2326 The Interplanetary War That Wasn't

Earth-nostalgic factions in the Solar System have repeatedly tried to prevent Earth from adopting isolationism, then to alleviate the separation, and finally to forcefully break isolationism, as seen in the Coup of the Space Traders.

In 2322, these extremists within the interplanetary society begin broadcasting propaganda to Earth's population. These transmissions, originating from lunar bases, high Earth orbit stations, and Lagrange point habitats, aim to inform Earth's citizens about the advantages of space resources and the perceived falsehoods propagated by the Earth Union government. They claim the people of Earth "deserve the truth", while the Union government is lying to the poor "ground dwellers". The widespread availability of personal assistants and devices, ranging from radio to multimodal receivers on Earth, makes it easy for the population to receive these off-world transmissions, despite the government's attempts to maintain isolation.

The Earth Union, viewing these broadcasts as a direct threat to its sovereignty and the GAIA project, responds by declaring it will accelerate the development of its space defense capabilities.

The largest component of Union Space Command is the ground-based planetary defense, primarily focused on protecting Earth from meteors and asteroids. However, Earth also retains a kinetic component as a deterrent against potential space-based threats. Earth still possesses substantial weapons for conflicts between member states, with recent examples including the Mediterranean War and the Third American Civil War. These include nuclear weapons and delivery systems that 24th-century technology could easily boost to interplanetary ranges. Their penetration aids and electronic countermeasures are state of the art because they are in active use as a deterrent against other Union member states.

Then there is Earth Space Patrol. Its vessels, now more than 50 years old and in poor condition, reflect Earth's diminished force projection capability. The Lagrange 1 defense unit consists of a small detachment of space superiority vessels and point defense installations protecting the vital sunshades at L1. While these vessels are advanced, their stationary nature at the L1 Lagrange point limits their mobility.

Despite these challenges, given appropriate effort and time, Earth's shipyards could build more such vessels. Earth's huge economy, large and well-educated population, and first-hand warfighting experience underscore its potential for military expansion.

Conversely, the interplanetary civilization, despite not being equipped for full-scale war, possesses significant dual-use technologies that could be repurposed for conflict. These include rapid "Piranha" dismantler swarms and explosive excavation tools, from kinetic impactors to nuclear charges, all with autonomous long-range delivery systems that could be called nuclear-tipped missiles in a military context. These mining tools had been a convincing argument during the first wave of independence claims 100 years ago, and they still are.

Beamed solar energy directly from mirror arrays in close sun orbits is delivering multiple terawatts of electromagnetic power in a wide range of selectable frequencies to industrial customers across the Solar System. Some of these beam-power systems even provide coherent radiation, in other words, anything from megawatt ultraviolet lasers to gigawatt heat-rays.

What is more, the interplanetary civilization also holds the "gravitational high ground" with the ability to potentially use asteroids as kinetic weapons against Earth targets. In general, any space object, big and small, if accelerated to tens of kilometers per second, constitutes a weapon of mass destruction. Nuclear warheads and super-lasers are not necessary in a civilization that can accelerate a rather small 30-meter rock to 40 kilometers per second, delivering a megaton of kinetic energy on impact.

Compared to Earth, the interplanetary civilization is tiny, but it is highly automated, and given enough time, certain parts of the space economy could specialize in mass production of damage-dealing equipment.

In reality, neither the Earth nor interplanetary powers are keen on spending resources on an interplanetary war.

In 2326, after years of warnings and threats against outside interference, Earth issues an ultimatum to the Solar Coalition. The ultimatum remains unanswered. So, the Earth Union has no choice but to declare war against the Solar Coalition in general and, in particular, against seven moon bases and L5 habitats.

Reactions on Earth vary widely. All over the planet, environmental activists stage rallies supporting the government's hard line against off-world interference. EarthFirst, a radical isolationist group, celebrates the war declaration with rallies in major cities, demanding that Union Space Command subdue Earth's "vile offspring".

The broadcasts trigger a reawakening of expansionist tendencies among the younger population (up to 50 years old). This generation, who had to grow up under the massive restrictions of the Gaia Rehabilitation, is now rebelling against these constraints. Worldwide, neo-expansionists and neo-socialists clash, frequently escalating into violent mass street fights. As time passes, these fights evolve into ritualized, rule-based competitions. A new subculture emerges, centering around "Fight Clubs", where the term "club" (as in a mace or bat) is taken literally. Participants battle each other with archaic striking weapons that would have caused severe injuries in the past. However, modern body armor now protects them, absorbing impacts and even counteracting them. Combatants employ cutting-edge technology, including classic exoskeletons with integrated micro-fracture healing, graphene filament lattices with nano-hydraulic dampers, phonon-based counter-impulse systems, liquiform suits with programmable viscosity, and reactive and proactive armor with situation-aware AI. Despite all the technology, fighters require exceptional physical strength and as much mass as possible. Initially, former sumo wrestlers dominate the scene, wielding war hammers and sporting high-tech body armor inspired by samurai design. Over several decades, the sport diversifies into various weight and equipment categories. The spectrum ranges from "Ashigaru," comparable to former kickboxers with baseball bats, to the ultra-heavy mecha class. In the latter, all tactics are permitted as long as the fighter walks on two legs and doesn't shoot.

The East Antarctica Federation, while officially supporting the Earth Union's position, quietly maintains back-channel communications with the lunar South Pole Alliance and the Shackleton Sun Mining Collective on the basis of a shared "South Poleness".

The climax of this tense situation occurs when an overzealous colonel of Union Space Command uses a railgun of the planetary defense network to destroy an unmanned freight pod at Santiago spaceport. This action, while limited in scope and even by the World Council regarded as an undesired solitary action, demonstrates Earth's willingness to back its threats with force. At least, so it seems. In response to this escalation, the Solar Coalition convenes an emergency virtual session. Recognizing the potential for catastrophic conflict, Coalition leaders agree to cease all propaganda broadcasts to Earth. Simultaneously, they initiate back-channel communications with moderate factions within the Earth Union government.

These negotiations primarily focus on allowing the Earth Union government to save face, as they couldn't agree without concessions from the interplanetary community. However, beyond Earth, the Solar System lacks a unified government. Governance structures in off-world settlements are diverse, including democracies, info-democracies, corporate councils, non-representative corporate structures, military juntas, totalitarian governments, monarchies, theocracies, and anarchist societies. The Solar System is large, communication times are measured in hours, and most stations, clusters, volume or territorial sovereignties are proud of their independence. The Solar Coalition, based in Vegas, Luna, serves only as a forum of interplanetary powers and is not in a position to enforce system-wide concessions.

After two years, the Ganymede Directorate, which has become a leading power in the outer system, manages to draft an agreement: the Ganymede Accord of 2328 respects Earth's desire for isolation while establishing clear protocols for limited, highly regulated interactions between Earth and off-world entities. As part of the accord, Earth withdraws its declaration of war, and both sides commit to a policy of non-interference.

Thus ends the first interplanetary war.

Another two years later, in 2330, at the Conference of Quadrupole, a Lagrange 4 habitat cluster, the Solar Coalition officially adopts a policy of non-interference with the "Declaration of Solar Autonomy". The declaration specifically acknowledges Earth's, and – for that matter – any other entity's, right to isolate itself from the larger civilization. It is a bold statement directing the view outwards and into a future focused on the development of an interplanetary society and economy, ending the prior backward-oriented nostalgic view of the Solar System with Earth at the center.