Andiron (A brief history)

From Periphery Atlas, 3140 Edition; Galatea Free Press

Helbrent was first colonised during the Age of War, and became a part of the Rim Worlds Republic's Timbuktu Province, at the outer reaches of that nation. A hot, dry world, the planet was dominated by a single supercontinent separated by a number of large, shallow seas. Much of its water supply was tainted, containing trace elements or high salinity that made it unfit for human consumption, forcing the world to rely on both Water Purifiers and supplies imported from nearby worlds.

In spite of this, the planet flourished, possibly due to its strategic position at the outer reaches of the Republic close to both the Free Worlds League and Lyran Commonwealth. During the Reunification war, the World was one of those that was loyal to the Amaris family, but no less was subject to pacification by the Star League Defense Forces as a part of their campaign to restore the government. Despite this, the damage to the world itself was minimal, and it was restored to the Republic following the war's end.

Andiron from space, c3100

Helbrent was one of those that benefited from the Golden Age of the Star League. Terraforming and water purification technologies allowed its population to grow dramatically by providing them with access to clean water and improved infrastructure. While no longer at the fringes of the Republic, the world still was deemed vital enough to become a base of operation for the Republican Guard. Those same troops were stripped from it during the Amaris Coup, leaving it functionally defenseless and easily captured by the SLDF during their counter-invasion of the realm.

Following the collapse of the Republic, Helbrent was annexed by the Lyran Commonwealth, providing it with a degree of initial stability that and security that other former Republic worlds lacked. However, despite this, the world still suffered its own problems. The precious technologies that helped make it livable began to fail, and the deprivations of the Succession Wars and its remote location prevented them from being repaired or replaced. The population dwindled due to starvation and water shortages, which in turn lead to the collapse of the planetary government. By 2860, the world's population had withered, leaving little of any value and resulting in the Commonwealth abandoning the planet to its fate.

At some point in the 30th century the planet was integrated into the nascent Circrinus Federation, and renamed Andiron. Its diminished population stabilized and even began to grow as the Federation began to rebuild the planet in order to use it as a launch point for raids into the Lyran Commonwealth. While focused on the Federation's unofficial primary industry, this rebuilding did have trickle down effects on the world's functional infrastructure, benefitting its population.

However, it was the Word of Blake's alliance with the Federation that provided the first real improvements for the world. The Word invested heavily in the planet's infrastructure, engaging in numerous projects across the world. Extensive Water Purification facilities were constructed, giving much of the planet reliable access to clean water for the first time in centuries. With that came extensive investment in transportation infrastructure, including railway and highway networks connecting the worlds' cities and other major facilities.

However, the crowning achievement of the Word's programs was the construction of a new spaceport over the ruins of its ancient Rim Worlds facility. Built on a scale to rival some of the largest in the Inner Sphere, the spaceport was an ultra-modern facility designed to handle large volumes of traffic, a seeming oddity that was far in excess of anything the world would need.

The reasons for the facility's size and capacity became apparent once the Jihad started, with Andiron becoming a staging ground for attacks by both the Word and Circrinus Federation against the Lyran Commonwealth. Many of these forces consider of augmented pirate teams, ones that been equipped with extensive cybernetic enhancements and used a shock troops. While damaging, the chaos of the Jihad and the issues they faced meant that the Lyrans were unable to respond to these attacks.

Instead, while Andiron did come under attack, it was from an unexpected source. In late 3080, despite being allies of the Federation, the Word of Blake’s 49th Shadow Division unexpectedly attacked the world. Using orbital bombardment, the Word forces destroyed the planet's Spaceport, water purification facilities and the capitol city before disappearing. Like so much else that the Word did during the late Jihad, no reason was given for this action, and it is likely the truth will never be known.

Regardless of the reasons behind it, the effects of the attack were devastating. Hundreds of thousands died from the attacks, with many more succumbing to their after-effects. Furthermore, the damage to the Water Purification facilities once again crippled the planet's surviving population, limiting their ability to rebuild. To make matters even worse, the collapse of the Federation's central government meant that the world was once more cut off from any aid.

In the years after the Jihad, the surviving population began to accrue into several city-states built out of the ruins of its devastated settlements. Clean water became vital, and those who controlled access to it became the new rulers of the world. Their power was refaced by forming alliances with the surviving pirate bands, who provided enforcement as well as a share of whatever they took from their raids in exchange for using their holdings to operate from and access to water and resources.

In the years since the Blackout, these pirate bands have become more bold in their attacks, striking further into the Lyran Commonwealth while that realm has been once again beset upon by invaders and its own internal strife. With their raids becoming more lucrative, the pirates have been taking more control of the world itself. In many ways, the world has become a miniature recreation of the old Bandit Kingdoms, ruled by those raiders and driven by the spoils of their operations.