A Prefect-scale map of Wuj, created by user Christopher J. Smith.
Macron is an old, unstable red giant with a high number of solar flares. Coupled with extensive sunspot activity, the system is often filled with with lethal radiation that can disrupt communications for weeks at a time.
Fortunately for Wuj, the planet has an exceptionally thick atmosphere. Its thick clouds also provide a greenhouse effect that warms and preserves life on the world. Wuj's skies are always dark and stormy, even though average rainfall is not heavy.
Swamps cover a large part of Anchorage, Wuj's only continent, which is filled with hidden coves and dark, forbidding waterways. Most homes and other buildings there are mounted on stilts to save them during flood seasons. The swamps are also rich in fruits and berries, giving many small farming families an easy cash crop. These fruits are Wuj's primary export to Kukulak, Ope'Diar, and other worlds.
Holdover Island, on the other hand, is the industrial backbone of the world. Over 80 percent of Wuj's industrial output comes from Holdover's factories. Much of the island houses automated factories or underground warehouses of strategic reserves.
Early History[]
When the first Human survey team entered the Macron system, it picked up a faint transmission from an intelligent source on Wuj. Investigation revealed an alien spacecraft crashed near the current site of Rolk. The ship had been abandoned for several decades, but there were no signs of survivors or clues to its origins. To this day, it is on display in the Grand Hall of Mill.
In its early days, Wuj was called Dismal for its weather and climate. To Humans, the dark, stormy, muddy planet had little to offer. Baufrin surveyors felt differently, however, seeing the potential for agriculture in the swamplands. Within a few years, several Baufrin firms had established farming operations.
Baufrin cartels began marketing, packaging, and processing the goods taken out of the swamps. The Baufrin concentrated their settlement on Holdover Island, turning it into a manufacturing and processing base. Dismal's economy soared, bringing prosperity to this dark and humid world. Parliament changed the planet's name to Wuj, in honor of the Baufrin industrialist Carrvin Wuj, leader of the industrialization on Holdover Island.
Wuj's high rate of import and export brought the Snow Plague here long before it struck most other worlds. In fact, Wuj was probably directly responsible for the Plague's passage to several other planets.
The KessRith, arriving in 5004, immediately seized on Wuj's fruits to feed its growing empire. Slave laborers were imported to harvest the fruits and berries of the dreary swamps, and within 50 years, the planet's population exceeded its numbers from before the Snow Plague.
When rebellion came, the KessRith determined to hold the world because of its vital food supplies. The slaves responded with a work slowdown, followed by lightning raids on KessRith garrisons. The once-abundant flow of food became a thin trickle. but beatings and even killings seemed only to stiffen the movement's resolve.
Three infantry legions were deployed on Wuj in 6540 to maintain the peace. However, this did not solve the slowdown. In fact, the legions found themselves transferred into the swamps, spraying and harvesting the crops.
The tide was turning against the KessRith throughout Shannedam County, and the Empire finally abandoned Wuj. In spring 6556, the remaining KessRith withdrew after losing a prolonged guerrilla war. Those who chose to remain were granted a pardon ten years later and were eventually absorbed into Wuj society.
Recent Events[]
In 6824, the Lictors smuggled operatives onto Wuj to spy on its troop movements. This information was sent back to TOG space via a series of hidden P-Comm transmission points. Even though the process took several weeks, it gave an accurate picture of the situation on Wuj, information vital to the TOG war effort.
In spring 6830, TOG developed a bold plan, labeled "Operation Vampire." The plan was to strike at Wuj and then at Henders, cutting off Defiance and starving the Renegade and CAF forces there. Wuj would also provide TOG with a base to strike at Ope'Diar and its industrial centers, further crippling the Commonwealth efforts. If the plan worked, Mala could be secured as well, isolating Caralis and Messana from any hope of Royal Navy support.
Lictor agents observed that Wuj was undergoing a shift of personnel, with the 44490th Renegade Strike Legion being disbanded and only the Commonwealth's 50831st B'ekkal Legion left to protect the world until reinforcements could arrive. The battle squadrons usually defending the system were being reformed and reallocated as well. The message was sent that if Operation Vampire was to work, it had to be implemented as soon as possible.
The TOG Navy struck hard, entering the Macron system in force on 2 May 6830. Almost immediately they engaged and drove off the light Royal Navy forces defending the system. Two small robotic factories were destroyed by Interceptors, and the medium ship base orbiting Paddon was also eliminated. Landing operations were launched against Wuj, with the 33375th Strike Legion leading the attack. TOG hoped that surprise and temporary space superiority, coupled with an expected light planetary defense, would make Wuj theirs within weeks.
What the TOG forces did not know was that their intelligence was dated. The CAF and Royal Navy were in the middle of redeployment operations just outside of the system at the time of the attack. In addition, monitoring stations had finally detected and decoded the outgoing Lictor messages, and so the CAF had the 50831st Legion ready to leap on TOG's landing zone when its legions dropped.
Two weeks after the initial TOG attack, the 88901st Renegade Battleship Squadron, led by the Yankee Clipper, struck back hard, driving the TOG Carrier Kess Basher and the 30497th Carrier Fighter Wing (Grim Brotherhood) into temporary withdraw. With cover from the 72341st Commonwealth Marine Pursuit Wing, the 12436th Renegade Armored Legion dropped just outside of the TOG landing zone.
The TOG forces had captured Crilick and were driving on both Tori and Mill when the Commonwealth launched its counterattack. The 12436th Renegade Legion retook Crilick in less than three days. In order to cover its flank, the TOG 33375th Strike Legion withdrew from Tori, but pushed on toward the capital city.
Mill was defended by the now-battered 50831st B'ekkal Legion, operating on the narrow isthmus just outside of the capital. Its lighter vehicles proved to be efficient in a mobile defense of the isthmus. Without a strong air defense, the TOG forces found the Commonwealth Marine Wing unrelenting in their darting attacks.
The current position of the TOG forces is between Tori, the capital, and Crililck. The Royal Navy has a listening post in orbit and is playing a prolonged game of cat and mouse with the TOG carrier squadron and the 30497th Carrier Fighter Wing. In a series of short thrusts, TOG has managed to land the 90872nd Infantry Legion to help the 33375th, but the Commonwealth has also landed an additional legion, the 1414th KessRith Armored Legion.
CAF and Renegade commanders believe that they can drive the TOG forces off Wuj if they can achieve and maintain air control of the system. Their major liabilities are the current battle-weariness of the 50831st and 12436th Legions and the still-green recruits that comprise of the KessRith armored legion.
The civilian population has been evacuated from the TOG landing zone toward the eastern coast. This has cut the harvest and all but crippled Wuj's economy. The industrial city of Holdout has several militia groups garrisoning it, with rumors that a Naram special forces regiment has been housed in the bunkered warehouses of the island for several months. Most attribute this to nothing more than wishful thinking.
Planetary Timeline[]
5004
KessRith conquer world. This planet suffered the Snow Plague long before any other worlds, so they were already weakened by this time.
6520
Resistance begins.
6540
Three KessRith infantry legions deployed to Wuj.
6556
KessRith withdraw.
6824
Lictors infiltrate Wuj and begin espionage.
6830
TOG attacks.