The Martian Civil War is a conflict between House Bellona and House Augustus that occurred during the events of Golden Son between December 741 and March 742 PCE.
Overview[]
The war began on Luna in mid-December 741 PCE when hundreds of major Gold families were gathered at the Citadel in Hyperion for The Society's decennial Summit. Darrow provoked House Bellona into attacking him in the middle of a sanctioned duel with Cassius, leading to The Gala Massacre. After the massacre, House Augustus fled Luna, only to discover that Bellona forces had reached Mars ahead of them. Lacking the ships to capture Mars quickly, House Augustus spent several weeks sailing between Jupiter and the Asteroid Belt recruiting allies before launching an invasion of Mars to retake the planet.
Major Participants[]
House Augustus[]
House Bellona[]
Major Events[]
The Gala Massacre[]
The war began with the Gala Massacre on Luna on the final night of the Summit in late December 741 PCE. House Bellona planned to assassinate Nero and his retinue during the sixth course of the closing banquet, but their plans were thwarted when Darrow challenged Cassius to a duel and provoked Julia into interrupting the duel to have her family kill him.
After the resulting brawl, House Augustus fled the gala, aided by House Codovan of Ganymede and House Norvo of Triton, only to discover that their ship had been sent back into orbit on the orders of the reigning Sovereign, Octavia au Lune. Their retinue was soon confronted by the new Rage Knight, Fitchner au Barca, who ordered them to return to their assigned quarters while he took Darrow to a private audience with the Sovereign.
While Darrow met with the Sovereign, Aja au Grimmus led House Bellona forces and a detachment of Legio XIII Dracones to murder the rest of House Augustus before they could attempt an escape, forcing the survivors to hide underwater in one of their villa's heated pools.
Siege of Mars[]
Following the gala, House Augustus and their allies sailed for Mars, only to discover that House Bellona and the Sovereign's forces had reached the planet ahead of them. With their fleet depleted by Agrippina au Julii's betrayal, the Augustan forces lacked the numbers to capture Mars quickly, and were forced to flee beyond Mars' orbital path toward the Asteroid Belt.
Meanwhile, Nero's assets were frozen and his asteroid mining operations were seized. The cities under his control that did not surrender were besieged by the forces of Bellona and Lune, as were the cities of the Augustan bannermen who remained loyal.[1]
One month after their escape from Luna, Nero convened a war council with his remaining advisors, bannermen, and high-ranking lancers to determine their next move after the ArchGovernor of Callisto declared their cause lost. During the meeting, Darrow and Virginia proposed a two-part plan to abduct the current class of The Academy for ransom and steal every ship in the Ganymede Dockyards to draw the Golds of Jupiter back to their side through fear.
Darrow's proposal was accepted, with Nero leading the mission to Ganymede while Virginia led the mission to The Academy. Darrow was dispatched to Europa aboard the Pax in order to recruit Lorn au Arcos to their cause, while Praetor Licenus was placed in command of the House Augustus fleet with instructions to lead the enemy forces on a wild goose chase.
Pliny's Coup[]
In an effort to undermine Darrow, Nero's chief politico Pliny au Velocitor secretly defected and leaked House Augustus' plans to the Sovereign. While Darrow, Nero, and Virginia left for their respective missions, Pliny seized control of the House Augustus fleet, murdering six Praetors along with Nero's sister and her children in the process. Rather than lead House Bellona and Lune on a fruitless chase as Darrow planned, Pliny instead led House Bellona's forces directly into the middle of Virginia's raid on The Academy.
Meanwhile, with knowledge of Darrow's movements, a squad of Praetorians was dispatched to Europa under the command of Aja and Tactus in order to ambush Darrow when he met with Lorn at the Arcosian castle on the island of Harmonia. Their unit was accompanied by Kellan au Bellona's fleet, who prepared to ambush the Pax and capture it while Darrow was on the surface.
Ambush at the Academy[]
With their plans leaked to the enemy, Virginia was captured when she approached The Academy. As soon as her squadron's leechCraft launched toward the Can and the training ships, a Bellona fleet let by Karnus au Bellona emerged from behind an asteroid and destroyed every single leechCraft, killing ten thousand Augustus troops.[2]
Raid on Ganymede[]
Upon arriving at Ganymede, Nero dispatched a lurcher squad to disable three of the nuclear reactors on the dockyards' defensive platform before approaching the dockyards with his corvettes. Upon boarding the moonBreaker, his forces were ambushed by lurcher squads and Praetorians, as well as Cassius, Fitchner, and the Hearth Knight.
Nero managed to kill the Hearth Knight, but was quickly captured by Fitchner and Cassius, while House Julii ships finished off the remainder of his forces. Following his capture, Nero was transported back to Mars, where House Bellona imprisoned him within the Citadel in Agea.[3]
Ambush at Europa[]
The Fall of Pliny[]
The Lion's Rain[]
The Lion's Rain was the last major battle of the Martian Civil War, in which House Augustus and their allies launched an Iron Rain over Mars to retake the planet from Bellona control.