Asturia (Asturia IV)

## History

Asturia is an M-Class World in the *Exorna Sector* of the Zeta Quadrant. Asturia has long been a vassal of the Rothian Corporation and has been under control of the empire since 2001. As a result, elements of Rothian culture have heavily influenced Asturia to the point where they are somewhat unrecognisable as a separate civilisation.

Asturia is home to the Asturian people who, up until recently, enjoyed the full benefits of the Rothian Corporation as well as sharing their world's infrastructure with the Roth. The Asturia are a humanoid species and seem to be the only non-feline based species that enjoys equal standing within the Corporation's hierarchy, having earned their place through hundreds of years of dedicated service.

As a major industrial hub for the Rothian Corporation, producing many of its military hardware as well as exporting a large amount of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, Asturia has become heavily polluted over the course of hundreds of years.

The planet has high concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to mass industrial product, creating a thick cloud layer which reduces the amount of sunlight that can get to the surface. This smog is extremely poisonous and many of the Asturian lower classes have died from various diseases caused by these gases.

In the 2100's, Asturia was sacked by the Aventis Empire during their brief war with the Rothian Corporation. The Aventis hoped that the destruction of such a crucial industrial world would force the Rothian surrender however the Aventis were forced to withdraw when Emperor Taltrix I brought a vast amount of innocent civilians to Asturia during the course of the war, using the nobility and strict code of honour within the Aventis against them, forcing them to withdraw and only resulting in minor damage.

In 2302, the Austurian city of *Melth'han* was invaded for just 2 days as Aventis Monarch Penda I attempted to get treatment for her son and heir, petitioning *Pu'rik Industries* for help. This event became known as the *"2-Day Invasion"* and despite the Aventis leaving honourably, after *Tavus* had recieved treatment, it soured relations between the Austurian and Aventis governments for years.

During 2419, S.S. Wynter Life discovered a small pod containing an Asturian. Originally believing the Asturians to be a separate species then the Roth, the crew returned them back to Asturia, only to discover that the Asturians were selling convicted criminals to the Rothian Corporation for medical experimentation, virtually eliminating all crime on their world and that the escapee was fleeing from that brutal policy.

In 2420, the U.S.S. Callisto travelled to Asturia in order to quell an uprising happening throughout the newly formed Rothian Union, caused by the fall of the last Rothian Empire during the *"Canaan Station Incident"* and the subsequent revolution by the citizenry who rose up after years of abuse at the hands of the Rothian aristocracy.

During this battle, Admiral Sondus, one of the last surviving military leaders of the old Corporation and the best hope for peace in the shattered Rothian Union was killed when they sacrificed their own vessel to bring on a temporary truce between the various factions of the Rothian citizenry.

However despite this noble sacrifice, the United Commonwealth of Planets was unable to avoid the Roth from sliding into anarchy and civil war. However remarkably, Asturia took this chance to free themselves of the Rothian Corporation for good and declared themselves an independent nation again.

By September 2420, due to an opportunistic invasion by the Aventis Empire, Asturia was able to break itself free from the Roth and successfully aided the Aventis in providing key intelligence on Rothian technology.

In January 2421, Rothian Union President Ues'sos Arran declared that Austria would become an independent world once more, ending over 400 years of Rothian control of the planet. However both planets maintain good relations, with the Austurians electing to remain a protectorate of the Rothian Union.