Federation Civil War (FT)

OOC: Under reconstruction!!

A coup happens in the Federation, splitting it into East and West factions. The West is backed by the Yashiman Cultural Lobby and some omnicorps. The East is the legitimate government backed by the rest of the omnicorps and Airavata. They fight. They both secede from each other. Then the West decides to place an Emperor as a sign of national unity; becoming the Greater Empire.

The Federation Civil War was a pivotal military conflict in the Human Sphere, mainly fought by the Federation of Southern Colonies against a body of seceding states under the banner of the Interstellar Union of Revolutionary States. Later in the conflict, further disintegration of the Federation led to the formation of the Eastern Federation, which became a third party in the war and would eventually develop into the Empire. Lasting four years from 150 to 154, the Federation Civil War was one of the most devastating interstellar conflicts in history, and the experiences of the period have shaped modern interstellar warfare.

Inadequacies of the Senate
Organised on the principles of democracy and freedom for the southern colonies, the Federation's legislature was the Federal Senate, which included representatives from all states within the Federation. In practice, the Federal Senate had become increasingly bloated, inefficient and corrupted. A clear dichotomy existed between the "First Wave States", which were the richer, older colonies founded during the First Wave of Human Colonisation, and the Frontier States, which were often marginalised in Senate discussions. Another major problem was the admittance of non-state actors into the Senate, with especially powerful corporate lobbies, religious groups, and other parties allowed seats on the Senate by virtue of their importance to the running of the Federal society.

With so many competing ideologies, the Senate often struggled in forming and passing resolutions, with crucial votes often relying on whichever party was able to bribe more neutral representatives to their side. This often resulted in the First Wave States attaining a dominant role, as they had clear stakes in and often even had ownership over the corporate lobbies.

Corruption was so rampant in the Federal government that the anti-corruption task force created by Supreme Chancellor James Kirk in 124 was itself notoriously corrupt. Though a large and vocal minority of senators, the so-called Reformist Faction, often lobbied for reform, reformation never came due to resistance from the First Wave States and their allies.

Federation-Hierarchy War and militarism
One of the roots of this corruption was the strong chokehold the military-industrial complex held on the Federal government due to the long and draining Federation-Hierarchy War. In 127, the Federal Navy discovered the Hierarchy when attempting to colonise the planet IP-442/72 (later known as Hirobayashi). Due to ongoing xenophobic views following the devastating Wars of Defence against the horrifying Aggressor Race early in the Southern Sphere's history, the Federation was quick to engage the Hierarchy in war. However, the Hierarchy was found to be far more powerful and larger than the Aggressor Race had been, with the Federation only being saved by the Hierarchy's lack of interest in conquering humanity.

Low-level space fighting and fighting on the surface of IP-442/72 and later-discovered water world Aoiumi drained the Federation's reserves and justified a massive military buildup, through expensive contracts for materiel and hardware from the megacorporations. To get resources for these projects, the corporations turned to the frontier worlds, where large tracts of land remained undeveloped and vast amounts of resources lay untapped. With the bulk of the Federal Armed Forces' frontline troops engaged with the Hierarchy for decades, the Federal government began to increasingly empower states to raise their own defensive militia forces for security and policing, while also further legalising private military corporations to the point that some corporate armies outnumbered those of state militias.

Lembah Cerah Incident
Bringing the widespread problems within the Federation into the spotlight was the Lembah Cerah Incident in Rokugatsu 140. Months of inconclusive negotiations between the Triton Trade Consortium and the state of Lembah Cerah on Prospect had transpired, regarding the construction of Haruhium mines. The proposed location of these mining projects overlapped major farming regions that the people of Lembah Cerah relied on for food, as well as the coastal city of Pekan Teluk Tengah, with the project potentially displacing an estimated 4 million people from settlements within the area. The ecological impact of the project was also considered, and in Shigatsu 140 the Lembah Cerah state government refused to allow Triton to carry out the mining project.

