The canon sources (AD,KH and Zeb's) only provide a brief overview of the events of the First Sathar war. In fact, the AD rules barely mention it at all. From the KH Campaign book, page 50 we have the following from the section entitled “The Sathar and the UPF”:
The inhabitants of the Frontier first became aware of the Sathar when a surprise attack hit the planets of Truane's Star. Pale and New Pale were ravaged, and the few survivors fled to Prenglar via Dixon's Star. Thus began the First Sathar War.
At that time there was no Spacefleet of any sort. A number of starships had been equipped with weapons to battle pirates and members of the other three races, and this motley assortment of vessels was mustered for the defense of the Frontier. Command of the fleet was given to a Human, Vincent Morgaine, who was given the honorary title of admiral.
Morgaine chose to place his ships at Cassidine, following the sacking of the Truane system. A small outpost at Dixon's Star was to warn him if the Sathar attempted to move toward Prenglar; but the Admiral's gamble paid off. The Sathar emerged from the Void in the Cassidine system, heading directly toward the huge population center of Triad.
Admiral Morgaine and his rag-tag fleet were waiting, however, hidden among the rocks of Cassidine's dense asteroid belt. Their surprise attack on the rear of the Sathar fleet destroyed nearly a third of the over- confident enemy's ships. Apparently bewildered by the onslaught, the Sathar and their ships accelerated away from Cassidine and disappeared into the Void.
Now Morgaine made his second shrewd estimation of the unknown foe, and moved his fleet to Prenglar. While he was en route, word arrived from Dixon's Star that the Sathar were attacking there. The transmission was interrupted, and it was later learned that the outpost planet of Laco (Dixon's Star) had been ravaged as viciously as the Pale worlds.
Once again, however, as the Sathar emerged at a major population center (Gran Quivera at Prenglar, this time), the Admiral and his "fleet" were waiting. A savage battle developed around a large and, at that time, uninhabited ringed planet. During the course of the battle, nearly all of the Frontier's ships were destroyed. Admiral Morgaine's cruiser was lost with all hands.
The Sathar fleet was similarly devastated, however. The few remaining enemy ships scattered in all directions. Many of the survivors were never accounted for, but the Sathar war fleet had been utterly destroyed.
The timeline in Zebulon's Guide to Frontier space has just a few entries on the affair:
3-2PF - The First Sathar War is fought.
3PF - The Sathar first appear. They attack the Truane's Star system.
3PF - Pale and New Pale fall. The Great Exodus to Dixon's Star System takes place.
2PF - The four races muster a spaceship fleet. The second Common Muster is called and put under the command of Admiral Morgaine, who immediately moves the fleet to the Cassidine system.
2PF - The Battle of Triad. Morgaine's fleet performs a surprise attack on the invading Sathar fleet intent on ravaging Traid. The Sathar lose a third of their fleet.
2PF - Dixon's Star system is attacked by Sathar fleet. Completely unprotected it is soon ravaged. Meanwhile Morgaine moves his fleet to the Prenglar system.
2PF - The Sathar attack Gran Quivera in the Prenglar system. The Battle of the Two Fleets is fought. The Sathar fleet is routed and destroyed. Morgaine's fleet is seriously depleted and Morgaine dies in battle. With this mutual devastation the First Sathar War comes to an end.
Based on this basic information, some assumptions on Sathar operations, and using KH style travel times from system to system, I've worked up the following more detailed timeline of events for the First Sathar War.
Day |
Event |
0 |
Sathar armada arrives in Truane's Star System and is undetected as it begins to decelerate toward Pale |
1 |
Sathar detect radio transmissions from New Pale. Part of the armada is split off to deal with that planet. Deceleration profiles are adjusted allow a simultaneous attack on both planets. |
2 |
|
3 |
|
4 |
|
5 |
Ground assaults of Pale and New Pale commence. Sathar unleash hordes of soldiers and bio-constructs that quickly overwhelm the minimal defenses. |
7 |
Initial refugee ships jump into the Dixon's Star System. |
12 |
Refugee ships from Truane's Star begin to arrive at Laco in Dixon's Star. The first bring fears and tales of imagined horrors along with the reports of the invading ships. Later ships arriving over the next few hours and days bring more details and actual reports of the space and ground battle. |
13 |
Sub-space messages are sent to all planets of the Frontier detailing the news from Pale and New Pale. Some take up to a day to arrive due to the distances between the star systems. |
14 |
Discussions begin on the need for a Second Common Muster. Communication delays and the lack of a centralized government make this a fairly slow process as messages are passed back and forth between the systems. The Pan Galactic Corporation provides resources and helps to facilitate the discussions where it can. |
15 |
Initial ground fighting on Pale and New Pale is mostly done. Just small pockets of resistance remain. A final few hidden ships make a run for it but few escape. |
16 |
Sathar begin the process of rounding up the civilian population of Pale and New Pale and examining the technology capture. Survivors realize that very little of the planets' infrastructure was damaged in the fighting leaving the invading worms a fully operational system for study and exploitation. |
17 |
Resistance groups on Pale continue to fight against the Sathar and do so until liberated. |
18 |
