| Cineris-Dominion War | |||||||||||||||||||||
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March 22nd, 2582 - Ongoing | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Cineris - Dominion Conflict is the name of the ongoing conflict between the Andromeda Dominion and the Cineris Collective Government. The conflict first started when the Exon Liberation Army, the precursor to the Andromeda Dominion, launched a terrorist attack on the capital of the CCG, Prima Luce.
First Battle of Kolechia[]
Taking place immediately after the events of the Prima Luce Terror Attacks, a joint operation between the CMF and ERA was held against the AD capital, Kolechia. Led by Exon intel and supported by CMF Warlock and ARS special forces, the operation's goal was to recover stolen CMF PTS designs and information before it could be copied and distrubuted throughought AD space, becoming permenantly compromised. The operation ended in success, with allied forces managing to breach a shipyard and obtain the data, still contained on a single device, just before it was passed off. Additionally, Exon and the CMF discovered an AD CSO-Class Supercarrier hidden within the shipyards, a sign of the AD's rapidly growing military strength.
Operation: CRIMSON PHOENIX[]
(See Operation: CRIMSON PHOENIX) Operation: CRIMSON PHOENIX, also called the Second Battle of Kolechia, and the Intervention Against The Dominion, was a CMF led assault against the AD Capital world of Kolechia. Unlike the First Battle of Kolechia, however, this assault was more widespread, and was directly intended to challenge the AD's power, while officially declaring war on the Dominion itself by the CMF. The battle resulted in heavy losses on both sides; the CMF's primary assault fleets suffered incredibly heavy damages and heavy losses, while the Kolechian Navy suffered from substantial losses, including its modernized CSO-Class as well as the destruction of its planetary shield defense system.
Operations: CERULEAN ACE I & II[]
Operation: CERULEAN ACE was an operation by the CMF to strike the Dominion's primary supply line and logistics base on Corneria. The goal was to cripple the AD's production abilities while also drawing out enemy capital ships to assess the strength of the AD Fleet. The initial operation ended in failure, however, with the discovery of Exon Red Army troops bolstering AD Defenses on Corneria, as the CMF at the the time did not want to risk starting another intergalactic war by firing upon them. This was followed by negotiations between the Cineris and Exon governments that would allow the CMF to operate against the Dominion without fear of intervention by the Exon Military, in exchange for allowing Exon's initial colonization efforts in Andromeda to proceed without CMF interference.
With confirmation of Exon forces being removed from known AD space,a new plan to take Corneria was formed by CMF High Command. This plan was delayed by the discovery of Volkland, the primary resupply and refit base for Dominion Volk-class vessels in Andromeda, after a small group of VF-43 Stauros stealth fighters managed to follow the Bismark to the planet undetected. With this information, the Cineris Military Forces initiated CERULEAN ACE II, a simultaneous 3 way assault on the Dominion; an unsuspected strike against Volkland to cripple their fleet of Volk corvettes, a lone probing strike by the CMF's prototype Seraphim Class Battlecruiser over Kolechia to draw attention to the capital and to weaken Orbital Defenses, and a full invasion of Corneria to finally achieve what the original operation failed to do.
Battle of Volkland[]
The Battle of Volkland involved direct action against the unsuspecting Volkland Defense Forces via the CMF's Second Assault Fleet, led by the King Arthur Babylon-Class Cruiser MK.II and supported by smaller UNSC and Rebel Alliance forces. Taking the enemy by complete surprise, the King Arthur revealed itself from PTS Space, unleashing an all out barrage against unsuspecting Volk class vessels with approximately 100 medium and heavy anti-ship armaments. This opening barrage instantly destroyed approximately 50 of the vessels due to their small size and lowered defenses, and additionally dealt heavy crippling damage to dozens more in orbit. At the same time, the CMF Second Fleet exited PTS Space, and followed up with their own barrage of heavy MAC fire, thinning the numbers even more and knocking out any significant orbital defenses before the remaining volks could activate their gravity wells. Further adding to the CMF's strategic advantage were multiple UNSC Line-Installations, strategically placed around the planet's orbit; these weapons intercepted the first ships to attempt an escape, and prevented further exit and entry of the combat space around Kolechia without proper prior approval.
