| Corsari Conflict [Aegian War 1] | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 12, 2602 - August 15, 2604 |
| Place | Corsair Aegis |
| Belligerents | |
| Aegian Alliance | Dread Empire |
 Dragonia |
 Dread Empire
|
| Commanders and Leaders | |
| Aegian Alliance | Dread Empire |
| President Palmon Jack
|
Oberbefehlshaber NeoCrimson
|
| Strength | |
| Aegian Alliance | The Empire |
 Corsair23,565,000 Corsari Infantry |
56,000,545 Dread Empire Infantry 236,000 Dread Empire Tanks |
| Casualties and Losses | |
| Corsair 13,288,542 Corsari Infantry
|
Dread Empire
32,253,666 Imperial Infantry |
| Results | |
| - Pyrric Dragon Alliance victory - Dissolution of the Dread Empire | |
| Major Battles | {{{Major Battle List}}} |
The Corsari Conflict, also known as Aegian War I by historians, is a massive, multi-theater, multi-planetary, multi-faction conflict focused primarily on the Corsari battlefront where it originated. This conflict is marked by it's notably enormous death toll, numbering close to 286 million deaths on all sides combined and the liberal use of weapons of mass destruction, notably nuclear weapons employed by Dread Empire for strategic and terror purposes. It was the first conflict in the Aegian system to employ space-based weaponry. The conflict drew in Dragonia as a proxy due to alliances with Corsair but AcDragonia joined the conflict as both a retaliatory strike against the Dread Empire for their proxies on Aegis and as a political tool to win allies.
The Corsari Conflict is a major turning point in the Aegian System's history, so much so that time afterward begins to be defined with the labels of "Pre-Corsari Conflict" and "Post Corsari Conflict". The Corsari Conflict saw some of the most rapid advances in military technology in the Aegian System to date. The Corsari Conflict also drastically shifted the balance of power in the Aegian System, bringing AcDragonia onto the stage as a major power.
The Corsari Conflict was by no means a small conflict. It not only resulted in an egregious loss of life and one of the greatest war crimes ever perpetrated in the Aegian System or any of the surrounding systems for a hundred light years, it also shifted politics to a great degree and changed the course of history for the system permanently.
The Unrest
The origins of the Corsari Conflict started after the Fragmented Wars and the capture of the Blood Knights commander NeoCrimson. In an effort to dismantle the Blood Knights, Corsair chose to keep NeoCrimson in captivity which eventually turned out to be a mistake of catastrophic proportions. As NeoCrimson rotted away in prison, he was able to get messages out to his second-in-command, Crimson, through other prisoners or even well placed agents in the prison that took on the roles of guards, cooks and other positions. NeoCrimson sat in prison for 25 years and throughout this time, Corsair did everything in their power to attempt to extract information from him but met with little success. Eventually, Crimson, who hasn't been seen since the end of the Fragmented Wars 25 years prior had emerged from hiding and led a daring raid against the maximum security prison where NeoCrimson was held, eventually breaking him and almost every other prisoner out. After fleeing the prison, NeoCrimson and his second escaped into an elaborate network of abandoned tunnel complexes and mine shafts where they hid for several months while they formed a plan of escape. Once they left the tunnels, they moved for the Rheinland where the remainder of the Blood Knights scattered after the war and slowly began to build up their combat power again. Once a sizable force had been re-established under NeoCrimson's command, he began to move his way into local governates building up a formidable support base.
This went on for decades. Slowly, NeoCrimson moved his way all along the Rheinland installing his supporters into prominent governing positions where he would then exert his influence among the people with the eventual goal of rising up a sizable machine with which to strike back against the Corsari government and bringing it back to a Monarchy with NeoCrimson as King. NeoCrimson began to subtly destabilize relations among the Rheinland and neighboring regions which did draw the eye of the Corsari government who began to cycle troops through the land as a warning to would-be aggressors that sedition would not be tolerated. NeoCrimson, fearing having his plan uncovered, dialed back his provocation until a reasonable degree of suspicion had been laid off. Regardless of this, he continued his shadow war in secret.
The Rheinland, under NeoCrimson, began to slowly push out anyone who had loyalties to the Corsari government and Dragon Alliance as a whole. As this went on, support for NeoCrimson naturally grew as the people who benefited his policies and those who couldn't leave their land fell in behind him. The Corsari government was now fully aware of what was happening in the Rheinland at this point. Unfortunately, their hands were tied in that they were free to govern themselves on a local level and haven't really done anything that violated any laws. Those who left the land weren't forced out and those who remained weren't being subjugated and because of this, the Corsari government reluctantly let it go.
