Mendel

The Human colony of Mendel is a moon which is in a tidally locked orbit to Foundation (BR Piscis IV) of the BR Piscis system. Colonized in 2401, Mendel is a warm planet with no ice caps and is covered mostly by ocean. The dominating land features of Mendel are it's two continents and a sporadic assortment of islands not that dissimilar to Oceania. Only one continent, Norda, was terraformed early in the planet's development to make Mendel a wildlife reserve planet. The continent of Suda was not terraformed as a decent nomadic population, having already established a series of mining communities, was not uprooted. Mendel is also a rare oddity that its day-night cycle is "simulated" due to its tidal lock to Foundation, and also since it is habitable planet located in a Red Dwarf system.
Mendel would become known as a hot spot for sympathies during the late 25th century, and Early 26th century. Particularly, it would be referred to as the birthplace of the Unified Workers Left, a Neo-Koslovic offshoot of the Insurrection championed by Insurrectionist supporter and terrorist Maya Astor. The local UWL cells would be become a dominant regional power in Suda, adopting Astor's Guerrilla force, the Mendelian Worker's Army, as it's official armed wing in 2525.
Mendel would also be the site of a major battle in the Human-Covenant War: The Battle of Mendel. The battle would be fought between Local Human forces, including Diamond Team, and The Flotilla of Specular Piety commanded by the Minor Prophet of Scorn and Brute Chieftan Kulljul.
== History ==
=== Prehistory (13 BYA -11 MYA) ===
BR Piscis is a red dwarf and, as such, much older than Sol. It is very likely that it was created from the remnants of a super nova 13 billion years ago (BYA). The gas giant, Foundation—also created during this period— did not have nearly enough mass to conduct nuclear fusion and remained as such. Foundation collected a large amount of debris in it's orbit and maintained several moons. Thereafter, near about 12.5 BYA, Mendel, one of Foundation's moons, had nearly cleared it's orbital path, and had become a planetoid. During this Eon, Mendel's "Hadean" Eon, it was roughly two-thirds it's final mass.
It is presumed, based from geological data, that another planetoid, known to geologists as "Leguma", shared a close orbit with Mendel. Due to it's unstable orbit and Mendel's proximity, gravitational tides would tear apart Leguma, and the debris created from this event bombarded Mendel for several billion years. This extended bombardment is known as the Neopyrobean Eon, and evidence of later bombardments are still visible across the planet. It is also believed that Mendel's subsatellites, Dominus and Recessus, are likely large chunks of Leguma that were captured by Mendel's gravity well during this period. 
The ability of Mendel to maintain it's own subsatellites while close to Foundation, along with the fact that it is tidally locked to Foundation "simulating" night and day periods, makes it a very peculiar planet. It's expected that without human intervention that it's satellites will become a major hazard to the planet in the next several million years. 
By about 1 BYA, the planet's surface was mostly water. As the planet cooled it began to freeze over, becoming a snowball planet. This is known as the Aquarian Eon and during this swath of time there was no indication of life on the planet—microbial or otherwise. However, Dominus's faint oxygen-rich atmosphere begins to form from photosynthesis-like life in volcanic vents. It is very likely that ejecta carrying Dominusian life made it's way to Mendel, beginning a period of slow warming.
=== Forerunner (11 MYA - 100,000 BCE) ===
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=== Early Human Colonial History (2400 - 2489) ===
When Humanity arrived to first colonize Mendel in 2400, Norda and Suda were both lifeless, frozen deserts, and the planet's icecaps were still largely frozen up to it's tropic regions. Early colonists settled in Suda to begin mining for metals such as Platinum. As most settlements were far inland, water was pumped from aquifers to begin subsistence farming, and generally resulted in very few large settlements. These Sudanite residents were self-governed and had a taste of life on the fringes of human reach. The first two decades of Mendelian life was much akin to the many Terran communities that had thrived in Earth's arid environments—they had defeated issues of thirst and hunger and began their own nuanced ways of life. 
==== Rise and Dissolution of the First Republic ====
In 2410, a congress of leaders from all Mendelian settlements joined together to put together a charter for a functioning Republic. After a week of feisty but enthusiastic debate, the congress agreed to charter the First Mendelian Republic. The Republic, though not directly governed by the UEG, claimed loyalty to Earth and her colonies. On July 4th of 2410, chosen in analogy of the ancient American Republic, Agnis Tefft was elected the first Governor of Mendel. Tefft would be reelected twice and became the chief Stateswoman as the CAA continued to plot the future of Mendel from afar. 
