Colonial Liberation Alliance

"Free us of the tyranny of Earth. We do not care for your squabbles, and wars. We came out here to get away from this- so you bring it to our shores, forcing us to turn to the only solution there is. Well, as the old saying goes, if you cannot beat them; join them. And until we can be unafilliated with Earth, we will join the UNCE on the battlefield."

-Former Expeditionary Force Commander Austin, founder of the CLA.

Overview
The CLA was an insurrectionist faction, who battled the UNCE before the Exilion Wars. They were founded not long after the Skirmish on Okirin in 2160. They were initially a rogue militia group, using relatively old technology and firearms. However, they would ultimately be responsible for the deaths of thousands in their campaign against the UNCE. In later years, the CLA- later re-branded the New Colonial Liberation Alliance (NCLA) would resume their fight against the UCE, after the collapse of the Imperium in 2654.

Formation
Ever since Primus was first colonised in 2114, when space travel became easier, pirates and mercenaries quickly began to prey on Colonists travelling to and from the various worlds humanity had settled on. Already dealing with civil unrest on Earth, the UNCE turned a blind eye to this. Over time, several psuedo-militias on the various worlds finally began to organise, originally frustrated at authorities for refusing to help. These militias would be largely unsuccessful in dealing with the problem but soon caught the attention of the UNCE nonetheless. With an ever-growing army size and aquisition of more and more advanced technolgies, it soon became clear that Earth was becoming surrounded by potential enemies. To tackle this, several fleets were launched to establish military garrisons to 'protect' colonists from the threats, and tried to convince the militias to disarm. However, the time for the UNCE had passed, as it become more and more clear that military supplies were only being sent to try and make sure Earth wasn't in danger of overwhelming invasion.

During the campaign to eradicate outlaws, military operations would become bigger and bigger as tensions would result in several skirmishes against the militias on several worlds. Through this time, several high-ranking officers on the expeditionary force would become sympathetic to the colonist's cause until eventually, an order came that would start an entire war.

The Exilion Wars
During a skirmish on Okirin, misreports assumed that one city on Exilion was completely entrenched as a HQ for enemy operations. A heavy frigate was dispatched to the world and proceeded to destroy the city from orbit, killing millions of civilians and Colonist forces without reason- further investiagtion revealing tha there were no enemies situated there. However, this was the final straw. Exilion's Army Commander- Marcus Austin- outright rebelled against the UNCE. He, and the many soldiers whose families had been killed in the attack joined the militian soldiers and over time formed them into one army; the CLA. The rebellion of Exilion's main base (And subsequent takeover by CLA) would mark the official start of the Exilion wars. They soon declared war on the UNCE, unless control of colony worlds was (Ironically) relinquished to them. This would be deemed unacceptable by High Command and so war would begin, the first official inter-planetary war.

As the now-CLA forces had supporters on most outer worlds, the bases on several worlds like Okirin, Exilion, Secundus and Quadrin would be quickly overthrown, leaving the resources of those worlds now available for CLA. Other worlds like Tertusi would withstand rebellions and instill martial law on its citizens and remain 'islands' in a sea of insurrection. Within three years, the size of the CLA would soon challenge the UCE's, making up in numbers for what the UNCE had in technology. by 2163, the two sides would be locked into a stalemate, each roughly controlling a similar amount of territory and matching each other in strength. Over time, there would be several small invasions on worlds of both sides, to no avail until the CLA provoked a daring assault on Primus in 2201. The initial assault would be largely successful with the surprise attack (Well behind enemy lines, so only having a small number of ships.)eliminating most warships in-system and taking control of the planet. However, Primus was in striking range of Earth, so a much larger fleet was sent soon after and crushed the insurgent fleet. This tactical move would eliminate almost all of the CLA's mobile forces, leaving them on the defensive. The garrison on Tertusi (Which had successfully held it's own for years.) would lash out on a joint offensive on Secundus, creating a direct line into the heart of the CLA's territory. Now, the UNCE had the upper-hand and used this to their advantage, slowly moving into CLA lines until Exilion was the only frontier left. It held out for several weeks, before beginning to negotiate peace talks in 2214, but would use this as a diversion for a surprise attack on the lobby. This assasination attempt would prove they could not be trusted, and increased pressure on Exilion would eventually push the CLA to breaking point, prompting a surrender two weeks later.

Reformation
Though the CLA had been dissolved, its leaders publicly executed, the notion of colonial freedom never dissapeared. In 2654, the S'pher invasion of earth would shock everyone in the Imperium. As it became more nad more apparent that the UCE was losing, and the Imperium was collapsing, several officers would deseert and form the NCLA- or New Colonial Liberation Alliance. It would continue the goal set over 400 years prior; to free colonies from Earth rule. It would suffer crushing defeats against the S'pher, but it would create an informal alliance with the UOS for fighting against the UCE. This alliance would prove helpful in combat, as the joint forces would crush UCE armies in combat. However, this alliance would also break occasionally as the two factions would battle for control of resources abandoned by the Imperium. As of 2702, the NCLA is still an ever-present threat to the UCEDF.

Weaponry
Much like its enemies, the CLA and NCLA use primarily ballistics-based weapons. However,  the CLA did develop their own weapons, rather than weapons used by other factions. Their weapons were mainly developed for hostile frontier conditions on other worlds, where UNCE weapons were much more suited for Earth battlefields.

A list of the CLA's weaponry can be found here.