The Seven Systems have experienced conflict for as long as it's possible to remember – and, in all likelihood, they they fought wars before then too. Conflicts large and small, brief and drawn-out have occurred throughout all of recorded history, from the Selasi War of Independence to the Second Achelian-Kybele Trade War (which purportedly only lasted for two hours and thirty-seven minutes before Kybele surrendered).

However, none of them compare with the war that broke out following the Ananke explosion. The death toll from direct conflict is estimated to be in the order of hundreds of millions. Deaths from starvation, disease and internal crackdowns take that number up to the billions, though it is difficult to get an accurate measure due to the destruction of most infrastructure.

Theoretically still ongoing, this conflict has loomed so large in people's consciousnesses that it is known simply as this: The War.

For the twenty years leading up to the War, the Seven Systems had enjoyed an uneasy peace. A delicate set of treaties and trade routes kept the balance of power from tipping too far in any one direction, but only just. Recent conflicts, nationalistic pride and jealousy over resources have meant that a conflict has never been too far from breaking out onto the surface.

Following the revelation of Selas's new bioweapon and the assassination of their princess onboard the Ananke conference, Eunomia chose to attack their longtime rivals, Selas. Although the war remained fairly small for the first few years, Kedalion and Kybele were both quickly drawn into the thick of the combat.

Key events from this period of the War include:

• The intial attack of Eunomia.
• Eunomia start by attacking Selas, only to find that they have a mutual defence pact with Kybele in case of exactly this. Kybele is drawn into the war after Briareos threatens to stop sending them food.
• Kedalion are largely in it to make money by supplying arms to the Eunomians. It's currently a comparatively small scale war but tensions rise slowly over a series of battles.

The second stage of the war is generally agreed to have started with the invasion of Cheimeros. The Kedalian-Eunomian alliance found themselves struggling more than expected against innovative Selasi weapons and Kybele propaganda, and sought to use Cheimeros both for its mineral resources and as a base from which to attack Selas. However, not only did the invasion go far less smoothly than hoped, drawing both sides into a long and bloody conflict, but it also drew Briareos and Achelia into the war as well, as Kedalion blocked the Briarean aid ships and Achelia made the mistake of attempting to plunder Cheimeros's resources off Kedalion's back.

• Kedalion are being run by a big profit-maximising neural network which calculates that Cheimeros is kind of just there for the taking and predicts that they should invade Cheimeros in order to get more raw materials and therefore more profit
  • Cheimeros fight back surprisingly hard. Achelia is accidentally drawn in to the battle as well.
  • Cheimeros reach out to Briareos, longstanding allies, for aid. Briareos does a mix of coercing Selas to do the fighting for them and helping themselves.
• Someone sets up a blockade around Cheimeros probably to stop Briarean aid ships. Briareos not happy about this and starts using bioweapons against probably Achelia because they're not sufficiently involved yet
• Selas has a civil war and the pro-Eunomian faction win out
• Towards the end of this period, the Kedalions decide that profit maximising is less important than winning and switch their neural network over to the 'win the war at all costs' model. This leads to the first set of mass killings.

About twelve years into the war, it became clear that ordinary tactics were not going to work. Within the course of a few months, rogue Selasi agents released a developed form of their original bioweapon into the Eunomian ecosystem, and Kedalion carried out large-scale aerial bombardment of Briareos. Attacking civilians and food supplies became more and more acceptable over the next few years. This period also marks the end of the Achelian alliance with Kedalion, and the start of a period of hostility which culminated in the destruction of the Achelian home planet.

• Kedalion bomb Briareos into near submission because they are holding out rations to only their allies.
• Eunomia are mostly feeding the other side, so rogue Selasi agents release spores of a horrible mushroom which destroys all their arable land.
• Achelia are involved in what is assumed to be a friendly fire incident against Kedalion which cannot be adequately explained. Eunomia encourage Kedalion to turn to Achelia
• The Eunomians deploy an advanced technology which destroys the Achelian homeworld utterly.

Far more than coming to a conclusion, the War seems to have burnt itself out. Lack of food and several years of resource mismanagement made large-scale violence difficult to continue. While no treaties have been brokered, following the destruction of Achelia there have been fewer inter-planetary clashes. However, that is not to say that the conflict has ended, as several planets are still experiencing some level of internal conflict, and rule of law has yet to be reinstated.

The key events from this period include:

• Refugees from the destruction of Achelia have scattered to the asteroid mines and the fragments that once formed their planet. With a lack of infrastructure needed to ensure supplies reach people, many have turned to piracy, while others dredge out a meagre life on the minerals and hydroponics they have salvaged.
• The authority of the Briarean gerontocracy collapsed with the destruction of so many Gasbags, and the planet's power was seized by an individual, Tyrant Maribelle Johns. While the civilisation is more stable than most, citizens experience brutal repression.
• The last of the Kedalian and Eunomian troops of Cheimeros have largely been removed, or imprisoned, and despite intermittent civil unrest, the planet has yet to break out into a civil war.
• Famine in Eunomia led to a near collapse of their class system, with riots breaking out on a wide scale across the planet. These were eventually brought under control.
  • A biotropic fungus has taken over most of the land. Most Eunomians now live in walled cities, isolated from the fungus and each other. A fragile tunnel network enables contact between cities.
• Having pumped ever-more resources into the war, Kedalion has more or less burnt out, with the remaining population squeezed into tower blocks above a ground dominated by gang warfare and opportunism. Cyber attacks are common, both on enemies and on people who happen to be in the way.
• Kybele is largely flooded following bombardment, most residents squeezed into the tops of tower blocks caught in a continual squabble for resources.
• Selas in disrepair, large portions of planet uninhabitable. The government have maintained control, but only barely, and rumbles of discontent roll through out the planet.