First Battle of Qeleph Qeliseot

The First Battle of Qeleph Qeliseot was fought in 1085 ED between the Adiguliz and the Śiter Guliz near the star of Qeleph Qeliseot, located less than six light years from Ein-Ceixos. The battle was the first battle to take place around Qeleph Qeliseot during the Wrath of the Gods and was fought prior to the First Battle of Deinazephanais. The battle, though only minor, was successful in preventing the transport of a large amount of Aziphox slaves from Deinazephanais and over one hundred thousand slaves were saved by the Adiguliz.

Prelude
With the changing tides of war in the Wrath of the Gods, the planet of Deinazephanais came under threat from the Śiter Guliz, in particular from Satar. By 1086 ED, Satar had solidified a hold on the planet and was worshipped by many Aziphox as a god. While Golise was put under overwhelming pressure by the Śiter Guliz, with thousands of enemy ships laying siege to his systems, he was able to assemble a small fleet to assist his only ally on Deinazephanais, the Ateter Kingdom. The fleet was a mixture of old, outdated vessels and newer models fresh from the production line and had fifty-five ships in total. It was placed under command of ???, who would become the supreme commander of all Adiguliz and Ateter forces on Deinazephanais.

Qeleph Qeliseot was the closest star system to Ein-Ceixos and was a crucial supply point for Śiter Guliz forces on Deinazephanais. Billions of tons of supplies and slaves passed through the star system in the course of the war and control of the system would become a key strategic aim for both sides towards the final years of the conflict. ??? chose Qeleph Qeliseot as his first place to attack, hoping to distrupt Śiter Guliz communications and give his captains and crew experience.

Battle
??? planned the battle in two distinct stages. While his main fleet sat in the outskirts of the star's system, ??? would send a number of lightly-armed vessels to raid the formations of transport ships that would pass close to Qeleph Qeliseot Ai. In the final stage of the battle, his main fleet would enter the battle and assault the escort ships in the system, while his lighter ships would pursue the slave ships, and would involve fierce ship-to-ship combat in an effort to free Aziphox slaves being transported by the Śiter Guliz.

Initial Phase
A group of seven ships were sent by ??? to attack and destroy the convoy of transport ships passing close to one of the star's planets on their way to Ein-Ceixos. These ships met unexpectedly-heavy resistance from the transport ships and two of them were destroyed in the skirmish. The transport ships, despite being armed above their station, were ultimately destroyed by the Adiguliz fleet, along with the millions of tons worth of supplies they were transporting to Ein-Ceixos.

Final Phase
For the final stage of the battle, the main fleet was ordered by ??? to enter the system and attack the thirteen vessels escorting the twenty slaver ships. While the two fleets engaged in combat, the vessels involved in the first phase pursued the slaver ships, disabling them and boarding them.

The fight to free the slaves on-board the vessel was fearsome. The Śiter Guliz soldiers, fanatically devoted to their leader's cause, contested every deck on the ship, resulting in a large death toll for the Adiguliz. Over five thousand of their soldiers were killed or wounded in the fighting. On many ships, toxic gas was released into the pens used to store the slaves, killing thousands before they could be rescued.

The battle was a success for the Adiguliz. Of the 43 Śiter Guliz ships involved in the battle, only ten were able to escape, with severe damage. The Adiguliz only lost two of their fifty-five vessels. The two ships that were destroyed were ancient frigates built over one hundred years before the battle, with severely outdated weaponry and shielding. Some other ships suffered light to medium damage. The combat personnel in the fleet suffered disproportionately during the ship-to-ship fighting, losing around four percent of their number in the battle.

Aftermath
The battle was considered insignificant at the time and reports of it were only received by the Śiter Guliz several months after the incident. However, the skirmish would become the first victory in a very successful campaign aimed at disrupting enemy shipping operated by the Adiguliz. Although the Śiter Guliz lost an invisible fraction of their shipping fleet (several tens of thousands of vessels by the start of the war), by the end of the war, hundreds of transport vessels would be destroyed each week by small, effective Adiguliz raiding groups.