The Sirius System is a binary star system that is part of the Core Region directly administered by the National Council of the GTU. It contains five planets, two of which are not only habitable, but as of the 24th century both Arcadia and Sirius Prime constitute some of the most populated planets in the galaxy. In particular, Arcadia serves as the Headquarters of the Expeditionary Fleets, and the system as a whole, is reputed for being one of mankind's most important centres of finances, manufacturing, shipbuilding and military industry on par with Earth, Vaikuntha and Volga.
History[]
Early Observation and Exploration Phase[]
The Sirius system is one of the star systems bordering Sol, notable for being one of the brightest stars visible in the Earth's sky. Prior to the Tyrum Incursion of Sol, corporations and national governments such as the European Federation, China, the United States of Korea, Japan and the United States of America had already sent exploratory probes on the system, with the Chinese and Korean in particular confirming the presence of what would be the colony planets Arcadia and Sirius Prime, albeit neither nation could confirm their habitability at that time.
However, much of the vibrant unmanned exploration program within the system (and by greater extent, the Earth's collective extrasolar space program as a whole) was abruptly cut short by the Tyrum invasion on Earth, with all unmanned space probe sent to the area either going dormant or ceasing to function entirely (due to the lack of communication from the destroyed space centers on Earth).
Nevertheless, at least two of the dormant probes, owned by SpaceX (USA) and KARI (Korea), were advanced enough to store information during the dormancy period without suffering extensive data corruption. Both of these were then reclaimed by the crew of TUS Hawking during their exploration on the star system in 2201.
Early Colonization Phase[]
The second surveying expedition proceeded by the initiative of the Greater Terran Union in 2204. Using the information from the recovered unmanned probe three years earlier, the system was confirmed to contain two habitable world, with far greater prospects then was found in the nearby Alpha Centauri system. At least one of the planets were Earth-like with the whopping habitability rate of 86%, and another less habitable planet that could be terraformed later on. For the ruling regimes of the GTU, this discovery was seen as a godsent opportunity as the system itself was exceptionally rich with resources and living space, both of which were sorely needed for the growing industries and population of Earth.
In 2206, the National Council approved "Project Exodus I", the first successful interstellar colony mission to be undertaken by humanity. On Christmas Eve, 2207, the world was colonized by a team consisting of some of the Unions best and brightest minds. They would rename the world Arcadia as a homage of the verdant, lush environment of the planet (after the Ancient Greek utopian vision), and the capital city on the planet Nova Akkad at the suggestion of the participating Iraqi colonist at that time (after Akkad, one of humanity's early cities on Earth). Both names were picked by the romantically inclined colonists prevailing in the symbolism of the first non-terrestrial human settlement being named after one of humanity's early terrestrial ones.
Colony Development Phase[]
The successful colonization of Arcadia prompted the National Council to embark on aggressive exploration & colonization of its surrounding region, doubling the GTU's territories by sixteen fold by a mere decade. For the Sirius system in particular, the National Council hastened the Exodus II program, as millions of Terran citizens were sent to the growing colonies of Arcadia to further develop the region. In order to entice the GTU citizenry to embark on the program, many privileges in the form of rapid increase of tier citizenship were offered.
The reason for the National Council's aggressive colonization campaign were largely rooted in three reasons: to allow greater extraction of resources necessary for the GTU's military expansion; to outsource and expand the industrial capacity of the nation as the whole; as well as to reduce the population burden on Earth. The latter were given extreme importance as the ecological restoration of the Earth after the widespread destruction by the Tyrum was still in progress. Some regions, chiefly the ecologically-rich South America, Africa, and Sunda Commissariat, had their populations swell by the influx of refugees during the war (being mostly free from Tyrum occupation), followed by seemingly endless post-war immigration into the region (being arguably the least damaged and thus the first to recover after the war). Thus, much of the ethnic makeup of Arcadia today is dominated by Austronesian, Thai, Brazilian, and African peoples due to colonization priority policies, even long after the Exodus II ended.
