Stellaris Ch 18

Chapter 18 2450 to 2475: The Battle for Hithram

The Star Entente war ends in 2450, and the Garganan Citizen Republic, the Jibru Cooperative, and the Tebbran Shipping Alliance join the Galactic Defense League. The Cartel unwisely begins pushing through the wormhole, where they discover the unguarded system of Aslund.

A few years go by without much expansion from the Unbidden. Aslund is retaken by the Unbidden, destroying the small Cartel fleet attempting to make a foothold. In 2454, the Kalaxenan announce their intentions to declare war on the Jonus Star Mandate; the Invasion has stalled and now is the time to act, they say. The war is put to a vote, and the majority of the members vote yes. President HistoryDude gives the Kalaxenan an ultimatum: if they declare war, the Federation will pull out of the GDL.

Regardless, they declare war, and the Federation withdraws from the alliance. "We got a goddamn invasion from another dimension, and these bastards want to send their ships the other direction?" President HistoryDude is heard shouting after the council meeting that decided the Federation's severing of ties.

As war begins between the galaxy's two biggest alliances, the Unbidden redouble their efforts. The large crowds of ships fleeing the affected zones start arriving in the Federation once again. The Jibru and the Steel Bank begin being hit hard.

The situation gets bad when the Unbidden reach the Vermillion system, where the Tebbran have a gateway. If the Unbidden gain control of the gateway, they will have access to both the Federation gateways, as well as several others throughout the galaxy. However, they do not use the gateway, and nearly ten years go by where they make only marginal gains. Perhaps they do not know what the gateway is.

Then, things get even worse in 2465. The Altair wormhole, previously thought to have naturally closed nearly a century ago, unleashes five Unbidden fleets. At the time of their arrival, Erad Station left the Hithram system for some much needed repairs and upgrades. The Unbidden moved at lightning speed, destroying the Altair outpost and spreading out through the Cartel. Garbex is once again under siege, and Erad Station is rerouted to aid in that system, while 3rd and 4th Fleet, back in Beta Caeli to guard against intrusion, are sent to Altair.

Garbex's siege is lifted, as Erad Station destroys the Unbidden fleet. Its next target is Afrmyke system, and the fleet there is eliminated soon after. 3rd and 4th Fleets arrive in Altair soon after. They exit the hyperlane right next to the Unbidden and are immediately in the midst of combat.

The Federation loses a few destroyers, but the Unbidden are destroyed.

Over the next few year, Unbidden fleets begin arriving in monthly intervals to Hithram. It gets to the point where Erad Station is breaking down. By 2470, the base moon itself begins to crumble. At long last, as Erad Station begins to give way, it leaves the system, bound for Beta Caeli for long-term repairs.

3rd and 4th Fleet are forced to abandon Altair and move to take over Hithram. The day before their entering the hyperlane to Hithram, the Unbidden fleet arrives. Already weakened from its combat with Erad Station, the fleet is destroyed quickly, taking only one Federation cruiser with them.

They get to Hithram just as another Unbidden fleet arrives. Then soon after, a second fleet comes through the wormhole. Yet another fleet arrives just days later, and the situation is lost. Two Titans are lost, including the Federation's newest, the Enterprise II. Nearly the entirety of the Federation fleets are destroyed before they retreat. Hithram is lost.

Bombardment begins once again on Garbex, when the Unbidden reach the system. Erad Station is still being repaired in Kiram, and it will be another week before it is ready to move.

Erad arrives in Padjitauron and meets a large Unbidden fleet. Another fleet gets there not long after, and the battle gets fierce. Erad Station takes some damage, but nothing drastic, before all the unbidden fleets are destroyed, including one of their few construction ships.

It is too late to stop the influx of Unbidden into Hithram. Starmagg is also taken soon after.

The Hlilje Industrial is completely destroyed by 2476. All their former worlds are either reduced to rubble or under enemy control, and the government is in exile, possibly in the Mandasuran Confederacy. The Mandasurans and the Jonus will continue to fight on for several years.

Erad Station arrives in Hithram and meets an Unbidden fleet. Just hours after combat begins, a second Unbidden fleet jumps through the wormhole. Then, a third. Now it is three on one.

Erad Station would be capable of handling three fleets at once, if it were not for the short-range combat. Surrounded, the station is hit relentlessly from all sides. Huge chunks of the moon and the station are stripped away from the disintegrater's unforgiving beams.

Evacuation ships begin launching from what few ports are left intact on the surface of Erad. Beams of green light blast apart nearly all of them, but a few manage to reach the hyperlane and escape. One side of the moon is blasted so ferociously that the mega weapon core is exposed. As the beams reach the core, it ignites, cracking the moon in several pieces and exploding into a bright ball of flame. Earth's greatest weapon will forever been a new asteroid belt in the Hithram system.