Xanian Wars

"Fools will attempt to assert their power, unaware that they have lost their god's favor. It is then that they will realize that they have fooled themselves and no one else."

- Matriarch Dalla Nya Tok

The Xanian Wars (738–745 XE) were the first major conflict in the history of the Xyon Sector, during which time the Xanian Dominion attempted to sucede from the Xai Ascendancy under Emperor Theo Xania, the great-grandson of Morgan Xania, the man who originally founded the Dominion. The effort was stopped by the Ascendancy under Patriarch Shala Alla Tok, who was instructed by the Creator to prevent such a thing from happening. This in turn started the conflict which saw the deaths of billions.

The war saw a fine line drawn by the Patriarch and the Creator as to what rights a nation under the Ascendancy had, and exactly what would and would not be tolerated under any circumstances. The Xanians' homeworlds were devestated by the biological and chemical weapons used by the Imperial Xai at the end of the conflict. Half of the Xania Sub-Sector's were ruined by a process that was and still is to this day irreversible. The punishment was deemed too severe by some Xai, and the Xanians today are a bitter and hateful people for it.

In the end, the war gave rise to the universe hatred of the Xanians, who are viewed as murderers, traitors, and heretics, for their enslavement of the Hyperion Sub-Sector population, refusal to abide by the authority of the Patriarch, and denying the Creator his due respect, all of which happened during the war. However, the Xanians have since recovered from the conflict, and their hatred has been the defining motive for their constant invasions of neighboring nations, all of whom have been affected in some form or manner by the ancient conflict.

Background
"Your inability to give us what was rightfully ours led to that conflict! We found those worlds! They were ours from the start! No, your greed and selfishness led to that war and the suffering that followed. We gave out of fairness. You took out of spite."

- Lucius Xania and Malakai Madora, arguing over who started the Xanian Wars

Origins of the war
The origins of the Xanian Wars can be traced back four centuries before the start of the war, beginning with the Xania Explorer's Guild on Family Pride. The Explorer's Guild, founded by the Imperial Xai, Morgan Xania, was first great line of interstellar explorers to chart the star of the Xyon Sector. Their job was to pinpoint the worlds that the Xai would be settling as they quickly outgrew their homeworld. For many years, the guild would explore the region known today as the Xania Sub-Sector, named so after the guild and their leader. The world of Tichel became the first planet discovered outside of the Xai'athus Sub-Sector, and the first to be targetted for immediate colonization by the Xai. While this was of no consequence to the explorers, many were hoping to gain some concessions from their discovery as many sought to become wealthy by way of their missions.

To gain anything from their discoveries, accelerated colonization was needed by the guild so as to open the worlds to the public sector allowing them to publically stake their claim on the wealthy mineral deposits on the planets they discovered. However, this was not the case. The government of the Ascendancy handed out colonization sites to private colonial corporations, and all without telling the guild of their intentions. Furthermore, the maps of the planets created by the explorers were demanded by the government, which gave out the most profitable sites to those whom the government favored. Outraged that they were left out of the claims, the Explorer's Guild boycotted the government during the Xania Crisis in 336 XE, in which they were ultimately expelled from the Xai'athus sub-sector.

Enraged with the betrayal of trust, the guild under Morgan Xania left known space for the Xania sub-sector, and colonized the world of Xania and established the Xanian Dominion in 361 XE, which laid far beyond the space known by the Ascendancy at the time. Over the next four centuries, colonization of new worlds slowed, as the primary organization best equipped for the task was exiled from the Ascendancy. The Hyperion, Nexusia, and Kordan Sub-Sectors were slowly colonized during tis period, but far from these worlds, the explorers, now calling themselves the Xanians, were developing at a fast pace, determined to reclaim what they considered their own.

Buildup to the conflict
By 738 XE, Shala Alla Tok sent the military out to bring the colonies into the Ascendancy as their development period was over. The Xanians by this time were led by Morgan's grandson Theo Xania, who was haughty and lacked true leadership skills. His own foolishness would allow for the next events to unfold. The Holy Guard of Xyon was soon confronted by the Xanians, who had established an empire over several star systems and planets, and managed to enslave all the colonists of the Hyperion sub-sector in the time it took for the military to find them. When ordered to release their slaves and submit to the Patriarch, the Xanians declared war, and attacked the vessels.

The act of warfare against the Patriarch stunned the entire sector when it was discovered, as they were not only turning on the Patriarch, their physical father, but the Creator as well. The attack saw the mass mobilization of military units on both side, as well as freed slaves in Hyperion who saw their chance to combat their masters who had invaded their homeworlds. The Xanians responded in kind by mobilizing their entire military force for the coming war, determined to win. The Xanians' greed and arrogance sparked the first war in Xyon's history, and would ultimately doom them and their allies to be villified for all time.

