Convoys to the Red Planet

Following the discovering of the Red Planet in 2200, several small civilian convoys arrived. Most of these convoys departed from Izm and Halvmörk and contained experienced miners and hardened space explorers which were employed by several federations in order to examine the Planet’s geography and wealth in ore and other precious materials.

But it was only by the year of 2208, that Imperial convoys regularly flew towards the Red Planet in an attempt to claim the planet as it was now only inhabited by a small number of foreign colonists and thousands if not hundreds of thousand indigenous people. These convoys carried prefabricated buildings and other useful supplies from the industrial planets of New Terra Forma system. Other convoys carried thousands of chosen colonists from the planets of Twinsun, Antar and Maijpoor. Due to the influence of the space pirates in these isolated parts of the galaxy, the Empire ordered several Serpent-class cruisers to accompany the vulnerable and utterly expensive convoys.

This small fleet of Imperial cruisers was no match for the experienced space pirates which operated from small made shift space stations in the proximity of the Red Planet. During the battle of Gnui No, one of the bigger space stations, the pirates managed to destroy the Imperial Cruiser “Indigo” and damage another one. This event closed the convoy routes for a period of 6 months as no new cruisers were allowed to enter the Red Planet’s space. Several months after the battle of Gnui No, the Emperor assembled a massive space fleet near the Imperial System IV. This fleet contained several heavy battle cruisers of the new Scorpion-class, dozens of Serpent-class cruisers and some Imperial Marine Landing Vessels (IMLV). As soon the fleet was fully assembled, he set course toward the Gnui No space station where he arrived in 2210.

The pirates aware of the massive Imperial war fleet, gathered as many Pirate chieftains as possible and hired several mercenary vessels in an attempt to defeat the fleet. The battle raged for several hours as the thousands of Imperial Marines boarded the enemy’s space stations. Securing these space stations was a priority as many of these stations contained massive Plasma gun batteries.

Initially these massive batteries caused a tremendous amount of damage to the vulnerable IMLV’s, but once these batteries were destroyed or even used against their former owners, the tide turned. Hundreds of enemy vessels were destroyed, dozens more were boarded and confiscated. The Imperial fleet captured hundreds of enemy pirates which were trying to flee in small vessels and escape pods. By the end of the battle, the space pirates fleet was decimated and the space around the Red Planet was declared open again. Now able to travel to the Red Planet with almost no risk of losing your life or to be enslaved by the space pirates, new civilian convoys were gathered.

The Empire’s huge population and many everlasting struggles against foreign invaders caused another problem, huge quantities of POW’s and criminals. The Emperor ordered the development of penal colonies on desolate and utterly hostile planets such as the ice planets of Hakt’yl and Targ. Others were established on desert planets such as the Red Planet, Opteera and Moss. All these penal colonies were harsh but the colonies on the Red Planet were the ones the prisoners feared the most.

During the year 2216 alone, 3659 prisoners arrived on the Red Planet. These inmates consisted mainly out of captured space pirates, low-grade criminals and other scum and arrived with the Imperial A-convoy. Between 2217 and 2220, another 4689 prisoners arrived, these men were condemned to die on the Red Planet and were employed in large penal mining facilities. As the inmate population rose so did the civilian population of the Red Planet as the Empire founded many cities such as Relic in 2218 and Imdor in 2219.

During the great industrialization rush of the Empire in 2222, hundreds of new modern mining colonies were build of which Magnar Impresso was the first completed. For the construction of these cities, thousands of workers were needed and many of them came from all corners of the known galaxy. In order to transport all of these much needed workers, the Empire ordered new convoys to be sent toward the Red Planet. After the completion of industrialization plan, the Red Planet became one of the leading mining facilities of the galaxy, beating the former leading planets of Izm and Halvmörk in both size and production.

By the year 2225 the convoys transported an authorized civilian population of 200 000 which was scattered all around the hundreds of Imperial cities. The illegal convoys and smugglers transported an estimated 350 000 illegal immigrants! The Imperial Penitentiary Unit transported a staggering amount of 31 438 inmates toward the Red Planet.

Total population of the Red Planet in 2225, 931 438 including an estimated 350 000 native Tulain and others.