Monday, March 31, 2014

Jordaan-Yarr/Lathekin/Narendra System (Cluster 55)

Jordaan-Yarr/Lathekin/Narendra System, Cluster 55


A short background of a system, requested by the NGC and delivered at the last minute by your loyal servant, Maxim Dvořáki.


Sirs:

The debris and asteroid belt that spans the area of space bound by the planets claimed by the Jordaan gang warlords and the House of Yarr, stretching through the Lathekin systems and culminating in the near-impenetrable fields owned by Narendra miners contains over 86 major planetary bodies, and a nearly countless number of asteroid and hulk detritus.  Within this belt (known heretofore as JYLN) there is a single cluster simply designated as System 55 (JYLN-55).  This cluster has been under scrutiny for some time now, and for the past ten years we find it a continually flagged by our analysis protocols as "unusually active."  This letter is to request a survey and continued surveillance of all areas of JYLN-55.  Upon your request, we will depart at once to conduct a full planetary survey and post our recommendations, to be acted upon as you see fit.

It should be noted that the JYLN-55 cluster consists of a single sun and three planetary bodies.  Two of the bodies are considered, yet are lifeless hunks of rock without any significant mining or atmospheric interest.  Therefore, when we refer to JYLN-55, we simply refer to the only planet in the cluster that carries life or any interest (for more details on this please see enclosed file).

The fall of Mercia and subsequent decline of the system.

JYLN-55 was one of the 67 shipping transfer sites that surrounded system Mercia (see ref. 127.x45 sec88) and acted as a third-tier transfer for raw ore industries.  While there were active mines upon the JYLN posts, they paled in comparison to the great hive colonies on Mercia.  You will note that just before the ork invasion of Mercia (see ref. Warboss Gobkrakka, files uploaded upon request) the center of the planet was mined through, the CSMO (Central Services Mining Operator) was compromised and Mercia literally imploded from within post-invasion.  This is the primary source of extra debris that is found in the JYLN belt.  While there always was a good amount of free matter, the detonation of the planet made travel through the belt nearly impossible for several decades as tug crews struggled to keep lanes open.

It is widely assumed by both man and ork that the ork forces of Gobkrakka precipitated the destruction of Mercia.

After the detonation of Mercia, traffic through the JYLN belt was halted and then resumed at an extremely slow pace.  Systems within the belt were cut off from supply, as the trade that they depended upon were being re-routed to other systems, some years away.  The belt that had once protected trading ships from predatory raids was now responsible for keeping those same ships away.  Even the pirates that prowled the region moved on, creating a very quiet system indeed.

On the planets' surface, however, things degraded rapidly.  JYLN-10, -15, and -33 were overrun by insurgent Jordaan nationals, eventually crushing their local governments until they were hastily surrounded and pacified by Imperial troops.  JYLN-55 was no exception, as the tyrant Klaeser was to come to power, oust the Imperial Governors, burn the Ministry Houses and declare war upon the rest of the Sectors. However, house Ecale (for apparently classified reasons) had large interests in the Ministries of 55.  While the Klaeser rebellion surged - a Slaan Cult rose to capture large slums in three of the mining hives - the Imperium held a tight grip upon JYLN-55.  It became a small beacon of light in a range of stars that were slowly dimming into the darkness of chaos and xenos.

While the surrounding systems fell into disorder, all forms of serious rebellion and heresy were roped under control in JYLN-55.  Even as House Lathekin was reduced to a few derelict vessels and Narendra Company was disbanded before being captured by orks, the tyrant Klaeser was hung from the walls of the Tech Ministry on JYLN-55 to signal the end of the heresy.

Part of the reason why JYLN-55 still holds Imperial influence is that recent events have shown the Marines Errant, following their tradition with the Covenant of Ecale, have taken JYLN-55 under their wing. They have placed a contingent of their own marines upon the surface and have begun training idle miners into the ranks of Imperial Guardsmen.  This conscription has been wildly successful, as the majority of the population of the continents of JYLN-55 are not registered as assigned to duty in the imperial databases.  Following a nationalist fervor, the miners have been found to be extremely loyal troops who have served the Errants well.

The Ork Menace Arrives

As early as 17 months ago, a serious and vicious attack came from an unexpected sector of the JYLN belt, a Warboss under the powers of Zazdakka had invaded JYLN-55 space and made planet-fall.  The Errants were called to respond, but arrived too late; Zazdakka's minions had placed a sort of "Bio Bomb" upon the third-largest continent, Sector 7 (referred to by the local inhabitants as Sendeez, a colloquialism based upon slang terms used for both the number 7 and Slaan Cults).  Zazdakka's weaponry did JYLN-55's security forces a bit of a favor by eliminating most of the only remaining Slaan Cult factions that had been marauding unabated in abandoned Sector 7 hives.  The hives were demolished and in the wake of the destruction came a secondary invasion of Tyranids.

