Tiber system

Tiber (Vanduul: Korathen, UEE expeditionary forces: The Grinder) is a former UEE star system, currently in control of the Vanduul.

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 man and monster, Tiber is a bleeding wound on the face of the explored galaxy that shows absolutely no sign of healing.

Tiber was first charted by UEE long-range explorers in 2474, at which time it was promptly filed away as an uninteresting star system. A standard K type main sequence star orbited by two small planets, Tiber bore no interesting resources, strategic jump lines or anything else that would make it appealing for terraformers or other developers.

Following the UEE’s failure to hold Orion, its forces fell back to Caliban and Tiber. Given the obvious advantages of Caliban, most of these forces were stationed there rather than in Tiber. It should have come as no surprise that the Vanduul seized upon the all but undefended Tiber system as a base for raids further into Human territory. Vanduul tribes moved into the system and essentially established a permanent garrison.

Grinder
When Tiber’s role in the then-shocking Vanduul assaults was discovered, the UEE dispatched its elite Sixth Battle Group on a cleansing mission. Armed with antimatter bombs, the fleet roasted the Vanduul encampments on Tiber II with impunity, leaving the surface a temporarily glowing mess. The response was immediate, overwhelming, and the most seemingly organized action that has ever been witnessed of the Vanduul: elite Vanduul carrier air wings, the best of the best, cut into the otherwise occupied UEE force and slaughtered them to the last man.

Only a single remote observer, stationed at the jump point to Garron, escaped to deliver word of the devastation. Thus was born Grinder, ground zero of a multi-generational war between mankind and the Vanduul. In the ensuing years, no fewer than nineteen major initiatives have been made to 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.

The only remotely “safe” time to visit Tiber is, surprisingly, during a major battle. With UEE supply chains around the galaxy stretched to the limit, the military is frequently interested in civilian support for combat operations. Support ships carrying medical supplies and other necessities will generally be well-protected, providing they stay away from the battle-lines themselves. Of course, identifying where the battle-lines hang can be problematic itself.

History
Historically, Tiber has been a staging area for Vanduul raiding groups preparing to raid UEE territory. The UEE has made countless attempts to shut down the system, from antimatter bombing the two charred planets to launching full scale military campaigns against the Vanduul warships garrisoned here. None were ever succesful, and the efforts cost the lives of countless spacers.

Discovered during the Project Far Star push, the UEE constructed multiple stations in the systems in lieu of terraforming the two planets. After the Vanduul attacks in Orion, Tiber quickly transformed into a military staging area. It was here where they managed to stop the Vanduul advance. The system became a battleground, leading to its ominous nickname, “Grinder.” The crushing defeat after the Siege of Tiber sent the UEE military scrambling back into Virgil.

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.