Coreward Border War

The Coreward Border War was a conflict between a Laio-Licori alliance and the Outer Space Alliance. The war began in early 2323 over pirate raids by OSA megacorporations, mostly on Laio vessels. Licori motives for joining the war included increased national unity, which they received, for at least a little while, until the beginning of the Seasons of Strife.

The Antinoc
On Stardate 27684, October 2322, a trading ship belonging to House Manan, the Antinoc, was lost with all hands. It was responding to a distress call by a small ship, the Siren. A member of the ships crew, Jine Nedhol, suggested that the Laio were behind the attacks on the Antinoc.

The Odanner
The Odanner the pride of the Laian fleet, was on patrol at the time, and suspicions were raised that the Odanner had destroyed the Antinoc.

The Odanner picked up survivors from the Antinoc, and only 12 hours later, was herself lost with all hands. Starfleet forces in the Horizon Border Zone, as part of Task Force Beyond, failed to respond to the Odanner’s distress call.

The Licori, by this time, were fully outraged over the loss of the Antinoc. However, Captain Beradd-Kellar, of the USS Rru’adorr, managed to convince the Emperor Lugis to allow Starfleet to participate in the investigation into the Antinoc.

Elakus Station Incident
In 2322.Q2, SFI reported that there was an ongoing increase in tensions between the powers of the coreward area.

Then, in 2322.Q3, House Manan launched an assault on a rumored pirate base at Elakus. Those captured ranged from professional mercenaries to a group of Ikeigenites, who would become known as the Elakus Twelve.

Revolt against House Manan
On Stardate 28004.9, rebels against House Manan requested Federation assistance. House Manan was eventually removed from power. However, even with the fall of House Manan, those taken prisoner during the Elakus Station Incident remained in Arcadian Imperial Custody.

Mobilization
by 2322.Q4, most of the regional powers were moving to mobilize their forces and economies for war. The OSA mobilized, as did the Laian Unity, the Ked Paddah, and the Tauni, the latter two in event of more widespread conflict.

In 2323.Q1, Starfleet began to prepare for a major effort to stop the war, known as Task Force Unity. Unity would be placed under the command of RAdm. Michael Thuir. However, even by this point, President Okaar believed it would be nearly impossible to stop the war. She would be correct.

Ultimatum
On Stardate 23258.5, the Lain Unity and Arcadian Empire issued an ultimatum to the Outer Space Alliance, demanding that they to dissolve the three major space exploration corporations, turn over their corporate officers for trial on Morshadd, renounce piracy, take responsibility for the piracy that has already been committed by the corporations, and permit a Licori-Laio investigative team to operate without restriction in OSA space.

The OSA was given 4 days to comply with the ultimatum.

USS Sarek was tasked with finding a solution to the crisis, along with Task Force Unity. Sarek failed. President Blue Elyagi considered his hands tied, forced to accept the help of the corporations against the Laio-Licori force, especially with such a short deadline.

Many of the OSA’s citizens, meanwhile, were nearly unaware of the potential for war, even though it was increasingly imminent.

Unity’s Final Efforts
Task Force Unity made incredible efforts to stop the war before it began. Ultimately, they would fail.

RAdm. Thuir managed to organize a meeting with Emperor Luigis, and convinced him to delay the issuance of the ultimatum by 3 months. Thuir also successfully brought OSA, Laio, and Licori negotiators together.

Slikoun
Unfortunately, at the same time, a Laio explorer, the Bandon, discovered a cloaked listening post and outpost in orbit of a former Licori mining colony. The Laio were convinced that this was a pirate base. They were then driven off by a Gumco cruiser. Following the incident, the Laio and Licori withdrew from the negotiations.

LKU-2D
At LKU-2D, an OSA frigate and prospector were engaged in surveying work, when a Licori frigate confronted them, backed by surface-to-orbit torpedo emplacements. Fortunately, the VCS Suurok managed to organize a joint survey of the system.

Reconfiguration
With only days remaining, Admiral Thuir informed Starfleet Command that he believed that the mission was no longer possible. Instead, he recommended giving Task Force Unity a new mission, one which would help end the war.

The War Begins
In the early months of 2323, the Outer Space Alliance rejected the ultimatum, and the Corewards Border War began.

All Starfleet forces in the Horizon and Licori Border Zones were ordered to make “all efforts to protect UFP shipping”, and were informed that “Wartime ROE applies for any craft believed to be attacking shipping”.

Task Force Unity was ordered to perform conflict observation, and keep open lines of communication for peace talks. However, a force was also split off from Unity, known as Buckler, in order to protect Federation trade in the region.

Internal to the Federation, the crisis also allowed for hastened ratification for the Starkin and the Ked Paddah.

Battle of Slikoun
Within a few months of the start of the war, a Gumco ship, the Quick Bubbles, was destroyed. This was followed by a Licori assault on the Slikoun system. While the Licori lost a ship, the AHS Brash, Gumco had 7 damaged, severely enough to remove them from any combat in the near future.

At the same time, however, a large OSA wolfpack began operation in Licori space. 4 Licori civilian ships of various typed were destroyed, though all crew were allowed to evacuate in all cases.

GCV Driftwood Incident
At around the same time, a Gretarian cargo ship, the Driftwood, had a shipment to the Horizon Border Zone cancelled. The shipment consisted of headphones, which the crew of the Drfitwood began wearing.

Shortly afterwards, they began to believe that, in order to win Federation favor, they had to prove their mettle in combat.

