Battle of Kryb

The Battle of Kryb was a campaign by the Federation of Hania as part of a strategy by the Four Nations Alliance against the Humankind Empire of Abh. Following Operation Snow Crystal, Federation forces invaded the Kryb Kingdom. The Alliance engaged the light defenses of the sords and space throughout the Kryb Kingdom in a thrust toward Lakfakalle. It also was staged as a strategic offensive attempting to surround and cut off the entirety of Kotoponi's command within the Kingdom, preventing her from being able to engage the main column of Alliance forces poised to attack the Abh Empire's capital.

Prelude to Battle
Operation Snow Crystal was launched in an attempt to secure the territory of the Federation of Hania, a nation prepared to remain outside of the war and potentially defect to the Humankind Empire of Abh as a member nation-state. Empress Ramaj decided to secure this defection in force either to support the defector elements in the military and government within Hania, or as a precaution in order to gather intelligence and secure as much territory as possible to prevent potential encirclement with a decisive victory.

Following the implementation of Invasion Plan No. 3 of Operation Snow Crystal, there was eerily little resistance as Kotoponi's forces successfully penetrated and linked up with forces within Kingdom Kryb. In their advance, they had failed to detect the movement of major elements of Hania forces, moving to support an Alliance spearhead approaching the Kingdom.

Battle
Kotoponi was given a decree that listed conditions for continued operations in Kryb and Hania; however, an alarming development began to occur in planar space. Given the rather quiet performance of Hania forces during Snow Crystal, the command now had to contend with where the forces of Hania were located and their size. Unlike Phantom Flame, Snow Crystal did now have the chance engagement with large forward elements to tip the fleets off on the direction of the main Alliance fleet. The element of surprise secured, the Alliance sprung their trap.

Planar Space Battle
With little expectation for a major engagement and potentially optimistic estimates over the degree of military, political, and civilian support for the Abh campaign, only a light rear guard was provided for Kotoponi in her initial decree. Suddenly, these thinly spread and poorly supported units were assaulted by a force matching or exceeding the size of the Alliance force at Aptic four years ago. These elements, with no major fleet support or coordination, collapsed and routed to link up with the lead elements of Kotoponi's force well within Kryb.

With the way opened, Hania moved to complete the encirclement as the Alliance prepared to use the sord in Kryb to penetrate Abh lines and strike directly at Lakfakalle. By the time word reached Kotoponi's command, it was too late to act and attempt to interdict these elements. The security and rear-guard elements fought a protracted last stand to prevent an enemy breakthrough to no avail. Kotoponi's forces were cut off and surrounded by the bulk of Hania forces while the Alliance made a mad dash to try to end the war with a single stroke.

Aftermath
The fall of the Kryb Kingdom defenses opened the way for Federation of Hania and Alliance forces to attack the Imperial capital Lakfakalle in the Battle of Lakfakalle. Star system Abriel now faced a profound crisis, which prompted Operation Phoenix coordinated by Empress Ramaj and Prince Dusanyu. The Alliance had turned Abh victory into a disaster awaiting them, seizing the strategic initiative by sacrificing space to obscure their true target. This highlighted the persistent weakness in Abh intelligence, which had performed poorly in the course of the war. Spoor would be soon provided an emergency command to attempt to hurriedly meet the crisis now developing.