Luna's War

A sticker commonly left by Poseidon sympathizers and military

**Luna's War** was the first (and currently only) armed conflict to occur in a space colony. It began on 23 May, 2101, with the Hilton Hostage Crisis and ended on 2 August, 2105, with the signing of the Treaty of Tranquillitatis.

## Causes

Luna's War is generally considered a prime example of a class conflict, with the citizens of Poseidon, sick of their exploitation by the wealthy of Serenity, rising up to overthrow them.

### Income Inequality

While many countries on Earth have struggled with income inequality for centuries, the income inequality on Luna in the late 21st century is considered an especially egregious example.

Originally started as a tourist destination, staying on Luna was extremely expensive, as one had to pay for the supplies necessary to live to be shipped from Earth, including breathable air and water. The staff of the hotels in the Serenity dome had to pay for this as well, and it was an expense their meager salaries could not bear. Soon, the wealthy residents of Serenity were giving predatory loans to the poor of Poseidon, driving them further into debt, and widening the income disparity. It is estimated that in January of 2101, your average Serenity resident had a net worth approximately 500 times the net worth of all of the citizens of Poseidon, combined.

### Class Cruelty

Many of the citizens of Poseidon had to deal with more than just income disparity: they were also often verbally, emotionally, mentally, physically, and sexually abused by the citizens of Serenity. Many sociologists believe the chasm between the wealthy and the poor caused the citizens of Serenity to see those of Poseidon as sub-human, and objects for their use, rather than people worthy of respect.

## Outbreak

On the 15th of May, 2101 Se To-Bao's son was heading towards the Hilton hotel in Dome B of Serenity, when a group of Serenity children began attacking him. One of the assailants (exactly whom is unknown to this day) managed to crush a portion of his skull. The child was rushed to the medical facilities, but was unable to be saved, and died in the early hours of 16 May, 2101.

Se wasted no time, and conferred with other members of the security personnel at the Serenity Hilton. Just before dawn on 23 May 2101, Se and the rest of the staff of the Hilton took possession of the tasers in the armory, and held the guests and residents hostage, demanding the redistribution of wealth among the permanent citizens of Luna. This event is now known as the Hilton Hostage Crisis.

The residents of the Hilton attempted to demand assistance from the staff of other hotels, but hearing what was going on led to an outbreak of other hotels being held at taser as well. By 30 May 2101, the entirety of Serenity was occupied and held hostage by Poseidon citizens.

## Warfare

As guns and weapons were not permitted in space, the only weapons to hand were various knives and tasers, which were mainly used by security personnel of the various businesses in Serenity. However, most of the wealthy of Serenity had no experience in combat, and were vastly outmatched by the staff.

While there were no major military conflicts after the hostage crisis, the wealthy of Serenity were extorted in order to continue supplying the citizens with goods from Earth. While there were a number of injuries, only a handful of people were actually killed in the war.

## Earth Reaction

The United Nations immediately began calls for Poseidon to stand down, but the messages went unanswered. Heated debate began to determine what should be done, with the general consensus being that one of the states should send armed military personnel to Luna to end the conflict and protect the citizens of Serenity. The question that caused the most debate is determining who would do it.

While most of the UN looked to the United States for assistance in this matter, the US was reluctant to intervene. While the US had a lot of financial interest in Luna, the general population of the US favored Poseidon, to the point that actively supporting suppressing the rebellion would be political suicide.

Further, a few powerful players (Most notably Russia and China) did not want to set the precedent of allowing the US to send military armaments into space.

These factors led to a stalemate that locked up UN delegations for the duration of the war.

## Resolution

In June of 2105, Poseidon began negotiations with Serenity to bring the war to a close. They reached an amicable agreement by the end of July, and signed the Treaty of Tranquillitatis on the second of August, 2105. This also effectively ended debate on Earth as well, as sending armed men was no longer necessary. However, the UN did install an Administrator to enforce the Treaty, and unarmed but highly trained military personnel from a number of countries to serve as a police force.