A Different Type of Front

A Divided Front

"Peace can so easily be shattered by a single act, in which the fates of millions or even billions of sentient beings have been decided in an instant. But it is in war, in which it takes an insurmountable effort to end it, either by defeat, or by exhaustion.
-Unknown
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October 19, 2266
The events in which follow the 8 months that have passed, in formal terms could be described as somewhat expectable from the previous occurrences that have transpired so far, yet the profound impact and effects they have had upon the Federation and their allies is undeniable.

Reconciliation with the Xalavians is going spectacularly, and soon, the People's Republic shall become a valuable and valiant member of the Stellar Allied Treaty Organization.
The reason for this that the entire basis of their religion were discovered to be simple anomalies that had been grossly exaggerated and misrepresented.
Once their faith was discredited, the Xalavian race has instead turned to xenophilic beliefs, which has surprisingly gained more popularity due to some discreet measures enacted by SATO.
While still being a provisional government, which was still ultimately powerless against the decisions enacted by the Voting Council of The Stellar Allied Treaty Organization, their autonomy has also been increased to instill some feeling of goodwill by the other member nations of the alliance.

Meanwhile, the state of the Viltrumite Empire is deteriorating, as the war continues, and the tides keep turning in favor of the Coalition and the Stellar Allied Treaty Organization.
Their pureblooded Viltrumites including the measly fleets they had were no match against the combined campaigns conducted by the Nekeshanus Imperial Ascendancy, the United Terran Federation, the Nuskhrat-Ril Commonwealth, the Uigurian Federal Republic, the Klaxosaur Directorate, and the Zukraltan Empire.

Many systems and planets fell within months after dozens of blitzkrieg campaigns were conducted against them, while the cooperation of the Stellar Allied Treaty Organization's intelligence departments perfectly exploited Viltrumite weaknesses, and staged rebellion and uprisings as the fleets of SATO breezed through Viltrumite territory.
The fall of the Enalis, Vekron, and Peldeni Systems also served to further strengthen the image of their downfall, as they continued losing many battles against SATO.
The fleets and forces of the Stellar Alliance were met with celebration by the rebellions and citizenry of each planet they captured, as the liberation of the enslaved and vassalized species under the Viltrumite Empire has become one of the main reasons for the continuation of war.

But while the Federation and their allies continue to enjoy massive victories against the Viltrumites, the Coalition of Planets have taken heavy casualties within their campaigns, forcing the Federation to back them with economic aid, and send them massive supplies to help them continue their war effort.
This however, backfired, as the Coalition suffered from the divided interests of its members, some of whom desired not to accept Federal aid.

Alas, a schism occurred within the Coalition of Planets, which forced them to sign a White Peace with the Viltrumite Empire, and end their planned offensives, as an economic crisis also occurred, despite the Federation sending economic aid. 
Fortunately, they did not fully disband, but the divisions between planets in the Coalition were only further deepened because of this event.

Due to this, opinions of the Coalition in nations within SATO greatly decreased, as they saw them pulling out of the war as betrayal, and relations were strained between both alliances.

Seeing this, the Diamond Authority sent fleets which violated Zukraltan territory, who they perceived as being weakened due to the Viltrumite war, and SATO being unable to fight a two-front war.
That assumption was incorrect.

With their intelligence departments already breaking the Authority's ciphers, as well as agents being able to infiltrate and obtain valuable details and plans of an incursion, the Stellar Allied Treaty Organization had already stationed multiple battlegroups, and built defensive spaceports on their borders for preparations of an incursion.