Hephaestus War of Independence

The Hephaestus War of Independence was the short-lived and rather badly publicized conflict between the Gigerdian colony of Hephastus and the Gigerdi Alliance over Hephaestus' independence.

The start of the conflict

The Gigerdian colony world of Hephaestus is located in the deep outer rim territories of the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy. The entire society of colonies in the Hephaestus system had always been left almost completely unnoticed in the GA's plans for economical aid and general appreciation. The industry of the GA had been sucking the Hephaestus system dry from its' natural resources for decades, and during the Lightness War had almost completely left Hephaestus to fend for itself.

As the Hemmoian Civil War started, many small colonies even in Gigerdian space started to quietly observe the struggle of the small separatist faction led by Karellen against the powerful Hemmoian Federation. From all of these colonies, there really weren't too many willing to openly act against the immense military power of their own government, the GA. Little did the GA military know, however, as a considerable underground movement had been boiling inside the system of Hephaestus for years - just waiting for the right moment to rise up. For years before the Hemmoian Civil War, the small but persistent Hephaestan independence movement had camouflaged their activity under a political party, which at first did try to gain more independence to the entire system by peaceful means. This Hephaestan Freedom Party was the largest political party in the system just before the beginning of the first independence war. Many of the supporters of the party weren't as radical in their actions and beliefs when compared to the last chairman of the party, Geston Lavrek, was. The other notable members of the party's leadership were Becks Noder and Hephaestus Republic's current president, Gren Vayne. Many voted and quietly supported the party, but weren't ready to openly go against their government. Thus the method for resistance was quite often peaceful protests and rallies held around the system.

As the unrest grew in Hemmoian space, the radical Hephaestan elements decided to act as well. A plan to control the entire system in a just a few days in a lightning strike was put together quickly. The radicalists also had plans to capture the governor of the system, Fedus K. Roomel, who was quite openly a pro-GA puppet. The radicalists rallied large demonstrations against the security forces of the system, and during the confusion raided several armories in the capital city of Hephaestus I. The splinter groups in the other planets of the system had been briefed quite badly of the plan for revolution, so their struggles were left for as much improvisation as possible, unfortunately.

First steps toward independence

The rebels of Hephaestus had known from the beginning, that there was no way for them to win against the GA all alone. The party leadership had attempted to contact Karellen and his rebels, and by doing so, they wished to get the open support from Karellen's much greater forces. The new republic also required acknowledgement of its' gained independence, and the Hephaestan rebels figured that Karellen's faction would be the best location to start recognition from.

The rebels couldn't send any transmissions from Hephaestus I to the other planets of the system as the unrest begun, since all civilian communications traffic had been cut off by the order of Hephaestus's governor. The rebels were also afraid that the orbiting GA communication satellites might be able to pick up their transmissions and thus intercept them. The rebels set out to capture more targets on Hephaestus I: they were also greatly helped by defectors in the garrison fleet orbiting Hephaestus' planets. The defectors relayed back plans and tactical maps of the GA's position, which helped the rebels to overcome the defences quite easily. The capital city in Hephaestus I was, however, still in the hands of the lawful government. Since the rebels were unsure of the governor's next move, they decided to capture an orbital communications relay station in the orbit of Hephaestus I. The task of capturing it was passed down to admiral Teel Corzeer, who was the now defected commander of Hephaestus' garrison fleet. Admiral Corzeer had not openly defected to the side of the rebels, which meant that the governor of the system still thought that he had the garrison fleets under his control. Corzeer's second-in-command, Eeril Jadel, also took part in the mission.

The subspace relay station was captured relatively easily. As the rebels cut all communication between the capital city of Hephaestus I and the GA Military Network, no communication to and from the official government forces could recieved. The rebels also uncovered an official order straight from the governor's office, which requested immediate reinforcements from the GA to help quell the dangerous situation developing in the Hephaestus system. This request had already left the governor's office, so the rebels now knew that in the heels of the governor's defeat, the GA would be arriving as the cavalry to save the day and to effectively end the insurrection boiling in the system.

The Final Confrontation

As the message indicated, the GA had already mobilized a small task force of ships to quickly seize back Hephaestus. Captain Esamar Tanner along with his colleague, Conet Verlins, were tasked to take back the colony with the aid of ground forces.

As the small fleet of ships led by these two captains reached Hephaestus, they were met by ships belonging to the new Hephaestus armed forces. After a short, but nonetheless heated debated between Admiral Corzeer and Captain Verlins, a battle ensued. Captain Tanner hesitated to attack the Hephaestan fleet, and in the following confusion the Hephaestan fleet was able to score a victory. Captain Verlins was captured and put under arrest.

Aftermath

Governor Fedus K. Roomel fled from Hephaestus in a cargo transport as the capital city was taken over. Karellen's forces also managed to reply to the message from Hephaestus, which boosted morale in the Hephaestan side. The message also titled Hephaestus as an ally of the newly created DHR. This alliance between the two states also guaranteed Hephaestus its' independence, since the GA had no intentions on going against the DHR or its' allies, for that matter.

The Hephaestans knew, that despite the temporarily calmness, it would only be a matter of time, when the GA would try again to invade Hephaestus. After the end of hostalities, Gren Vayne was sworn in as the president of the new Free Republic of Hephaestus.