Masdvarka

Overview
Masdvarka is a small UMER colony located about 81 light years from Sol, and about 30 light years from the furthest UNC colony. It holds the distinction of being the closest rebel colony to UNC space, and also was the site of the first battle of the Factions War.

History
It is not known to the UNC when exactly Masdvarka was settled upon by the UMER, but estimates suggest the colony had been functioning for at least 20 years from the point of the Factions war in 2336. At the start of the war, the UNC decided to take out the ARC's support structure from the UMER first, and was determined to taking the less aggressive faction out of the war quickly. It was the ARC themselves that ended up revealing the location of the planet to the UNC, as during a UNAC raid on a lone ARC destroyer the crew failed to erase the ship's databases. This mistake gave the UNC information and locations of multiple ARC settlements and a few UMER as well, one of which being Masdvarka. The UNC attacked the planet to focus on it's significant food and raw material output that the ARC was forcing the UMER to supply to them.

Space
At 3:10 AM Earth time on March 21st, a combined fleet of 30 UNNF ships and 10 UNAC ships entered the Cebalrai system and advanced towards Masdvarka. The local UMER fleet consisted of mostly light ships but with several powerful heavy vessels, numbering at 72. The UMER fleet held their ground in orbit around the colony as UNMC ships moved in, and the UMER fleet took the first shots in a large volley. several UNNF ships were damaged and 5 were destroyed in this volley, however the UNMC's ships returned fire immediately and overwhelmed the UMER fleet with Shock cannon blasts that tore easily through the less advanced rebel ships. A crushing 21 UMER ships were obliterated in this single strike, and created an opening for the UNAC fleet to rush planetside and deploy ground troops to UMER industrial centers. 13 UMER ships attempted to break off and pursue the UNAC fleet, but they were destroyed by a missile volley from UNNF cruisers. Even then, the UMER fleet held their ground and continued to fight, and managed to take down an additional 8 UNNF ships before the entire UMER fleet was destroyed.

Ground
The UNAC fleet deployed all of the 20,000 soldiers they brought to the surface, and although they were met with moderate resistance from local UMER armed forces, they pushed non-stop through UMER territory and subsequently decimated the UMER army on the planet. The UMER's Air Corps faced a similar fate, proving no match for UNAC FA-24 jets and combat aircraft, especially when reinforced from the UNNF. Masdvarka ultimately fell to UNMC forces only 5 hours after being invaded, and the local government pleaded with the UNMC forces to spare them. However, the UN forces explained that they had no intention to hurt the civilian population, and even allowed many UMER civilians to be evacuated via UMER freighters and support ships in the following days. The UNMC retained their presence for the remainder of the war, although only as a small occupation and scout force and completely allowed the remaining civilians to live normally without interference.

Aftermath
Masdvarka's 72 ship strong UMER fleet was completely destroyed, along with a majority of the 10,000 army forces stationed on the planet. The battle was a huge defeat for both the UMER and the ARC, as the ARC lost a good percentage of their food and military supplies, and the UMER lost many ships and military power. The battle had the side effect of completely terrifying the UMER leadership, and was a crucial part of their decision to surrender to the UNC a short 2 months later. After the war, Masdvarka was returned to UMER hands and UNMC forces even assisted in it's rebuilding. The colony would go on to offer support to the UNMC frequently during the Exohumans' invasion of Earth.