Gadpathur
Located within the Shpanberg System, the Weeping Stars world of Gadpathur is a living testament to the nearly-apocalyptic nature of the Interstellar War between the Sol Alliance and Coalition of Colonies centuries ago. The surface of the planet has been scorched and gouged by years of orbital bombardment, and much of it remains uninhabitable to this very day. The remaining residents of the planet retreated underground as the planet was bombarded, and what has emerged as the dominant force on Gadpathur since the Interstellar War is the United Planetary Defense Council of Gadpathur, a government dedicated to ensuring, above all other things, that the planet will never again fall to the Sol Alliance, even if all its inhabitants must give their lives in its defense.
History
Initial Colonization
Gadpathur was colonized at roughly the same time as many colonies that would come to form the future Coalition of Colonies such as Xanu Prime, Himeo, and Vysoka. Due to its location closer to the Sol System, in what would eventually become the Weeping Stars, the system was colonized several years before many Coalition systems and was intended to serve as a refueling point for vessels heading to Xanu Prime. The planet was fairly unspectacular: Earthlike and inhabitable, but possessing nothing noteworthy beyond its convenient location. The fauna and flora were docile enough, though most died off due to invasive species brought by the settlers. The planet prospered as a trading port positioned between Xanu and Sol. Partially, this success was due to its significant naval presence which discouraged most pirate attacks on the system or vessels that flew its flag. The naval presence was a great boon for the system, at least until the Interstellar War began.
The War
By the mid 2260s Gadpathur was in the worst position that it had been in for its entire existence. The devastating economic collapse brought on by the Second Great Depression had destroyed much of its trade-based economy. Profits declined, unemployment became rampant, and many major trading companies went bankrupt. The problem only became worse in 2265 with the addition of steep taxes on all forms of trade by the Sol Alliance in order to prevent a total bankruptcy of the Alliance itself. The steep taxation upon the colonies and their trade, destroyed what little remained of Gadpathur’s once-thriving economy and turned the planetary opinion strongly against the Alliance. The last public opinion poll taken before the outbreak of violence in 2275 listed the Sol Alliance’s approval rating at less than 5%. The planet devolved into widespread civil unrest in late 2275 before escalating into full-scale revolt in early 2278.
The Interstellar War would only touch Gadpathur briefly, but it would impact the planet for centuries to come. The Sol Alliance’s control of the planetary surface was gradually lost as 2278 progressed, and was completely gone by September of that year. In orbit, Admiral Terrence Hopper - commander of the Gadpathur Fleet - seemingly stood alone. But Admiral Hopper - a hardline loyalist to the Sol Alliance - was not yet prepared to relinquish control of a valuable trading port to what he viewed as traitors and rebels to the true government of humanity. On the eighth of October, 2278, the Admiral gave the most fateful order ever to impact Gadpathur: fire all ordinance at the planet’s surface to deny the newly-formed Coalition of Colonies control of its valuable trade. Billions would assuredly die in the bombardment, but these were traitors in the eyes of Admiral Hopper in his fleet. The firing orders were carried out with little hesitation from the fleet’s captains, and the surface of Gadpathur was turned into a wasteland in the course of mere hours.
In the years following the Interstellar War, the bombing of Gadpathur would be swept under the proverbial rug by the Sol Alliance. Admiral Hopper was never punished and eventually retired to his home on Luna before passing away in the early 2300s in his sleep. Gadpathur itself went silent for many decades and was believed to be all but irrelevant by the Sol Alliance’s admiralty. The Coalition - unable to provide aid due to the damages sustained by itself during the Interstellar War - believed the planet and its population to be almost completely wiped out following the bombing and utilized it as anti-Solarian propaganda throughout the nearly decade-long Interstellar War.
But, against all odds, Gadpathur endured. However, it would never be the same again after its fall to the Sol Alliance.
