Commonwealth Conquest of Yadra

> ***"Remember, every day we wait is another 10,000 dead Karthemas in their homeworld. Move quickly but don´t you dare try to play hero. I don´t want to repeat what happened in New Sajar"***
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> **-General Branicki just before the army's landing on Yadra-**
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## Forces

### Defending forces

Biluan swarm:-10 million combat drones-2 billion "colonizer" drones

### Attacking forces

Commonwealth's army-Task Force Branicki: 1 million Minervan spiders, 100,000 mechs, 4 million battledroids

-Task Force Telaviin: 12 million soldiers between human, Kithri and Aramathi

## Casualties

### Defender casualties

10 million drones, unknown number within the "colonizers"

### Invader casualties

20,000 infantry, 700,000 battledroids. Unknown number of deceased Minervan spiders

### Civilian casualties

Unknown. Millions of Karthemas saved from being consumed by the Biluan swarms

The **Conquest of Yadra**, also known as the "liberation of Yadrani" was the first major land battle fought between the Commonwealth's army and the swarms of the Biluan Mind during the Kartheman Liberation War. Fought between 2245/10/02 and 2245/11/16 in the previous capital of the Kingdom of Yadra, Yadrani, it was not only a conquest but a mission of liberation to stop the genocide of the Karthemas trapped in the planet.

While a victory for the forces of the Commonwealth, the Conquest of Yadra did not end their war against the Biluan mind. Due to the arrival of a far stronger fleet, the Commonwealth's Task Force Manticore was forced to fall back with their armies to prevent annihilation, a move which left the planet open to an attack by the incoming Biluan invasion army. The battle fought afterwards was known as the Siege of Yadra, one of the few times a planet occupied by Commonwealth forces has been invaded by another galactic power.

Another peculiarity of the Conquest of Yadra was its nature as the second liberation war fought by the Commonwealth after the Aramathi liberation war.

## Prelude

### News from a fallen Kingdom

The Fall of Yadra was an event which shook the realms of the galactic East. As the Kingdom of Yadra began to lose territories to the swarm, billions of Karthemas fled for other worlds, including those within the Commonwealth's borders. These reugees spoke of the destruction of whole cities, as the swarms consumed all those who dared to stand on their path. Fleets, armies, civilians, they cared nothing as long as it could be consumed.

Still rebuilding some of its forces after their war against the Zracon Union, the Commonwealth high command had already made plans about the new advances of the mind. As it continued to grow stronger, so did the Commonwealth's chances of facing them alone decrease. Moreover, millions of Karthemas continued to flee to the nation's borders, carrying with them more stories not only of the attrocities comited by the Biluan mind, but also of the billions of Karthemas who had remained behind, unable to flee.

The situation needed to change and fast. Knowing every day counted, the Commonwealth rallied its armies and fleets and swiftly declared war on the Biluan mind. Headed by Task Force Manticore, an invasion force was equiped and readied for battle, only in two sections rather than a single army.

One, under veteran general Branicki, was made of new, experimental units: Battledroids, swarms of new Minervan Spiders and a reserve force of mech units. The second force, this one under the command of General Telaviin (recently ascended after his performance in New Sajar), was made by the core of the invasion army: 12 assault legions of men, Kithri and Aramathi, each one with its divisions of tanks and artillery.

### The last dragons

As the Commonwealth rushed to aid the assailed Karthemas of Yadrani and other conquered worlds, millions of Biluan drones were released on the planet's surface to cosume anything still living on it. Billions of survivors from the Fall of Yadra left for the mountains, fighting for food and shelter as the mind continued to hunt them down without mercy.

Not only Karthemas, but the rest of Yadrani's ecosystem suffered greatly as the mind continued with its search for food. From insects to Ancalagons, nothing was safe from the Biluan's eternal hunger. Desperate to survive, groups turned mountain ranges into fortresses, tried to train beasts to fight or at least slow down the Biluan advance, prepared traps, weapons. Yet no matter what they tried, nothing seemed to be able to stop the advacing swarm.

### Manticore arrives

Weeks before the army, Task Force Manticore reached orbit, unleashing its arsenal of heavy guns on the Biluan swarms. Yet, unlike the Zracon they had fought before, these volleys seemed to have little effect on the drone defenders. Seemingly without structure of command, they appeared to move blindly across the planet's surface, to the point where many gunners in the fleet quickly gave up trying to find priority targets and just fired at the first group of Biluans they got within their sights.