Once the Volkland Defenses gathered themselves, they were met with an invasion force delivered by the CMF Nemesis, who proceeded to storm a beach near the planet's shipyards. Despite initially suffering heavy losses, with UNSC and Rebel Alliance support, the CMF forces were able to take the beachhead and establish a temporary forward operating base by utilizing UNSC Mammoths. The Allied forces then made their way towards the Shipyards, defended by a massive Iron-Curtain-like shield, but were delayed by entrenched Dominion forces as well as Apocalypse Tanks; through the use of long range artillery, as well as a pair of Rebel Apocalypse Tanks, the allies were able to beat back the forces, however, and destroyed enough AA armaments to allow Air Support to assist them.
After a surrender of the AD's conscripted forces outside the shield, who also served to slow the allied advances, the main force of the Dominion took position within the shipyards, ready to defend it to their last breath. After a meeting of the UNSC and CMF naval commanders present, however, a different plan was enacted; the allied forces fell back to a safe distance, while multiple Heigus Reactor equipped air units battled in the sky above the curtain, using the disruptive nature of their excess particles to "tear open" a hole in the shield. This hole then became the centerpiece of a 3 way artillery battle, with CMF forces bombarding the base inside, while AD forces ran counter-battery on the CMF and the Rebellion forces ran counter-counter-battery on the AD artillery. The second phase of the plan then came into effect, with two CMF GNX/F-501 Delta Dagger units utilizing super-heavy long range artillery fired into the shield; the massive 1200mm shells chewed up the ground around the shield generator, with the second blast destroying it in a massive explosion. While the mean facilities housing Volk class data had been lost, the shield around the shipyards dropped, initiating the final clash of the ground war to claim the shipyards and the island they rested upon.
With the shield barrier down, the AD forces charged in their last stand against the allied forces, in an attempt to retake their beachhead and the defenses contained within. They were immediately met, however, with incredibly heavy support fire from the CMF Nemesis, which rained down hundreds of cruise missiles to overwhelm and destroy enemy AA and artillery, and harassed enemy armor with its railgun array. Both sides began to take heavy losses, with the AD bleeding men and armor from airstrikes and artillery barrages as they approached the allied forces between them and the beach. Once the two forces clashed head on, heavy casualties ensued on both sides, with the AD still managing to wreak unprecedented havoc in the chaos of the battlefield before finally being convinced to surrender. Negotiations were made between the AD, CMF, and UNSC Commanders present, before the island and shipyards were turned over to the CMF. As the CMF and UNSC cleared out the rest of the island to secure it and locate any pockets of troops who had not yet surrendered, the UNSC's questionable tactics were passed along the AD Chain of Command as well as into realm of international politics, which would lead to more ferocious defense and animosity towards the allies as well as swaying the Exon elections into even stronger support of Kirov.
