Cruentusian War

"Many do not remember this conflict. And some say that is reasonable. After all, it seems paltry compared to the wars of recent time. But the sheer hatred, fanatacism, and cruelty prepetrated by nearly all those who participated is not likely to be ever challenged."

- Excerpt from the

The Cruentusian War was an epic galactic conflict that began in 24,299 BBY between a multitude of various factions, shortly after the dissolution of the starwars:Infinite Empire. The participants of the war were mostly warlords who took advantage of the post-Rakatan chaos to obtain power and influence, before eventually going into all-out war for absolute power. Participants included the Srav Federation and the Necasian Military, as well as the Zayre, Death's Tongue Militia and the Vacoren Alliance, as well as several other smaller factions. The main technology industry that arose after the Rakatan collapse was Simiyar Tech, who supplied many weapons to all factions, until the Skirmish on Simiyar, when they stopped supplying the Necasian Military. It was so named after the Rakatan word for 'Void', Cruentus, as it was the war for the void left behind by the Rakatans. This name came about at roughly the middle of the war; before that, most simply called it 'The War'.

Prelude
Shortly after the collapse of the Infinite Empire, the former slaves of the Rakata formed their own factions in a bid for power. They ranged from the powerful Necasian Military and Srav Federation to a variety of smaller parties, such as the Vacoren Alliance. The Necasians and Sravs had been lucky enough to have been left with significant amounts of industrial power, and hence they began vast industrial programmes to produce military hardware to fuel their expansionist plans, colonizing nearby worlds to relieve the overpopulated cities of Havez and Sviat. With most of their people having either been engaged in direct resistance against the Rakata or been involved in heavy industrial work as slaves, most of the Srav and Necasian people had experiance in combat or manufacture, meaning that it did not take long for them to set up their military and political bases. A very brief period of peace followed after the factions set themselves up, more or less at the same time, but as the small ones began to squabble over space and resources, it became clear that it was not to last, with many larger factions forming and bidding for power.

Beginnings
The catalyst for the start of the war was the Battle of Lehon, which triggered several other battles between small factions that eventually led to larger powers such as the Necasian Military and the Srav Federation. After the smaller factions were reduced to strategically insignificance, losing almost all territory, the Sravs and the Necasians scrambled to outmanouevere each other by seizing various worlds, in a Cold War that lasted for a few months. Eventually, however, the two went into all-out war following the Battle of Dagobah, which ended in a draw.

The Zayre entry
Meanwhile, the Zayre species, driven from their home in the by the Eborax disease, tried to settle a new home on, where they encountered the Death's Tongue Militia in a violent conflict. Although the Zayre won, they took heavy losses, and tried to find a place to regather. That place was, which, unfortunately for the Zayre, turned out to be a Srav base. This led to another battle for the Zayre, which they lost. Desperate, Storm Ironwings, heroine of the Zayre, decided to make an alliance with the Necasians. Deciding that an alliance with the Zayre could give them an advantage, the Necasians agreed, and the two attacked a Srav base on, triumphing. The Zayre felt revenge, for the time being, and the Necasians gained insight into Zayre tactical usefulness.

Shortly after that, a Zayre/Necasian taskforce, bolstered by Haveer Jarn and the Necasian Sharpshooter Cohort, raided a Srav base on and stole a quantity of explosives, under the command of Askar Invado. However, they simply left immediately after, angering Ironwings, who got into an arguement with Askar, undermining the alliance somewhat.

The Simiyar Role
It was shortly after the start of the war that Macab Niathal, chairman of Simiyar Tech, noticed the possibilities that escalation of conflict could offer his company. He quickly sent out personal envoys, with prototype product models, to the Necasians and Srav seeking trading contracts with both faction. Though these would prove to be his ultimate victory individual messages were sent to the smaller warring factions trying to establish trade all across the galaxy. Simiyar's most notable role in the war was that they demanded upon remaining neutral, and refused to trade with any specific individual without offering the same designs to their allies, or enemies.

