New Terra

The planet New Terra had been colonized in 3312 by the Order of the United Colonies in order to seize it as humanities new homeworld, as their original homeworld Terra had been devastated by a global conflict. Tough all 10 planets of the Galileo 1641-B star system were potentially habitable, only New Terra really provided a terran environment favoured by humans that could be endured without many biological and cybernetical adjustments.   That said, New Terra may has a reason for having "Terra" in its name, however this is still an alien ecosystem dominated mostly by nature. Despite its livability, the Planet is still labeled as an ECP (Extreme Condition Planet), a term used by the OUC to mark environments that are either hostile or possibly hostile towards human life.   This is a list of New Terras biggest Biomes:     -The Southern Plains: The Southern Plains are the place where the human ark called "Eureka" landed. A vast flatland consisting of small forests and large patches of grass stretching up to the horizon, only interrupted by several rivers and old, overgrown cities that had been abandoned hundreds of years ago. Here lies mankinds new capital Eureka City, a giant walled off metropolis made from the remains of the spaceship that brought several billion people there.   -Orkney Territory & Victoria Plateu: Next there are the Orkney Territory and the Victoria Plateau. While the Orkney Territory is a large tundra with snowy mountains and dense forests, the Victoria Plateau is an arid hellscape where an empty desert full of old shipwrecks scorches away. Once every 100 years however, rain coming from the Northern Needles gathers over the Plateu and fills its canyons with water, creating riverns and covering the desert atop the Plateu in strange flowers that bloom for exactly one year.   -Calienta Desert: At the bottom of the Victoria Plateu there lies a place called Lapida Caliente, the hot gravestone as it was named by the hispanic community. This large desert spans miles across the horizon and is often permeated with old highways left by the planets former inhabitants. Large spaceships which travelled from star to star now lie half buried in the sand and provide shelter for the deserts vast fauna. Its most striking landmark however are the Glassroads, large patches of glass burnt into the sand over time by huge crystals growing from the depths of the desert.   -The Blue Reach: At last, the desert ends apbruptly as a large ocean lies ahead: The Blue Reach, also called Synye Rozdollya by the Ukrainian and Russian colonists. It is a wide sea of salt water that is inhabited by Salt Snakes, large leviathans that managed to be the only remaining species in this ecosystem, as the waters salinity levels increase ad absurdum the closer one gets to the desert, while the other side of the ocean remains relatively sweet so all kinds of bizarre fish can safely rest in their large coral reefs that formed around half-submerged abandoned cities.   -The Rhine-Falls: After miles and miles of sea, travelers are greeted by the Rhine-Falls, or Rheinfälle, as the german colonists like to say. This are may be a hot savannah, but its humid ground allows for giant areas of knee high lakes and swamps where numerous herds of all kinds of local fauna wander around inj search for food and water. All water in this area passes the Rhine-Falls, a 5km high wall of rocks split apart by a large river delta over the course of several million years. Due to its large biodiversity and tolerable climate, many human settlements gather at the coast of this are such as the Italian colony Costa del Medici or the german megafloat Neukieler Strand.   -Ferrymans Forest & Eastern Redwoods: Atop the Rhine-Falls awaits a strange forest that is split by Styx, the mighty river that had been suppliying the Blue Reach with water for several millions of years. On each side of the river is a Forest, the Ferrymans Forest on the inward side and the Eastern Redwoods on the outward side. While the Ferrymans Forest is an area with strangely large trees that rival any skyscraper, the Eastern Redwoods are like a laboratory for nature, with all kinds of alien flora fighting for domincance over another.   -The Hand of Odin: In the north of New Terra, opposite to humanities capital Eureka City is the Hand of Odin, a titanic mountain range made up of icy mountains that are as steep as they are high. This is one of the least explored areas on New Terra, not only because of its extreme conditions but also because of its terrain, making the are impossible to cross with normal vehicles. Its name comes from the 5 great pillars that emerge from the ground, with the highest being around 10km high. -The Great White: Often called Le Blanc by french colonists, the Great White is a large snowfield illuminated by crystals at night. Large domes of ice have formed over thousands of years, as the crystals melted the snow around them. -The Tower: The Tower is a large structure that was built 1000 years ago by the Covenant on Mirai in order to become a new Beacon that would host other space faring civilizations. After Mirai got destroyed and turned into a ringworld, the tower still remained, but was greatly damaged. Its vast ruins were often explored by human scientists, but due to the war and its general instability, most operations there were halted. Nowadays, Humanity has agreed to let the Covenant rebuild the tower in exchange for humaniktarian aid after the war.   -The Bad Patch: An area that was declared an exclusion zone by the Kiru long before humanity arrived on the Planet. This large jungle not only houses several hostile beasts but also was a former Covenant Black Site used by the Roc for experimenting on bioweapons. It appears that one of those weapons is still going rampant deep within the forest. -The Fallen Sky: The Fallen Sky is a small continent on the eastern ring that was hit by a massive meteor shower, turning the area into a geological hotzone. Several colonization efforts have been stalled thanks to meteors still raining down and large magnetic anomalies. Many of the planets numerous Geomagnetic storms originate here. -The Mirror: A gargantuan patch of land covered in a shallow ocean one could stand in. Despite being mostly saltwater, humanity installed several water tretament facilities to produce drinking water.

