Planet:New Aratacia

New Aratacia is a terrestrial world in Quadrant 82, and is the capital world of the Drodoian Quadrant Colonies. Since its establishment, New Aratacia's economy has grown at an extreme rate purely from commerce, which is fortunate as the world's inhabitants have to share most of the world's landmass with diverse and often-hostile pre-industrial native peoples known as the Silvan. These controversial and continuing struggles with the native population mean the intrepid inhabitants of the world are forced to live in walled cities and trade from orbital space stations, leaving much of the world a rural landscape.

Early History, 2794
New Aratacia was founded in the early 2790s, and was soon after proclaimed the capital of the Quadrant Colonies due to its habitability, time of founding, and strategic location. The first few months were characterized by the million or so settlers building the first infrastracture, and founding the villages that would soon become the great cities.

It was also during this early era the first interactions with the native peoples would occur. The planet, as it would be discovered, was inhabited by a race of average-sized humanoids who were of an early-iron age advancement named the Silvan, who were also noted for their enormous population; Both through high fertility and the extremely rich soils of the planet. These first interactions would remain somewhat peaceful, with the settlers and natives having cautious interactions with one another and even a basic form of commerce emerging between the settlers and the many civilian merchants of the land. However, as news spread to the many dukes, kings, and emperors of the land of these new arrivals, and the immigration of new Drodo settlers put pressure on the colonists to expand, things would soon come to a head.

Settler-Native Tensions, 2796-2798
Within a few years the Drodo population for New Aratacia had skyrocketed, and its fortunes had been realized, becoming an important trade hub. This however all happened on the backdrop of rising tensions between the settlers and natives; Much of the land the Drodo settled was considered by the native rulers to be within their own territory, and as the years went by many of the native rulers put forth many stringent policies which restricted the commerce and cultural intermingling. With those native communities close to the Drodo colonies, this was an unpopular decision, but in many native nations the inhabitants of the richer heartlands saw this as a positive thing, believing the Drodo to be a distant, monsterous foe.

These policies would soon breed tension between the two sides, and deadly raids would begin to be made against outlying Drodo villages and even larger cities. While most were beaten back by the colonists, their enemies would not leave without their share of firearms, valuables, and in some cases even women. Such raids bred outrage within the Drodo camp, with civilian, non-government militias soon being organized to launch illegal counter-raids, often causing a disproportionate amount of damage and death against their own victims. These tensions would see the emergence of the walled cities the planet is now known for, constructed out of interest in preventing further raids.

Concerned investors and traders began to take note, and the colonial parliament was indecisive in its course of action while its economy and stability suffered. This phase would end however with one major battle.

Drodo-Silvan War, 28-31 August 2798
Things would come to a head when a coalition of native nations, lead by the infamous King Telephari, banded together their armies and launched a enormous pincer offensive on the city of Gallonia, which was the largest Drodo city on the planet and was the location of the Parliament buildings.

Opening maneuvers, 28 August 2798
The native army, number some 250 000, marched in three columns toward the three major bridges that connected the small island city to the rest of the landmass. Telephari, who was the highest marshal in command of the operation, would conduct the majority of his maneuvers both at night and during cloudy days and heavy rain, which was surprisingly effective at screening his armies.

The first engagements would occur around the Drodo farming villages just on the other side of the rivers and bridges. Despite savage Drodo resistance, Telephari's armies would raze the settlements to the ground, sending the surviving inhabitants running towards the city.

Battle of the Bridges, 28-29 August 2798
Panicked, confused, and contradictory reports would come to the Colonial government from patrols and social media, which only served to slow down the Drodo response time to the invasion as the native armies followed the Drodo refugees closely back to the bridges. Due to the poor weather, the small garrisons- Billeted in blockhouses and minor forts- had minimal time to prepare for the oncoming offense. Despite this, when the native armies finally arrived at their respective major bridges the Drodo defenders, numbering only a couple hundred to each bridge, put up a strong defense.

Their efforts were aided by the fact that the rivers the bridges hung over were far too deep and rapid to swim across, and so the defenders, with their assault rifles and machine guns, were able to force the enemy, armed primarily with swords, shields, spears and bows, through a narrow chokepoint and annihilate their advances. The natives, however, were crafty. After realizing their first few advances only yielded several thousand casaulties, Telephari would order his corps and the marshals of the other two armies to instead switch to harassment tactics; the native armies then began to assault, with small groups and in short bursts, the defenders with whatever ranged weapons they had- bows, siege weapons, or stolen firearms, throughout the rest of the day and into the night. The incessant rain of arrows, sporadic bursts of gunfire, and occasional flaming rock or rotting farm animal would erode the numbers and morale of the Drodo defenders, being unable to sleep and forced to keep their head down. In the meantime any reinforcements would still be delayed by the continuing influx of refugees and literal millions of accounts confounding the government.

By morning of the 29th, the Drodo defenders were sleep-deprived and whittled-down in numbers, and it was then that the native armies made their final push. Tens of thousands of warriors began to charge down the bridges, and despite valiant defenses on all three of the bridges, causing extreme casaulties to their native enemies, all of the bridge guards would be killed to a man, and the roads to the Gallonia then seemed open.

Battle of Gallonia, 30 August 2798
The final and largest phase of the battle would come at noon on the 30th of August 2798, when the native armies would again regroup into one force and face the great walled city of Gallonia. The vast army was easily visible from the city walls, and terrified inhabitants thronged the tops of the walls in utter horror at the sight of a quarter-million men standing opposite to them. The Drodo dared not use air support or even artillery in this war for fear of collateral damage, and the case was truer here than anywhere else.

