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After the loss of the Primercer, the Cognatus Empire are in disarray. It will be time yet before the self-promoted "Archon" reels them into a cohesive force. The Sundering will continue, however, and we shall be ready for it.

- Fleetlord Morin Ehtar

The Sundering of the Cognatus is a name given to describe the bloody internecine conflict which has gripped Cognatus space since the formation of the Unified Order of Cognalorilos in 04 NE. Though many political analysts in the Cyrannus Galaxy believed the conflict ended with the disappearance of the Primercer and the fall of the Cogsangui homeworld during the Battle of Cognalorilos, the emergence of the self-styled Archon of the Cognatus EmpireVos Adamae — led to the continuation of the conflict long after the end of the New Cyrandia Wars.

Origins[]

Cogsanguian Dissent

The apparent assassination of Voro Acetenus and the subsequent rise of the Cognatus Empire was the catalyst for the eventual civil war.
2 Dekemurios, 01 NE

In the aftermath of the Intergalactic War, the Cognatus Alliance faded into dust following their mysterious defeat in the skies above Capricaerón. From the ashes of the First Empire rose a sizeable remnant led by former Fleetlord Voro Acetenus of the Herald of Retribution. Though this faction too initially fought against the forces of the Cyrandia Alliance during the Great Cyrannus War, a diplomatic settlement was ultimately reached that eventually led to the formation of a military alliance between Acetenus' alliance and the United Republic of Cyrannus. Though this decision was quite controversial in the more conservative elements of the Cognatus Remnant, it was only with the end of the Great War and the rise of the Galactic Empire of Cyrannus did it result in more serious divisions arising in Cognatus space.

Large portions of Cognatus space soon fell to the unrelenting Imperial juggernaut, resulting in much of the Cognatus leadership going into hiding. In the absence of Acetenus from the halls of power on Cognalorilos, a Triumvirate of elders ordered Voro's assassination. Though Acetenus used a holographic decoy to escape this untimely fate, his apparent death would lead to the fall of his Cognatus remnant and the rise of the Cognatus Empire, which aspired to reforge their greatness lost in the Intergalactic War.

Though the Cognatus Empire would return to the zealous past of their kind, it would prove more pragmatic in its dealings with alien civilisations, most notably by collaborating with Rambo Nation on the newly discovered Atlantica construct known as Aecor. However, with the ascension of the mysterious Oikoumene artificial intelligence known as the Licent to the leadership of the Cognatus, followed swiftly by the reawakened Oikoumene leader known as the Primercer, many Cognatus began to harbour doubts about the course of their civilisation.

RBY46

A Rambo ship approaches the Harbinger of Truth above Koerband.
35 Dekemurios, 04 NE

The first to break away from the fold was Thaur Vicliquam, the infamous Shiplord responsible for the blundering of the Amphryssos Campaign in 04 NE. When the secrets of the Primercer and his past were revealed to him by the Adjunct, he sparked a rebellion against the hegemony. This rebellion would come to envelop smaller resistance forces such as those led by Morin Ehtar and N'thavo Xellunaion, united in a common goal to find and restore Voro Acetenus to leadership.

Upon the capture of the Dreadnought Harbinger of Truth, Voro Acetenus was ultimately discovered on the Rambo colony Koerband, where he reluctantly agreed to return with his kin to fight against the Cognatus Empire and their false god. In the coming days, Acetenus would be declared Primarch of the Unified Order of Cognalorilos and pledged that the destruction of the Cognatus Empire was nigh. Thus, the Sundering of the Cognatus began.

Course of the Sundering[]

Early Conflicts (04 NE - 10 NE)[]

Battle of Emónoain

One of the earliest campaigns of the Sundering was fought in the skies above the ancient Oikoumene megastructure known as Emónoain, which housed a great number of Oikoumene constructs that both factions of the conflict desired for an advantage over their adversaries. Led by Fleetlord Thaur Vicliquam, the Order succeeded in recovering enough Oikoumene artifacts to warrant abandoning the station, leaving Vos Adamae and his fleet a strategically insignificant structure. In the weeks after the battle, the Order won a string of victories along the outer fringes of the hegemony's territory prompting the beginning of large-scale defections away from the Primercer's faithful.

Battle of Cognalorilos (05 NE)
Vectors of Chaos and Order 01

The Galactic Empire of Cyrannus came to the aid of the Order of Cognalorilos to defeat the Primercer, their mutual foe.
54 Novemex, 05 NE

While the Primercer, by virtue of his assumed position as leader of the Cognatus Empire was a clear foe of the Cognatus Order, it came as a surprise to N'thavo Xellunaion that the Galactic Empire of Cyrannus also sought his destruction. Orchestrated by the Emperor's emissary, Lord Maethoruin, the Empire promised a joint Imperial/Order strike on Cognalorilos, a battle planned to cut the head off the Cognatus Empire, ending their xenocidal expansionary conquests. Primarch Voro Acetenus agreed with the Empire's proposal and personally led his forces into battle on his homeworld, while the Supreme Lord of Concordant Resolation ensured the destruction of the Cognatus fleet.

