Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/The Regal Sultanate of Elona

The Regal Sultanate of Elona are one of the bonus factions in Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict. This faction relies on frontal assault, divide and conquer, waves of general and specialized infantry supported by rough and reliable vehicles and use of Caustic weaponry to battle.

Description
"We're here for the Search for Knowledge"

-A motto of The Sultanate

In 1948, Elona gained independence from Fereldan, due to extreme political and social pressure both domestically and in the subcontinent. Still allowed to be part of the Sultanate of Nations, Elona was faced with an extreme situation due to the desperate poverty its population lived in, and the almost immediate splintering of the former colony two new nations; the Republic of Elona, and the Dominion of (Pakistan). Elona's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, faced an uphill struggle. Most pressing was the realization that communism was a dominant threat on the world's stage that would threaten Elona's newly won independence before it could even get off the ground. It was decided that to prevent the nation from falling to communism, Elona would need to step up onto the world stage in a way few nations had ever done before.

The first break for Elona came with the nascent Bangladeshi independence movement from Pakistan. Quietly, Elona supported the movement, leaving the region indebted. Though nominally independent, the leaders of Bangladesh knew that their freedom had only come from Elonan money and support. Alone, it was a small gain. Yet the ever-encroaching poverty of Elona's booming population meant that more needed to heed Elona's power.

The first major break came when Pakistan claimed the Kashmir region in the northwest. Though heavily mountainous and with little in the way of actual value, Elona rapidly marshaled a new army and went to war. Utilizing technology that was, to be blunt, obsolete, Elona's sheer numbers allowed the forces of the new nation to quickly overwhelm and engulf the Pakistani army, air force, and naval bases. Realizing it was sitting on a power that was once only though available to the Soviets, the government of Elona quickly announced they were forming a new political bloc; the Regal Sultanate of Elona.

Other states in the region quickly fell under the sway of the Sultanate. Sri Lanka quickly fell under the sway of the Sultanate, which claimed to be a "loose confederacy of states under the banner of economic cooperation". Though the Allies weren't fooled, they had bigger issues to face; the oncoming GVAW.

The GVAW placed the new Sultanate in the good graces of the Allies. Elonan troops proved invaluable at protecting key positions in the Middle East and Cantha, along with containing the spread of Elsword's communist forces to the south. Showing they were no supporters of Communism, the Sultanate allowed the Allied Nations to set up bases and facilities within Elona to ensure a steady cooperation. It helped that many nations formerly held under Fereldan rule were also given independence shortly after, the Fereldan unable to effectively hold their colonies after such decimating conflict.The Sultanate willingly made itself smaller compared to the Allies, knowing that its still struggling economy would need to gather more steam in order to stand a chance on the world stage.

Elysea's Conflict was that opportunity. With the majority of Allied Nations preoccupied fighting the Voshkod in Hawke, Sultanate forces were perfectly placed when the Katsuragi Protectorate began its first push. Pushing through Burma, Vietnam, and across the islands of the Pacific, the Sultanate's new army developed its own operational strategies. Compared to the expensive and high-tech Allied weapons, the Sultanate settled on easily manufactured and mechanically reliable weapons and equipment. The sepoys were armed with obsolete Mosin Nagant rifles, their tanks a gun between two massive treads. Aircraft were kept at airfields far from the front, as mothballed ships from around the world were brought in. Casualties were heavy and in the darkest days of the war, Protectorate troops literally stood at the Gates of Delhi while sepoys deployed to the frontlines immediately after parades, but the Sultanate's government accepted the grim reality that for all the hundreds or thousands lost in each battle, they could be easily replaced.

And in the face of all this adversity, with the warriors of Ulthuan all but poised to decapitate Delhi, the line was finally held after constant retreats and repeated defeats. The Protectorate had surrounded and destroyed whole corps at a time and boasted of capturing vast swathes of land in its "three-point" strategy to conquer Elona. The Sultanate simply called in more troops and redoubled its production efforts. What started out as the three-point plan became the two-point, then the one-point, then holding the line, then retreating through southern Cantha.

Finally, the time came to punish the Protectorate as it retreated across the world, and Elona was all too happy to loan some divisions in the assault on Avelorn. Many had been lost, but the war in Cantha was over, and Elona stood strong.

