Prelude
"The Battle of Earth, as it would come to be known, started not with a bang, but slowly building pressure."
Over the course of the last year or so, the
The Coalition of a thousand Free Worlds had amassed a large fleet with invasion forces in the star system of Delta Pavonis, having conquered it a few years prior. ASTUN counterattacks to try and break that force were wholly unsuccessful, so it instead elected to fortify the Sol System, drawing in forces from the not-enbattled systems in the immediate vicinity. The Coalition also had more troops and ships on the way.
The Coalition first entered the system between Jupiter and Saturn, and the bulk of their forces headed straight to Earth, leaving significant detachments to assault other planets. They would have two more major waves arrive over the next few days, some of which went to reinforce the assault on Earth, others to other planets. Over the course of the nearly half a year the battle would last, there was a consistent trickle of Coalition forces. The ASTUN, naturally, also had reinforcements. While the nearby systems had already been largely emptied of its forces and fleets, there were plenty more systems elsewhere, where troops were drawn from, as well as reserves in the Sol System itself, within the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, kept hidden for a worst-case-scenario exactly like this.
In total, the initial fleets of the Coalition numbered roughly seven fleets worth, around 230 000 ships. At the end of the battle, around 580 000 of their ships had fought in the Sol system. The ASTUN's ship count was roughly 130 000 and 440 000 respectively. Both sides had in total brought 7.2 billion professional soldiers to the system, and the STUN had to conscript around 12 billion people, many without much real equipment at all, due to logistics issues.
Conflict
"It has been four months. The sky is burning and it is falling. The Coalition is coming, and the STUN is holding. Neither side had given in or up. Neither side will give up, not now. For many, for most, this feels like the end of the world. For the Sol System. It's not far off."
Approach
The Coalition's first fleets transitioned into the Sol System some distance past the orbit of Jupiter. From there, they rushed to Earth. Other fleets, smaller ones, entered elsewhere in the system, and headed to their nearest celestial bodies. In particular, Earth, Mars, and Saturn ended up facing the brunt of the first assaults. The ASTUN forces, meanwhile, redirected forces to try and intercept the stray fleets, though kept most of their forces around where they were, raising the defences to proper readiness. In a week's time, the Coalition was upon the main worlds of the system.
Earth & Luna
As the Homeworld of humanity, and single most developed planet in human space, Earth ended up being the prime target of the invasion. Throughout the entire span of the five months the war took, Earth was under constant assault. The initial orbital engagements quickly scattered the fighting forces, as defenders retreated to other orbital regions and the attackers spread out to assault more ground targets. This coupled with the consistent trickle of troops and warships from elsewhere, the still very much persistent defence grid, and the heavy resistance, in orbit and ground, resulted in fierce warfare that lasted at the same intensity through the months it did. Luna, too, was attacked, and while surface combat was far less present, owing to the moon's nature, orbital combat was brutal. Habitat boarding, in particular, resulted in immense blood spilt for meager gain. The Coalition was dedicated, but not so that it would destroy any but the most fortified habitats.
"Every city street, every station hallway, every orbital platform was fought over fiercely. Every house, every meter of the orbital ring, every distance between a habitat and a satellite was paid for with blood and steel. The scale and ferocity of battle was immense, with countless ships lost and men killed for the smallest of places."— Anna Stevens, Earth Under Siege, released 2894
The Space Between
The Cradle, the Homestar, Sol himself, was a site of multiple engagements as well. Habitation in close orbit of it has always been significant, and the solar collectors and especially starscooping stations were critical logistical resources. The fighting extended as far as the light of the star, from the asteroid belts, victims of battles for raw resources by wounded fleets, to the distant Oort Cloud, and its secretive ASTUN weapons development operations, and the still-debatably-planets of the Kuiper Belt region, populated and with industry to seize and utilize. A multitude of deep space engagements also happened, most often assaults on logistical groups in transit.
The Lagrange Points of notable celestial bodies are, as in most systems, home to some important infrastructure. The L2 and L5 points between Sol and Earth are, for one, highly populated and built trade hubs. They, of course, ended up becoming targets of attack and sites of conflict. The L1 point binds the Bastion Station Complex, the enormour star-fort and logistical command center of the ASTUN. Many attacks were made against it, and none ended up being successful.
The Inner Planets
Of the Inner Solar System besides Earth, Mars was by far the most fought over. While not perhaps as dense with industry as Luna, the Second Earth's great ring-shipyards were an unmistakeable asset to any that would deign to control them. The rather extensive military logistics, and especially the research facilities, though mostly civilian, were valuable assets to deny the STUN. Venus, meanwhile, while perhaps not individually vital, was still a planet in the Sol System, and thus a strongpoint for the ASTUN and a region that must be conquered. Many cloud cities were assailed in the war, and some now lie on the hell that is the surface. Mercury, the extensively stripmined little rock that it is, is similar; populated, defended, a target for attack. The raw resources used for the construction of orbital habitats were quickly rerouted to weapons of war, and the Coalition managed to secure this source of material very early on.