By 2420, the UEG's power structure had finally arrived in earnest and began to change the manner of governance on the planet. At this time, all settlements on Mendel resided on the continent of Suda, and thus the CAA chose to not uproot and terraform Suda. Instead, they decided to Terraform the planet's northern continent Norda, and to melt the planet's icecaps to raise both the temperature and sea-levels. This plan upset Governor Tefft, as the largest settlement of Suda, Voice of Us, would then be destroyed by tidal forces. The CAA, after much negotiation, agreed to build a completely new Sundanite capital with the financial backing of the UEG. The trade off, however, was that Tefft would see to it that the young Mendelian Republic was peacefully dismantled so that a UEG sanctioned Colonial government could be chartered and, thus, given the benefits of UEG backing. Tefft and her cabinet eventually reluctantly agreed. After Tefft's campaigning for the new Republic, Sudanite residents voted on the Referendum in favor of the new Mendelian Republic by a landslide of 87% Yea and 13% Nay, seeing nearly 90% voter turnout. 
Not a year after the vote, the CAA began construction of Mendel's first Space Tether. It was completed in 2435 with much celebration in Suda, cutting the cost of shipping Platinum slurry off the planet by more than half. 
==== Imbalance and Ire ====
By 2440, the new CAA backed Mendelian Republic was already drawing scrutiny by Sudanite residents. Before the new capital of Suda was finished, many of the 15,000 residents were relocated in temporary living quarters in "Relocation Camps". Though the CAA planned for the camps to be made of state-of-the-art temporary housing, this was seldom the case. Camps were often overcrowded, poorly maintained, and often food deserts. By the end of 2441 half of all camps residents had migrated inland to established mining settlements. Most migrants often abandoned most of their possessions, making the choice particularly upsetting. Also, by this time, the CAA had finished construction of the Gregor Space Tether, and soon thereafter began to also build it's infrastructure around the tether. With the increase in mining populations, and a space tether, Platinum mining boomed and the settlement around the tether quickly became the largest city on the planet. 
As the tether city—Gregor City—grew, so did the anxieties and suspicions of the CAA. Many mining communities in Suda were forced to be maintained by outside CAA mining inspectors and off-planet community administrators. This was all done by way of an emergency appointment clause added to the New Republic charter by the CAA. The off-planet appointment system was a practice commonly added in planet charters and used when a Colony saw explosive population growth. The issue that arose from these particular emergency appointments, however, was that the explosive population boom did not effect Suda in the same manner it did Norda. The Sudanite populace was largely angered by the loss of democratic process, but contented by the promise this was meant to help them in earnest.
==== The Final Grievances ====
By 2465, the Sudanite capital was finally finished after a series of major delays. The delays, which were explained by the CAA as having arose from the massive backlog of construction in Gregor City, had again spoiled much of the constructive gains the Sudanite people had. Also, by this time, the population of Norda had risen close to 5 million, while Suda remained at roughly 100,000 residents as the luxury and cultural gap grew wider. Norda had already been actively cultivated with tourism in mind, and it soon became associated with tropical getaways and overtly luxurious conditions. The planet's Platinum exports had paid for these accommodating features including the final terraforming of the planet, the creation of a wildlife preserve, and few taxes due to the immense amount of income made from mining and eventually tourism. Due to the booming nature of Gregor City, and now its neighboring resort city, Marchlight, the CAA appeared to turn their attention away from Sudanite populations and instead to Gregor City residents. 
Infamously, when the mayor's council of the Sudanite Capital received notice that the then Governor of Mendel Saad Sayed would not arrive for the city's official opening due to a schedule conflict. The conflict for which the Governor would skip the event for was a festival that encouraged single Colonists to start families (as a way to establish better structures at community levels). Angered by the news, the former governor of the first republic, Tefft, allegedly stated:
This quote became a Sudanite rallying cry for equal treatment, and the city's first order of business was to name itself "Spit", in defiance. This event also resulted in several sit-ins and protests that further empowered anti-UEG sympathies in the region. The CAA, recognizing it's miscalculation started campaigns to better living conditions in Suda, as well as helping automate mining processes to better standards. This plan of also consisted of several projects which give mining companies huge budgets to help increase wages in the communities where they operated. While in the short term this helped ease tensions, increases in safety and automation had the effect of putting a large amount of miners off the job, while also increasing the out-put of most mining facilities creating a massive disparity in communities.
