The Reconquest

The Reconquest is the war waged by the United Colonies of Mankind to reclaim the Cradle Worlds and Earth from the Scourge. In the three years since it began, the UCM has managed to recapture several Cradle Worlds and even lay siege to Earth itself, slowly driving back the Scourge occupiers. However, interference from the enigmatic Post-Human Republic and Shaltari Tribes - in addition to the unknown full strength of the Scourge armada - may still prevent the UCM from achieving its goals.

## History

After one and a half centuries of growth following its creation, the UCM finally felt able to challenge the Scourge and attempt to regain its lost homelands. Initial intelligence-gathering operations revealed that not only were human Foldspace nodes still functioning in their formerly-controlled systems, but that said nodes were being maintained on the ground by Resistance forces. These clandestine sorties also discovered that the vast majority of the Cradle Worlds' industrial centers were still intact, including their orbital installations - the Scourge, which were now using humans as their primary hosts, had simply repurposed these for their own goals. As such, the UCM High Council ruled out the possibility of thermonuclear bombardment against their former worlds - the casualties among the resistance groups, in addition to the hope of reclaiming their lost resources, meant that the Reconquest would begin as a war of liberation.

Plans were drawn to invade four of the seven Cradle Worlds at the outset of the war, as the UCM couldn't hope to open seven fronts simultaneously. Eden Prime, the most developed Cradle World, was selected as the first target, with Elysium, Olympus, and Shangri-La chosen for subsequent invasions. Earth, despite being an attractive target for for the UCM to use its element of surprise against, was significantly better defended than any Cradle World, necessitating it to be saved until after all of humanity's other worlds had been reclaimed.

On the eve of the Reconquest's launch, the UCM would receive their first delegation from the Post Human Republic - the descendants of those who had abandoned humanity to follow the White Sphere centuries earlier. This delegation urged the UCM to not launch the Reconquest, claiming that they were ill-prepared, but the UCM High Council ignored this warning, in part due to old grudges held against the Abandonists.

### Phase 1

On June 6th, 2670, the Colonies began the Reconquest with the planned invasion of Eden Prime. Control of the system was quickly secured by the UCMF, with the Scourge fleet standing no chance against the surprise attack. A beachhead for the invasion effort was established in the capital city of New Troy, with the rest of the campaign generally proceeding as planned.

Five months after the invasion of Eden Prime, the UCM opened their next theatre in the Elysium system. Though the Scourge void presence was swiftly broken, raids by Shaltari tribal fleets would continuously harass Battlefleet Elysium until late 2671, preventing their redeployment elsewhere. The land war on Elysium would also prove to be much more costly than on Eden Prime, but would still be pronounced conquered in January of 2672.

February of 2671 saw the opening of both the Olympus and Shangri-La theatres, with the void battle over Olympus Prime becoming the largest and most costly in the UCM's history. The orbital debris generated by the battle rendered a full-scale invasion impossible, as well as blocking attempts to bombard enemy orbital defence installations planetside. Battlefleet Olympus therefore was forced to commit to costly strike carrier operations against these targets until the Scourge's orbital defences - and atmosphere - could be sufficiently cleared for a full-scale invasion.

Despite the UCM's massive gains, not all was well with the war effort. A recon team sent to investigate the Asgard system was betrayed by its supposed Resistance allies, its strike carriers destroyed by a PHR surprise attack. The system's Foldspace nodes went dark towards the end of the Reconquest's first phase, sealing the system off from future UCM invasions.

### Phase 2

February 11th, 2671, marked the beginning of the Reconquest's second phase. The offensive on Eden Prime was stepped up to clear the remaining Scourge forces, despite constant harassment by Shaltari raiders. The largest Scourge presence would eventually be vaporised after a low-ionization tactical nuclear strike against Star-Casablanca in May, but both Scourge and Feral Resistance groups would continue to pose problems on the ground until Jaunary of 2672, when the system was deemed conquered by the UCM.

On September 5th, 2671, the UCM received a report from a Marine Force Recon detachment operating in the Tlalocan system detailing an invasion by the Post Human Republic. The Abandonists's invasion was in its final stages of eradicating the Scourge presence, and had apparently begun to set up permanent installations on the system's moons. Given that the UCM was already engaged on multiple fronts, the decision was made to leave the Tlalocan system to the PHR, at least for the time being.

Reports were also received around this time of Shaltari activity in the Aaru system. The UCM had dismissed Aaru as an invasion site due to the difficulty in assailing the planet's subterranean facilities, but recon teams in the area were able to send reports detailing massive Shaltari attacks against the Scourge presence there.

On October 9th, 2671, the PHR launched an offensive in the Shangri-La system, landing ground forces in obscure locations planetwide. Both void and ground battles were hit-and-run affairs, implying that the Republic didn't intend to fight the UCM; however, a mere 23 days after their appearance, a UCM reinforcement wave near a PHR dropsite was wiped out. Despite the PHR claiming innocence, the UCM launched an offensive against Republic forces on November 12th, suffering catastrophic losses but destroying the PHR's fleet. Stranded PHR ground forces would remain in-system for a few months to come, performing hit-and-run operations against Colonial hunter-killer patrols.

