9 Month’s War

Sometimes also mentioned as the *2nd. Commonwealth-Biluan War*, the aptly-named ***9 Month’s War*** was a short conflict exchanged between the Commonwealth and the Biluan Mind, in 2288. The aggressors in the conflict, the Commonwealth, sought to achieve a number of strategic goals that would result in the complete destruction and annexation of the Biluan hivemind, at a time when the Mind was weakened and in a process of rebuilding since past confrontations. The Commonwealth took the initiative, thus forcing the hivemind to fight on its own turf, resulting in the infamous Battle of Voice.

War was officially declared on March 10th, 2288. Although the conflict lasted less than a year, battlefield losses in the Biluan homeworld of Voice proved to be catastrophic for both sides of the fighting. Characterised by ground combat and the sheer brutality of both armies, the war saw no *fleet-on-fleet* engagements, despite sizable warships being present on both sides of the conflict. Despite heavy losses on Voice, the 9 Month’s War is far more remembered for its repercussions, rather than the events found within it.

Fighting ceased on January 3rd, 2289. The results of the Battle of Voice were decisive and total in favour of the Commonwealth. Despite suffering unacceptable losses to the eyes of the High Command and the general public, the nation achieved all of its strategic goals when it destroyed the planet and killed the head of the hivemind, in an act which resulted in the complete collapse of the Biluan Mind and its remaining drones amongst its other colonies. In the aftermath of hostilities, the surrounding nations scrambled to participate in the so-called *“Great Biluan Landgrab”*, and whilst most nations benefited from the destruction of one of the greatest scourges of the Galactic East - The Commonwealth, with an army in shambles and a battered leadership, was forced to take the brunt of the losses and reassess its capabilities in ground warfare; A lesson that would shape the way of future conflicts were fought under the supervision of the Crownless Eagle.

## **Prelude**

Amongst many events that led to the Biluan Mind’s downfall from Geopolitical prominence, it was perhaps it's abhorrent performance during the Biluan-Udkavongo Invasion that sealed the fate for the hyper-aggressive hivemind. The Battle of Arvo was, for the Biluan Mind, not only a military defeat but also a strategic one; Opening breaches that Task Force Manticore did not only utilised to their favour, but abused to the point the mind was completely incapable of defending itself in the void. The result was the Biluan Raiding Campaign of 2270-2271, a series of minor skirmishes and sieges that trashed hivemind’s ability to extract resources, manufacture and sustain its war efforts in space and in enemy territories. It did not appear as such for the Commonwealth Admiralty at the time, but the consequences of the campaign were catastrophic for the Biluan Mind’s capacity to sustain itself without sacrificing resources and time to rebuild in anticipation for future conflicts. It came as a welcome surprise then, when the Commonwealth moved in once more, in 2288, that their naval forces found minimal resistance in the offensive for Voice.

Another factor that beheaded the Biluan Mind’s power to keep its edge in the eternal arms race with its rivals was the bombardment conducted by Task Force Manticore upon the hivemind’s Nexus Research Facility, during the Raiding Campaign of 2270-71. It is unknown to this day how the Biluan Mind operated its drones in research efforts at all, but it also became clear that, after the partial destruction of said facility as the Commonwealth traversed back to its territories, the rate of technological development of the Mind became severely hampered, to the point where it entered stage of entropy altogether by the time Task Force Manticore re-emerged in 2288. As the Commonwealth had a period of peace after emerging victorious from the Great Southeastern War, it saw a technological golden age that permitted the development and constructions of weapons such as CSV Archon to be utilised against the Biluan Mind once war had commenced, further tipping the scale of the conflict towards the Commonwealth’s advantage.

## **Conflict**

*For further information on the battle, check the Battle of Voice article.*

At face value, the war itself was a brief and uneventful event, safe for the bloodbath in which the Battle of Voice ended up becoming. Upon the declaration of hostilities, Task Force Manticore moved in as the vanguard force of the Commonwealth’s army to engage and destroy any enemy forces resisting the advance. The army, under leaderships of General Marek Branicki and General Lop Aspinaca, followed behind under the escort of smaller vessels, with their courses set directly for the orbit of Voice, the Biluan homeworld.