By 2480, many Sudanite communities advocated that Suda be given more representation in their governing process, as well as demanding the UEG consider a higher Basic Income wage for residents of Mendel as unemployment reached unsustainable levels. While the CAA ended Emergency appointments in Suda, allowing for more Sudanite autonomy and government jobs, they disagreed to increase the Basic Income wage. This decision, based off of retroactive DCS internal findings, increased the interest in most of the populace for alternative forms of governance, including Koslovic ideology.
=== Dawn of the UWL, and MWA (2490 CE - 2524 CE) ===
 
In 2490, on the cusp of the blossoming Insurrection, the Unified Workers Left appeared under the leadership of former Platinum miner and Union Organizer, Emory Astor. Under the leadership of Astor, the Unified Workers Left vocally preached the plight of workers and proletariat, careful to never mention Communism or Koslovic ideology in more than trace amounts. Emory Astor even ran in CAA elections for planetary Governor. Though he lost every time he ran, he grew lots of local support from the people in Suda and, in turn, local representative governments became a hotbed for UWL supporters. 
In 2497, Astor announced his support for Mendelian succession from the UEG, and his support for the Insurrection. However, Astor was quickly suppressed in Mendelian media, and the UNSC and ONI moved to silence UWL opposition to the UEG. UWL party members were forced out of many offices through corruption inquiries, support for enemies of the state, and it was rumored ONI had even supposedly bribed UWL representatives to step down and join them as informants. By 2505, party membership had dropped by more than half to escape harassment of the UNSC. Emory Astor, however, would remain vocal in any way he could. This would end abruptly, as In 2511, Astor was found dead by apparent suicide in the UWL headquarters at Gregor City. His supporters cried foul, and suspected an assassination cover-up, but inquiries by the UNSC never turned up such evidence. 
In August of 2515, seven freighters arriving from Suda, carrying billions of credits in Platinum, were sunk in the shallow harbor of Marchlight, located in Norda. One of the freighters blocked a narrow passage into the harbor itself, slowing shipping for two years. The ships had been bombed from the inside; cargo containers full of high explosives were the culprit. Hours after the attack, local authorities were alerted to a terrorist organization calling themselves the "Mendelian Workers Army" who had taken responsibility for the attack, and swearing fealty to the wider Insurrection. This event is commonly cited as the official beginning of the Mendelian Insurgency.
ONI investigations into the attack indicated a conspiracy involving Sudanite dock workers, but no arrests were made as the evidence was inconclusive. ONI did soon, thereafter, conclude that the young daughter of Emory Astor, Maya Astor, had built up an underground contingent of former UWL leadership into this now localized offshoot of the Insurrectionist movement. The MWA would target other infrastructure in Norda, periodically, and Maya would soon become Mendel's most wanted. The UWL would remain only in name in Suda, as most younger members quickly joined the armed rebels of the MWA. The UNSC would carry out raids in Suda constantly over the next few decades, but never was able to capture Maya Astor. It was suspected that Astor had left the planet as early as 2527, but these reports were never substantiated. It's more likely she either moved all about the planet in subterfuge, or left the planet from time to time. 
=== Competing Governments & Insurgency (2524 CE - 2546 CE) ===
When the Human-Covenant War began, Mendel's remote location had sealed it's fate. The planet was cut off off from the rest of the Inner Colonies, and the the UNSC Colonial Government slowly lost power. 
In Gregor City, where 90% of the population resided, a combination of Street Gangs, Local Police, Community Organizers, and the ever-present MWA split up the city. The MWA in particular would control vast swaths of Gregor City and all of Suda. The small UNSC garrison resided to fall back to the Gregor City Tether, and escaped to orbit. They would leave the system shortly after as Mendel was deemed strategically unimportant planet by the UNSC. The Tether became privately operated by Industrial conglomerate Traxus in 2524. As such, Traxus's supply vessels would continue to arrive to the planet, but in significantly smaller numbers. The MWA also used this power vacuum to build a Merchant Marine in 2525, focusing on hiring established freelance crews instead of building new ships. The champion of Mendelian Merchant Marine, Brandeis Heitkotter, would be elected as Chairman in 2525. As the news of the Covenant spread among the colonies, Heitkotter's moves to increase planetary subsistence and centralization, bolstered by his friendship with Emory Astor, he quickly became the most powerful figure in the the Party and the broader public.
