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Schism of Rampart

Battle
ISC 386-10-8

"I would rather die for freedom than continue to see friends and family shackled by Silverbridge. Today, we fight for them!"
- Mihail T'chmil, now Commander of the Seventh Legion

The Schism of Rampart was a major battle on the planet of Ibos in the Proxima System that took place in ISC 386-10-8.


The newly united
Seventh Legion, under the command of Mihail T'chmil and Beezera Raileanu, rebelled against the ever increasing restrictions put on the mining colonies by the Silverbridge corporation. This rebellion had proponents in all of the colonies on Ibos, however Rampart was the only successful colony to fully drive out Silverbridge forces. Midway through the conflict, the Xanxost landed on Ibos near the colony of Tesera and began attacking both the Seventh Legion and Silverbridge. 

Ibos has remained a somewhat lawless battlefield since the Schism of Rampart, with the Seventh, Silverbridge, and the Xanxost occasionally clashing with each other on the landscape. 

History

Background

In ISC 385, the Neterran Republic signed an agreement for the Silverbridge Corporation to take executive control of the colonies on Ibos, in exchange for agricultural equipment powered by celestine to boost yields in Oloria. Celestine in its condensed form was found on the planet, and Silverbridge seeked exclusive rights to the mineral. This agreement, validated by the Intergalactic Federation (IGF), included the transfer of several Neterran soldiers to serve Silverbridge as security for the colonies. The Neterran colonies on Ibos transferred were:

Once Silverbridge took over control, they quickly set to work changing the structure of the colonies to better sway the workers. IGF credits were outlawed as a currency, instead opting in for company supplied 'Bridgebucks' to pay for room, board, or whatever else Silverbridge supplied. Security was brought in to keep workers in line as further changes were implemented, leaving many that were once mining with passion now buckled by capitalist chains.

Mihail, sergeant at the time, was assigned as Deputy of Security for Rampart. His experience with the Neterran military mainly dealt with coordination and management of defense efforts, such that the Jozik and Nibash'rang of Oloria had adequate protection from local fauna. Beezera was assigned to Rampart as a research assistant to study the effects of celestine on the miners of the colonies. They had met due to an incident of one of the miners going berserk after long-term exposure, and became fast friends. Both agreed that Silverbridge had been negatively impacting the lives of workers on Ibos since the turnover, and soon found sympathizers to their concerns as time went on. 

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Prelude

By all accounts, the plan that Mihail had set in place was sound. Having the experience of understanding Silverbridge security from the inside, he had coordinated with anti-Silverbridge sympathizers in every colony to strategically disable alarm systems on ISC 386-10-8. The day was marked in Silverbridge schedules as a 'half-day', with several security guards that would respond taking leave on Oloria, leaving the colonies with a ghost crew relative to the total force expected. 

Each colony had an emergency defense system that would bring up a celestine-powered antimatter field, capable of keeping potential attacks or meteor showers sent from Ihmir's Stadium from harming workers. These defense systems doubled as a method to keep workers within the confines of their colony in the event of uprising. Beezera had theorized gaining the upper hand via driving security out and closing them out using the antimatter field. This would give time to properly outfit any combat-willing rebels with gear, and eventually allow for a full-scale pushback of Silverbridge away from the colonies. Mihail and Beezera had no intention for rebels to kill unless Silverbridge shot first, meaning most of the stolen gear would be for self defense in the event of conflict. 

Finally, Mihail had decided that a movement of this magnitude needed a banner to rally under, a name that would unite them and openly challenge Silverbridge's jurisdiction on Ibos. Saveli Stratan, a munitions expert at Rampart, had suggested to incorporate the number seven into the name, seeing as at the time, seven workers had died of unjust causes since Silverbridge took over the colonies. From there, names like the 'Magnificent Seven', 'For the Seven', and 'Sex Machina' were thrown out until the rebels had stuck with the name 'Seventh Legion'. 

This plan had been referred to as Operation Liberty in planning and enactment. Our current name of 'Schism of Rampart' was adopted after the fact, since nobody could have envisioned how things would play out the day of. 

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Battle

On the morning of ISC 386-10-8, all hell broke loose for Silverbridge. 

All throughout the colonies, fighting began between the security that was left and the workers that were in on Operation Liberty. Rallying cries echoed over intercoms and off of the craggy cliffs of Ibos. Rampart was the only colony to activate their antimatter field successfully, and the focus of Silverbridge in the area turned to overload the field with cannon bombardment. Over the course of an hour, the area around Rampart had become a full scale warzone.

