2623 AU
With the ending of the Elan threat and the securing of its borders, the Nebulan Star Empire turned its attention back to conquest. Almost immediately after Maghalor’s surrender, a conference was called for the ruling Vaeyakh Nev’idaen and Kezakna to deal with the treacherous, Elan-sympathizing Graedians. Some called for pardon, but the majority felt the time was ripe to expand the empire. And so Graedian treachery served as the excuse for a new campaign of conquest on a scale unseen since the Orian War 1500 years prior.
A mass conscription order was sent out and the Nebulan economy shifted into full war production. Millions of Nebulan soldiers were called to Salzus and other nearby Borderworlds while fleets were assembled. Borders remained open, as did communication, but the strictness of Nebulan society allowed their intentions to remain hidden for some time. The entire process of preparing the empire lasted ten years.
Then in 2623 it began.
Nebulan forces under the command of Kardak Raegen, now the ruling military Kezak, launched their invasion of the Graedian Confederacy. The Graedians had heard rumor of the coming storm about three years beforehand, and had taken precautions – nearly eighty-five percent of Aesgar’s mercenary pool was already massed under the Confederate banner. Once more the Astyr Clan took military command, just as they had against the Orian Empire and all other military threats. Even Terra Nova was engaged by means of volunteer forces and subterfuge. Diplomats treated with the Nebulans, only to suffer the gruesome fate of the Orian envoys long before.
Projections of the war were originally favorable to the Graedians, as they had the resources to finance enormous numbers of mercenaries and militia – and they had the Astyrs. But the Nebulans were not the Orian Empire. They were politically stable, wealthy, and advanced. Their forces plowed through some of the most heavily fortified worlds in Aesgar; resisting populations were slaughtered, and once more the tales of Nebulan butchery spread throughout the galaxy. In truth, only a few worlds were devastated to the horrid extents myth speaks of, but the fear Kardak instilled in the Graedians by destroying select worlds caused countless others to submit without a fight. Within a few months, the Graedian Confederacy was so utterly defeated that even its most patriotic rulers decided it better to abdicate than face ruin.
The Confederacy’s surrender was officially signed on the capital world of Graedius, ending one of the most decisive military campaigns in galactic history. By the end of the war, billions lay dead, including eighty percent of the mercenary forces in Aesgar, and Graedius was integrated into the Nebulan Star Empire. More than any conflict prior, this caused such panic in Terra Nova that the social order loomed on collapse. Stories of slaughter and threats of economic depression caused severe unrest, even riots.
Only in the ensuing weeks did people realize that little had changed economically, and that the Nebulans had no intentions – at that time, anyway – of going to war with Terra Nova. The dragons knew the Nebulans were stretched thin and would require decades to bear the full fruits of their conquest. For nearly a year the galaxy remained quiet, with no sign of further bloodshed on the horizon. Graedian patriots would quickly change this.
