- "So it begins…"
"I prefer to think of it as the end." - — An exchange between Jenarvia Avori and Arien Garix
The Battle of Hapes was the final engagement of the Hapan Civil War and would decide whether the next Queen Mother would be Jenarvia Misa Avori or Azonia Zyier. Due to the near even distribution of forces between the loyalists to House Avori and House Zyier, the war was stuck in a virtual stalemate, with neither side able to afford the loss of too many ships or troops. It quickly became apparent that whoever controlled the capital planet of Hapes would eventually be declared the true Queen Mother if the war remained stalled.
So it was that two months after the start of the Hapan Civil War, the forces loyal to Jenarvia launched an all-or-nothing strike to try and take back Hapes from Azonia. Although Jenarvia's fleet was outnumbered and outgunned, the actual battle in orbit was nothing more than a ruse to distract from two small strike teams that had been sent to the planet before the battle. One team consisted of Jenarvia and a squad of elite commandos pulled from the remnants of the Hapan Royal Guard. The other team was led by Arien Garix and some of his handpicked soldiers.
Both commando operations would eventually culminate in the Duel at Fountain Palace, which would see the death of Azonia and be the true deciding moment of the civil war. With Azonia dead, her forces would briefly ally with Jenarvia's to push out the Crimson Empire - which had been working with Azonia in secret. After the Crimson Empire retreated from Hapan territory, Azonia's loyalists surrendered to Jenarvia and formally recognized her as the true Queen Mother.
With the battle concluded, the Hapan Civil War would also come to a close.
Setting up the Gambit[]
- "What you are proposing will change the shape of Hapan society forever; it will rewrite generations of history. Have you considered that?"
- — Casara D’Lacc to Jenarvia Avori
To prepare for the space battle to take back Hapes, Jenarvia had one of her trusted associates, Aran Fry, reach out to two Hapan pirate lords, Karge Farell and Marko Agail, to request the help of their forces to reinforce her own. In return she promised a full pardon for all past crimes to any pirate that aided her in the battle to come. In addition Jenarvia also swore to enact measures to equalize the representation of men within the Hapes Consortium once the war was over.
She also planned to send two commando forces to Hapes ahead of the battle. One team, led by Arien, would be responsible for subverting the network of Hapan Defense Satellites that protected the planet. If the network wasn't dealt with, Jenarvia's forces would be vastly outmatched when they arrived. The other team, led by Jenarvia herself, would infiltrate the Fountain Palace and attempt to capture and kill Azonia to swiftly end the war.
Betrayals[]
- "No… all along… used me…"
"Afraid so. It was either that or storm this place, but I detest having to resort to violence myself." - — An exchange between Naia Kalen and Arien Garix
Although Karge Farell decided to lend his help to Jenarvia, Marko Agail took the information he had been given and decided to sell it to Azonia's forces in exchange for a governorship on one of the worlds on the fringes of the Hapes Cluster. However, Marko didn't know about the commando squads being sent in advance, so Azonia's forces were only expecting a fleet engagement.
Arien also seemingly betrayed Jenarvia, but in his case it was a ruse to gain access to the control center for the satellite defense grid. Using the Force he was able to manipulate the mind of the control center's commander, Naia Kalen, to take him prisoner and then "use" him to enter the IFF codes of the ships Jenarvia would be sending into the battle.
Once the codes were all entered, Arien disabled the control center crew with a widespread use of Malacia. With his enemies incapacitated and Naia's command codes still entered into the computer, he changed the targeting algorithm of the satellites so that they would ignore Jenarvia's ships and instead target Azonia's fleet once he activated them. He then programmed the automated defenses of the control center to target everyone but him, killing everyone inside before he sealed the building.
The Battle for Hapes[]
- "I would very much have liked to test my metal against [Holst], but instead Jenarvia sends me her cast offs."
"And just how did you come to command Azonia’s fleet? Was it through ability or were you simply the cheapest officer she could buy?"
"Remember those words when your ship is burning around you and your fleet is destroyed." - — An exchange between Iissa Verbari and Dalis Lortana
The planet Hapes.
