There were no significant developments for the Bretonia-Kusari war during the beginning of 818 A.S. Both Bretonia and Kusari were gathering their strength for further action, with Kusari planning to activate its plans to assault Planet Leeds, and Bretonia preparing to attempt a flanking attack against Kusari positions in Tau-31 from Dundee. However, Gallic interference quickly put an unexpected end to those slow-running preparations.
In the beginning of 818 A.S., Bretonia is expecting to meet a new foe that is far superior in numbers, and, in certain ways, superior in technology. Gallic capital ship fleets are holding near the Leeds Jump Gate in Tau-31 and getting ready for the breakthrough. Bretonia is concentrating on building up its main defenses in New London, whilst the Leeds system that has already suffered damage from the months of conflict against Kusari is now raided by numerous Gallic fighter wings that attack military, police, and the few remaining civilian ships daring enough to supply the military that remains in the system, boldly preparing to fight a heavy delaying action against the Gallic fleets when the main breakthrough comes, in order to buy the authorites needed time to evacuate vital war industries from the planet.
Planet Leeds itself was already prepared to withstand a lengthy siege from Kusari, and it will not surrender to the new enemy easily. Dozens of millions of civilians continue to evacuate from the planet, and refugee camps established on New London and Cambridge are beginning to become overcrowded with people coming from the Leeds system. At the same time the major war industries located on the planet are being packed up and relocated to safer parts of Bretonia, so as to enable the Bretonian war machine to continue to operate with Leeds under siege. Meanwhile the planet itself is being increasingly turned into a massive military redoubt, with entrenched positions criss-crossing the surface and deep bunkers located in key positions designed to be immune against aerial bombardment. Much of the remaining population is being conscripted into the Leeds Citizens Defence Corps and given rudimentary training and weapons to fight in the defence of their home. Minefields spread across vast regions of the planet, whilst orbital weapons platforms and minefields are being hastily constructed to provide obstacles for any Gallic attempts to position their mighty battleships in place above the planet for orbital bombardment.
In Edinburgh, Gallia advances much faster, actively using the pathway through Lewis, the formerly Gaian-owned desolate system on the outskirts of the Tau sector. Gallic capital ships entered Edinburgh at the end of 818 A.S. in large numbers, with Battleship Castres stationed inside the system to protect the path to Lewis. Local Bretonian space station personnel had already evacuated from the system in anticipation of the attack, whilst the Luxury Liner Shetland now resides in the New Anglia system.
Newcastle remained largely untouched by the war with Kusari, mainly because the system had no populated planets, and because Kusari's main goal was to advance on New London promptly. Only in early 818 A.S. did the Kusari forces make several tentative attempts to break the Armed Forces defenses near the Leeds Jump Gate in Newcastle, but were defeated by strong defences from the Ark Royal Fleet and retreated.
However, Gallia clearly showed interest in Newcastle, possibly due to the presence of massive alien constructions inside. Since the Gallians had never encountered the Nomads or alien artifacts in their systems, Gallic researchers could benefit a lot from gaining alien material. The Newcastle jump hole in Tau-31 is under close watch of Gallic fighters and Gallic scouts are already seen in various parts of the system.
Bretonia also expanded the House borders in a rather unexpected direction: two new systems were unveiled in a surprise move by the government, bearing the Latin names of New Anglia and New Cambria. The systems form a cluster in a remote area of space, with Anglia linked to the Dublin system, and Cambria linked to Anglia and Londonderry. Unusually there appears to have been little major effort on the part of the Mollys to gain control of the systems following their discovery, with some speculating that the Mollys are trying to find ways to settle peace with Bretonia in these uneasy times. The systems are now being prepared for the transfer of refugees and war industries from Leeds and possible future evacuation procedures from New London. Whilst this information is kept secret right now, Queen Carina and her advisors agree that if the current estimates of Gallic fleet strength proves true, the chances of defending New London with current Bretonia Armed Forces numbers are not encouraging.
