Denebian Bad War
History and Background[edit]
Summary[edit]
A devastating conflict even within the context of the Civil War fought between 613 and 628 in the Deneb Sector.
Preparations for War[edit]
The key cause of the Denebian Bad War was the lack of a single clear Sector Duke in Deneb. This enabled the competition between the duchies of Vincennes, Inar, Atsah and others that ultimately sparked the Bad War.
Other causes include the fact that the usual restraints on Ducal power were removed because the Barracks Emperors were pursuing palace politics in the core, rather than managing the politics of the Imperium as a whole. With the Civil War in progress, fighting for power was no longer unusual.
The proximate cause of the war was that the Duke of Vincennes brokered an alliance with Shelgir Tauri IV, the Duke of Inar Subsector. With nearly half of the sector’s military, industrial and economic power, these two neighbouring subsectors could dominate Deneb’s affairs. Increasing pressure from the powerful worlds in those subsectors created a mandate for the Dukes of Inar and Vincennes. In reaction, the remaining subsector Dukes formed a confederation with the explicit purpose of breaking this alliance.
The War[edit]
Fighting broke out in 613 and there were about 15 major conflicts in that year alone. The worst year, 615, saw another 22 major battles.
Cruisers were deployed and the Good war turned into a Bad one, as industrial bases were destroyed. Fighting saw huge bombardments of whole planets, Biological Warfare, Nuclear Strikes and other actions that permanently devastated several planets. Worlds were captured and held by assault troops and fleets riddled planets and each other with nuclear weapons.
The Imperial Navy was forced to step in.
... In light of the evidence presented to the Iridium Throne and to the Moot, all capital hulls operating in Deneb Sector under Ducal, Baronial, County, or Marquisate flags are to stand down from previous directives and present themselves in good order to the nearest Imperial Naval Base or Depot for evaluation and entry into Imperial Service. Failure to do so will constitute a violation of the Orders of Feudal Obligation, to be held against the Noble and House whose flagged ships remain in the field...
— Excerpt from the Imperialisation Order of Regent Arbellatra 622-270
In 622 the capital units of the sector Dukes were ordered by Imperial decree to stand down and report to Imperial Naval bases. Vincennes resisted but the Duke of Inar complied, betraying the Humbolts, turning over his fleets and passing the locations of key Humbolt bases to the Imperium. Even so, a number of units refused the terms of surrender and had to be hunted down and subdued.
Fighting culminated in 628 when Admiral, Count Starn met Duke Chanus Reynald Humbolt, Duke of Vincennes in personal combat aboard the flagship of the 45th Fleet after the devastating battle of Balzac (Deneb 1636) in which the Duke of Vincennes flagship Vindicator was crippled and his TL–14 of Dreadnoughts broken.
Aftermath[edit]
The results of the war were to leave the sector in a continued state of competition, but with the Imperial Navy acting as guarantor of peace. The Humbolt family were exiled, their assets sequestrated, and the new Dukes of Vincennes required to reside at the Capital, leaving the duchy under the control of the Marquis of Vincennes who is also Count of Perez and Erisis.
- Robert Eaglestone. Deneb Sector (Mongoose Publishing, 2012), 13-15.