The Ground War
The Hive Mind starts in space as fungal infection in food supply, entity on Earth notices what's happening, doesn't like it, drops biggest concentration of the hive on Earth, Earth overcorrects, massive war ensues.
Breadbasket
- The Hive Mind emerges
- Someone does not like that the hive mind has emerged
- Luna gets thrown at Earth in an attempt to deal with the hive
- This results in catastrophic solar-system-wide food shortages
- Mars, Jupiter, The Belt all have a lot of weapons and not a lot of food, so use weapons to get food
- Fighting on earth makes the problem even worse
- Space Pirates are a thing
- Results: Any place that grows food is extremely valuable. Politicking based off who can supply food - mafia protection racket thing: "We do dangerous work, but we do get rations and we're not hassled too much, so we put up with it"
- After the drop, it becomes a war between Mars and Jupiter pretty much immediately, and the hive is kind of forgotten about - lucky for the hive
- Mars has more food due to physical proximity to Earth and soil extraction capability
- Jupiter has less food - still enough to support itself and make deals, but barely - but controls energy supply
- Apsis - supremacy, control
- Emerges as part of the peace process as a "neutral" arbiter and food distributor, proceeds to absolutely not be neutral
- Is the source of the immediate current problem
- They impose draconian rules about food distribution that increasingly benefit only Jupiter and punish dissenting The Belt colonies
- Provocation for The Current Conflict - intentionally cutting supply to a few The Belt colonies below starvation levels as punishment