Interplanetary Conflict

The Interplanetary Conflict was a systemwide three-way struggle between the neo-communist Koslovic movement, the anti-communist and corporate-backed Frieden movement, and the Earth-centric authority of the United Nations and the Unified Earth Government. Four years of escalating short wars and isolated battles culminated in prolonged, open warfare between the colonial movements and the armed forces of Earth, the latter of which fought under the banner of the new United Nations Space Command. 
==Overview==
===Etymology===
===Participants===
===Theaters===
==Background==
Throughout the first half of the twenty-second century, many colonial populations came to resent both the Unified Earth Government and many of the major corporations that operated with apparent impunity. This anti-corporate and anti-government resentment gradually centered on a charismatic neo-communist native to Mars: Vladimir Koslov. Soon deemed "the most dangerous man in human space," Koslov inspired and helmed a movement that carried his name by 2137; the Koslovics initially focused their efforts on political and social changes throughout the system, but were constantly frustrated by UEG disregard and perceived corporate interference, and began to lean more and more towards violence as a means of change. Eventually, the Koslovic movement was branded a terrorist organization and effectively locked out of political dialogue, which cemented the movement's turn to violence as its only viable option. Koslov-aligned militias and individuals began gathering weapons, supplies, and spacecraft, preparing for a day when their turn would come. 
The Koslovic perception of corporate interference was not misplaced. As early as 2142, several major firms began seeking means to counter Koslov's movement. The Berlin-class heavy destroyers that entered service in 2145 was originally envisioned as a corporate enforcer intended for attacks on pro-Koslovic spacecraft and stations. When the Koslovic movement refused to die following its branding as a terrorist organization, a coalition of primarily German businesses began clandestinely developing a counter movement. Funding and supplying various anti-communist militias throughout UEG space, the coalition eventually found their ideal champion: Nadja Mielke. A political force unto herself, Mielke exceeded expectations, founding a political movement and easily winning the loyalty of the diverse movements and militias throughout the colonies and on Earth. Her "Peace movement" - the Friedensbewegung - was inaugurated officially in 2151 on her native Europa, in the city of Katreus. The Friedens, as they became known, publicly espoused peaceful, political means of confronting the Koslovic menace; all the while, the organization and its subordinate militias continuously expanded their military assets. 
The 2158 Thynia embassy bombing resulted in the Friedens being tarred with the same brush as the Koslovics, and they were declared a terrorist organization by the United Nations. 
===Human colonization of the Sol System===
Following early efforts during the first half of the twenty-first century, human space colonization developed rapidly from the late 2050s onwards. By 2062, the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) had been turned into an oversight entity with limited authority over colonial settlement. Backed by the authority of the United Nations, the UNOOSA commissioned a small but hardy space force and oversaw the establishment of settlements on Mars, asteroids, and the moons of Jupiter by 2080. These colonies greatly expanded in the subsequent decades, many emerging as autonomous or semi-autonomous nation states.
===Political situation===
====United Nations Space Authority====
===Corporate power in the colonies===
===Koslovic movement===
===Anti-Koslovics and the rise of the Frieden movement===
==Prelude==
===Thynia Embassy bombing (2158)===
===The Jovian Industrial Strike of 2159===
==Events==
===The Jovian Crisis (March—June 2160)===
===First interlude (July 2160 — August 2161)===
===Bloody Vesta (August 2161)===
===Second interlude (September 2161 — January 2162)===
===The Inner System Crisis (February 2162 — December 2163)===
====The rainforest wars and other Earth conflicts (February 2162 — September 2163)====
====Lunar uprisings (March 2162 — December 2163)====
====Death of Nadja Mielke (November 2163)====
*Death of Nadja Mielke, November 3, 2163
*Frieden offensive actions
*Neofriedenism and Delambre
*UNSA Expeditionary Fleet preparation
====Battle of Mars (November—December 2163)====
*Frieden deployment and occupation of Deimos and Phobos
*UNSA Expeditionary Fleet arrives at Mars and conducts the lightning Argyre Planitia Campaign (involving ODSTs and UEG ground forces)
*Founding of the United Nations Space Command and declaration of war against the Frieden and Koslovic movements
===The Interplanetary War (January 2164 — March 2170)===
====Mars Campaign (January 2164 — July 2166)====
====Lunar pacification (April 2164 — February 2165)====
====Battle of Ceres (September—October 2164)====
Correctly believing the 1 Ceres colony to be a hub of Frieden-sympathetic shipyards and manufacturing, Koslovic forces attacked the colony and its yards in late September 2164. While damage was done to several shipyards, factories, and installations, the UNSC destroyed most of the Koslovic flotilla and scattered the survivors. The UNSC declared the victory on October 17.
====Jupiter Campaign (November 2164 — March 2170)====
====The Jovian Action (August 2165)====
Following a lengthy buildup, the UNSC moved its immense fleet towards Jupiter and its moons. The fleet was intercepted and engaged by Frieden space forces on the edge of Jovian Space. For two weeks, Frieden ships sortied from Jupiter's moons and Trojans in a bid to force a withdrawal on the UNSC armada, all to no avail.
====Europa Whirlwind (June 2166 — September 2167)====
The Europa Whirlwind was a sustained attrition campaign by the Frieden movement against UNSC space forces operating in the proximity of Europa. From June 2166 to September 2167, Frieden forces conducted hundreds of sorties from the Jovian Trojans against UNSC forces, focusing their efforts on destroying or damaging cargo ships and transports. The UNSC suffered heavy ship losses during the Whirlwind, but Frieden forces were unable to prevent the UNSC from deploying massive forces to Europa and besieging the Frieden heartland. By September 2167, Frieden space forces were depleted and withdrew once more to the Jovian Trojans.
====Battle of Juno (April 2167)====
In April 2167, Frieden forces attacked and occupied the 3 Juno colony and the majority of its surrounding stations and shipyards. Unwilling to allow the Frieden occupation to go uncontested, the UNSC launched a massive counterattack and retook the colony in 15 days with heavy casualties on both sides.
====Siege of Ceres (July 2167 — September 2168)====
In July 2167, Frieden forces launched a takeover attempt of the 1 Ceres colony and successfully occupied the colony and its extensive shipyards and docks. Unwilling to repeat the costly storming of Juno, the UNSC instead put the colony to siege. Frieden forces on Ceres held out until September 2168.
====Death of Vladimir Koslov (August 2167)====
===Callisto Treaty (March 2170)===
==Aftermath==
===Post-Callisto holdouts===
==Impact==
===UEG consolidation of power===
===United Nations Space Command===
The Interplanetary Conflict created the United Nations Space Command, bringing the disparate militaries of UN member states under a central command and incorporating and expanding the existing space forces of the UN Space Authority. The UNSC grew enormously during the war with nearly half a billion personnel in various services by the end of the war. The space fleet added nearly 400 warships and several thousand auxiliaries; the UNSC Marine Corps was created outright and from it the UNSC Shock Troops were developed. And there was no going back to the way things were before the war: the UNSC remained an ever-present heavy hand throughout the Sol System, going effectively unchallenged until the Covenant invasion in 2552. 
===Environmental devastation===
The Conflict did immeasurable damage to the ecology of Earth and the terraformed worlds of Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Mars, and Io. 
==Legacy==
The Interplanetary Conflict scarred human civilization brutally. The war had touched practically every settled region of the system, killed millions, injured tens of millions, and traumatized innumerably more; no society or nation state was spared from loss, suffering, and devastation. 
Category:Wars