Terran-Lilliput War

## Combatants

* Terran Empire

* Lilliputian Empire

The Terran-Lilliput War was a conflict between the aforementioned Terran Empire and Lilliputian Empire, ignited as a result of Terran intrusions in the Lilliputian Archipelago. Following the declaration of war, the Lilliputians surrendered within less than 36 hours, as the difference in scale between the two sides was not apparent until the conflict.

## Prelude

Located in the far eastern sectors of the Terran Empire, the Lilliputian Archipelago is a dense island chain far removed from most shipping lanes and fishing grounds. And while ships have been known to occasionally pass by the outer edges of the archipelago, its deeper islands remained unexplored.

### SS Antelope

Two years prior, during a regional solar storm, a westbound barque by the name of the *SS Antelope* was blown off its course en route to Lowestoft, eventually finding itself deep within the archipelago. Following attempts to navigate out of the island chain, they were hailed by an unseen ship, aggressively demanding they identify themselves as they were in Lilliputian territory. Despite full compliance from the barque captain and no visual contact, the self-proclaimed Lilliputian navy continued to act belligerent, prompting the *Antelope* to simply leave the area and file a report.

### RLS Adventure

Operating on an armed packet service, the war brig *RLS Adventure* would befall a similar experience to the *Antelope*, taking shelter from a storm inside the archipelago. As with the *Antelope*, the *Adventure* soon began receiving threatening messages from an unknown source. As the brig captain began pressing their own questions, however, the opposing party only grew more hostile, threatening to fire upon the brig. While the crew did report hearing distant gunfire, there were no bullet impacts. Again, with growing hostility and without visual confirmation, the *Adventure* simply navigated out of the archipelago.

### RLS Raleigh

With the *Adventure's* report to the admiralty and the resurfacing of the *Antelope's* report, deployment of a fleet into the region was authorized to investigate. In early 3 ATP, the *RLS Raleigh*, a refurbished scout frigate, and a squadron of four *Exeter*-class sloops and two *Stinger*-class torpedo boats were dispatched to the archipelago. As the seven ships swept the island chain, they were once again contacted by the still-unseen Lilliputian Empire. This time with a statement viewing the presence of several warships as an act of war, and that they would be declaring war on the Terran Empire. While the fleet continued to sweep the archipelago, the initial sweep found nothing out of the ordinary, with distant cannonfire once again being audible. Without much intel to go off of, the fleet pulled out of the archipelago and set up a defensive line outside the chain, forwarding the news to the admiralty, and subsequently parliament and the Queen.

## The War

With the declaration of war, the Admiralty was hesitant to worry too much about an enemy that was hiding in a small island chain. Regardless, Grand Admiral Blake authorized the deployment of a "small Imperial task force" to take care of the problem once and for all. Less than 24 hours after the war declaration, the 15th assault fleet arrived to set up an exclusion zone, consisting of 5 *Galaxy*-class men-of-war, 7 *Essex*-class frigates, over a dozen support frigates, cutters, and sloops, 2 *Resource*-class supply tenders, and a *StarHammer*-class man-of-war. Dividing into four groups, the two fleets pushed into the archipelago, the frigates and cutters bombarding islands to clear room for the larger men-of-war. As the fleet advanced deeper into the island chain, they continued to receive threats and, as Captain Odakota phrased it, "trash talk". For hours, the fleets continued their sweep until the *RLS Ashcroft* spotted a distant frigate of unknown design and flying unknown flag. With this, the fleets began to converge as more Lilliputian frigates and sloops came into view, with spotters aboard the *RLS Majestic* estimating the frigates to be 60 meters in length. However as the Terran fleet advanced closer to their Lilliputian adversaries, it started to become apparent that the size and distance of the frigates were merely an illusion, the crews coming to the realization that the Lilliputian frigates are not large ships at a distance, but small, 5 meter ships at extremely close range. While the Terran fleet made an attempt to avoid a collision, a Lilliputian frigate would be sideswiped by the *RLS Jupiter* and another colliding with one of the *RLS Dunkirk's* wing sails. With the initial shock worn off, reports indicate that much of the crews burst out laughing that they were being harassed by what was essentially an armada of 15 model boats.

For the Lilliputians, however, the opposite was true for the illusion. As during prior engagements, what they believed to be a close ship, turned out to be a much larger vessel at a much larger distance. It is reported that when the true size of the Terran ships became apparent, the admiral of the fleet simply returned to his quarters without saying a word.

## Aftermath

32 hours and 14 minutes after the declaration of war, the King of Lilliput signed the treaty of unconditional surrender aboard the *RLS Formidable*. While many within both Empires figured an appropriate outcome would to simply allow the Lilliputian Empire to exist within their archipelago (with their flagship being taken and displayed in the Imperial Palace as a trophypiece), Parliament instead voted to auction off the Lilliputians' assets to wealthy businessmen intent on turning the capital city of Mildendo into something of a zoo for Terran citizens, even going so far as to place Lilliputians into terrariums to sell as pets, sparking outrage amongst many Terrans.