Anconna, Nuberato System
| Planet Name | Anconna, Nuberato System |
|---|---|
| Stellar Classification | Red Giant |
| Habitability Grade | D4 |
| Satellites | 0 |
| Orbital period | 451 Days |
| Rotational Period | 21 Hours |
| Capital | N/a |
| Population | 1.5 million (circa 31145), 0 (circa 31154) |
'A swirling vortex of heat and smog.' Those were the words originally used to describe Anconna, and they were a fair initial assessment of the tempestuous world.
A near miss from a habitability standpoint, it orbits too close to its parent red giant. The world's environment likely changed dramatically as its parent star evolved, but any trace of a less brutal past have long since been swept away by the forces of the planet's crushing atmosphere or its active vulcanism.
These conditions would hardly seem to make Anconna a likely target for settlement, but a discovery by random chance of significant concentrated deposits of lanthanides would peak interest in the hellish planet.
These minerals were used in a significant number of high tech applications, including sensors, communications equipment, and artificial gravity generators. They were difficult to find in sufficient volumes on most terrestrial planets, making large scale production challenging and expensive.
While the lethal conditions prevented Anconna from becoming a boom town overnight, it didn’t take long for major players in the mineral extraction industry to begin sending resources to explore the world and claim the most lucrative locations.
Initial settlements were made up of the vessels the prospectors had arrived in. Specialized habitations would follow a few months later, after the original claims of mineral wealth had been verified. These structures were similar to the submersibles that had been constructed on other aquatic worlds, long, tapered, cylindrical objects with triple-skinned pressure hulls to withstand the immense strength of the planet's atmosphere.
These would form the first communities on the planet which relied on robomining to navigate the treacherous environment and retrieve the planet's valuable deposits.
In time, the structures would become specialized for the planet's unique conditions. Kilometer-square caissons would be built over especially rich veins of ore, then pressurized to allow miners to provide direct support to the robotic machines which did most of the heavy lifting.
While several communities attempted to petition the Republic for the distinction of colony world, Anconna's inhospitable nature would continuously dash their aspirations. The Senate determined that the planet's populace did not represent a truly permanent settlement, and all attempts to appeal their decision were met with failure.
Anconna would have a half dozen viceroys over the course of its existence, and all chose to maintain their residence in orbit on one of the many stations in geosynchronous position over the main settlements. Because of this, a capital was never truly decided upon, and life on Anconna remained inextricably tied to mining.
When the Ascomanni were first encountered, the initial reaction amongst Anconna's residents was relatively subdued. News was sparse, and few believed that the massive force sent to fight on Battipaglia would fail to stop the alien attack.
When the Republic military retreated from the colony a year later however, the Ascomanni would waste little time in striking their next target. Enemy ships appeared in system, and the sole legion the Republic had stationed on the planet was ill-equipped for fighting in the toxic terrain.
Military defeat came swiftly, followed by orbital bombardments of the planet's settlements. No survivors would emerge from the cataclysm.
Following the complete collapse of the Umbrian presence on the world, the Ascomanni would move in, establishing a number of mining operations in the ruins of the Umbrians' population centers. While a few punitive strikes have been launched against these facilities, they've done little to deter the frenzy of Ascomanni activity originating from the planet.