Tiber system

The Tiber system (Vanduul: Korathen, UEE expeditionary forces: The Grinder) is a former UEE star system, currently in control of the Vanduul, which have established a permanent occupation there.

"I’d never seen anything like it. These… machines… if you can call them that, chewing up bodies and ships. It was… it was horrifying. The sound they made, the gnashing of metal and whir of blades… you could feel it under your skin… I hope I never hear it again."

- Anonymous miner arrested for ignoring a military order on his way back from Tiber, 2801

The star traveler's guide to Tiber could best be summed up with a single word: don't. Or rather, DON'T! The site of countless battles between Humans and the Vanduul, Tiber is a bleeding wound that shows no sign of healing.

Tiber was first charted by UNE long-range explorers associated with Project Far Star in 2474. Home to a standard K-type main sequence star orbited by two small planets, Tiber didn’t bear any exotic new resources or strategic jump lines, so the public were slow to populate the system. Smaller mining consortiums, eager for the cheaper permits and land rights, did trickle in.

The system existed mostly as a stopover point for travelers heading out to Orion until the 27th century, when Vanduul Clans began to attack Orion with increasing ferocity and consistency. Tiber became a secondary staging area for military forces who would fall back to recoup and repair before heading back to this new front.

After the Battle of Orion in 2712, the UEE abandoned the system to the Vanduul and reinforced Tiber as their next battlefront, expecting the Vanduul to come rolling in, but they didn’t. Vanduul Clans held onto Orion and began harvesting the planets for resources. They didn’t seem to know or care about the jump point to Tiber.

That changed in 2726 when a UEE Navy patrol encountered a lone Vanduul Blade in the system. The Blade managed to escape through a jump point into a then-unknown system. Within the year, a Clan began launching raids into the system.

War finally arrived in Tiber in 2732 in the form of a prolonged sustained military engagement that became known as the Siege of Tiber. Lasting four long years, the UEE desperately tried to dig in and make a stand against the encroaching Vanduul hordes. The military threw everything they had against the Vanduul, nearly losing the system several times over the years, until the line was finally cracked by the Vanduul in 2736.

The defeat was so swift and sudden that the military had not prepared for the loss. While forces were scrambling back to a safe UEE system, they weren’t able to effectively mount a defense in Virgil. Those who may have hoped that the Vanduul would once again stop at the jump point like they had done in Orion were sorely mistaken. The Vanduul flooded into Virgil after the Navy and within a year, claim that system as their own too.

Grinder
To this day, the system bears the scars of war. Shattered stations, ships and debris litter the space and planets. The UEE military has declared the system to be under Vanduul control but in the ensuing years, no fewer than nineteen major initiatives have been made to try and push the Vanduul out of Tiber.

Massive fleet actions, attempts at global landings to hold Tiber II itself, and even “clean slate” operations designed to simply eliminate the ability of the system to sustain military occupation have all fallen flat. Millions have died in these attempts, and the ever-expanding fields of wreckage are now legendary. Countless civilians, seeing the deadly battlefield debris as potential for profit, have made the same leap with similar fatal results.

Today, the battle continues unabated. In addition to regular reconnaissance sorties (and occasional reconnaissance-in-force missions) the system is frequented by thousands of private spacecraft commanders each year. Whether they are attempting to prove themselves by engaging a Scythe in fighter combat or trying to profit from the system’s resources, their fate is nearly always the same: left as grist for Grinder.

Tiber
Tiber is a Main Sequence Dwarf-K star.

Tiber I
{{Main|Tiber I A terrestrial planet with a thick layer of carbon dioxide that makes it barely breathable for Humans. Though technically habitable, the world's atmosphere and hot temperatures make it a less than desirable place to live.

The Vanduul have recently begun "harvesting" Tiber I for their war machine. Massive Vanduul reclimators are literally sloughing the planet into molten ore to construct new ships to replace those lost in the "Grinder."

Tomb : Tiber II
This arid, desert world is covered in blood-red, copper dust and the charred debris of countless ships. Since the Vanduul are also known to establish temporary settlements here between raids, the planetside is scarred by repeated UEE bombing runs. Tiber II is known as the Tomb, a larger world which has attracted the destroyed wreckage of thousands of starships and other weapons. Occasional bombings flatten the junk, but new layers pile up with some frequency. Fearless salvage crews might find Tiber II a good source of old technology, although the salvage crew capable of facing off the frequently active Vanduul forces in the system hasn't been found yet…

Belt Alpha
Belt Alpha is an asteroid belt located between Tiber I and Tiber II.

Developmental
Previously, the comm-link made notice of a jump point to Garron within the system. At some point between May 2016 and August 2020, however, any reference to this jump point was removed. The reason for this is unknown.

Furthermore, there used to be notice of a relatively safe period for anyone interested in transiting to Tiber. This notice has now been replaced by one that says not to travel to the Tiber System under any circumstances.