Redemption

System: Bacchus

Sector: Hyperion

Covered in wetlands, bogs, and marshes across much of its surface, Redemption is the breadbasket of the sector. It is rich in edible life forms both imported and domestic, and also has massive petroleum resources and precious metals at levels exceeding those of old earth.

The population is a mixture of Proletaran and Ares-Draconis and tend to be pious and provincial. They are firm believers in the Inquisition and its cause, and contribute more forces to the Templars than any other world.

Redemption is a very important world for the Colonies of the Line. its food stores of shellfish, mollusks and giant mushrooms are designed to keep the colonies fed through a prolonged siege, and its trade routes are fiercely guarded by the Inquisition and local militia. Outsiders are held in high suspicion, however, smugglers and pirates target the planet due to rare medicines developed there, precious metal shipments like gold and platinum, and for pearls from miles and miles of oyster beds. In return, the smugglers often bring in luxury items and high technology, which the rich minority on Redemption want but to which they don't have access. These are often goods bought on Hephaestus or from the core worlds. Sometimes, the smugglers bring in darker things...things that require an Inquisitor to purge.

Everything on Redemption revolves around meeting quotas. There are quotas for crops, for livestock and for mines. And to make sure it all runs smoothly are the Quota Bosses. These are men and women charged with keeping everything on schedule, and to whom the word "shortage" is a foul curse.

Redemption has a large population and its quotas also include recruitment of new troops. There has never been a shortage of those.

It is clear that humans are not the first people to set foot upon Redemption. It appears at one point the planet supported a native sentient population of octopus-like creatures that lived in the shallow coastal areas. They reached a level equal to about that of the Roman Empire on Earth, and had apparently just discovered steel when they seem to have been wiped out. There are no signs of a catastrophe that could account for the disappearance of the original species. However, they appeared to have been druidic in nature and the inhabitants of Redemption believe (without any proof) that they must have opened themselves up to evil influences from beyond the Terminus Line that claimed them and dragged them off to some hellish fate. A small population of researchers from PHERI has made Redemption their home for the last 40 years to investigate the species. They had hoped it would be an advanced civilization, but it was not, so there's little wide scale interest outside of academia. However, they believe it was some kind of plague or biological event that killed the native population.

This planet is probably the "soft spot" of the Colonies of the Line. It must be defended at all costs or the other worlds would be hard-pressed to maintain a long campaign. As such it has a massive fleet guarding the system, several Cerberus Mobile Defense Platforms and a huge ground army. It is also a training base for much of the militias of the Line, primarily because it's cheaper than shipping out all the food that is needed to feed such a force.

Population: 252 million

Controlling Clan: Proletaran

Diameter: 8,122 miles (13,071 km)

Atmosphere: Earth-identical, terraformed from near-earth

Average Temperature Range: 20°F -- 115°F (6.6°C -- 46°C)

Gravity: 1.17 G

Calendar: 26 hour day, 430 days a year.

Satellites: None naturally, has six Cerberus defense platforms and two sky cities.

Defense Assets: In addition to its own militia forces, most of the other worlds in the Colonies of the Line maintain training grounds on Redemption as well. The six Cerberus platforms are set up at defensive positions, with one at each pole and four spread at the major LaGrange points. There are also two Norfolk-class shipyards, though they are mostly used for large cargo-ships to load and unload cargo ferried up and down from the surface. Space above the world is always thick with traffic, including inquisition and militia vessels, as well as visiting Stellar Navy ships as well.