Today is the day that will change history. Today we take a stand against the forces of destruction. Today we will began our quest to establish order. We can rebuild this galaxy. We have the technology. Now, let us do what needs to be done.
—Janos Snake
The Battle of Janna was a battle of the Cruentusian War. It occurred when the Necasian Military, seeking retribution against the Death's Tongue Militia, launched an attack against a major Death's Tongue base and training camp on the watery planet of Janna. The Srav Federation also launched an attack, intending to crush both. However, the United Coalition of Worlds, a loose alliance of planets created by former Necasian officer Janos Snake, intervened, overcoming the other factions with its electronic warfare tactics, and marking its entry into the war.
Prelude[]
Shortly prior to the battle, the Srav Federation had been pressing up its campaign against the DTM, after defeating the Taung Confederacy, this allowing them to divert resources elsewhere. The Sravs had successfully destroyed a DTM base on Myrkr, and under the guidance of Srav intelligence director Volita Taika and kommissar Laverta Suka DTM sleeper cells and sympathizers within the Srav Federation began to find themselves being purged. As a result of this, the DTM began to relocate assets, moving a base on the moon of Gus Talon to Janna.
The Necasian Military, although have suffered several setbacks lately, had managed to consolidate itself after Srav offensive which was weakened when the Sravs had to divert resources to fighting the Taungs. Nevertheless, it had recently lost one of its heroes, Haveer Jarn, considered by many to be the finest Necasian soldier, after he had discovered evidence of Necasian leader Askar Invado's perceived treachery earlier in the war. Jarn had avoided death or capture by Necasian purge squad, had gathered loyalists to him, and made himself scarce. The vague nature of Necasian propaganda on the topic of Jarn's disappearance had confused many Necasian soldiers and eroded morale somewhat.
Nevertheless, Askar decided to proceed with operations as planned. He began extending Necasian intelligence, and decided to focus efforts on the DTM, whom he believed were the greater threat due to constant fear and worry among Necasian citizenry over DTM sleeper cells and terror attacks. Necasian agents and SpecOps commandos managed to learn of the DTM transferring operations to Janna. Askar decided to commence an attack on said world, eroding a key DTM installation and dealing what he felt would be a heavy blow to the militant group.
Unbeknownst to Askar, the Sravs were also conducting intelligence operations against the DTM. A Necasian agent on Volgis was captured shortly before the battle, and after enduring days of torture revealed Necasian plans to attack Janna. The highest-ranking Srav commander, Ivran Gresev, immediately began formulating a plan for the Sravs to attack the world, eradicating both Necasian and DTM forces there. Srav leader Jasef Yuiln had his reservations, believing the Sravs needed more time to consolidate, but due to his stress Gresev was able to quickly convince him otherwise.
Elsewhere, on Corellia, former Necasian officer Janos Snake had organized a meeting of neutral worlds and species, the Zayre among them, having been convinced a year before that the war needed to ended by any means necessary. In that time, he had convinced said governments to pledge military strength to a new coalition government to establish law and order. Military designs were provided by former technicians of the Simiyar Tech corporations, dissolved not long before after the destruction of its homeworld Simiyar. Manpower was provided by mercenary organizations and said governments, and although military strength of Snake's new government was comparatively low, Snake believed that it was compensated by extensive EMP and ECM technology provided by the Simiyar techs. Announcing this new alliance as the United Coalition of Worlds, Snake made sure that the galaxy at large was not immediately aware of this, biding his time and waiting for the right time for it to make an entrance.
The battle[]
Necasian arrival[]
Having gathered an appropriate force, Necasian leader Askar Invado placed famed sadistic pyromaniac Emela Makakson, known for her obsession with napalm, and fighter ace Renard Curl, in command of the attack force. Necasian scout probes were sent ahead of the main group, determining the levels of DTM orbital resistance. It transpired that the DTM possessed a single Strat-class cruiser and a few comparatively rudimentary satellite weapons platforms based on Srav Tarbarossa-class orbital platforms, armed with standard ballistic missiles. Judging these defenses to be meager, Makakson went ahead with the attack.
