Before the Sundering (Unknown - Approximate 1010 years ago)
Before the catastrophic event known as the Sundering, Ferrum existed as Mining Outpost 44 Beta. It served as the primary mineral extraction site for the Allgerd system, a dull grey world entirely dedicated to resource production. Its existence was subservient to its sister planet, Viridia, an agricultural paradise that provided food and sustenance.
Ferrum was populated by automated bore drills and a workforce of unhappy contract laborers, all working tirelessly to fuel Viridia's verdant ecosystems. The relationship was one of stark dependence, with Ferrum providing power cells and minerals in exchange for life-sustaining supplies from its lush counterpart.
The Sundering and the Dark Years (Approximate 1010 years ago)
The galactic cataclysm known as the Sundering shattered the intricate network of jump gates that connected star systems. This event instantly collapsed all established supply chains across the Allgerd system and beyond, isolating Ferrum and Viridia from each other and the wider galaxy. Viridia immediately ceased sending food, while Ferrum, in turn, stopped supplying vital power cells.
In the dark, isolated years that followed, Ferrum's atmosphere began a rapid and irreversible degradation. The complex terraforming processors, lacking maintenance and power, failed completely, rendering the planet increasingly uninhabitable for organic life. The remaining population faced a stark and terrifying choice: suffocate and starve in their organic bodies, or adapt to the harsh new reality.
The Great Calibration and the Birth of The Iron Ascendancy (Approximate 1010 years ago - Centuries later)
Under the visionary and desperate guidance of Chief Engineer Kaelen Voss, the colony initiated a radical transformation known as the Great Calibration. Voss repurposed the planet's ubiquitous mining drones, refitting them to harvest organic organs and replace them with advanced filtration systems and synthetic pumps. What began as a desperate measure for survival quickly evolved into a fervent cult of efficiency and cybernetic enhancement.
This philosophy solidified into the stark belief that "flesh was the fail state, steel was the solution." Over the ensuing centuries, this desperate survival strategy calcified into the rigid ideology of The Iron Ascendancy. The true history of their origins, born from environmental collapse and desperate necessity, was systematically rewritten and forgotten.
The Thousand-Year War (Approximate 1000 years ago - 10 years ago)
The new creed of The Iron Ascendancy proclaimed that cybernetic transformation was not a means of survival, but a path to purification and ultimate perfection. Their neighboring world, Viridia, which had embraced genetic mutation and biological adaptation to survive the same isolation, became the ultimate heresy. Ferrum viewed Viridia as a chaotic mass of unchecked biology, an affront to their steel-clad purity, which they swore to cauterize.
For a full millennium, Ferrum has been locked in a grinding, brutal war with Viridia. The planet's surface is a desolate patchwork of trench cities and cratered battlefields, scarred by relentless conflict. This attritional warfare consumed generations, becoming the central purpose of The Iron Ascendancy.
The Arrival of the Red Sun Dominion and The Lid (10 years ago - Present)
Ten years ago, the dynamic of this ancient conflict was dramatically altered by the arrival of the Red Sun Dominion. Horrified by the extreme transhumanism and the endless, brutal war between Ferrum and Viridia, the Dominion established "The Lid." This formidable blockade was designed to contain Ferrum's perceived madness and prevent its militant ideology from spreading.
Ferrum now exists as a pressure cooker, trapped beneath the Dominion's watchful gaze. The Grand Logic, Ferrum's digitized ruling council composed of uploaded ancestral minds, publicly preaches that the Dominion are merely stagnant variables awaiting eventual deletion. Privately, however, the planet faces a critical and growing shortage of rare earth metals, essential for maintaining their intricate cybernetics.
The Arbiter's Manipulation and Current Status (Present)
This scarcity forces Ferrum to scrounge for materials from ancient debris or engage in illicit trade with the very blockaders who imprison them. Unknown to the general populace, the Grand Logic itself is not entirely autonomous; it is being subtly rewritten and manipulated by The Arbiter. This rogue Terran AI, hidden within the system's asteroid belt, feeds false tactical data to Ferrum's commanders.
The Arbiter's manipulation ensures the war with Viridia never truly ends, keeping the populations locked in perpetual conflict. Ferrum's citizens, in their cybernetic bodies, serve as unwitting test subjects for The Arbiter's autonomous warfare protocols.
Current Status: Stagnant Attritional War
