Strakan Civil War

The Sons of Tarkus moved on Yamali following their victory during the Sundering of the Blades and put the city to siege during the First Siege of Yamali. The city's defenses were meager, and fell within a week.    With Yamali the breadbasket of the Strakan Empire, the loyalists made its liberation a priority. General Naalia Ameena, the new High General of the Strakan Military, led a newly mustered force of the Strakan Air-Fleet, Army, and truly-loyal Blades of Hakir to liberate the city. Outnumbering the Sons of Tarkus nearly 4 to 1, the Sons of Tarkus opted to abandon the city rather than be holed up and destroyed via siege. Ameena retook the city in early 1010 3A with nary a shot fired.    The loyalist victory was short lived however, as the Sons of Tarkus continued to swell their numbers as their leading Khedives called on more forces from their regions. They soon split their forces, and it seemed their major force was beginning to make for Straka itself.    Forced to choose, Naalia also split her forces. She led a smaller group south to combine with new conscripts and marshalled forces leaving Straka, and left the bulk of her forces in Yamali.   Her smaller force successfully united with the reinforcements from Straka, and met the Sons of Tarkus force north of Straka in the Jo'ob Valley. While the forces were evenly matched, Naalia and her sub-commanders successfully defeated the Sons of Tarkus soundly, driving them back from Straka.   Back in Yamali, the other half of the Sons of Tarkus army once again laid siege in the Second Siege of Yamali. Despite being thought to be a smaller force, the Sons of Tarkus had managed to decieve the loyalists, and brought the majority of their force to bear against Yamali and the bottled up loyalists there. Ameena began to push for her forces to go relieve Yamali, but found herself facing constant harassment by a force led by Kukbo himself, who constantly denied her forces freedom of movement to head north. She wasn't able to relieve the city before it once again fell to the Sons of Tarkus, this time with thousands of loyalist troops surrendering or even switching sides. Though a large amount of the loyalist Air-Fleet in Yamali was able to flee south in a side battle known as the Flight of the Fleet.    The Sons of Tarkus immediately began to prepare for counter-siege, and began taking over and improving the defenses of Yamali; but found themselves in a strong position. There was debate in the Sons camp as to next action. Kukbo wanted to hold in Yamali and wait for Straka to starve out and surrender, since they surely would without Yamali. Meanwhile, a larger portion of the Khedives wanted to again try for Straka. The larger camp won.   A now massive Sons force headed south to once again try for Straka. This time, Ameena met them just south of Yamali on more temparate ground at the Plain of Vorba. The following Battle of Vorba was nearly a Sons victory, but was only turned around by the extremely timely intercession of a contingent of Green Guard and fast moving Federated Union of Eastern Kalin Air-Navy ships sent by the Federated Union of Eastern Kalin after some effective diplomacy between Faisal and Maximilian Vran. The Loyalists took the day, but both sides suffered greatly and pulled back from each other to recover.   In the meantime, the Union's involvement in the battle became widely known, with the Sons of Tarkus issuing broad denouncements of foreign intervention, calling the Naji government weak for needing foreigners to fight their battles for them. Meanwhile, the Naji government openly thanked the Union for their support and announced that the Union had agreed to exclusive food export agreements to Straka and the building of additional rail-lines between the Union and Straka to support the effort; a huge economic boon for the Union and a literal life line for the loyalist government. The Union also announced limited continued military support from the Union in the shape of Green Guard contingents and some Union Air-Navy and Marine groups. Around the same time, the Impero Tharrisian announced they were sending Observers to both sides, with the publically state reason of "martial learning" for the observers; though some have questioned the validity of those claims. It also rumored that the Kingdom of Aurelia has begun to give discreet aid to the Sons of Tarkus, though no firm proof of this claim has emerged.   Since the Battle of Vorba, more battles have taken place between both sides; but a distressing trend of stalemate has emerged. Both sides have begun to build long trench-work lines between their forces in Northern Straka; field battles have become rarer and a new form of trench-based warfare has taken hold with a high cost in casulaties. It remains to be seen what, if anything, will break this stalemate as the war continues on...