The Battle of the Sahara commonly referred to as The Assault on Fort Helios or The Sahara Campaign was a massive surprise engagement conducted on May 14th, 2024, in the early years of the Imperial occupation of Earth during the Earth Imperial War, that was conducted as the opening part of Operation Orbital, a fixed offensive that was thought of by Colonel Chanler, in hopes of taking the war to the Galactic Empire in space.
Fought between the Earth Resistance and Galactic Empire, for strategic control of Fort Helios, that was known to house 2 Tyderrium Dropships that were being refueled after having to spend weeks conducting trips around other planets in and out of the solar system, and were known to conduct cargo runs for the experimental prototype Imperial Corvette the Sidiosus, that was waiting in orbit.
The assault left Fort Helios in ruble, and lead to the second phase of Operation Orbital, which meant the attack on the Sidiosus in orbit.
The Battle of the Sahara would continue on throughout May 15, as the Earth Resistance would hold their ground against a crushing Imperial counter offensive, until the boarding teams in space could take control of the Sidiosus and bring her down to Earth in order to collect the remaining Earth Resistance forces in the Sahara, in order to begin Space Operations as part of Operation Orbital.
In the end, the Battle left a heavy loss for both sides, which revealed that the Earth Resistance, lost a large quality of men and women in the Desert, some got lost due to the heavy Sand Storm that occured during the beginning of the engagement, while also receiving a heavy toll during the Imperial counterattack, but the engagement was known to have succeeded which in turn left the Fort Helios and ruble, and unstable, where as a result led to the fortress being demolished by the Empire 3 weeks later.
The Battle of the Sahara was known as the first official victory for the Earth Resistance.