However, shortly after Tandankin, the Necasians and the Sravs fought a small battle over the company's resources and assets. Due to tactical bungling on part of Redharn, who was commanding the battle, the Sravs triumphed, and now had an advantage in being able to manufacture hardware for themselves more efficiently.

The catastrophe on Cul-Huq
Shortly after the skirmish on Simiyar, Carsal Redharn decided to lead an attack on a semi-constructed Srav base on the idyllic world of Cul-Huq, to boost Necasian morale. However, thanks to the actions of his treacherous commander, Askar Invado, the Sravs gained intelligence on the battle, and thus prepared appropriately. Meanwhile, Askar also saw to it that a pre-battle Necasian SpecOps team failed in their mission to disable Srav defences.

When the Necasian fleet arrived, they were met with heavy resistance. Landing on the planet, Necasian ground forces came under heavy fire. Also, mercenaries from the Savi Alliance were also present, and got caught in the crossfire, and so opened fire on both sides.

As the battle blazed on, Askar made sure that the Necasian system of laser countermeasures which was nullifying Srav space-based nukes broke down. Ivran Gresev, the Srav commander, immediately took the opportunity to bombard the planet surface with nukes, burning it to ash. The Necasian fleet then took heavy damage, and was forced to retreat.

Immediately after the battle, Askar began calling for change in the Necasian leadership, stating that Redharn was the cause of the Necasian defeats. As political turmoil engulfed the Necasians and civil war seemed imminent, the Sravs eagerly waited to make their move, but then noticed the Death's Tongue Militia was gaining strength and power, and observed wearily. On this ended the first year of the war.

The battle of Raxus Prime
Year two started with Invado deciding to establish himself as a viable commander of the Necasian Military, so he decided to prove himself to the Necasian council, which was debating over a new leader, by seizing a valuable mine on. The Necasians invaded Raxus, easily seizing the mine, but the Srav Federation launched a response, starting a battle. Ivran Gresev, who was expecting to face Redharn's somewhat lackluster tactics, was surprised by Invado's ferocity, and soon the Sravs were on the defensive.

However, neither sides counted on the sudden appeared of the Death's Tongue Militia, which attacked both sides with light vehicles and suicide bombers, spreading damage. As the Necasians switched to eradicating the DTM, Nataska Vergulva turned up and helped the remaining Srav forces retreat.

Soon, the Necasians had beaten off both the DTM and the Sravs, and were now undisputed owners of the mine, pleasing Askar. However, the DTM had not been completely eradicated, and was discreetly siphoning ore and stockpiling it.

Spread of the DTM
As the DTM stockpiled what it was stealing from the Necasian mines, its leaders decided that they should avoid attacking the larger factions for now, so they targeted a minor warlord, Elmakan, dictator of the desert world Alasad. Infiltrating the world with a small force, the DTM took out Elmakan's superior forces using stealth, suicide bombing and diversionary tactics. Their presence also prompted the population to revolt, overwhelming Elmakan's militia and giving the outnumbered DTM force an advantage.

Eventually, the DTM destroyed Elmakan's palace with a high level of explosive suicide attacks. Immediately, they worked on making themselves seem saviours to the population, distributing food and helping rebuild, whilst painting its major enemies--i.e. the Necasians and the Sravs--as foul imperialists and oppressors.

Now that the DTM had a fresh source of plentiful, willing troops ready to die for its cause, it felt more confident, and decided to aim for a bigger and juicier target.

However, before they could do so, the Necasian Military launched an attack on a DTM stronghold on. Although the DTM lost the battle, they put up stiff resistance, and the Necasians recognised them as a threat. Not to be undone, the DTM instigated massive riots on the Necasian-occupied world of Alstuna, and raided a Necasian weapons depot there as the riots kept Necasian forces distracted, stealing valuable equipment and spreading terror amongst the Necasians.

New developments
As the second year dragged on, several events occured that would prove to be key turning points. Firstly, the Lost Ones, a group of Rataka elites, decided to retrieve the Hand of Darkness, a shadowy artifact of the Infinite Empire, from the mining world of Kopalnia. Arriving on the world, they discovered a battle between the Sravs and the Necasians taking place. Nonetheless, they succeeded in retrieving their artifact.