Reunification
In the wasteland that had been Gadpathur, the civilian government - already strained and worn down by three years of constant civil unrest - collapsed within days, perhaps within hours, of the bombing. The military of the planet, similarly strained and divided between those loyal to the Sol Alliance and those loyal to the planet, followed the civilian government in collapsing. Within a week of the bombing’s conclusion a period referred to in the planet’s history as the “Gadpathurian Anarchy” had begun. Hundreds - perhaps thousands - of petty statelets and warlords emerged, ranging from former military units turned into bandits, mayors that were desperately holding onto the remains of their former cities, religious zealots that had organized doomsday cults, the remains of former political organizations that had formed political experiments ranging from radical Gadpathurian nationalism to Solarian revivalism, and many more. But one stood above all in terms of its organization, its goals, and its dedication: the Gadpathurian Reunification League, a military government founded from the remains of three army groups shortly after the bombs fell.
When the bombs fell, one army group was spared from much of the devastation thanks to the remote location in which it had opted to conduct training maneuvers. The Fifteenth Gadpathurian Planetary Command Region - consisting of three armies - under the command of Field Marshal Ashia Patvardhan retained upwards of ninety percent of its pre-bombing strength while sequestered in their remote - and mostly underground - facilities, making it the largest military force essentially overnight. Field Marshal Patvardhan and her generals, after overcoming the initial shock of experiencing global thermonuclear warfare committed by those they had been serving mere months ago, came to a grim realization: they were the best, and perhaps the last, hope for their home. The task of reunifying Gadpathur and allowing it to once again reach the galactic stage had been laid upon their shoulders. Taking the simple title of Commander and renaming the Fifteenth Planetary Command Region to the Gadpathurian Reunification League, Patvardhan set the League upon their ultimate duty: the reunification of the planet.
The League quickly secured its immediate surrounding area - primarily villages and towns that had been left without greater leadership following the collapse of the planetary government - and established a military government over the region. The resounding defeat of the nearby bandit warlord, a former military unit now calling themselves the “Disciples of Murugan,” and the subsequent absorption of the bandits into the League as a unit established further confidence in the League’s ability to save the planet. A system of organization promoted by Commander Patvardhan in which factories, civilians, and military units were all organized along the same line: quasi-military groups referred to as “cadres” that helped encourage cooperation and unity between members of the Reunification League. It seemed that planetary reunification by the League was not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
In 2308, thirty years after the bombs were dropped onto Gadpathur’s surface, the black-and-brown flag of the Reunification League was at last hoisted over the former planetary capital of Ambedkar. Commander Patvardhan, now in her late seventies, had at last accomplished the dream of reunification and ended the Gadpathurian Anarchy. Already in her twilight years, Commander Patvardhan was now left with the task of determining which direction to take the Reunification League. She and her most senior officials and commanders conferred for days, then weeks, then after eighteen days a decision was reached. As the most important duty for the government of the planet was to ensure it would not bow again to the Sol Alliance, there would be no handover to a traditional civilian government. Instead, the Reunification League would rule the planet to ensure that it would not be humiliated by the Sol Alliance. Not ever.
When the Solarian invaders returned, Gadpathur would stand ready. And it would never again fall to the Solarians - even if all of its citizens died in the defense of their planet.
Aftermath
The United Planetary Defense Council of Gadpathur, successor to the previous Reunification League, has ruled the planet since its reunification over a hundred and fifty years ago and has lasted far past the death of its original Commander. The cadres of the planet, working in military precision to ensure that their homeland stands ready, work tirelessly to ensure the planet will not be found wanting again. Gadpathur is militarized to such an extent that it is often regarded as a fortress world, and it provides a great amount of soldiers, sailors and vessels to the rest of the Coalition despite its position in the Weeping Stars.
The modern Gadpathur is a planet still scarred by the trauma of its orbital bombardment, and one that is absolutely determined to never again fall to the Sol Alliance.