As time went on, NeoCrimson had gathered such a base of power that he actually was able to win seats in the Global Council which dictated policy for Corsair as a whole. This is when he ramped his plan up to attempt to reverse or introduce laws that would give more power back to the local leaders, mainly him, in order to move closer to the Monarchy he desired. He wasn't able to get those types of laws to pass, but he was able to get laws to pass that benefit him in other ways.
Winning more seats, NeoCrimson was able to begin interfering with other parts of the Global Council such as blocking funding increases for the Corsari Heer, training exercises with Dragonia, space navy procurement and expansion and other high-profile proprosals. This aggravated the Corsari Government but Dragonia made them stay their hand as the nature of their governing system made this type of thing possible. Despite the cries of sabotage, they stayed their hand. As more and more proposals were being interfered with or outright blocked, the Corsari government began to suppress or outright veto the views of NeoCrimson's Gallant Order party. The people of the Rheinland saw this as a direct affront to their rights and eventually began to riot. As the Corsari government sent in the Heer to deal with these large-scale, violent riots, NeoCrimson's image as a champion of the people grew. This caused him to grow to mythical status among his people. The cult of personality had been set, his people in his pocket, it was time to act.
After 78 years NeoCrimson was ready and finally had what he needed to move on with his plan. NeoCrimson revealed himself to the world during a particularly nasty round of riots. This stunned both the Corsari leadership and Dragonia alike as they haven't seen the man since his prison escape that many years prior. In his reveal, he declared systematic independence from the Corsari government, breaking off the entire Rheinland from the Corsari union and rebranded it "The Empire of the Rhein", with him as the leading Monarch. The Corsari government referred to this new empire as "The Dread Empire" and massed a large amount of troops on the border between Kessad and the Rheinland. NeoCrimson called up the Blood Knights who then met the Corsari Heer on the border but no shooting took place. An uneasy waiting game began; with large numbers of troops on both sides. One would believe that Corsair had the advantage with a space navy but this turn of events caused a massive defection in the Corsari space navy and NeoCrimson called in his trump card: Admiral Davis, a renounced AcDragonian and turncoat, brought the AcDragonian space navy, which originally defected during the Dragonian Civil War with him. This gave the Dread Empire the advantage in space. As tensions grew, NeoCrimson turned the whole complexion of the war by ordering and successfully completing an assassination attempt on the Corsari President, Norman Regal. With Regal's death, NeoCrimson unleashed his fleet against the Corsari fleet and the Corsari Conflict had officially begun.
Results of the Conflict
After the conflict, Corsair had become a true republic in order to prevent another conflict of this scale. Corsair had dissolved the Imperial doctrine, drafted and ratified a new constitution and created new local governments that linked into a larger, more centralized federal republic. The question remained of what to do with the broken Dread Empire citizens and forces. Weary of war, the new republic voted to re-integrate them into society and allowed the military to merge with the Corsari military to help make up for losses sustained in the war, with the Saelan Corps making up a bulk of those losses alone. The Blood Knights were labeled a system-wide terrorist organization and were subsequently hunted down and killed each, giving rise to a new industry of Sanguine Hunters whose sole job was to hunt and capture or kill Blood Knights. Unfortunately not all of the Dread Empire's citizens and soldiers accepted this and the Blood Knights themselves were not too keen on being hunted so the remaining leadership banded together and created an insurgency movement on Corsair and beyond under the name of the Corsari Liberation Front. Elements of the CLF were spotted on Aegis where they branded themselves the Aegian Liberation Front. The group was simply labelled the Extremists by the Dragon Alliance.
AcDragonia became a superpower after the conflict due to their ability to mobilize not only a respectable fighting force but to be able to deploy said force effectively on a system wide scale. This won AcDragonia allies in Corsair and surprisingly Dragonia too. AcDragonia became party to the Dragon Alliance after the war.
This most widespread changes came from Dragonia. Dragonia dissolved the High Command due to it's role in starting the Corsari Conflict, bringing to heel two millennium of military dominance over the planet by reducing the amount of influence the military has on planetary politics (although Grand-Generals and Senator Generals still held enormous amounts of political power). Dragonia also greatly relaxed the marriage laws on the planet allowing people to marry whoever they want within 2 generations, subsequently Dragonia no longer forbid non-Dragonians from living on Dragonia. Dragonia stopped the forced re-education program and the deportation of AcDragonians from the planet. Dragonia carved up Mahanon, giving Lower Mahanon to the AcDragonians to forge their own country on the planet as a payment for past transgressions. Dragonia also formally ceased all hostilities with the AcDragonians. Dragonia also completed the Space Catapult; a directed energy laser cannon that is classified as a doomsday weapon.