Battle of the Battlecruiser Bismarck[]
While the ground forces fought the main battle in Volkland, the AD Bismark and her two Kirov class escorts, the AD Scharnhorst and the AD Gneisenau, kept the allied naval forces at bay alongside the surviving Volk class corvettes. In the initial phases of the battle, as the AD Forces gathered themselves, the Sharnhorst and Gneisenau revealed themselves within the orbiting asteroid field, letting loose a barrage of anti-ship missiles and long range armaments towards the fleet. Two battlegroups were formed to engage the bigger threats, who were later joined by the Soyuz class AD Bismark, which would prove to be a massive threat to the allied naval forces. Engaging the Bismark to keep it occupied was the CMF King Arthur and its escort cruisers and destroyers. After trading blows, the Bismark began to overwhelm the King Arthur, shattering its pinpoint barrier with a direct Super-MAC hit, followed by a steady stream of standard MAC rounds to prevent the King Arthur's shields from regaining significant strength. After a quick PTS-relocation by the King Arthur in an attempt to get an optimal firing angle on the Bismark, the two prepared to exchange fire with their most destructive weapons; As the King Arthur charged its MACross cannon's Quantum Cannon setting, the Bismark angled itself and prepared charging its Energy Projector. As the Bismark fired, the King Arthur performed an evasive maneuver to fire at the same time, with both ships suffering incredible damage; while the quantum cannon cracked the Bismark's shielding and dealt incredible structural damage, while reducing the energy projector and surrounding hull armor into slag, the King Arthur was cleaved in two by the energy projector, and then proceeded tot ake further damage with direct fire from the Bismark's other anti-ship guns.
After the exchange failed to take down the Bismark completely, a small CMF boarding party, composed of Naval ARS Specops and led by a fireteam of Warlocks, breached the ship's frontal hangar, and attempted to disable the ship from within. After many difficulties, including forcibly being separated and fighting back against elite AD Marine forces, 7 surviving members of the boarding party were able to make it to the bridge. By the time they arrived, however, the Bismark had arrived in an Exon Exclusion Zone, a common AD retreat tactic. Before the special forces breached the bridge and took control, the Bismark's remaining crew and local Exon KGB/NKVD naval units made an underhanded deal to frame the CMF as the intruders. This resulted in the surviving CMF soldiers being taken to an Exon tiberium gulag until negotiations were made to free them, with the CMF unable to definitively prove the innocence of its soldiers due to all recorded data in the CMF equipment being "mysteriously" damaged while in KGB/NKVD control. After the conclusion of CERULEAN ACE II, the CMF would send one of its covert operatives, Warlock Aunor Mahal, to investigate the case.
Despite the loss of the King Arthur being a crushing moral defeat for many CMF forces, the naval battle would continue above Volkland while the heavily injured Bismark managed to slip by the Line installations and retreat into Exon Red Space. With the Bismark gone, UNSC and CMF forces overwhelmed the two Kirovs and the remaining Volks, the latter of which having been rendered completely harmless by advanced CMF detection and interception strategies. The AD navy eventually signaled the UNSC, making a deal to turn over the Sharnhorst to UNSC possession in exchange for their safety, with the Gneisenau suffering a more unfortunate fate soon after; after a failed attempt to take cover behind the wreckage of the King Arthur, the UNSC's main battlegroup relentlessly discharged upwards of 50 MAC's through gaps in the wreckage and into the ship, splintering it into pieces.
Second Invasion of Corneria (Space)[]
Simultaneously as Volkland was assaulted, an fleet of CMF exited on the defenses of Corneria, the former second most powerful government in Andromeda. The CMF navy broke into smaller battle groups and began hunting orbital defenses. A small token Arstozka and Exon "Alliance" ships joined the fight, acting independently of the Exon government. This token force assailed the defending star fighters so that the CMF fleet could reduce the AD orbital defenses. The elimination of several Soyuz class cruisers greatly reduced the AD capability to resist, enabling the CMF forces to begin a descent to the ground. A AD fighter squadron led by the ace pilot Voronin successfully destroyed several troop gunships but was pushed away by CMF Stephen McCarthy and UNSC pilot Ameria in a X-02S. AD anti-air was silenced by orbital strikes and landing ships were able to safely land and establish a staging area.
Thirty-six UNSC vessels exited slipspace after a staging area was created, setting up a perimeter in space to prevent Dominion reinforcements. UNSC ships battered the remaining AD fleet while CMF and UCR reinforcements started arriving, tipping the numerical advantage to the combined fleets favor. Notably the CMF flagship, Leonard Church Master and UCR flagship Tanager was a morale shock for the few Dominion Soyuz's that had retreated to regroup. Ground anti-ship lasers fired upon both the Tanager and LCM but evaded this attack. The anti-ship lasers were then taken out and the combined NUNS-UNSC fleet with the sacrifice of Exon's Gold Squadron wiped out the last capable Dominion spacecraft, ensuring no further AD reinforcement. Space assets now provided ground fire support and resupply drops through MAC shots.