With support and influence from the Pan Galactic Corporation, the decision is made and the call goes out from Prenglar for the Second Common Muster |
19 |
|
20 |
Yazirian worlds agree to join as soon as they hear that the CRM has already departed. |
21 |
Fromeltar, Drammune, Timeon, and Madderly's Star agree to join the Muster |
22 |
The vrusk worlds decide that it is in their commercial interest to help stop the Sathar on-slaught and commit to join the muster. |
23 |
Theseus is the last hold out, being the most removed from the fighting. But in the end, under pressure from the other systems and the Pan Galactic Corporation, the Minotaur government agrees to send ships. |
29 |
Ships from Cassidine arrive at Prenglar |
30 |
Ships from Gruna Garu and Athor arrive at Prenglar |
31 |
Ships from Timeon arrive at Prenglar |
37 |
Clarion Royal Marines arrive in Prenglar |
39 |
Ships from Araks arrive at Prenglar |
40 |
Ships from Drammune and Madderly's Star arrive at Prenglar |
41 |
With most of the ships of the muster present, discussions ensue as to who should be the commander of the Frontier forces. Many factions vie for the leadership position and no consensus is immediately reached. The discussion lasts for days. |
46 |
Sathar forces are firmly in control of the planets in the Truane's Star system. There are still a few active resistance groups still on Pale that continue to harrass the Sathar operations there. |
47 |
Excess Sathar ground troops on Pale and New Pale begin embarking back to their transports in preparation for an assault on a new system. |
48 |
Ships From Scree Fron arrive at Prenglar |
49 |
|
50 |
|
51 |
Ships from Theseus arrive in Prenglar to find that the rest of the Muster has already started toward Cassidine, they follow only a day behind. |
55 |
|
57 |
Morgaine decides to hide the ships in the system's asteroid belt |
59 |
|
60 |
|
62 |
Intent on the ships from Theseus accelerating out to meet them, the Sathar ships are ambushed by the ships of the Second Common Muster waiting in the asteroid field. One third of the Sathar fleet is destroyed. Survivors flee back in the direction they came towards Truane's Star. |
63 |
Feeling that the tide has started to turn and realizing that ground forces will be needed to retake the captured planets of Laco, Pale, New Pale, Morgaine puts out a call for ground forces to be sent from each system and assembled at Prenglar. |
64 |
|
71 |
Sathar survivors from the Battle of Cassidine arrive back at Pale. They immediately begin the trip to Dixon's Star. |
73 |
|
76 |
|
80 |
|
81 |
All remaining Muster ships at Cassidine head toward Prenglar |
82 |
|
83 |
|
86 |
|
88 |
Morgaine moves the bulk of his fleet to intercept the Sathar |
91 |
Ships of the Second Common Muster intercept the Sathar fleet as they pass an uninhabited ringed planet on their way toward Gran Quivera. The battle lasts for hours and most of the ships on both side are destroyed including Admiral Morgaine's cruiser and the destroyer commanded by Chief Harsevoot. That sathar are defeated and the survivors scatter in all directions. Some of the escaping ships are never accounted for. With the loss of Admiral Morgaine and Chief Harsevoot, command of the muster falls to a human, Captain Andrew Clinton, who is promoted to the rank of Admiral. |
92 |
Surviving Muster ships regroup around Gran Quivera and make use of the construction facilities there to hastily repair the remaining ships. |
94 |
|
96 |
Ships transporting the ground forces leave orbit around Gran Quivera. The Inner Reach militia, Clarion Royal Guards, and Clan Knar-Kenda forces have been supplemented with a number of small Yazirian and human units plus forces raised on Gran Quivera and equipped by the Pan Galactic Corporation. Command of the ground forces is given to Captain Steven Delrooka, Commander of the Clarion Royal Guards and he is given the honorary rank of General. |
99 |
Muster ships arrive in the Dixon's Star system. Initial scans show no Sathar presence in space. The Muster begins to decelerate toward Laco. |
100 |
The fleet of ground forces transports approach jump velocity. They hold their vector and speed waiting for the word from Admiral Clinton. |
101 |
After two days in system with no detection of Sathar forces, Admiral Clinton sends word for the ground forces to come to Laco. Upon receiving word to proceed, the ground forces complete their acceleration and jump into Dixon's Star and start decelerating toward Laco. |
103 |
The Muster fleet arrive a Laco. There is no sathar presence left in space. Shuttles sent to the surface show that all the Frontier built facilities have been destroyed and that there are many Sathar bio-constructs loose on the surface although there appears to be very little actual Sathar presence. No survivors from the Laco Outpost are discovered in the initial small forays to the surface. |
105 |
Ground force units arrive in orbit around Laco and immediately begin shuttling troops to the surface. Contact is quickly made with Sathar bio-constructs and small pockets of Sathar troops. However, the organized forces of the Inner Reach militia and Clarion Royal Guards are more than a match for the token resistance encountered. |
106 |
Frontier forces advance on the remains of the Laco Outpost and the Tetrarch ruins. At the Outpost they encounter stiff resistance from organized Sathar forces. |
107 |
After a day of fighting, the disorganized internal chain of command of the hodge-podge Frontier forces is causing problems and the Sathar seem to have the upper hand and are driving the Frontier forces back. The Inner Reach Militia and Clan Knar-Kenda forces turn out to be nearly as disorganized as the various small human units. However, the Clarion Royal Guards forces rally the Frontier troops and lead them to begin pushing back on the Sathar forces and encircling their objectives. |