Thanks to New Terras rather unnatural circumstances, its ecosystem is just as wild and alien as one would expect it to be. Scientists concluded that the large biodiversity on the Planet comes from the fact that 1000 years ago when New Terra was a Covenant colony, many aliens from different Planets visited, bringing their plants and pets with them who adapted to the new environment. However, despite many planst on New Terra being used to treat wounds or for food, other plants have been observed to show an active hostile behavior, even going so far as to actively attack larger mammals with thorns. So much for the planets plant life but its other inhabitants are just as dangerous. First of all, none of the species native to New Terra have eyes, as all life on the planet developed underground, making them relying on sound to locate prey or hostiles. Over time, their sensory organs got so advanced that some predators were able to fully have a 3D blueprint of their sourroundings in their head all the time, making them effective hunters at any time of the day. One example would be the Brawlers, the most common predator on New Terra who happens to hunt in packs of 5 to 10 individuals. Despite being very cautious, Brawlers show no hesitation to attack a human if they think they have an advantage.

New Terra has a plethora of phenomenons to offer. Not only the ringed shape of the planet itself, but also other things that come with it:   -The Sky: Thanks to New Terras low magnetic field, Aurora Borealis are visible at any time of the day and so are the stars. It could be high noon and yet, northern lights and the stars behind them are still perfectly visible with the naked eye. However, this phenomenon is best observed in the evening hours or when you invite your boss to eat hamburgers. -Floating Islands: An anomaly that scientists tried to explain with magnetism. Emphasis on tried, as no one was yet able to determine how the islands are kept in air. Entire swarms of islands are floating above and next to the Planet, with the biggest swarm being the P-31 Island Swarm that disrupts aerial traffic every 3 months by wandering along the entire ring. -The Sea of Clouds: Located in the ringworlds center lies a vast empty space full of bizarre clouds thanks to the lack of gravity there. The sea of clouds is a large air bubble without any gravity at all, making it a popular location for Zero-G Skydiving. -Geomagnetic Storms: The Geomagnetic storms are a negative result of New Terras low magnetic field. Whenever solar activity rises, several storms form on New Terras surface that can disable any electronic device that wasn´t secured and also happens to alter the courses of the floating island swarms.

"You know i almost cry everytime when i think about how this could have been my home... but i´m happy it´s yours now."   -Airi Akira Mirai 

  New Terra was once an uninhabited planet called GSX-4 by the Covenant. It was one of the few unclaimed territories in the galaxy, as it bordered directly to the Uncharted Territories. In their effort to colonize the unknown systems, the Covenant chose GSX-4 as its base of operations and began with the construction of a Beacon City which would be used to broadcast newly discovered travel routes. However, the government of the Zephyra vetoed against making GSX-4 a multi-species metropolis and referred to article 4 of the Covenants Galactic Charta:   

"Member-Species that suffer a nonexistant and/or uninhabitable homeworld may be able to claim newly discovered planets if their respective living conditions are met in a tolerable manner."   -Article 4 of the Covenant Galactic Charta

  As Zephyra were one of the biggest shares of the Covenants population, the Galactic Council agreed and allowed the Zephyra to use the planet as their new homeworld while the Zephyra in return allowed the contruction of the Beacon City. Shortly after, the current emperor of the Zephyra named the planet after his daughter: Mirai.    However, after only half a decade in 2415, the planet was under attack by unknown forces. Despite a majority of the population being able to escape, billions died as the attackers detonated Mirai and gathered the debris using a space-anomaly. After this incident, the Covenant abandoned all colonization efforts and completely evacuated the system, as they feared that they accidently provoked a nearby empire that used WPDs.    For almost 1000 years, nothing happened. Until humanity arrived that is. Having evacuated their own system after a war, humanity was in search for a new homeworld to restart their civilization on. Several systems were potential candidates like Tau Ceti-IV, Epsilon Eridani or Galileo 1641-B, but mankind chose the Galileo system and much to their amazement, all 10 planets were potentially habitable, with two of them even meeting many basic living conditions such as breathable atmosphere and drinkable water. The 4th planet, which was called Galileo-4 at the time, fascinated their scientists as it had the shape of a ring. As it turns out, the attackers not only destroyed Mirai, but also rebuild it into an artificial ringworld. Despite being sceptical at first, humanity decided to colonize it and give it the name New Terra because altough this world was unlike anything that they had seen before, it felt like home to them.   Since 3312, New Terra is officially recognized as humanities new homeworld by the United Colonies. Later on in 3412, it was officially recognized as human homeworld by the Covenant of the Allied Stars.