MORMOEN SYSTEM
Osnins Constellation
During the initial expansion of the Gallente and Caldari people, many systems were often discovered and quickly surveyed for inhabitable planets, and other less than ideal locations, were skipped until technology allowed any form of colonization.
Mormoen was such a location, its Radiant Orange Dwarf Star of spectral class M2V provided great conditions to host a planet within the "green zone", and at least 2 of them were within those limits, sadly both presented exotic conditions that made any colonization effort a serious task.
Eventually eyes were set on Mormoen VII, which would be latern known as Mormiset (a simple deformation of its astronomical name). An old world in Federation standards, first colonized 560 years ago, before the Gallente and Caldari created the Federation, it was an endeavor started by a handful of pioneers backed up by the former expansionist political party and a couple of housing corporations with interest in developing the new technologies to be used on less than ideal worlds, capitalizing on the diaspora of the Gallente civilization.
With higher but bearable gravity, natural magnetic field, minimal axis tilt, non-eccentric orbit, natural oceans, Planet VII was prime real estate as any; the only aspect preventing rapid colonization was its atmospheric composition, with high concentrations of nitrogen, hydrogen, methane, water vapor and carbon monoxide. Regardless if there were better options a few jumps further out into the outer rim, its close location to Gallente Prime allowed, both the government institutions and the private investors, to keep a close eye in the planetary development, something everyone was interested in observing since it was happening in such frenzy all over the discovered planets.
The history of Mormiset begins on a humble settlement on the northern hemisphere where geography was better suited for dome habitats and atmospheric processors. The main economic return back then was synthesizing complex carbon compounds using the materials extracted from the atmosphere and soil. Nobody really foresaw just how long it would take to make the population self sustaining and have a significant economic return so everything was planned with self reliance in mind.
For the next 50 years the pioneers prospered, new settlements along the northern coastal valleys and southern plains were founded and the terraforming process moved into full scale with the release of a specially breed cyanobacteria that was able to survive the external conditions and perform photosynthesis. Within 100 years, the foggy nature of the atmosphere cleared, the oxygen began to react with exposed metals and a thin ozone layer had begun to form.
Of course 100 years was a long time, and naturally all of the private investors and lobbyist groups quickly lost interest in such a long scale project. Luckily for the inhabitants of Mormiset their self reliance meant they were able to survive even without monetary support from outsiders. As the Gallente came in contact with the Intaki, Mannar and Jin-Mei civilizations, the Mormoen system quickly faded into a backwater location undesired because of its hardships and limited job opportunities.
Still the Terraforming process continued unabated and soon small insects and other life forms were able to thrive. Just 172 years after the first settlement, with acceptable oxygen saturation levels, the first marine species were released into the coasts and oceans with unexpected results. In what became known as the "Safege" event, the algae and shellfish grew in size beyond the usual and developed into spectacular commercial products with exquisite taste and flavor. This became the turning point in the colony's history as it became the planet's primary export and opened research opportunities to search for other species that would favorably grow in the planet's half-terraformed condition.
Finally, 300 years after the first settlement, the terraforming processes reached the point were humans could walk outdoors and cities no longer required domes. Various species of fungus and lichens began to prosper even in the high-altitude mountain ranges and near the polar circles; giant-sized algae were massively cultivated on the shores, with fish shoals thriving right off the coast. Agroforestry became the 2nd most profitable industry with different types of wood-producing species successfully cultivated. Scientists at this point realized the cyanobacteria and other microorganisms released hundreds of years ago to terraform the planet, in conjunction with the atmosphere composition deposited a lot of nutrient compounds, providing photosynthetic life forms, and all those who depended on them, with an incredibly amount of resources for their biological cycles.
This historic development pushed Mormiset and the local planetary system into the space age, as the need for construction materials and mineral resources discouraged any kind of surface activity that could disrupt the delicate ecosystem or the quality of its primary exports.
The 4 moons in orbit around Mormoen VII were the first locations to be surveyed. Deposits of Platinum, Titanium, and small ice deposits made it profitable to establish mining operations right away. Real estate in these moons was also valuable as their orbits and locations provided a vantage point for weather surveillance and monitoring services in order to ensure the best conditions for the large agro-industry on the planet's surface.
