Imperial Holdout Conflict (FT)

The Imperial Holdout Conflict, also known as the Period of Honourable Resistance and the Imperial Remnant Conflict, was a protracted armed conflict in the Southern Sphere, primarily between the Federation of Sovereign States-led International Security Pact (ISP) and various Imperial Holdout groups that arose following the capitulation of the Greater Empire in the Empire-Federation War. During the conflict, the largely fractious Imperial Holdouts also experienced multiple conflicts among themselves known as the Imperial Civil Wars. The Imperial Holdout Conflict culminated in and is popularly viewed as having ended with the conclusion of the War of Imperial Restoration in 172.

Often referred to in the modern day as the Old Empire, the Greater Empire was a breakaway state that seceded the Federation following the Federation Civil War in 109. Tensions between both states remained high as the Federation refused to recognise the Empire as an independent state, and both hyperpowers embarked on a vast rivalry that culminated in the Empire-Federation War. Towards the end of the five-year conflict, the Imperial Grand Minister Hashiyasume Shinzo as well as the figurehead Emperor Kasai Toshiro were killed when an orbital habitat was de-orbited on the Imperial capital city Awara during the Battle of Yukimura. This threw the Imperial government and military into chaos as Hashiyasume, who had controlled the Empire for four decades as a dictator, did not have a clear succession plan and had been preparing multiple rival officials to eventually take over.

A government led by Yamaguchi Ozaki was formed on Kandani, but following the disastrous Second Battle of Ishigaki, where the Imperial Military failed to secure a foothold in the Ishigaki System, the Yamaguchi government began planning to surrender to the Federation. At this point, various Imperial Military officers and government officials began deserting their posts, bringing the forces that they commanded to fortify the outer planets and colonies that had not yet been attacked by the Federation in order to continue the fight. On 1 Simgi 141, Yamaguchi's government surrendered to the Federation, ending the Empire-Federation War. Despite the central government's surrender, various military and political leaders in areas still firmly occupied by Imperial forces refused to recognise the surrender, labelling Yamaguchi and his government as traitors to the Empire. These largely disunited and were mainly comprised of various factions and uncontrolled warlords were termed Imperial Holdouts by the Federation.

As part of the Empire's surrender, the Empire was forced to and enter the International Security Pact with the Federation in lieu of becoming a full member state of the Federation, which was opposed by various Federation member states due to concern over potential Imperial interference with Federation affairs if they were granted full membership. This Federation-backed regime is popularly referred to as the Puppet Empire. Some areas in the Empire declared critical to the ISP were placed under ISP jurisdiction as ISP Mandate Zones, quickly becoming a loophole to grant the Federation direct access to resource-rich areas in Imperial territory. In addition, areas in the Empire under the control of Federation troops at the end of the war were to hold plebiscites to decide if they would be granted independence or would remain as part of the Empire. A combination of local corruption, interference by the Federation's member states seeking to prop up vassal states, and various pro-Imperial results caused the former Imperial worlds to become host to a mixture of Imperial provinces, independent states that quickly became junior members of the Federation, and random areas that became uncontrolled by any higher government.

The Imperial Holdouts were dominated by five main factions that only nominally cooperated, alongside numerous minor warlords, guerrilla forces, and local governments that continued to resist the Federation and the Puppet Empire across the former Imperial territory. The main factions were the Central Faction that fully controlled the Onogoro System, the Mukaichi Faction that controlled the Daitetsu System, the Imperial Frontier, which was thinly spread across the Coreward Frontier region, the Northern Fleet Faction, which controlled some territories in the Matsutani System, and the Horiuchi Force, a thinly-spread network of forces and minor holdings across the Aizawa Arm region headed by Governor Horiuchi Ken.

Empire-Federation War
Main article: Empire-Federation War

Federation invades the Empire. After an initial bang it becomes a multiple-system planetary invasion slog for some time before suddenly it flares up again and Awara gets colony-dropped. Then the Empire gets pushed back hard.

Puppet Empire
A constitutional monarchy without a monarch, the Puppet Empire was basically a constitutional monarchy that attempted to operate as a democracy.

Independent States
Various allegedly independent states also existed which were not members of the Federation but were generally viewed as puppet states of Federation members.

There were also pro-Federation warlords and militias.

Central Faction
Originally the Central Faction. They were safe and comfortable on Onogoro, and had the second-largest regular military force, though after some time attrition began to set in.

At first Crown Prince General Kasai Tatsuro refused to be coronated until they won the war. Aki convinced him this was a stupid idea and he was coronated in 150, forming the New Greater Empire as a stratocratic absolute monarchy, immediately driving the rest nuts and starting the First Imperial Civil War.

Imperial Frontier
The Imperial Frontier officially controlled the entire Imperial Frontier region. Regional Governor Miyata Kiyomi maintained that the Imperial Frontier was the original regional government, and attempted to maintain control over the system governments of Daitetsu, Kamisuwa, Kenjiri (Ventura), Sanzu (Concordia), Kakigori (Niflheim), and Shinsakai. Miyata was backed by a large force comprising the remnants of the 2nd Eastern Fleet, 3rd Southern Fleet, and the 11th, 21st, and 25th Area Armies. However, the Imperial Frontier initially did not have full control over these systems, and continually attempted to enforce taxes and Imperial order while fighting a running battle against the Federation peacekeeping forces, maintaining some minor land territory and numerous spaceborne bases.

