The War of the Millions
Also know as The Ascension Wars
“The Scourge are gone. The chains are broken. But now the strong must decide what humanity will become.”
• Mechs destroyed: ~12 billion
• Human casualties: ~35-50 billion, including combat deaths, planetary bombardments, and starvation due to supply collapses.
With no centralized control over supply chains, ship production, or military coordination, naval battles were often unforgiving slugfests, as rival fleets fought to wipe each other out completely. Without the logistical stability of The Scourge’s former supply networks, many factions relied on salvaging wrecks mid-battle, using whatever they could to keep their ships operational. Entire planetary systems became ship graveyards, with massive derelict warships and destroyed stations floating lifelessly in high orbit. Some battles lasted years, as factions reinforced contested systems repeatedly, refusing to surrender valuable industrial zones. One of the most infamous battles of the war was the Siege of Khorvast Prime, where over 200,000 ships engaged in a three-year battle, leaving the planet’s orbit so cluttered with wreckage that its surface was plunged into eternal twilight from the sheer amount of debris blocking sunlight. Mech Warfare & The Burning of Cities
Unlike traditional wars that focused on planetary invasions, the War of the Millions saw an unprecedented reliance on mechs as the primary tool of conquest. The legacy of humanity’s enslavement under the Vendrasi meant that mechs were already in widespread use, originally as labor tools—but now, they were retrofit for war. At the beginning of the war most factions lacked the ability to produce new mechs en masse, so instead, they salvaged and repaired whatever they could. It was common to see heavily modified, barely functioning machines held together by scavenged parts, yet still sent into battle. Urban combat was catastrophic—entire cities were leveled by mech battles, as rival factions used their titanic war machines to lay waste to anything in their path. In many cases, factions would bombard their own cities rather than let them fall into enemy hands, turning former industrial hubs into lifeless, radioactive ruins. The Battle of Jynsa Secundus was one of the bloodiest mech engagements in history, with over 250,000 mechs destroyed in a four-month battle that reduced the capital city to nothing but glass and craters. The Collapse of Civilian Infrastructure
With the disintegration of centralized governance, the war was not only fought with guns and mechs, but also through the starvation, disease, and societal collapse that followed. Many regions descended into chaos, with worlds once supported by Scourge-controlled supply chains now left to fend for themselves. Some planets saw famine wipe out their populations before a single battle was fought, as local governments were too weak to sustain their people in the midst of constant raiding and warfare. On some worlds, entire civilian populations were conscripted into warbands, often armed with whatever they could find and sent to die in futile attempts to hold territory.
• Entire worlds remain abandoned, their surfaces still scorched from orbital bombardments.
• Millions of mechs and ships lie derelict, floating in a desolate expanse or buried in forgotten battlefields.
• Factions still clash on the fringes, as smaller warlords continue to rise and fall, trying to carve out what little remains. Yet, out of this greatest war of human history, a new era was born—one where humanity was finally free from The Scourge, yet forever shaped by the destruction that followed their fall. The War of the Millions did not define the end of an age, but rather, the beginning of the wars yet to come.
Overview
The War of the Millions was one of the most chaotic and brutal conflicts in human history, fought in the years immediately following the fall of the Vendrasi Scourge. With the eradication of humanity’s oppressors, a massive power vacuum was left in their wake—one that countless warlords, military commanders, and revolutionaries sought to fill. The war’s name comes from the sheer number of factions, leaders, and would-be emperors who attempted to carve out their own piece of the galaxy. What began as isolated skirmishes between former slave militias, rogue planetary governors, and ambitious fleet captains soon escalated into a massive, multi-front conflict spanning across hundreds of star systems. For nearly two decades, war consumed human space, as alliances formed and collapsed, fleets burned in orbit, and countless mechs tore across ruined cities in a desperate bid for control. In the end, only a handful of factions emerged victorious, the most powerful among them being the Varkhír Brotherhood, which solidified its dominance over the region containing humanity’s lost homeworld somewhere within. But this victory came at an enormous cost—entire planets were scorched beyond recovery, industrial centers were stripped bare, and the number of dead reached unprecedented levels.Casualty Estimates:
• Ships lost: ~23,300,000 (from light escort ships to massive capital warships)• Mechs destroyed: ~12 billion
• Human casualties: ~35-50 billion, including combat deaths, planetary bombardments, and starvation due to supply collapses.
