Operation LIBERATION

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Update Needed
This article needs to be updated with material from Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, Historical:
Liberation of Terra Volume 2. Once this title clears the Moratorium period, or if it already has, please
consider revisiting this article and updating it with the new material, removing this tag once all
information has been added.

Operation LIBERATION
Part of Star League Era
Start Date January 23rd, 2777 - September 29th, 2779
Location
Planet Terra
Result Star League victory
Factions
Terran Hegemony Rim Worlds Republic
Commanders and leaders
Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky Stefan Amaris
Forces involved
SLDF Rim Worlds Army

Operation LIBERATION was the codename given to the liberation of Terra during the Amaris Civil
War.[1] Begun on January 23rd, 2777, the operation would last until September 29th, 2779, with the
personal capture of the Usurper Stefan Amaris by Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky. As the final
battle of the Hegemony Campaign and, indeed, the civil war, the effort to win back the seat of the Star
League would prove to be a grueling affair, resulting in immense destruction and the loss of millions of
lives.

Contents
 1 Preparations
 2 Space Battle
 3 Invasion
o 3.1 Eurasian Campaign
o 3.2 North American Campaign
 4 Aftermath
 5 Images
 6 References
 7 Bibliography

Preparations
By the time General Kerensky had captured all the worlds closest to Terra, he had suffered significant
losses: a third of his ground forces and nearly half his navy had been destroyed in the campaign to
recapture Hegemony worlds. However, relief would come in the form of military supplies and refugee
assistance from the Capellan Confederation, Lyran Commonwealth, and Federated Suns. As such,
Kerensky still had nearly a thousand ships and over 100 divisions available for the invasion of the most
heavily defended world in the universe.[2]

The Reagan Space Defense System was the largest and most powerful SDS ever built: besides the many
dozens of ground-based laser and missile batteries, it included 250 Casper drone ships orbiting the planet
and five heavily armed and armored battlestations protecting both jump points. Unlike prior SDS which
had been more easily defeated once electronic countermeasures were developed, the Reagan was more
robust; brute force would be the only means of defeating it.[1][3] Garrisoning the planet's major cities and
Castles Brian were Republican divisions fanatically loyal to the self-styled "Emperor" Amaris.[4] Most of
these divisions, including elite formations, were positioned on the North American continent, protecting
Unity City and Amaris.[5]

General Kerensky and Admiral Janos Grec, commander of the Star League Navy, spent several months
devising the invasion plan, in the mean time offering Amaris a chance to surrender; the Usurper, who had
begun losing his sanity since the beginning of the Hegemony Campaign, refused in a rambling message.
The finalized plan first called for the destruction of the jump point battlestations through the use of
automated "fire ships."[3] 20 JumpShips would carry 60 Overlord DropShips, with weapons stripped for
extra armor and packed with explosives, to perform suicidal kamikaze runs in an effort to take them out.
With the jump points clear, the waiting fleet of 932 WarShips and transports would jump in from eight
different worlds and make a high-g burn for Terra. Because speed was critical, it was decided the distance
between jumping ships would be reduced to one-fourth, in order to fit in more ships per jump, and to give
each group five minutes to clear the jump point before the next group jumped in. [3]

While the fleet was en route to Terra, a second task force of 40 WarShips would use a Pirate Jump Point to
jump close to the planet and destroy as many Casper drone ships as possible before the main fleet
arrived.[3] Once the main fleet had destroyed the rest of the drones, Aerospace Fighters would be launched
to take out 30 key laser and missile batteries on the European and Asian continents, allowing the transports
to land the ground forces and begin the reconquest. [4] General Kerensky knew this would be the last,
greatest battle of the civil war, and on January 23rd, twenty minutes prior to the invasion's launch time, he
gave a taped address to the entire fleet.[3]

Space Battle
The battle for control of Terra's orbital space would become known as the largest space engagement ever in
human history.[1] The automated "fire ships" jumped in and, although most DropShips were lost in the
attack, all ten battlestations were destroyed.[3] With the jump points secured, the all-clear signal was sent
and the fleet began jumping in. Despite the sheer size and complexity of the operation, only 20 ships failed
to make the jump, with 18 suffering drive failures at their point of departures. [1] The troop transport
Richardson suffered damage to its station-keeping drives upon arrival, and her captain ordered all
DropShips to launch to save themselves. The Richardson would be destroyed when the corvette Mississippi
Queen materialized with its prow inside her engineering section, though the latter ship would survive and
retain enough functionality to clear the jump point before the next group appeared. [3]

Once the operation was complete, the fleet assembled into formation, WarShips forming a protective
barrier around armored DropShip carriers, and made for Terra at speed. When the main fleet was four days
away from the planet, the 40-ship flotilla jumped in and began a two-day confrontation with the Casper
drone ships. When the last ship of the flotilla, the cruiser Sovetskii Soyuz, was finally destroyed, their
sacrifice had accounted for the destruction of over 100 drones.[1][3] That same day, the remaining 150
drones began to engage the main fleet, shadowing it outside of weapons range before making small, swift
attacks aimed at destroying as many transports as possible. In an effort to protect the transports, some
heavily-damaged WarShips attempted to ram the drone ships; while most such runs were avoided, these
efforts caused the drones to be more cautious, in part because of their confusion over such suicidal
tactics.[4] Eventually, when the fleet was only 12 hours flight time from Terra, the entire drone force moved
in to attack. The ten-hour running battle that followed was fierce, leaving a trail of debris in the wake of the
two fleets; however as the melee dragged on the drones lost their tight organization and were eventually
destroyed in a crossfire. While Kerensky had lost a significant portion of his fleet and ground forces, he had
destroyed the entire drone fleet and was poised to begin the invasion of Terra.[4]