Triton then deployed its private military subsidiaries to invade Lembah Cerah in Rokugatsu 140, quickly routing the local militia within days and forcibly beginning construction of the mines. Appeals for help from the Federal authorities fell on deaf ears as the military overseer of Prospect had been bribed by Triton, and raising the issue in the Federal Senate only provoked a series of inconclusive debates and several deadlocked votes regarding the legality of Triton's actions and the course of action the Federal government should take, as the powerful corporate lobbies and numerous senators sided with Triton for various reasons. Ultimately, the Federal Senate only agreed to set up a committee to investigate the legality of Triton's actions, though it was revealed by a whistleblower that most of the members of this committee were on Triton's payroll.

Protests broke out across the Federation, though shortly after the Lembah Cerah state government was taken over by a local coup and replaced by pro-Triton faction that dropped the issue.

Formation of the Strategic Frontier Coalition
Appalled at the handling of the Lembah Cerah Incident and the outcome that occurred, several frontier states on Prospect, Barkov and Hoshino banded together and decided to form an alliance to better present the opinions of the often-marginalised frontier states within the Senate. In 146, the Strategic Frontier Coalition was formed, with the goals of resisting corporate encroachment, fighting against corruption and presenting a united front against the dominance of the First Wave States in the Senate. Ironically, the Senate's inadequacies worked in their favour, as the First Wave States and corporate lobbies that opposed the formation of the SFC were matched by the SFC and the substantial reformist faction. Several dramatic courtroom battles were fought over the legality and constitutionality of the SFC's existence, though these would not be resolved by the time the Civil War broke out.

Several corporations attempted to subvert the SFC states through economic harassment via price gouging and unfair trade practices. In response, the SFC states established their own transport networks and production chains, sponsored by their collective state treasuries. Tensions began rising dramatically between the SFC states and the First Wave States, most of which had stakes in the megacorporations being driven out of the frontier, and came to increasingly view the SFC as unconstitutional separatists. Operating through the grey area of private military corporations, some political elements and megacorporations attempted to sabotage and openly attack SFC holdings through gunboat diplomacy, seeking to discredit them and force them to back down from their position. However, this merely drove the SFC states to begin banding their militia forces together to face these threats, making them take another step towards separatism.

War on the Frontier
By 148, open fighting had broken out between the SFC militias and the PMCs across the frontier, particularly on Barkov, where every state had joined the SFC. As more states started joining the SFC, the Senate managed to declare an embargo on selling weapons and other military equipment to the SFC states. The SFC quickly compensated for this through constructing a network of state-owned industrial facilities throughout their territories, further asserting their rights as states and sparking another round of Senate debates. This time, the industrial facilities were ruled unconstitutional and the Federal government demanded that they be handed over to Federal control. Defying the orders, the SFC instead formed shell companies to run the facilities, the origin of the major state-owned enterprises of the modern Union.

Roughly seven months prior to the official commencement of hostilities, a string of mysterious disappearances on Prospect were found to actually be the kidnapping of colonists by the Futuretech Corporation for human experimentation. After storming multiple Futuretech facilities across the planet, fighting escalated to involve the Federal Armed Forces. At the Battle of Greenwater Bay, elements of the Federal Navy's Pi Squadron led by CDR Frank McGregor apparently arrived to relieve Futuretech PMC troops. Later investigation revealed that CDR McGregor was acting of his own accord to save the civilians in the Futuretech facilities, though the fighting quickly got out of hand and the Federal Navy began engaging SFC forces.

Foundation of the IURS and official secession
Taking immediate action, the Federation's Supreme Chancellor ruled that the SFC militias engaging the Federal Navy was a wholly unconstitutional act and issued an emergency act that banned the SFC, calling for its leaders to be placed under arrest. In response, the SFC leadership issued a proclamation that they would officially secede from the Federation, declaring that all Federation forces were to evacuate from SFC territories within three days. The Senate ignored this and voted for the Federal Armed Forces to be deployed to the frontier.

Meeting in New Haiphong on Barkov, the SFC Council formally carried out the transition to statehood, forming the Interstellar Union of Revolutionary States, issuing the new constitution, and formally reorganising the SFC militias into the new United Front. On Ichigasu 7, 150, the newly-formed Union Council officially declared war on the Federation, marking the beginning the Federation Civil War.

