1420:Minmatar Rebellion

TripTik042 Expedition Highlights

Visit many Historical sights and Battlefields from the Minmatar Rebellion.

Introduction

For centuries, the Amarr Empire ruled over the enslaved Minmatar peoples after their brutal conquest of the Minmatar Empire. Faced with the Amarr's brutal response to any slave uprisings, up to and including the outright genocide of the Starkmanir tribe, Minmatar resistance cells developed a strategy of carefully preparing for an organized rebellion in the shadows to leave the Amarr complacent and unaware of the resistance's true strength. They would wait until the right moment for a coordinated uprising.

That moment came in BYC20 when the Amarr sent a massive fleet of warships to attack the Jove in the system of Vak’Atioth. The Jove crushed the Amarr fleet, and the Minmatar resistance began their Great Rebellion.

The Amarr, already demoralized from their defeat by the Jovians, were caught in disarray. The Minmatar made significant gains early on, driving the Amarr out of numerous systems including Pator, home of the Matari, as well as decimating a large portion of the Empire's capital ship forces in the Battle of the Golgothan Fields and Siege of Lord Bastion. The Rebellion came to a head at the Battle of Fort Kavad, wherein the Minmatar won a costly but significant victory that drove the Amarr out of their last stronghold in Minmatar space. Amarr Emperor Heideran VII declared no further official military action be taken against the Minmatar on penalty of death and shored up the Ammatar Mandate, a puppet state ostensibly run by the collaborating Nefantar, as a buffer against further Minmatar offensives.

Locations

Golgothan Fields - Reeling from their crushing defeat at the hands of the Jove, the Amarr sought to put down the Minmatar Rebellion as quickly as possible. The Minmatar rebels met the main Amarr fleet in Ennur with all the ships they could muster in a desperate stand to keep the Amarr from burning through the Minmatar homeworlds before their rebellion could truly take off. After hours of fighting, the Minmatar were forced to withdraw, though not before crippling the Amarr's capital ship superiority and buying the rebellion time to consolidate its gains.
Today, the battlefield at the Golgothan Fields stands as a reminder of the Minmatar war of liberation, with the decrepit husks of ships from both sides left drifting in space. Until the later Battle of Iyen-Oursta during the Caldari-Gallente War, the Battle of the Golgothan Fields was the second-largest space battle in recorded history, only surpassed by Vak'Atioth.

Golgothan Fields.

Amarr Archon-class carrier wrecks.

Amarr Revelation-class dreadnought wrecks.

TES Reclamation Wreck - The Minmatar began consolidating their liberated territory after early successes such as the liberation of their homeworld and the Battle of the Golgothan Fields, putting the Amarr-aligned Nefantar tribe in the rebellion's crosshairs. In response to the Nefantar tribe's request for help, the Amarr dispatched a large capital ship, the TES Reclamation, along with a support fleet. However, the Reclamation was destroyed by a saboteur only a week after deployment in a cascade of sabotage inspired by the assassination of the Nefantar's tribal leader. With the Reclamation destroyed, the Amarr were put squarely on the defensive for the remainder of the war.

TES Reclamation wreck.

Closeup of wreck.

More wreckage.

Lord Bastion - Orbiting the Nefantar homeworld of Hjoramald XII, Lord Bastion was a fortress built by Lord Basad, the Amarr governor of the Ani constellation, during the Minmatar Rebellion. To construct the fortress, Basad used the brief respite granted to him by the arrival of the TES Reclamation and its supporting force. After the destruction of the Reclamation by sabotage, the Minmatar rebels turned their sights to Lord Bastion, which held out for two months while cut off from the rest of the Empire before finally falling to the Minmatar rebels. The Nefantar fled the Ani constellation and reorganized into the Ammatar Mandate, and the ruined carcass of Lord Bastion continues to hang in orbit above their ancestral home. Some Minmatar demand that the wreck be dismantled, while others see it as a testament to the Minmatar spirit.

Lord Bastion.

Closeup of fort.

Wreckage near fort.

Battle of Fort Kavad Monument - The site of the last major battle of the Minmatar Rebellion, Fort Kavad was strategically located at the last Amarrian redoubt in Minmatar space.
In BYC17, the Amarr, having lost many of their capital ships at the Battle of the Golgothan Fields, began massing their remaining forces at Fort Kavad in preparation for a counterattack into the liberated Minmatar territories. The Minmatar learned of the plan and launched a preemptive strike, crippling Fort Kavad's defenses and the unready Amarr forces gathering there. However, the Minmatar themselves incurred steep losses due to many Amarr officers refusing to surrender and launching suicidal attacks.
After the disastrous battle, the Amarr effectively withdrew from Minmatar space under penalty of death from the Emperor himself, who instead solidified the Ammatar Mandate as a buffer against further Minmatar advances.

Monument closeup.

Fort Kavad with monument.

Fort, alternate angle.

Amarr Apocalypse-class battleship wreckage.

Minmatar Tempest-class battleship wreckage.

Fort Kumar - Transformed from a mining outpost into a military bulwark during the Rebellion, Fort Kumar was critical to repelling further Minmatar advances into the Ammatar Mandate and Amarr Empire.
Though it saw little use in the intervening decades, Fort Kumar has become a center of attention once again, with Amarr, Ammatar, and even Caldari forces massing at the Fort in preparation of renewed war with the Minmatar Republic.

Fort Kumar.

Fort, alternate angle.

Amarr Apocalypse-class battleship on patrol.

Amarr defense sentry.

Defensive tower.

The Eternal Flame - Marked by a beacon a short distance from the Minmatar homeworld of Matar, the Eternal Flame was built by the nascent Minmatar Republic as a symbol of their people's fight to liberate themselves from slavery. This sculpture was built on the foundation of an older asteroid colony. While technological evidence suggests that the colony was constructed at some point during the Amarr occupation, some believe that it was a secret pirate base, with others believing that it was a rebel hideout or even a relic from the days of the Minmatar Empire.

Eternal Flame.

Alternate angle.

Angel Cartel ships on patrol.

Halls of Liberation - Built-in YC123 for the Minmatar Liberation Games, the Halls of Liberation is the first and only station above the Minmatar homeworld of Matar to be open to capsuleers. The station honors the sacrifices of the Minmatar Rebellion, with museum sections dedicated to that war, to the various Minmatar tribes, to heroes of the Rebellion, and to the old Minmatar Empire.
While considered neutral territory between the tribes, the station is managed by the last tribe to win the Minmatar Liberation Games.

Thukker Council Halls of Liberation.

Liberation Games monument with station.

Thukker Tempest-class battleships flanking monument.

For more context and details

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Researcher: Arachnis

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