The Archangel War

The Start of the Great War
The System of Archangel was home to a race known as the Variax. The Variax lived on four of the seven planets of the Archangel System, Archangel II, III, IV, and VI. All four of the planets were very industrial, many of them with mines down to the planet core; on the surface, however, things were much, much different. Climates ranging from barren deserts, and volcanic wastelands, to oceanic paradises and mountainous resorts. The inhabitants of Archangel would dwell upon industry and science. In time they became filled with greed, and in so they enacted the Article of Enslavement. This act of their government authorized the immediate take over or colonization of any habitable planets within one hundred light years. Ruthless as they were, they built a military of an incomprehensible size. Their lust for riches brought them to the desolation of thousands of star systems.

As soon as the Sirian Corporations found out that they were within the range of the "Article of Enslavement" they began the construction of their own Armada for defence. Among these were the Apollo, Celeste, Imperium, and Gladius fleets. Sirian technology was much more advanced than Archangel technology, but in turn also took much longer to construct. These four fleets alone took several years, fourteen of which Sirius was under forced into The Great Siege. Finally, after fourteen years of tireless effort, the fleets took flight and reclaimed the skies of Sirius. Another fifteen years passed, known as the Years of Reconstruction. During this time, cities were rebuilt, and another twenty fleets were built to back the four fleets already constructed. Finally on a day spoke of only as the Day of Judgement, the day on which the Sirian Corporations declared war upon the Variax Dictatorship.

The Blitzkrieg of Archangel
In the thirty years since the invasion of Sirius, the leaders of Archangel grew weak, their ships old, and ill-equipped for the technology of the Sirians. This led to the Blitzkrieg of Archangel which started on the Day of Judgement. Hundreds of Star Systems were reclaimed within months of the start of the war, and many Archangel fleets annihilated in the process. This, however, was just the beginning of a war that would last a hundred and twenty more years. This blitzkrieg pushed on the Archangel home system within four years, reclaiming entire regions of space faster than the Archangel Hierarchy could build new ships. This cataclysmic clash eventually led to the Siege of Archangel, where the blitzkrieg finally came to a halt when the twenty-four fleets finally met the last twenty-seven fleets of Archangel.

The fleets stormed the area, hundreds of ships were destroyed on both sides. The ash and debris from the fallen ships created asteroid belts and thick clouds around the planets. Yet years passed and ships from the industrial planets kept coming through the planetary veils. In this time, the Sirians had also built many new ships to replace or reinforce the older or destroyed ships.

The Siege of Archangel
Shell after shell, laser after laser, bomb after bomb; yet none would penetrate the massive force-fields that were the last line of defence of the Variax. Ruthless in their obligation to destroy the Variax, the Sirians were relentless, years passed as the shields did not fail. The shields were powered by volcanic energy that surrounded the industrial centres; providing near limitless shielding strength. The siege took many more years, even with constant firepower being unleashed upon the shields, it wasn't until the Sirian Super Weapon "Ares" was unleashed that any real progress was made. Only four of the Ares Super Weapons were made, as they drew directly on the energy released by the Archangel Star. In the process of using these weapons, the Sirians annihilated Archangel II, IV, and VI. Leaving only the smouldering leftovers of Archangel III.

During the siege, Anti-Space Gauss Guns ripped through the hulls of many Sirian ships. this led to the destruction of the Celeste and Gladius fleets while bombarding Archangel II.

Fifteen leftover Archangel "Monolith" class ships from Archangel IV made easy prey of 3 Sirian fleets.

In the process of Destroying Archangel IV with one of the Ares Super Weapons, another six Sirian fleets fell to extreme radiation which shut down ship engines, causing them to crash into the planet surface.

The Aftermath
In the aftermath, only four Sirian Fleets got out of the system, Apollo, Imperium, and two others. The system was then declared off limits by the Sirian Corporations as the radiation leftover in the system, along with poisonous gas, and debris from destroyed ships which could be found throughout the entire system. It is unlikely the system will ever be habitable again without hyper advanced shielding technology like those seen in the Third Empire.

Even now fires still rage in space, the atmosphere of the planets annihilated; asteroid belts taking the place of several fleets, and planets. The system is still uninhabitable, however, there is a myth that this is in fact where the Dente Fleet resides. Archangel is currently not visible by normal means, no light has escaped the system since the Third Empire was founded.