Ferrum

Ferrum is a colony world and member of the United Colonies of Mankind.

## Geography

Ferrum is the largest colony world of the UCM. Its surface is covered by red-orange wastelands, with large white-silver mountain ranges breaking up its crust. Ferrum has a rotational period of 32 hours and 1.4Gs of gravity, in addition to a maximum 60-degree diurnal temperature variation.

Despite its harsh living conditions, Ferrum is the second most populous of the colonies, and is the preeminent manufacturing centre in the UCM. Its vast reserves of natural resources support an unparalleled industrial base among the colonies, approaching that of some of the Cradle Worlds in their pre-war prime. The UCM's only supplier of battle tanks, Ferrum Motors, is also based on Ferrum, making it a linchpin of the Colonial military.

Ferrum is one of the most militarized planets of the UCM, and features a comprehensive missile halo designed to counter enemy tactical warheads. This would prove to be a godsend for the UCM during the Scourge invasion, as Ferrum was the first location in which the Scourge deployed nuclear assets.

## Reconquest

Ferrum was the first planet to come under attack by the Scourge as a part of their response to the Reconquest, a day after their offer of a ceasefire was rejected. How the Scourge were able to overcome the UCM's node code protection and anti-infiltration protocols is still under investigation by the Office of Naval Intelligence; however, their attacks against Aluminia and Wolfrum in the months to come imply Shaltari interference. Regardless, on October 21st, 2671, a massive Scourge invasion force appeared at Ferrum's outer marker, leaving the planet with a mere nine hours to prepare itself.

The orbital battle over Ferrum was as bloody as it was short - Battlefleet Ferrum lost over 40 capital ships in a mere six hours, and did little more than bleed the Scourge before conceding void superiority. However, a relief effort was assembled with exceptional haste on other colony worlds, with Niccolum contributing the lion's share of assets - nine brand-new Johannesburg battlecruisers. These battlecruisers, alongside other fast-moving UCM ships, were able to reach Ferrum from the outer marker in seven hours - a feat that would require extensive engine refits later, but which helped break up the initial Scourge landings. Still, over four million Scourge troops made planetfall within the first 24 hours.

The void battle would continue for several months, as both sides continued to commit reinforcements. By the third week, the conflict had slowly begun to turn in the UCM's favor; by the second month, the Scourge reinforcements ceased coming as their losses began to outstrip their gains. However, as of early 2672, Scourge void assets were still operating in the system, doing what they can to bleed the defenders dry.

Planetside, the Scourge had abandoned their usual strategy of preserving industrial assets and civilian lives as they conquered a planet. Instead, their goals were to inflict as much damage as possible, including bombarding cities and deploying nuclear warheads. Ferrum's citizenry suffered appalling casualties during the battle, and rapidly outstripped the losses that the military suffered during the entirety of the Reconquest up until that point. However, once the initial shock of the invasion wore off, UCMA defense forces were able to form up around the capital city of New Paris and the industrial heartland in the southern mountains, forming a redoubt that the Scourge were hard-pressed to overcome.

By the end of January 2672, final victory on Ferrum seemed all but assured; however, we have no information about the planet's status as of the current date.