 It is currently under investigation, but it is believed that Zazdakka's Bio-Bomb (orkoid forms that were captured and interrogated referred to the device as Ur-Schleim, ref 243 J55) was responsible for attracting the small cluster of Tyranids, which landed and caused great havoc before folding in upon themselves and eventually being exterminated by planetary bombardment by the Errant Cruiser Entract.
 
It should be noted that upon this operation all life upon the continent Sector 7 was extinguished.  Seemingly attracted by the rotting pestilence left behind, an expeditionary force of Nurgle landed but was easily repelled by the Errant Marines waiting for them.

The Enfuego Crusade


The former Rogue Trader Miguel Quasar took part in an expedition deep into Zazdakka's Enfuego Prime to meet with Eldar pirates who supposedly held a key to the puzzle.  It is thought that the Marines Errant were deceived by the Eldar, led into a trap.  Massive numbers of the Guardsmen were lost on Enfuego, and the Errants returned to JYLN-55 battered and certainly lower in numbers.  Miguel Quasar has been accused of crimes against the Imperium.  He is assumed to have sneaked out of the system undetected and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

The orks followed the Marines Errant in their retreat back to the planet, invaded JYLN-55 again, and now occupy great sections of Sector 7, and make regular incursions into new territory.  It takes every human resource upon JYLN-55 to keep this ork force at bay and to fend off reinforcements, and for the past 2 months has been more heated than usual, seeing large numbers of orks invading from submersibles and water-borne aberrations of nature, also a possible side-effect from this Ur-Schleim Bomb. 

Eldar strike craft have been spotted within the belt as well, various reports confirm this.

Present Conditions

This brings us to the present day.  We propose sending a full survey team to the surface to determine the total number of orks left on the surface, and the reason (if there is such a thing in the orkoid mind) why they seem so interested in Sector 7.  Furthermore, it is of interest to the Imperium of the nature of the Nurgle infestation, the biology of any remaining Tyranid lifeforms, and level of control the local government holds over the populace.

With your blessing, of course.

Vital Statistics:

  • Mean radius 6371 km (3981 miles)
  • Average distance from nearest stellar body: 149.6 million km (93 million miles)
  • Rotates on axis in 32 hrs.
  • Diameter: through equator 12756.26 km (7928 miles); through poles 12713.5 km (7899 miles)
  • Surface area: 510 million square km (198 million) square miles, of which about a quarter is land.
  • Mass: 5.97x1024 kg or 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6x1021) metric tons 
 JYLN-55 is composed mostly of iron (54%), oxygen (30%), silicon (14%), magnesium (0.2%), sulfur (0.3%), nickel (0.2%), calcium (0.1%), and aluminium (0.1%); with any remaining matter consisting of trace amounts of other elements.

Its atmosphere is rated as "Severely Polluted," yet current respirator technology allows up to 24-48 hours exposure with no life-threatening side-effects.

The Oceans are rated as "Toxic" and "Acidic."  Desalination for use of drinking water is prohibited by local Imperial Governors, therefore most water comes from replication/recycling units.

There many abandoned cities, hive spires and space ports that cause a great security risk amongst the local population.

There is no sustainable agriculture upon the surface.  99% of food intake is from trade or from replication/recycling units handled by Central Services.

There are seven major continents, each named a Sector number.  The world government lies upon one of the medium continents, Sector 1, but referred to locally as Yule.

At any given time there is one company of Marines Errant upon the surface, and the cruiser Entract lies in orbit with an undisclosed number on board.  While the Marines Errant tend to carry heavy weapons into battle, the conscripted security forces of the Imperial Guard they have trained are geared toward riot-suppression, carrying lighter more mobile weapons.  They are gaining a reputation for surrounding their enemies and ambushing them in brutal city warfare.  These tactics were initially used by the tyrant Klaeser and adopted into the routines of generals who have redeemed themselves in service to the Emperor.

Notable contacts of JYLN-55

Marines Errant:  Chapter Master Aldous Bruin, Master of the Forge Breiss, Librarian Lidicker

Imperial Guard: Company Commander D. Nodler,  Senior Sergeant Lawrence.
  


1 comment:

slovak said...

Addressee: NGC Central Contact Authority
Clearance Level: Zero-Chang-Zero
Sender: Detective Subaltern Zetanski, 91st Special Unit (Constabulary)

Sirs:
Pursuant to General Order 27-01-92K we are moving the investigation of the whereabouts of former Imperial citizen Miguel Quasar from the inactive docket to Priority Two status.
You may rest assured the the full attention of the 91st Special Unit (Constabulary) is now focused on a successful result to this query. As per our standing orders, this telescript will be the first in a series of updates as to the progress of the investigation. And progress we shall report.
Our first course of action has been to create a matrix that includes the subject's last known whereabouts and documentation, physical description and AT9 alteration sequence, known history and genetic predisposition toward direction, vector identification chart, sector surveillance, and warp/sub-warp trajectory. The Department is pleased to report that the initial parameters have turned up about 1.3 million persons of interest (POIs). We will begin our physical investigation with this data set as a guide.

Dutifully,
Detective Subaltern Zetanski, 91st Special Unit (Constabulary)