Southern Expansion Campaign

The Southern Expansion Campaign was a long-term, multifaceted military operation of the Golden Empire. Authorized by Queen Rin Sakaros and commanded by Vice Admiral Sir Tarse Medrego, the campaign aimed to break the Empire's decades-long policy of keeping the Romasi sector as its southern border, extending Royal control south.

Background
The Golden Empire began in the Romasi sector with the acquisitions of Abstalia, Quadia, and Zorabos. Only thirteen years later, it became embroiled in the Great Liberation, a war against the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob to galactic north. The Empire continued to expand north over the following decades, with the Romasi sector serving as the southern border; especially after the Conquest of the Chiss Ascendancy, the Empire was forced to divert additional resources to securing actual control over former territory.

The first impetus to expand south came in 141 ABY with the Ssi-ruuvi Incursion. However, the Empire secured an alliance with the P'w'eck Confederation to help guard in the south, and the conquest of the to the north necessitated even more resources for northern expansion.

Toehold
The Nightmare War first struck the Empire from the southeast, and Rin Sakaros began to re-evaluate leaving the Romasi sector as her shield against the unknown. After the Empire began to heal from the wounds of that war, Rin sent her sister-in-law, Royal Executor Breek Zagrev, to negotiate with the P'w'ecks, securing permission to expand the Empire south without offending their southern allies. On the way back to the Romasi sector, Breek's apprentice Jinyx Windrunner discovered her depopulated homeworld, Klesk, and donated it to the Empire as a new homeworld for the Djinnosh of Geruett, whose world was dying.

Seizing the opportunity, Rin sent Tarse Medrego, then Sector Magister of the Romasi sector, to secure Klesk as its military governor and prepare it to serve as a staging base for a southern campaign. Rin also used the assignment to evaluate Medrego himself, gauging whether he would grow too comfortable with a world to effectively rule. The beginnings of Expansion Fleet South came together at Klesk, where Rin reinforced Medrego's Tempest with a dozen cruisers to defend the planet.

"Go and conquer"
Though he was an efficient administrator and secured a smooth transition for the Djinnosh, Medrego felt out of his element being sedentary and acting as a de facto Consul. Convinced that he was the man for the job, Rin authorized him a full fleet in late 156 ABY, when the Djinnosh had been moved to Klesk and the former Consul of Geruett was prepared to assume his duties on Klesk. Though Rin gave Medrego a much lengthier instruction, her command to him was best remembered for the words, "Go and conquer."

That Medrego did, using Klesk as a base to expand into nearby space. Employing survey data from the and the Exploration Corps, he initially branched out into nearby space, colonizing the nearest planets and establishing them as military depots and supply stations. Most inhabited planets were brought into the Empire's fold peacefully. The handful which resisted were taken largely intact; Medrego had been given enough troops to strike with overwhelming force. Rin slowly added Consuls to the planets Medrego had acquired, relying on his reports and those of the Ministry of Diplomacy.

As the Empire began to expand outside the ring of near space around Klesk, its ships began to encounter more threats, largely in the form of pirates but sometimes including isolated groups of. Though Medrego had no hesitation about leading the charge against these enemies, he was conscious of his advancing age and need to develop the leaders of the next generation, and consequently he also took care to let his subordinate commodores develop their skills by dispatching them against pirate groups.

Logistics
Klesk, as the most firmly-settled Royal system outside the Empire, became the hub for the campaign, and Medrego worked closely with the Consul of Klesk to ensure supply lines from the Empire remained intact. The establishment of ad hoc bases on other worlds allowed the construction of refueling stations and garrisons, relieving some of the pressure from Klesk.

Coordinating supplies to Medrego's newly acquired worlds, the Consul of Klesk became in some ways a de facto Procurator in the emerging sector. However, Medrego retained command over every world in the sector which did not have its own Consul assigned and was responsible for defending all the worlds he had acquired, answering to no authority but Sorrik himself.