Environment
The environment of Gadpathur still bears the scars of widespread bombardment by the Sol Alliance. Gigantic crates scar the surface, and many areas are at best hazardous and otherwise unsuited to human inhabitation. While air has remained breathable on the planet’s surface, it is often toxic in more damaged areas and most residents of the planet commonly carry a gas mask with them during their daily lives. The surface of the planet is fairly cool and features a very atypical weather type: radioactive ash storms. These storms often scour the more bombarded areas, and are a result of the immense amount of ash that settled following the detonation of orbital ordinance on the planet’s surface.
The flora and fauna of Gadpathur are extremely hardy, having survived a near extinction-level event in the form of the Solarian bombardment. Flora is typical shrublike, and most trees are relatively small. What fauna remains is generally small and warmblooded, due to the bombardment creating a quasi-nuclear winter and subsequent dying off of species that followed it. Most crops on the planet are grown in the massive hydroponics bays of the United Planetary Defense Council, to ensure that the planet will have ample food supplies in the event of another struggle with the Sol Alliance. Indoor pastures also exist to ensure that animal-based products will similarly be available, even in the most dire of situations. Even the animals and plants of Gadpathur have been made to work, in their own ways, towards ensuring that the planet will never again fall.
Life on Gadpathur
The culture and society of Gadpathur still bear the scars and traumas of the planet’s bombardment and reunification war. Gadpathurian society is wholly dedicated to ensuring that those traumas will never be endured again by the planet, no matter what the cost. Its society is organized into paramilitary units referred to as “cadres,” on the planet that are responsible for ensuring that when (and in the minds of Gadpathurians, war is a when rather than an if) war comes they will not be found unprepared for even the most apocalyptic of conflicts. Children from the age of four are placed into an educational cadre that they will ultimately graduate from at age eighteen and be placed into the cadre they are most suited for. This structure, along with an overwhelming planetary desire to resist the Sol Alliance, has helped contribute to Gadpathurian society’s current status as a highly militarized, very disciplined society structured more like a massive army than a true planetary society.
This society based upon the eventuality - some would say the inevitability - of total war has created an unusual culture in which every individual is quite like their fellows. While cadres will often have their own individual traits with some even having histories stretching back into the unification period, there is no deviation from the overarching goal of ensuring that the planet will never again fall as it did when it was orbitally bombarded. All cadres wear a similar uniform designed by the planet’s central government which has helped further contribute to the highly-collective nature of the planet’s inhabitants. This has created a perhaps appropriate stereotype of Gadpathurians commonly found throughout the Coalition in which they are regarded as dour and insular people with a grim outlook on the Orion Spur and a fatalistic view of the prospect of a Second Interstellar War. To a Gadpathurian, the Sol Alliance attempting to conquer the Weeping Stars and the Coalition is an inevitability and all will be required in the defense of the planet for this second war.
All must work together to ensure the planet will never again fall.
Cadres
The primary method through which Gadpathur is organized is through the cadre system, which can trace its roots back to the original military units that formed the Reunification League. These cadres can be found throughout the planet and, thanks to the tight control exercised by the government of Gadpathur, it is impossible to find a Gadpathurian resident not involved in a cadre. Gadpathurians are in a cadre essentially from the cradle to the grave. The government uses the cadre system to create a highly efficient society while furthering the ideology that the planet will never again fall to the Sol Alliance, no matter how steep the cost that must be endured by the planet may be.
A Gadpathurian will enter their initial cadre, often referred to as “youth cadres,” in order to receive the education and preparation necessary for them to enter into a full cadre when they are eighteen years old. In these they are educated (some would say indoctrinated) in both practical and ideological matters, such as the importance of resisting the Sol Alliance in order to ensure that the planet will resist the hated Solarian invaders that humiliated Gadpathur and brought the world to its knees. These youth cadres are highly patriotic and typically very closely-knit, with many members retaining their bonds even after departing for their permanent cadres. When a youth cadre member is eighteen they are given a qualification exam that will determine the rest of their life, as it decides which type of cadre they will be placed in.