Factions
Bretonia Armed Forces
The Bretonian Armed Forces suffered significant losses during the long years of Kusari fighting, and they are now gathering the majority of their remaining fleets to delay Gallia from advancing through Leeds and attempt to defend New London from the invaders. Planet New London is extremely important to keep under Bretonian control, being of great symbolic value for the whole nation, the place where Bretonia first established itself as a House 800 years ago.
The Armed Forces have barely 30 battleships remaining in their possession along with under 500 destroyers and gunboats, and some 70,000 fighters and bombers. Against them, Gallia has well over 150 battleships, nearly 2,000 smaller capital ships, and 125,000 strike craft in Tau systems and Edinburgh alone, with more reinforcements still coming through Orkney. To try and boost their numbers BMM is working at well over normal capacity in Southampton to produce new ships, whilst bringing any available old decommissioned warships back into service, salvaging parts from the Southampton debris field. At the same time, the BAF is converting many civilian vessels into military craft and a sizeable Space Volunteer Corps of over 20,000 civilian fighters has been formed to supplement the regular BAF as auxiliaries to defend their homeland.
Bretonia Police Authority
The Police had also participated in the fights against Kusari as well as having to cover other systems such as Cambridge from growing a corsair threat and the resurgent Bretonian Buccaneers, having to overcome tough years along with the Armed Forces. Now the Police forces are having to clamp down hard to keep crime in Bretonia under more tight control and prevent the war economy from being threatened by piracy. The main threat for Bretonia, apart from Gallia, are the Corsairs who frequently raid the Cambridge system despite the increased fortifications along the Cambridge Line
The Police manages to keep the Corsair presence tolerable for now, but many consider this the calm before the storm: rumours of large Corsair fleets gathering not far from the Bretonian border had already reached the Bretonian intelligence services.
Though still relatively optimistic about their role in Dublin, the Bretonia Police finds itself in a system equally as war torn as Leeds. As the Armed Forces continue to focus more on the battleground in Leeds, pressure from BMM at Graves has caused the BPA to invest more in the eastern side of the system. BPA patrols through the Graves Asteroid Field and Independent Gold Field have started to replace the BAF escorts that previously safeguarded Bretonia's most valuable export. With the new found systems of New Anglia and New Cambria, domesticating Dublin has only risen on the BPA's agenda.
Mollys
The Mollys are in the process of entering negotiations with the Bretonian government about a possible armistace. Despite nearly unsolvable differences, the Mollys are now facing a Corsair threat which could easily mean the end of existence for the faction, much like what the looming Gallic invasion could become for Bretonia.
It is rumored that the first signs of improvement in Molly-Bretonian relations is the fact that a cluster of systems, named New Anglia and New Cambria, was recently opened for travel and regulated development. Despite the Jump Hole to New Anglia being located in Dublin, the Mollys rarely visit the area and seemingly avoid attacking ships coming to and from the Jump Hole.
The Mollys are also the front line of Bretonian defense against the Corsairs, who have recently re-captured Casablanca Base in Omega-47 and gained free passage across Omega-49. The remote Jump Hole from Omega-50 to Poole became unstable and collapsed, leaving Dublin and Londonderry as the only way for the Corsairs to reach Bretonia from Omega-49. However, the Mollys, Red Hessians and SCRA are preparing a united offensive against the Corsairs in the system.
Gaians
After a few initial skirmishes the Gaians realized that fighting against the Gallic Royal Navy was pretty much hopeless and hardly worth the resources. Vulnerable against the new threat, the Gaians entered a non-aggression pact with Gallia much like the IMG did shortly before them. The bulk of the Gaian population resides in the distant Faroe system linked to Orkney and Lewis. Many former Lewis residents also fled to that system. Faroe's location is an extremely well-kept secret that very few people in Sirius, apart from Gaians themselves, know about. However, it is rumored that the system has a hidden way leading into remote areas of Gallia, which could mean that Gaians established a connection with some of the factions formed within the so-called Guyenne-Normandy region of Gallia after the First Gallic War. This part of Gallia was not yet reached by any Sirius explorers.
Faroe is now only linked to the systems controlled and occupied by Gallia, but the Royal Navy has little interest in space exploration or recon and its ships rarely show up in areas that are not important for the protection of their supply lines.
