The Lightning Campaign

The Lightning Campaign was an attack on House Einbull's forces at Castle-On-High in an attempt to take the fortified planet in one fell swoop. The attack was in retaliation towards House Einbull for their perceived involvement in the vanishing of the Ataraxia, and kept with the Planetary Liberation Union's stated goal of liberating the people still shackled by monarchy in the name of free market capitalism. The effort was a colossal failure and marked the beginning of the Galactic Civil War.

The Conflict

Prelude

Though the Five Noble Houses managed to survive the Calamity and retain their power in its aftermath, they no longer had a centralized power to pledge fealty to. Their former alliances began to fracture, and tensions increased steadily as they stretched their territories further out into space. After the vanishing of the Ataraxia, House Karn and House Noian officially formed the independent Planetary Liberation Union. They pooled their resources and constructed a fleet in secret.

Deployment

The Union utilized the Launchers orbiting Bounty and Ianum to beam their secret fleet directly into the orbit of Castle-On-High, the fortified stronghold planet under the rule of dutiful House Einbull. Their plan was to catch the Einbull forces off guard and make swift work of their defenses, however they underestimated just how strong those defenses were.
The majority of the battle took place in the orbit of Castle-On High in its Prismatic Annulus - the collection of ice and minerals that forms its rings. As if expecting such an attack, Castle-On-High had devoted its resources to building defensive structures in orbit, entrenched in the Prismatic Annulus. They were also able to effectively hide hundreds of ships in their rings, successfully masking the size of their defensive forces.

Outcome

Unable to escape back via the Launcher, now disabled by Einbull, scattered Union forces fled in every direction, taking shelter on nearby moons, amidst asteroids, and in HABITATs. House Gallibrand, a longtime ally of House Einbull, moved quickly to send forces to their defense. Immediately following the attack, the two forged the Noble Alliance of Sovereign Worlds and began to pursue the Union forces as they fled across the galaxy. Under pressure from Alliance forces closing in, the retreating Union troops began using the colonies as shields. They conscripted colonists and began utilizing Dextra in combat.

Aftermath

Once outfitted with weapons and armor, Dextra proved to be wildly effective against more traditional fleets of spacecraft. HABITATs soon became the frontlines of the war, and they were treated with indifference by commanders on both sides. This marked the beginning of the Galactic Civil War, and the era of Dextra as machines built for war.

Conflict Type

Battle

Start Date

989 AC

Conflict Result

The Union was driven back in a rout. It was a devastating failure.