Editing Siege of Aethia

|place=[[Aethia]], [[Meridian]], [[Hestia system]]{{Ref/Reuse|Adjunct}}

|result=[[UNSC]] victory{{Ref/Reuse|Adjunct}}

*[[Meridian Air Force]]{{Ref/Reuse|Adjunct}}

|side2=[[Sundered Legion]]{{Ref/Reuse|Adjunct}}

The '''Siege of Aethia''', formally known by the UNSC as '''Operation: OPEN GRAVE''', was a prolonged engagement conducted by joint [[United Nations Space Command]]-[[Meridian Air Force]] forces against the [[insurrectionist]]s of the [[Sundered Legion]]. The siege took place between [[2518]] and [[2521]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=Adjunct|HBatB|Adjunct - [[Free Frontier Education: The Sundered Legion]]}}

The Siege of Aethia's origins lie in the decades of fighting between UNSC and [[Colonial Military Authority]] forces against the [[Sundered Legion]], which emerged in [[2495]] - only a few years after the brutal conclusion of the [[Far Isle rebellion|rebellion]] on [[Far Isle]]. Between 2495 and [[2499]], the Sundered Legion (in cooperation with the [[Secessionist Union]]) maintained consistent brushfire conflicts across Meridian, escalating their actions once the CMA left the colony in 2499 due to the fallout of the [[Operation: VERITAS|VERITAS scandal]]. The departure of the CMA allowed the Sundered Legion to launch an attack on the city of [[Bretagne]], paving the way for further uprisings in the regions of [[Aagen]] and [[Sabudia]], cementing the Legion's foothold on the planet.{{Ref/Reuse|Adjunct}}

To counter the growing insurrectionist threat, the [[Unified Earth Government]] began to train up and provise for a local national military for the Meridian government, headed by the [[Prospector Party]] and its leader [[Charles Zdenek]]. With the CMA still undergoing its downfall and assimilation into the UNSC, redeploying the military directly was not an option; instead, ex-CMA [[pilot]]s were used to staff the [[Meridian Air Force]], and the colonial military as a whole was provided with top-tier equipment to continue the war against the Sundered Legion. This was taken as a provocation by the Legion, who in turn continued to stoke tensions amid the backdrop of the wider ongoing colonial insurrection throughout [[Human colonies|the colonies]]. Despite the moon's growing economy, the vast investment of UEG resources was seen by some as a way of ensuring stability and control over a strategic world - one with vital industry connections such as the manufacture of [[Chalybs Defense Solutions]]' [[M808 Scorpion]] tanks.{{Ref/Reuse|Adjunct}}

In [[2516]], tensions on Meridian boiled over and the Sundered Legion began attacks across the moon - even managing to steal a handful of Scorpion tanks for themselves. This action finally prompted the UNSC to respond with force in a mission dubbed '''Operation: OPEN GRAVE'''. In [[2518]], a joint force of the UNSC and the Meridian Air Force began a strike into the country of [[Aethia]] with the goal of swiftly destroying the organisation. The battle began with air strikes conducted by the Meridian Air Force, but the rebel forces held out against initial expectations. As such, what was initially intended to be a swift engagement turned into a brutal and bloody multi-year conflict across Aethia. A larger-scale UNSC intervention began in [[2521]] thanks to additional resources from the ongoing [[Operation: TREBUCHET]], resulting in the Sundered Legion's total defeat.{{Ref/Reuse|Adjunct}}