109 |
After two more days of intense battle, the Frontier forces prevail and capture the outpost and ruins. There are no Sathar survivors at the outpost or ruins although some Sathar escaped into the Laco countryside. The Sathar would not willing surrender and fought to the last worm. All Sathar troops that were isolated for capture committed suicide before they could be brought into custody. |
110 |
With the surface firmly in control of the Frontier ground forces, they are left to hold the planet and try to mop up escaped Sathar while Admiral Clinton moves his fleet on to Truane's Star to engage any Sathar ships there. |
114 |
Muster ships enter the Truane's Star system and begin decelerating toward Pale. A few sathar ships are detected orbiting both Pale and New Pale |
115 |
The Sathar ships break orbit and begin accelerating out of the system. Admiral Clinton splits his forces. Some remain at their high velocity and attempt to intercept the fleeing Sathar vessels. The rest continue their deceleration toward Pale |
118 |
The Muster ships overtake the Sathar vessels before they reach Jump velocity. Almost all of the Sathar vessels are destroyed and only a few Muster ships were lost as the Sathar vessels were mostly lightly armed troop transports and supply vessels |
119 |
|
120 |
Shuttles descend to the planetary surface to find that many areas are still held by Sathar ground troops. With the bulk of their ground forces still in Laco, no real offensive can be mounted. |
121 |
Admiral Clinton orders some of the ships returning from engaging the fleeing Sathar vessels to head to New Pale and inspect that planet as New Pale in on the other side of the system and closer to the returning ships. |
123 |
Muster teams on the ground on Pale meet up with one of the surviving resistance groups. Although unable to provide significant manpower yet, they can supply some additional weapons. Serving as “advisors” they also begin to learn some of the tactics of the Sathar forces that have been learned by the resistance fighters through hard experience over the past three months. |
124 |
More troops have continued to arrive and assemble at Gran Quivera in the Prenglar system. While the newer soldiers are not as well trained as the initial group, they are equal to them in number. Admiral Clinton orders the troops assembled at Gran Quivera to move to Laco to relieve the forces there. |
125 |
Muster ships arrive at New Pale. They find the situation there similar to that on Pale. Much of the cities have been destroyed and are occupied by Sathar troops. |
126 |
|
134 |
Troop transports arrive at Laco. Half of the new troops, the majority of which are PGC recruited personnel, are left behind on Laco to hold the planet. The remainder join up with the original troops and prepare to head to Truane's Star. |
135 |
The Frontier ground forces leave Laco and head towards Truane's Star. |
140 |
|
144 |
Frontier forces arrive at Pale. They immediately begin moving the troops to the surface where they meet up with the resistance forces bringing desperately needed supplies and manpower. General Delrooka and his advisers, along with the leaders of the Pale resistance groups begin mapping out a campaign to eliminate the Sathar from the surface of the planet. |
145 |
|
146 |
|
147 |
|
148 |
Fighting begins on New Pale between Frontier forces and the occupying Sathar. |
150 |
|
151 |
With raids by the ground forces on Pale against Sathar supply targets having been quite successful and the loss of the resupply convoy, the General Delrooka realizes that the Sathar position will become desperate fairly quickly. Based on the observed Sathar mentality, he fears that there will be a mass genocide of Frontier citizens by their Sathar captors if something isn't done. Despite orders to wait for reinforcements from Prenglar, the Frontier forces begin planning an offensive to free the capture Frontier citizens. |
152 |
Forces on Pale step up raids and attacks on Sathar supply depots while shuttling as much ammunition and weapons as possible down from the Muster ships in orbit. |
153 |
Forces on New Pale recapture many of the smaller towns scattered around the planet. Each town liberates captives, many of which join the army to help secure the rest of the planet. |
155 |
Frontier reinforcements arrive at Laco and continue on towards Pale. |
156 |
Scouts from Point True report that the Sathar has shut the city down and are rounding up all the citizens into a common holding area in the center of the city. General Delrooka fears this is the first step towards the genocide move he is expecting. Preparations for an attack on the Sathar positions are accelerated. |
157 |
|
158 |
|
159 |
|
160 |
|
161 |
Taking stock, nearly half of the Frontier Forces on Pale were killed in the assault on Point True. Though weary and exhausted, there is still more to be done on the planet and teams are sent out to secure many of the smaller cities still being held by Sathar troops. |
164 |
Reinforcements arrive at Pale and New Pale. They are immediately put to work capturing and controlling the smaller outlying towns and hunting for Sathar that have escaped into the countryside. |
180 |
After several more weeks of fighting, the Frontier forces are able to sweep the Sathar out of the remains of the various cities of Pale. Many Sathar escape into the Pale wilderness along with many of their bio-constructs. They will be a perpetual thorn in the side of residents and immigrants trying to rebuild for years to come. |
All days are Galactic Standard Days