Eventually, Grand Admiral Mukaichi from Task Force Mukaichi took over control of the Imperial Frontier as the Supreme Commander.

Task Force Mukaichi
Task Force Mukaichi was a large armada commanded by Grand Admiral Mukaichi Yasushi and the remnants of the Imperial Navy high command, comprised mainly of the former 1st and 2nd Southern Fleets as well as a large amount of piecemeal forces that had retreated from the Second Battle of Ishigaki. At the start of the conflict, the Task Force comprised the largest military force among the Imperial Holdouts and also played a major political role.

The term Task Force Mukaichi was applied to the faction by the Central Faction and later the New Greater Empire. Throughout its existence, Mukaichi's faction portrayed itself as the official combined Imperial Navy and later the official Imperial government.

Northern Fleet
Basically the remnants of the 2nd Central Fleet and 7th Central Fleet in the vicinity of Matsutani, with some land holdings on the planet and the system.

Horiuchi Force
The Horiuchi Force was one of the more successful irregular Imperial Holdout factions, and was led by Governor Horiuchi Ken, a former Imperial Intelligence officer who granted himself the rank of Governor. Throughout its existence, the Horiuchi Force was viewed variably as a credible guerrilla force at best to having devolved into a criminal syndicate at worst. The existence of the "Horiuchi Force" is still controversial in Imperial historiography to this day, and Horiuchi was often viewed as simply having been the most prominent of the petty warlords due to his adept coordination of what few military forces he had at his disposal alongside irregular and even criminal elements.

Formerly a high-ranking Imperial Intelligence officer, Horiuchi had developed a large network of grey-zone and underworld contacts that he was able to leverage during the first few years after the defeat of the Old Empire. Ostensibly in order to fund his campaign of resistance against the Federation, Horiuchi coordinated and developed a vast criminal enterprise that produced and trafficked drugs on an interstellar scale, mainly the stimulant Blue Dust, using a chain of fast-food restaurants (Toriniku Kyodai; "Chicken Brothers") as a front. Through this syndicate, Horiuchi managed to place spies and saboteurs as deep as Yukimura and New Mansan, as well as make contact with and manage several independent guerrilla movements, lesser warlords, and local governors.

At the core of the so-called Horiuchi Force was a small fleet of warships and a small-sized regular military force that Horiuchi used as an elite shock force.

Local Forces
The term "Local Forces" was initially used by the Central Faction to designate various loyalist armed groups and local governments that were too small to be considered major factions but did not openly align with any faction, including forces such as local governors that refused to recognise the imposition of new government over their territories, warlord forces formed by former Imperial military personnel, minor guerrilla bands, and others. Modern Imperial historical revisionism has downplayed the fractiousness of the Imperial Holdout movement and often portrays these pro-Imperial local forces as having been fully aligned and coordinated to carry out the goal of Imperial Restoration as various popular grassroots movements.

In reality, many of the local forces often lacked communication with each other or the larger factions and the amount of support they received from the population varied widely. A large proportion of these local forces eventually devolved into criminal groups such as gangs, pirates, or bandits, a fact that has been covered up in the Empire's official history. Some of these local forces also fought among each other in minor turf wars, but lacked the ability to go up against the larger Imperial Holdout factions. The vast majority of local forces disappeared over time, being destroyed by attrition, becoming incorporated into the larger Imperial Holdout factions, or transforming fully into criminal operations.

Beginning and expansion of insurgency
The Imperial Holdouts emerge.

First Police Action
The Federation smashes the whole area. A particular target is the Horiuchi Force, which Governor Horiuchi Ken has transformed into a massive crime syndicate that pulls in money via the highly addictive stimulant Blue Dust. Of all the warlords, Horiuchi is simply the biggest one.

Imperial Holdout Consolidation
150 - Crown Prince Kasai Tatsuro and Imperial Grand Marshal Kitagawa Aki form the New Greater Empire. Unlike the Old Empire, it's a stratocratic absolute monarchy. Prince Tatsuro survived because he was leading the Army at the front. Some minor warlords and governors pledge allegiance to the New Greater Empire, but many other factions do not recognise it. The biggest offender is the Mukaichi Faction (the thing formerly known as the New Axis OOCly), which has Tatsuro's uncle and intended to form their own successor state too, albeit one that keeps it a constitutional monarchy.

156 - The Mukaichi Faction launched the Coreward Frontier Campaign to seize the whole area.

Second Police Action
The Coreward Frontier Campaign causes the Federation to retaliate.

157 - First Imperial Civil War occurs when the New Empire attempts to assert its authority over Mukaichi. Mukaichi essentially asserts his independence from the central government.

Expansion of the New Greater Empire
160 - Second Imperial Remnant War. Empire attacks Kandani and takes it, with a lot of help from the Horiuchi Force, which is basically a massive crime syndicate at this point. This is the beginning of the end for the Federation, who shortly after get embroiled in the Mnemosynian war.

Third Imperial Civil War
So basically the whole Imperial Frontier attempted to secede from the New Empire again because they preferred their Emperor over the New Empire's (Uncle vs Son; Constitutional vs Absolute). T