The Nature of the Fighting
The war was not a unified conflict—it was an endless, shifting web of battles, as warlords and factions clashed over resources, territories, and ideological supremacy. While each front had its own unique character, several common themes defined the War of the Millions: Orbital Wastelands & Fleet GraveyardsWith no centralized control over supply chains, ship production, or military coordination, naval battles were often unforgiving slugfests, as rival fleets fought to wipe each other out completely. Without the logistical stability of The Scourge’s former supply networks, many factions relied on salvaging wrecks mid-battle, using whatever they could to keep their ships operational. Entire planetary systems became ship graveyards, with massive derelict warships and destroyed stations floating lifelessly in high orbit. Some battles lasted years, as factions reinforced contested systems repeatedly, refusing to surrender valuable industrial zones. One of the most infamous battles of the war was the Siege of Khorvast Prime, where over 200,000 ships engaged in a three-year battle, leaving the planet’s orbit so cluttered with wreckage that its surface was plunged into eternal twilight from the sheer amount of debris blocking sunlight. Mech Warfare & The Burning of Cities
Unlike traditional wars that focused on planetary invasions, the War of the Millions saw an unprecedented reliance on mechs as the primary tool of conquest. The legacy of humanity’s enslavement under the Vendrasi meant that mechs were already in widespread use, originally as labor tools—but now, they were retrofit for war. At the beginning of the war most factions lacked the ability to produce new mechs en masse, so instead, they salvaged and repaired whatever they could. It was common to see heavily modified, barely functioning machines held together by scavenged parts, yet still sent into battle. Urban combat was catastrophic—entire cities were leveled by mech battles, as rival factions used their titanic war machines to lay waste to anything in their path. In many cases, factions would bombard their own cities rather than let them fall into enemy hands, turning former industrial hubs into lifeless, radioactive ruins. The Battle of Jynsa Secundus was one of the bloodiest mech engagements in history, with over 250,000 mechs destroyed in a four-month battle that reduced the capital city to nothing but glass and craters. The Collapse of Civilian Infrastructure
With the disintegration of centralized governance, the war was not only fought with guns and mechs, but also through the starvation, disease, and societal collapse that followed. Many regions descended into chaos, with worlds once supported by Scourge-controlled supply chains now left to fend for themselves. Some planets saw famine wipe out their populations before a single battle was fought, as local governments were too weak to sustain their people in the midst of constant raiding and warfare. On some worlds, entire civilian populations were conscripted into warbands, often armed with whatever they could find and sent to die in futile attempts to hold territory.
The Rise of the New Powers
Though the War of the Millions was a time of unparalleled destruction, it was also the crucible in which new nations were forged. By the war’s end, hundreds of factions had risen and fallen, but a dozen or so emerged victorious, claiming vast territories and establishing the first true human empires of the post-Scourge era.The Aftermath
The War of the Millions ended not with a decisive peace treaty, but simply because those who survived had consolidated enough power to bring stability to their regions. The scars of the war are still felt to this day:• Entire worlds remain abandoned, their surfaces still scorched from orbital bombardments.
• Millions of mechs and ships lie derelict, floating in a desolate expanse or buried in forgotten battlefields.
• Factions still clash on the fringes, as smaller warlords continue to rise and fall, trying to carve out what little remains. Yet, out of this greatest war of human history, a new era was born—one where humanity was finally free from The Scourge, yet forever shaped by the destruction that followed their fall. The War of the Millions did not define the end of an age, but rather, the beginning of the wars yet to come.
Conflict Type
War
Start Date
1 AE
Ending Date
174 AE
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