Lighthouse War

"It's hard to say which side first pulled the trigger that plunged us into this chaos. At this point who cares?"

- Schroeder

The Lighthouse War, also known as the Second Continental War or Second Usean Continental War, is a conflict between the countries of Osea and Erusea. The full nature of the conflict is unknown. It is the main focus of the story campaign in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.

History
In the early 2010s, Osea, with former President Vincent Harling spearheading the effort, reached an agreement with the various Usean nations for the construction of the International Space Elevator in the Gunther region to supply energy to countries on the continent devastated by Ulysses 1994XF04 and the Continental War of 2003-2005. As part of the agreement, Osean military and IUN forces in the form of aircraft and naval warships were stationed on the continent to protect the structure. The Arsenal Bird aerial warships were also developed for this purpose and deployed to the airspace surrounding the elevator.

In May 2019, Erusea declared war on Osea and seized the Space Elevator soon after Erusian MQ-99 drones, shipped to Osea in shipping containers, launched and attacked naval ports in Aulick, St. Hewlett, Bana City and Oured, crippling the majority of Osea's naval forces. Simultaneously, Erusean bombers attacked bases all across Usea as far east as Fort Grays Island.

At the onset of hostilities, the Osean Maritime Defense Force launched a strike against the Erusean capital of Farbanti, dealing severe damage to the city, with the king of Erusea among the casualties.

The Eruseans used the sympathy to further their hold on the Space Elevator and the rest of the Usean contienent. When an IUN task force arrived to take back the Space Elevator under Operation Dual Wielder, the Eruseans activated the Arsenal Birds and wiped out most of the IUN forces. Only a few squadrons and ships survived the battle unscathed. A second air raid on Farbanti from the Kestrel II also fails when the carrier is sunk.

Despite Erusea successfully repelling all IUN counterattacks, the IUN mamanged to retain a hold in southeast Usea. A series of attacks launched by Spare Squadron, an Osean penal unit, helped cripple Erusean air defenses and logistics. Eventually, the Oseans grouped several surviving squadrons as well as transfers from Spare into the Long Range Strategic Strike Group. The LRSSG would launch a surprise attack on Erusean naval forces at Snider's Top, decimating Erusea's naval power, and gradually turning the tide. The LRSSG would defend Stonehenge in an Oseean effort to use it to destroy an Arsenal Bird, destroy Erusea's nuclear launch capability, and aided in the capture of an airbase at Cape Rainy. These efforts helped IUN forces lay siege to Farbanti.

With the immient loss of Farbanti, Erusean hardliners hacked Osean satellites and in response Osea fired anti-satellite missiles with Erusea retaliating. The end result is total blackout of the satellite and information network all across the globe and anarchy soon ensued across the entire Usean continent. The LRSSG would help shepherd Osean forces to safety as Erusea's government collapsed casuing in-fighting between pro-war Radicals, anti-war Conservatives, and a stream of independence movements.

In the events leading up to the end of the war, multiple squadrons, regardless of former affiliation or side joined together in a coalition to take down the Erusean hardliners and bring down the remaining Arsenal Bird. The operation was a success but at heavy losses to all that were involved.

After the war the International Space Elevator became a refugee site for all across the Usean continent with nations all across the globe sending in supplies and relief due to the efforts of Princess Rosa Cossette D'Elise's provisional government.