Not long afterwards, an event occured that would heavily change the war. The time for Carsal Redharn's execution had come, to take place in the Necasian capital city of Ilatas. However, Ironwings decided that she was having none of this, and organized a strike force to rescue Redharn, after evacuating the rest of the Zayre to Ankarr to avoid Necasian repercussions. In the resulting skirmish, they succeeded in saving Redharn from execution. However, in the escape, Redharn took a heavy wound to his leg.

Following the skirmish, the Zayre re-settled on Ankarr, where they engaged a group of Savi mercenaries, and emerged victorious.

War on Kothlis
After the Ilatas incident, the Necasians went into turmoil somewhat as their leaders had to reconfigure their military to compensate for the loss of the Zayre. The Sravs decided to exploit this and planned an attack on. They timed their attack to make it at the same time when Invado was present on the oceanic world, supervising the setting up of defences. Led by Vlad Mutin and Boras Magdiyek, a Srav taskforce launched an assault on Kothlis, focusing on the Freta Archipelago where the Necasians were concentrated. Outnumbered and with their defences only semi-active, the Necasians were in a difficult situation.

For two days, the Sravs gradually pushed forward with island-hopping tactics along the archipelago, with fighting taking place between the two factions on land, sea and air. Despite various sorties and abortive counterattacks launched by Askar, the Sravs made good headway, and by the end of the first day they were in position to assault the main island, despite taking losses.

On the second day, the Sravs launched their attack and came very close to seizing the main island, and it momentarily seemed that Invado would be captured or killed. However, Necasian fighter ace Renard Curl and his squadron of DarkBird-class attack fighters made a timely appearance, using the Renard slipstream manouevre to damage the Srav forces and eventually force them to retreat. By the end of the battle, both factions had taken heavy damage and the battle would be remembered as one of the bloodier battles of the war.

DTM terror
Not long after Kothlis, the DTM decided to take advantage of the situation to plan terror attacks on both the Sravs and the Necasians, to spread fear amongst their populances. Selecting the cities of Gresevokrad and Lesangel, the DTM first launched a raid in Lesangel, using eborax-based bioweapons to great effective and causing much damage and death before being repelled by NPEC and Necasian troops.

Despite this, DTM leaders were unconcerned, as their objective of spreading fear amongst the Necasians was successful. Immediately after, they set up a cell in Gresevokrad and launched a raid there, targeting a nuclear power plant. They succeeded in detonating it, destroying a good part of the city, before rampaging around. The Sravs managed to force them into retreat, but not without taking more losses.

The DTM had succeeded. Panic over it was rampant amongst Necasian and Srav civilians. Outraged, leaders from both sides pledged to exact revenge on it, placing its leaders in a difficult situation. Nonetheless, the DTM proceeded to test its new strength by invading the planet of  in a vain seach for Infinite Empire technology. There, DTM militants terrorised primitive local inhabitants and set up a small base on the world, using the natives from target practice to weapons testing.

Desert Storm
However, both the Necasians and Sravs were intent on dealing blows to the DTM. To take the pressure off their back, the DTM tricked both of the two factions into believing that they were building a major base on Tahu, whereas they were really building a shoddy group of buildings. Arriving on the world, both the Sravs and the Necasians encountered each other in the planet's main city. As they began to fight, they came under heavy attack by DTM-roused civilians. After culling the civilians, and destroying much of the city in the progress, they moved out into the desert.

In the desert, both suffered losses as they came under attack from DTM missiles, hit and run attacks, and suicide runs. Nonetheless, they soon located the base and eliminated it. They believed that they had dealt a heavy blow to the faction, whereas in reality they had done little other than stoke more support for it.

