Yellowknife

Yellowknife is a frigid, yet not completely inhospitable, planet located in the Beaver System, in the Inner Colonies. It is a young planet, compared to worlds like Earth, only having been in existence for 2.862 billion years. It has a single natural satellite, a small moon named Husky. The planet is the largest in the Beaver system, and the fourth closest to the star Beaver.
Long ago, the planet was part of the outer stretches of the Forerunner ecumene and was named "Carbon" by those who lived there. They built long, sprawling cityscapes under the surface of the world, using the wintry surface of the planet as a shield. The world hosted a notably large population of the Miner caste, who excavated sprawling subterranean cave systems and gathered resources for the Builders on the planet. During the Forerunner-Flood war, the planet was the site of construction for a Forerunner weapon known simply as the Radiation Ultracannon, which was an attempt at creating a specialized cannon that would release a burst of cross-phased supermassive neutrinos that were fine-tuned harmonically to destroy only Flood lifeforms and preserve other species. However, the cannon did not work as expected, and it killed all that lived on and underneath its surface à la Halo Array. It was one of many methods tried and failed before it was decided the Halos would be used. 
In the 24th century, the world was colonized by humanity, and terraformed slightly so it would become more habitable (but not lose its strategic coldness). In 2552, during the later stages of the Siege of the Inner Colonies, a massive Covenant fleet discovered Yellowknife and launched an invasion. The Army garrison and Navy's Beaver Defense Fleet were massively outnumbered and outgunned by the Covenant, but managed to hold them off long enough to destroy the Radiation Ultracannon and critically injure the Covenant fleet.
== History ==
=== The Forerunners ===
Before Yellowknife was first discovered and catalogued by humanity, the Forerunners had named it Carbon - a planet in the furthest reaches of the ecumene. 
There was a notable presence of the Forerunner Miner rate on Carbon during the era of the Forerunner ecumene. It was one of the primary exports of material for the Builder Corps. The inhabitants of Carbon lived under the planets' surface in the city of Echona. The city was governed by the Carbon Council, which reported directly to the Ecumene Council on Maethrillian. There were also ancillas here that oversaw mining operations and assisted city government. 
Because of the planet's year-long, intense winter, it was selected as the site of many secret developments, and had large settlements built under the surface. During the Forerunner-Flood War, a weapon known as the Radiaton Ultracannon was constructed as an attempt at destroying the Flood presence on the world. Unfortunately, it destroyed all life on the planet, including the Forerunners, and eventually, the Halo Array was selected as the method which would end the war.
=== Rediscovery and colonization ===
After the firing of the Radiation Ultracannon and eventually the Halo Array, the world was left devoid of life. Some animal-like species would evolve and adapt to the arctic climate, but a sapient species would not set foot on Yellowknife for millennia, until humanity arrived.
Yellowknife and the rest of the Beaver system was first observed during the early 21st century by a nation in the modern-day URNA. Yellowknife would be known as "Beaver IV", the name given to it during this observation, until the 24th century, when it was selected (among many other planets) to be colonized by the Colonial Administration Authority. It was given the name "Yellowknife", after the city of the observatory that discovered it. 
In 2377, the Phoenix-class colony ship CAA E.A. Blakeney arrived to the planet, which was chosen because of its massive diamond, gold, and natural gas deposits, as well as its strategic location. They founded the city of New Klondike, which became the planet's capital, and started mining operations across the planets surface. The population would grow and disperse, and new cities would pop up around the lakes, mountains, and valleys of Yellowknife. These cities would develop and become major players in the trade economy of the UEG, and the population of Yellowknife would grow exponentially to number almost two-hundred million citizens.
=== Insurrection ===
When the Insurrection began in 2492, Yellowknife, like many other planets, would see an anti-UEG militia of its own crop up. Yellowknife's was known as the "Mountaineers", and was aligned with the United Rebel Front. The Mountaineers established a base in one of Yellowknife's many alpine-like mountain ranges, and were led by a coalition of three men known as the "Three Colonels". Their membership in 2492 was estimated to be about 96,000, and they reached their peak of about 144,000 members in the 2510s. In response to the growing rebellion, the UNSC Army established Special Warfare Group EIGHTEEN, which was composed of the Yellowknife garrison's most elite soldiers. The counterterrorism operations of SPECWAR/Group Eighteen proved successful, and by the onset of the Human-Covenant War, only approx. 25,000 members remained. 
