The Interplanetary Conflict, also known as the Interplanetary War, was a massive system war that lasted from March 2, 2160 to August 30, 2170, and was fought throughout the Sol system. For most of 2163, fighting was limited to the asteroid belt and outer planets, with Earth seemingly isolated from the conflict; both United Nations and international forces were content to let the communists and fascists slug it out. This isolation came to a brutally abrupt end with a communist-backed terrorist attack above Earth, claiming the lives of several thousand civilians. The resulting outrage brought the forces of the United Nations and all those of Earth to Mars where - as a combined fleet - they destroyed concentrated communist forces and began the process of reclaiming Mars. In an unparalleled mo