Downfall of the Vacoren Alliance
After the battle at Carrivar, the Vacoren Alliance, which had been discreetly supplying arms to various factions, started to attract attention on the plant of. The leader of the Vacorens, Hask Dofine, was trying to find the remnants of the. They were tipped by some bounty hunters that they saw strange looking aliens on the planet while trying to track a wanted human. The Vacs searched the planet but did not find any Rakata. They did find however a large group of Savi Alliance troops. The Savis attacked them, intending to exact revenge on the VA for supplying them with overpriced, faulty arms, and to gain cash bounties by eliminating them. The Savis drove the Vac's to a large cliff face. With the surviving Vac's, the Savis drove them over the edge of the cliff, dropping them onto the sharp rocks below. With the loss of its leader, the Vacoren Alliance was made insignificant.

Ravyr's Gambit
Following Fresia, another important event occured. The Lost Ones travelled to the desert world of Ahara, with the intent of activating a secret army of Ratakan battle droids located there. As they descended onto the planet, they attacked a Necasian spy outpost located there, and succeeded in eliminating it, but not before it sent off a distress call that was picked up by both the Necasians and the Sravs. An elite Necasian commando squad led by Jarn, and a group of Hammer Division troops led by Vergulva arrived on the planet, and both were forced to reluctantly co-operated as they came under attack from the activated legions of Ratakan droids.

However, Srav reinforcements managed to arrive, and relieved the besieged commando groups. Meanwhile, Storm Ironwings, assisted by Carsal Redharn (who had also picked up the SOS signal), arrived on the planet. Diving right into the Lost One's base, she began a duel with Ravyr, who was empowered by the Hand of Darkness and was thus able to hold his ground. However, both the Necasian and Srav commando groups turned up and distracted Ravyr long enough for Irownings to neutralise him and take the Hand of Darkness. As the remaining Lost Ones escaped, their base was destroyed by a Srav nuclear weapon called in by Vergulva.

Jarn's discovery
In the early days of the third year of the war, Necasian intelligence noted that the Sravs were shipping suspicious amounts of rad-material to the obscure farming world of Oboza. Invado was convinced that they were up to something, and having being convinced that Jarn was a useful asset rather than a threat, decided to send him to infiltrate the Srav installation on Oboza and gather intelligence. Jarn enthusiastically resonded to his task.

Arriving on the planet via a stealth pod, Jarn mingled with the population and discovered that the Sravs were conducting unusual experiments on the world. He attempted to enlist the local resistance, only to be rebuffed by them. Nonetheless, Jarn infiltrated the Srav base via a supply convoy. Within the base, he uncovered evidence of a new Srav superweapon, which they hoped would turn the tide of the war. Alarmed by the implications, Jarn began to leave the base when he was discovered. Nonetheless, he evaded the guards there and made his escape.

Upon recieving Jarn's intel, Invado immediately demanded that Necasian scientists start work on their own superweapon. The scientists began work, having just made breakthroughs in the field of ultrasonics.

Biohazard on Benmossia
Meanwhile, the industrial world of Benmossia announced that it was intending to ally with the Sravs and pledge its infrastructure to them. The DTM decided to act, intending to test out its new superweapon and also deprive the Sravs of a potential new asset. Repeating tactics they had performed in Lesangel and Gresevokrad, they set up a terror cell in the Benmossian capital, and detonated an eborax bomb in the city as the talks began, and then DTM militants began rampaging around the city.

However, a division of Srav Hammer troops led by Rak Dremsk were inserted into the city and began taking out the militants with ruthless effiecieny. Locating the second bomb, they succeeded in defusing it, while Srav airpower took out most of the militants. Although the Sravs had won the battle tactically, the Benmossians announced that they were reconsidering their proposal, hence the battle was a success in the eyes of the DTM.

Scorched Earth
At about this time, the Zayre were now in the process of fully establishing themselves on Ankarr, with Redharn advising them to produce heavy weaponry before they re-entered the conflict. However, a Srav transport with a attack brigade aboard it was forced to land on Ankarr for repairs. Discovering the Zayre presence on the world, Srav colonel Andrei Jalenko ordered his troops to attack the Zayre in any way they saw fit. Responding to this task with enthusiasm, the Srav troops went on a rampage, destroying Zayre towns and farms.

