Canterbury Wars of Aggression

## Introduction

Throughout the later part of June, a player by the name of Persisted was discontent with how Gaia functioned and wanted to prove that the server-wide peace on the server was going to inevitably shatter. To prove his theory, Persisted went on wars against every nation on Gaia under the nation of Canterbury Bight.

## Different Theaters of the Wars

### Massachusetts

In mid-June, Persisted decided to target Massachusetts. The active players of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts were not fighters, most never even fought other players. Before striking Massachusetts, however, it was decided by all remaining nations to store all valuables into overseas bunkers. At the bleakest points of the war, bencrab1 came up with a desperate guerrilla campaign to attack Boston, should it fall to Persisted, whereas the Massachusetts government-in-exile and any/all civilians would camp out in the surrounding woods and mountains waiting to ambush any enemy forces. Just as preparations were finished, and the last of the valuables were hidden away, Persisted declared war on Massachusetts on June 20, 2019. It is said that Persisted declared war while looking directly at bencrab1 through a window, then pulling out a rocket launcher and killing bencrab1 in cold blood. Fortunately, all of the valuables were safely stored away, and Persisted got little to nothing out of the war. Even more, Persisted never got the chance to conquer Boston, and the guerrilla tactics were abandoned.

### Ottoman Yemen

Ryad, a prosperous trading city at the outbreak of the war, was the first hosting city of the anti-Persisted coalition. The city was chosen because it was far away from any nation spawn (excluding the Ottoman spawn) and the Ottoman spawn was inside of a building, trapping any intruder in said building. Sultan Cas1511 of the Ottoman Empire allowed the meeting to take place in Ryad, despite heightening tensions between Persisted and the rest of Gaia. It is unknown if Ryad was ever under attack during the midst of the war, though most likely it suffered a siege.

### Albania

Albania, Massachusetts, and other nations in NATO all decided to safely store all their valuables away and hide from Persisted, as most players could not fight. For the most part this strategy worked, as Persisted got nothing out of both Albania and Massachusetts. Albania, under morte\_rossa would then join the Anzac Empire in a counter-attack against Persisted, ultimately winning against him.

### Texas

In perhaps the most peculiar situation during the wars, Persisted signed a neutrality treaty with Texan leader Jdanny, promising to not attack but only to attack if Texas were to join the war against Persisted. The real motive for this action hasn't been discovered, although there are theories this could have been done to weaken the American Union and take out its republics one by one.

### Norway

Norway was attacked during a meeting of The Council of World Leaders by Persisted. It remained at war for a couple of days before Canterbury declaring war on America and attacking Boston where many nations including Norway helped against the aggressor.

### Japan

There are little to no sources on the Japanese front of the wars, although it is highly likely that they were attacked by Persisted. AS a result of the attacks Japan became inactive.

### Anzac Empire

The Anzac Empire was one of the later targets of the Canterbury Wars of Aggression. This theater of the wars would last a week. Soully targetting the Anzac empire 2 times a day (mostly during the morning and at night) for a week nonstop. The current loyal citizens of Anzac who endured this was among Grimreaper5 of Killarney, Propin Maki GG\_lulle and theinnocente. All of these players were still active throughout the attacks. That formed a sense of community and exclusion from the outside world. When anzac was near breaking point NewAnzac(U.A.S currently) left the nation and the nation rights got transferred to Theinnocente. For a short while everything seemed lost untill SomeGuyNamedDon asked for his position back. Theinnocente gave it back without hesitation and might have been one of the "Geroy's of Anzac" Or Hero of Anzac. Anzac was one of the few nations which could mount an effective offensive and even executed counter attacks against Persisted. It took both the Empire and Albania to quell Persisted's attacks. With the fall of America and other major nations, the Anzac Empire became the new superpower on Gaia and used their power to try and return Gaia to its formal glory. It is said that Anzac player \_Foka singlehandedly killed Persisted in combat, causing the war to turn in the favor of the Anzac Empire, and in turn made Persisted go inactive from Gaia.

### Ireland

Ireland was one of the main targets of Canterbury Aggression during the wars. Ireland had been attacked by Britannia and Persisted many times before hand so this wasn't unexpected from them. Many nations helped to defend Ireland (and the world) from the Britannia and Canterbury menace but due to the Irish equipment being very low many citizens would take shelter in bunkers. Bunkers would become a defining feature of Irish protection as the server went on but these wars definitely helped Ireland in the areas of defense. The war involved both Britannia and Persisted's attacks on Ireland as Britannia demanded Dublin because "It's a nice city". Also a player by the name of Khonjin, one of the main rulers of Britannia, supposedly owned land in Dublin or so he said. The city was not handed over and after about a week the war was over and Ireland was saved once again from death, however this wouldn't last forever and eventually Ireland fell due to infighting among its leaders.

### Hispania

In Hispania, an unknown Hispanic ruler managed to defeat Persisted in combat outside Caracas in both May and June. This Hispanic ruler would go on to repeatedly repel Persisted and aid in the eventual downfall of Canterbury Bight.

## Aftermath

In the aftermath of the wars, Persisted became less and less active on Gaia, but the Anzac-Albanian victory was a pyrrhic one at best, because Gaia became severely inactive and Persisted, with the help of a few people in power, got admin rank, despite his actions against Gaia. It wouldn't be until August that Persisted's actions caught up with him, and got permabanned on Gladius. Meanwhile on Gaia, the player base has slowly been returning. By late August the server had mostly recovered from the fallout of the Canterbury Wars.