War

*"Now the War!...can continue!"* -General Endicott

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The **War** was a devastating conflict which took place between the Husnock and the Homeworld from Season 90 to Season 93. Casualties of the war included nearly two million dead in armed conflict with the Husnock as well as over a billion civilians killed in the Battle of the Homeworld. Husnock casualties were equally devastating with two and half billion dead as well as the obliteration of the planet Schooler. The War led to the downfall and disbandment of the Army as well as the disgrace and retirement of General Endicott.

## Prelude to War (Season 89-90)

In Season 89, it is believed that (then) Colonel Endicott learned of the existence of the Husnock race, prompting a deep space survey mission to SLHS-8993 in the far reaches of the Core Systems. When Endicott returned from the mission, he reported to the Army Central Staff regarding the possibility of an alien race in the proximity of the Homeworld.

The following year, in the eighth month of Standard Date 90, transmissions were intercepted on the Homeworld of apparently alien origin. Assuming these were from the same race Endicott had reported the previous year, Endicott was ordered to take his vessel (Vessel ST-1703) to discover the origins of the transmission. Endicott returned from his mission a month later and, on 12 Standard Date 9 Season 90, announced that a dangerous alien race called the Husnock were preparing to strike against the Homeworld and annihilate the entire Race.

## First Strike (Season 90)

In the tenth month of Standard Date 90, Endicott was promoted to General and ordered by the Forum to neutralize the threat of the Husnock. Endicott assembled a large fleet known as the Strike Force against the Husnock and ordered his new command outward bound towards a previously uncharted planet called Schooler. Arriving at Schooler several weeks later, the Strike Force destroyed a garrison of space vessels which were later learned to be Husnock warships. Endicott then ordered his Strike Force to attack the planet Schooler directly with quantum tachyon torpedos.

On 13 Standard Date 11 Season 90, in what became known as the Battle of First Strike, the planet Schooler was obliterated by orbital bombardment. During the attack, several Husnock vessels escaped orbit, leading Endicott to order a detached squadron of his strike force to pursue. Meanwhile, Endicott returned to the Homeworld and personally informed the Chairman of the Forum that the Husnock threat had been eliminated.

## Husnock Counterattack (Season 91)

In the fourth standard date of Season 91, a garrison squadron in orbit above the planet Schooler was suddenly attacked by a large force of Husnock warships and completely destroyed. General Endicott ordered the remainder of his Strike Force to move towards Schooler to investigate. The Strike Force encountered a large Husnock fleet and was forced to withdraw.

Returning to the Homeworld, Endicott faced an angry censure from the Chairman of the Forum.

*"General Endicott! You assured this Forum that your military actions would eliminate the Husnock threat towards our planet. You now stand here reporting that an even greater threat stands against us!"*
*"Excellency, my original assessment was in the dealing with a single Husnock planet. We had no way of knowing that there would be a Second Husnock force against which we would face."*
In the recorded exchange between Endicott and the Chairman of the Forum, the new Husnock enemy was thereafter referred to as "The Second". The original Husnock of Schooler were likewise dubbed as "The First".

## Battle of Second Strike (Season 92)

Seeing that the they had no choice, the Forum authorized Endicott to mobilize the entire reserve of both the Army and Navy to strike against the Second Husnock. Endicott was thus appointed Supreme Commander of the Army and ordered to complete neutralize the Second Husnock.

After conducting reconnaissance and probe missions in the fall of Season 91, Endicott was able to determine that the Second Husnock were operating from the planet Rohrbaugh, on the southern edge of the Core Systems. In the spring of Season 92, Endicott ordered the combined Army-Navy fleet to move towards Rohrbaugh. After several skirmishes with Husnock patrols, Endicott entered the Rohrbaugh star system and on 31 Standard 5 Season 92, in what would become known as the Battle of Second Strike, Endicott proceeded to attack the Husnock fleet at Rohrbaugh.

After a space engagement lasting over 136 hours, both sides were forced to withdraw after suffering immense casualties. Endicott ordered his forces to retreat to a defensive perimeter around the Homeworld while the Second Husnock established a defensive line at the border of their own star system.

## Battle of the Homeworld (Season 93)

Following the unresolved tactical situation after the Battle of Second Strike, both Husnock and Homeworld forces stabilized at defensive lines in order to regroup and rebuild their forces. In the beginning of Season 93, General Endicott ordered probing actions against the Second Husnock which, much to Endicott's and other Army leaders' surprise, found that the Husnock had abandoned their defensive positions. A month later, long range scans confirmed that the Seocnd Husnock had abandoned their own homeworld which was now deserted.

Over the next two months, Endicott held the Army on alert status, slightly at a loss as how to proceed now that the Second Husnock had all but disappeared from the space of the Core Systems. Then, on 5 Standard 6 Season 93, a massive Husnock fleet was detected approaching the Homeworld and it became clear that the Second Husnock had returned.

Endicott ordered the entire Army fleet to move against the Husnock with the Navy Fleet in reserve. In a battle which lasted 17 hours, the Army Fleet was completely destroyed by the Husnock. Endicott, who had survived onboard his own command ship, then ordered the Navy Fleet to form a cordon around the Homeworld; however, the small number of Navy vessels were no match for the Husnock fleet.

The Husnock fleet then proceeded to bombard the surface of the Homeworld - an action which killed over one billion civilians and severely damaged the Homeworld ecosystem. With the Chairman of the Forum near to ordering a full surrender, the Husnock suddenly retreated. A single radio message was then sent to Capitol City which read:

"*We want nothing more to do with you"*
The entire Husnock fleet then withdrew form the Core Systems towards the North Galactic Quadrant, leaving the Battle of the Homeworld at an end.

## Aftermath

In the Aftermath of the Battle of the Homeworld, the Forum established the Special Commission for the Conduct of the War against the Husnock which determined that General Endicott had mislead the government into launching the War with the Husnock. While many members of the Forum wished to try Endicott as a war criminal, fear existed that Endicott's prosecution might spark a civil war between the Army and Navy. Instead, Endicott was permitted to retire from active duty while the Army was disbanded. In the eighth standard month of Season 93 the Forum passed Forum Resolution 561 which declared a ceasefire with the Husnock.