Hidden War

The Hidden War was an experimental event held during Skyrates 2.5 in which the Hidden Fleet invaded Skytopia. The event officially began on April 26th, but had opened for testing on the 21st.

Storyline

 * The Hidden War continues on from the Legacy Operation.

Introduction

 * Former Guildmaster Verron Kadath is confirmed to have been captured, but was granted a pardon by the Jade Hand in order to leverage his experience with ancient artifacts.
 * The Azure League has started attempts to decipher Hidden Fleet communication systems. Islo is assaulted in the initial raids across Skytopia.
 * Pirates are some of the first to clash with the fleet. They do not perform well against the strange craft.
 * The Crimson Armada spools up for war, readying its military. The Earthen Order and Court of Violets also prepare themselves to assist Skytopia.

First Decisions

 * An artifact recovered by the Jade Hand is broadcasting a set of coordinates. Mistress Eltsina decides to use the Jade Fan to investigate, although this will lessen the defense of skylands.
 * The Azure League is forced to evacuate Phillipia. The Desert Nomads decide to assist the scientists to decode Hidden Fleet transmissions, even though this leaves less to man the front lines.
 * Recognizing the crisis facing skytopia, the Earthen Order decides to freely distribute its supplies to those who need them.
 * The Pirates come to the Armada with and offer of alliance. Faced with a shortage of pilots, the Armada cautiously accepts.
 * Seeking to expand their numbers in the face of the Hidden Fleet assault, the Court of Violets focuses on training and recruitment.

Skyland control
The factions were cooperating as Skytopia and so, rather than competing with each other, each faction was given control of 10 skylands at the beginning of the war. Factions could voluntarily transfer control of a skyland to another faction as long as it was not controlled by the Hidden Fleet.

Indicates that the Hidden Fleet controlled the skyland at the end of the Hidden War gameplay event.

Leaders
Prior to the event, each faction selected three leaders to make decisions on behalf of their faction. As months elapsed between being chosen and the beginning of the Hidden War, a few faction leaders have abdicated.

Due to the secretive nature of the faction leader forum, the Azure League complained about the lack of transparency in the leaders' role. This resulted in the creation of a publicly viewable forum for the faction leaders during the fourth round.

Abilities
Each faction was given a variety of abilities that could be used by the corresponding faction leaders to affect the game world. In addition to time, each ability cost supplies and workforce: supplies were generated by trading while workforce was generated by completing missions.

First round

 * Early in the event, the Hidden Fleet lacked any goals and was guided by Chesterfield Taft and the use of faction powers. Although initially attacking from Grottopolis and Uurwerk, players eventually herded the Hidden Fleet to the south east, allowing Phillipia and Tehras to fall to overwhelming fleet presence. Other skylands, notably Olio and Alpha 7, also fell but were Purged by the Earthen Order.
 * Around May 13th, the Fleet launched a vicious (and unintended) assault on the northern skylands, capturing Aleut and Alpha 5.

Second round

 * On May 18th, the Hidden Fleet, attempting to establish a proper foothold, launched an assault on all of Skytopia's outer skylands.
 * ...Skytopia...we see you... / ...we know you... / ...you will be silenced. &mdash;Tertius, Secundus and Primus of the Hidden Fleet


 * The liberation of Aleut occurred around the 22nd.
 * On May 25th, the Hidden Fleet factional powers were implemented, coinciding with an escalation in the intensity of their attack.
 * ...let the skies shake before us... &mdash;Primus


 * The 25th also marked a Skytopian counter-attack at Alpha 5; with the Earthen Order's Purge the Wicked and Blessed Cache abilities forming the backbone of any Skytopian counter-attack, the Hidden Fleet launched a punitive attack against Lhasa.
 * ...hunting... ...Earthen Order...we come for you... &mdash;Tertius


 * On the 28th, after close fought battles all over the rim, including the temporary losses of Luz and Alpha 9, the Hidden Fleet withdrew their assault to consolidate their continued hold of Phillipia and Tehras.
 * ...you surprise us...Skytopia... / ...you are more prepared than we anticipated... / ...but you will still fall... &mdash;Tertius, Secundus and Primus


 * On June 4th, Captain Remy visited The Rotor and Prop with a tale of his daring foray onto an active Platform and acquisition of an artifact therein, which he gifted to whatever faction wanted it. He observed that the Hidden Fleet could probably blockade the entirety of Skytopia and inferred that the Barrens and Courtlands may be under attack as well. Remy also described visiting Phillipia and Tehras, where the Hidden Fleet had the people locked in their homes and were building something, although he didn't see what. Finally, Remy pondered on how nobody has seen/captured anybody from the Hidden Fleet proper.
 * While the Hidden Fleet was relatively quiet, the proximity of Olio and Luz to the Hidden Fleet controlled Phillipia and Tehras meant they were under constant pressure from raids (aka inf bleed). Olio was far more affected and held the slimmest lead of all Skytopian controlled skylands by the beginning of the next round.