First Battle of Xania
Main article: First Battle of Xania

The beginning of the war took place over the Xanian homeworld, Xania, where the Imperial fleet demanded that the Xanians hand over all power and military assets under their command. Theo Xania, emperor of the Xanians during the conflict at the time, refused to heed this order, and gave the order to his forces above the planet to open fire on the Imperial Xai vessels. Face with overwhelming firepower, the Imperial Xai commander, General Berin Aspar gave the order to regroup on the edge of the solar system to send the message to Family Pride that the Xanians had refused to stand down. His captains advised him to stand and fight, believing that they could put and end to the Xanian Dominion quickly and easily, to which General Aspar agreed.

This, however, would later prove to be a disaterous decision, as the attack had given the Xanians the "proof" needed that the Imperials sought to take their new homeworld from them, this passing as none of the Xanians knew it was their side who had fired the first shot. The Imperial fleet of thirty ships were quickly routed by the superior hundred ship fleet fielded by the Xanians as their planetary defense force. The Xanians gave pursuit following the Imperial retreat, and chased them out of the Xania sub-sector claiming victory upon their reaching nearby Tichel. Their claim would prove short-lived and premature as the Ascendancy later responsed in force.

Hyperion Campaign
Main articles: Liberation of Ix, Battle of Sirius Prime, Liberation of Cybria

While the Xanians celebrated their "victory" back home, their slave worlds in the Hyperion sub-sector continued to toil as the neighboring Xanians had conquered them not too long ago. Cybria, Sirius Prime and Ix had been colonized in the years 389 XE, 393 XE, and 402 XE, decades following the exile of the Xanians after the Xania Crisis. The colonists of those worlds and the others that resided nearby, were rich with mineral resources, and managed a growing share of the embryonic nullium trade. The valuable resource was coveted by the neighboring Xanians, who also claim the Hyperion sub-sector as their forefathers had explored the region before anyone else.

Enslaving the colonists of these worlds, the Xanians had a cheap supply of nullium and sought to protect it as it was an important war resource. In the years following the conquest of the sub-sector, the inhabitants of Hyperion had developed an anti-Xanian occupation force, which had been fighting the Xanians from the time of the invasion. Seeking to weaken the war machine of Xania and free the enslaved Xai, the government of the Xai Ascendancy decided to strike the Hyperion sub-sector first to destroy the procurement of resources needed to maintain the defenses of the Xania sub-sector, and strike there next to capture Xania.

The Imperial invasion of the Hyperion sub-sector was commanded by Shala Alla Tok's grandson, Iavan Dyo Tok, who had been aware of the enslavement of the Xai, and was determined to liberate them from the Xanians. Linking up with anti-Xanian forces near Agemennon, the invasion force made a be-line for Ix, where the Ixians had been supplying sardonikium for the Xanians against their will. Liberating the world would be the first to take place as it was the world closest to the Xai'athus sub-sector. Taking the world would be a public statement that slavery would not be permitted so close to the holy worlds of Xyon, or anywhere else in the sector.

The Liberation of Ix took place in 740 XE, two years after the Battle of Xania. Given the slowness of travel in those days and the preparations for war, accumilating the materials needed for the conflict took ages, and finally moving a massive fleet to the front even longer. Upon reaching Ix, the Imperial Xai blasted through the Xanian lines and landed on the planet, wiping out or capturing any Xanians who hadn't fled the planet upon hearing of the offensive. Ix was taken without much of a fight, but the same could not be said for Sirius Prime. The Xanians had prepared for the invasion upon hearing of it, and turned the wide chasms of the planet into makeshift fortresses.

Tok and his forces were thus forced to fly their ships into the chasms of the planet to reach the Xanian troops within, avoiding plasma bolts as they flew deeper and deeper into the canyons that scarred the planet surface. The long bridges that connected the cities within the canyons became slaughter grounds, as the narrow areas of the bridges became hotly contested crossing points linking one side of a city to the other. The Xanians were forced to withdraw from Sirius once the Siriusians had been freed from their bondaged, and turned their mining tools into improvised weapons. Facing a battle on two fronts and mounting casualties, the Xanians surrendered, with any capable of doing so fleeing the planet.

The final stop of the Hyperion Campaign was that of Cybria where the most violent part of the campaign took place. While the other worlds had given little resistance to Xania's invasion, Cybria refused to budge. This was a problem as it was too close to Xania for such defiance. Thus, upon reaching the world, the Imperial forces found the Xanians already fighting against the Cybrians. Weakened from the fighting, the Xanians now had to face a fresh force of Imperial Xai troops landing to liberate the planet. The once tranquil planet was transformed into a wasteland, as new and devestating ecological weapons produced by Xania were turned on their enemies.

No matter what happened, however, neither the Imperial Xai or the Cybrians were interested in a Xanian victory, and pushed on until the Xanian forces were obliterated, and the survivors cast off the planet. With Cybria liberated in 741 XE, the Tok turned his eyes toward Xania, seeking to end the war as quickly as he could. In doing so, he had taken an interest in the superweapons that turned the once rolling tundra landscape of Cybria into the hellish grey wastelands of bitterly freezing windings and tornados that ravaged the planet following the battle. As far as he was concerned, Tok was no longer interested into a peaceful surrender from Xania, but a violent world by world conquest to make them pay for what they did to their Xai brothers and sisters.