Invasion
Eurasian Campaign

When the fleet was one hour away from Terra, flights of AeroSpace Fighters were launched to take out the
key planetary batteries protecting the European and Asian continents. The fighters reentered Terra's
atmosphere at an especially steep angle, in an effort to reduce their vulnerability to enemy fire, but still
took heavy losses from ground-base fire.[4] Others were destroyed by defending Republican fighters or
from the dangerous descent, and relatively few fighters were spared to defend the DropShips, having
already started to offload their cargo, from being targeted by the enemy. However, despite extensive
casualties and near-failure, the fighters succeeded in destroying all 30 SDS installations. [4] Those WarShips
which did not stay to provide orbital fire support moved off to a safe distance. [1]

30 divisions landed on Terra during the initial drop, over an area stretching from Madrid to Magadan, with
the goal of capturing major cities and spaceports. With the destruction of the SDS installations, their
landings went mostly unopposed, as Republican ground forces maintained their garrison positions and
fighter attacks were easily driven off.[4] Among those forces which landed was the 146th Royal BattleMech
Division, supported by the 11th Mechanized Infantry Division, which landed within striking distance of
Moscow. General Kerensky himself landed shortly after to take command of the attack to liberate his
hometown. The defending 33rd Amaris Dragoons regiment was driven out of the city after brutal fighting
and surrounded. After two hours of pleading for mercy, Kerensky finally accepted their surrender. [4]
Amidst the rubble of Moscow General Kerensky was able to find his wife and two sons, who had been able
to hide their identities and fought as part of the local resistance movement. [6]

Bitter fighting would follow for the next two years as the SLDF forces fought to retake control of Europe
and Asia. The Republican forces were equally fierce and desperate, resorting to chaining together civilians
as human shields to slow down the SLDF's relentless advance. By January of 2779, most of Europe and
Asia was finally under General Kerensky's control.[5]

North American Campaign

In an effort to spare any further loss of civilian life and hoping to end the war quickly, Kerensky decided to
forgo the planned invasions of Africa and South America and instead invade North America. [5] The
continent's SDS batteries were still operational, and the transoceanic tunnels connecting it to the rest of the
planet had been severely damaged, requiring an expeditious plan of attack. On January 15th, orbiting
WarShips and fighters launched a massive bombardment of the ground batteries as thousands of DropShips
landed in the Mexican Republic. Simultaneously, a massive attack force led by the 322nd BattleMech
Division and 9th Jump Infantry Division crossed the Bering Strait into Alaska.[5] Initial Republican efforts
to repulse the invaders were intense and, at times, nearly succeeded. However Amaris would soon
personally take control of the defense of the continent, and his skills as a strategist had been eroded by his
ever-growing insanity. By March the northern force had worked its way into Canada and was moving along
the coast towards Unity City, mirrored by the southern force moving along the Californian coast.
Secondary fronts were opened up in Florida, Texas, and New York to tie down further Republican
divisions.[5]
A final desperate effort was made by Republican forces to hold back the SLDF during the months of June
and July. The southern force, spearheaded by the 135th Royal BattleMech Division, was held up for three
weeks along the Colombia River before forcing their away onto the northern bank, while the northern force
fought several furious battles over Vancouver Island.[5] By September 3rd, the two forces had pushed the
Republicans to Unity City, first glimpsed advanced forces of the 9th Mechanized Infantry Division, and the
final battles for control of the capital began. The Republicans were suicidal in their defense of the city,
which only delayed the inevitable, and led by General Kerensky the SLDF forces finally took control
shortly thereafter.

However, victory had not been complete, as Amaris had since fled to the Imperial Palace, built deep in the
Canadian Wilderness. On September 29th General Kerensky's second in command, General Aaron
DeChavilier, lead forces of the 26th Royal BattleMech Division in the capture of the nearby spaceport and,
linking up with Kerensky leading the 328th Royal BattleMech Division, defeated the Republican
garrison.[5] Kerensky, DeChavilier and two lances of 'Mechs made the final assault on the Palace itself,
destroying the armored pillboxes defending it. Piloting his Orion 'Mech, Kerensky smashed open the
Palace's doors and personally captured Amaris.[5]

Aftermath
Amaris gave the signal to surrender, and he and the thousands of surviving Republican troops were initially
treated with respect as prisoners. Amaris and his family were kept in a luxury suite of rooms in a nearby
hotel while their ultimate fate was debated.[7] That fate would be sealed two weeks after the surrender,
when the Throne Room of the Court of the Star League was finally unsealed, and the rotting corpses of the
Cameron family were discovered. Two weeks later, in the wake of the outrage that followed, Kerensky
himself would travel to the scene of the crime. After thirty minutes of examining the Throne Room,
Kerensky flew out to Amaris' hotel and ordered him and his entire family executed by firing squad. [7]

The destruction caused on Terra had been immense. Millions were dead or wounded, with millions more
left homeless. The Star League itself was in shambles, its ruling family wiped out entirely, and the Defense
Force had lost more than three-fourths of its original pre-civil war force.[4] While many hoped that
Kerensky would assume control of the Star League, events would conspire against him. With no new First
Lord and the rival Great Houses already conspiring to pick apart the League's dead corpse, General
Kerensky would lead one final mission: Operation EXODUS.

Images
References
1.

 BattleSpace Sourcebook, p. 11
  The Star League, p. 90
  The Star League, p. 91
  The Star League, p. 92
  The Star League, p. 93
  Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p.??[citation needed]
 7.  The Star League, p. 94

Bibliography
  BattleSpace
 Jihad Hot Spots: Terra
 The Star League
 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2

Categories:

 Sources needing updates