[AUTO-CANON] HG-IIj, Karita Systems, The 9 Colony Disaster, and the Deanian Tragedy

[WrongEnd]

Type (e.g. Planet, Faction, System): Planet, Faction

Founding/Settlement Date (if applicable): 2394

Region of Space: Frontier

Controlled by (if not a faction): Karita Systems

Other Snapshot information:

There used to be 9 colonies. Currently, only 1 is known to be active, but they regularly fall out of contact. Even then, there is little in the way of traffic in and out of this colony, especially considering the extremely irradiated space and the suspicious amount of pirates in the area. The other 8 colonies fell in rapid succession over the course of 20 years, this later became known as the 9 Colony Disaster. Finally, the Deani Foundation was a non-profit organization dedicated to improving living conditions in inhospitable environments. They moved thousands of people into the 5th colony. When the entire dome was sabotaged, and collapsed, killing every person inside, it became known as the Deanian Tragedy. No perpetrator was ever found.

Long Description:

In 2390, Karita Systems, a corporation dedicated to colonizing inhospitable environments, drew up plans to colonize a frozen planet, with a massive saltwater ocean under the icecaps. It was suspended in orbit of an unusually radioactive and unstable sun, making it an even harder colonization target. This planet was known simply as HG-IIj. The project was heavily publicized and largely funded by public sectors; hailed as the future of colonization. Karita Systems lapped in the fame, looking to not only fill their coffers with government money but to also exploit suspected ultra-valuable resources under the ice. Finally, in 2393, 9 colony ships, specially built to handle the inhospitable bands of space around the planet and then create underwater domes below the ice.

This part of the project, at least, went well. It suffered little difficulties, and the people who were interested in Karita System's accomplishments watched with eager eyes. The ships landed on the icecaps, and just as planned, began drilling down into the ice. They would deploy prefabricated constructions to create domes at the bottom of the ocean, and begin mining operations. This part went by without little difficulty, and by 2394 the nine colonies were pieced together. Everything seemed to go so well at first. Thus, when the 9 Colony Disaster hit, it was all the more bitter. Within two years of the initial colonization, cracks began to appear in the plans. First, very little valuable resources were found -- if they were there, the colonists had picked badly planned zones. Further, the frequent solar flares from the sun regularly took out communications with the outside world.

Then, finally, the beginning of the 9 Colony Disaster was marked with the fall of Colony 3, a mere three years after the initial colonization. They suffered catastrophic failures to their power supply, taking down the dome's power supply, and soon the dome's structural integrity. Their screams were forever repeated as the experimental communications systems developed for the project continued to broadcast the dying moments of Colony 3. Then, over the period of 20 years, every colony other than Colony 5 or Colony 7 fell out of contact permanently or were confirmed destroyed. Karita Systems, now desperate for money after the advent of the 9 Colony Disaster, sold Colony 5 off to the Deani Foundation. The non-profit's attempts to make a worthwhile arcology out of the dome were initially successful, and brought hope back into the project, albeit at the cost of eroding public trust in Karita Systems.

The Deanian Tragedy happened shortly after thousands of people were moved into the newly-converted dome. Early in the morning, a massive payload of mining explosives went off, destroying critical support structures for the dome. The Arcology was rapidly crushed by water pressure, before the colonists even knew what happened. The Deani Foundation was made defunct shortly after. Though many accused Karita Systems of the sabotage, they publicly denied it and no conclusive evidence was ever gathered. The Deanian Tragedy never made it onto any large media network's stories, and remained relatively unknown.

The last remaining colony, Colony 7, continued to putter along, becoming increasingly isolated and increasingly forgotten by the outside world as records of the entire colonization project were conveniently lost, journalists who reported on the disaster and tragedy discredited, and the generation who looked at the project with hopeful eyes slowly became old and cynical. Karita Systems, since downgraded from its initial state, continued governance of the planet in cooperation with Sol Alliance colonial liaisons. They have left the limelight, becoming incredibly silent as the disasters of the icy planet were forgotten.

Today, it is rare to see a colonist from the planet, and rare for a person to go to the colony. Very few flights are done in and out, if at all. It is a place to go if you do not wish to be found.

[Muncorn]

If you'd like to see this placed on the wiki, please talk to the wiki maintainer team. Otherwise, feel free to repost this lore to the general section or somewhere equivalent so it can stay relevant. This app will be archived to stop clutter of the subforum.