Serpent's Crusade

The Serpent’s Crusade was a religious war launched by House Va’ruun against the United Terran Federation (UTF) and the Freestar Collective from 2340 to 2343. Although the conflict was shorter than the Interplanetary Secessionist Wars that preceded it, its intensity and ideological fervor inflicted lasting trauma upon the Settled Systems. The war stemmed from the fanatical beliefs of House Va’ruun, a theocratic faction founded by Jinan Va’ruun, who claimed to be the chosen prophet of a celestial being known as the Great Serpent. While the war would ultimately end in peace under new leadership, its echoes would persist through the actions of the uncompromising Va’ruun Zealots.

Origins of House Va’ruun and the Great Serpent

House Va’ruun originated from a lost Earth colony ship that departed in 2299 and was presumed missing for decades. During one of the vessel's early grav jumps, a passenger named Jinan Va’ruun experienced a mysterious period of lost time. He claimed during this interlude to have communed with a cosmic entity he called the Great Serpent—a being he said created the Milky Way and then entered hibernation for countless millennia to recover its power. Now awakening, the Great Serpent would soon reclaim its creation in a prophesied event called the Shrouding. Only those who served the Serpent faithfully would be spared; all others would be devoured.
Jinan believed he had been chosen as the prophet of this being, and upon taking command of the ship’s survivors, he transformed their society into a theocratic order devoted to preparing for the Shrouding. Over the decades, this society formalized into House Va’ruun, a religious state built on absolute adherence to the Serpent’s doctrine.

First Contact and Rising Tensions

In 2330, House Va’ruun made formal contact with the rest of human civilization in the Settled Systems. Their flagship, the Mourning, arrived bearing messages of peace and cosmic unity. Jinan Va’ruun, now the supreme spiritual and political leader, spoke openly of the Great Serpent and his desire to spread its teachings across the stars. The UTF and Freestar Collective, wary yet intrigued, accepted Va’ruun diplomats and allowed missionaries limited access to fringe systems. Though some colonists found solace in Va’ruun’s religious certitude, most viewed the faction with suspicion.
Despite their initial pacifism, House Va’ruun’s presence unsettled the political balance. Their devotion to a singular eschatological vision contrasted sharply with the secularism of the UTF and the libertarianism of Freestar. Yet for a time, peace held.

The Serpent’s Crusade Begins

In 2340, everything changed. Without warning, Jinan Va’ruun declared that the time of the Shrouding was near and that conversion had failed. He pronounced a divine mandate to cleanse the galaxy of the “accursed” — non-believers who stood in the way of the Serpent’s return. Thus began the Serpent’s Crusade, a holy war waged in the name of galactic purification.
House Va’ruun fleets, driven by religious fervor, launched coordinated strikes on UTF and Freestar outposts. The first major atrocity was the obliteration of Unity Station in the Arcjet system, killing hundreds. The UTF and Freestar were caught off guard but responded quickly, deploying battle-hardened forces from the Interplanetary Wars era.
The war was vicious. Va’ruun tactics included suicide attacks, the use of psionic operatives who claimed empowerment from the Serpent, and widespread use of fear-based propaganda. Their campaign spread terror across Kepler Verge, Vega Prime, and other fringe systems. In 2342, the Fall of Amrathea—a Freestar mining colony destroyed after resisting conversion—shocked even the most jaded military analysts. However, the UTF struck back hard at the Battle of Halcyon Reach in 2343, crippling a major Va’ruun fleet attempting to approach Sol.

The Death of Jinan and the End of the Crusade

By late 2343, House Va’ruun’s forces were overstretched, and their logistics strained. On the verge of collapse, their crusade came to an abrupt end when Jinan Va’ruun died under unclear circumstances. His son, Jarek Va’ruun, ascended to leadership with a radically different vision.
Unlike his father, Jarek was pragmatic and deeply aware of the toll the Crusade had taken. In 2343, he sued for peace, sending envoys to the UTF and Freestar to begin negotiations. The resulting armistice recognized House Va’ruun’s territorial autonomy in certain fringe sectors but prohibited further proselytizing through military means. To demonstrate goodwill, House Va’ruun established an embassy in New Atlantis.

Rise of the Va’ruun Zealots

Jarek’s peace efforts were not universally accepted. Fanatical remnants of House Va’ruun, outraged by what they viewed as betrayal, rejected the armistice. These splinter groups became known as the Va’ruun Zealots. Twisting the Serpent’s teachings into a puritanical and genocidal creed, they vowed to finish what Jinan had started.
Zealot cells began operating in secret across the Settled Systems. Reports emerged of attacks in remote regions like Decaran, Moloch, Ophion, and Zosma. Unlike the centralized military of House Va’ruun proper, the Zealots functioned as decentralized insurgents, embracing martyrdom and chaos. Though smaller in scale, their impact remained significant for decades.

Legacy

The Serpent’s Crusade disrupted a fragile peace and reminded the Settled Systems of the dangers posed by ideological extremism. House Va’ruun, though officially reformed under Jarek’s leadership, was never fully trusted again. Their isolationism deepened after failed diplomatic efforts and ongoing Zealot activity. For UTF and Freestar, the Crusade served as a painful lesson in preparedness and the unpredictable consequences of first contact.
And in the dark voids of uncharted space, the whisper of the Great Serpent endures—its name invoked by zealots who still await the Shrouding.

Included under Conflict

Interplanetary Secessionist Wars

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

2340

Ending Date

2343

Conflict Result

House Va’ruun withdraws into isolation - Rise of the Va’ruun Zealots as splinter insurgents - Lasting mistrust of Va’ruun ideology

Belligerents

United Terran Federation/Freestar Collective

• United Terran Federation

House Va'ruun

Strength

180,000 combined troops, full fleet deployment

100,000 personnel, dozens of warships

Casualties

35,000 killed or missing

300,000 confirmed civilian deaths

50,000+ killed, defected, or unaccounted for

Objectives