By the time Branicki and Telaviin arrived, reports about the situation in the planet had been made and none were positive. Fearing the incoming invasion, the mind had sent some of its swarms forth to consume as many Karthemas as possible. Caring little about losses, millions of non-combat drones climbed rocks and hastily-made walls before falling on those few Karthemas still strong and healthy enough to wield their weapons.Unless the Commonwealth army did something, all Karthemas in Yadrani would be dead in a few months.

## Invasion

### Branicki lands

There was no time to waste. Leaving Telaviin and his forces in orbit for a few more days to properly ready themselves, General Branicki sent his vanguard forth. Choosing terran far from the mountain ranges where survivors tried to push back the Biluan tide, Branicki tried to gain the attention of the stronger, armed swarms to give the Karthemas (and Telaviin) more time.

First to land were the spiders. More savage than even Biluan drones and unable to distinguish between friend and foe, they would never have been used in cities, towns or other crowded areas with large numbers of civilian population. In the valleys chosen by Branicki however, the only population to be found was made of Biluan combat drones, each one fair game for the furious creatures.

Surprised by the sheer ferocity of the bear-sized creatures, the Biluan swarm was stopped for a moment, allowing battledroids and mechs to join in the battle. Aided by support from Task Force Manticore, they unleashed heavy fire on those swarms trying to surround the spider vanguard. Moving like a wall of steel and bullets, they cut a path through the drones, forcing more and more to come to their positions as General Telaviin readied his own forces to land.

### Telaviin secures conquered ground

Casualties were starting to mount amongst spiders and battledroids in the vanguard when the core of the Commonwealth army made planetfall. Infantry, artillery and tanks were released on the world of Yadrani, two thirds on Branicki's surrounded positions, the rest into the planet's mountain ranges, to help and rally what Karthemas still survived in the war-torn world.

Amongst those last troops were several companies of Vanatori light infantry. Used to the hardships of mountain warfare, they came at the drones from every possible angle, sometimes using the Karthemas fortresses as an anvil to crush the Biluan with their hammer. Ships full of cargo landed on these places as well, giving not only much-needed supplies to the half-starved population, but weapons as well to fend off any new attacks.

As the battle raged on, the weather changed, bringing rain to the battlefield. Despite this, the Commonwealth's armies fought on, their foe unwilling to give up even as they marched through mud which reached up their knees. Using this factor to his advantage, Telaviin ordered some of his divisions to stand their ground or choose high one to defend against the slowed, Biluan advance. Thousands of combat drones died on these one-sided fight, the ratio often being that of 50 drones for every dead Commonwealth soldier.

### The swarm's fleet arrives

While war on the ground continued without to many issues, the same could not be said for that beyond Yadrani's orbit. The full fleet of the Biluan mind, alerted about the huge amounts of Commonwealth forces in the planet, appeared in the system, their numbers being so great, victory was deemed nearly impossible.

Still, devoid of the systems used by Commonwealth vessels, the mind's transit was slow, giving the Commonwealth the time it so desperately needed to end the battle.

As the last pockets were surrounded and annihilated, Generals Branicki and Telaviin were forced to prepare the evacuation of their forces from the planet, something which was not well received by the recently-liberated survivors of the Biluan occupation.

## Aftermath

### Prepare the defence

Unwilling to leave the Karthemas without any defence, and knowing there was no way to evacuate the whole planet with the resources available to them, general Branicki left a number of volunteer officers and soldiers to train, equip and prepare the Karthemas of Yadrani for the coming assault.Fortresses were rebuilt, old knights turned into officers and levies into militia.

These forces and the Commonwealth men, women, Kithri and Aramathi left behind would be the one's to stand against the Biluan's next assault, later be known as the Siege of Yadra.

Task Force Manticore and the core of the army left the system safely, the Biluan ships to slow to catch up to them.

### One Throne group

One of the strangest moments of the battle did not happen in the surface of Yadrani, but in the government of the Commonwealth. General Branicki, to the surprise of many and the delight of billions of Karthemas, created the "One Throne group", a political party whose aims were mostly to turn the Commonwealth into the same system of classes used by the Kingdom of Yadra.

Completely against the principles of the Commonwealth's democratic tradition, the creation of this party still had little effect on most citizens. Moreover, many thought (or at least hoped) General Branicki had only created the party as a way to give the liberated Karthemas some much-needed representation. If instead he had dream of becoming king is unknown.