Battle of Tuchanka

The Battle of Tuchanka was one of the first major conflicts in the High Galactic War, consisting of an invasion of the krogan homeworld by the forces of the Citadel Alliance.

Prelude
Fairly early into the conflict, the Salarian Union proposed that they make a campaign to knock the krogan, whom they viewed as the greatest threat, out of the war quickly. While the vorcha, still nursing a grudge against their former krogan masters, were quick to agree, the asari were hesitant, aware of the power the krogan possessed. They were convinced by a salarian general named Sirton, who reasoned that the krogan would desire to be at the front lines, and there would not possess a particularly strong defense at their homeworld. With this, the asari reluctantly agreed, and General Sirton was given command of the strike force.

Space Battle
A massive combined, asari, salarian, and vorcha fleet blasted into space around Tuchanka, where they encountered an average sized krogan defense fleet. While it was more than Sirton had expected, he pushed the invasion forward. While the Citadel fleet clearly had the advantage, there was another thing Sirton had not expected: the presence of Urdnot Wrex.

The Emperor of the Krogan had returned to the homeworld tto manage the war resources, and to help organize further assaults. Thus he was sitting on the Throne of Rubble when the Citadel launched their attack. Knowing that the krogan would have the advantage if they fought on the ground, he sent some of the fleet out to go get reinforcements, and allowed the invading forces time to land.

Ground Battle
Sirton was understandbly suspicious, but Admiral Tekana of the asari wanted to take the advantage. Together with General Osk of the vorcha, they overruled Sirton's authority, and pressed the invasion forward to land. Sirton refused to commit salarian troops, and instead commited his forces to try and maintain dominace in space.

Asari commandos, and vorcha infantry soon landed on Tuchanka, only to run into a hail of weapons fire. The already highly moitvated krogan had been further rallyed by their emperor, who had devised a full on strike strategy to prevent the invaders from gaining any ground. With Wrex at the head, the krogan halted the enemies' advance. The asari and the vorcha never advanced further than their landing zone.

It was becoming increasingly clearer that they had no chance of taking Tuchanka by land, but krogan cannons prevented them making a retreat, forcing them to hold their position until the cannons were taken out.A band of commandos managed to take out some of the cannons, allowing for some forces to evacuate, but many of the transports were shot down. The krogan pushed the Citadel forces into tighter and tighter formation, until the asari and vorcha were forced to surrender.

Second Space Battle
Learning that the landing had failed miserably, General Sirton convinced the remaining asari and vorcha forces to regroup the fleet, but it was too late. A combined turian and krogan force entered into orbit, catching the Alliance fleet offguard. It soon became clear that they would not win the battle, and the Alliance began to retreat, but the disorganized forces left the fleet exposed.

Many vessels, mostly asari and vorcha (the salarians were in a less vunerable position), were destroyed, and thousands of lives were lost. Eventually, they pushed through the mass relay, and escaped to salarian space. The Pact opted to not pursue them.

Aftermath
The Battle of Tuchanka was the first large scale battle of the war, claiming thousands of lives, and costing both sides significantly. The one race this did not disturb was the krogan, who instead used it as further motivation, as a way of showing their sltrength by defending their homeworld alone for a time.

With the battle won, the surviving Citadel soldiers were either interrogate, or executed, generally depending on whether they fell into krogan or turian hands. Though most asari were spared, many of the vorcha were executed by angry krogan. Not wanting the blood of so many aliens on his hands, Primarch Garrus arranged for the POWs to be transferred to turian jurisdiction.

The failure of of Citadel forces to take control over the planet, and the complete decimation of their forces had a resounding effct on member races. Though the vorcha were used to defeat and disappointment from their years prior to their rise, this was the first major defeat the Dominion, and General Osk was promptly killed by Dominar Gryll. The asari were also shaken by such a  devastating defeat by another race,, and the salarians were disqueited by being defeated by the krogan.