THE BATTLE WON

The Alliance consolidated their hold on the cities of Elysium as the Batarian Army fled into the wilderness to take up defensive positions, covering their tracks by burning buildings and forest, which would disguise their heat signatures from orbital scans. However, with their logistics infrastructure captured or destroyed, their food, fuel and ammunition needs would grow dire. With complete air and space superiority at his disposal and the Fifth Legion's three million combat troops, General Orzeski's forces hunted down and enveloped the invading army with a vengeance. The batarian armoured divisions in the north were destroyed piecemeal with the assistance of the Navy, and running out of fuel for their tanks in less than four days, the survivors surrendered in their totality. On the southern continent, the Batarian Army was able to hold out for a week on the supplies they had carried with them for the offensives on Elysium's cities. Rather than surrender, these units gradually lost their cohesion as their troops deserted. It would take almost a month until the last of these soldiers was found and arrested. The remaining External Forces troops in Los Bancos' aerodrome held out for two weeks, repulsing attack after attack by Alliance ground forces and taking hits from orbital strikes. In the end, a special force from the First Legion was brought in to handle the batarian elite. Gadnalak's disciples refused to give in, and were systematically slaughtered.

Total losses for the Alliance were not excessive, but hit hard nonetheless. Civilians bore the brunt, with approximately eighty three thousand dead or seriously wounded, most from the urban fighting around the capital. Military casualties were relatively light by comparison, with only five thousand Alliance soldiers of Task Force Wizna losing their lives and another fifteen thousand from the colonial militias and police units. However, these numbers were often concentrated in a small number of units. Alongside the Polish 24th Infantry Regiment, which had taken 100% casualties, the 3rd Orbital Assault Division and the 11th Armoured Division had entire companies wiped out, and they were far from alone. Units that had served together proudly since the First Contact War simply ceased to exist, and the guilt among the units that had barely taken hits at all was palpable. Humans were not the only military or civilian casualties of the battle. Salarians, asari and turians were all employed by the Elysium police forces, and died fighting alongside their human comrades. Individual asari civilians had also fought and died, often in defence of other civilians.

Losses for the Batarian-Terminus coalition were much more severe, a result of Orzeski's battle tactics designed to inflict just that upon the aggressors. The exact number of mercenaries killed in action is not known, but it is estimated at 20% of their total strength, or thirty six thousand. They had comparatively few wounded, which would later lead to accusations of summary executions. The batarians suffered much more severely. Aside from the one hundred thousand External Forces troops put to the sword at Los Bancos, the Batarian Army lost three hundred thousand in the first day, most to the massed attacks on fixed defensive positions and the human counterattacks upon the arrival of the Alliance Navy. Another million would die over the course of weeks following, a combination of orbital attacks, exposure, ground combat, abandonment of the wounded, and executions for cowardice providing the means. Approximately one third of the ground forces the batarians deployed were dead by the battle's end. Many officers had also been lost, either to combat or mutiny in the ranks as the Fifth Legion closed in around their troops.

The Alliance took a huge number of prisoners in the battle. Two million, six hundred thousand batarians, mostly conscripts, surrendered by the end of the battle. Another hundred thousand mercenaries, mostly turians but including some salarians and asari, joined them. Unwilling to keep these prisoners of war on Elysium itself, Orzeski ordered the seizure of the large corporate facilities on Sidon and had them transported off the garden world to await a political decision as to their fate. The invaders were expelled even as prisoners, never to set foot upon the world they had claimed as theirs ever again. Propoals by the Alliance to use the prisoners as labour to help rebuild the colony were rejected by both Orzeski and the civilian colonial government.

AFTER THE BATTLE

The attack on Elysium triggered a series of further military operations by the Alliance, having been conceived of by Consul Taro and organised for the start of war with the batarians. The objective of these operations was simple, inflict damage that could not be ignored by the batarians and rally human support. This was necessary, as the likelihood of another ceasefire if the batarian attack was simply repulsed was high. A return to the status quo or a ceasefire imposed by the Citadel was entirely unacceptable to the Consul. The idea that the batarians would simply hide behind their defences, unrewarded for their efforts, was repugnant to the High Command as well. When the plans of Haliat's attack were leaked, three operations were drawn up to assure that the batarians would have no choice but to turn to total war. As the Alliance naval trap was named "Hiryu", or Flying Dragon in the Japanese language, these operations were similarly given Japanese titles; Tora, Tanuki, and Okami, or Tiger, Racoon-Dog, and Wolf.

Operation Tora was the brainchild of the Consul herself, and was to be the main motivator to keep the batarians fighting. She turned to the deterrence fleet to aid her. Targets ranging from military supply dumps to tourist destinations for the batarian elite were selected and reconnaissance performed before the battle commenced. Once the batarians had been defeated at Elysium, the missile frigates were dispatched, and the targets nuked. Military targets were hit with maximum yield thermonuclear weapons deployed via Scylla missiles, which political targets were struck with tactical fission weapons to reduce civilian losses among the lower castes. Much of the military capability of the batarians on their outer colonies was destroyed in mere hours, but the real damage was to the political structure of the Hegemony, as thousands of high caste batarians were killed in the nuclear fire. Their outraged relatives demanded vengeance, as the Consul hoped they would, locking their species into a war they could not win.

