Vilani Scare
The Vilani Scare was a grand strategy from the Second Confederation.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
The Vilani Scare was a triumph of meticulous planning, careful timing, and sheer audacity. Although there were many other factors at play that helped topple the Traditionalist regime, the Vilani Scare was the final push. It effectively brought the civil wars to an end.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
When the eighth civil war opened in early 3398AD it was clear to the Expansionist faction that they could not win. In a last gambit a powerful naval force codenamed the Flotilla, made up of warships that had been converted to resemble vessels of the Vilani Imperium, was sent to the coreward-trailing edge of Far Home Sector. The mission, which launched in 3399AD, was long, covert, and dangerous. The Flotilla followed the rimward edge of the Demon’s Eye Rift, passing through the outer fringes of systems and avoiding any form of contact.
It arrived in its arranged position late in the same year, undetected and on schedule. At a prearranged time in early 3400AD the Flotilla’s heavy elements struck at Traditionalist military positions in the trailing half of the Confederation. Detachments began hit-and-run commerce raiding, and scouts performed high-speed reconnaissance flights over densely populated areas.
The ships of the Flotilla ensured that they were seen – the Vilani, it appeared, had finally arrived. The Flotilla’s actions were further enhanced by the supposed “portentous” nature of the year. The Flotilla continued its brief but devastating series of raids and then slipped away, making its way back towards Halcyon Sector. Within Traditionalist systems, as the awful news of the arrival of the Vilani propagated to spinward, chaos, panic and confusion ensued.
Scared populations attempting to flee the coming foe were forcibly prevented from leaving, supplies of all kinds began to run low as merchant vessels were sequestered for official use, and society quickly began to unravel. Traditionalist front-line formations disintegrated as their constituent units scrambled to get to prearranged defensive positions located many parsecs to trailing. Expansionist front-line forces, despite being alerted to the plan, struggled to exploit the situation.
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science