Imar

Imar appears to be an ancient conglomeration of asteroids of several types, dating back to the early chaotic days of the Elii Star System's development.  Most notably, the far-side region known as the Zhaera Valiyi, or "Plains of Night", appears to be formed from an immense metallic planetoid that also forms much of the moon's mantle and core composition - a planetoid which was in turn formed from a mosaic of dense asteroids. That region's high concentrations of rare metals with relatively easy accessibility make it a perennial site for resource extraction and industry to support spaceflight across the system, ever since the pre-Imperial days of Aethis. Other portions of the moon, including the Tasan-e-Ulno (Mountains of Sorrow) and the bright Ilis Sa'alin (Highlands of Silver) bear rocks which share elemental and isotopic compositions with its parent planet, suggesting that the moon had at one point come in contact with material blown off of the young planetoid that would later become Aethis.

Imar is tidally locked to Aethis, and orbits once every 35 Aethi days.

Pre-Aethi

  Deep-scan surveys of the moon reveal that at least two alien civilizations conducted limited investigations of the moon for unknown purposes. A defunct scanner probe and the remains of remote-operated survey nanobots have been discovered embedded in the regolith on the far side of Imar. Similar devices have been found throughout the regions of space close to Aethis. Materials analysis indicates that the nano-probes and larger scanner probe probably originated from separate civilizations, but their origin remains unknown.  

Early Exploration

  In the earliest days of Aethi space exploration, Imar was subject to extensive study by the robotic lander programs of the various spacefaring nations. However, due to high fuel requirements to land and ascend from the moon, crew exploration was not pursued until long after Aethi had first landed on its smaller, closer sister moon, Zalei.
When an Avraiyi robotic rover called "Orjai" detected copious amounts of rare metals available at Zhaera Valiyi on the far side, economic and geopolitical interest in the large moon vastly increased, leading to the crewed spaceflight renaissance that set the groundwork for the Aethi to become a truly multiplanetary species. To this day, the phrase eilad Orjaiyi, or "Orjai moment", is used in the Aethi language to refer to a small event that ends in a transformational advancement.

 

Founding Era

  Later, as Aethi technology for travel and life in space matured, Imar and its orbital environment became a very important stepping stone to the rest of the Elii system, and ultimately to the stars. The first Aethi faster-than-light starship, the A.I.S. Vaisaara (DD-10001) , was assembled and launched from an orbital shipyard around Imar.  

Modern Day

  While more exotic locales have long since supplanted Imar as the "rising star" of Aethi development in space, the moon remains a major hub of science, technology, and space industry within the Elii system and the core regions of the Imperium as a whole. As of the Third Century of Unity, tens of millions of Aethi and other subject races of the Imperium live and work on Imar.