Samarran Raiders

Samarra
Owner	Contested
Location	Unknown, Iraq Sector
Technical information
Population	~3 million
Docking	Unknown
Terrain	Desert
Diameter	Unknown
Mass	Unknown
Temperature	-50°C to 50°C
Escape velocity	Unknown

Note: This planet exists only inRP

The Beginnings

Since the beginnings of House settlements, there were always Zoners. Zoners sought to escape House space, to live in wild and unregulated systems, away from government control. The Zone, or what is now known as edge worlds, acted as a bulwark that preserved their freedom, and helped them start new lives in the untamed wilderness. But there were always those who thought that not even the Zone is far away, adventurous and with a heart of an explorer they sought to discover new horizons even further away and find the ultimate isolation and unknown.

Those of different continental origins that didn’t belong to the Sleeper Ship countries, that could track their origins ranging from Asian to Eastern European and all the way to Middle Eastern, somehow by some strange twist of fate ended up with the Zoners. People are known to bond together with those who act, speak and look similar to them, searching to meld with a similar crowd and form their own little communities among communities. It is them, when bonded together who wanted to explore the unknown and find their own paradise of isolation.

The Zoners, living in farthest of edge worlds, contained rather rich supplies of recourses and transportation vessels, mainly coming from the corporate tycoons that found the Zone as a perfect place for their retirement. The aforementioned mixed origin Zoners, found those who would happily fund their frenzied will for exploration and escape. They picked up others as well, who would accompany them on their long journey through the nebulae of the Edge Worlds, creating an interesting mix of different races and nationalities. A large transport ship, very high tech for it’s time was devised and christened “The Iraq”, a kind of a tribute to the majority’s earthly ancestry and cultural ideas.

They embarked on a long journey, deep throughout the edge nebula, somewhere near the today’s Omicron Beta – Outcast territory. After a few months, the signal of “The Iraq” was lost, and the explorers were never heard from again, but their death was never confirmed, and rumors of their continued existence and survival were abound, but lost with the passing centuries…

Samarra - The Jewel of The Desert

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The Iraq, as seen floating towards Samarra.

As the story continues, the Zoners from “The Iraq” liner arrived deep into unknown space, far beyond the boundaries of the Sirius Sector, right behind what is now known as the Nomad Worlds. They came there via some unknown and semi-stable wormhole, which after later readings revealed that in their recklessness they had only a 12 precent chance to arrive on the other side in one piece. What they spotted then was a large system, with yellowish planetary fragments of a former planet system and a red giant sun scorching them as they drifted throughout the void of space. The system contained two planets, one of which was a desert planet with a single moon, and a stable enough atmosphere to support human life. The other one was a barren rock red in tint, on the other side of the mysterious system. “The Iraq”, went for the desert planet, which they christened “Samarra”, translating “A joy for all to see” from ancient Arabic. A smaller shuttle containing ten people dispatched to the red planet they named “Sur-Marrati”, and were never heard from again, presumably crippled by the radiation, and finished off by suffocation and hunger.

When “The Iraq” arrived to Planet Samarra’s orbit, the passengers saw a number of structures, alien in origin floating around the planet and its small moon “Qamar”, creating something that upon a closer look looked like a fence or artificial satellites of sorts. After looking closer upon the planet, they discovered that the planet was almost entirely covered with dunes and deserts, except that it was dotted with numerous oasis’ and contained a single large river that runs from the south hemisphere to a large desert, where it disappeared in the sands.

Due to their inability to safely return from where they came, “The Iraq” passengers decided to make planet fall, onto the Samarra, with a total of 1900 men, women and children together. They landed near the large river, and started a small settlement out of what they could salvage from the liner. Decent water filtering systems and aqueducts were constructed, while the several plants that were indigenous to the region were cultivated for food, most notably of them a tree that bore fruits similar to the ancient Earth’s plum.

They worked together for short times, to survive on a hard planet, all until...

The Great Divides

One of the greater settlements on Planet Samarra.

On the Samarr, those who weren’t lucky enough to gather enough food in order to survive were suffering, scratching out for bare existence among its dunes and the ever burning sun. The time Samarr needed to revolve around itself was equal to 100 hours, resulting in long burning days, and long freezing nights. It was far behind of what the initial settlers were looking for, it was a place where one had to kill in order to survive outside the city, and soon enough all Zoner ideologies of peace were lost among the generations.

Warring tribes were formed, between the former mixed zoner settlers. Looking to control the main food, water and fuel sources in order to feed their people, and power their fuel hungry terrain vessels. Most of the planet’s population was decimated in these skirmishes, reverting close to the initial number of settlers. These skirmishes only stopped when a great silver tongued spokesman came, a great sheik from the largest city of Samarra, speaking of supreme beings that established their reign in the system, he referred to them as Blue Gods, and spoke that they came to him in a vision, and that they built the fence around the planet in order to mark a place to the settlers’ paradise.

Much of the population was swayed by his well placed words, and wars suddenly stopped, causing everyone to come together in order to survive.

The Prosperity

In these times of peace, the planet flourished to an extent, ruled by sheiks and self proclaimed kings that controlled the liquor and fuel trade. A sort of an orbital hook was constructed in the planet’s orbit, containing shuttles that took those relevant up and down.

A field rich in water ice was discovered just at the edge of the system, that when mined provided water for most of the planet. Samarra’s population reached about 2 million with three major cities and other smaller settlements.

Over the years, those foolish and lucky enough to stumble upon the system, made their way to the planet from afar in the Sirius, bringing their ships to the planet, looking upon it as a safe haven. They were criminals, smugglers and freelancers of all sorts that found their own asylum from the authorities, and whatever else was after them.

These visitors provided insight into the advanced ship technology that the dwellers of the planet were able to replicate. Soon the perimeter of the planet was somewhat crawling with private shuttles that sought to explore the system, searching for some rumored pockets of gold and diamonds, supposedly found in the asteroid fragments that covered the system.

Some even dared to leave, through the only known exit of the system, the place through which their ancestors came.

Samarran Raiders

Overview

Soon, those who managed to leave the system, started to plague the Omicrons and their supply convoys with sporadic attacks and raids, managing to take the loot and run back to Samarra with the goods, earning themselves fame and glory, thus pleasing the Blue Gods. A small, but rather organized group, for reasons known only to them left Samarra for good, to seek fame and riches in this, to them new world.

As they initially reached the more populated Tau systems in their shuttle and saw a big Slave Liner, they played injured travelers in crippled ships that needed help. The goodhearted junker captain of the vessel beamed them in, and to his surprise the Samarrans showed immediate hostility, and in a surprise attack they slaughtered all of the Liner’s resisting crew, and took the rest as slaves.

They earned something of a name for themselves with the nearby Outcast population, by supplying them with special kinds of liquor fermented only on Samarra, from the plum-like plant that grew near the rivers. The Drink soon became so popular and the demand outrageous. They smuggled the drinks in wine bottles, and even in oxygen tanks.

Even though, the short term profit was decent, they needed something more to sustain them. They discovered the slave trade demand, and the Outcast export of cardamine. This all proved to be a profitable business, which they, among piracy and raids, conduct often. They never reveal the secret of Samarra’s location though, although it is rumored that the wormhole is located somewhere near the Omicron Beta system…