The cadres that these graduates are placed into are where they will be molded into efficient and productive Gadpathurians, fully committed to the defense of their world no matter what their actual duty may be. All professions are organized into cadres and there are dozens - if not hundreds - of distinct types. However the three largest and most prominent, cadres are the industrial, medical, and security cadres. These are some of the cadres most likely to be seen off of Gadpathur as well, as the planet’s government will often send exceptional cadre members abroad - sometimes as far afield as the Republic of Biesel - to improve the interstellar image of the planet encourage support of what the planet perceives as its inevitable life or death struggle against the forces of the Sol Alliance.
Gadpathurians receive two identification tabs as soon as they are inducted into a youth cadre and are expected to carry them throughout their life. Upon their death, the tabs will be torn apart: one will remain with the dead body, and another will be returned to the cadre to which the now deceased individual belonged. Individuals exiled or otherwise banished from their cadre (in essence, the same as being banished from the planet itself) are expected to hand over both of their identification tabs - a gesture regarded as extremely shameful for any Gadpathurian.
The process of naming a cadre is somewhat complicated. While youth cadres, which are only expected to last for roughly fifteen years, are simply named after their year of future dissolution and their geographical area they are from, more permanent cadres often have names passed down through the centuries, with some even tracing the origins of their names back to the Interstellar War. These names are considered to be a key part of the cadres and are regarded as a symbol of pride for the members of a given cadre. Newly-formed cadres will be issued a generic identifier consisting of their duties, year of formation, and area of formation until they prove themselves as effective. Only then will the cadre members be allowed to choose a name, generally chosen by pure majority voting amongst members.
Medical cadres are one of the key parts of the state-run society of Gadpathur and are responsible for everything from battlefield medicine to surgeries to routine health checkups. A medical cadre’s rough equivalent outside of the planet would be a hospital combined with a medical school. Practitioners of all types are trained within these cadres and it is impossible to become a licensed medical professional on Gadpathur without being a member of one. Cadre members from this sector of Gadpathurian society tend to be quite experienced with the treatment of wounds related to the highly-toxic environment of the planet. Often whole medical cadres will be sent abroad as gestures of goodwill, one being permanently stationed on Xanu Prime to assist in the treatment of those exposed to the often-hazardous environmental conditions of the planet. While their presence is often appreciated by those they assist, these cadres are still dedicated to the ultimate goal of ensuring Gadpathur will never again fall above all other concerns. Medical cadre members are issued a patch featuring a golden medical cross on a white background to mark their positions. The cadre member’s specialization is written inside of the medical cross, typically in a shorthand form (i.e. “SURG” for surgeon, “PARAM” for paramedic).
If medical cadres are one pillar that holds up society (and the government) on Gadpathur, then its industrial cadres are the other. Consisting of everything from construction workers to highly-educated engineers responsible for maintaining automated industrial networks, industrial cadres are by far the largest grouping of cadres on Gadpathur. A lack of IPCs on the planet (the ruling government believes that their prosperity towards self-preservation is unfitting for the goal of ensuring the planet never again falls) and a desire to ensure that systems work even under the most extreme of circumstances, combined with the immense needs of the planet’s native armaments industry has helped fuel the need for new industrial cadres as well as their great diversity. Industrial cadre members can be distinguished by their patches: a golden hammer and shovel crossed over a white background. A black circle in the middle of this patch will contain another tool marking a further specialization, such as a lightbulb for an electrical specialist.
The unassuming name of security cadres disguises the true purpose of these particular cadres, which is to serve as the primary military force at home and abroad for the United Planetary Defense Council of Gadpathur. Highly indoctrinated and highly trained, these cadres are often the most fanatical loyalists of Gadpathur and are wholeheartedly dedicated to their holy duty of ensuring the planet never again falls to the Sol Alliance. While outside observers have accused the Gadpathurian government of essentially brainwashing their security cadres by training them from childhood to defend the planet, the United Planetary Defense Council has defended their training system as a necessary measure to ensure that Gadpathur will never be defeated in any future conflicts. Detachments of security cadres are often “exported,” or otherwise liaised to member states of the Coalition of Colonies to serve as auxiliary troops, and to encourage further relations between Gadpathur and the Coalition in the face of Solarian imperialism.
