Western Marches
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| Western Marches Campaign | |||||||||
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| Conflict: Vauzem Dominion Remnants invaded neighboring systems in the Nilgaard Sector, notably Quermia, attempting to usurp planetary governments through local insurrection before resorting to overwhelming violence. | |||||||||
| Date: 42 ABY | |||||||||
| Location: Quermia | |||||||||
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The Western Marches is an ongoing joint Odanite military campaign, which began in June of 42 ABY, in response to continuing tensions in the Nilgaard Sector which broke when the Quermian people reached out to the Vatali Empire and their Odanite Cohort for assistance in taking diplomatic measures with an invading force. Treating the situation with apprehension the Odanites were wary of the situation and dispatched delegates from the Jedi Temple ahead of their military forces to help facilitate discussion, before ultimately learning the invading forces were an empowered remnant of the Vauzem Dominion.
Conflict Details
All's Quiet on the Western Front
Following Clan Odan-Urr's involvement in The Battle of Brimstone, the penultimate conflict of the Pretender War, the Second Fleet returned to Kiast to a brief reprieve and a seemingly empty Nilgaard Sector. Communications with the other systems throughout the sector had fallen to a bare minimum and questions of the cause plagued each of the factions within the Empire. The Vatali throne, the Jedi Temple, and the O.U.S.C., each attempting to pinpoint the direct causes of the silence, and others catastrophizing that the silence was indicative of an Iron Throne plot to attack the Odanites while they were weakened, having overplayed their hands assisting the Arconans with their False Gods, leading to speculation and derision within. Attempts at direct communication were often met with either complete silence or garbled transmissions, further fueling speculations of outside interference.
Restructure: A House Divided
The silence in the surrounding system, so soon after the 'Unidentified Sith Fleet' which led to emergency promotions of Gui Sol and Wulfram Armis to High Councilor and Councilor of War, respectively, sparked massive speculation, malcontent, and division within the Council, leading Scions from House Sunrider to approach Empress Kaltani Anasaye about recognizing another Royal House within the Vatali Conclave, leading to the reformation of House Hoth as another member of the Vatali Conclave, awarded a Spire-Manor on Daleem, to join the Empire's reclamation efforts. The Houses would find themselves split largely on ideological lines, with the Scions of Sunrider and proponents of the O.U.S.C., Templar Jensaarai, and even the Vatali Empire considering the merits of strong, outward allies such as the Iron Throne, and Jedi who count still count themselves among House Sunrider often look at the Force as a living, nuanced, entity, accepting the darkness and shades of grey within it, meanwhile House Hoth are increasingly withdrawn, wary of those who bore influences of the Dark Side, and have a long memory of previous betrayals; distrustful of the Council, including Odanites who made concerted efforts to garner appointments to the Council Staff, they present an opposing view to the Conclave.
Contact: A Voice in the Dark
When the veil of silence was lifted it was through diplomatic measures; Quermian delegates had arrived at Palioxis Station seeking council with the Vatali Conclave and the Jedi of Urr in regard to a diplomatic situation unfolding on their home planet of Quermia. The Quermian delegation was welcomed to Kiast and granted an audience with the leaders of the Empire, who planned their response, accepting the Quermian invitation to intercede, in hopes of learning who, or what has been responsible for the silence across the Nilgaard Sector. A delegation of Jedi were sent with the Quermians back to their homeworld, to learn more of the situation on the ground and begin attempts at peaceful negotiations, while elements of the O.U.S.C. Navy, Marines, and Army were activated and prepared for deployment. Reports to the Council from the Jedi delegation revealed that the situation on the ground on Quermia consisted of an external insurrection by a familiar force, the Vauzem Dominion, who had re-activated CIS Droid Manufactories and converted Quermian outliers to their cause.
Diplomacy failed in the early days. Negotiations and expectations about the treatment and peoples of Quermia, when met with questions about the Vauzem Dominion's presence on their world were met with skepticism and doubts cast about the activity and means of the Vatali's insistence on interfering and why the Jedi had come to give aid, given their record for causing chaos among the Galaxy. An informant among the Vauzem shared information regarding the activation of CIS manufactories on the eastern continent. Confusion broke loose during the proceedings as Artemis Werd'la and a Vauzem officer carrying dispatch orders for their soldiers came engaged in a back-alley assault. The video footage of which would later be used by the Vauzem as justification for their initial occupation and assault against the Vatali-Odanite Cohort, wherein Artemis' involvement was plastered on holo and plasma screens attacking a "Vauzem diplomat" carrying sensitive information meant to end the conflict.
The conflicts officially began as the Sephi separatists launched a surprise assault against several Quermian settlements, including the Capital, and began bombarding spaceports hosting Odanite vessels.