A slight flaw in Mihail's Operation Liberty began to show itself ever more as the fighting ensued: there were no champions of the cause in other colonies the same way Rampart had Mihail and Beezera. The Seventh Legion simply did not have the membership they thought they did, and mistakenly relied on the initiative of the common worker to see them through. As a response to this glaring issue, Beezera grabbed a solar skiff and traveled to the other colonies in an attempt to rally them under someone before Rampart's antimatter field had risen, however it was clear that Silverbridge had the upper hand in places like Dithee'o and Myrefall. Ehna's rebellion had already been quelled by the time she arrived, and the order had gone out to rally in Rampart to those who were still fighting. Midway on the retreat back, while being pelted by gunfire from Silverbridge, Beezera and her squad looked up to see a large, black steel structure slowly falling from the sky around Tesera. Originally they had thought it was a response from Silverbridge to the rebellion, but neither the structure or the ships peeling off from it beared any corporation markings.

This was the beginning of the incursion of the Xanxost on Ibos.

Many in the Seventh theorize that the Xanxost were waiting for an opportunity to make themselves known and stake their claim, however no current evidence supports them being in the Proxima System prior to the Schism of Rampart. Their 'mothership', referred to as the Xan Obelisk, landed close to Tesera and smaller ships raced towards the colony. Soldiers in black steel armor dropped from the sky and began massacring all parties involved, until the only thing heard from Tesera was the crackling of fire and the stomping of Xanxost as they worked to terraform the area. Soon enough, Xanxost forces had gone to assail other colonies, going as far as Rampart to pick off fighters in the midst of combat. Silverbridge forces had weapons and armor fit to combat these creatures and narrowly drove the Xanxost off. Seventh Legion rebels were not so lucky. Close to a hundred sympathizers in other colonies had died either in rebellion or in self defense against Silverbridge and the Xanxost, and the bulk of the Seventh's manpower remained in Rampart.

Once both opposing forces realized that nothing was budging against the Seventh Legion's antimatter field in Rampart, they thankfully backed off and worked to secure what they could. Silverbridge managed to fully wrest control of Dithee'o, Ehna, and Myrefall, while the Xanxost began to create a perimeter around the Xan Obelisk, Tesera, and the surrounding area. After some minutes of silence, the smoke cleared, showing the now desolate ring around Rampart of craters, derelict Xanxost ships, and corpses all around. For the Seventh, Operation Liberty was a middling victory. 

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Aftermath

As stated above, Ibos is now in a state of open conflict. It is rare that a rotation goes by without either the Seventh Legion, Silverbridge, or the Xanxost sharing blows. 

Colonies under Silverbridge jurisdiction have since had their security increased greatly, and further restrictions are added as the Seventh Legion continues to fight back, keeping innocent miners and workers in a near deadly vice grip. Ehna has been designated as the only starport for Ibos, with all other non-authorized flight in/out of the atmosphere being shot down. The corporation has also spent billions of credits on defamation and propaganda, 'marketing' the Seventh Legion as a terrorist group. Araxina Usophar, prime minister of the Neterran Republic, has yet to announce a stance either way on the situation, and almost all Neterrans lack the context to have an opinion beyond what news they receive. 

The Xanxost have slowly been expanding their territory outwards from the Obelisk and Tesera, and in recent months have also infested Zalfari, leaving three colonies managed by Silverbridge and only Rampart housing the Seventh Legion. Terraforming has continued somewhat unimpeded, preparing the land to be ideal for Xanxostans and their crops, as well as toxic for the other inhabitants of Ibos. What few creatures natively inhabit Ibos have began to be warped by the terraforming, slowly resembling Xanxost with their increasing exposure to the gasses.

At the time of writing this entry (ISC 387-5-12), nothing in the conflict has changed in the Seventh Legion's favor. Members are fewer and farther in between, and it is difficult to recruit with no means to go off-world. It is likely that unless something changes, either Silverbridge or the Xanxost will overcome the Seventh Legion with time. By all accounts, Mihail's ragtag group of rebels will not be able to maintain their forces as they are stuck between embargo and infestation. More firepower, more resources, more people, and newly found courage will likely be the Seventh Legion's only hope.

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Logo: Adapted from seventh legion icon - Google Search

Background: mars battle - Google Search