm, their border with the rest of the galaxy. Though many in the galaxy cheered for that the Terrans were now united, they were shocked when Lelouch declared himself the undivided Emperor and sole ruler of a unified empire he christened as the Terran Imperium.

He then declared that the Republic had done nothing to end the constant strife that had divided his people, and soon he broke off all relations with the Republic, claiming that the Imperium had no interest in negotiating with the Republic at all. And as he closed his borders to the Republic, Lelouch began turning his eye towards expansion and conquest.

## History

### Prelude

After he closed off his borders to the Republic, Lelouch began amassing an army and navy of such size that the galaxy had never seen before. And due to the lack of any Republic presence in the Imperium, he could do such things publicly and without fear of retaliation from them. His Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy received billions of recruits throughout the years, and foundries produced might weapons and vehicles of war. And his broadcasts and propaganda did much to inspire the Terrans to follow his policies and ambitions as they now regarded Lelouch as the savior of the Terran people.

With his Generals and Admirals, Lelouch outlined their invasion of the Outer Rim Territories, including Hutt Space. Both of them were what separated the Imperium with the Galactic Republic, which for fifteen thousand years has been the only Galactic Superpower. Lelouch planned to change that. With the vast military he was assembling, he planned to sweep through these two lands and conquer them completely. And due to them being mainly lawless and unorganized, Lelouch never truly expected them to put up much of a fight. With this act, Lelouch would give his people a grand gift: an empire of a massive scale. And after ten years of preparation, he was ready to turn the Imperium into a force to rival the Republic.

### Progress of the Crusade

Once his forces were assembled, Lelouch gave the order for his commanders to begin their invasion. Soon, thousands upon thousands of Imperial warships crossed the Orion's Arm and began taking over planets by the hundreds. The worlds put up little to sporadic resistance as the battle hardened Imperium military swept through the Rim, defeating anyone who opposed them. In each one, they were greeted as the bringers of Law and Order which helped cement their reputation as they continued to expand even further throughout the Outer Rim. And each world they conquered provided more and more recruits for the ever growing empire.

After the first few months, the Republic decided to intervene and halt the Imperium's expansion efforts. They sent their full army and navy, totaling several billion towards the ever growing front line. The Republic assumed that their highly trained military and powerful Jedi Knights would be enough to turn back the Terrans and halt their imperialist ambitions. However, the Republic military's experience was only on putting down Noble Rebellions. Never had it truly been deployed in a full fledged war with another galactic power.

When the Republic first encountered the Imperial Guard, it was a massacre. Though the Terrans were armed with slugthrower based weaponry such as Bolters and autoguns, which the Republic long considered to be primitive, their infantry inflicted heavy casualties among the Republic forces. And their tanks and walkers inflicted heavy psychological terror among the Republic troops who had little to stop them. The Jedi Knights found that due to the Terran's Force negativity, made the use of their powers completely useless against them. And they found that while their lightsabers were capable of cutting down the Terrans all the same, they could not deflect the hails of bullets fired on them resulting in many Jedi being killed. And soon, the Republic forces were routed as they lost too many troops against the overwhelming numbers of Imperial troops.

With the Republic seemingly on the run and his forces rapidly advancing through the Outer Rim, Lelouch enacted the next phase of his plan: the conquest of Hutt Space. With the Republic crippled, he had a smaller yet large enough army move into Hutt Space to begin annexation. The Hutt's mercenaries hearing the Imperium's victories against the Republic, quickly dropped their arms and surrendered without a fight, knowing they stood little chance against them. Soon, a few months later, all of Hutt Space was now part of the Terran Imperium. The Hutts, now powerless, fled to Republic space, but when these fleeing Hutts reached Republic space, most of these Hutts were arrested for crimes against the Republic and Sentients with the few that wasn't arrested was forced to lived in slums. With Hutt Space secured, Lelouch turned his attention to the conquest of the remaining Outer Rim worlds.

However, he soon lost the advantage he had earlier. The Republic conscripted billions of more troops to counter the Imperium. And soon their advance turned into a crawl. For the next several years, battle would be fought where millions upon millions would be killed over single worlds with both sides suffering heavy losses. Though the Republic turned the front line into a stalemate, The Imperium managed to conquer a few worlds every now and then.

