Twigster
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The First Ortain War ended on 5/19/2364 at the Empire’s insistence with the Ortain becoming a vassal state. Following the failed invasion attempt of Baruunda 1, it had become obvious that the Empire could not continue conduct of the war until many more ground battalions had been raised. The Core blockade of Clotoa had also been an unwelcome distraction early in 2364- but all four worlds of the Ortain home system had been taken and preparations were already well underway to continue the war at the earliest opportunity. The fusion-powered reactor was now available for ships and bases and a massive refit operation was ongoing. A new facility was under construction on Vrilya which would help to facilitate increasing the morale on all Imperial worlds which would further boost the economy. The Core reinitiating a blockade of Clotoa on 7/20/2364 was an unexpected and unpleasant surprise, which elicited a far more resolute response this time. Hegemon’s Fleet was dispatched to deal with the situation, up to and including full-blown battle if necessary. Hegemon’s Fleet was dispatched immediately, arriving at Clotoa in early January of 2365. Operations began immediately and the blockade of Clotoa was raised on 1/24/2365. There had been a flurry of covert actions directed against the Empire in recent months which had subsided by the time the blockade had ended. The refit operations had proceeded very satisfactorily; Hegemon’s Fleet was left in orbit around Clotoa for defensive purposes, the new SSP at Clotoa was completed on 3/28/2365. There was great satisfaction at STRATCOM that the Daidalun Supremacy was engaged in a war with the Pilados Realm as this allowed the Empire to be able to focus more on any threats from the Core which was not presently at war with any other empire but did have trade sanctions against most of the other known races. Imperial relations were somewhat improved with the Faliin Technocracy. This came after a series of discussions at STRATCOM and the Imperial Palace concerning the Galactic diplomatic situation. Since the beginning of the Imperial transition, several of the Privy Council and STRATCOM members had become increasingly tense over potential relations with the Core Axis as well as with the Paratis Conformity. Indeed, in some sectors (the Ancient Zone) events had unfolded where both powers had made gains that the Empire would have preferred had not occurred but at the same time was too preoccupied elsewhere to address successfully. The Distant Worlds 2 facility was completed on Vrilya on 9/30/2365 and by 12/05/2365 no more revolts were expected on any of the Ortain worlds in the Almanea system. The troop transports were nearly completed loading the ground battalions, but STRATCOM was not going to authorize a renewal of the attacks against the Ortain until morale on the already-conquered worlds was still substantially higher. On 5/4/2366 a short-lived economic crisis hit the Empire, but damage was slight and well-manageable. In August of 2366 research on improved jump drives was completed but after some debate another fleet-wide refit was ruled out until after the Ortain wars were concluded, barring any other major crises.
On 4/24/2368 fresh Imperial troops kicked off the Second Ortain War, initiating the ground assault against Baruunda 1. The Ortain garrison on the planet lit up the attacking troops pretty well, but STRATCOM knew the battle was a foregone conclusion. A mere three months later the defenders were all but exhausted, and on 10 August Baruunda 1 fell to the Empire. On 19 August the Paratis Conformity enacted trade sanctions against the Empire, likely in retaliation for renewed hostilities against the Ortain. Shortly afterwards, fleet operations began in the Uguth Teer system in order to clear the way for the invasions of Afloam and Snaila. Ortain rebels had immediately risen to revolt on Baruunda 1, and enemy fleet operations were even more ineffective than they had been during the First Ortain War. Snaila offered almost no resistance, falling on 7 November. Afloam fought a bit harder, falling in late January 2367. Within a week, Afloam had risen in revolt, which had likewise immediately broken out on Snaila. It was at this point that a flaw in the Imperial assault plan made itself felt, as there were insufficient troops to successfully hold both Snaila and Afloam, the balance of the remaining assault troops already en route to Ortain worlds two sectors away. Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts were underway to further strengthen the Imperial relations with the Tarapin Coalition. By September of 2369, fleet operations had cleared the defenders from Tefnyl 2; it was learned at this time that the Ortain were attempting to set Pirate clans against each other. Tefnyl 2 fell on 14 November 2369, an event which sparked a wave of trade sanctions being levied against the Empire between 5-9 March 2370 by the Ikkuro Confederacy, the Daidalun Supremacy and the Core Axis. On 21 May 2370 an Ortain revolt on Afloam, bolstered by Ortain ground troops landed from space, begn to overwhelm the Imperial garrison, resulting in Afloam becoming an independent world on 6/7/2370. Efforts to pursue the expeditious attack on Dhurian Prime 1 were kicked into high gear by the supreme commander of the Second War, but many staff members knew that not enough troops were assembled close enough to make the attack a success. STRATCOM was relaying pressure from the Palace for the war to come to a conclusion due to the effects of war weariness as well as a renewed concern about revolts on other Ortain worlds. On 4/19/2371 the Battle of the Dhurian Volcano began, it being immediately obvious what the final outcome would be- Dhurian Prime 1 would be held by the Ortain and the Second Ortain War would come to an end. Given that beginning on 12/13/2370 both the Daidalun Supremacy and Core Axis initiated various blockades of Imperial mining facilities, once again the Empire suddenly had important foci of attention elsewhere. On 12/14/2371 the last Imperial troops surrendered to the Ortain on Dhurian Prime 1 and the Grand Ortain Authority accepted peace at the cost of vassalage to the Empire for a second time. In early 2372, Hegemon’s Fleet arrived at Clotoa to raise the second blockade of planet igniting a major battle with the Core Axis’ 33rd Fleet. The blockade was ended on 4/23/2372- to the astonishment of everybody the SSP Mk3 space port over Clotoa still existed, if badly shot up. Hegemon’s Fleet was as well, and two-thirds of the Core’s 33rd Fleet was destroyed. Four more Ortain worlds had been seized- one subsequently lost to rebellion- leaving only two more to take in order to bring to an end the Ortain Question for the Empire. The Privy Council had not lost sight of the fact that external consequences for attacking a smaller, weaker neighbor seemed to be heating up from some quarters of the Galaxy. In recent years, significant technological advances had been made and there would be yet again another serious round of refits and upgrades for the Empire’s ships and bases. Meanwhile, the state economy was performing well, the private economy was responding well enough to the stresses subjected to it and alien espionage had been brought under control- at least for the time being.
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