Jumping out of lightspeed over Janna, Necasian Elthior-class IV Assault Frigates opened fire on the DTM satellites, wiping 90% of them out within seconds. The Strat cruiser returned fire with a volley of missiles and flak, lightly damaging one of the frigates, but barrage of rockets breached its laser countermeasures and heavily damaged it, forcing it to quickly flee to the opposite side of the planet, hiding behind a large asteroid orbiting the planet. With most orbital resistance eliminated, the Necasian ships began orbital surveillance sweeps, selecting what they considered the best landing sites and identifying the largest DTM camps. Makakson had been told that the planet was to be occupied and prisoners were to be taken, preventing her from simply commencing saturation napalm bombing like she wanted. Nonetheless, she had some of the frigates and SkyBull-class transports modified with bomb bays to perform high-altitude bombing runs on DTM-occupied villages and munitions dumps. With that done, waves of troop-laden regular SkyBull transports began to enter the inner atmosphere.
By now, the DTM was aware of the attack. On the surface, DTM militants moved to their pre-determined counter-invasion points. Many DTM defense sites were camouflaged and had therefore not been noted by Necasian orbital surveillance, and the DTM believed this gave them an advantage. DTM explosives expert Req Makad was present and took command, preparing networks of booby traps in locations he believed the Necasians would first reach. Elsewhere, the DTM used propaganda among the local population to recruit more numbers to their fight, or simply force them at gunpoint if that failed.
Meanwhile, the Necasians had also detected DTM presence in the planet's many lakes and inland seas, and as such aquatic vehicles such as Razorshark-class attack boats and Swordfish-class attack hydrofoils were deposited into said bodies of water via transport, and began hunting DTM Crabfish-class attack submersibles. However, elsewhere, as they landed, Necasian transports came under attack from barrages of DTM KRUD missiles, launched from camouflaged launch sites. Nevertheless, Renard Curl and his elite squadrons of DarkBird-class attack fighters pinpointed and eliminated many of said sites near the Necasian landing sites, with the rest of the landings proceeding smoothly for the Necasians. With the Necasians now possessing orbital and air superiority, Makakson believed that victory was merely a matter of time.
Blindside[]
Nevertheless, the DTM were rallying, and were already making use of their signature guerrilla tactics. As forward Necasian armor divisions advanced into forested valleys, they were attacked in hit-and-run attacks by DTM Rapier combat bikes and Seraphim battle tanks. Although for the most part DTM vehicles were considered inferior to Necasian ones, their use of camouflage and the surrounding environment, coupled with suicide bombing attacks, weakened initial Necasian waves. Elsewhere, DTM militants equipped with modified DR12 rocket launchers in camouflaged missile sites in mountainsides and forests helped scatter Necasian aerial vehicles, with Necasian surveillance unable to detect them and their aircraft unable to get too near.
Elsewhere, on the aquatic front, the situation was considered better for the Necasians. DTM underwater forces were scattered by heavy depth charging, although some DTM militants managed to plant mines at the side of some Necasian boats. Regardless, Necasian Razorshark boats began bombardment and coastal support, helping clear resistance in urban areas along the coasts. Elsewhere, Makakson used her signature napalm bombing runs from bomb-bay equipped SkyBull-class transports and orbital frigates to drive out hiding DTM forces in said forested areas, allowing her forces to advance. With landing sites firmly consolidated, Makakson ordered combat engineer teams to begin construction of NHD-52577 artillery platforms, with which she intended to bombard the DTM into submission.
After several hours of battle, however, neither side noted a Srav task force enter the system, passing through a debris field to hide themselves. Forward Srav probe drones determined the strength of the other two factions. The main Srav commander in charge, Vlad Mutin, decided to press forward, ordering his destroyers to arm their nuclear weapons bays. He first send forward probes equipped with nuclear devices, which were either too small to be detected or were equipped with sensor-repelling paint. Once in orbit, the probes were detonated, surprising and crippling the Necasian orbital presence. Then, the Sravs moved in, sending in fighters first to weaken the Necasian ships and divert Necasian fighter support in orbit. However, with most of the Necasian fighter wings in the atmosphere, the Sravs enjoyed fighter superiority in orbit. As Necasian vessels moved to meet the Srav capital ships, denying their ground forces orbital support in the process, Srav transports moved to enter the atmosphere.
