Ipheus IV

Departmento Cartographicae pict-file of Ipheus IV.

**Ipheus IV** is a small, dead world without atmosphere, 4 light-years to the galactic south-west from Europa.
Ipheus IV is nothing but a small mining colony, but a vital one as the planet is very rich in Adamantium, a very precious and exceptionally strong metal used mostly in military applications either on armor plating, superstructures or armor-piercing ammunition.
It was colonized under the initiative of the Europan Planetary Federation, after the secession from the Imperium of Man.

## History

### 758.M41-825.M41

Ipheus IV was colonized after depletion of Adamantium deposits on Beuter, the second last planet orbiting Europa.
This colony was always planned as relatively small in personnel and automatized to a significant part and so was done. It was known before that Ipheus is an Adamantium-rich planet and plans existed long before actual colonization, and so the process itself went surprisingly smoothly and unexpected complications were solved rather quickly and twenty years after the very first arrival of the construction ship, first inhabitants moved in and settled down. The colony ran for five years with half the number of people intended, running various tests and simulations. After this period, the colony was opened for public and the mining operations began in its entirety.

### 826.M41

Forty-two years after the full operation began, a disaster struck. A lone meteor impacted on the surface in very close proximity to the colony. The following shockwave damaged the walls of several domes, leading to explosive decompression and subsequent death to several hundred people.

### 827.M41 to current day

After this incident, the number of surface-to-orbit weapon batteries around the colony was doubled and the early-warning system added along with several fail-safes and backups to the whole defensive grid. Since then, the colony works as intended, exporting hundreds of thousands of tons of unrefined Adamantium and other minerals each year.

## Landscape & Nature

* Ipheus IV is a planet without any atmosphere and no native life. Its surface is gray and rocky, covered in thousands of impact craters which sizes range from several meters to half a kilometer as well as various hills, mountains and valleys. The entire surface is also covered in a thin layer of very fine dust.
* However inside the biodomes built on the surface, the landscape was transformed to support the local, relatively small population with enough food and oxygen to make it self-sufficient. Millions of tons of fertile soil and clean water were brought over along with some adaptable animal species to inhabit the artificially created meadows and forests.

## Population, Society & Culture

* Since Ipheus has no atmosphere, people live either in air-tight biodomes or underground, usually in depleted mining shafts. Domes may range from a few dozen meters across to usually half a kilometer, although the biggest having three and a half kilometer across and it resides in a huge crater. Domes are protected by several layers of void-shields and also automated laser batteries that open fire on anything without valid IFF beacon, be it a meteor or a space-ship.
* Life on Ipheus IV is generally hard, humble and isolated from the rest of the Federation. Due to the remoteness, people who wish to travel to Ipheus IV frequently move there along with their families. Accidents with fatal results, that are unfortunately quite frequent given the mining conditions are naturally replaced with people born there. Yet people live a simple, relatively safe life without shortages of vital supplies, although it tends to be quite monotonous.
* Opportunities for work are quite limited, as the mining industry employs nearly half of the population. Traveling off the planet is also very limited, as there are no regular connections apart from massive bulk haulers that arrive twice a year with supplies and leave loaded up with ore and the little else what fits inside.
* Ipheus IV is governed by a governor who's voted by the Planetary Council, but this position is not very favorable due to the remoteness and great responsibility for such tight-run colony, where delays in supply delivery can lead to catastrophic scenarios quite easily.

## Industry

Over half of the industrial production is focused on mineral extraction and basic level of processing, where the ore is gotten rid of tailing and other waste. The rest of the industry is focused on basic services, and ensuring self-sufficiency of the colony, although fully self-sufficiency can't be achieved.

Nearly all processed minerals are exported off-world. Most of it ends up being swallowed by the orbital forges of the Torus Ring Station above Europa Prime.

Food supplies, building materials and spare parts are imported.

## Notable locations

* **Dome 084 - Northern Park** - The largest dome on Ipheus, located in a massive impact crater. It hosts the largest natural reservations, which is the largest, most vital source of oxygen in the colony, habitat for local wildlife and a place where people can go to relax. Its roof is mostly made of armor glass.

* **Dome 001 - Community Hall** - One of the largest, partially submerged dome that serves as the town square of a sort. It also connects to the governor's personal dome, where the governor lives along with their family.

* **Dome 027 - Shuttle Hangar 1** - Probably the busiest dome in the colony, as it provides maintenance for the shuttles (similar to Landspeeders, but modified for cargo and public use) and a mean of transportation into more remote areas of the colony.

* **Mining site 03** - The largest, deepest and longest-running Adamantium mine on the planet.

## Armed Forces

Ipheus IV didn't raise any regiments in its own, although it is protected by two full regiments of the Europan Voidborne, infantry trained in the void and zero-gravity warfare, and two garrison regiments. Additional protection is granted by four void-fighter squadrons and two void-bomber squadrons, as well as a single Cobra destroyer squadron.