By the time that the Covenant invaded, the Mountaineers had less than 1,000 members, and had isolated themselves in a complex in the mountains. They had been mostly forgotten by UNICOM intelligence, though some believed that they were taking the opportunity to evacuate the planet or even 
=== The Diamond Citadel ===
The Office of Naval Intelligence also operated on the planet, making secret developments in subterranean facilities as the Forerunners had done eons ago. They had a facility called COPPER Base on the surface, and made vast excursions underneath this site. On one of these excavations, they discovered the remains of the subterranean city, Echona, and dubbed it the "Diamond Citadel". They built a second base directly under COPPER Base that they named HUDSON Base, and eventually, discovered the Radiation Ultracannon.
When the Covenant invaded, attempts were made to destroy the Radiation Ultracannon, but there was resistance from ONI brass, who wanted to escort it off of Yellowknife and to an orbital research facility. The Covenant had discovered the location of the Ultracannon and attacked COPPER/HUDSON Bases to secure it and the Diamond Citadel, which they referred to as the "City of Light". 
It is possible that the existence of the Diamond Citadel prevented the Covenant from outright glassing Yellowknife when they first discovered it, since they did not want to destroy it.
=== Human-Covenant War ===
Yellowknife was safe from the wrath of the Covenant until January 17th, 2552, when the massive Fleet of Equitable Judgement (part of the Ministry of Fervent Intercession) arrived, attracted by the presence of such a large Forerunner settlement. They had a total manpower of 1.2 million, and were prepared to completely wipe humanity off the surface of Yellowknife.
The UNSC had a total manpower of 945,000 on the planet, and maybe 40 ships in the Beaver Defense Fleet. They were outnumbered and outgunned by the Covenant, but managed to extend the conflict to last for about a month, and make some minor strategic victories. 
An article about the Battle of Yellowknife is in the works. 
== Topography ==
Yellowknife has a diameter of 3,310 miles, making it larger in diameter than Luna, but smaller in diameter than Mars. Before terraformation, it had an average temperature of -97 degrees Fahrenheit, but after its colonization, it was altered to have an average temperature of -11 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and an average temperature of 30-49 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer.
Yellowknife is mostly uninhabited, covered in large mountain ranges, tundras, alpine regions, and ice sheets. There are also many forests that have emerged after terraformation. Because of this, Yellowknife has become one of the prime destinations in human space for winter sports and resorts, and is known across the human systems for its skiing, sledding, ice skating, snowboarding, and, most famously, sled dog racing. Much of the surface of Yellowknife is protected as public parks.
The surface of Yellowknife is 70% water. Many of the planet's cities are built around large bays and lakes. There are also many caves and mountains where mining operations take place. Multiple intelligence bases have been built in these lakes, mountains, and subterranean regions.
=== Locations ===
==== Ground Locations ====
* New Klondike 
* Dettah
* Ranney City
* Burwash
* Wildcat City
*Diamond Citadel/City of Light/Echona
==== Orbital Locations ====
=== Ecology ===
Yellowknife is mostly populated by animals brought from Earth. These animals are mostly from North America, Northern and Central Europe, and the North and South Poles. Huskies and wolves are representative of the planet, as it has become famous for sled-dog racing. 
Of the few indigenous animal species that exist, the Yellowknife Yeti is probably the most well-known. They are a species of colossal, white-furred simians that stand at about eight feet tall and weigh over one-thousand pounds. They have a primitive pack structure and live secluded in the forests of Yellowknife. 
What Yellowknife lacks in native animal species it more than makes up for in trees. There are at least 220 species of trees that inhabit Yellowknife. The majority of them resemble spruces, poplars, firs, and pines, but there are also species that resemble hemlocks, douglas-firs, birches and maples.
== Government and society ==
Yellowknife, despite being one of the smaller planets in the Inner Colonies, is one of the oldest colonized planets in human space and is well-known for its sports, valuable exports, and strategic location. The planet has two large Office of Naval Intelligence facilities (dominated by Section Three) that are the site of many top-secret projects, housed in the subterranean HUDSON Base. The planet is also the home of the UNSC Army's Special Warfare Group EIGHTEEN, which is comprised primarily of soldiers from Yellowknife.
Yellowknife is one of the primary exporters of diamonds and gold in human space and is sometimes called the "Diamond Capital of Humanity". There are also large natural gas and petroleum deposits on the world, which are used to bolster the industry of the planet and the UEG as a whole. 
Many of Yellowknife's settlers come from the URNA, particularly the region of Canada. English is the primary language of the people here, but French and Native american languages are also largely spoken.
Category:Legacy of Yellowknife