Soon, after the sixth year of the conflict, Lelouch decided to end this as it was becoming too much to deal with. And like that, Lelouch contacted the Republic and arranged an end to the war, bringing an end to the first conflict between superpowers.

## Aftermath

The effects of the conflict had a resounding effect upon the galaxy. The death toll itself was massive as billions of lives were lost on both sides, both civilian and military. As both sides mourned their losses, each side used propaganda to claim that they died as heroes for their cause. The Republic claimed they died 'to halt the ambitions of the Terrans and to defend their borders'. And for the Imperium, they claimed 'They died to unite the Outer Rim and secure the Terrans place in the galaxy'.

The peace treaty that ended the war established the new borders along where the front line was situated on when the armistice was called. The Imperium had conquered all of Hutt Space along with 75% of the Outer Rim which was soon annexed into their empire. The Republic held on to the last 25% of the Outer Rim which they annexed to offer the worlds protection against further Imperium ambitions.

For the Terrans, the war was celebrated as a great victory. There celebrations held for over two weeks as they welcomed the troops home as the conquering heroes. And soon, Lelouch declared that on the day of the armistice between them and the Republic would be a national holiday known ironically as 'Armistice Day'. This is a holiday that the Terrans still celebrate to this day. It showed the might of the Imperium and how the Terrans could conquer any challenge set against them as they stood united. And this helped to cement the Imperium as a new Galactic Superpower to challenge the might of the Galactic Republic, and the Jedi Order as well.

For the Republic, the war was an utter disaster for them. They sent their forces in unprepared to fighting the Imperium war machine and the billions of casualties they experienced showed them how woefully inadequate they were against them. The Senate soon decided that in order to survive another war they were going to need a more powerful military. The Republic almost immediately spent more and more credits to expand and modernize their military.

## Warcrimes

Both sides committed war crimes during the course of the war. It ranged from executions to mass murder. The records indicate that dozens of such crimes were indicated during the course of the war. However, due to the lack of records, it's hard to trace if any other such crimes were committed as commanders failed to document and record such incidents.

## Soldiers experiences

The soldiers on both sides experienced the war in different ways. But the Republic troops had the worst of these experiences. Faced with an enemy with seemingly inexhaustible numbers, they felt like they were fighting an endless war. And the Imperium's vehicles and fleets far outgunned their own so they had to come up with creative ways to win battles more than a few times. The Republic morale was always low as it's troops were mainly trying to stay alive out of survival, not duty.

As for Imperial troops, they were a slightly different case. As their forces continued to conquer world after world in the first year of the war their spirits and morale were at an all time high. And as the war bogged down, their morale dropped somewhat but they were still highly confident that they would win the war, which they did in the end.

## Support and opposition to the war

Both sides tried to rally the public to their side during the course of the war. They used propaganda as a tool to help motivate people to join the military or help support the war effort in their own way by contributing scrap or purchasing war bonds.

But for many in the Republic, there was less support as the war dragged on. As losses mounted and billions lost their lives, mass riots, protests and more spread throughout the Republic as many called for an end for the war. The people of the Republic had no interest in fighting the Imperium. They never wanted to fight them. But now with the war, they shifted their anger towards the Senate for continually conscripting more people to send to the front.

For the Imperium, there was widespread support for the war, as the people were still very patriotic from their unification ten years earlier. There were some protests against the war by several Imperial citizens but their voices fell on deaf ears.

## Legacy and memory

Both the Republic and the Imperium have long remembered the Great Crusade. Both have erected monuments and memorials to those that have fallen in those six long and bloody years. For the Republic, they have the Pillar of Heroes, a large and tall steel pillar which stands in front of the Senate Building. And for the Imperium, they have the 'Angels of the Battlefield'. It's a statue depicting an Angel protecting a group of soldiers on the battlefield.

Armistice Day, the day where the Armistice was signed, is a major holiday for the Imperium. For two weeks, there are widespread celebrations and parties as they celebrate the Imperium's first ever victory against the Republic.