Planetary Defense
Last updated: August 21, 2026
Planetary Defense covers what is coming, what is built to meet it and what stands on every holding: inbound columns, bastion works and garrison strength. It is the surface where the cost of expansion becomes explicit, since every world claimed is a world that can be reached by someone else. In a shared persistent frontier, defence is not an optional posture — it is the price of holding anything at all.
Three things at once
Inbound is a warning: something is on its way, and the time before it arrives is the only resource that matters. Bastion works are what you have built, decided long before this moment. Garrison is what is present now. A defence decision is usually about which of the three you can still change.
Defence and attention
The asymmetry of a persistent game is that attacks arrive on the attacker's schedule. That makes reports and the command centre part of your defensive posture: noticing early is worth more than reacting well.
Alliances
The seat, roster and alliance surfaces exist partly because defence scales badly alone. Who you are aligned with changes what an inbound column means, and that is a strategic decision made on those surfaces rather than this one.
Strengths, timings and outcomes are live state and rules. The manual defines the mechanics; the surface shows your situation. Neither is reproduced here.
Official source
Canonical source for this subject: Planetary Defense — Terminus. Checked 21 August 2026 — where this guide and the live service disagree, the service is right.
Related reading
- Colonies — The holdings register for worlds you hold, survey or have yet to claim.
- Reports — Operational reports, individual records, and reading a world that moved while you were away.
- Seat, Commanders and Alliances — The powers that hold ground, the public register of commanders, and founding an alliance.