As the Sravs trained nuclear weapons on the Zayre capital, Ironwings was forced to deploy a Zayre worship crystal based on studying the Hand of Darkness, which boosted the power of Zayre in the vicinity. With this, the Zayre managed to defeat the Srav invaders, and captured Jalenko.

Although they had won, the Zayre were shaken by the battle, and Redharn and Ironwings both felt that they had to accelerate military preparations.

Enter the DKA
Following their raid in Benmossia, the DTM was seeing need for a less wasteful approach, and to this end Sabsa Junn gathered together what he considered the DTM's most loyal and skilled fighters into a team of assassins known as the Death's Knock Assassins. Led by DTM fanatic Fayyad Ghazi, all ten of the DKA's members were considered experts in their fields.

To field test the DKA and deal another blow to the Necasian military, the DTM co-ordinated a strike on the Necasian-held world of Xandore. Infiltrating the planet, the DKA sneaked into and destroyed a hydroelectric dam, flooding a Necasian base and most of the planetary defences. As soon as their task was done, the DKA fled.

This was the cue for a DTM transport laden with troops to arrive and disgorge a brigade of militants, who rampaged around attacking Necasian survivors. However, the Necasians managed to call in reinforcement ships which bombed the area with napalm, destroying most of both sides. Nonetheless, the planet's strategic advantage was now considered void, and the DKA's performance had more than satisfied the DTM leadership.

Failure on Slavabrya
Meanwhile, Askar, having analysed intelligence on Srav troop movements, decided that the Sravs were preparing for a major offensive, taking advantage of the Necasian slowdown. To try and delay said offensive, or even better cut it off, Askar decided to assault a major Srav supply base on Slavabrya. Necasian spies disabled the network of Tarbarossa-class orbital platforms above the planet, and Necasian forces moved in to attack.

However, the Necasian landings were bungled, meaning that Necasian forces were unable to link up and form a strong offensive force. In a tank battle outside of the planet's main urban area, Srav tanks decimated their Necasian counterparts. Some Necasian troops managed to infiltrate the town, where they engaged in urban combat with regular and Hammer Srav troops, but were eventually driven out.

The Necasians tried to compensate for this setback by seizing a Srav missile base, equipped with Nostok-5 missiles, but again were driven back. As the Necasians began to change to guerilla, hit-and-run tactis, Srav officer Uri Rashki gave the order to topple some permenantly damaged Srav satellites, both military and civilians, onto the Necasians. This tactic was largely a success, and the site of the satellites raining down on the Necasians broke morale among them and rose it among the Sravs.

Shortly afterwards, Srav commander Vlad Mutin arrived to take command, and bombed parts of the planet with his signature radiation bombs in an unsuccessful attempt to drive out the Necasians, who had seized some towns to use them to evacuate. To preserve Srav lives, Vlad gave the order to use the Nostok rockets to nuke said towns. With most of the Necasians having fled or surrendered, victory belonged to the Sravs.

Finishing the Vacorens
In other parts, the Savi alliance had learned that remnants of the Vacoren Alliance were attempting to regroup on Lanma. The Savis decided to finish what they had started, and headed to the planet on their flagship to destroy the Vacorens.

Meanwhile, the Vacorens themselves, led by surviving field commanders, attempted to rob a bank in the planet's main city. Nonetheless, after a brief skirmish with the Savis, the Vacorens were annhilated with Savi orbital bombing.

With the Vacoren alliance crushed and any of its surviving constituents having gone underground, the Savis again touted this victory, which again increased their formely dismal prestige.

Darkness and light
Concurrently, the DTM had decided to take the DKA to the ultimate task: assassinating Jasef Yuiln himself in the Srav capital of Yuilnokrad on Sviat. The DKA managed to penetrate the defence networks around Sviat and the surrounding system using a ship disguised as a Srav transport, and then landed in Yuilnokrad and made their way through the city streets. They managed to enter the Politikdel, the centre of Srav government, but were spotted by Vergulva from the roof the building. Inside the building, the DKA were ambushed by the Crimson Elite Guard, and were forced to flee. Outside the building, they were pursued by Red Militia, but managed to evade them and escape Yuilnokrad.