Vessels from Volkland arrived to Corneria bearing further troops as the fighting there had ceased resulting in an allied victory.
Second Invasion of Corneria (Ground)[]
The first major engagement was a all out tank battle between the AD and Exon Alliance where the poorly prepared Exon 3rd Shock Battalion lost a majority of their tank strength within hours due to poor planning and leadership. The CMF 37th Armored Battalion and Delta Dagger Squadrons made an attempt to rescue the 3rd by thinning out the AD supporting artillery. Exon's 9th Army focused in on a jungle that was in the way with assistance from remaining elements of the 3rd Shock and attached air cavalry in Chaika attack helicopters. At some point in the fighting the 3rd Shock was all but destroyed as a fighting force, instead relying on Cineris Army dismounts to assist them in operating the few remaining tanks they had. However the losses were not without gain, as the sacrifice of the 3rd and numerous Chaikas cleared the way for Exon-CMF forces to push forward and stabilize a front line in the jungle area.
Jungle[]
Cineris Delta Daggers engaged AD SU-47 Sturmoviks in fierce aerial combat; the Sturmoviks were unable to take advantage of their close quarters advantage because of the poor understanding of the Delta Daggers advantages and weaknesses. In other places AD fighters took the bait of slow UNSC bombers, only to be shot down themselves by the bombers stealthy escorts. With Dominion air losing strength CMF Delta Daggers were freed up to support the attack in the jungle and elsewhere. Losses that the first wave sustained were replaced by a large force from the 1st Cineris Core Army and Territorial Guard the next day. The fighting in the jungle saw sparse aerial combat between UCR VF-171, VF-19 and VF-43's against Venom Stealth Fighters which had been sent to aid the AD armies. The Venoms did not stand a chance against the combined fire from ground and air, leaving the air clear for allied CAS. Exon soldiers encountered significant network of underground tunnels which the Dominion forces were using to ambush their forces. CMF Marines and Warlock Battalions entered these tunnels, clearing them out and pushing up to a well fortified hill. Two weeks into the assault, the Jungle theater finally gave way and the final Dominion forces were annihilated. The CMF and Exon forces met up with the other allied forces to Seelow Heights.
City[]
UNSC ODST's from the 21st Space Assault and 2nd Shock Battalion dropped into a production city. Dominion forces attempted to stop the assault on the city by taking down skyscrapers but this negatively affected their ability to traverse the city due to the immense amount of debris that this caused. Dominion ground forces were then blindsided when Promethean soldiers began appearing in their midst, causing chaos among the AD troops as their close proximity meant that there was often no time to react to the Promethean soldiers tearing them apart. The ODST's received support from VF-11 Drones of which the AD attempted to jam but did not take into account that the drones do not require a connection to operate. The initial UNSC assault teams were supplemented by Exon armor and fresh UNSC troops. Dominion forces began a retreat from the production city as the UNSC forces overwhelmed them. With the city secured Exon and NUNS forces consolidated their strength to aid the jungle theater and begin a new offensive in the hills adjourning the production city to New Seelow Heights where the Cornerian Iron Curtain was located. The former city spaceport was acquired by UNSC forces as their forward operating base for UNSC landings and air support.
