The First Moon Lord rebellion was a rebellion against the Society by the leaders of the Rim Dominion that occurred in 681 PCE. The rebellion began when Octavia au Lune overthrew and decapitated her father, the Sovereign Ovidius au Lune, with the help of Nero au Augustus and other supporters. After Octavia crowned herself as the new Sovereign, the Moon Lords allied together, refusing to declare allegiance to her.[1] It is unknown if the Moon Lords had any personal opinions against Octavia au Lune and her new allies, or if they were using the chaos in the inner planets of The Core to grasp their much-desired independence.
Major Participants[]
Octavia au Lune[]
When the rebellion began, Octavia remained on Luna, but dispatched the Society military to put down the rebellion on her behalf and gave specific directions to the Society war strategy, with a focus on using fear to make the Moon Lords surrender.[2]
Magnus au Grimmus[]
Magnus was the primary commander of Octavia's forces during the war, and carried out her orders to suppress the rebellion. Under Octavia's orders, he destroyed Rhea, the moon that held the central seat of The Rim's governing body, an act which earned him the moniker of The Ash Lord.
Lorn au Arcos[]
Lorn fought in the Moon Lord Rebellion on the side of the Society government. On campaign, he was famous for eating anything, and after a Gray bet him he couldn't eat stones, he gained the moniker of Stoneside when he refused to back down from the challenge.[3]
ArchGovernor of Rhea[]
The ArchGovernor of Rhea at the time of the conflict was one of the major leaders of the Moon Lords. When the Ash Lord came with Octavia's armada, he laughed and asked why he should bow to her. He was subsequently killed during the Burning of Rhea.[4]
Helios au Lux[]
Helios au Lux of Callisto was a staunch advocate for the Rim to rebel, and presumably fought in the rebellion alongside the rest of the Rim Golds.[5]
Major Events[]
The Burning of Rhea[]
The nuclear annihilation of Saturn's moon Rhea was the final event that ended the Moon Lord's uprising, as it was the headquarters of The Rim's government at the time of the rebellion. On August 26th, 681 PCE, the Ash Lord destroyed the moon with nuclear bombs from his orbiting fleet, led by the dreadnought flagship Annihilo,[6] wiping out the entirety of the moon's 60 million inhabitants.[7]
Aftermath[]
As part of the terms of their surrender, the major Gold families who led the rebellion were required to send one of their heirs from each generation to be wards in Octavia's household, held hostage to ensure that they will not rebel again.
The memory and damage from the destruction of Rhea was never forgotten by the Rim, notably inspiring the creation of the ballad A Memory of Ash.
Following the Burning of Rhea, Octavia established a secret nuclear weapons depot in the asteroid belt on Asteroid S-1988, where she stored a cache of five hundred 30-megaton nuclear warheads to be used to repeat the Burning of Rhea if the Rim ever decided to rebel in the future.
Sixty years and 200 days after the Burning of Rhea, Ionian ArchGovernor Revus au Raa and his nine-year-old granddaughter Thesalia were assassinated by Adrius au Augustus and the Boneriders at Darrow's Triumph in March 742 PCE as part of a coordinated purge of Octavia's political enemies throughout the solar system.[8]
Nine days later, Virginia au Augustus used her spies in the Hyperion Citadel on Luna to help the heirs of the Moon Lords escape from Octavia's court.[8][9]
Two days after that, the Raa and Codovan families attacked the eighth Societal Garrison Fleet at its dry-dock on Callisto, stealing or destroying every ship in the fleet.[8][9] House Raa declared Io's independence for the moons of Jupiter and war against the Sovereign, marking the beginning of the Second Moon Lord Rebellion, 60 years and 211 days after the first.[9]
During the Second Moon Lord Rebellion, Darrow used the memory of Rhea and the existence of Octavia's secret nuclear weapons depot as leverage in his negotiations to convince the Moon Lords to join forces with The Rising at the Battle of Ilium.[10]