In 2535, in an attempt to regain some political foothold, the UNSC sent members of the reformed CAA and ONI to begin plans to reorganize the local Government. ONI operatives would find themselves cutoff from the rest of their apparatus, and in a particularly difficult and hostile situation. While the newly formed CAA was able to establish a new provisional government, the UNSC Army's 53rd Regiment arrived to serve as the UNSC's garrison on the planet. The 53rd found, quickly, they could not control the whole of Gregor City due to heavy resistance from the MWA, so they instead established a Green Zone around the Tether. Eventually, Army leadership made the decision to guard the tether exclusively, knowing that they could not commit greater numbers to the already remote Colony. 
ONI's Mendel field office continued to work diligently for just under a decade to try and build alliances with those outside the Green Zone, but it proved too difficult as even factions that favored the UNSC did not want to assist for fear of MWA reprisal. As such, the office known as "The Cabin", often became one of a few notorious black holes to throw down problem officers and agents and seldom did anything more than confirm drone reports.
When the UWL was cut off from direct access to the Tether, the Party disallowed any Platinum mining to continue and forbade exports. This resulted in many residents being forced to become subsistence farmers, or turn to communal logging as a source of income. The UNSC allowed logging exports under heavy scrutiny, virtually enacting tariffs on any goods being brought to the tether from outside the Green Zone. This played into the UWL and MWA's portrayal of the UNSC as tyrants, and as such, helped them boost their recruiting. 
This also began a period of intense propaganda, mirroring failed communist states on Earth. Emory Astor was risen to an almost Demi-God status and Brandeis Heitkotter used his friendship with Astor to build a similar status over his decade in power. UWL supporting residents fell in line, quickly, for their cause. Heitkotter also utilized his power to destroy records of those standing against him as well as book and literature burning which were deemed to support Capitalists or Capitalist ideals. The most infamous of these campaigns of misinformation was to slander the founding stateswoman, Agnis Tefft, as a collaborator, and an enemy to the party. Tefft never formally endorsed the UWL before her retirement and passing, though she remained largely popular until Heitkotter's ascension to Chairman. 
Again, prevented from gaining income as Communes could not ship lumber at a decent price, the UWL turned to new methods of work. The rising power of Street Gangs in Gregor City, including the MWA, encouraged a widespread Synthetic Drug trade. The UWL quietly put people to work manufacturing run-of-the-mill SynthDrugs to sell off planet. In UNSC controlled space during this era, it is assumed 20% of Synthetic Drugs confiscated originated from Mendel. It is also believed that the Mendel's Merchant Marine shuttled these goods directly to and from space, using chemical rockets and expensive fuel burns to gain orbit. This was still more cost effective than dealing with Green Zone tariffs and it became common practice. One of these Merchant Marine vessels was none other than the infamous pirate vessel Mata Hari,though, as with most MWA ships, their allegiance was iffy at best. 
=== The Battle of Mendel (2546 CE) ===
== Factions ==
=== United Nation's Space Command ===
The UNSC had never had a large presence on Mendel, but since 2516 it maintained a constant Special Operations apparatus to counter MWA plots across the planet. This was maintained until the war with the Covenant diverted their attention. As of 2535, the UNSC army's 53rd Infantry Regiment is stationed in the Green Zone of Gregor City, guarding and assisting Traxus in operation of the planet's Tether. Initially the UNSC sought to gain control of Marchlight in tandem with Gregor City, but their forces became too outstretched and Gregor City was already a complicated enough area of operations. Although the UNSC is in support of Mendel's new CAA Civilian Government, Brigadier General Cosmo Hampton is the current assigned Military Governor of Mendel. The small contingent of ONI operators on the planet also answer to Cosmo Hampton when not under direct orders from their ONI superiors.