With Admiral Suna Holst busy in another engagement, it fell to Dalis Lortana, a fellow admiral, to lead the attack on Hapes. Defending the planet was Admiral Iissa Verbari, although by the time of the Battle of Hapes, she had begun to refer to herself as the "Supreme Commander" of the Hapan Fleet. Both women were distinguished tacticians, but Iissa had come to see Suna Holst as her counterpart on the other side of the conflict and thought little of Dalis' abilities.
Iissa started the battle with superior numbers and what she believed to be a nearly unassailable defensive position with the planet's satellite grid protecting her flank. However, due to Arien's subversion of the satellites, she was caught completely off-guard when they started firing on her ships. Several of Iissa's ships were lost in the chaos of the unexpected attack and she was forced to engage with Dalis' forces at point-blank range to try and use them as cover to discourage the targeting computers of the satellites.
By the time the the satellites were stopped by the Blood Sentinels destroying the control facility on the surface, Iissa's advantage against Dalis had been fully stripped away. Despite her situation, Iissa stubbornly continued the battle until the arrival of the Crimson Empire's 1st Battle Fleet managed to arrive to give her beleaguered forces some much needed reinforcements.
As the battle began to turn once again towards the favor of Azonia's forces, Dalis brought in her own reinforcements: the pirate fleet Jenarvia had secured before the battle. The fleet, led by Aran Fry, were able to even up the numbers since each pirate ship had at least two proton torpedo launchers installed just for the battle. The torpedo barrages were enough to cripple the shields of several of the Crimson Empire's ships.
Iissa and her command ship, the Reign of Tears, would fall to one of these torpedo barrages. Command of Azonia's forces was then assumed by the commander of the Crimson Empire fleet, Darth Invictus, who continued to fight on despite the pirate reinforcements. With several Star Destroyers under his command, he still had an edge against Jenarvia's forces.
Hapan Solidarity[]
- "Azonia is dead. The war is over. It now falls to every loyal Hapan to drive the invaders from our borders!"
- — Abril Zyier
The tide of the battle would turn once again thanks to the results of the Duel at Fountain Palace. Azonia would end up being shot to death during the ground battle, with the final blast coming from Jenarvia herself. Without Azonia to lead her faction, there was no longer any reason to continue the civil war. Azonia's brother, Abril, seized the opportunity to make a deal with Jenarvia to spare his life if he agreed to keep the fighting from dragging on.
Abril commanded the surviving ships that had belonged to Azonia's faction to turn on the Crimson Empire's fleet. Even though most of Azonia's surviving ships were suffering from various states of battle damage at this point, it still put the Crimson Empire in a terrible strategic position as they were suddenly caught between two enemy fleets.
Invictus seemed determined to prevail despite the odds, but when news reached him that Azonia was dead and that his operative on the surface had been slain, he was forced to admit there was no purpose left for the Crimson Empire to remain in Hapan space and chose to retreat. After the Crimson Empire departed, the forces that had been loyal to Azonia surrendered, ending the battle.
Aftermath[]
- "At last the one true Queen Mother can once again take her rightful place on the throne."
- — Arien Garix
With Azonia dead and Abril directing the surrender of their remaining forces to Jenarvia, the Hapan Civil War was effectively ended. The other Houses that had sided with Azonia were quick to follow Abril's lead. The Houses that had remained neutral throughout the conflict also offered their allegiance to Jenarvia now that she was the clear winner. Any pockets of resistance that remained were quickly stamped out, often with Arien taking charge of their extermination.
There were some fears that the Crimson Empire would return in force as retaliation for their defeat during the battle, but such an attack never came to pass. The outside galaxy would soon be preoccupied with the events of the War of Darkness and the Shadow War. It allowed Hapes to rebuild and strengthen their borders in peace as a united people.
Jenarvia would also hold true to her promises to Karge Farell. He and the pirates who had joined him were absolved of all their crimes and allowed to become Hapan citizens once more. She also enacted measures to help provide more equality towards men, but trying to end prejudices that had lasted for over 4,000 years prior to her rule would prove to be difficult to accomplish.