Solar War Military Conflict in Between Man and Machine | World Anvil
BUILD YOUR OWN WORLD Like what you see? Become the Master of your own Universe!

Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

Solar War

Long ago, in a global conflict long forgotten, my forefathers fought. In the end, they spoke of "a war to end all wars," and bought peace for their time. Naturally, war has not stopped. Each conflict is more terrifying than the last. But allow me my hubris in saying that this treaty will bring lasting peace for our kind.
— Ambassador Eden
  The Solar War refers to a series of conflicts still ongoing as of 3000 CE which involve two species: humans and shape-shifting Neila. After the breakdown of diplomacy following an unexpected plague, a first wave of war occurred, resulting in the Neila gaining a strong prescence in the outer solar system at great cost. This phase was ended by the Armistice of Vesta.   The second phase began shortly after a military coup founded a much more aggressive and militaristic Dominion of Man, which continues to this day. While diplomats like Ambassador Eden, who negotiated the Vesta Armistice, argued that humans and Neila could live in harmony, the Dominion was filled with military experts who argued that with the advantage of Rehabilitative Service Cyborgs, humanity needed to act quickly to eradicate the Neila before they regained access to powerful technologies currently damaged. As such, the Dominion's armies race against time to address this ticking time-bomb.

The Conflict

Prelude

Titan's forges run hot with titanium and steel. The logical conclusion from this military construction is that the Neila Confederation does want war. If that is the case, let us give it to them!
— Captain Shlykova of the Terra Incognita
  Two major events helped to precipitate the beginning of war with the Neila. The primary event was a large-scale plague that threatened the viability of Titan as a base for the Neila, due to one species of extremophile bacterium that had managed to survive deep space on long-forgotten probes sent to the world. The Neila interpreted this, as well as the human non-response due to diplomatic infighting, as a sign that humans were unfit to harness the resources of the Solar System, and that they needed to be eradicated.   The second event, which is generally argued to be the start of the Solar War, was the flight of the Terra Incognita, a secret military mission sent by suspicious commanders on Mars to monitor alien activity on Titan from arguably neutral space. The frigate was able to confirm massive disguised shipyards churning out cloaked ships identical to human vessels and large military exercises on the surface of the planet before it was fired upon. However, it was able to make good its escape, and its captain, Irina Shlyakova, was awarded the highest honors for discovering this threat.

The Engagement

Major asteroids were marked with red, green, and white dots based on their status, making the table look much like a Christmas decoration. But this was no light matter: millions would live and die from the actions we took today.
— Martian Chartist Captain
  Most of the fighting occurred on asteroids in two large groups: some battles happened in the main asteroid belt while others occurred further away in the Jupiter trojans. During the early phases of the war when humanity was caught off guard, enemy battlegroups nearly made their way within the orbit of Mars before being countered by Rehabilitative Service Cyborgs and pushed back.   During the second phase of the war, more emphasis was put on deep strikes into enemy territory by both sides due to the total nature of this war. Some vessels were able to slip past defenses and attack Luna Base and Titan itself, although the vast majority of campaigns occurred in the strategically important Jupiter trojans. Current projections indicate that based on purely material estimates, the war should be concluded by the year 3025, should the Neila not recover additional deadly technologies.
Map of the Conflict
Solar System
A map of the solar system. Currently in the Human-Neila war, the humans have strong control over the inner solar system and its resources while the Neila have a foothold on Saturn and the other gas giants.
Conflict Type
War
Battlefield Type
Space
Start Date
2966 (First Phase)
2989 (Second Phase)
Ending Date
2976 (First Phase)
Ongoing (Second Phase)
Conflict Result
Armistice of Vesta: Jupiter Trojans ceded to Neila, while human forces retain the asteroid belt (First Phase)
Second Phase is still ongoing
Location

Belligerents

Neila Confederation
Dominion of Man

Strength

Millions of citizens prior to terraforming and awakening crew from stasis: now in the low billions.   Number of soldiers unknown, but composition includes:
  • At least several million soldiers/infiltrators
  • Potentially hundreds of millions of automated servants
  • Hundreds of outposts and bases on Jupiter trojans and Titan
  • Nine to ten thousand spacecraft
Approximately 15 billion citizens total.

