Battle of Milas

The Battle of Milas was a decisive battle that marked the end of the Arcturian Empire. It pitted the recently crowned Emperor Nisannor XI against the Rival Claimants, a loose alliance of pretenders to the throne united only by their common hatred of Nisannor. It quickly became apparent that the claimants had the upper hand, and the battle quickly ended when dissenting parts of the Imperial Navy fled, leading to a rout.

Though the empire was crumbling before the battle, it saw the annihilation of the imperial fleet, and precipitated the total collapse of the empire. The Claimants would go on to sack Almata, before the alliance crumbled in its turn amid infighting over the spoils of victory.

Background
The Arcturian Empire had been in decline for centuries, though it was a slow death, gradually loosing power and authority. Almata, the old capital of the empire, became ever more difficult to rule from, as the planet's economy stagnated and overpopulation causing the spread of disease and hunger. The Empire was in a dire financial state by this time as well; it had to pay the upkeep of a massive fleet of dubious loyalty, and most of the empire was by now de facto independent, refusing to pay the allotted tribute to the emperor.

Emperor Oren IV decided to officially move the capital to the better defended Erunis in the year 2484, though the moon-fortress had for some time before that already served as the unofficial seat of government, as emperors spent less and less time on Almata. During his reign, he attempted to rein in the power of the admirals and reinstate the authority of the Emperor beyond the Arcterus Cluster, but he was unable to reverse the course of history. He would be the last emperor to rule with the consensus of the admirality.

His death, in 2501, precipitated a crisis in the empire, as his son and heir, Nisannus, was known for his cruelty and selfishness. In his childhood, Nisannus had blinded his cousin Oromis over a petty dispute, and though Oromis had survived, he never forgave the prince. Upon Nisannus's ascension to the throne, Oromis became the focal point of a faction refusing to serve under the despot.

He formed a council of admirals and members of the royal family, in defiance of Nisannus, seeking to gain support to become emperor himself. However, each royal present insisted on pushing their own claims to the crown. In the end, they despised Nisannus more than they distrusted each other, and it was decided that the matter would be put aside until a later date, when Nisannus was overthrown. They dubbed themselves the Rival Claimants.

Meanwhile, Nisannus attempted to rally support amongst the Navy, but his reign was one of corruption and tyranny, executing those who displeased him and, according to some, torturing commoners for amusement. In the end, the Navy split into three factions: Those who supported Emperor Nisannus, those who backed the Rival Claimants, and those who cared nothing for this conflict and refused to participate. Most of the survivors from this period came from the third group, as the two first would ravage each other mutually.

Things came to a head in the year 2505, when Nisannus dispatched a fleet to the fortress-world of Kerall, where the Rival Claimants were gathering their power, to eliminate his unruly cousins one and for all. Unfortunately for him, the fleet's admirals had grown many personal grudges against their emperor, and defected to the Claimants instead. Now, with enough might to press their claim, they elected to make for Almata, still in the hearts of many the heart of the Empire.

Nisannus, now realizing the peril facing him, sent out a panicked order to the fleets loyal to him to converge at the world of Milas, one of the most important metropolitan centers of the Empire, which was also located in the path of the Rival Claimants.

The Battle
The Rival Claimants emerged in the Milas system to find a sizable Loyalist force awaiting them. The balance of forces was in the Emperor's favor, despite everything: He controlled 4500 capital ships, while the Claimants had only around 2200. He also had the Ikaru, the ancient flagship of the emperors, which had flown in the earliest wars of conquest that founded the Empire, worth in itself an entire fleet.

After a moment of shock, both fleets entered formations and began trading long-range fire. The superior numbers of the loyalists gave them the advantage in this action, causing the Rival Claimants to loose valuable capital ships. Seeing that the situation was not tenable, Prince Jequin, the Emperor's younger brother and the elected battle leader of the Claimants, ordered his forces to close the distance gap and engage the Imperials in the vincinity of planet Milas. They used the planet's moon to cover their approach, and though they suffered some losses, they managed to reach the loyalists more or less unharmed. At this point, both sides began boarding actions, and the battle became a chaotic mess.

During this time, the loyalist reserves, led by Archduke Oren, had refrained from participating in the battle, aside from firing some token shots in the direction of the Claimants. Despite the Emperor's threats, they refused to enter the fray as the battle became tighter and tighter. Suddenly, however, they accelerated into the battle, and converged on the Ikaru. Concentrating the fleet's firepower, they crippled the Ikaru, before dramatically destroying it. With this betrayal came the end of the battle, and of the Empire; the loyalists, seeing their emperor killed and facing former friends-turned-foes in their rear, began to rout, fleeing in any direction. The Claimants had won.