The Edge of the System
The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud have been host to secretive projects and forgotten stations for as long as humanity has existed in the void. These, too, played host to a number of battles and engagements. In particular, the ASTUN, and some major constituent Sol nations, had the opportunity to roll out some often very experimental projects and questionable inventions. Out of these, of note are the Feljon-Class Frigates, small warships equipped with weapons above their size class, with improved targeting systems and experimental railcannon designs.
The Outer Planets
Jupiter and its moons are a very important region of the Cradle of Man. The sheer amount of bodies in orbit of it is prime real estate for easy habitat construction, and so the population is the third largest planet-moon-system in the solar system. This naturally made it a prime target for invasion, as the mineral wealth and refining industry rivals Mercury with ease. However, the space-based nature of settlement here, and how most was indeed not composed of classic habitats but smaller stations, resulted in a grievous campaign of station-to-station boarding operations, and, much like Luna, were extremely bloody. Saturn was much the same, and the rings' shipyards and mining industries were repeatedly conquered and liberated throughout the conflict. Neptune and Uranus have always been somewhat fringe, and while they too saw their share of warfare, it was far lesser compared to the rest of the system.
Over the course of the war, the STUN started to get somewhat desperate with manpower. Generally, the combat extended over nearly every major city on the planet, and forces were drawn from any source. From citizens of populated cities, distant stations, and orbital habitats.
Humans,
Sapient Synthetics,
Modes, didn't matter, as long as you could hold a gun. Indeed, by the end of the battle, the STUN had recruited and deployed more reserves and non-military personnel than professional soldiers, and some of its nations did enact drafts and even put convicted criminals to use in battle.
"Soldiers of the ASTUN, hear me! While many of you are from Earth, many more are not. Whether you hail from Mars, Corlaen, Proxima, an ex-Cellean state, or perhaps even further afield, we are all human. And so, your roots are here at Earth. And thus you have the right, the duty, the priviledge, and the necessity to defend humanity's homeworld. The Coalition is coming, and we will make them pay for every step they take."— Jimna Guvarm, 2879
Retreat
Eventually, of course, after five months of brutal, unceasing warfare throughout humanity's home star, the Coalition leadeship present made the heavy decision to call off the assault. The ASTUN was beginning to bring in more reinforcements from their very close by holdings than the Coalition, and at the pace they were advancing, the war would last years more, and likely end in them inevitably being pushed back. So they left. Slowly, bit by bit, the Coalition quit Earth, Luna, the Sol System, and their forces, one by one, made the transit back to Delta Pavonis.
The defending forces, bitter and vengeful, fought and chased the assailants all the way, some even through interstellar space, only to meet a fresh enemy in the reserves not called to action there. The cleansing was thorough, and while countless of the Coalition escaped after the retreat, millions more were captured or executed outright.
Aftermath
"The war is over, they say. The Coalition is falling back, bit by bloody bit. Billions, tens of billions by some estimates, dead. Well, the big war won't be over for a long time, but the battle of the Sol System is, for now."
The Battle of Earth killed a total of 32 billion people, and resulted in almost a hundred million total casualties. Most were civilians, drafted into combat and not. Nearly half of all STUN-alinged warships in the battle were destroyed, and approximately nine full fleets, including the prestigious 1st fleet, were thoroughly crippled and unable to continue operation for years to come. The Coalition was better off, though the forces of the Core Worlds spearhead were insufficient to do much of value for a time.
To say morale in the Coalition forces that attacked was low is the understatement of the millenium, though the STUN forces were not much better. A victory was a victory, for sure, but one won at such extreme cost still boggled the mind. For years more, as the Sol system, and generally the Core Worlds as a whole, repaired and recovered, feelings about the war were interesting. For one, a great trauma was left, yes. The Sol system was by no means inviolable, nor was it thought so, as the previous World War and the Cataclysm of the Core had shown. Still, such destruction, never before seen, left a mark. While the position of the Core would remain as it is, and Sol would remain the center of human politics, it would take centuries until it could truly recover fully.
The Coalition, now having its spearhead into the heart of the STUN blunted, would eventually be pushed out of the central Core Worlds. It would be yet more bloodshed and a brutal campaign to drive them back, but it would herald a turning point in the larger Fifth World War. The STUN, originally on the backfoot and surrounded by enemies, would enter into a position of balance with the Coalition. Previously, estimations of the war painted the STUN as the loser. A slow, gruelling, and costly collapse of its structures and military, crushed by overwhelming Coalition might was what most assumed. The Battle of Earth proved otherwise. Perhaps the Coalition was simply mistaken in its spearhead manouver, or perhaps the Sol System was just so tenacious. Whatever the cause, the news of the battle, and the destruction caused, would slowly tip the scales. Nations previously independent would throw their lot in with the STUN more frequently. Or maybe, simply, the resolve of STUN forces was invigorated. Exact causes are difficult to pin down, but the Battle of Earth certainly marked a shift in the war, albeit subtle and slow to manifest, as is innate to interstellar warfare of such cataclysmic scale.
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