To deviate from the cadre system is to condemn oneself to exile from Gadpathur.
Notable Cadres
While there are thousands upon thousands of cadres on Gadpathur, some are more famous than others. Here are a few notable cadres that can be found on the planet.
The Black Jackets are one of Gadpathur’s most storied security cadres, with a history that stretches back to the Unification League and the wars it waged to reestablish planetary control. The Black Jackets were originally a reconnaissance detachment under the leadership of Commander Patvardhan before the bombs fell and have since become one of the oldest continuously activated security cadres currently serving. Their emblem, a pair of binoculars over crossed rifles, is instantly recognizable on the uniforms of all cadre members. Many members of this cadre are sent abroad to serve as an example of the high quality of Gadpathur’s training. However, this does come at a cost: many hopeful members of this cadre cannot meet the extremely high standards expected of them and wash out, ultimately being exiled from the planet for their failure.
The Brothers of Charity are a major medical cadre of Gadpathur. Another quite old cadre, the Brothers can trace their lineage back to a pre-bombardment religious hospital that managed to, through blind luck or the favor of the divine (depending upon whom you ask), avoid much of the destruction dealt to Gadpathur on that fateful day. Brought into the Reunification League shortly after its formation, the Brothers were often instrumental in ensuring the League was in fighting shape. In the years since reunification, the religious fervor of the Brothers has given way to a feverous dedication to ensuring the planet will never again fall to the Sol Alliance. Its members have retained their dedication to charity, and are often deployed abroad by Gadpathur to further legitimize itself to other political entities in the Orion Spur.
The Directorate of the Mechanical Sciences is one of the only cadres on Gadpathur that actively maintains and builds robotics equipment. A very recent industrial cadre,only thirty years old in fact, the DMS still has much to prove in the eyes of many of its compatriots. Cadre members from it are often regarded as some of the best and brightest of Gadpathur, which as led to an unexpected problem: brain drain. Young and talented roboticists from the DMS, underappreciated and often overworked, sometimes find themselves self-exiling from the planet for better career prospects elsewhere. The government of the planet is quite alarmed by this, and has started giving this new cadre more chances to travel abroad as a result - despite complaining from other industrial cadres.
The Kshatriya are, in their own words, the premier armored vehicle-based security/industrial cadre on Gadpathur - and they do not take kindly to anyone saying otherwise. An unusual mix of an industrial and security cadre due to the need to both maintain and operate vehicles, the Kshatriya are often seen as one of the more flamboyant cadres on Gadpathur. This has earned them both respect from some and ire from many others, such as the Black Jackets. The “fast and loose” reputation of this cadre disguises the immense amount of effort required to keep the cadre functional and combat ready, and fights between security and industrial specialists are not unheard of.
The Legacy of the Commander
When Commander Ashia Patvardhan, the reunifier of Gadpathur and first leader of the United Planetary Defense Council, passed away in her sleep at the age of ninety-two after over a decade spent in retirement, she lived on as an ideal of what a member of the Council should strive to be. Commander Patvardhan was a workaholic that never married and was, by all accounts, completely dedicated to the task of reunifying her broken planet into a singular entity that could once again take to the stars and, above all, endure another fight with the Sol Alliance. Children, when they are first placed into their cadres, are taught the story of Patvardhan’s selflessness and instructed to aspire to her heights - no matter the cost to the person themselves. The lesson, and lionization, of Commander Patvardhan is a key part in constructing Gadpathurians as loyal subjects of its government willing to give their lives in the defense of their homeland.