However the city was fortunate that day. Hours before the native army made its march upon the city, and while parliament still struggled to do anything effectively, it had happened that both the French commander Aurelien Ortiz and Drodo commander Cesterity Isordon had been on leave within the settlement. At this point being good friends, they had decided to work together to ascertain the situation and take a course of action. Taking some hour and a half to form a plan, the two then came out onto the streets on stolen robohorses and had managed to rally several hundred, then several thousand, men to them. Most of these volunteers were hunters, veterans, and and other combat-experienced and very angry folk. Leading their illegal militia to the plaza, the two commanders would then divide the mob into brigades, and arm them with any weapons they could find. Soon after the mob had taken over the plaza, the local IDMP force had volunteered to both contribute their armoury and to serve as officers of the brigades, which Ortiz and Isordon gladly accepted.

The entire force underwent intensive training for most of the day, and by the end of it all the ragtag force was composed of about seven-thousand infantry, and three-thousand horse cavalry (mostly composed of IDMP officers and cavalrymen who were on leave). It was a miraculous achievment, and as Telephari's force deployed itself, the Drodo militia too began to sortie out of the walls of the city, accompanied by musicians playing their drums and flutes and colourbearers carrying makeshift standards to raise both their spirits and the spirits of the horrified inhabitants.

The Drodo infantry, armed with everything from ancient bolt-action hunting rifles to machine guns, began to fire at the charging native mob at around five-hundred yards, and despite their fire being far from disciplined managed to cause a horrific ten-thousand casaulties during the advance and cause many parts of the force to shatter and run entirely.

White this occured, the cavalry brigades, stationed about the left and right flanks, made their maneuvers. The cavalry would exploit the fact that Telephari left his archers and baggage train exposed when he sent forth his infantry, and within minutes the 3000 Drodo cavalry would overwhelm and cut apart the enemy archers, loot and burn their baggage train, and even capture King Telephari and several of his marshals.

Minutes after this embarrasing incident, the remaining native infantry, unaware of the cavalry attacks to their rear, closed the distance with the Drodo infantry and a savage hand-to-hand battle ensued. The Drodo settlers fought like men possessed to protect their homes that were literally at their backs, while the native infantry, despite being possessed of a similar spirit, already wavered from the devastating fusilade the Drodo infantry let out upon them. The battle would end in an utter slaughter as the Drodoian cavalry wheeled back around, and crashed into the rear of the native infantry lines, causing the army to break and rout.

Aftermath, 31 August 2798
Immediately after the battle, the many Drodo spectators began to cheer at the sight of the miraculous victory, applauding the hastily-organized militia on their good work. The Colonial government would soon hold a celebration of the victory in the city plaza, and awards, medals, and other honours were generously given out. After the celebration, the captive King Telephari would be forced to sign, publically, a peace treaty agreeing to a white peace, and a truce of ten years. The final battle, the award ceremony, and especially the peace signing were heavily televised, and the victory was broadcasted far and wide both to show the resilience of the colonies, and their ability to keep their investor's interests secure.

The war would ultimately see some one-thousand Drodo military deaths and almost ten-thousand Drodo civilian deaths, to at least fifty-thousand native losses. The war would fundementally change the attitude between the Drodo and the natives, and would force the world to adopt decisive policies in regards to their native neighbours.

Development Era, 2799-2802
The aftermath of the Drodo-Native war would give the New Aratacian government new energy, as it sought to make itself more efficient and active in the development, promotion, and protection of itself. The years after the August War (as it would come to be known as) would see a huge amount of development and economic prosperity for the world- The cities built higher, more commerce flowed through the world's cities, and a project was even put into motion to build a great artificial ring around New Aratacia similar to Coron's.

While this era would see the world rise to international importance practically overnight, this time of prosperity would abruptly end after the rise of Fiihar Jivirik III, whose policies would damage the economy of the Quadrant colonies in general, but hurt New Aratacia's greatly.

Jivirik Era, 2802-
The rise of Archduke Jivirik III was, as with elsewhere in the Drodo Empire, be met initially with celebration and praise. However the New Aratacians would soon learn to resent their distant Premier when his economic policies all but ended commerce with France, and nearly brought the world's fragile fortunes to ruin. The colonists would persevere, but not without the realization that a new era of hardship was upon them, and it came from within rather than without.

Geography and Climate
New Aratacia is composed of three major continents. The largest is based mostly in the northern hemisphere and is set at a east to west axis. This large continent, dubbed "Thracinia" by the locals is known to be temperate and hospitable along the western and easternmost areas, before giving away to cold steppe in the centre. It has a more lush south, which is closed away from the rest of the continent by a mountain range. Several Drodo cities are located on Thracinia, including the capital Gallonia.

The second two continents are both about the size of Australia, and are both on the southern hemisphere and set at north-south axis. They are known for their lush tropical environments and stunning natural beauty. While one is heavily populated by hostile natives, the second, slightly smaller one appears to be totally uninhabited, and is commonly visited by tourists.

Defenses
New Aratacia has an intricate defense network, starting in orbit and ending at the walls of the cities below. Several dozen defensive space fortresses orbit the world, all equipped with angelfire missiles and non-hyperspatial weaponry. In addition, the world has a heavy IDMP presence.

Planetside, the defenses are more geared towards fending off natives, but are still able to come in handy against other opponents. All major cities are surrounded by enormous, one-hundred metre tall, twenty metre thick sloped duracrete walls, on each side of which is a 75-metre tall durasteel sliding gate which it itself is 1.5 metres thick. Such a wall would prove a challenge for most modern artillery, assuming it can penetrate the powerful theatre shields also protecting the major cities. For more active defense the city is the headquarters for several dozen regiments, including the renowned New Aratacian Cavalry.