Afterwards, the Sravs began their planned offensive, assaulting a Necasian base on. However, the Savi Alliance, desiring more prestige, entered the battle as the two larger factions engaged, weakening both with high explosive weapons and KRUD missile strikes. Eventually, the Necasians were overcome, and the Sravs were impressed with the Savi performance. Yuiln came to the conclusion that they could prove useful later, and thus vetoed requests to reprimand them.

Firestorm
As the Necasians worked to take the Srav offensive, the inhabitants of the jungle world of Manvan, supplied and encouraged by the Death's Tongue Militia, launched a mass insurrection against the Necasian occupation. Wishing to make an example of the insurgency, Invado dispatched Emela Makakson, with Janos Snake to back her up. On the planet, the Necasians, under Emela's command, used heavy-handed tactics to crush the insurgency, bombing villages and jungle with napalm bombing, causing much loss of civilian life.

Engaging in a brutal jungle war with the insurgents and eventually triumphing, the Necasians emerged victorious. However, the battle would later be considered to have a bigger impact than was apparent; Snake, sickened by the devastation, would desert fron the Necasians soon later.

Father of all Bombs
In other parts of the galaxy, the Sravs continued with their offensive, assaulting the world of Kasa under the command of Ivran Gresev. Gresev viewed this as an opportunity to test out the completed Tsarka bomb weapon. Arriving on the planet, defended by Renard Curl and Calis Blueway, the Sravs made landings and began construction on the bomb, while putting their new Zulkrum-class heavy interceptor to use.

Assaulting the Necasian base on the planet, the Sravs were rebuffed by the dug-in Necasians, and the battle quickly devolved into a stalemate of trench warfare. Both sides made abortive attempts to break the stalemate, and in space both retreated their vessels to use them as orbital support.

However, the Necasians managed to learn about the Tsarka bomb, and launched a full-on assault on what they believed was the bomb site. They succeeded in taking out what was apparently the bomb, only to learn that it was a decoy. Disobeying contrary orders from High Command, Calis began a full evacuation. However, as both sides neared the completion of their respective evacuations, Gresev detonated the bomb, desolating most of Kasa.

Flight and plight
As the Sravs continued on their offensive, Janos Snake, stationed on, decided that now was the time to desert. He contacted the Savi Alliance, posing as an anonymous warlord, hiring them to attack the Necasian presence on Halowan. The Savis did so, and under the command of their heroine Rafe Taker staged a raid on the base. In the process, Snake made sure it appeared that he had been killed in the attack, and took the opportunity to slip offworld in the battle, and began planning what he was to do next. Meanwhile, the superior Necasian force on the planet eventually repelled the Savis.

Meanwhile, the previously unknown Taung Confederacy, having established a presence in the, came into contact with a small scout flotilla of the Srav Federation on the world of Demos. Despite their technological advantages, the Sravs were outnumbered and outmatched, and were gradually defeated, their remnants staging a guerilla war on the Taungs. Nonetheless, the Taungs eventually claimed victory, and their leader, Mandalore the Uniter, began plans to enter the war proper.

A Continuing Offensive
The Sravs were continuing the push of their offensive, although the Necasians were ready to stand their ground. The Sravs assaulted several Necasian worlds, starting with. However, the Necasians had foreknowledge of the attack, and viewed it as an opportunity to test out the Shatter device, a ultrasonic weapon capable of destroying all in a certain radius. Using it, the Necasians buffered Srav offensive, and under the command of Jarn and SpecOps officer Bakas Mofo, they held their ground. Eventually, the Sravs set up a blockade around the planet, making the outcome indecesive.

Meanwhile, the Sravs moved to retake Alaris Prime under the command of Nataska Vergulva. The Necasian commanders--Jorm and Makakson--were unable to get along with each other, meaning that the Necasian defences were disroganized and unable to properly stand as Srav forces landed and rapidly pushed forward. Many Necasian troops deserted, due to lack of morale and Srav propaganda. Eventually, the Sravs succeeded, although Makakson had several key locations burnt to the ground with napalm in her escape.