They attacked two Sydraxian freighters, which began to send out distress calls. The USS Suffrage and USS Concord, responded to the hails. The Gretarians engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the crews of the freighters, in several cases resorting to teeth and claws to kill. The headphones contained in the shipment were designed to reinforce group loyalty, while creating a form of sociopathy, which led to the highly unusual acts of Gretarian violence.

It was believed that these headphones were bound for OSA space.

Battle of SRB-2D
The Battle of SRB-2D was a minor engagement, ending in the evacuation and then destruction of a corporation outpost. It opened the way for a major offensive against Ioji, the OSA’s major off-world colony.

Raiding Continues
At the same time, OSA raiders continued to engage Licori and Laio shipping, destroying another 4 civilian vessels of various kinds.

The Battle
The Ioji defense fleet was joined by the OSA home squadron, under the command of Director Red Torina in the Manta Maria.

The Licori lost 2 frigates, with another 4 damaged during the fighting. The OSA fleet, however, had 2 frigates destroyed and 1 disabled, with several other ships damaged.

In addition, very little damage was inflicted by OSA raiders, the Laio successfully stopping any attacks.

Ceasefire
With the damage to both fleets, a ceasefire agreement was reached, before Halkh could engage the final outpost in the system.

Former President Arsharra N’Gir was chosen by the Federation to be their lead at peace talks. She was transported by the USS Sarek.

The Raid of Justice
At the same time, a number of shuttle warp signatures consistent with a pursuit came out of OSA space. Believing this to likely be a group of pirates, the USS Justice moved to intercept, while USS Frontier began to herd the shuttles.

These shuttles, registered to FRESHsploration, were pursuing another shuttle, over which they claimed jurisdiction.

When personnel from Justice boarded the shuttle that was being pursued, they found a single, heavily injured person onboard. Pink Matuso, the person on board, after he came out of a coma, requested Federation asylum. This was granted, and he was taken to a secure Federation facility.

Pink Matuso revealed that all FRESHsploration executives wore headphones, earpieces, or flowercrowns similar to the headphones that cause the Driftwood incident.

Alvorsen
Meanwhile, at the conference, one of the chief Licori negotiators, Alvorsen, walked out on the conference in protest at the attendance of President N’Gir.

Fortunately, Captain Jeanette Devereaux managed to bring Alvorsen back to the negotiating table, securing the ceasefire.

A rift there emerged between the Laio and the Licori over the treatment of the Elakus Twelve, some of whom had been severely mistreated, one dying, in Licori custody.

At the same time, portions of Task Force Unity kept House Bene out of the war, while the USS Opportunity uncovered a stockpile of torpedoes outside of OSA space, dating to slightly before the Odanner incident.

Progress was also made by Task Force Buckler, which prevented the Laio from engaging OSA raiders while in a Federation system.

Rescue of the Elakus Twelve
Meanwhile, on Morshadd, corporate forces staged a rescue operation for the Elakus Twelve. However, by the time of the rescue, one of the Twelve had died while in custody. They were immediately recaptured by the Laio, but requested Laian custody, and not Licori, which the Laio were considering granting. The Emperor Lugis, it was discovered, had given vague orders to extract information from the prisoners, which the interrogator took as orders to torture the information out of them.

Negotiations Continue
Task Force Unity continued to push for negotiations, focusing specifically on the Licori, considered the most willing to resume the war. While Betazoid forces discouraged House Bene from participating more actively in the war, Orion Union forces successfully hacked Gumco computer networks, confirming pre-war pirate activities. In addition, they also made contact with Nporso, a former corporate torpedo control officer, who agreed to come forward with information regarding corporate activities. The Nocodon and OUS Burdina were dispatched to ensure the safety of Nporso, who was to appear on a popular OSA talk show.

The Talk Show Raid
Burdina was carrying a detachment of Orion Aerocommandos, who were responsible for the safety of Nporso, while Caldonian forces provided information security. Federation forces were immediately engaged by waves of corporate forces in Taddo Shogunate battle armor, from the landing zone to the studio. Aerocommando forces would engage in a final showdown in the studio garage, backed by a popular Beya War team. However, the broadcast would be successful, Nporso revealing the actions of the OSA megacorporations. Most OSA corporate officials were voted out of their offices and promptly arrested, as corporate vessels were impounded and crews on ships in space mutinied and returned them to port. However, a major corporate wolfpack formation remained on the loose.

The Character Commission Scandal
Shortly afterwards, the Sarek was dispatched to Laian, as the Laio had been holding up peace negotiations. They were demanding substantial reparations, far past those that the OSA was willing to accept. The accounting officer on board the Sarek was Solla Payat, the "Torchbearer of Progress" for the Laio. She discovered that the Licori were "paying off" Representative Grelin of the Laio, making his factories appear more productive and providing him with commission artwork of his RPG characters, from one of the great Licori artists. Ultimately, this revelation would get the negotiations back on track.

Peace
In 2323.Q4, the VCS Suurok, which was federalized as USS Suurok only a few months later, delivered former UFP President Arsharra N’Gir to assist in negotiations directly with the OSA Government. N’Gir convinced the OSA to accept responsibility for corporate action, clearing one of the last major hurdles to peace. Other vessels and ambassadors hurried around the war area, eventually securing the help of the Red Cloister, the chamber of the Licori Houses Minor. Even House Rithe, a major supporter of the war effort, was willing to support peace, fearing Emperor Luigis' consolidation of power. Ultimately, the Treaty of Clover was signed by all parties, ending the war. However, the corporate wolfpack still remains at large to this day.