60 million soldiers at conflict start, 120 million at end, including:
  • Increasing numbers of RSCs as infantry (70 million by present day)
  • Hundreds of outposts and bases on asteroids, Mars, and Luna
  • Several thousand spacecraft of various sizes manned by a human navy

Casualties

Heavy: millions of Neila, tens of millions of automated servants, loss of dozens of outposts and one thousand spacecraft.
Heavy: millions of RSCs and human forces including hundreds of spacecraft (mostly small craft)

Objectives

In order of difficulty:
  1. Keep Titan safe
  2. Retain Jupiter trojans
  3. Attack Vesta group
  4. Attack other main belt asteroids
  5. Continue technological reconstruction
  6. Conquer Mars and Luna
  7. Conquer Earth
In order of difficulty:
  1. Keep Earth safe
  2. Retain Mars and Luna
  3. Retain asteroid belt
  4. Retake Jupiter trojans
  5. Gain control of Jupiter
  6. Conquer Titan
  7. Mop up remaining Neila in Solar System

Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

  • 2959 CE

    13 /10 18:00
    2960 CE

    25 /5 12:00

    Arrival of the Neila
    Population Migration / Travel

    We now know that we are not alone in the universe. With honor, we will entreat with these entities as brothers to humanity... to explore the unknown together.
    — Albert, Crown Prince of Kalmar
      At approximately 1800 UTC-Earth on October 13, 2959, multiple observatories set up across the Solar System reported an anomalous signature travelling towards the sun at extreme range. Further measurements indicated the station was approximately ninety kilometers in radius, made up of complex rotating rings.   While this event is considered to be the beginning of the Solar War, for several months after the arrival no action was taken by Earth due to the fractured state of its governance.

  • 2962 CE

    11
    2965 CE

    /3

    Plagues of Titan
    Plague / Epidemic

    They think we are weak. This contagion, even as we mend the weeping wounds of our damaged craft, they insult us! We are a peaceful race, we do not want war, but if they force it on us than we will defend ourselves.
    — Chief Engineer of the Neila Confederation
      Shortly after the beginning of the terraforming of Titan, the Neila took several waves of plague from human extremophile microbes that had managed to survive deep space on Huygens and other probes on the surface of Titan.   The haphazard response of the government of Earth and the greivous toll the plague took on the already-weak colony allowed more extremist elements of the Neila to gain power and plan to take on Earth.

  • 2966 CE

    5 /10
    2967 CE

    8 /4

    Journey of the Terra Incognita
    Expedition

    The shipyards! They are churning out ships identical to the Earth, Mars, and Luna-patterns, but equipped with powerful weapons and technologies beyond our understanding. Action must be taken with all haste, before it is too late!
    — Captain Shlykova of the Terra Incognita
      Suspicious due to the petering-out of communications from Titan, military organizations on Mars equip the ostensibly civilian frigate Terra Incognita with state-of-the-art sensor suites and send it on a highly classified mission to analyze Neila activities.   This event is generally thought of as the first phase of the Solar War, due to the frigate being attacked in pre-assigned neutral space. Even so, the Terra Incognita was able to escape its pursuers and relay important data on enemy militarization to the appropriate authorities.

  • 2968 CE

    1 /1
    2970 CE

    17 /2

    Loss of the Jupiter Trojans
    Military action

    Morale has hit new lows since the loss. Everyone doubts each other: we know not if we have been infiltrated.
    — Ceres Base, Commandant's Journal
      In a rapid first strike on New Year's Day of 2968, dozens of garrisons were simultaneously infiltrated and destroyed in the "Greek Camp" of the Jupiter Trojans, denying vessels from Earth any access to the outer solar system. A follow-up strike would reach the "Trojan Camp" a few months later. Due to the fear of infiltration, all human soldiers were not authorized into the asteroid belt and no aid was sent to support the embattled stations.   All resistance from human forces was stamped out by February, two years later. Through the capture of the Jupiter Trojans, the Neila Confederation gained access to an industrial base as large as the asteroid belt, becoming a powerful threat to humanity. Data on the uncanny shape-shifting ability of the Neila began being analyzed by humans nearly immediately.

  • 2970 CE

    3 /1
    2972 CE

    12 /4

    Fall of Vesta
    Military action

    While military forces worked on countermeasures to the threats that the Neila, The Neila didn't stop attacking. Two spearheads moved for the asteroid belt, and the bases around the asteroid of Vesta were quickly under siege. However, Vesta came prepared, unlike the bases around Jupiter. What was supposed to be a quick victory for the Neila ended up turning into a two-year stalemate.   Although the fortress fell eventually, opening a gateway towards Mars and Earth itself, important new data was gathered on the Neila's methods of infiltration. New identification protocols were formed to attempt to stop infiltrating ships from slipping through while allowing friendly supplies to reach the base. The first generation of RSCs were also piloted to safeguard humanity.

