The Council

[The Council]

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O R I G I N S

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Mouvement de Liberation Gaulois

The Council was originally part of the first liberalist movement in Gallia, the Mouvement de Liberation Gaulois or MLG. Their ideological forefathers fought on the side of what they believed was a progressive, unifying, monarchist movement. Overtime the most liberal and progressive elements of the MLG, which had become known as the Council, began to clash more and more with the conservative and isolationist government of the Crown.

Finally, in 636 AGS, after many years of increasing tension, the inevitable occurred. Fearing The Councils cause was gaining too much popular support, King Louis IV ordered the disbandment of the MLG.

Rather than halt the tide of support for the liberalist movement, all that the Crown achieved was the radicalization of the Council, who in 637 AGS began a phase of militant expansion. Recruiting from all areas of Gallic society The Council began to train pilots and build bases within the isolated and remote parts of the Gallic Border Worlds. The Councils goals were simple, if the Monarchy refused to meet their Sirian brothers then The Council would introduce them.

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S E C O N D I G A L L I C I C I V I L I W A R

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The Revolution of Marne

The industrial planet of Marne, in the Champagne system, had always been a hotspot of liberalist activity. For centuries before the war, the populace had fought to regain the rights the French people had had on ancient Earth. After the MLG was disbanded local officials, under the influence of the Monarchy, began to honor fewer and fewer of these rights. Lacking legal ways in which to peacefully express their discontent, the trodden upon workers of Marne flooded the ranks of The Council and The Maquis. The rich and privileged members of Marne society began to show up dead all around the Planet. When the government began arresting random members of The Council for these crimes the seething tides of resentment reached a critical mass.

In 711 AGS a popular uprising, covertly supported by the Council, led to the effective Liberation of the majority of Marnes population centers. Most of Marnes military forces, however, were located in isolated fortresses across the planet. The space around Marne remained in the firm control of the Gallic Royal Navy (GRN), but underestimating the support that was provided from off planet, the GRN did not assign enough forces to blockade the planet. Light military vehicles and artillery brought in by The Council as well as light arms by the Brigands allowed the revolutionary forces to maintain control of the cities, but were not enough to allow the capture of any of the military strongholds.

By 714 AGS the crown felt they must end this conflict and end it now. The Gallic Army (GA) amassed a force of over 110,000 troops in the core worlds and readied them for transport to Marne. Unknown to the GRN the Council had been secretly amassing within the un-patrolled Aube Asteroid Field in Champagne. While en route to Marne The Council struck the convoy nears Reims Station. The Navy was caught completely unprepared and was forced to retreat. The Council managed to drive the transports for all but 45,000 of the troops away. This was the first major engagement fought by the Council and the first of many fights in the war.

With the troops that were able to get through The Councils ambush, the GA launched a massive attack against the revolutionists, striking on all fronts. Knowing the forces of the Council would surely soon arrive to help them, the revolutionists focused their defenses entirely on the spaceports and waited. Soon enough The Council captured Reims and with their flank now protected, moved on to Marne where the attacking forces of the GA were scattered by the newly arrived Council units. This forced the remaining GA forces into a protracted and ultimately doomed defensive position. In 717 AGS the battle for Marne was over, but it was not until 719 AGS that The Council cleared Champagne and broadcasted, on open frequencies throughout Gallia, that not only had Marne been freed, but that Champagne was completely free of the royalist yoke.

The Attempt for Lorraine

With Champagne secure The Council High Command was relocated to Marne and began to plan for the next offensive in Lorraine. If Lorraine could be taken, the minefield could be breached and contact with Sirius established. Having been made aware of The Councils final goal to access the minefield by either spies or Junker informants, the GRN massed a fleet in Lorraine and launched a pre-emptive attack at the beginning of 720 AGS. When the GRN fleet advanced to Marne, though, all but a handful of ships were destroyed or captured under the combined onslaught of The Council, The Maquis and even The Brigands.

The Setback in Dauphine

With the failure of the invasion of Lorraine The Council decided to focus its attention on Dauphine and Languedoc. Years of guerrilla style attacks had significantly weakened the Navy forces in these systems, and, with the exception of Montpellier Guard Station, they lacked any strong permanent defensive installations. In 725 AGS forces of The Council destroyed Bourgon-Jallieu Station in Dauphine using a diversionary tactic. It was also in 725 that one of the most controversial events of the war occurred, the assault on Gap Station.

