A Prefect-scale map of Gustaviv's Regret, created by user Christopher J. Smith.
Gustaviv's Regret is a world of extremes, both politically and geographically. Desolate plains with only the sparsest covering of lichens and mosses suddenly change to tracts of primeval forest, while its seas are of fire as well as water. It's lands are occupied by both TOG and the Commonwealth, locked in bitter struggle.
From space, the most striking feature of Gustaviv's Regret is Barton's Fire Sea, a bright-red splotch of terrain several kilometres wide. A vision of hell on the surface of the world, this massive basin is where several erupting volcanoes dump their lava. The unstable surface of Barton's Fire Sea has geysers and earthquakes, as well as small volcanic eruptions of its own.
The Imp Sea is a normal body of water, but the fish and other marine life may have been imported. Archaeologists and biologists suspect, but cannot yet prove, that an alien colony once existed here prior to recorded history.
Further support for this theory are more than 13,000 large, carved, egg-shaped stone statues standing upright on the rolling hills outside of Egg. They seem to have been carved with sophisticated drilling lasers, but no trace exists of the race that carved them, or for what purpose.
Early History[]
Though the system was surveyed over two dozen times by 3300, it was too remote to attract formal colonies immediately. The first settlers in the system were the Barton Clan, an extended family of Human fugitives fleeing a religious tyrant in Keserdal County. Close to a hundred strong, they petitioned for and received the right to settle this rough, inhospitable world for the Commonwealth.
The world was officially named Barton's Regret after this ill-fated first colony. Lacking sufficient financial resources, the Barton Clan was unable to maintain its fledgling colony. At that point several Baufrin investment firms decided to fund the colony's revitalization. The secret motivation behind this gesture was a mining cartel's discovery of trace amounts of trocobalt near the newly named Barton's Fire Sea.
While pretending to bolster the colony in various ways, investors poured money into secret mining operations. No one was the wiser until a Human explorer named Amil Gustaviv arrived on the world to do some prospecting.
Gustaviv's survey was the most comprehensive yet undertaken, and even more accurate than those of the Baufrin cartels. He discovered massive quantities of trocobalt as well as raw gennium-arsenic crystals ripe for the plucking on the scattered moons and asteroids littering the system. Gustaviv immediately filed his claims, leading to the discovery of the Baufrin secret diggings as a rush of prospectors and fortune-seekers rushed in. In memory of Gustaviv, the world and star were officially renamed Gustaviv's Regret.
As on so many other worlds, the Snow Plague devastated Gustaviv's Regret, killing nearly all the Humans. The few Baufrin left behind eventually lost contact with the rest of the Commonwealth.
In 5024 the KessRith landed on Gustaviv's Regret. They seized the defunct mining operations, immediately enslaving the Baufrin they found. Using this planet as a Tora Lin (punishment world) in Shannedam, they sent criminals here from throughout the county for forced labor in the mines. Millions died over the centuries, and hatred for the KessRith was passed for generation to generation of slaves.
Even as a resurgent Humanity began to reclaim the rest of Shannedam, the KessRith stubbornly held onto Gustaviv's Regret because of its strategic ores. In 6577 the Commonwealth changed the KessRith's minds, forcing them out of the system after five months of intense fighting.
The Tiven-Rilus-Ope'Diar Megaplex also recognized Gustaviv's Regret's value, establishing special trade relations with the world. This economic stimulation attracted even more immigrants, eager for remunerative work. More sophisticated technologies replaced the old mining operations, and soon the planet was turning strong and steady profits.
Recent Events[]
As TOG pushed into Shannedam, the CAF garrisoned Gustaviv's Regret even more heavily, knowing that its trocobalt and laser-crystal deposits would be vital to the war effort. The 64th Commonwealth Legion (The Earth Shakers), a green unit under the command of Brigadier Constance Burke, was given the task of defending the world.
In 6818 the 3794th TOG Strike Legion managed to land on the northern cap of the world, despite heavy Royal Navy interference. Quickly consolidating its position, the TOG legion went after the 64th in several probing attacks. Her unit outclassed, General Burke barely averted a rout, and withdrew her forces to the southern hemisphere of the planet. (The initial assault on Gustaviv's Regret is detailed in the Distant Fire supplement.)
Since that initial strike, the Royal and TOG Navies have engaged in an indecisive series of battles for control of the system. With both TOG and Royal Navy bases in the system, interceptor engagements are common. Though the Royal Navy has more fighters for defense of the planet, the TOG Navy has been using a light carrier stationed at Saguntum III to boost their strike potential.
TOG presently controls 50 percent of the planet's surface and has crippled most on-planet mining operations as well as all orbital manufacturing. For its part, the Commonwealth has managed to keep close to 75 percent of the population of the planet under its jurisdiction, and their heroic efforts have kept a steady supply of raw G-A crystals from the asteroid belts flowing out to the rest of the County.
Using the natural terrain to keep TOG forces at bay gives the defenders some advantages, but not decisive ones. TOG has moved the 9999th Infantry Legion to Gustaviv's Regret, stationing most of it on Harrison [sic] and shuttling one century at a time to the surface. It is expected that the TOG forces will strike out against the CAF by late fall 6832.
RLS Caringorm (Carthage-class cruiser), RLS Connor (Carthage-class cruiser) and RLS Antietam (Ajax-class destroyer) defending the planet Gustaviv's Regret during Operation: Distant Fire. (Leviathan 3d models sculpted by Mark Skoog, Na'Ctka Moqka fighters courtesy of Legions4hire.ca.)
Planetary Timeline[]
3300
Small colony almost perishes.
5024
KessRith attack.
6577
CW takes system from KessRith.
6818
TOG attacks; situation currently a stalemate.
6830
9999th TOG Infantry Legion deployed.