Continuing, the Sravs assaulted. However, Jarn was again in command of the defence, and was ordered to hold them at all costs. Despite taking initial losses, the Necasians were able to regroup under Jarn, who dealt several key blows to the Srav force himself. As a result, the Necasians managed to push them of Antzerri, holding onto the planet.

Not long after, Equan was also attacked. The Necasians were disadvantaged by searching for a DTM militant cell when the Sravs attacked, but nonetheless managed to form a defence. DTM militants took the opportunity to attack both sides with KRUD missiles and hit-and-run attacks, engaging Necasian troops in urban combat. Nonetheless, with the help of veteran officer Snaipes Horgan, the Necasians managed to conduct a successful evacaution when they concluded the battle was unwinnable.

Bringers of light
The Zayre, meanwhile, after a period of consolidation, decided to re-enter the war proper by testing out their new crystal-based weaponry on a DTM base. To minimise casualties, they hired some Savi Alliance mercenaries for backup. Attacking Palanhi, they caused the DTM presence there heavy damage before finishing it off. At the end of the battle, the Zayre proceeded to massacre the Savis to prevent them from informing on them, but a few of the mercenaries escaped, which would later prove to have dire consequences for the Zayre.

However, as the Sravs made progress against the Necasians, the Taung Confederacy launched its attack on the Srav Federation, targeting the planet of Sevastopolitan. Lightly defended as a result of the Srav offensive, Sevastapolitan defences put up stubborn but inadequate resistance to the Taungs. On the surface, both sides slugged it out, but the Taungs eventually gained the upper hand. However, the Sravs were well aware of this new threat, as were the other factions. For the sake of convenience, the DTM decided to establish a friendly rapport with the Taungs, but still secretly spread malicious propaganda about them.

Nonetheless, the Sravs were quick to react. Under the command of Ivran Gresev and Vlad Mutin, a Srav taskforce moved to retake Sevastopolitan. The Taungs assumed that the Sravs would try and take the planet intact; instead, they were bombarded and decimated with nuclear and radiation weapon bombardment from orbit. The Sravs then landed and finished them off and announced victory, despite being left with a partly irradiated planet.

In an effort to regain prestige, the Taungs assaulted the planet of Volgis, focusing their attack on the Volgland basin. Srav kommissar Anatol Kurzak held the line before Nataska Vergulva showed up with reinforcements, and repelled the Taungs.

Plight of the Zayre
However, what would be considered one of the darkest moments in Zayre history was coming. Surviving Savi mercenaries from Palanhi approached Jasef Yuiln with their intelligence, and Srav recon confirmed their news. Ivran Gresev insisted that Ankarr be invaded, and Yuiln approved, on the condition that the Zayre not be exterminated, as they could be indoctrinated into the Srav cause, in his opinion.

A Srav and Savi joint taskforce was mustered, and under the command of Sravs Nataska Vergulva, Dremsk, and Savi officers Holst Kolgan and Rafe Taker, it launched an invasion of Ankarr. Ironwings and Redharn conducted a stiff defence, despite the overwhelming odds.

Ironwings key error occured when she fell for a Srav decoy Tsarka bomb, and ended up being dosed with radiation. While she healed, Vergulva, Rafe and some troops infiltrted the Zayre city and destroyed the Worship Crystal, allowing Srav and Savi forces to storm the city. Vergulva met Ironwings in single combat, and Irownings, still weak, was quickly defeated and forced to flee.

With the bulk of opposition removed, the Sravs announced themselves as rulers of the Zayre, and began a repressive occupation of Ankarr.

Wrath of the DTM
As year four began, the DTM decided that it had ammassed enough strength, and began to plan a large campaign. DTM forces under the command of Req Makad attacked, unleashing weapons such as the new Seraphim battle tank. They overcame the defences there and triumphed, buoying their spirit.