Second Interstellar War

## Factions

Union (faction)

vs

Bandorian Protectorate

## Timeframe

23 March 2189-1 April 2196

Result: Union tactical victory, Bandorian defeat

## Background

After the conclusion of the First Interstellar War and the Second War of Sol, the UN entered into diplomatic relations with the Asgardian Alliance, around the year 2150; the UN tried to portray the Protectorate as an aggressive power bent on military expansion into the other powers' territories. The Alliance, moved by the UN diplomats' ominous predictions of war, entered into a military alliance with the UN, forming a new faction known as the Union. During this time, the Protectorate focused on protecting its vulnerable colonists, remembering the horrible massacres of Bandorian colonists that had taken place during the Second War of Sol, as well as massive programs of exploration and colonization. The Protectorate did not focus very much on building up its military forces during this time, at least compared to the Union's formidable military buildup during the roughly four decades between the First and Second Interstellar Wars. From 2186-2189, a task force of Union officials was assigned to form a plan for attacking the Protectorate. In the first half March 2189, they started to put this plan into action, sending forces of over 100 ships total to various small colonies in the borders of Protectorate space; most of these colonies were former UN colonies that had declared their independence either during or after the First Interstellar War.

## Opening battles

On 23 March 2189, the Union strike forces attacked New Arkhangelsk , Nodogorov , and six other smaller Bandorian colonies. The Supreme Leader at the time, Rodion Gordunov , immediately ordered reprisal attacks on various Union installations and systems; the Second and Third Fleets of the Protectorate Navy performed these attacks, while the newly commissioned Fourth Fleet was ordered to guard the colonies from further attack and drive out any remaining Union forces from those systems. The Protectorate Navy scored some incredible victories early in the war, decimating the Union Navy and forcing it onto the defensive; however, the Union managed to send a special agent (spy) to infiltrate the political circle near Gordunov; ironically, at a party being held in his honor because his strategies were working out so well, the agent managed to shake hands with Gordunov, transferring a swarm of deadly nanites which infiltrated his bloodstream and released a powerful neurotoxin after they collected in his heart. He died on 4 July 2190.

## Intermediate stages

Gordunov's death resulted in a brief period of hesitation in the Protectorate's naval strategy, before Vasily Spiakov was appointed the next Supreme Leader. The loss of momentum from this period of hesitation, combined with Spiakov's cautious and ultimately ineffectual defensive strategies, resulted in the slow loss of the war for the Protectorate. Over 75% of the Union's forces were concentrated on taking the Mystic system, meaning Spiakov always felt under immense pressure, never knowing if the Protectorate's First Fleet, assigned to guard Mystic, would fail to hold against the superior numbers of the enemy. The Protectorate Second and Third Fleets were deployed to assist in guarding the colonies; Spiakov and his advisors did not want a repeat of the tragedy of the Second War of Sol. This defensive strategy, which meant that the Protectorate was only guarding its territory instead of making attacks into Union space, allowed the Union to regain the offensive. In the initial attack, they had not been able to use a large number of ships, since the fleet movements into position to attack the Bandorian colonies had to be secret for them to be effective; now, the Union simply swamped the Protectorate Navy with enormous numbers, hoping to break through.

## Alliance with the UHW

The Union of Human Workers had approached Gordunov at the start of the war to let him know that they would support the Protectorate with their own navy; while it was small, the UHW Navy provided much-needed support, especially in Mystic, where many citizens were members. An estimated 50 subcapital ships and six capital ships from the UHW Navy took part in the defense of the Mystic system, in which 38 of the subcapital ships and three of the capital ships were destroyed.

## Final stages

The Union slowly began to win the war, through a series of major victories for them and catastrophic defeats for the Protectorate; the Fourth Fleet was virtually annihilated in a well-planned ambush, and the First Fleet, while it was continually resupplied with new ships and crews, had suffered massive casualties; some of the new crew members and pilots were as young as 14 years old, just as it had been in the Second War of Sol; such was the desperate situation to which the Protectorate had been driven. In a massive, drawn-out battle in the Mystic system itself during March 2196, Grand Admiral Lu Weng of the Protectorate First Fleet managed to hold against a massive force of Union ships. This had come after a series of major defeats in other Bandorian systems. However, at one point in the battle, when Union forces had managed to gain control of most of the system and had landed troops on Lionus, Spiakov's closest advisors told him to flee; a UHW capital ship transported him and his closest advisors to the Darkstar system. Many of the Union forces in the Mystic system left to pursue Spiakov's ship shortly afterward, which allowed Lu Weng to regain the offensive and eventually declare victory on 30 March 2196. Lu Weng, after he defeated the remaining Union forces in Mystic, took control of most of the Protectorate's military in a coup; he declared himself the Emperor of the Galactic Empire , a new faction that would last until its fall in 3506.

## Founding of the Empire and remnants of the Protectorate

On 1 April 2196, Lu Weng officially proclaimed himself to be the Emperor of the Galactic Empire; backed by 90% of former Bandorian Navy forces and 75% of other Bandorian military forces, he established the capital city of the Empire in New Severodvinsk on Mystic 4. On 1 April he gained the allegiance of 24 systems including Mystic, which he renamed after the letters of the Greek alphabet, changing Mystic to Alpha Imperatoris; this name change lasted until the Empire's fall in 3506. Over the next few weeks most of the remaining Bandorian systems declared their allegiance to the Emperor. However, on 1 May 2196 Spiakov announced that he was still alive and, as Supreme Leader of the Protectorate, still officially in command of the Protectorate's armed forces; the Darkstar system governor and nine other Bandorian system commanders, led by Viktor Jenkov of the Ambria system, declared allegiance to Spiakov at once. These ten systems formed the remains of the Protectorate; over the next few months, most of the other former Bandorian systems declared allegiance to the Empire, but some also declared their allegiance to Spiakov. Spiakov announced his support for the Empire, however, and Emperor Lu Weng acknowledged the independence of the Protectorate, as well as accepting Spiakov's offer of a military alliance. The Protectorate's military forces, especially its navy, were devastated by the mass desertion of former Bandorian troops and ship commanders to join the Empire. From having four fleets, the Protectorate Navy was reduced to just one fleet at barely two-thirds strength.

## Origins of the Renegades

After Lu Weng declared himself Emperor, some Bandorian and UHW citizens in Mystic rejected the Empire and became rebels; at one point they even had complete control of Mystic 5, but for most of their early existence they only controlled the outer reaches of the Mystic system, mainly a few planetoids and several dozen space stations. Spiakov denounced the rebels, saying they were no longer Bandorian citizens and urging them to accept the rule of the Empire; despite several offers of amnesty by Lu Weng and his descendants, the rebels never surrendered. Eventually they managed to build multiple ships capable of interstellar travel; these ships were extremely large, and enabled the rebels (or Renegades as they were known by this point) to move their entire population out of Mystic. This exodus happened around the year 2350; from this point on, the Renegades became interstellar wanderers, scavenging parts from wrecked ships or the debris in the aftermath of battles. The Protectorate later gave refuge to them in many systems under its control.