Conflict: From Shadows
Following the botched intercession and diplomatic measures provided by the Odanites, resulting in open warfare across the surface of Quermia, the Vauzem have changed tack as well. Whereas they initially attempted courtship with their previous foes, they have begun branding them as instigators and rebels, the true cause of the current conflict. The conflict's early days were more posturing than full-drawn conflicts, until the non-combatant forces attempted to withdraw from the front, only to find their ways blocked by soldiers or heavy mortar fire. The Assault on the Capital's spaceport led to the injury of Waza Sunrider and the Padawan learners from the Proving Ground who had initially accompanied to learn about the teachings of the Diplomatic Corps of the Jedi Temple. These events drew the war into a bitter and contested exchange. The Third Fleet arrived shortly after receiving an S.O.S. signal from the ground forces, running the Vauzem blockade and breaking a clear line for their support vessels to deliver logistical support.
O.U.S.C. Military Personnel, in response, moved to combat the growing Vauzem influence on the ground, including their activation of CIS Droid Manufactories that had lain dormant since the Clone Wars, fired to life to redouble the dwindling Sephi Soldier's forces.
O.U.S.C. Forward Camps Kyber and Tython were established in the Eastern Continent by the O.U.S.C. Forces to assist in civilian refugee efforts as settlements were evacuated in the wake of mounting Droid Marches, with Camp Tython forming a defensive line, forcing any overland troop movements into a bottleneck and lending surface-to-air defenses. While Camp Kyber became the O.U.S.C. Marines' operations camp as they moved through the Quermian jungles to undermine the Vauzem Separatists and their Droid army through concentrated strikes against the Manufactories deep in the woodlands.
In the north of the Central Continent, O.U.S.C. Naval forces established ground control and deployed a pre-fabricated spaceport to facilitate air capabilities in an ever-shifting battlefield.
Intermission
Five months into the conflict, in the wake of the Vauzem bombing campaign and the Odanite counter-offensives, both sides have faced heavy casualties and entrenched themselves along various emplacements and within certain factions of the Quermian people. As the holidays approached and heavy casualties were reported on both sides of the conflict, including the loss of one Droid Manufactory, delegates from both sides of the conflict arranged to meet in a neutral location and discuss a temporary cease-fire to observe the Life Day season.
While the O.U.S.C. Forces are wary of accepting any such agreement at face value, they've agreed to a temporary cessation of hostilities and redoubled their efforts to pacify and assist civilian efforts. The holidays were marked with relative peace as the fronts were held with little more aggression than hurled insults and profanities, and in the best situations were met with peaceful celebrations, gatherings of soldiers from both factions among the cities, and the exchange of prisoners and wounded alike.
Unfortunately, the Vauzem had chosen to use the armistice as a front and used the peaceful months to smuggle in more weaponry, personnel, and construction materials using medical vessels in a flagrant violation of established covenants of war.
Point of No Return: Remember to Breathe
Some had hoped the war would end over the festivities and short-lived peace born of Life Day and the armistice brokered over the observation of the holidays. Instead, it merely served as a pretense, one which the Vauzem separatists utilized to smuggle fresh armaments and soldiers to the war front through ships marked as medical vessels. However, their underhanded tactics did not go unnoticed, and the O.U.S.C. authorized expanded operations in the system to compensate for the expanded oppositional forces and break the planetary blockade.
On the ground, civility gave way to animosity within days, the conflict reignited as the recuperated Vatali-Odanite forces clashed against a replenished Vauzem host. A success before the armistice against one of the Droid manufactories coupled with a lack of raw materials stemmed the tide of Droid forces. Questions remained about whether the replenished forces had brought workers and material reinforcements to reactivate other manufactories.
Declaration
The war wages its fiercest as many believe it is nearing its end. Support for the Vauzem separatists has waned, with no formal support from the Sephi on Kiast and the arrival of further O.U.S.C. Naval support to blockade the Perlemian Trade Route, which effectively cut off Hyperspace travel into and out of the system. The toll of the war has weighed heavily on the people of Quermia, as well, as it disrupted their everyday lives and incited chaos and panic across a once pacifistic people. As the first year's anniversary of the conflict quickly approaches, the Quermian people have chosen a side, backing the support their governors sought before the conflict began. They now fight alongside the Odanite contingent which aims to return Quermia to normalcy.
Combatants
- Main article: Western Marches Deployment Listing
The Vatali Empire and their Odanite cohort have deployed an assortment of forces, ranging from Jedi Peacekeepers and Delegates to the support of the O.U.S.C. Navy. Elements of the Temple, including the Sentinel Network, Guardian Corps, and Consular Conclave, have focused on providing close support to the people of Quermia, routing out insurrectionist cells, and providing aid to those otherwise entrenched in the middle of high-tension points of conflict, while the O.U.S.C.'s mission is ultimately to delivery superior firepower and prevent the Dominion from achieving widespread use of disabled CIS Manufactories across Quermia, as well as finding and disabling their weapons platforms.
The Vauzem Dominion's overall forces are still a mystery, believed defeated years ago they've returned to form with a mysterious benefactor, and have since seemingly targeted worlds with CIS Manufactories to begin amassing some semblance of an army in their own right.
| ILLUMINANCE | Clan Odan-Urr Events 42 ABY |
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