The Burning of Atlas: September 25th, 2246
The United Colonies of Earth high command was able to capitalize on the last bit of intelligence provided to the J10 Directory by Admiral Crane in 2246. Shortly before being assassinated by Alexis Thompson, an Atlas Confederacy of Planets trained killer, Crane sent a data packet that provided Admiral Marcus Perry of the UCE everything he needed to launch an all-out attack on the planet of Atlas, the capital of the ACP. Confident that they would seize victory the UCE mobilized their fleet and assaulted the Middle Colonies with a massive armada unlike anything humanity had ever seen.
The fleet was commanded by Rear Admiral Jason Barnes, an up and coming rear admiral, who had risen through the ranks during the war, despite his relatively young age. Barnes was a universally acclaimed officer who became well known during early UCE incursions into the Middle Colonies. Barnes orchestrated the deployment of the UCE fleet from a Crusader Class Cruiser named Octavius.
The ACP was caught unaware by the surprise UCE armada, and their gravity well defenses quickly crumbled. The remaining vessels around the world routed and despite Barnes’ best intentions several high level ACP leaders were able to escape the attack on Atlas including N.D. and his entourage. Despite the escape of the ACP High Command, Barnes’ mission was a complete success.
The UCE Armada headed by the Octavius destroyed all resistance in the gravity well around Atlas, and Barnes then took the fleet to the skies above Atlas’s titular capital. What happened next was a wholesale slaughter of the civilian populace and the ACP military infrastructure. The UCE also committed one of the most gruesome war crimes in its history, Atlas was leveled with high intensity lasers and depleted uranium shells leaving little to no survivors.
The event known now as ‘The Burning of Atlas’ was heralded as a glorious victory for the UCE in Core Space and became a moral-boosting moment, despite the slaughter. In the Middle Colonies, the war effort took a turn for the worse, as many began to question the ACP’s leadership.
In the days that followed, N.D. gathered the remnants of the ACP high command and put into motion a plan that would once again turn the tables against the UCE. In the following weeks, the ACP High Command would muster and launch a final counter attack that would retake Atlas and push the UCE Armada back to the Colonial Gas Corridor to safeguard J10 interests. This would be enough for N.D. and Admiral Sherman to prepare one of the most daring moves of the war, an all-out assault on the principle UCE trade hub, Bastion.