By the year 2224, the population of Arcadia had become the first to reach 1 billion mark, merely 17 years after the colonies' founding, with the record only broken decades later by Karma in the Vaikuntha system (the planet reaching its 1 billion mark in 9 years). Arcadia eventually grew as one of the most prosperous planets in the whole of the GTU, and later, the Milky Way galaxy.
Militarization of Sirius System[]
The colony and system as a whole underwent a rapid infrastructural expansion, and following the National Council's decision to reform the Space Warfare Branch into the Fleet Command , it become clear that the new branch required a fully dedicated manufacturing and supply hub of its own. A period of intense debate ensued, with many arguing that Earth should handle the bulk of Fleet Commands requirements. However, much of the human population still remained in the Sol System ; by necessity, much of the orbital infrastructure and manufacturing was geared towards civilian uses and could not be re-purposed to meet military fleet requirements without causing massive disruption. Subsequently, Sirius was awarded the honor of being the primary shipyard of Fleet Command, and would ultimately play host to the Headquarters of the Expeditionary Fleets (those fleets operating beyond the stellar boundary of Sol). It was, for all intents and purposes, the Naval headquarters, though Fleet Command did maintain a formal headquarters in London on Earth that served a largely ceremonial function.
As a consequence of this, the entire planet became one of the most militarized planets in the whole galaxy, an impressive feat reflecting of humanity's martial culture. As it grew to become a host of millions of FLEETCOM's sailors, the number of marine divisions and its Land Force garrisons grew as well in accordance with its military importance. It would soon host the Sirius Shipyard, the planet-based Kesatria Military Complex ("Kesatria" being the Malay word for "knights"), and a sprawling joint headquarter for Fleet Command and the Land Force Command Sirius Garrison, which are regarded as the largest military facilities in the galaxy. Furthermore, it also hosted the gargantuan Sirius Arms, one of the galaxy's largest arms producers, famed for its production of Union Class Dreadnaughts and the Sword of Terra, in the production of which its myriad factories had greatly contributed to the economic prosperity of Arcadia and Sirius Prime.
The militarization of Sirius was not only limited to its infrastructure, with its multiracial citizenry slowly developing a culture deeply tied with the Terran Armed Forces, and are known for their national patriotism and military professionalism. Many prominent officers in the FLEETCOM have hailed from either Arcadia or Sirius Prime.
Sirius Golden Age[]
The importance of Sirius as a strategic system only grew further as the Greater Terran Union found itself involved in multiple wars, such as the centuries-spanning Terran-Compact War, Terran-Peronisti War, and the Terran-Florian War. Additionally, the system itself was the terminus node of a hyperspace lane that connected the core systems, and the Commissariats beyond, with the outer rim commissariat, as well being directly linked with the heavily fortified Verdun system bordering with Algan-Terran border. Furthermore, it eventually served as the shield of the Barnard Star system, where the galaxy's sole Dyson Sphere was constructed. This extreme strategic importance thus necessitated a direct governance from the homeworld of Earth and the massive economic investment that came with it.
By the beginning of the 25th century, the Sirius system as a whole became one of the richest systems in the galaxy, boasting one of the highest standards of living in the GTU. By the beginning of the First Galactic War, the system as the whole had the population of 32 billion, with the Arcadia standing at 20 billion and the Sirius Prime at 12 billion.
Battle of Sirius[]
During the First Galactic War, its strategic importance would make it the primary target of the NEX Network, as they seized control of its mighty shipyards and used their output to siege both the Sol system and the ever-important Bernard's Star system, although without much success. Arcadia and Sirius Prime itself were subjected to an indiscriminate campaign of genocide and occasional orbital bombardment of the population by nightmarish machine constructs; the military nature of the population, however, meant that resistance was fierce. At the Battle of Sirius, the system and planet would be liberated by forces dispatched by the Aurora commissariat].