The other two operations were aimed at strengthening the Alliance's hand for the coming conflict. Operation Tanuki was a coordinated cyberattack on the batarian extranet, then still linked to the Citadel species' own networks. The Tanuki Virus hijacked media feeds and search engines in batarian space, granting control to the Alliance before the Batarian Navy physically destroyed the FTL buoys to stop them. The first images broadcast were the batarian conscripts being marched into prisoner of war camps on Sidon, which provided both a crippling blow to the morale of the lower castes and a call to arms for the highborn. Operation Okami was aimed primarily at humans, namely the independent colonies in the Verge. As the battle for Elysium was winding down, First Legion special forces units dropped onto eight garden worlds that possessed human populations of significance. Working with local sympathisers, these troops then overthrew the colonial governments in coups. Martial law was soon implemented with the aid of First Legion field army units, which were flown in days later under the protection of Alliance flotillas. This insured that the entirety of humanity in the combat zone was under the sovereign protection of the Alliance, while granting several key strategic positions to the Navy for use as bases as required.

The political consequences for humanity were immediate. Outrage at the casualties was mixed with pride that there had been a spectacular victory. However, questions over the legality of Consul Taro's actions were raised. Despite knowing that the batarians were going to attack, the alarm was not raised, and many questioned both the morality and legality of using a colony as bait. Taro responded with characteristic flair. She stood up in a full joint session of the Alliance Parliament, and declared that she had the right to do what she felt necessary for the defence of the human species. She dismissed the legal argument by pointing out that no formal peace treaty had been signed, and that the Alliance was still technically at war with the Batarian Hegemony from its declaration under Consul Gasperi. She turned the moral argument on its head, arguing that the destruction of the Batarian First Fleet at the cost of civilian casualties saved millions of lives, as it would be unable to range at will through the Verge. She revealed the batarians' plans to conquer humanity and dissected them in detail for all to see. Taro compared the situation to Ancient Rome and Carthage. There could be only one power in the Verge, and that only blood could decide who would be the victor. She called an immediate vote for continuation of the war, and it was passed with a broad majority. Humanity geared itself for war.

The reaction of the Citadel Council was one of shock. The batarians, in attacking Elysium with the aim of conquering humanity, had proven true all the worst aspects of their character that humanity had been shouting about. However, in using the attack to trap the batarians and go on the offensive in their own their own right, the Alliance had given much weight to the idea of obscene scale of human ambitions. Anti-human commentators quipped that the Council was allowing humanity to take over the galaxy, piece by piece, and depicted humans as giant gluttonous apes. Attempts at mediation by the asari were rejected by both the Alliance and the Hegemony. The Alliance were not going to allow another repeat of the ceasefire that had ended the First Verge War. After Operation Tora, the only thing that would satisfy the Hegemony was human blood. There would also be no turian intervention. Human diplomats made it perfectly clear that any attempt to stop the war by force would be seen as hostile, and the turian public's respect for humans only grew as more details of the Alliance's victory surfaced.

In the end, the only thing measure the Council species took was to ban human military ships from using asari space. This had some practical effects; Altakiril, Haliat's personal kingdom, was most easily accessed via the Thessia-Illium corridor of relays. However, against the batarians, the ban had no effect. The salarians had a lucrative deal with the Alliance until mid-2177 for military access to their space, and they were eager to watch the fighting to glean technology and tactical insights at any rate. Human ships would be able to flank the Verge entirely to strike deep into batarian space, and access the Terminus from their own regions of space.

In the end, the rest of the galaxy could only look on in horrified fascination as the first major conflict since the Geth War broke out. The Second Verge War had begun.

Elysium was rebuilt quickly, as the Alliance Parliament voted an emergency funding package soon after war was formally declared, as well as a general compensation scheme for every family that had lost someone. Elysians signed up in droves for military service with the Alliance, a trend that continues today. As a reaction to the attack, colonial defences were strengthened, a factor that played a critical role in the lower casualty rates of citizens on the colony during the Reaper War. The militarisation of Elysium's society did not reduce its charm as a wedding, honeymoon and couple destination, and tourism increased after reconstruction.

The town of Shiloh's Pass, where citizens and soldiers alike opted for death rather than slavery, was rebuilt on the orders of Consul Taro. The town was granted the Star of Terra, humanity's highest military award, the only settlement of the Alliance to receive it prior to the Reaper War. It also received military accolades from the Asari Republics and the Salarian Union, as their citizens were among the dead. A statue was raised in the honour of the unknown woman who had sent the final words of the townspeople, depicting her as a Winged Victory standing between a great serpent and children of the town. A cemetery for the Polish 24th Infantry was also built, and when the unit was reconstituted, it became the official gravesite for all the unit's dead in all subsequent conflicts. The town became crucial in the Reaper invasion of the planet, when citizens and soldiers held off a huge enemy force, this time repulsing it in time to evacuate surrounding towns. Re-enactments of the battle are held every year, followed by a remembrance ceremony in the town square.