Government
The government of Gadpathur is a highly-authoritarian, militarily-minded organization referred to as the United Planetary Defense Council of Gadpathur. The government itself is directly descended from the military forces that reunified the planet after its devastating bombardment by the Sol Alliance during the Interstellar War. The government of the planet is essentially a military dictatorship in which power is held by the Defense Council in order to ensure the planet is always ready to repulse a potential invasion by the Solarian Alliance, regardless of the costs that would be incurred. The current dominant force in the government is the Planetary Preservation League, a defensively-minded junta that has been in power since the planet’s reunification centuries ago. While often criticized throughout the Coalition (and in Sol) for their domineering and authoritarian system of government, the PPL has - for decades - assured the greater Orion Spur that it will stand down and transfer power to a civilian government when the hated Solarian imperialists no longer threaten the Weeping Stars. Whether or not this will prove to be true remains to be seen.
The minority force in the United Planetary Defense Council is the more offensively-minded Weeping Stars Reunification League, a radically nationalist clique that calls for the reunification of the Weeping Stars and the eventual invasion of the Solarian Alliance to punish them for their crimes against Gadpathur. The WSRL’s members are descended from an eclectic mix of groups, ranging from disillusioned security cadres to the descendants of bandits such as the Disciples of Murugan that were integrated into the Reunification League during its reconquest of the planet. There are rumored, though unconfirmed, reports that the WSRL sends personnel on clandestine anti-Solarian ventures throughout the Orion Spur, though the League itself fervently denies this. They have not been at power in any point during Gadpathur’s history, but their calls to take the fight to Sol itself have gained some purchase now that the giant appears to be receding...
Architecture
The architecture of Gadpathur is unusual, as the entire planet has been constructed in a manner akin to a giant military facility, thanks to the strong control the United Planetary Defense Council of Gadpathur holds over the planet. As a result many vital structures have been built underground, though most residences remain above the ground. Bunkers stretch for miles under the surface in order to allow the planet to endure an orbital bombardment even more devastating than the one it experienced during the Interstellar War. Much of the planet’s industry is located underground, as are the launch bays of many of its surface-to-space weapons. The true extent of these facilities is unknown, and is regarded as a state secret of the United Planetary Defense Council of Gadpathur. Buildings on the surface are typically built in a sturdy, utilitarian style often referred to as “Gadpathurian Brutalism” by Elyran critics. Solarian architectural experts, for obvious reasons, have never been permitted on the planet to examine the style.
Leaving Gadpathur
There are two primary methods of leaving Gadpathur: with honour, or with shame.
Leaving with honour is the most common method through which Gadpathurians are able to experience the greater Orion Spur. Exceptional cadre members will receive the chance to go abroad (though some say that they are essentially ordered abroad) in order to promote the goals and interests of the planet. This is seen as an extremely high honour to receive by many on the planet, as only the best and brightest are sent abroad as a result of rigorous selection standards. Though the majority of these elite few are sent to other planets in the Coalition of Colonies in order to promote further positive relations between the Coalition and Gadpathur, a significant portion of them are sent to the Republic of Biesel or The Republic of Elyra. The reason for this is simple: the government of Gadpathur views the Republics as fellow victims of Solarian imperialism, and wishes for them to know that there is some solidarity between it and the former-Solarian republics.
Leaving with shame is an unfortunately common fate for many cadre members, particularly those in high-demand professions. The stresses and demands - both material and ideological - of service in a cadre will often cause individuals to wash out of their cadre or otherwise fall by the wayside. Being found unfitting for the cadre one has been placed into by the state is, in the eyes of the cadres and government of Gadpathur, a sign that an individual is unfit for the demands of ensuring that the planet will never again fall to the Sol Alliance and its imperialism. An individual unable to resist the Sol Alliance is essentially useless to Gadpathur and, as such, washouts are unceremoniously stripped of their ranks in their cadre and exiled from the planet for life, often being sent to Xanu Prime. Most on Gadpathur regard this fate as the ultimate humiliation, and it is often seen as a stain upon the collective reputation of a cadre to have a member exiled in such a manner.