  • 2974 CE

    15 /2
    2974 CE

    3 /11

    Recapture of 490 Veritas
    Military action

    We are here to recover Veritas. We are here to recover the truth.
    — Corporal Barrett, landing at 490 Veritas
      The battle for 490 Veritas was a (relatively) insignificant event made larger than life through the records of one Lieutenant Kayode, who condensed several interviews with veterans into literary form to introduce human observers to the dangers of the shapeshifting Neila. His work, Veritas, remains one of the premier first-hand accounts for the insidious threat the Neila are.

  • 2974 CE

    4 /5

    Deployment of RSCs
    Scientific achievement

    I can only tell you that the lenses identify four in five correctly as Neila. The false negative rate is very low, but there are a significant number of false positives. To mitigate this, have multiple team members in a squad. Innocents will die: this is total war. If we let them live, more will fall.
    — Saif al-Din, developer of the RSC
      As the Neila Confederation made more gains during the early phases of the war, human teams on Luna finally developed a technology to properly see through Neila personal cloaking technology. So-called Rehabilitative Service Cyborgs had to be trained for at least one year (more for better detection results).   By 2974, teams of RSCs had been deployed across the Mars Trojans and the Hilda Group of asteroids. These groups proved highly effective at mitigating the primary advantage of the Neila, their ability to disguise themselves. This turned the tide of the war, preventing the Neila from taking any of humanity's core planets.

  • 2976 CE

    13 /8

    Armistice of Vesta
    Diplomatic action

    Ambassador Eden says this is peace. I say that is a lie: we have given them twenty years to re-equip and re-arm. If there is one thing this conflict has taught me, it is that the current state of governance is too weak. Still, I cannot replace it until the time is right.
    — Journal Entries of Captain Hughes of the Harbinger
      The Armistice of Vesta ended the first phase of the Solar War. The Neila Confederation gained the millions of asteroids in the Jupiter Trojans, while Earth retained the inner Solar System and the asteroid belt. The armistice was highly unpopular with many military leaders on the fringes of the Solar System, who saw it as a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that had died during the conflict.   These hard feelings about the Armistice would lead up to the Martian Coup four years later, causing eight years of a dual military-civilian government of the inner Solar System until the Dominion of Man was founded after the reconquest of Earth.

  • 2980 CE

    17 /2

    Martian Revolt
    Revolution

    With the utmost respect for the lives of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and security of all mankind, the Dominion of Man is hereby established to independently protect and serve the cradle of humanity. The civilian governments of Mars have until midnight UTC-Mars to return power to the military, or it will be taken by force.
    — Declaration of Military Independence
      Fed up with the ineffectiveness and feebleness of the fractured governments of Earth and Mars, a group of like-minded soldiers orchestrate a coup to bring the Dominion of Man into being, a single force for humanity to counter the threat of the Neila and their Confederation. Not wishing to test their own might against other humans, the governments of Earth decide to recognize a "dual governance" with the Dominion protecting the outskirts of mankind while the citizenry of Earth and (nominally) Luna remain under civilian control.

  • 2986 CE

    19 /9
    2986 CE

    2 /10

    Recapture of Earth
    Military action

    Hear me, brothers, and rejoice! For the first time in millenia, humanity is free and united and strong! We will push back the threat of invaders as one and usher in a new age of peace and prosperity!
    — General Falkenheim
      Six years after the establishment of the "dual government" of the inner solar system, General Falkenheim and the commanders of the Martian military rapidly move to reconquer Earth with the aid of fellow co-conspirators on Luna Base. This event (or the Battle for Hektor) is generally thought of as the starting blow of the second phase of the Solar War.

  • 2998 CE

    15 /6
    2999 CE

    24 /10

    First Invasion of Titan
    Disaster / Destruction

    An entire army group, encircled and crushed on the cold killing fields of Titan. The days grow ever darker for the Dominion of Man.
      A grave setback for the Dominion of Man, hundreds of thousands of troops and a few dozen significant warships were lost as the Dominion pushed its luck in the Jupiter Trojans, sending an advance strike force of 200,000 (mainly Rehabilitative Service Cyborgs) to establish a landing zone on the Neila Confederation homeworld of Titan. The mission was not a total failure, however, as the strike force was able to disable some shields and defensive platforms, allowing what remained of the fleet in orbit to orbitally bombard the moon, setting Neila technology back further. This is also where the final excerpt from Journal of the Standard-Bearer was written.

Comments

Please Login in order to comment!