$W{ CASE PANDORA
From the Encyclopedia Galactica (Ising University of Antares ed., January 2399) $}

CAMPAIGN: Evacuation of Capella
DATE: 2367-12-4 to 2367-12-6
LOCATION: Capella system, Capella-Vega jump node, Capella-Epsilon Pegasi jump node
RESULT: GTVA strategic victory; Capella-Vega and Capella-Epsilon Pegasi nodes sealed; End of Second Shivan Incursion

Case Pandora was the last major operation in the Second Great War.  After the first Sathanas juggernaut appeared in the nebular mist, the Security Council moved quickly to evacuate Capella.  Case Pandora, as declared by the Security Council, consisted of two major components: the evacuation itself, and node destruction to prevent further Shivan advances.  

The evacuation ran like clockwork, as long-practiced contingency plans were put into motion. Both the Terran and Vasudan halves of the GTVA activated their mothballed fleets en masse, drawing on boneyards as far away as Altair and Luyten. Refugees crammed into everything from ancient PVFr Bast freighters to unfinished but spaceworthy Fenris cruisers. More often than not, the evac ships were manned by raw recruits and elderly Great War veterans called back into service.  By the time the first Sathanas entered Capella, the evacuation was already one-quarter complete.

In the evacuation's closing stages, GTVA forces held the line against overwhelming odds to permit civilians to escape. More often than not, they took horrific casualties in the process.  For example, the 411th Jackrabbits, a heavy bomber squadron from the GTD Phoenicia, was reduced to 33% strength after the Phoenicia's famous 'bearbaiting' operation against the first Sathanas. The 411th was hastily merged with the remnants of the 108th Sun Kings and reassigned to Gravesend Station for a refit. It was not a long period of R&R.  Two weeks later, the Jackrabbits were scrambled to cover the station's evacuation, taking 50% casualties to destroy the SD Oriax. With Gravesend's interceptors decimated, the Jackrabbits - flying Ursa bombers, no less - served as the evacuation convoy's escort. By the time the convoy reached safety in Epsilon Pegasi, the Shivans had destroyed a third of the convoy.  Only two pilots of the 411th survived.

GTVA forces' sacrifices were not in vain.  Nearly 90 percent of the population had been evacuated by the time the Sathanas armada descended onto Capella's primary star. Fearing the worst, Command ordered the GTD Bastion and GTD Nereid, loaded with meson bombs, to destroy the jump nodes from Capella.

The GTD Bastion's final voyage was a bloodbath. The Bastion was manned with only a skeleton crew of volunteers, and Command failed to provide sufficient fighter cover to the task force.  Wave after wave of Shivan strike craft struck, overwhelming the Bastion's interceptors and cruiser screen.  Only the timely arrival of the elite 70th Blue Lions prevented a catastrophe. Heavily damaged, the Bastion barely reached the Epsilon Pegasi node, where her crew sacrificed themselves to seal the jump corridor.

But the main thrust of the Shivan offensive targeted the Vega node, forcing a rear-guard action by the Vasudan 20th Battlegroup and the remnants of the Terran 3rd and 5th Fleets. Less than five minutes after the Sathanas armada destroyed the Capella star, the GTD Nereid reached the Vega-Capella node and self-destructed, cutting the last remaining link to Capella.  Case Pandora had succeeded.

The sealing of Capella marked the end of the Second Shivan Incursion, and the end of major combat operations.  The GTVA's fleet had lost over half of its prewar strength, while 26 million Capellan civilians perished in the evacuation and subsequent supernova.  Victory, in the words of Admiral Petrarch, was celebrated with grief and mourning.