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Daedalus II

Daedalus (Zeta1 Reticuli III)

Daedalus Zeta1 Reticuli
Image from Steve Bowers
There are two planets named Daedalus in the inner sphere alone; each was named independently of the other (the other is at Pi-3 Orionis). This, the younger colony, is now officially known as Daedalus II

Daedalus (Zeta1 Reticuli III)

commentsHouse Marhenke managed to have this frigid desert world terraformed by the mid Empires era. It has become a neo-feudalistic society, with close affiliations with the Solar Dominion, who have provided them with aid, finance, and technology.
System:Zeta 1 Reticuli
Planet:Zeta 1 Reticuli III
Planet Type:terraformed Paludial Gaian, originally AreanTundric
AIHouse Marhenke use only Turingrade AI and expert systems; they decline to allow transapient entities to visit their world. They are however, informally aligned with the Solar Dominion
PolityName: Tartarus Commonwealth



Affiliation: Solar Dominion

Founded 1674
Psyche, Art, CultureCulture: neo-feudalistic society, revolves around the hereditary shareholders

Language: Daedalese, Tartaran (Anglish Language family), Atlantese, New Anglish and are also also widely spoken
Territory and PopulationPopulation:
Government and AdministrationGovernment Type Foreign Policy: Trade, Cultural and Ideological links with the Solar Dominion. Despite the apparently opposite political allegiance, relations are cordial with Atlantis and the rest of the Zeta Reticulli system.
Local InfrastructureAngelnetting : in some orbitals.
One of three successfully terraformed worlds in the Zeta1 Reticuli system
Daedalus II map
Image from Steve Bowers
Biqyesek, the capital of the Tartarus Commonwealth, faces onto the Harerin Ocean (equirectangular projection)

The Birth of the Tartarus Commonwealth

(From Toyne Gersan 3, A Brief History of the Inner Sphere (Corona University Webbooks) The Tartarus Commonwealth began as an early Atlantean colony on Daedalus. In 3674 when Detroit Marhenke (generally regarded as having expensive impulse control problems) murdered a competitor. To escape the PPLs and financial ruin he and his family escaped from Atlantis to Daedalus where they owned some land. This posed a problem for the PPLs and insurance companies; getting him back would likely entail a very expensive attack mission, where some of the other family members could file countersuits for endangering them. In the end it was solved by paying off the victim's family and deliberately ignoring the Marhenke family. They were blacklisted instead: almost nobody on Atlantis would deal with them, and they were without insurance.

Despite what most thought was possible, the Marhenkes survived on their icy world. They lived in a base inside the extensive cavern systems of the Mises mountains, eking out a poor and troubled existence but surviving against all odds, and tweaking their metabolism for optimal survival. The name originated as a joke during the first years. Over time a new generation grew up, not formally blacklisted and able to deal with the Atlanteans. Over time a fragile trade has emerged, where the Marhenkes sell ice and software in exchange for goods they cannot produce themselves. A number of other disaffected Atlanteans have also joined the Commonwealth, which after a century numbered around a hundred. For a long time it was organised as a company, with members as shareholders; most is of course owned by the older Marhenkes. During the 39th century it tried to scrape together enough money to build a catapult to make ice trade more feasible, but had trouble finding investors.

By the end of the Second Federation era Daedalus II had been successfully terraformed, and the Tartarus Commonwealth had had become a powerful hereditary clone House, rivalling Atlantis in influence.
 
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Development Notes
Text by Anders Sandberg and M. Alan Kazlev
Initially published on 03 October 2008.

 
 
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