Imperial Civil War

The Imperial Civil War was an internal conflict within the Terran Imperium fought between the Carlists and the Ecclesiarchial Traitors that erupted shortly after the Second Galactic War.

## Overview

### Context

Despite its mighty image, the Imperium of Man was an empire tethering on the brink of catastrophe. Its empire was divided into two camps — those who supported Steward Karl Franz and those who disagree his every action. The Steward was beloved by the people, but he had many enemies, one of whom was High Ecclesiarch Pompey — a powerful and influential figure who was publicly humiliated by the Steward after it was uncovered that he siphoned the Ecclesiarchy’s treasury towards his own interests. Following the Imperium’s successful crusade against the New Republic, Karl announced his plan to give all sentient beings in the Imperium equal status. Enraged by the implications this may bring, the Ecclesiarch rose his forces in rebellion and — with the aid of a few disgruntled nobles — fled to Segmentum Ultima.

### Flight to Ultima

After the Steward caught wind of Pompey’s insolence, he ordered his fleets to hunt the Ecclesiarch. However, each time Karl sent a fleet, the men onboard would flock to the Ecclesiarch’s side. He had no choice but to take matters into his own hand. He ordered a meeting with some of the Imperium’s finest commanders. They discussed about matters of state, battle strategies, and theorised the outcome of a prolonged conflict with the traitors. It was here when the Steward met Celeste Auditore de Fienze, a brilliant admiral in the Imperial Navy. A week after the traitors fled to Segmentum Ultima, the Steward ordered for a massive fleet to amass over Terra. Within two weeks, the Carlists were ready for war.

Meanwhile, the Ecclesiarchy had used their time to convince the population about the heretical deeds of the Steward. Many believed their words and rose in rebellion, but some resisted against their temptations and remained loyal to the Steward.

### The Long War

Unfortunately for the Carlists, a warp storm broke out shortly after they left Terra, forcing the Steward’s fleet to retreat to the fortress world of Cadia to wait the storm’s end. As soon as the warp storm ended a year later, the Carlists fleets departed for the Segmentum to exact the Steward’s vengeance against the traitors.

When they arrived in the Segmentum, they found out that many of the planets in the area had switched their allegiances to the Ecclesiarchy. Thus, the Carlists were tasked with the daunting objective of ‘persuading’ these worlds to rejoin the Imperial fold. Most accepted their persuasions, but some planets were resistant to the idea of cooperating with heretics. Among these planets is a shipyard world named Kuat — an integral cog in the traitor’s war machine. They lay siege on the planet for weeks, resulting in the loss of millions of lives, until the planetary governor conceded defeat. The governor was later publicly executed by the Steward himself.

A number of minor skirmishes would follow soon afterwards, which can be seen in the list below:

* Battle of Yavin IV - Carlist victory
* Battle of Deu’Rex - Ecclessiarchy victory
* Battle of New Johannesburg - Carlist victory

Yet, it is only until the Battle of Isekai X when the Carlists forces would strike their deadliest blow yet against the traitors. Considered as a cardinal world by the Imperium, Isekai X was located on the edges of Imperium-controlled space. Its strategic location has been the cause of many disputes between the Mandalorians and the Imperial garrison who control the system. On February 4th, 989.M40, the main Carlist fleet appeared five hundred thousand kilometres away from the planet. The Ecclesiarchial fleet — consisting of 5 battleships, 10 cruisers, 34 destroyers, and 89 corvettes — moved to respond to the sudden threat. However, when they passed by the system’s resident gas giant, they were caught off-guard by a sudden barrage of missiles hailing beneath the layers of gas. When the smoke cleared, they were greeted by a sharp attack into its core, led by none other than Celeste herself. The main Carlist fleet intercepted the traitor’s fleet and unleashed the Steward’s might against the Ecclesiarchy’s fleet. The battle lasted only five hours.

However, moments before the battle’s conclusion, a single lone ship flew past the planet’s defences and hovered above the planet’s key feature — a sprawling cathedral home to tens of thousands of subjects devoted the High Ecclesiarch’s “crusade”. The ship unloaded a single missile rod at the building. The screams of children deafened the sky; they cried for their saviour, but no angel came to heed their prayers.

With the loss of Isekai, Pompey was forced to retreat to Mandalorian territory, with Celeste and Karl’s fleet right behind him.

### Dido Rising

Karl was given residence in one of the Ptolomey’s paradise planets. There, on Arrachis V, he met Dido, Ptolomey’s adopted sister. She explained to him that the throne was supposed to be hers, that their father had written that the eldest-born should rule the kingdom; but Ptolomey’s pride led him to kill their father and assume the throne for himself. Karl, already disgruntled by the Boy-King’s recklessness, agreed to help Dido in her uprising against the Ptolomeyists.

### End of the Imperial Civil War

With the end of the Mandalorian Civil War, the Steward returned to Terra loaded with gifts from the Mandalorians. His heart was heavy, but Karl had the sworn duty to protect Her people and Her Imperium. When he returned to Terra, he passed the Nova bill — a series of laws that state that any Xenos can become an Imperial citizen — with all of its rights equal to that of a human Imperial citizen — if they swore their fealty to the God Emperor and Her appointed stewards.