As Pyrrhus would have said: 'Should I have another victory like this it will end me.'
— General Falkenheim, after the successful recapture of the Main Asteroid Belt stations with grievous casualties.
The Solar War. A bloody battle for existence between humanity and its foes. In the inner Solar System, the brutal Dominion of Man commands legions of Rehabilitative Service Cyborgs, legions of steel machines inhabited by the souls of lawbreakers. Slowly, inexorably, the Dominion conquers the territory beyond the asteroid belt, uncaring of the losses they bear in exchange.
From the frozen world of Titan, the Neila Confederation defends every rock in the outer solar system with ferocity unmatched. Once an exploratory fleet of a great spacefaring race, these Neila in particular have had their technology sabotaged in political intrigue. What engineers survived the catastrophic warp drive failure labor constantly to preserve what remains, chief among which the uncanny ability of the Neila to imitate any lifeform.
On a terraformed Earth, the new millenium comes with the tolling of bells. No one is celebrating. Above the forges of Mars, a new fleet musters, determined to either strike a fatal blow against the aliens or die trying.
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.
Read the timeline:
Timeline (6 minute, 21 second read): Solar War Timeline
Suggested Order for Background Reading (if you have time to do so, follow the navigation at the bottom of the page):
A commander before the introduction of Rehabilitative Service Cyborgs wonders about what makes us human: Veritas (Story: 2 min 58 sec, Article: 3 min 35 sec).
A condemned death-row prisoner fights a long war after his conversion to RSC, meditating on the humanity in an army of machines in his last battle: Journal of the Standard-Bearer (Story: 3 min 44 sec, Article: 5 min 24 sec).
Recommendations
Short on time? If you'd like a short, tone-setting read, read Veritas (approx. 3 minutes)
Got five minutes? Read the first work in this setting, The Standard-Bearer (approx. 4-5 minutes)
Want a taste of history as fast as you can? Peruse the timeline with major events (approx. 6½ minutes)
Got ten minutes? Get an idea of the major conflict by pairing Solar War with the timeline (just under 10 mins)
Willing to put in 12 minutes to learn what this is about? Read all the bolded articles (12½ minutes)
Ready to invest 1/3 of an hour? Read the italicized articles with the bold ones (approx. 21½ minutes)
Want to see it all? The good, the bad, the ugly? Read the timeline and every article in the recommended order. (approx. 31 minutes) You absolute madlad. Might as well hit the follow button while you're at it :)