Aetnaeus, Tagna System
| Planet Name | Aetnaeus, Tagna System |
|---|---|
| Stellar Classification | Red Giant |
| Habitability Grade | A3 |
| Satellites | 1 |
| Orbital period | 3721 Days |
| Rotational period | 35 Hours |
| Capital | Ischia |
| Population | 82 million (circa 31152), 0 (circa 31154) |
Aetnaeus's ruddy, red-brown landmass contrasts sharply with its deep navy blue seas. It was one of three planets located in the Tagna system, joined by a pair of rocky hothouse worlds caught closer to their parent star.
In a stable but distant orbit from its parent red giant, the planet had a temperate climate that initially proved promising for colonization. Its distance from Tagna meant that the local year was approximately ten times longer than Umbria's, broken up between two reoccurring seasons of cooler and warmer temperatures.
The excitement generated by its liquid water would be quickly tempered by the discovery that its vast oceans possessed high levels of salinity, averaging approximately forty percent by volume and proving deadly to all but the most thoroughly adapted organisms.
While the planet's seas would prove challenging for life, they would still provide the needed precipitation required to support the planet's small number of native plants. Huge storms would broil out from the seas every summer, dropping torrents of evaporated, salt-free sea water on its primary continent, where it would collect in large basins around which life would emerge.
Aetnaeus's settlements would leverage large reservoirs and underground cisterns to catch and store fresh water. This would then be used to support the planet's agriculture, which focused on drought resistant and water retaining crops. One of the planet's primary exports is the spruva, a small, seedless, bio-engineered fruit used to produce wine.
A small population of just over eighty million would settle the world, where they'd establish themselves on the planet's sole continent and amongst the numerous archipelagoes that could be found scattered across its oceans.
Located roughly equidistant from the farthest colonized planets and Tratirne, Aetnaeus served as a way station for many refugees fleeing the Ascomanni invasion. They would find the respite on the planet would be brief, as its arid climate and lack of abundance would prove limiting in its ability to support added populations.
Perhaps because of the extensive traffic in and out of the Tagna system, raiding parties of Ascomanni warships would soon attack vessels on the edges of the system.
Fearing a full scale invasion was imminent, an entire army group under the command of the newly promoted Praetor Gaius Aurelius Marcellus would be sent to protect the planet with the aid of the URN's Third Fleet.