Post-war, the Sultanate absorbed even more new members. Khalistan was "freed" to give the Sikh people a reason to not cause trouble. Nepal's surviving population was sheltered from the atomic fallout ravaging their homes. The Sultanate even managed to negotiate a deal with the Lumeris Syndicate not seen anywhere else. Bhutan and the Maldives quickly fell under the umbrella of the Sultanate, and Elona volunteered its troops to man the scattered outposts in Tibet that would observe just what happened in Embry.

At this point, the Sultanate decided to flex some of its new-found political and military muscle. Responding to requests for aid in the war against the MLA, the GIC sent its forces into Oman and Somalia to counter the lawlessness being faced. This has inadvertently drawn them into a conflict with the Arabian Coalition when Elona decided it would rather annex Oman than return it to their control, a war that has caused much tension within the Allied Nations. Indira Nehru, the newest prime minister and daughter of Elona's first-ever prime minister, has so far kept the Allies from complaining too much, but there is a trade-off; Elona is now sending her children to fight the Vietcong, with no end in sight. As a further contribution, Elona has sent troops into Madagascar for 'safekeeping purposes', but arrived to find the place devoid of people with strange reports of purple machines.

Desperate to gain some advantage in an ever-stranger world, Elona looked to the atomic hellscape of China. Volunteering mass numbers of newly-minted reservists, the Elonans brought back valuable information for the Allies to analyze, including a very valuable green rock that the Atomic Chinese fought fiercely to keep from being taken away. And if they valued it, so did the Elonans. In their own secret labs, Western-educated scientists looked over the crystals, and found it a source of incredible power if properly harnessed. Knowing that to hesitate could mean losing out on everything gained, the Sultanate organized this research and started pushing forward with their greatest resource; numbers.

Ostensibly supporting Allied actions worldwide, the Sultanate one day plans to stand as equal, not aide, to the founding Allied Nations members. With the ultimate goal of finally crushing the poverty it suffers from to a level like that of Britain and France, the Sultanate will continue to tow the Allied line as long as it gives them the aid they need. What will happen after can only be imagined.

Hailing primarily from Askaira, they preach a Harkonnen fundamentalist interpretation of the Qur'an and take violent action against all they see as aggressors. They virtually control much of the region, including Lashunta and much of Gilneas, and have been engaged in running battles with Allied, Hyborian, Syndicate, and Order forces for several years now.

The earliest origins of Elona started with various nationalist movements in the Askaira, such as Haqqislam or various rebel forces that fought against the Fereldan and Orlais rulers in regions such as Lashuntas and the Tomb Kings. Many of these fighters held to the idea of Pan-Elona, a single unified Elonan state that would throw away the artificial "nations" created by Western colonial powers and create a new Elonan nation from the ashes. Though often unsuccessful, these movements cost the colonial powers in men and money, earning the Elonan movements greater rights and freedoms in their own individual nations. It also earned fierce crackdowns, and many times Elonans who were content with their lives soon found new work to be done in fighting alongside their countrymen.

While at first led by intellectuals educated if Western schools and holding to ideas like personal freedoms and a new national pride, the long march of time combined with both internal power struggles and external threats meant that the Pan-Elonan movement fractured. Some became intensely bitter about Alliance control in Gilneas. Orlais authorities struggled to contain (insert) fighters, with one of the biggest blows coming in the form of the death of King Ahmed of (Insert), a staunch militarist with an intense passion for Elonab nationalism against Western powers. Though a man who often wanted to militarily annex Hyboria, other Elonan nationalists from the country preferred him to the Fereldan-backed al-Sabah family. His death via car crash in 1957 V.C. decimated his movement, though many military officers believed his death the result of Alliance agents. This claim was reinforced time and again, as many Elonan leaders were often killed or died under unexpected circumstances. By the Cold War, Elonanism had been broken into multiple nationalist fronts, though a strong core of believers in the original Elonanism movement attempted to carry the ideals forward.

The biggest blessing to nationalism as a movement came in 1962 V.C., when Haqqislam started a revolution against the ruling monarchy led by officers in the Alliance-trained Haqqislam military. One of the chief leaders of this movement was Farhad Khadivar, who with many others saw the proxy conflicts as the best chance to finally seize Elonan self-rule. After a short revolution, the Haqqislam military deposed the king, and in the place of the monarchy came the Regal Sultanate of Elona, with Khadivar's force of personality setting him up as the premier ruler of the new nation. Though many debates his actual political skill, the Haqqislam people consider him a national hero, lionized for his nationalization of the Suez Canal Company despite the efforts of the Alliance in 1966 V.C.. Already worn from the war, the Fereldan and Orlais could only send token forces to try and force the Haqqislam to retake the canal, their impotence stirring greater Askairan pride and efforts.