Red Menace[]
Necasian troops engage Sravs in a village
As the transports descended, Srav orbital vessels let off several nuclear weapons. Although said weapons did not score direct hits on concentrations of Necasian and DTM forces, the resulting fallout and blasts managed to scatter groups of enemy troops. The Necasian orbital ships then managed to set up an anti-missile laser defense grid, with fighters being selected to intercept anything that did got through, denying the Sravs the option of full-on bombardment. Nevertheless, as Srav troops landed and disembarked, Srav aquatic craft were dropped into the lakes and inland seas, where they began both torpedoing boats and craft of both the other sides and ballistic missile operations.
Faced with two enemies, Makakson began to compensate. She had her forces pulled away from the Srav landing areas, hoping that the DTM would hinder her for them. Elsewhere, Necasian troops began urban combat with Sravs para-dropped into villages, and when Makakson realized that many DTM militants in some villages were disguising themselves as civilians to lure her troops into a false sense of security she had the entire populaces of said villages executed or bombed with napalm for good measure. This backfired somewhat for the Necasians; as a result, many civilians began to take arms against the Necasians, supporting the DTM or Sravs.
Some Necasian officers suggested the idea of using propaganda and small-scale aid distribution to convince the civilians to join the Necasian cause to Makakson; she ignored them. In fact, she ramped up exterminations, which offended and appalled many Necasian officers and troops, who sometimes chose to ignore her orders. Necasian SpecOps troops began executing disobedient troops on some occasions; the Sravs and DTM exploited this by attacking them in the middle of such confrontations. At the same time, the Srav began to deploy their Ghoul Division, which consisted of Srav troops with heightened durability and pain tolerance due to being mutated via radiation exposure. This was considered successful on a limited scale, with many enemy troops finding the mutated soldiers terrifying.
By nightfall, all three factions had firmly set themselves in several areas of the planet's main continent. The DTM began using a tunnel network they had burrowed under the tunnel's surface to perform their signature guerrilla tactics against the other two, and the Necasians worked on reconnaissance. The Sravs, however, on Vlad's insistence, began to construct a Tsarka bomb, a superpowered nuclear weapon capable of desolating an entire planet, as demonstrated during its use on Kasa earlier in the war. This was to be used in the event of a dire emergency, or if Vlad felt like it. To prevent the other factions from learning on it, only the combat engineer teams working on it and the upper officers in charge of the battle were aware of it. Concurrently, though, the Necasians began work on a powerful weapon of their own: the shatter device, a weapon capable of projecting intense and large ultrasonic fields that destroyed anything within them.
Smoke on the water[]
The fighting died down during the night as soldiers of both factions rested. Nevertheless, Necasian and Srav troops based in some towns came under attack repeatedly by DTM suicide bombers or car bombs, and the DTM guerrilla and hit-and-run tactics were straining both their supply lines. On the planet's water bodies, DTM forces had mostly been expunged, although Srav forces were moving into DTM training camps on small islands there, with most of the militants there still in the process of training or not familiar with combat at all, making it easy for the Sravs to exterminate them. Frustrated by Srav submarine operations, Makakson ordered mass depth charging via Necasian boats, bomb-bay equipped transports and orbital, but this did not hinder the Srav underwater operations too much.
By this time, however, word of the battle had spread to the outside galaxy. On Corellia, Janos Snake had been mobilizing UCW forces, preparing to enter a battle and make the existence of his new alliance fully known. Upon hearing of the battle on Janna, Snake analyzed all available intelligence gathered by spy drones and contacts and came to the conclusion that the time to strike was now. With that, a UCW flotilla moved out.
Back on Janna, construction of the Necasian artillery platforms was complete, and Makakson ordered a mass bombardment of enemy positions with napalm shells. For the DTM, this was not so consequential; most of their facilities were spread apart and camouflaged, with the shells only hitting locations they had either abandoned or did not consider important. However, some Srav units found themselves isolated and vulnerable when they were cut off by the huge firestorms created by the shell bombardment, and in some cases the sheer heat generated by the infernos caused armored vehicles a few miles away to melt, and infantry to literally fry. Makakson tried this with towns and villages occupied by the Sravs or the DTM, and was satisfied when they were leveled.
