Fortuna was once one of the wealthiest and most influential worlds in known space, a planet of sprawling oceans, coastal megacities, and bustling trade routes that connected the inner systems to the frontier. Located at the crossroads of several major faster-than-light corridors, Fortuna served as a vital center of commerce, industry, and culture for centuries.
Today, the planet is defined by war.
The conflict began in 2575, when a Sovereign Systems Republic fleet launched a devastating orbital bombardment against Vesta's Central Government Sector, shattering the political heart of the planet and igniting a conflict that would consume Fortuna. The ruins of that attack now form the center of the vast wasteland known as No Man's Land.
Five years later, the war continues.
The Sol Federation, the Sovereign Systems Republic, and the Fortuna Provisional Government wage an endless struggle across the planet's continents, oceans, and skies. Entire generations have grown up knowing nothing but occupation, rationing, and artillery fire.
For much of the galaxy, Fortuna is a strategic objective.
For the people living there, it is simply home.
For centuries, Fortuna was known as the Jewel of the Outer Systems.
Its economy revolved around:
Interstellar trade.
Shipbuilding and heavy industry.
Resource extraction.
Finance and commerce.
Tourism and luxury industries.
Aerospace manufacturing.
The planet's strategic position along major FTL routes transformed Fortuna into one of the most prosperous worlds in the region. Goods, cultures, and people from across the galaxy flowed through its ports and orbital stations, while Vesta grew into the political and economic center of the planet.
Millions came seeking opportunity.
Few imagined Fortuna would become one of the bloodiest battlefields in modern history.
The opening hours of the war changed Fortuna forever.
In 2575, Republic warships emerged over Vesta and unleashed a massive bombardment against the Central Government Sector, targeting military headquarters, infrastructure, and symbols of Federation authority. The attack decapitated much of the planetary government and plunged the capital into chaos.
What began as a strategic strike quickly escalated into a planetary war.
Federation forces counterattacked, Republic troops landed, and entire districts became battlegrounds. The center of Vesta collapsed into ruin, eventually becoming the shattered wasteland now known as No Man's Land.
Five years later, Vesta remains divided between eastern and western occupation zones, while the dead center of the city stands abandoned to soldiers, scavengers, and ghosts.
The war has transformed more than Fortuna's cities.
Five years of orbital bombardments, industrial warfare, burning fuel depots, chemical leaks, wrecked starships, and collapsing ecosystems have permanently altered the planet's atmosphere.
Rain falls almost constantly across much of Fortuna.
What was once gentle coastal weather has become a cycle of endless storms, black clouds, and poisoned skies.
Common weather phenomena include:
Near-constant rainfall.
Thick industrial smog.
Acidic downpours.
Toxic dust storms.
Electromagnetic storms caused by orbital debris.
Dense fog mixed with chemical pollutants.
Entire regions suffer from contaminated rivers, dying oceans, and poisoned farmland. Respirators have become as common as umbrellas, and weather warnings are treated with the same seriousness as artillery alarms.
The rain that gives the campaign its name is not merely symbolic.
It is the physical scar left by five years of planetary warfare.
Although most of the fighting takes place on the surface, the battle for Fortuna began in orbit.
The opening bombardment over Vesta triggered a series of massive naval engagements that transformed the skies into a graveyard of shattered warships and drifting debris. Hulks of destroyed cruisers and transport vessels still circle the planet, occasionally falling through the atmosphere in fiery streaks.
Even in 2580, neither side has achieved complete orbital supremacy.
Every city on Fortuna lives beneath the shadow of fleets overhead.
Far north of Vesta lies one of the greatest mysteries of the war: the wreck of the FNS Roanoke.
Officially, the Federation claims the vessel was lost during the conflict and that the quarantine surrounding the crash site exists solely to contain hazardous materials and unexploded ordnance.
Few believe that explanation.
Rumors persist of classified experiments, sealed laboratories, strange transmissions, and entire patrols vanishing into the quarantine zone without explanation. Soldiers whisper stories about things moving inside the wreckage long after the crew should have died.
Whatever happened aboard the Roanoke, the Federation has dedicated enormous resources to ensuring nobody discovers the truth.
The quarantine perimeter destroys anything that attempts to cross it.
Five years after the bombardment of Vesta, Fortuna remains trapped in an endless war.
Three powers struggle for control of the planet:
The Sol Federation, determined to reclaim its colony.
The Sovereign Systems Republic, seeking to secure its foothold.
The Fortuna Provisional Government, fighting for the independence of its home.
Entire regions of the planet lie abandoned. Cities flood beneath endless rain. Refugees crowd ruined districts while distant politicians argue over maps and supply routes.