Talk:Confederacy of the Dispossessed

Notes

Imperial Federation

Inland

These people also cause a huge amount of trouble to the Imperial Federation, neutering their goals of setting up a large territory in the area. Inland, the Imperials find themselves to curtail their ambitions near Haifa proper. Instead, they forced to settle for sticking close to the Haifa peninsula in for the time being, with ambitions beyond that stifled by short-term financial crunches from colonization elsewhere, coupled by near-term economic woes in rebuilding North Valora following its annexation.

The ground phase of the war outside of Haifa proper proved to be a protracted campaign, with the map itself changing due to the scale of destruction necessary for the Imperial Federation to achieve a permanent hold over its new dependency, with surrounding regions proving progressively harder to hold. The situation initially stabilized at the end of 1718 AN, with the Imperials finally able to gain an offense footing as the Sea of Storms was finally secured against any possible reinforcement by seaborne Corsairs operating from Micras's equatorial atolls (some of which the Imperials ended up conquering in turn for themselves).

However, numerical disadvantages force the Imperials to make slow progress, relying near totally on artillery, aerial, and naval supremacy to keep the enemy from overrunning the few land possessions the Imperials manage to conquer.

Sea of Storms

At sea, the collapse of Bassarid authority in the region causes an unprecedented explosion of pirate activity in the Sea of Storms. These pirates are mostly based out of Haifan cities, most notably Blore Heath, which becomes the center of a short-lived pirate kingdom shortly after the Bassarid collapse in this area. Dealing with these sea-borne pirates goes through three phases marked by the following events: the Anarchy, the Siege of Blore Heath, and Operation Thunder Drop.

Although during the first several months they manage to wreak havoc on lightly populated areas, the Imperials nonetheless make short work of blockading the coastline near Blore Heath proper, starving out most of the corsairs otherwise dependent on Haifan supplies for survival. The city surrenders after a short blockade after the Imperials manage to sail into the Strait with long-range gunships, and the citizens and corsairs alike in the city are given generous terms rather than face a destructive, costly invasion. The surrender of the city cuts remaining corsairs completely off from the Keltian mainland.

Mass defections occur in 1719 AN as the Corsairs take advantage of generous surrender terms, as they lack safe ports in nearly all of eastern Keltia. Most eventually surrender their armed ships, stolen goods, and turn over the locations of remote atolls used by rogue partners still at sea in return for amnesty and, for valuables not originating in Imperial territory, a bounty as compensation.

For the rest, the Imperials get to work and finally manage to destroy most of the remaining Corsair fleet at sea using the full might of their navy, freed up from blockading Valora. It takes a long time, but Operation Thunder Drop concludes with the Imperial seizure or destruction of the final pirate bases, discovered in a range of widely dispersed atolls along the Equator in the midst of Imperial-controlled oceans. Many corsairs remain at large, but never again pose more than a routine security threat at sea