Hills[]
A surviving AD element from the production city, the 7th PanzerJaeger Division with assitance from another infantry division, ambushed a column of UCR armored. The 152mm guns of the old-type Apocalypse tanks managed to kill several UCR IFV and mobility kill a few M61 MBT's. The UCR column quickly responded with returning fire and snipers took out the exposed operators of the Dominion's open air anti-air and anti-tank vehicles. This engagement continued for much of a day and bought time for allied armor to come to the UCR's assistance. This battle continued for a week until allied forces wore the two AD armies down and began running low on munitions. UCR special forces buried several hundred AD soldiers alive with earth magic as a measure to clear out landmines as allied infantry surged up the hill. A second AD PanzerJaeger division was pulled in to prevent the hill from collapsing; the Dominion now forced to use conscripts from Corneria and Venezia. Resistance on the hill could no longer bear the brunt of the assault and even with further troops, the AD retreated to their second line of defense. The UCR at three battalion strength now pushed on to the Industrial City and to destroy the retreating Dominion.
Industrial City Outskirts[]
A second city lay beyond the hills where a majority of Dominion armor was being manufactured and immediately sent along to the front. The retreating Dominion army consolidated their strengths under the 17th Storm Division. This city had the benefit of shielding and thus remained mostly safe from attacks so far. The 17th tasked with delaying the combined forces threw everything they could, including hundreds of tanks newly made from the factories. Although UCR had long range railguns take out a dozen tanks, the horde of the 17th could not be sufficiently stopped. UNSC Command requested that the UCR hold out as long possible.
UCR forces managed to hold on but with significant casualties. Once again the UNSC asked the UCR to keep distracting the 17th and to sacrifice two brigades of remote FV-M61's. At dusk on the 16th day of fighting, a pair of VF-30's appeared over the area. The two Variable Fighters shot illumination flares to signal engaging allies to escape. After ten minutes the VF-30's launched 8 Comet non-nuclear 100 kiloton rockets, obliterating out all of the Dominion strength of the 17th. From here on the UCR and CMF entered the city and received supply from Exon's Redball supply trucks.
Airfield[]
A airfield held by the 13th NKVD curiously supported Dominion air. From here AD Venoms launched to support the occasional fight, barring an exclusion zone in the city and jungle which meant certain death. From here AD retained a semblance of aerial supremacy in proximity to the Industrial City.
New Seelow Heights[]
Considered a preliminary stage to the Iron Curtain, allied forces needed to take three hardpoints before reaching the curtain emitter at the Dominion HQ.
Left[]
Center[]
Tasked to the center was the UNSC 22nd Infantry Division and 3rd Cavalry Regiment against the Dominion 2nd Storm Division. Backing the attack were 5 VA-79 Raisers and several AH-144 helicopters. As the UNSC forces reached a river, AD tanks opened up on the UNSC but only hit the front decoy Scorpions. The opposing tanks were then hit by a stinging surprise when the Kuda tanks that were the backbone of the UNSC force and wiped out many of the 2nd Storm Division's alleged invincible tanks. A bridge layer was called up but destroyed and Exon support could not successfully cross the river. The 5 VA-79 Raisers then reached the front, destroying the cover of the remaining Apocalypse Tanks and one of the Raisers ripping the bridge from the knocked out bridge layer and placed it down, enabling the force to cross. Dominion attempted to batter the Raisers with tank and artillery fire but only managed to damage the applique armor and cosmetic scuffing. With the Kuda tanks overrunning the 2nd Storm Division's positions, many of the tank crews surrendered.
Right[]
Third Battle of Kolechia[]
Political Events[]
Politically a major shift had taken place within Exon as the elections had also been ongoing in New Moscow and Premier Kirov took power from Noah 'Chavam. Kirov sees the liberation of Corneria as an illegal attack on the USSR and the UEG as an enemy to the stability of Exon.
Results[]
Aftermath[]
Foreign intervention in the conflict[]
- Unified Earth Government - Became involved with Cineris government due to harm to shipping and opportunity to observe CMF tactics in action.
- Exon - Conflict between AD and Exon was resolved for a brief few months with both trying to avoid a second conflict. While Volkland was invaded multiple intrusions by the AD were made who in turn blamed the Cineris government. The situation of the Exon government itself is torn between two factions and sits on the brink of yet another civil war.