=== Colonial Administration Authority ===
The CAA has a long tumultuous history on Mendel stemming all the way back to the establishment of two very different settlement structures in Norda and Suda. Sudanite opinion has always been very low of the CAA—most residents of Suda believing their work was being exploited for UEG gain. As such, the local CAA was internally split for most of it's tenure, and even more so when the UWL party gained popularity. The CAA was reconstituted on the planet in 2535, but virtually in name alone as it has no power over the Military, and the competing UWL/MWA Rebel Governance. 
=== Unified Workers Left ===
The official party for those with Communist sympathies on Mendel. The UWL had maintained, however, they were not a Communist organization, but rather a "Socialist contingent of the Succession Movement" whose "primary focus is protecting the means of labor and empowering workers". As of 2524, the UWL took control of the planet when the UNSC abandoned it, and made the MWA it's military arm. Though they never had full control of the planet, they have been the majority power since 2524 and were only challenged by the UNSC in 2535. As of 2546, they remained the majority power on Mendel under the leadership of Chairman Brandise Heitkotter.
=== Mendelian Workers Army ===
Though it began as a terrorist cell by Maya Astor, as it was in 2545, the MWA on Mendel had two semi-organized "Corps", ranging in size from 10-20,000 combined infantry. "Liberators", and MWA police force in Gregor City, actively patrolling MWA controlled areas of the city, as well as assaulting other minor street factions. At it's core, only 1500 of the MWA were actually equipped to face an organized UNSC force as equals, as these were likely veterans of the Guerilla war on Mendel. The MWA also maintained a "Merchant Marine" of at least a dozen ships, some linked to piracy; they also had a meager air force of stolen UNSC craft operated by their two Corps. Though Maya Astor is still the defacto leader of the MWA, it is assumed she had not been on Mendel since before 2535 as she and close associates were thought to have been sighted on different planets in the inner colonies.
=== Genesis Division ===
The Genesis Division was a counter-faction to the MWA, made up of former Colonial Militia, Coast Guard, Police, and CAA members who opposed the UWL. Officially, the Genesis Division considered itself neutral with the UNSC. Though once supporters of the UEG, they were hesitant to assist the UNSC on Mendel at the chance they were, again, abandoned. Fearing reprisals, they opted to work in the shadows. As most of it's members had been abandoned in their government posts to deal with the UWL/MWA alone, they chose to fight the heavy MWA instead of waiting to be arrested, or executed. The Genesis Division had no sizable territory in Gregor City, as they were Guerrilla Cells. Ironically enough, they would fight a conflict against the MWA in a similar manner the MWA had fought the UNSC decades earlier. Members often utilize the attempted slander of Agnis Tefft as a recuriting tool, and they even adopted the First Republic's flag as their banner. 
=== Traxus Heavy Industries ===
Traxus had been on Mendel as long as it exported Platinum. Most major Platinum Mining operations in Suda were operated by Traxus. As such, Traxus has a long history of opposing UWL policies. When Emory Astor encouraged UWL members to start competing Mining Cooperatives, Traxus pushed the CAA to stymie any independent Start-Ups. When the UNSC was forced off of Mendel in 2524, Traxus hired former Colonia Militia on Mendel to protect the tether from the MWA, and made a habit of arming it's employees. Shortly after the UNSC abandoned the planet, and a few unsuccessful and unorganized raids on the Tether, the UWL organized an arrangement to sell all Platinum mined on Mendel to Traxus at better rates than before the CAA. This changed, yet again, when the UNSC returned in 2535 they regained control of the tether again. At this point, the UWL refused to allow Platinum Exports to leave the planet, but Traxus continued to import goods the UNSC deemed as "standard" to living, though at a fraction of pre-war levels.
== Orbit and Rotation ==
== Moons ==
=== Dominus ===
=== Recessus ===
== Geography ==
== Economy ==
=== Platinum ===
=== Lumber ===
=== Tourism ===
=== SynthDrug ===
== Notable Locations ==
=== Gregor City ===
=== Gregor Mendel Colonial Wildlife Preserve ===
=== Marchlight ===
=== Spit ===
== Notable Residents ==
=== Agnis Tefft ===
=== Brandeis Heitkotter ===
=== Emory Astor ===
=== Mary-B300 ===
=== Maya Astor ===
== Gallery ==