The Axa-Saurian Wars, Part II
Axum responds in force, Sustan makes his move.
From Book Nine of KANNES — Azine
After recovering from wounds inflicted at the Battle of Nubet, Sinnu vowed revenge on Sedu and all who aided him. The Saurian revolt however, continued unfettered despite his proclamation, and many Axumites were overtaken as they were driven from their homeworlds beyond the 385.8.21 Azimuth. Sinnu responded by imposing restrictions on all Saurians living beyond Sauria, forcing some suspect populations into barrier cities after severely limiting their movement. He next harassed or imprisoned any who openly spoke against him throughout the empire, for fear that they may stir up sympathy for the rebellion.
After winning a conflict near Sauria’s border that resulted in the loss of Saurian tactical vessels, the Axumites regrouped and attacked the epicenter of the revolt on Angona. In the midst of the assault, reinforcements sped in from nearby sectors after unexpected victories. At the Battle of Estelunes the Saurians suffered a decisive defeat, and the movement for independence collapsed, with its leaders being imprisoned or killed. Sedu was among those slain and his daughter Irika, who had risen to be a co-equal leader, was imprisoned by Sinnu on Nome.
Seeking to secure his empire from further revolts and from those of questionable loyalty, Sinnu embarked on a scheme to remove Sustan from power and to punish him for his role in the burning of Nubet. He started by sending heavily armed garrisons into Terran to restore order. The Axum general Mexce subdued Sukos, Myrarnya, and Damardas, before several mishaps forced an early end to the campaign.
A year later a second force was sent to Sauria under the command of Mexce and Sinnu’s son Angu. After several battles they managed to subjugate Anya, before besieging and razing several smaller planets in the region. However, Sustan retaliated by isolating Mexce and trapping his troops in a separate battle. Sustan then ordered a head on ground assault against the Axumite forces on Casuarand, luring their best fighters into a central position. The Terran flanks then collapsed in on the Axumites, slaying them by the thousands. The Axum army broke in panic towards their ships, and large numbers were slaughtered, ending Axum’s most boisterous assault.
“Sinnu began plans to invade the Terran Imperium with the full force of his army.”
In response, Sinnu began plans to invade the Terran Imperium with the full force of his army, but he died suddenly when his warship dematerialized after entering a malfunctioning stargate. Blame for the incident was placed on Sustan, and Sinnu’s son Angu plotted to carry out his father’s plans to invade Terran.
Angu personally led the second Axumite invasion of Terran with one of the largest armies ever assembled. Strategic victories over the Terrans allowed the Axumites to subdue Anya and overrun most of Sauria. However, while attempting to regroup his exhausted fleet at the planet Galda, Axum suffered a severe defeat when a number of their soldiers defected. The following year, Sustan went on the offensive, defeating the Axumites by taking back Anya, Damardas, and other key planets which ended the invasion of the Imperium.
Sustan continued his momentum by destroying the bulk of the Axumite fleet at the Battle of Ora. Shunkaru followed by capturing and killing Sinnu’s son Avarasin, while freeing Irika from Nome. Angu tried to regroup, but he was forced to retreat and save the remainder of his fleet. As a result of the conflict, several minor rebellions further within Axum threatened to destabilize the kingdom. Angu had no choice but to completely withdraw from the region to retain order throughout the rest of his empire. The campaign against the Saurians and Terran Imperium officially came to a close when the last Axumite troops left Terran space.
In direct response to Angu’s withdrawal, the alliance between Sauria and Terran was formalized, and Sustan was declared the head of the short-lived Terran Empire. In the following months, however, the exceptionally destructive war tactics of Shunkaru and his soldiers during the war led to conflict between many Terrans and the Saurians. Fearing a revolt from the increasingly powerful Seti II (Irika), Sustan began to strip their planet-states resources under the guise of replenishing his battle weary fleet. Sauria then demanded independence from Terran, but Sustan refused and issued a decree that threatened the Saurians with war if they revolted.
Several months after, the Imperial Court of Anya gathered in the capital city Eradon in celebration of the marriage between Sustan and his third wife Kandesay. While the king was entering the inner court into the city’s theater, he was killed by Lelun of Ingolsud, one of his five bodyguards and a close friend of his son Selusus. Lelun escaped with a small group of his conspirators, who were waiting for him with a jump-ship at the entrance of the city.
