Nazionu is an habitable planet discovered in 11676, located on the outer fringes of the Zalanthium galaxy orbiting a Class M3.2 star. The system it is in is within a dark cloud of gas and dust. At first, it seemed just like a normal planet, until scientists aboard Isvoy took a closer look. Nearly the entire planet, save for exinct volcanoes was flooded, and only a tiny portion of arable land remained, very close to the southern ice cap. It has no moons. It was certain that some kind of cataclysm happenned here, and it was decided to find out what.
HISTORY[]
A closer look of the only livable area of land on the planet.
The civilization that remains here is called the Nzions, an early Type-II civilization that had completely conquered their 5-planet system. There is evidence that they were a system-wide species, even sending out their own ships to make peace with neighboring civilizations. Soon however, they began to exhaust their resources, and very quickly became a one-planet species with a population of no more than 100,000. This trend in population decline continues even today, with a current estimate of around 85,000.
The interpreter scientists brought aboard the Isvoy told of a massive famine the largest political division had, when Nazionu had far more land. It was decided by their ruling elite that to reverse the trend, they must conquer other countries to survive, and that they did. Smaller countries were totally wiped off the face of the planet, but the second largest halted their advance across the globe. To get rid of them, nuclear weapons were utilized, but unforseen was the damage to the planet which would ensue.
The badlands and the edge of the southern ice cap. The only domed city is located in this area.
The thick atmosphere was thinned out to dangerous levels. The ice caps melted. The planet more or less looked like an oceanic world when all was said and done, and one underwater city remained, which is now a domed city on land. That was fortunate, as this city retains the thick atmosphere the natives breathed before the war. The one piece of livable land was once the ocean floor, and was revealed once the ice caps refroze.
FLORA[]
The map of the planet, showing the land at the southern ice cap.
Admittedly, not much remains on the planet as far as plants. The climate close to the ice caps is extremely cold, and the war destroyed nearly all plant life. The only remaining plants are 4 species, in 1 genus, all hardy grasses that have evolved since the war to be radiation-tolerant, and these thrive in the areas where they are found. They also take advantage of the thin atmosphere by growing large leaves, at most 3 meters across, and up to 10 meters long. No forests remain, although there is a jagged maze of dried coral close to the ice caps, which would remind one of a forest.
LIFE ON NAZIONU[]
Volcanoes such as this one are mostly the only piece of land still above the surface. The war has melted the ice caps plunging the land it did have under the sea.
Most inhabitants remember nothing of the war, which occured 300-400 Earth years ago, however Nzion scientists are fully aware of the damage it did to their environment, and have concluded that the Nzion race will die out in another 500 Earth years or so. Their only remaining operational ship is the Nazion, a large battlecruiser activated before the war, which stays in high polar orbit in case of emergencies. They may use it to find a new home, as it has its own warp drive. However, since stars are few and far between in this sector of the Zalanthium galaxy, their chances of finding a new home with the remaining fuel on board is miniscule at best. Within the domed city life continues as normal as possible, for now.
Some of the hardy purple grass that grows in the badlands.
THE STAR[]
Nazionu's sun is a Red Dwarf of class M3.2, and is quite normal as far as stars go, although the thin atmosphere of the planet subjects it to scorching radiation during outbursts. Even the scarce plantlife on the planet, as hardy as it is, finds a hard time adapting to this radiation and plants are slowly dying out as a result.
RESCUE OPERATIONS[]
The captain of the Isvoy has deemed that a rescue operation is not feasable, because of the intense radiation still in the upper atmosphere due to the war. But also, he knew that he could not just do nothing either. So, a lottery was conducted and 300 of the Nzion people got to live on the Isvoy, in hopes that they can find a suitable planet the race can carry on at. Unfortunately, when the Isvoy left, that meant the rest of the Nzion race was doomed, and the system was marked as one with no life.
The star, and the second planet of the system (brightest dot)