Third round

 * On June 23rd, after an unexpectedly long period of silence, investigation into the Hidden Fleet revealed that they had ten new targets; meanwhile, the artifact Remy had stolen had been transported to the Azure League facilities at Valvia. Many factional powers were boosted but are weakened when used multiple times on the same target; "purge" abilities were altered to earn influence over time instead of reducing it by a percentile amount.
 * On June 24th, the Hidden Fleet assault resumed their assault on the outer skylands in ruthless fashion.
 * ...run...run... / ...hide within shadow... / ...we will find you... &mdash;Tertius, Secundus and Primus


 * On the 25th, the Jade Hand launched a massive counterattack, using their Sabotage ability on 25 skylands. Meanwhile, the Crimson Armada used their Deny the Enemy ability to draw the Hidden Fleet's aggression to Getty.
 * Via Signal Analysis, confirmed Hidden Fleet targets were Alpha 10, Jordan, Earthbreach, Alpha 11, Juliet (through exclusion), and Sharif. Of those, neither Jordon nor Alpha 11 were attacked. Assumed targets included Volstoy, Alpha 3, Steppe, and Luz.
 * On July 2nd, the Hidden Fleet assault ended with no Skytopian losses. The Hidden Fleet briefly attained the upper hand at Juliet and Volstoy but the Azure League's Scientific Precision confounded the fleet into helplessness, giving Skytopian forces time to rally before the Hidden Fleet assault ceased completely.
 * Well done Skyrates! We have managed to stave off the Fleet's third assault! &mdash;Lord Gilbert


 * After the conclusion of the round, Hidden Fleet influence at Phillipia and Tehras rapidly dropped to zero. Confirmed as a bug, the fix was for the Hidden Fleet to earn a massive amount of influence at both skylands at the beginning of the next round.

Fourth round

 * On June 8th, the Hidden Fleet launched a new offensive. Reports indicate that their main fleets are heading towards the core and scouts have spotted five assault fleets dubbed the Five Winds.
 * The Hidden Fleet's renewed assault hit the ever besieged Olio in a swift and brutal manner, crushing everything in its path.
 * On July 12th, the Five Winds were implemented but caused Skytopia to lose almost all of its influence and were disabled until the 15th.
 * ...let the winds blow... &mdash;Primus


 * Another bug prevented faction abilities from working, effecting a pause in the Hidden Fleet assault until late on the 14th.
 * The round ended on the 18th with no further losses. Throughout the round, the Jade Hand had used Infiltration at Echo, Isla di Pisa and Alpha 8, allowing players to earn influence on most of the core skylands by running inf on them. The Azure League's Precision ability also protected many skylands by preventing the Hidden Fleet from earning influence at the target skyland.
 * Congratulations Skyrates! We've managed to repel the Fleet off once more! &mdash; Lord Gilbert


 * Although the round had ended, the Five Winds continued draining influence for a few days. The Winds were still buggy and reduced Leng and Grottopolis to zero influence in a day; although the damage was reverted, Grotto was only returned to 20m influence instead of 35m.
 * For no apparent reason, Islo continued being attacked. Skylands affected by inf bleed included Luz, Tortuga, Alpha 7, and Alpha 11.

Fifth round
The fifth round was the final round of the Hidden War.

Alpha 7 was amongst the first losses, Skytopia's forces withdrawing after confirming that it was not one of the Hidden Fleet's priority targets.

The round then saw the Court of Violets be devastated, losing Romeo, Alpha 4, Goldenrod, and Alpha 5 in quick succession. Many pointed out that the Court put up little in the way of defense. Indeed, where the other factions splurged in the final days, using their powers until they ran out of supplies, the Court spent very little.

Alpha 9 was also lost, despite attempts to save it.

The round also saw the implementation of the Hidden Fleet's Carriers. As the Hidden Fleet had been largely repelled, Skytopia's finest quickly laid waste to these lumbering behemoths. Of the hundred known Carriers, only Carriers Cancer, Scorpio, Srulik, Nonus and Quintus managed to hide from Skytopia's fleets and escaped without being shot down.


 * Congratulations Skyrates! We have managed to drive most of the Hidden Fleet back beyond the barriers of known Skytopia! &mdash;Lord Gilbert

Trivia

 * During testing and again during the event, the game's timer went into overdrive, causing the game to think that years of real time had passed. Although repaired as best the devs were able, some visual elements that relied on the timer continued to display 700+ day durations.
 * The buggy Five Winds during the fourth round resulted in many breaking wind jokes.
 * Another bug with the reenabled Five Winds caused Skytopia to gain roughly 125 million influence at Uurwerk.