Triumvirate

The Triumvirate is a coalition formed to reclaim Earth from the Scourge. Signatory members include the United Colonies of Mankind, the Post-Human Republic, and the Kalium Kabal.

## Formation

Though the Scourge had siphoned off nearly 40% of their fleet assets in the Solar system by the end of May 2672, the United Colonies of Mankind still regarded any possible invasion of Earth as an impossibility. This would change in June, after a strike by the Resistance group known as the East Coasters took out a significant portion of the Scourge's orbital defence grid, leaving a massive hole over North America. This gave the UCM a chance to get boots on the ground on Earth without having to commit to the arduous process of capturing or disabling the entire grid, as they had done on Olympus Prime; however, even with this advantage, victory calculations still only showed a 27% chance of success.

This window would only last for a limited time, as the Scourge began to rebuild. Most UCM projections had the defence grid back online and re-harmonized by mid-February, 2673, giving them only a small window to exploit this weakness. Though the UCM High Council argued for action, AHQ and the Admiralty were both opposed to hasty action, lest they undo the hard-won gains of the Reconquest.

This debate would continue until July 25th, when a taskforce from the Kalium Kabal arrived at Aurum. The Kabal, which had been spying on the UCM for an indeterminate amount of time, knew of the opportunity on Earth and offered to make a joint attack against mankind's birthplace with the UCM. Though Kalium had a non-trivial military presence to add to Colonial forces, they were far from obvious allies, and their totalitarian government drew some unpleasant parallels to colonial leadership.

The UCM High Council would discuss Kalium's offer for days, until quiet overtures were made to President Belaque by delegates from the Post-Human Republic. These were initially rejected out of hand, though the Republic made repeated, polite attempts at engagement until a conversation could eventually be had. The PHR motives for talking were simple: they wished to join with the UCM and Kalium in a joint assault on Earth. Unlike Kalium, the Republic specified a few conditions for their help, namely that their landing sites would be occupied solely by their troops until the planet was conquered, and that they could claim right of conquest for the Tlalocan moons. These requests were grudgingly accepted by the UCM.

With the PHR and Kabal's forces factored in, the UCM projected a 72% chance of victory in the Solar theatre. Despite such an alliance being fraught with tension - no faction trusted the others fully - it was a risk the UCM were willing to accept, especially as the numerically senior partner in the equation. On September 4th, the parties signed an accord for a limited, conditional period of cooperation, creating the Triumvirate.

## Battle for Earth

On October 2nd - almost a month after its formation - the Triumvirate launched their invasion of the Solar system. Though the Scourge inflicted severe damage on the invading fleet, they were forced to concede the system by late in the day, fleeing before Triumvirate forces. Meanwhile, the Triumvirate were able to begin their surface deployments, establishing a number of beachheads by the end of the first day.

By the close of 2672, Triumvirate forces have made good headway on the various battlefields of Earth, moving into position to threaten several important cities.