Opening and first stages (150-152)
At the start of the war, the Union controlled the entire planet of Barkov as well as some terrestrial territories on Paraiso, Hoshino, Yukimura and Wannasathit. Upon the official commencement of hostilities, ground troops of the Federation Defence Force on Paraiso and Prospect immediately attempted to attack the Union-occupied regions.

Upon the commencement of hostilities, the Federal Armed Forces immediately began a land campaign against the Union states on Prospect, Hoshino, Wannasathit and Yukimura. On Hoshino, Union forces were well entrenched and were surprisingly able to repel Federation troops and retaliate, pushing deep into neighbouring states. Similar scenes were visible on Prospect, as Union forces carried out rapid aerospaceborne assaults to seize key strategic hubs such as space elevators and spaceports. Union space forces operating out of Barkov attacked the Prospect Interstellar Spaceport, landing large amounts of troops and flanking Federation forces. Within four months, the Union had largely taken over Prospect, though had themselves been pushed off of Wannasathit.

Executing a plan formulated by the Union's top military leader, Esteban Korshunov, Union forces engaged Federation communications centres on Hoshino as well as the Southern Hemisphere Space Elevator, which connected to the crucial Hoshino Orbital Shipyards, forcing the Federation to divide their forces to protect these nodes. This left the road to New Vordin open, enabling the Union to swiftly seize the key administrative centre. Forced to retreat, the Federation lost the State of Käthehirt to the Union.

Elsewhere, the Federation managed to gain ground in the central continent of Prospect.

Fighting between Union and

Second stage of the war (152-153)
Opening a new front, the IURS deployed the Fourth Fleet in a surprise full-scale invasion of Paraiso.

Paraiso, capital of the Federation is invaded by the Union, and fierce fighting ensues over the planet. The Federal Government hastily evacuates to Mugunghwa. The fighting over Paraiso becomes a stalemate.

Meanwhile on Yukimura, the Union makes some headway which frustrates General Takikawa Takashi, the future Emperor.

Hoshino is also in dire straits.

However, the Federation manages to invade Prospect and Barkov.

The Supreme Chancellor attained more emergency powers.

Division in the Federation (153)
On 6 Rokugatsu 153, the Federation was suddenly divided when Fleet Commander Takikawa Takashi carried out a coup. Takikawa led a cabal of Federation Defence Force officers who were increasingly dissatisfied with the Federation's state of affairs in both the handling of the war and general mistreatment of the people, while at the same time they also opposed to the Union due to their propensity for war crimes in the war for independence. Deciding to take a third option, Takikawa launched a coup, arresting the Supreme Chancellor and several government ministers, declaring the Chancellor's emergency powers illegal, and

Takikawa basically imprisoned all those who opposed him.

The Secretary of Urban Development, Jeffrey Michener, managed to escape as he was on Mugunghwa. According to the Line of Succession, became the new President of the Federation. He formed a new government on Mugunghwa and declared the Eastern Federation illegal.

On Yukimura, General Takikawa Takashi, the front commander, faces a problem.

Fleet Commander Takikawa Takashi of Upsilon Squadron

6 Rokugatsu

On a particular winter day, high-ranking military officers

The coup was launched, and several states chose to follow the new regime, splitting the Federation into East and West factions. The war continued.

On Hoshino, General Takikawa Takashi, the front commander, faces a problem.

Yoshida Mayumi

Fed Army leader defeats three rivals then takes over.

Third stage of the war (153-154)
The Eastern Federation essentially inherits a poor position in the war since they cover the front. Eastern Federation forces were engaged all over Hoshino and Paraiso, while Western Federation forces on Paraiso began fighting both the Eastern Federation and continued fighting the Union troops. Western Federation were still engaged on Prospect.

The Eastern Federation was still heavily engaged with fighting the IURS, pushing further into IURS territory. Suddenly the Western Federation attacked them.

End of the War
On 23 Jugatsu 154, the war ended with the Treaty of Bakura.

Advances in technology and warfare
-Fighters became widely used in space warfare after the Union used lots of fighters to make up for their lack of capital ships

-Carriers became more widespread after great success in the war

-Mechas began to be developed and used widely as weapons of war after the Mitsuhishi AMP Suit was very effective.