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The Perimeter War (referred to as the System 314 Incident by the Norb Network at the time) was a war between the expanding Jiptohr Empire, and the Norb Network and Kaladian Empire over system claims. It took place between 3220 and 3221, ending with the Treaty of Vyerco. It is named after the proximity of the conflict and involved nations to the perimeter of the Angel Sector.
Background[]
In 3219, the Norb Network sent a seed ship to begin converting what it called at the time System 314 into a Norb system. At some point prior to this, the Jiptohr Empire had explored the system, found a habitable planet, and made preparations to colonize it as part of a large push to expand to several new worlds. When the Jiptohri colonists arrived in 3220, they discovered that the Norb had already established a foothold on the uninhabited terrestrial planet closest to the sun - Yalcron - though they had not yet done more than preliminary scouting of that system's garden world. Fighting soon broke out, and the two nations were at war.
Within months, different Jiptohri colonization fleets encountered humans of the Kaladian Empire on other planets they had planned on claiming, leading to military action by the Jiptohr in places such as the Téa System. With their colonies under assault, the Norb Network and Kaladian Empire found themselves as unlikely allies against the Jiptohri threat.
The Perimeter War[]
Initial contact between the Norb and Jiptohr occurred on January 19th, 3220, in the Vyerco System. With the colonists breaking off for their original destination, the rest of the Jiptohr quickly engaged the limited Norb defenses in an attempt to force an easy surrender. Unaware of the alien nature of their opponent, the Jiptohr forces found themselves unexpectedly besieged by waves of self-destruct attacks waged by unarmed ships that had previously not been deemed a threat and completely destroyed. Though the Jiptohr colonists and the Norb node of Yalcron had both survived, both had taken heavy losses and sent for reinforcements.
Several groups of reinforcements engaged each other over the next few months. The Norb were unable to ascertain the location of other Jiptohri systems from ship wreckage and the colonists were unresponsive to communications, while the Jiptohr prioritized attacking over evacuating their stranded colonists, causing the conflict to drag on. By April, reports were coming in of devastating attacks on Kaladian systems by the Jiptohr. Scouting and extrapolating determined that to achieve victory in an efficient manner would require a larger force for an assault than the Network could currently spare, which presented them with a predicament.
The destruction being wrought on Kaladian territory, combined with the Norb's insistence on allying with the Kaladian Empire against the Jiptohr Empire, caused the Verandi to refuse aiding the Norb if it meant benefiting their long-time enemy as well. With no outside support, the Norb Network was left alone defending its territory as they sought an alliance with Kaladia.
In December, the Kaladians and the Norb had solidified the Perimeter Alliance - a temporary agreement to join forces against the Jiptohr Empire. In early 3221, combined Kaladian-Norb fleets began to take the fight to Jiptohr worlds.
Aftermath[]
With the Jiptohr backing down, the Kaladian Empire held onto their colonies, while the Norb relinquished the colonization rights to the habitable or terraformable worlds of the Vyerco Sector, though maintaining the right to build on the uninhabited planets. This was part of the agreement between the Norb and the Jiptohr, where the Network would devote considerable resources to the Jiptohr colonists in exchange for their abandonment of their Kaladian claims.
As a result of their constant interaction in the Vyerco system after the war, relations between the Norb and Jiptohr soon became amicable, with the two nations cooperating with each other on many occasions over the next few centuries.
With the Norb Network, Kaladian Empire, and Angel Sector, blocking expansion towards the galactic core, the Jiptohr Empire was forced to seek new territory in the opposite direction. This has led to the Jiptohr expanding towards territories closer to the Bolaemia Bureaucracy border, eventually resulting in the seizure of vast amounts of territory in the Bureau-Jiptor War.