As retaliation, Vlad ordered missile strikes from Okol-class mobile missile launchers and orbital barrages on the platforms. Although Necasian missile sites intercepted some of the volleys, some of the strikes were successful, leveling a few of the platforms. The DTM attempted their own strikes with comparatively primitive KRUD missiles, which were far less accurate, but nonetheless managed to hit power generators or munitions dumps adjacent to the platform, forcing Makakson to be more conservative with her volleys. Nevertheless, she still ordered a barrage on the largest inland sea, the napalm setting the water alight, the heat boiling anything on or in it.
Angered, Vlad ordered a counterstrike. Under the command of armor officer Boras Magdiyek, units of Srav tanks advanced on Necasian lines, smashing through their positions at several occupied towns and woods. However, as they closed in on the heart of Necasian territory, the forward units were suddenly annihilated by a sonic wave, from the freshly-completed shatter device. Missile strikes on the weapon were deflected by missile and anti-missile laser sites, and instead Vlad opted to pull back and consolidate, hoping that the DTM would sneak past the Necasian defenses with their guerrilla tactics and eliminate the weapon for him.
Enter the Coalition[]
UCW troops engage
As dusk approached for the second day, the UCW flotilla appeared out of hyperspace near the planet, consisting of a single Sunstreak-class battle carrier flanked by a number of SilverEagle-class support frigates. Instantly, the ships engaged their advanced jamming facilities, allowing them to approach the planet undetected. Probes were launched that gauged the enemy threat level, and Snake, commanding the operation personally, adjusted his plans accordingly.
In orbit, a Necasian officer was first to suspect something when the jamming of one of the frigates momentarily failed, which showed up on his monitor. Makakson dismissed it as a computer error. Then, the carrier came into range and opened fire with mass-driver cannons, firing massively energized projectiles, critically damaging one of the Necasian ships. It then began launching waves of fighters and transports, while firing dozens of drop pods down onto the platform. Finally noticing the fleet, Makakson panicked momentarily, before hailing the carrier. Snake introduced himself and the Coalition, and demanded her surrender. Makakson laughed and ordered to return fire. The Sravs had also noted the newcomers, and although initially confused, believing them to be Necasian reinforcements, also opened fire with missiles. To their horror, the UCW fleet established a massive ECM field, scrambling the missile's electronics and sending them spinning away harmlessly. Vlad attempted a fighter attack, but the UCW had deployed wings of RX-456 Empress-class interceptors, which jammed fighter communications with their ECM suites and picked them off. Panicked, both Necasian and Srav orbital fleets pulled back.
On the surface, UCW orbital pods dropped right into the middle of the central Necasian camp. UCW troops spilled out, engaging Necasian troops. Because the UCW ranks contained a number of Necasian and Srav deserters, they were familiar with enemy doctrine and weaponry, allowing them to quickly move through the camp. Initially, they attempted to capture the Shatter device and turn it on its users, but Makakson had it self-destruct, negating that option. In turn, she ordered an artillery volley on the camp, to 'sterilize it'. The initial volleys caused some damage, but then one of the support frigates projected a communications jamming field over the area, blocking communications and orbital relay to the guns, leaving them blind. With that, the carrier initiated a brief bombardment with its mass-drivers, pulverizing the artillery platforms.
Elsewhere, UCW transports were deploying units of UC12 Viper-class battle tanks, which moved in to engage Necasian and Srav armor units, which were crippled and low on supplies. Meeting their counterparts outside one of the larger towns, the Viper tanks had initial success, using their ECM suites to their advantage. Nevertheless, they had difficulty with Srav Drakuv tanks and Drapeznik gunships, which destroyed the first few waves, but fighter support and quick infantry maneuvers negated these threats.
The UCW had more difficulty engaging the DTM, which did not have access to such high use of electronics and technology as the Necasians and Sravs, making the UCW's heavy use of ECM less of an advantage with them. Nevertheless, the DTM had suffered heavy casualties by this point and had lost most of its offensive capabilities. Makad, who was starting to get desperate, detonated several eborax bombs, spreading deadly clouds of the virus, which slowed down the UCW somewhat until it began distributing biohazard gear. Attacking DTM installations, the UCW also used explosives to damage the DTM tunnel networks, styming their supply lines. In DTM-occupied villages, the UCW dropped troops right into DTM-held buildings from orbit, quickly flushing them out.
