The Battle of the Sanctuary was a brief military conflict fought over The Sanctuary, a breakaway colony of Moclan females.
Captain Jakohn of Moclus sent soldiers to forcibly extradite the colony women for "corrective surgery" into males. The USS Orville, which had been in orbit, attacked the Moclans both in space and on the planet's surface, igniting a two-front battle which ended with a temporary agreement not to interfere with The Sanctuary in return for The Sanctuary's promise to disband its transportation network for Moclan females.
Prelude[]
"Many years" prior to 2421, Heveena and other adult women established a clandestine network of ships known as "the transport circuit" to help families who sought refuge. They established a colony on an island near the planet's equator and called it "The Sanctuary."
Parents left their daughters with the colony, rather than let the government forcibly alter their sex to male, and the colony's population quickly grew. When the Orville visited in early 2421, the colony's population numbered over 6,000 women and girls.
Adult women armed themselves with Moclan rifles, but they were untrained compared to officers of the Planetary Union or the Moclan Fleet.
In 2421, Heveena was at The Sanctuary when the USS Orville discovered them. Heveena initially planned to evacuate the colony and flee to a new hiding spot, but Captain Ed Mercer and First Officer Kelly Grayson convinced her to petition the Planetary Union Council for protection. The USS Burnell took Heveena and Ed to the Council for a hearing while the Orville remained in orbit.
Heveena asked the Council to be recognized as a sovereign state. Meanwhile, Captain Jakohn found the colony, claiming to monitor the colony to ensure the Council's decision would be peacefully fulfilled. Acting Captain Grayson took the Orville to yellow alert.
Battle[]
As the Council deliberated, the Moclan government ordered Jakohn to apprehend female colonists and send them to Moclus. He sent four shuttles of soldiers to The Sanctuary, much to the Orville's surprise.
As the Council discussed the crisis erupting at The Sanctuary, Kelly and Second Officer Bortus went to the planet's surface by shuttle to join the upcoming fight, making Talla Keyali the acting captain of the Orville.
Jakohn seized the shuttle by tractor beam, so Talla fired upon the Moclan battlecruiser (overriding Helmsman Gordon Malloy's objection), propelling the two ships into combat. The Orville's starboard deflector screens nearly failed, and Decks D and E experienced hull damage. Gordon took the Orville in and out of the nebula, confusing the battlecruiser's targeting scanners.
On the ground, Kelly and Bortus began firing upon Moclan soldiers with PM-488 Titans, prompting some of the women to join the fray.
The battle both on the planet and in space continued with no clear winner until news arrived that the Council had agreed to a temporary suspension of discussion.
Aftermath[]
Disagreement between all sides was temporarily halted. Moclus would not touch The Sanctuary, while the Union would not recognize The Sanctuary, and The Sanctuary would end its transport circuit.
The skirmish ended mostly because of the mutual existential threat of the Kaylon, but the Council's agreement did not resolve the underlying disagreement over Moclus' policy towards its own female citizens. Heveena believed the imperfect agreement was a positive step forward for the advancement of rights for Moclan women.