Gap Station occupied a crucial location on the route from Burgundy to Languedoc. However Gap had many civilian inhabitants, eliminating its destruction as on option for The Council. Instead The Council planned to blockade the station and use marines to secure it from the inside. Once again learning of The Councils plans the GRN placed several Gallic Army attachments on board the station. Once the Council fleet secured the space around the station dropships full of marines were deployed. The fighting lasted for more than four days, after which all the Council forces had been defeated. The GA forces inside the station took positions by the airlocks to prevent a second assault. It was then that a large GRN fleet arrived to breach the blockade. In a move of desperation several Council ships launched a missile attack against Gaps airlocks. Gaps engineers were able to seal the bulkheads before hardly any of the station depressurized but there was no time for any of the Gallic Army to evacuate these areas. Those who werent blown into space by the initial attack quickly asphyxiated.

Realizing the capture of Gap Station and Briancon Station would take too much time and resources the Council opted to bypass them, setting up multiple repair and supply depots en route to the jumpgate to Languedoc so the fleet could be moved through the system covertly. Meanwhile the guerrilla attacks continued so as to keep the GRN off balance.

Languedoc taken

At the beginning of 729 AGS a massive Council fleet moved through the unguarded jumpgate to Languedoc. The first station in the system between The Council and the minefield was Remoulins. It is rumored that The Council delayed the initial attack on Remoulins so as to give its civilian inhabitants, which consisted largely of Gallic Metal Service personnel, time to evacuate. In the ensuing battle the explosion of a duel storage tank destroyed the station in addition to crippling the GRN fleet.

Having learned from the failed attack on Gap Station, The Council utilized infiltration to take control of Nimes in 730. Once the stations systems were completely under the control of the infiltrators the fleet arrived to capture the station personnel, who had no choice but to surrender.

The next, and final goal of The Council before Montpellier was the invasion of Quillan. Having numerous and more highly trained forces on the ground the Gallic army had a significant advantage. With reinforcements from Burgundy and the help of miners on the ground, though, Quillan was taken in 732 AGS.

By the end of that year The Council had amassed a fleet large enough to attack Montpellier. It was perhaps the largest battle that human kind had participated in since the Alliance/Coalition war centuries before and it raged for weeks. During this time the GRN were able to retake the gate to Dauphine, but The Council knew there was no turning back. In a courageous suicide attack a Council battleship filled with thermonuclear explosive rammed Montpellier and detonated, destroying a large part of the station and killing most of its crew. The path to the minefield was at last clear.

Réunion

In 817 AS (733 AGS), with the fall of Montpellier and the security of the jump hole guaranteed, the high command issued orders to the engineers to clear a path to Tunisia, or Orkney as it is known by the Sirian Houses.

Shortly thereafter, a new station was rapidly constructed at the edge of the Northern Minefield - Reunion. Despite having poor living conditions, the station has become a very busy place, serving a large amount of ships coming to and from Gallia.

At the same time, with the help of the Maquis and several persuadable Junkers, The Council was able to clear a covert path within the Lorraine minefield. The "reunion" with the outcasts in Berne, or Omicron-80 was not quite as pleasant. Council pilots informed the outcasts of the situation and their friendly intent and were destroyed. The reasons for this attack are unclear but all subsequent ships passing through the area have been attacked by Outcast patrols.

In Exile

With a passage-way to Sirius forged, the Council has turned to the task of defending its holdings from the Crown and keeping the passage open as long as possible so that they can warn Sirius about the upcoming threat. The Gallic Core Worlds has been sealed only to give enough time for the Gallic Royal Navy to prepare an assault on the Council and on Sirius. Languedoc eventually fell and Council forces, accompanied by Maquis and Brigands had to flee from the onslaught.

Settling down in Roussillon, the Council quickly estabilished their foothold in this remote system while developing alliances with nearby anti-GRN factions, like the Independent Miners' Guild, the Colonial Republic, or the Houses of Liberty and Bretonia. During this time they also managed to restore connection between the exiled forces and those staying in Champagne, constantly defying the will of the Crown. All in the meanwhile the Gallic Royal Navy began besieging Bretonia.

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P R E S E N T I D A Y S

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Slowing down the conquest

The Gallic Royal Navy seems to be unstoppable. They took control over the Tau systems, half of Bretonia, and now threatening the borders of Liberty by raiding Magellan frequently. However, their forces continuously spreading thin might give more and more opportunities for the Council for a successful attack in the Tau region, and possibly in the Core worlds of the Kingdom as well. With the Champagne-Picardy gateway available for exploitation the Council has begun executing a long plan to take over another system while the Crown pours more and more GRN forces out of the Kingdom into Sirius.