Eagle Dawn[]
UCW commandos emerge from a drop pod
The Necasians, Sravs, and DTM had all been taken aback by the arrival of this new faction and what they saw as its ruthlessly effective tactics. Vlad decided to initiate retreat protocols, and with the Tsarka bomb nearly finished ordered all troops who were not able to reach an escape point to fight to the death. Makakson stubbornly refused to give up, launching napalm bombing runs, although mass communications jamming was frustrating her. The DTM was on the verge of being broken, and Makad took the opportunity to escape in a stealth transport, leaving command to his subordinates. Renard Curl, despite barely maintaining communications with his superiors, began to attack UCW fighter squadrons, successfully bringing several down, but then some of the fighters began jamming his DarkBird's computer systems, leaving him barely able to control it. As a result, Renard was shot down, the first time he had suffered a defeat in fighter combat. He successfully ejected and was picked up by Necasian forces and spirited to safety, but the shock of what had happened left him barely able to think, and thus he was effectively taken out of the battle.
In orbit, the Necasians and Sravs had managed to destroy a few of the enemy support frigates, but that was the extent of their success. On the ground, Snake's co-commander, Tara Dras, began a final push on both Srav and Necasian lines. UCW troops were dropped into the Srav main camp after airstrikes disabled most of its defenses, and began work on disarming the Tsarka bomb. Vlad realized this after a short while and detonated the bomb. By then, though, most of the bomb's components had been removed, and the explosion only reached four megatons, destroying the Srav camp and the UCW forces in it.
On the ground, Magdiyek managed to hold off several UCW armor attacks, but with the camp destroyed the UCW began to encircle his position. Worried, he had a Drapeznik gunship pick him up and take him to a Srav destroyer in the upper atmosphere. With this, Vlad ordered a full retreat, although some Srav units were beginning to defect to the UCW. He detonated several nuclear and radiation bombs around evacuation sites to prevent UCW forces from reaching them, though this also halted Srav stragglers. As soon as many Srav forces as possible were pulled out, Vlad's fleet began to enter hyperspace vectors.
Many Necasian forces, their communications jammed, also began to surrender or desert, and Makakson reluctantly also ordered an evacuation. This was somewhat less organized than the Srav one, with many Necasian units abandoning their wounded or commandeering civilian ships. Snake decided to let them leave, mainly because he was not willing to risk more fighter casualties in bringing them down.
By nightfall, most Necasian and Srav forces had fled. UCW forces consolidated on the planet, and worked on restoring order in civilian areas, tracking down and eliminating DTM remnant forces. At midnight, Snake announced victory to his forces, and announced that this was only the first step in bringing peace to the galaxy.
Aftermath[]
In the hours following the battle, official announcement of the UCW's existence spread around the galaxy. The Necasians and Sravs were shocked to learn that it was larger and more advanced than they had assumed, and were also taken aback by its technology. Although the Necasians and Sravs also possessed electronic warfare capabilities, it had never occurred to them to use it on such a level as the UCW. The stress of the situation affected Srav leader Jasef Yuiln, already suffering from stress and ill health due to his age.
On Janna, the UCW began work on civilian reconstruction and humanitarian aid, evacuating civilians from areas contaminated by radiation or biohazards. However, they also began purging of pro-democratic individuals, or anyone not compatible with the UCW's ideology.
Legacy[]
The main consequence of the battle in the opinion of historians and observers was the successful field testing of the UCW's military forces buoyed it and gave it respect and fear from the other factions. More localized consequences were the permanent contamination of some areas of the planet from radiation, napalm and biohazards, which proved extremely difficult to expunge.
Also, the DTM had lost a major base and training ground as a result of the battle, and this affected their galaxy-wide operations, forcing them to spread their training facilities.
Behind the scenes[]
This article was created as part of the collaborative project on Star Wars Fanon, Project Cruentus. It was designed to introduce the United Coalition of Worlds, a faction created as concept by the user Darth Mavoc, and expanded on by Unit 8311. Not much outside inspiration went into the creation of this article, with Unit 8311 writing it mostly from imagination, though some of it was very vaguely based on the US Iraq War.