The International Tribunal for Elysium and Sidon began its first hearings on Sidon itself six months after the battle, to deal with the prisoners of war accused of warcrimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against sentient species. As the Alliance had no jurisdiction over such trials at the time, the court was made up of justices from the European Court of Justice, the US Supreme Court, the African Court of Final Appeals, Australian High Court and the South American Federal Supreme Council. The vast majority of the cases were prosecutions against higher caste batarians, often surviving officers and NCOs, whom had ordered both the deaths of their men in the aftermath for cowardice or the deaths of civilians in their combat zone. Mercenary leaders were prosecuted for terrorism and warcrimes related to ignoring the laws of war with respect to banned weapons. In all, some three hundred were tried before the tribunal.

The most interesting case was that of Matriarch Irla T'nali, the leader of the asari huntresses whom had stormed Orzeski's command bunker. She was charged with terrorism and the murders of the police emergency response unit, which at the time of her assault was unarmed in a recreation room. On the charges of murder, the defence argued wartime necessity as the team would have raised the alarm, while the prosecution argued an unarmed combatant outside a combat zone is not a combatant and therefore they cannot be harmed. On the charge of terrorism, the prosecution pointed out the brutality of the attack as evidence, but the defence had a star witness; Orzeski himself. In the end, T'nali was convicted of the murders of the police officers, but acquited of the terrorism charge on the basis of Orzeski's testimony. The session was closed, but it is said that the general argued that it was only common sense to attempt to destroy the command and control centre of your enemy. Sentencing saw the matriarch receive death by firing squad for the murders along with her squad, but this was commuted to life in prison with the possibility of extraordinary parole. Rumours that valuable intelligence was the reason behind the commutation, but historians agree it is just as likely that the politicians didn't wish to discourage surrender. T'nali would later be released to fight in the Reaper War.

General Leon Orzeski was promoted to Field Marshal for his brilliant defence of Elysium, but retired as he had planned to. He toured the Alliance colonies giving speeches in support of the war effort, encouraging recruitment and the purchase of warbonds. When the war was over, he settled on Elysium itself, buying the house that Haliat had used as a headquarters in the seaside town of Split. He became a professor of strategic studies in the college there, where he was well liked by his students. He received a cloned leg soon after the battle to replace the one that Matriarch T'nali tore off with her biotics. He kept the "spare" leg, and buried in a plot next to his house, regularly visiting it with his students as a joke. He would die during the Reaper War, attempting to protect his students. Unable to think of anywhere more appropriate, they buried him next to the leg he lost in defence of their planet during the first invasion. The students who later died would be buried next to him, and his garden became a memorial in its own right.

The Overlord of Altakiril, Elanos Haliat, escaped back to the Terminus Systems with his best troops without incident. However, he found himself in a difficult position. His plan had failed, and he found himself at war with the Systems Alliance. The batarians insured that he would remain an ally throughout the war, but mainly dealt with his subordinates directly, wishing to avoid the stench of failure. After the war, he lost power almost immediately as the sharks circled for the kill. The batarians were neither willing nor able to support him, much of his territory had been attacked by Alliance-backed rivals and his reputation as a leader was in tatters. He was reduced to piracy, and eventually, terrorist acts. He was killed with an omniblade by Commander Jane Shepard in late February 2183, as he attempted to cause an incident between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy using First Contact era nuclear weapons. His body was never recovered.

Arch-Hegemon Ar'dra was furious upon receiving news of the Alliance's victory on Elysium, but had little time to remain so. The effects of Operation Tora and Tanuki seriously challenged his powerbase within the Hegemony. The elites cried for war, while the people wished to avoid it ast all costs. With the cooperation of his cousin, Admiral Dhark Ar'dra, he attempted to play the whole attack off as a trick by the humans. He claimed that a distress signal had been received and the First Fleet dispatched to help. As most of the fleet was destroyed outside of the Vetus System, he claimed the fleet was ambushed and had attempted to escape to Elysium. The ploy worked to settle the lower castes, at least until the truth came out during the Great Upheaval in 2184. He laid the blame solely on Haliat's shoulders, and ordered Batarian State Arms to begin constructing dreadnoughts and carriers in violation of agreements with the Citadel. The war would be a challenge, one that he would fail.

Consul Nozomi Taro's success in provoking a war with the batarians saw her popularity rise again to the levels seen during her complete victory in the elections four years earlier. However, with an election approaching in 2177 and with a war to organise, there remained much to do. Her infamy with the rest of the galaxy's species grew to stratospheric levels, particularly with the turians who applauded her decision to entrap rather than simply confront the batarian attack. "The Tiger" continued to lead humanity, as the conflict between her people and the batarians finally entered its long awaited bloody stage.