Kotyne and the Battle of Necrograd

Territory of: none (disputed between Kyrnomacek and Hagbeadi)

Host star type: main sequence

Planets: 9

Populated Worlds: 1

Population: 2,000,000,000

The Kotyne System is a star system located in the galactic east Grimlands sector in disputed space between Kyrnomacek and Hagbeadi territory. Kotyne itself is 1.2 solar masses consistent with an f-class star. The innermost planet is a barren rocky world dubbed "Vacuae" for a colossal impact crater over 800 miles wide and 18 miles deep. With a circumference of ~18,500 miles, Vacuae is a popular destination for strip-mining crews who harvest large amounts of ores and materials normally buried too deep for conventional mining operations. Common exports include iron, tungsten, uranium, and silicates, which are essential ingredients in many alloys used in large spacecraft. The planet is not claimed by any major interstellar powers, making it easily accessible but heavily prone to piracy and brigandage. Most the other planets in the system are smaller, rocky bodies too insignificant for detailed operations, with the exception of the populated third-closest planet to the sun.

The Necrograd Tomb World (formerly Elysium) is a rocky planet with a circumference of 25,610 miles. The planet is covered in blast craters from detonated explosive ordinances, vast decaying urban centers under severe neglect, and liquid water oceans heavily contaminated by pollutants and toxins. Though the atmosphere is comparable to that of New Burgundy's or Old Terra's, it contains elevated quantities of radon gas and smog from fine particulate matter, making it hazardous to breathe in without protection. Similar radioactive traces can be found in the soil and seas, likely residue from the heavy bombardment that ravaged the planet during the Battle of Necrograd. Heavy space debris makes movement to and from the planet's surface difficult, though interloping scrappers that find the planet regularly ease the orbital burden.

While it was still under the name Elysium, Necrograd was a sprawling, heavily populated world partly in due to Vacuae's riches and Elysium's habitable climate. First settled in 2950 by nomads seeking to refuel their ships, Elysium provided a far greater sedentary life than the stars could, and so the Kotyne system became an economic powerhouse comparable to that of Dyron or Clementina. The system flourished even more under the Clementinan Khaganate, the vast cosmopolitan polity bringing in trade, tourism, and miners from across the Khaganate. Elysium's population peaked at 30 billion by 3700, after which sprawling urbanization inevitably lowered the water and air quality. Though the planet's golden age had ended, society was remarkably stable for a planet of such high population and violent crime was low due to a desire for legitimacy by the planet's organized crime groups.

The Battle of Necrograd

In 4298, the Kyrnomacek Space Navy encountered the Kotyne System and sought to occupy it without triggering a massive high-casualty urban battle. The outer regions of the star system were quickly occupied and notices were sent to Elysium and Vacuae recommending local leaders to surrender peacefully, stating that the system would continue to thrive under Kyrnomacek rule. The Clementinan Space Navy attempted to contest the system, with space battles primarily taking place in the outer solar system at first. Fearing being perceived as traitors, the rulers of Elysium elected to wait until Kotyne was firmly in the hands of either Clementina or Kyrnomacek before making a decision. 

Two weeks into the campaign, bogeys assumed to be Clementinan reinforcements turned out to be a Hagbeadi vanguard fleet, sending waves of panic among the residents of Elysium. Taking advantage of the lack of spacecraft in the inner solar system, the Hagbeadi begun strategic orbital bombardment campaigns across Elysium as well as several massive landings. Hearing word of the landings, Clementinan and Kyrnomacek forces agreed for a temporary truce to rid the system of the Hagbeadi. 210 Kyrnomacek and Clementinan ships rushed to Elysium to engage the vanguard fleet of 90 Hagbeadi spacecraft, initially driving the invaders away. However, the main Hagbeadi invasion fleet of over 400 ships arrived earlier than expected, forming a concentrated spearhead to break through screening ship formations and form a "bubble" around Elysium to deny their enemy access to the planet. 

The Hagbeadi first decimated Elysium's orbital infrastructure to produce heavy space debris and prevent any craft from leaving, before landing on the planet's surface and blitzing ground forces. By the time fleets were able to wear down the Hagbeadi swarm, much of Elysium was locked in a massive brutal urban battle of unfathomable scale, the exact scenario that was to be avoided. Due to heavy orbital debris and Hagbeadi ships complicating landing operations, combined fleets resorted to heavy orbital bombardment on Hagbeadi positions, though many large districts were caught in the crossfire. The hundreds of millions dead on the planet provided the Hagbeadi with ample reserves to replenish their losses and entrench themselves on the planet. Kyrnomacek and Clementinan reinforcements that arrived fended off the Hagbeadi space fleet while the ships that were already there began to clean the orbital debris to prepare for a landing.

At the five month mark of the campaign, a landing operation initially fielding over 3 million Kyrnomacek marines and 4 million Clementinan forces took place, with many landing ships damaged or destroyed by the remaining debris. The ships that landed would come across the horrific sight of concrete hell, entire population centers razed and traumatized survivors forming gangs to loot and steal as global firestorms suffocated hundreds of millions. With very limited logistical supplies, a hostile environment, and an exponentially increasing enemy, ground forces dug in urban ruins to fend off against Hagbeadi swarms and seditious militias. Attempts to rescue civilians on the planet gradually became more feasible as combined forces reclaimed territory, but the sheer number of refugees was so staggering that entire great battleships would be completely filled up in hours. Roughly 3 billion people were escorted off the planet over the course of a decade and a half, with an additional 2 billion believed to have been relocated off planet by the Hagbeadi for one reason or another. 

The land battle would continue for over twenty years, until the environment became too inhospitable for even the Hagbeadi, who withdrew in 4319 with more biomass than one can count. Elysium, once the third most populated and second wealthiest planet in the Gergosphere, was reduced to a barren wasteland. Neither Kyrnomacek nor Clementinan administration dared to be the ones to clean up the mess made, so both sides withdrew and Elysium was formally renamed to Necrograd, the City of the Dead. Today, it is estimated two billion people still live on the planet, most of the population dwelling in underground slums ran by brutal gangs, only returning to the surface to scavenge for anything still remotely valuable or to compete for territory. The trauma of the fierce orbital bombardments and firestorms have lingered on for generations, all are wary of anything that may come from the sky, for they still remember the last time the stars fell.