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In early 3064, after having absorbed the Duchy of Andurien, the Capellan Confederation turned its attention to the Zion Province, trying to capture more territory from the fragmented ex-FWL, trying to take advantage that it was still embroiled in a civil war and that the other neighboring nations were still busy with the Clans.

The timing was perfect as at this time, the Marik faction, who had the last WarShips in the region, was busy invading the Duchy of Oriente, leaving the small province consisting of the Zion, Kirkbacken, Asuncion and Suzano systems virtually defenseless.

In February 3064, CCAF forces, supported by WarShips, Pocket WarShips, Assault DropShips and large numbers of Aerospace Fighters ,invaded the Zion, Asuncion and Suzano systems, with a mix of House Units and regular Regiments. At the same time, Word of Blake forces, albeit without WarShip support – as the ones they had were in maintenance/repair deep inside the Capellan Confederation - but using their powerful Pocket WarShips and also with large numbers of Fighters, invaded the Kirkbacken system.

In all these systems, the defending forces, struggling with the few resources available to them due to the prevailing civil war, were quickly defeated by the more numerous, better trained and better-equipped invaders, who also dominated space and the sky.

By early April 3064, the Zion province had been completely captured by the Capellan Confederation.

The TMI, MIIO and MIM agents present there reported the use of large quantities of AAMs by the CCAF and the WoB, helping them quickly to quickly destroy the few defensive ASFs present with barely any losses at all. In the CCAF it was evident that the House Units had better, more advanced and larger quantities of equipment than the regular forces.

Of particular interest to the agents was the fact that the House Units had more advanced battle armor than the regular forces, and that the WoB was using, albeit in small numbers, what were tentatively described as cyborgs. WoB apparently don't use battle armor. They deploy great quantities of PA(L)s instead. While the capellan House Units have new designs of mechs, the regular forces and WoB only deployed SLDF and traditional designs, even if the WoB are more like royals.

Of course, these aggressive Capellan initiatives created great concern in their other neighbors: the Taurian Concordat, the Magistracy of Canopus, the St. Ives Compact and the Federation Commonwealth. Both the Concordat and Magistracy moved more troops (and WarShips) to the Capellan borders. The FC deployed several mercenary units to the area and hired two regiments of Wolf Dragoons – all with WarShip support. St. Ives also contracted several mercenary units to bolster their defenses.

To no one surprise (especially after the Capellan operation), the number of 'pirates' on the Confederation borders had in the meantime more than doubled. It was clear to everyone that they were black units controlled by Sian to keep its neighbors occupied, even if a relatively small portion of them were identified as remnants of ex-FWL units destroyed during the ongoing civil war. However, this strategy was not as efficient as one could have expected as unlike similar tactics in the previous years, the better in-house communications and the increased use of WarShips meant that many of these would-be pirates were quickly and effectively eliminated.

Also, the 'liberation movements' that had begun right before the invasion of Zion operating on former worlds controlled by the Capellan Confederation and now part of the Concordat and Commonwealth were not very successful. Both the TMI and the MIIO had access to more advanced surveillance technology and great experience dealing with these types of organizations, from similar attempts in the past.

But on the whole, both the 'pirates' and the 'liberation movements' did what Sian expected of them - they distracted both nations for a time, opening a window of opportunity for the CCAF and WoB to execute the occupation of the Zion Province unimpeded.