Second Great War

**Clockwise from top left**: Forces engaging in the Kirsk counterattack, Union forces escaping Anaxia, Buran as it fell, Orbital battle at Voi, NX-01 Soldiers deploying at Buran, forces engage in a firefight on Argus

## Second Great War

### Date

11th May 2188 - 4th October 2196* 1st January 2197 (Official ceremony)

### Location

7th - 11th Quadrants of the Convergence Galaxy

### Outcome

Military stalemate * Galactic Union cedes control of Buran to Zultan Empire
* Neutral Zone established between the two powers
* Zultan Great Houses fracture into factionalism
* Many planets left abandoned and uninhabitable
* Near complete extermination of NX-01 Program soldiers
* 1/3 of Zultan starfleet destroyed

Belligerents|  Galactic Union* Galactic Union Military
* SPECOPS

Commanders| * Fleet Admiral Reginald Williams
* Admiral Tiberius Kaiser
* Admiral Grace Hale
* General Dwight Tallius
* *Zultan Emperor*
* Gorzan Urdin of House Korn
* Uraad Dresh of House Baanthar

Forces|  Galactic Union* Galactic Union Military

Casualties| * Approx. 23,000,000 civilian and military casualties.
* 44 planets rendered uninhabitable.
* Buran decimated and taken.
* 23 planets rendered uninhabitable.
* 1/3 of Fleet destroyed

The **Second Great War**, sometimes romanised as **Great War II**, also referred to as the the **Second Union-Zultan War**, was a major interstellar conflict that occurred between 11th May 2188, and 4th October 2196. The conflict saw a state of total war exist between the Galactic Union Government and the Zultan Empire. The war was primarily fought inside the territories of the two powers, between the seventh and eleventh quadrants of the galaxy.

The war was instigated by the Zultan Empire, whom had ambitions to conquer Union territory since the short lived First Great War, which had ended in 2151. After a Union economic boom following the conflict and continued expansion near the Zultan border left the Zultan leadership thirsty for conquest, in order to please their god of war, Kulahmai. The Zultan Empire was able to catch the Union off-guard in 2188 when they declared war, after years of economic and planetary development had come at the cost of a weakened military on the Union's part. With little time to prepare, the Union deployed its forces to defend their territory, but the Zultan warfleet was far more superior and overwhelmed the military of the Union for the first two years of the war. The Union was handed defeat after defeat at the hands of the Zultan Empire, with the fall of both Buran and Anaxia being vital losses for the Union, due to their strategic and economic importance.

After what seemed to be a certain defeat on the part of the Union, the tides began to turn. The Union's military leadership had been given more power by the civilian government, and was better prepared to allocate funds and resources in the war. The Union's covert military black-ops organisation, SPECOPS, began work on a number of innovations that eventually turned the war in the Union's favour. The most notable of these innovations was the NX-01 program, which saw the deployment of over 100 super-soliders to retake key positions. The effectiveness of these soliders, and the deployment of new Union starships was enough to push the war from a guaranteed Union loss to a stalemate. After further years of conflict, the two sides finally agreed to lay down their arms and end the conflict.

The war officially ended on the 1st January 2197, although a ceasefire had been in place since the 4th October 2196. The Union was able to retake Anaxia but had failed to resecure Buran. When the treaty, referred to as the Signal Accords, were signed by the two powers in 2197, several agreemens were made to ensure that both sides benefitted from the ceasation of hostilities. The establishment of the Neutral Zone along the lines of the two borders (roughly between the ninth and tenth quadrants) would ensure that neither side would encroach on the other's territory again, and an agreement was made whereby Buran would be officially in the Neutral Zone, but the Zultan Empire would gain economic rights to the planet and be allowed to station their citizens there. The war is the most deadly in recent galactic history and is the deadliest conflict in the individual histories of both sides, with the total deaths exceeding 40 million, with well over half of these being Union casualties.

## Background

The Union and Zultan Empire had just concluded their first major conflict in 2151, the war resulted in a fragile peace that existed between the powers and was a major humiliation to the Zultan Empire. The Union government began a period of rebuilding and economic development following this conflict. This period resulted in the Union Military being defunded and saw the further growth of the Union civilian government. After periods of further territorial expansion by both sides, several small skirmishes began but never went beyond that.

In the Zultan Empire, tensions were high. The Zultan population, tense after their defeat by the Union, wanted to appease their god of war. The Zultan leadership, made up of the leaders of the Great Houses as well as the mysterious Emperor, decided that they would need a great war of retribution both to appease Kulahmai and the Zultan population at large. The Zultan High Council decided that they needed to acquire more territory and hand the Union a mighty defeat. While the Union was prioritising economic development, the Zultan's war machine began to build up.

Within the Union, tensions were high between Military High Command and the civilian government. With the Union Congress enacting further spending cuts, the military had no choice but to begin to tighten up and scrap existing starships, lay off personnel and pull forces from non-essential planets. This left the Union a tempting target for a military engagement by the Zultans. Fleet Admiral Williams, who was serving as the Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Naval Operations, consistently protested against the cuts and fought for the military to continue to be prioritised, but was ignored by the majority of Congress.