After its jump into the Yliant System, Task Force Manticore remained unopposed and moved in to engage the Biluan spaceport above Voice. The remaining spacefaring forces of the Hivemind were not present, as they had been too slow in their efforts to intercept the Commonwealth force and as such stayed in the Ecynth System, orbiting the “Gamma” Colony of the mind. Still facing no fleet opposition, Manticore destroyed the Biluan spaceport and proceeded to lay siege to Voice, softening up defences as Branicki’s army made its way to the frontlines. After further weeks of indiscriminate orbital bombardment, the ground forces were gradually landed onto the surface of the planet, and the Battle for Voice commenced. Conflict in the planet began on November 9th, peaking once, during the initial offensive, and then again once the mind realised the intentions of its Commonwealth invaders. Weeks later - On January 3rd, 2289 -, the battle came to a gruesome closure once ground forces answering to General Branicki detonated themselves and the planet, putting an end to the Biluan Mind once in for all.

## **Repercussions**

In the aftermath of the carnage at Voice there were no treaties, no negotiations - Only silence. The Commonwealth emerged victorious from the fighting, and the Galaxy as a whole lived on with one less threat to poison its inhabitants. The Biluan Mind ceased to exist as an entity and a threat, seemingly ‘dissolving’ once the connection with the hivemind was severed, leaving only ruins of structures in colonised planets or derelict ships orbiting silent worlds. Overall, it is impossible to estimate with accuracy, but anywhere between 80 and 200 Billion Biluan drones were presumed to have been killed as a result of the war. Compared to those numbers, the Commonwealth’s 28 Million and 74 Thousand dead seem like a drop of water in the ocean, but 93% losses ultimately proved to be the deadliest conflict in the nation’s history, casting a wave of severe discontent over the way in which Army forces of the Commonwealth were being managed up that point.

As a consequence of the fighting, General Branicki had been left behind and declared killed in action during the Battle of Voice. Therefore the brunt wave of criticism was then directed at General Aspinaca, who was paraded throughout several court inquiries and interrogations to validate the claims of ineptitude and incompetence that had allegedly plagued the ground forces during the fighting. Those trials, however, failed in removing the general from office, yet they did cause enough controversy to spark a series of major reforms that would change the Commonwealth’s Armed Forces’ way of fighting, along with its employment of sentient ground forces amidst likely suicidal situations of combat. The Commonwealth Army was then temporarily disbanded for total re-evaluation of its weaknesses and strengths in the following years.

Another consequence created by the complete end of the Biluan Mind was empty space re-introduced after the mind’s dissolution, that is, the race to annex it. The following “*Great Biluan Landgrab*” was an event that encompassed a series of claims, annexations and diplomatic posturings that ensued just after the end of the war. In summary, it involved the Cizri Council, the Commonwealth, the Democratic Udkavongo Confederation and several Ahadi mining companies, in their quest to dominate the then vacant territories of the deceased Biluan Empire. The Commonwealth, although having the naval power and political leverage to uphold many claims to the territories, were ultimately outmanoeuvred by the decisive and fast response of the Cizri Council, a situation which sparked a series of tensions that remained unresolved because of Cizri isolationism.

In conclusion, the 9 Month’s War remains a controversial topic discussed in the Commonwealth to this day. It was no doubt a justified action taken against a horde of mindless drones, but some have come to wonder if such a sacrifice was truly worth it, or if that catastrophe could have been avoided at all. Unfortunately, it remains a touchy subject for many, and a painful reminder of their long-gone loved ones. The war marked the end to an era of atrocities, yet, it ended with perhaps the greatest atrocity of all, and those lost against the brutality of the Biluan Mind were robbed of a second chance, laying down their lives for the safeguarding of many generations to come.