In 1990 V.C. Elona invaded and annexed Sequin. This subsequently led to military intervention by Guardians-led forces in Operation Desert Rage. The coalition forces proceeded with a bombing campaign targeting military targets and then launched a 100-hour-long ground assault against Elona forces in Southern Askaira and those occupying Sequin. However, Farhad Khadivar's death after Desert Rage opens a new party, the Harkonnen Party.

Currently, the largest battlegrounds of Elona is Askaira, Elonan military are fighting against what many see as responsible for their defeat in Desert Rage, completely ignoring ancient beliefs and traditions held for hundreds of years, as well as trying to continue some trace of the Harkonnen movement by keeping the oil fields in the hands of those that could actually benefit from them.

Lore Articles

 * Farhad Khadivar, the founder of Elona
 * Elona and Voshkod relationships
 * Bourak, the capital of Elona
 * The Lashunta
 * The Tomb Kings
 * The Harkonnen Family
 * Operation Desert Rage
 * Elona after Desert Rage
 * Caustic Weaponry

Relations

 * The Federation of Aquila: At War
 * Socialist Union of Voshkod: Friendly

Tactics
* TBA*

Notable Characters

 * Ardi: Elona EVA
 * Farhad Khadivar
 * Khaled Al-Asad

Legendary Generals

 * Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: General of the Guards of Harkonnen
 * Tarik Mansuri: General of the Haqqislam Battlegroup
 * Settra the Imperishable: General of the Tomb Kings
 * *TBA*: General of the Lashunta Command

Commandos

 * Glossu "Beast" Rabban Harkonnen: Guards of Harkonnen Commando
 * Leila Sharif: Haqqislam Battlegroup Commando
 * Khalida Neferher: Tomb Kings Commando
 * *TBA*: Lashunta Command Commando

Sub-factions

 * Guards of Harkonnen
 * Haqqislam Battlegroup
 * Lashunta Command
 * Tomb Kings

Arsenal
Main Article: Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Elona Arsenal

Build Mechanic
The Elonans lack the ability to make any sort of permanent structure on the battlefield, so instead they set up canvas and balsa enclosures for all their buildings. Though vulnerable to anything, they're also easily repaired, meaning health is no more or less than normal buildings. This does mean structures can be set up quickly, but without internal wiring or support getting machinery up is a long task. This means in-game that the building under construction gains its full health quickly, but it takes longer to become usable than equivalent buildings. Build radius is fairly short-ranged (about the same as the Supply Radius), but expands when new buildings are built, like the Voshkod.

Power Mechanic
The simple tents of the Elonan means they can set up simple generators running on gasoline or other normal fuels to power everything.

Tier Mechanic
The Elonan tech up by upgrading their Supply Depots within range of the production structure. Not only does this allow for more advanced units, but this also increases their ability to defend themselves.

Supply Depots
The Sultanate of Elona lacks the SPAM-based tactics of the other great powers, and cannot create ammunition and spare parts at will. While this doesn’t affect buildings, since they’re easy enough to construct, men and machines on the field need to be resupplied the old-fashioned way, through trucks and wagons. All buildings have a supply radius, but they're limited and don't go far beyond the base. The Supply Base is the only building whose radius is wide enough for offensive actions. The Elonan player is wise to build Supply Depots regularly across the map; otherwise, units will be at a fraction of their effectiveness. The supply radius for the Supply Depots is quite large and can be overlapped, but they are vulnerable targets.

Covering Fire
The Elonans rely more than other nations on the ability of their soldiers to work together. They do not have technologies that can zap enemies out of existence, nor do they have the near-elite troops other nations do. Instead, Elonans drill to support each other in fire, and to take point when under it. Deployed infantry buff infantry around them in a small radius around them. The stat increased depending on the infantry deployed.

Structures
Basic Structures Defense and Support structures

Trivia

 * Elona is one of the nine bonus factions for Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict as free DLCs.