ISD Unknown - Battle for Belusha (Between ISD 17136 - 17438)

Notoriously impregnable (and inescapable), Belusha is a dismal, cold world that serves as the last destination of many political prisoners. In all of its history, no one had escaped Belusha, until now.

Following the events at the Battle of Perfugium, HADRIAN MARLOWE is imprisoned aboard the ISV Tempest for assaulting the EMPEROR WILLIAM XXIII. Though sentenced to time on the Belusha, Hadrian is broken out as part of an escape plan orchestrated by his friends SIR OLORIN MILTA, TRIBUNE BASSANDER LIN, and LORIAN ARISTEDES. As a consequence of the plan, Lorian takes Hadrian's place on Belusha, and Jadd secretly (but no-so-secretly) harbors Hadrian and the surviving Dragonslayers as political fugitives.

During his incarceration, Lorian Aristedes uncovers the existence of a rebel group known as The Outborn. The Outborn are descendants of escaped prisoners, living beyond the reach of Martian control in the frozen tundra and deep wilderness. For generations, they have endured in subterranean caverns, derelict vessels, and fortified hideouts. Some factions, such as the one led by SACHIN, the self-proclaimed Prince of Belusha, operate as organized paramilitary forces seeking full planetary autonomy.

Led by Lorian and Sachin, The Battle for Belusha was a coordinated strike by Outborn rebels against Martian forces entrenched at Downwell, one of the planet's prison camps, and the orbital Tower Station. Central to the campaign was the planned detonation of an improvised atomic device aimed at severing the twelve nanocarbon elevator cables that tethered the Tower to the planet, crippling Martian orbital logistics and sending the station drifting into space. The assault combined air raids, ground skiff cavalry, and sabotage teams to overrun Downwell’s prison camp, seize military assets, and sow chaos among the Martian defenders. Despite their failure in taking the planet, the battle marked the Outborn’s most audacious resistance effort. In the chaos created during the attack, Lorian Aristedes ascended the Tower at Downwell camp, disguised himself as a Martian lieutenant, and hijacked an Imperial shuttle to become the first and only prisoner to escape Belusha.