1302-1358 AU
By all accounts, the Orian Empire had grown strong
indeed. Its navy and armies were vast and formidable, second in strength to Terra Nova alone, and had succeeded in subjugating or outlasting all their opposition in the east. But such conflicts had left the Oriani weary, and the overall morale in the military was one defeat away from despair.
The Nebulans, initially a peripheral part of the Orian vision of eastern dominion, quickly and brutally gained ground as time went on – and did so largely unnoticed, as the Empire first concentrated on the Graedian Confederacy.
Enormous amounts of Orian resources were poured into campaigns against the Confederacy, but the wealth and energy of the region was limitless, and the Graedian political system quickly proved its worth against the second-strongest realm of the millennium. The more militaristic Astyr Clan took charge of the war while the Squire Clan maintained the economy and public support. Mercenary armies were organized to defend the Graedians as a temporary standing military. Terra Nova even volunteered its support – quietly and unofficially –
through volunteer forces and “donations” to the Graedian cause. Terran armed forces also instituted a devastating economic and diplomatic blockade of the Orian Empire. Even support from within the Empire faltered as the wealthy allied system of Akkea cut off support, isolating itself from Orian affairs.
Despite numerous territorial losses, Astyr generals successfully defeated the Oriani at key battles, slowly grinding down their war machine. Such flexibility and staying power, combined with political intrigue inside and out, drained the Orian Empire’s strength. Their superior tactical position and considerable wealth were squandered in fifty years of futile conflicts.
The Oriani finally sued for peace in 1350, exhausted and disgraced after fifty years of intermittent wars. Though this ended the western conflicts with Graedius and Terra Nova, the Orian Empire found no reprieve from the Nebulans in the east. With most of their forces concentrated on the Graedians, the Empire had largely neglected its attempted subjugation of the Nebulans. The Oriani sent numerous ambassadors, diplomats, and messengers to Nebulus, but none returned alive. Many were hideously executed and placed on the bows of Nebulan warships as they began their drive into eastern Orian territories.
These planets had always been largely underdeveloped and ignored by the Oriani, despite their potential. The Nebulans capitalized on this weakness – the soft underbelly of the Oriani – and turned countless worlds to their side. Those that resisted were destroyed. Internal cohesion of the Orian Empire began to deteriorate as first dozens, then hundreds of planets fell or seceded to the Nebulans. Many worlds submitted out of fear alone, and what little morale remained in the Orian military quickly floundered.
The doom of the Oriani was sealed in 1356 at Mezar, not far from the capital world of Salzus. In a pitched fleet battle, the agile Nebulan warships completely destroyed the bulk of the Orian military. Worse still, there were no survivors to carry word back to Salzus – the peril was instead brought home by a sudden Nebulan siege of the capital. The blockade lasted for two years as the Nebulans secured the surrounding territory, and though the Oriani attempted several sallies to break the siege, all were systematically slaughtered.
The last defense of Salzus came in 1358, when the Nebulans finally assaulted the starving and spiritually broken world. Those of the Orian government responsible for the war – those that did not commit suicide before their capture, that is – were summarily executed in horrid fashion by the conquering Nebulans. Yet despite the stories of Nebulan barbarism, the victors did not sack Salzus or any other planet in the home system. The Orian people submitted in terrible fear only to find the Nebulans rather accommodating. This point is marked by most historians as the evolution of the Nebulans from a minor galactic state to the Nebulan Star Empire.
