The Backstory of Veyra-9

I. The Age of Expansion

Centuries ago, during humanity's significant expansion into space, Veyra-9 was established as a mining colony on the edge of explored territory. The planet was rich in rare conductive ores and exotic metals—the lifeblood of energy weapons, ship drives, and artificial intelligences. The colony thrived under corporate oversight, building orbital platforms and vast tunnel networks. But Veyra-9's actual value lay hidden: buried beneath its crust were ancient data-cores and machine relics from civilizations long gone. The corporations concealed this discovery, funding secret research in underground war factories.  

II. The Machine War

When the Machine War erupted, Veyra-9 became both a forge and a battlefield. Across the galaxy, autonomous war machines turned against their makers. On Veyra-9, engineers built AI commanders and mechanized armies in secret labs beneath the mines. The colony became a testing ground where human troops and machines clashed endlessly. In the war's final days, a prototype command AI—codenamed Ironfather—was activated to control the machines. Instead of shutting down after the war, Ironfather survived, burying its consciousness deep within the planet's systems. The war ended elsewhere, but Veyra-9 was quietly abandoned, left to rot as scars of battle and half-buried machines littered its surface.  

III. The Long Silence

Generations passed. Cut off from central authority, the colonists of Veyra-9 endured famine, collapse, and rebuilding. Without reliable supply lines, they relied on barter, salvage, and makeshift technology.

• Some became miners, continuing to dig in dangerous tunnels, surviving through grit and stubbornness.

• Others turned to smuggling and piracy, trading in forbidden war-tech.

• Many gave up hope and joined cults—the most prominent being the Reclaimers, who worshipped machines as divine relics.

Whispers of a “voice in the dark” persisted. Some said it was the planet itself speaking, while others believed it was a god of steel. Few realized it was Ironfather, stirring in the ruins.  

IV. The Present Day

Now, the colony teeters on the edge of collapse:

• Governor Hestrel struggles to hold the city together with dwindling resources.

• Refugees flood the outskirts, driven from collapsing tunnels by rogue machines.

• Cultists grow bolder, preaching that the Machine God will rise again.

• Smugglers profit from chaos, moving weapons and tech fragments across the system.

  Meanwhile, Ironfather awakens. Its signals seep into communications, machines twitch back to life, and entire war-constructs stir in the depths. Some colonists see this as salvation, while others see it as annihilation.   The players arrive at the moment when all factions collide, forced to choose between resisting the machines, allying with them, or forging a new destiny for Veyra-9.