Telamon (planet)

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Telamon, also known by its discovery number FT957, is a Terran colony located in the Telamon System. It is a member of the Union of Border Worlds.

Telamon is located in the Isaac Quadrant of the Epsilon Sector. Telamon was only recently discovered sometime during the Terran-Kilrathi War. It is a barren, rocky world with very little vegetation or water to speak of, and is located on the outer fringes of the Union's territory. Despite this, it was declared hospitable for Terran colonists and subsequently colonized by Border Worlds citizens. As of 2673, the planet's colonization was so recent that it was still often called FT957. However, it was still treated as an equal territory. It hosted a few small settlements, including a Border Worlds airstrip.

Telamon was attacked by an unknown entity during the Border Worlds Conflict of 2673. A large flight of unmarked ships, unknown to either Confed or the Union, unleashed a series of biological weapons into the planet's atmosphere. One of the colonists was able to send a distress signal to the BWS Intrepid, which was the closest vessel to the system. She said that lots of people were dying, and that they needed reinforcements. Colonel Christopher Blair, who commanded the Intrepid, escorted a squad of marines led by Lieutenant Colonel John Dekker to Telamon to investigate the attack. Blair flew a Dragon Heavy Fighter captured from Terran mercenaries.

Blair and the marines arrived at the airstrip to find that it was totally intact. However, a group of terrified survivors almost gunned them down when they saw that Blair was flying a Dragon, which was the same type of fighter that attacked the planet. Blair convinced them that they were friendly, and were informed of the attack.

Blair and Dekker entered a nearby medical tent to talk to Dr. Clivers, a survivor of the attack. He said that the attackers deployed a biological weapon into the atmosphere that consisted of canisters containing millions of nanobots. These nanobots were programmed to compare one's genetic code to a code that was pre-registered into the nanobots. They looked for differences between the preferred code and the victim's code. If the victim's characteristics, such as level of body fat or muscle mass did not match the preferred code, the nanobots attacked the victim's RNA, ending the production of DNA and body cells. This in turned caused the victim to die a slow death that left their bodies mutilated beyond recognition. Those who matched the code were spared.

By the time Blair has arrived, 90% of the population had been exterminated, and Telamon was no longer considered inhabitable. Soon afterwards, secondary diseases like cholera, which developed from the large number of bodies, spread among the survivors. The Union either evacuated or quarantined the planet after the incident. Blair and his squad returned to the Intrepid and followed a lead that would help them find the attackers.

Blair eventually tracked the attackers to a hidden base in the Axius System, where he discovered that a secret faction known as the Black Lance, lead by Admrial Geoffrey Tolwyn, was instigated the war between the Union and the Terran Confederation in an effort to remilitarize Confed. They also intended to exterminate the weak and "undesirable" Terrans using the Gen-Select Bioweapon, which was used deployed on Telamon as a means to test its efficiency. Blair led his forces to Earth to prevent Confed from declaring war on the Border Worlds.

After Blair revealed the conspiracy to the Confederation Senate, the declaration of war was rejected and Tolwyn was convicted of war crimes. His authorization of the genocide on Telamon was a key factor in his conviction. Confed subsequently did justice for the people of Telamon by imprisoning Tolwyn and shutting down the Black Lance.