Chig War

The Chig War is a conflict that features in Space: Above and Beyond.

History

Battle of the Belt

The war ultimately began due to the provocation the Chigs felt when the Human AeroTech Industries corporation dispatched an unmanned prove to the Chig homeworlds sacred moon where their life first began. When detecting the probe, the Chigs sent a warning signal to dissuade Humanity from further contact and ultimately destroyed the probe. The nature of this first contact was withheld by the Aerotech corporation for reasons unknown and the governments were unaware of the existence of alien life. (Episode:)

Their actions ultimataly led to open hostilities in the year 2063 when the Chigs mounted an attack on the Vespa colony which was sponsored by AeroTech. Attacking the colonists at night, they succeeded in wiping out the entire settlement and killing any Humans present. Later, the Chigs attacked the Tellus colonial mission that was also led by AeroTech as it was beginning to land at its target world. Striking the colony craft in orbit, the Chigs heavily damaged it and killed many more settlers. This eventually attracted the attention of the United Nations on Earth which became aware of the Chigs as well as their advanced civilization. It had been determined that 225 Human lives were lost as a result of the first attack by the Chigs with an additional 25 gone missing as a result. Mankinds attempted to send communications to the Chigs but they did not respond to any of these hails. This left the aliens as a completely mysterious and unknown force with only the bloodshed that they had left behind being the only fact known about them. A state of war was broadcast to the entire Earth with wide scale mobilization made in order to meet with this alien threat. (Episode: Pilot, Part 1)

With the initial attacks a success, the Chigs began to move towards the Earth solar system where they began the push for Mankinds home planet. Humanity knew completely nothing about this foe in terms of numbers, weapons and tactics which was why Earth was losing badly in every battle of this war initially. Eventually, the aliens arrived in the Sol system where they battled the Earth fleet led by the USS Yorktown and the 127th Airborne (known as the Angry Angels) suffered heavy resistance from the Chigs along with casualties. This group was ultimately destroyed by the Chig war fleet which continued on its mission to Earth and forced mankind to recall all its aviators for immediate battle operations against the enemy. At the time, Earth's military had acquired intelligence on the Chigs from a crashed enemy recon ship that landed on Mars. After studying its contents, they determined that the enemy intended to launch an attack with two third of their forces at the Groombridge star system naval base within a seventy one hour timeframe. Whilst initially suspected as being a trap, the Chigs subsequent fleet movements matched the data retrieved from their scout ship thus leading to the planned surprise ambush against their forces. The assembled Earth forces intended to ambush the enemy fleet from a wormhole in the Gallileo regions. As part of the plan, the 58th Squadron was deployed at Point A on the USS Saratoga that would cross the Juputer line the next day; where they would serve as part of the rear left flank to intercept the enemy position. (Episode: Pilot, Part 2)

During their mission to rendevous with their carrier, US Marines Aviator 58th Squadron encountered a recon patrol of Chig fighters that had employed jamming in order to partly escape detection from LIDAR systems. Despite the encounter, the lack of fuel prevented pursuit of the enemy craft and forced the Wildcards to simply return to their designated carrier and report contact with the enemy. The squadrons actions allowed Earth forces to determine that there were no enemy forces massing at the Groombridge system but rather outside the Sol system itself. Thus, a desperate plan was hatched where numerous fighter squadrons would hide within the Trojan asteroid belt that trailed Jupiter. There, the squadron would hide in the debris which was a difficult task due to the pilots needing to avoid the asteroids. The waiting squadrons were to remain in their position until the enemy passed them whereupon they were to engage. Their objective was not to defeat the Chigs but rather to stall them until the naval detachments from the Groombridge system arrived from the Kali wormhole. Thus, ships coming from the sunside and outside the system would catch the enemy fleet offguard thus eliminating it. However, as the Chig fleet approached, they adjusted their movements to bypass the asteroid belt. It was only the insubordination of Cooper Hawkes who left the asteroid belt which led the enemy into the field thus bringing about the ambush. This ultimately allowed the time needed for the Earth battle fleets to arrive which successfully pushed the Chig armada out of the Sol system. (Episode: Pilot, Part 2)

Despite this being the case, the Chigs were known to had heavily hit against the Earth forces in a campaign outside Proxima. (Episode: The Dark Side of the Sun)

The War Continues

At the time of the conflict, the corporation known as AeroTech had anticipated the emergence of an advanced alien starfighter with them concuring with naval intelligences report that the existence of this prototype craft being a threat to Operation: Roundhammer. It was prioritised that the destruction of the fighter was necessary before any further developments could be made against the campaign against the suspected Chig homeworld. However, there was difficulty in accomplishing this objective as 15 squadrons had been deployed against the fighter and only 13 survived whilst the enemy ship continued to operate. Their intelligence concluded that the enemy had only recently developed the refinement process to create Sool Fuel that developed their advanced fighter craft. (Episode: The Angriest Angel, Part 2)

Operation Roundhammer

By late 2063, the intelligence and surveillance wings of the Earth governments had managed to chart parts of Chig territory and find the Chig homeworld itself. It was confirmed to have been the fourth planet in the Helios system with the world possessing a single moon designated "Anvil".

Using this information, Earth's military began plan a military plan for the invasion of the Chig home planet and was designated Operation Roundhammer. After 18 months of heavy fighting, the final preparations were made for the invasion of the enemy planet in 2064.

Before this was accomplished, however, the Chigs called for a diplomatic truce in order to meet representatives in order to discuss a peace. The Chig ambassador possessed a translation device and communicated the origin of his species being the same cometary mass that gave life on Earth. The ambassador also accused the Aerotech representative for his involvement in the defilement of their sacred moon and when the Human denied this; the Chig reacted violently and detonated a suicide bomb seemingly killing several members of the diplomatic mission. After which, there was a resumption of hostilities between Humans and the Chigs.

The ultimate fate of the war remains unknown as the series was cancelled after the first series was made.

Overview

The advantages of the Chigs initially in the war was the element of surprise along with their superior numbers and advanced technology. However, the one problem with the Chig mentality was that their strategy preferred large scale deployments. This meant that they were unaccustomed to the tactics employed by Earth.

After the initial strike, Humanity demonstrated its adaptability and more aggressive natur allowing them to combat the Chig attackers. Furthermore, they made extensive use of special ops missions, infiltration, sabotage and assassinations to combat their enemy. This form of guerilla warfare went against typical Chig thinking who were incapable of adjusting to these tactics.

Combatants

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Notes

• The conclusion of the conflict was never shown due to the television series being cancelled.

Appearances

• Space: Above and Beyond:

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