YC126.06.23 // ATHOUNON // LUMIÈRE DE DIAMANT NEWS
The Ciel-Huogaatsu Administrative District has been abuzz with security forces activity as transports identified by Khimi Harar Automated Identification System transponders descend upon the district’s spaceport escorted by a combination of Taayusaka Eskeitan and Unified Colonial Peacekeeping Forces fighter craft. First reported by spaceport watchers on the system’s local social media fluid router networks, the arrival of a surge of Khimi Harar security forces follows a sudden and unexpected change in climate, which has raised questions about the viability of the Khimi Harar-led environmental project aimed at restoring forests in the Ciel-Huogaatsu Administrative District.
Captain Michiko Soikutsu, the spokesperson of the Ecological Restoration Initiative, made a public address as Khimi Harar SVTOL atmospheric fighter squadrons lift off from the spaceport and fly in the direction of the affected area.
“Khimi Harar is committed to completing the Ecological Restoration Project. Much has been accomplished in a short period of time, but the limited success is marred by continuous attacks on Khimi Harar facilities, equipment, and personnel by the Torchbearers of Liberty. Rather than lower their arms and allow their fellow citizens to rebuild their lives, the Torchbearers have proven time and again that they cannot be trusted and that their duplicitous words can only be met in a language that they understand: strength. In concert with our hosts, Taayusaka Eskeitan, on behalf of the people of Ciel-Huogaatsu, Khimi Harar will be the true light in the darkness and we shall hunt down and apprehend these enemies of order and security. To this end, I formally announce the commencement of ‘Operation Deluge.’”
Minutes later, reports of explosions in the affected ecological restoration zone began to emerge across social media. Torchbearers of Liberty social media accounts responded to Captain Soikutsu’s announcement with their own battle cries and denial of significant casualties being taken in the initial airstrikes. The estimated number of Khimi Harar security personnel surging against the Torchbearers of Liberty is known to be in the thousands.
Professor Darma Nararine teaches ‘The Philosophy and History of Modern Combat’ at the University of Ciel-Huogaatsu and agreed to be interviewed.
LDD: Do you believe that Khimi Harar’s adjustment in strategy will be effective against the Torchbearers of Liberty?
Prof. Nararine: It is no secret that the Torchbearers of Liberty have been a thorn in the side of Khimi Harar security forces on Athounon VI. There are numerous factors in play, however, including off-world support for the Torchbearers of Liberty, the sudden shift in climate, and the cessation of hostilities in Bellevigne.
LDD: Let us talk tactics. How would you prosecute a campaign against the Torchbearers of Liberty?
Prof. Nararine: That would depend. My goals would be to re-integrate the Torchbearers into our society through pursuing full amnesty of fighters and inclusion of Torchbearer leadership into positions of authority and governance. That is the way I would end an insurgency.
Khimi Harar, Taayusaka Ekseitan, and the Unified Planetary Colonial Peacekeeping Forces are unlikely to pursue such a course of action. Thus, to examine the Torchbearers, I would say that they have been able to maintain the initiative by attacking Khimi Harar outposts and disappearing back into the forests, likely utilizing advanced cloaking technology. However, there is no population for them to disappear into, which allows Khimi Harar to treat all unregistered persons in the ecological restoration area as a combatant. Essentially, the entire area has become an exclusion zone.
Standard light infantry and special forces tactics are available in this regard. And with the shift in weather, the campaigning season for the Torchbearers has ended abruptly while Khimi Harar forces were in a position to evaluate and re-calibrate for the cold. A combination of air attacks and quick-striking forces will likely play an important role in curbing the Torchbearers who are still in the zone.
LDD: Do you believe that the Torchbearers are in the zone?
Prof. Nararine: Yes, absolutely. They were actively campaigning against Khimi Harar and avowed to remove all “slavers” from Athounon VI. It is unlikely that they withdrew before the climate shifted. If you will forgive the pun, they are, for all intents and purposes, frozen in place.
LDD: How long do you think that this ‘Operation Deluge’ will last?
Prof. Nararine: A fitting name, ‘Deluge,’ as if to snuff out the Torchbearers. Very poetic. But I digress. The major combat theaters on the planet have quieted down, allowing security assets to now focus on secondary theaters, such as the ecological restoration zone. While Khimi Harar security forces may be doing the fighting, this certainly frees up support assets, intelligence gathering, satellite resources, and logistics support that Taayusaka Eskeitan CorpSec or Unified Colonial Peacekeeping choose to provide.
Above: Khimi Harar-flagged Deluge-class Blockade Runner makes final approach to Athounon VI