Bellum*

The Ecosystem of Carolus, the singular habitable planet of the system, is its greatest claim to fame. When the Concordian Crusaders first discovered the system under Ameselan control, they found within a great green jewel. Carolus, in ecology as in everything else, is like Concordia, only more so.   Carolus's bioshphere must be the result of genetic tampering. Everything to far too useful to human ends for evolution to create. For this reason, human civilization has forever leaned on the planet's bounty in one way or another. It has never laid fallow in the Second Stellar Era, so Carolusian and Confederate scientists know very little of the planet's natural state. Many would even go so far as to say it has no "natural state." Its natural state is human exploitation. Its in the planet's bones.

Carolus is like one giant industrial garden, and was found with enough land and plantations to supply a war economy. Normally, gardens don't do that, but the genetically modified plant life of Carolus provided enough to the keep the Ameselan war machine fed for centuries without ever slowing down.   Its primary export is, of course, food. It is one of precious few planets in Transhadar that can grow human agriculture. It grows food fatter and faster than Concorida, Yaodai, or Iccauhtli. It is the breadbasket for Transhadar when transit of Hadar* is too dangerous. Lord knows Snowdrift, Taino Alpha and the Barcid won't.   Aside from agriculture for eating, the soil of Carolus grows happily all manner of genetically enhanced industrial plant life.    In the modern economy, this usually means growing Hydrox Reeds, a swamp water plan whose leaves create a kerosene-like substance. This substance then refines into excellent rocket fuel. Much of the planet's Hydrox crop is needed to get to cargo to orbit, but it also has a fairly large interplanetary market.    Another important crop on Carolus are the Concordian Leviathan trees. Native to locals native planet, these massive trees grow to titanic proportions, and are then used to make ship hulls. While Carolus has long grown the ship hulls of the Chord, only recently has it developed the industry to build its own ships in its own orbital anchorages. Today, Carolus's Leviathan wood crop rivals even Concordia's   And Kingcotton must be mentioned. This elastic, air-tight, rad-resistant fiber is not actually grown by the Kingcotton plant itself, but the plant forms a symbiotic relationship to the Queenwidow spider, whose silk actually forms the Kingcotton fiber. Once harvested and ginned of its spider symbiotes, the fiber becomes indispensable in space suit and space ship production. While more expensive and weighty alternatives exist, Kingcotton remains the best known material in the aerospace industry. And for some god-forsaken reason, it refuses to grow anywhere but fucking Carolus...

Bellum* was really the last bastion of the Ameselan empire during the old war. Technically, Termina* takes the prize for that one, but the system's stations and orbital defenses were did not provide much resistance, and the Ameselans were never escaping Pelagia, paradise that is was. No, the real last stand of the Ameselan war machine was right there in Bellum*. With their population centers long gone, and their industrial base taken from them, finishing the crusade was more of a formality.   For that reason, Bellum* saw fighting the likes of which hadn't been seen since the liberation of Huitzli*. The battle for Bellum* took 19 years, and very nearly turned into a Concordian rout at several points. But after 19 long years of struggle, the enemy was finally uprooted, and cast into the stars.    During the battle, the Concordians found out why the fighting was so rough. The Planet Carolus, named for the Admiral who oversaw the entire invasion, was found to be the bio-industrial foundry of the Ameselan war machine. Just as soon as the dust settled, so did several million Concordians. They saved the planet for themselves, while allowing the Ameselans' outer planet stations to their Huitzlian allies.    For the next six centuries, Bellum* would fuel the Chord's economy. It would provide the wood and steel and fiber for expansion, the food for it's half of the galaxy, and the literal fuel for civilization. But, it only ever exported raw goods. The elite of Bellum* would grow fat and rich but their exports would go to the Barcid, or to factories in Cishadar, where other men would get fatter and richer. It's no surprise, then, that Bellum* would eventually declare its independence. If anything, it's a surprise that it took over 500 years.