### Scourge Counteroffensive

October 21st saw the Scourge make a direct transmission to the UCM High Council - the first time they had ever done so since they appeared almost 200 years before. The Scourge representative requested a ceasefire with the UCM, claiming that the Shaltari had manipulated events to cause the conflict, but the High Council refused the offer.

A day later, the Scourge would make their first offensive of the war against the colony world of Ferrum, despite (presumably) not having access to UCM Foldspace nodes or having planted their own. Though the Scourge avoided needless civilian casualties and infrastructure damage during their invasions of the Cradle Worlds, they had no such compunction on Ferrum, indicating that their goal this time was simple slaughter.

A mere month later, the colony world of Aluminia came under attack from the Scourge. After sweeping aside the token defence force left in orbit, the Scourge forces deployed noxious chemicals in Aluminia's oceans, killing off massive amount of sea life. Though their fleet would suffer 90% losses as it attempted to flee the UCM relief force, the operation had cost the UCM an important bread basket - almost 60% of the colonies' protein originated from Aluminia.

However, these setbacks would not go unanswered. In a modern equivalent of the Doolittle raid, the UCM launched a small-scale attack against Scourge water extractors on Europa in the Sol system, destroying all six facilities. Though casualties were appallingly high, the news nonetheless helped bolster the morale of Colonial forces.

### Phase 3

With Eden Prime and Elysium declared conquered at start of 2672, the UCM were able to redeploy the majority of the forces committed there to bolster other theaters, as well as begin exploiting the resources of their prizes. This would come as yet another major boost to the flagging morale of the colonies, especially after the Scourge invaded yet another colony world - this time the penal world of Wolfrum - towards the end of January.

With the departure of PHR ground forces from Shangri-La, the UCM was able to announce the system pacified and ready for exploitation - if not fully conquered - in May of 2672. The same month also saw Battlefleet Olympus reach their 95% capture or disable threshold for the planet, making full invasion of Olympus Prime a possibility. Due to the extensive Scourge defenses planetside, the invasion was delayed until August, both to wait for better weather conditions and to give the UCM time to consolidate their gains.

Early May also saw the Scourge siphon off nearly 40% of their fleet stationed in the Sol system to unknown battlefields. This, coupled with the sudden crippling of Earth's orbital defence grid by Resistance elements in June, led to serious discussion about opening a new front in the Sol system by the High Council. These arguments would continue until July 25th, when a taskforce of the Kalium Kabal arrived at Aurum to make a request - a joint invasion of Earth.

Though Kalium's forces went a sizeable way towards making such an operation feasible, UCM leaders were still hesitant to commit to such a risky operation. Their minds would be made up once a delegation from the Post-Human Republic also made an offer of support - despite resentment towards the Abandonists still running deep in the colonies, the High Council knew that the PHR's technological superiority would go a long way towards rectifying the power disparity. This new coalition between the UCM, PHR, and Kalium was dubbed the Triumvirate, and preparations for the invasion of Earth began in earnest.

### Battle for Earth

The Triumvirate's invasion of Earth began on October 2nd, 2672 - however, even from the start, things did not go according to plan. Shaltari raiders struck the UCM fleet sectors deployed around Shangri-La and Elysium, using new technology that somehow prevented Foldspace jumps. With a large percentage of the fleet unable to transition, UCM Supreme Admiral Halsey made the decision to redirect the splinter forces that were intended to be sent against other bodies in the Solar system against Earth. This move would help redress the imbalance of power in the fleet engagement with the Scourge over Earth, but would also cost the Triumvirate the element of surprise elsewhere.

The fleet action over Earth was the largest ever recorded, with the Scourge inflicting horrendous casualties on the invaders but most especially Kalium's forces, which had been deployed as the vanguard. Learning from the operations on Olympus, the Triumvirate knew that combat drops must occur the first day, lest orbital debris delay planned deployments. As a result, hundreds of troopships and almost two thousand strike carriers broke through the Scourge blockade to begin landing troops, deploying more than half the available Legions by the end of the day. With Triumvirate victory all but assured, the remaining Scourge void forces broke and scattered, jumping away from the Sol system. The next few months proceeded largely as planned for the Triumvirate, with ground forces moving into threat range of a hundred major cities and Kalium in particular liberating Chicago. Some elements of the UCMF and PHR moved on to begin preparatory bombardments of Mars, Titan, Ganymede, and Callisto due to the success of the ground operations, and the continued blockage from orbital debris generated by the void battle over Earth.

On December 15th, the Scourge returned to the Sol system in force, driving through the Triumvirate defenders to achieve Earth orbit. For two full weeks, the battle raged on, with Kalium's fleet almost being obliterated and the UCMF barely maintaining its lines. However, the timely arrival of the Vega Scrapfleet - a band of Resistance vessels that had survived the Battle of Vega - helped plug the gaps, providing just the edge humanity needed. On December 26th, what Scourge forces remained withdrew, conceding void superiority to the Triumvirate yet again.

In the closing days of 2672, the Triumvirate were finally able to use troopships for general deployment due to the clearing of orbital debris. Though the Battle for Sol had taken place largely in high orbit, the debris generated from that conflict would eventually filter into low orbit, providing the human coalition with a rapidly closing window for orbital support. As a result, several full-scale assaults were launched on major cities while the fleet could still assist.