Simultaneously, the Emperor himself travelled to Cognalorilos, where he encountered the Primercer for a final time. The two ancient Oikoumene clashed on Cognalorilos, above Cyrannus, their power almost tearing reality asunder. Ultimately however, the Emperor emerged victorious—though the fate of the Primercer remained a mystery to the Order and the Imperial forces at the battle. On the surface of the planet, Primarch Acetenus personally fought a vicious duel against the insidious Vos Adamae, emerging victorious by severing Adamae's dueling hand. However, the crafty Fleetlord Adamae managed to escape—thus ensuring the continuity of the Cognatus Empire under a single leader. Nevertheless, Cognalorilos was liberated and while the civil war did not end, it was now decisively in the Order's favour.

Liberation of Concordia
Morin Ehtar: "What fools to face our cannons! They live in dishonour, but must they die with dishonour?"
Voron Valna'leh: "Fear not, brother. The Primarch's victories and the loss of the Primercer has forced these fools into desperation. They shall be easy prey."
Morin Ehtar and Voron Valna'leh during the Battle of Concordia, 06 NE

A year later, the Galactic Senate of the New Cyrannian Republic approached Primarch Acetenus with a risky attack plan on the Cognatus-occupied world of Concordia, which had bene conquered by the Blade of the Primercer during the opening weeks of the New Cyrandia Wars. During a diplomatic meeting on Lianna Station in the Quadrant Galaxies, the member states of the Lianna Initiative agreed to aid the Order and the New Republic in the liberation of the world.

During the battle, the Cognatus remnants under warlord Pargo'jakun fiercely fought to defend their prize from the allied forces, though they were ultimately no match for the numerically superior force under the command of Republic captain Onon Vebbar, Order commanders Morin Ehtar and Voron Valna'leh and Fleet Captain Trabl'krgte of Rambo Nation. The liberation of Concordia resulted in the planet's formal ascension to New Republic membership, while simultaneously heralding a five year informal ceasefire in the conflict, referred to the Order's Council of World States as the 'Epoch of Consolidatory Respite'—a period in which both the Order of Cognalorilos and the Cognatus Empire amalgamated their strength in preparation for a renewal in hostilities. Nevertheless, conflict continued to ravage the Cogsangui homeworld. While Cognalorilos remained firmly under the control of Primarch Acetenus, irregular forces—derided by the government as terrorists—continued to harrass the new administration's attempts to forge a new future for the Cogsangui, one void of the zealotry of the past.

War of Cleansing (11 NE)[]

Together with our allies in the Polar Crystal Alliance, we will lay their battlefleets aflame, liberate their thralls, and ensure that our victory in Borealis will portend our ultimate triumph!

- Primarch Voro Acetenus

For five years, the Order of Cognalorilos grew in strength as one of the most influential powers in eastern Cyrannus, successfully overseeing the integration of sectors which had previously fallen under the influence of Archon Vos Adamae. While Adamae managed to preserve a considerable portion of the Cognatus Battlefleet, he faced near-constant threats from rival warlords seeking to strike their own claim on the Cognatus Empire, foremost of the them all, Warmaster Xarn Senakh'tenre, the overseer of the Eaglartin in the Borealis Galaxy. The conquest of the Eaglartin decades previously had infuriated the Borealisan galactic government, the Polar Crystal Alliance, which through Mou'Cyran Accords backchannels, organised a war of liberation alongside the Order of the Cognatus.

Borealis Sundering of the Cognatus

The Battle of Fanaticus rages during the War of Cleasing.

Primarch Acetenus, keen to ensure that the Cognatus under Adamae be prevented from falling back to their extragalactic territories, assigned Fleetlord Thaur Vicliquam of the Fleet of Majestic Integrity to aid in the liberation of the Eaglartin and the destruction of Warmaster Xarn's battlefleets. The ensuing war saw the most intense fighting thus far in the Sundering, with Xarn showing a particular fondness for the mass bombardment of rebellious Eaglartin worlds, often at the cost of billions of innocent lives. Nevertheless, Fleetlord Thaur's tactical ingenuity saw him carve a path into Eaglartin space, finally resulting in the Battle of Fanaticus almost three months after the first shots of the conflict.

The battle in orbit surrounded the broadsiding Melkón-class dreadnoughts, Thaur's Harbinger of Truth and Xarn's Shadow of the Cleansing Sun, while the Cogsangui warrior Ankhnes Nar Monomai faced Xarn himself in a vicious duel, which despite its ferocity, failed to produce a victor. When the battle began to pivot against the Order and the Alliance, the unexpected arrival of reinforcements from the New Republic under Captain Tymonir Vargeryan of the CRS Ardaeinos, the tide turned decisively toward the nations of the Mou'Cyran Accords.

While accepting his defeat, Xarn committed one last heinous crime—the total destruction of Fanaticus' planetary surface. Bombarding the innocent world from orbit, Xarn completely annihilated all traces of life on the planet before retreating back to Cyrannus. The War of Cleansing had ended, and while the allies won a victory, the loss of Fanaticus negated any desire to celebrate.

Trivia[]

Further Reading[]

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