Following the final defeat of the Martians in the Asteroid Belt, the Sol system embarked on an era of relative peace and prosperity. Despite an apparent truce with the Jovians, however, the imminent threat of rebel terrorism and the like continued to be the excuse of the EA government for not holding any elections, plus for various atrocities committed over the years in the name of 'national interests'. According to the government, the apparent surcease in the fighting was merely a devilish trick by the rebels to lull the people into false security before launching a massive attack against the EA. They were correct, albeit indirectly.

Shortly after the takeover of the inner planets by the EA, a number of ex-rebel-government associates, petty criminals and in general enemies of the EA fled their homes to eke out an existence in the Asteroid Belt. Their reason for flight - merciless squads of black-shirted government executioners sent to remove opponents to the new regime before they could act against the EA. Their new life was a tough one, subsisting on stolen supplies from the freighter convoys taking food to the outposts along the outer edge of the 'Belt. They would become very important in a few decades.
Another important change was that of GTI. While the majority of GTI remained on the other side of the Delta Serpentis-Sol node, at the mercy of the Shivans, the small enclave of intelligence officers that remained on Sol were given a makeover. The new EAI was granted powers over the EA military and civil service, in exchange for being completely under the thumb of EA High Command. This was the opposite of the old arrangement, where GTI had little influence over the GTA but remained largely independent. They, unlike the pirates, would play an important role in the One Day War.
The One Day War began when, in 2357, Pluto suddenly started attacking UNU forces. The exact reason why is unknown, although several theories have been put forward - from an attempt at guerrilla warfare against the UNU to terrorist strikes designed to frighten the UNU into acceding to IPP wishes. Regardless, a number of innocent civilians and the great peacemaker Sir David Reyes were murdered by IPP hit squads.

'Neptune retaliated, sending a strike force to destroy the Plutonian navy. However, somehow the two wings of fighters and the single cruiser the IPP possessed managed to see off the Neptunians.
Meanwhile, in the Asteroid Belt, two wings of overzealous EA and Jovian pilots had met on the EA-Jupiter border. A heated exchange of banter quickly turned into a skirmish, and then a full state of war. The Jovian destroyer, the Majesty, was mobilised to the 'Belt.

'In response, the EA sent its own destroyer, the flagship Tereus. In a fierce battle in which the destroyers stood like gods as cruisers fought in the midst of the Asteroid Belt, the two fleets clashed.
At the same time, the UNU decided to show off a new weapon they had been developing. The UND Tempest, equipped with brand-new beam cannons, opened fire on the Plutonian fleet (such as it was), vaporising them in a show of strength easily visible from the Asteroid Belt. The two fleets immediately disengaged and returned to base in order to respond to the new threat.

'Almost immediately EA forces began assaults on Jovian outposts, and the Jovians sent their fleet to parry the new attack. Meanwhile, an EAI strike team was assembled and dispatched to the science colony in orbit around Neptune.
The UNU had been expecting the other powers to come begging at its door for the usage of beam cannon technology, and so was very surprised when EAI and Saturnian forces actually attacked the UNU science colony. Despite the deployment of the Tempest, the EAI strike team managed to get away with one of the science colony vessels - the GTSC Bohr.

'The EAI success in stealing away the beam technology was tempered by the fact that not only did the UNU retain this technological advantage, but also had decided to share it with the other rebel powers in the hopes of building a united anti-EA rebel front. This would lay the foundations for the 2372 war...
An important thing to note is that beam weapons are an integral part of the Nemesis and the Timoros - indeed, the Timoros installation shares many technical similarities to the Lindos destroyer, which is fundamentally centred around beam weapon technology. Yet the construction dates for these superweapons go back to before 2357 - before these weapons were available.
The most logical explanation would be that for the first half of the 2340-2372 Cold War, the EA and the rebel powers participated in an arms race to be the first to develop the Lucifer's beam cannons for Terran use. This would explain the Timoros problem - the defence platform being initially designed around the efforts of the Sol science team to crack the Lucifer's superweapons.

It also gives credence to the conspiracy theory that the Pluto-Neptune war was aided along or even set up by EAI in the hopes of getting the UNU to show its hand and reveal its otherwise inaccessible beam weaponry. And if that is true, then it is possible some of the other rumours about EAI are true as well... this historian, however, refuses to comment just yet.'

Excerpt from TP Andersen's 'The Sol System 2335-2372'