Within a few decades it was clear the local moons would not be enough. Private investors put their focus on Mormoen VI, the nearest planet, a Gas giant with 22 moons and 2 asteroid belts, the perfect place to strip mine and acquire all the resources the thriving economy needed. After initial surveys discovered suitable locations, several Caldari corporations capitalized on the opportunity and began exporting Atmospheric Gases, Evaporite Deposits, Hydrocarbons, Silicates, Titanium, Cadmium and Vanadium within system and the entire constellation.
By 23121, roughly 300 years after Mormiset colonization, the Federation was founded by the Gallente, Intaki, Mannar and Caldari. In particular the Mormoen system was among the first locations to build a Federal Administration Archives Station. The massive undertaking was anchored in geo-stationary orbit around Mormoen VI moon 20, and affectionally baptized as "L'or Vault", as it became the staging location for the immense quantities of minerals being extracted around the area.
The rush in which all this happened made the terraforming process pale in comparison, in less than 15 years Mormoen changed from being a modest planet to be a thriving space economy, with district elections taking place every 4 years, rising in importance to be granted a representative seat in the Senate and becoming an significant share of the Osnins constellation voting bloc.
From the ongoing economic momentum, other ventures started in the area, in particular a partnership between Poksu minerals and the Caldari Business Tribunal in orbit around Mormoen V Moon 2, another gas giant with plenty of rich mineral deposits in its moons and belts.
Other terraforming projects began in Mormoen III and Mormoen VIII, only the latter being partially successful. Mormoen VIII has an orbit completely vertical to the planetary plane, so every 14 years it is severely affected by the gravity of the rest of the planets as it crosses the plane. This has allowed the planet to remain tectonically active, but been so far out from the parent star, also means its building materials had less percentage of rocky materials. This strange combination kept Mormoen VIII as a frigid oceanic world, with active underwater volcanic vents heating specific locations across the planet. The terraforming process did not create any landmass for new colonies, but it changed the composition of the atmosphere and oceans enough to create sustainable oxygen saturation levels. Some attempts to introduce marine lifeforms were met with poor results, albeit the planet was later abandoned, every few decades some new enterprising biologist attempted creating a commercial lifeform that could thrive on the planets conditions, but never really took off commercially. This process made Mormoen VIII oceans rich in biology, yet none were feasible to be cultivated in large quantities.
When the Caldari-Gallente war began, the entire Mormoen system was engulfed in the conflict. Mormiset's entire export was dedicated to provide cheap and plentiful food for the space forces, while the Federal Administration station became a military logistics base, with the aim of acquiring any and all minerals available.
The most notable issue during this time period, one that stirred public demonstration and riots for months, was the occupation of the CBT station in Mormoen V moon 2. The Federal Intelligence office used the facility as a detention and interrogation center. Since many of the space-based mining corporations working in Mormoen had Caldari management and operators, most of them were detained in the first months of the war under accusations of collaboration with the enemy. The sizable population of deteis in the planet did not take this lightly, effectively leaving the planet and joining the rest of their brethen in the newly disclosed Caldari colonies.
Hundreds of years later, by the time of the foundation of CONCORD and the eventual peace treaty, the population were only of Gallente descent, with Intaki, Mannar and Minmatar being the minority.
Ironically enough, CONCORD regulation allowed the Caldari Business Tribunal to recover control of their former station and build new ones. During the next 50 years after the peace treaty in YC12, Caldari corporations began to operate as they usually did in the mining stations on the rocky and ice moons of Mormoen V and VI.
No major events transpired in the star system history, until YC112, when CONCORD lifted the planetary development regulation and allowed space corporations to settle. Although Mormiset was firmly established with their base products, something that reflected in the kind of industry being developed, it was the other planets which benefitted the most, the aquatic world of Mormoen VIII cultivated large quantities of microorganisms and planktic colonies for biomass production, Mormoen I, II and III had large deposits of precious metals and heavy metals, and the Gas giants presented an unusual mix of Water Vapour and Ionic solutions deep in their atmospheres, perfect for the production of high-quality coolants.
Today Mormiset is home to over 950million people, and the last census reported around 1060million total, including those living in the 5 space stations built in the system. Their prime exports still being mostly of agro-industrial origin, but with a respectable presence in the mineral market.
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Topic: [SYSTEM] Mormoen (Read 2498 times)