Telamon (planet)

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

History

Telamon is located in the Isaac Quadrant of the Epsilon Sector. Telamon still maintains its discovery number due to its relatively recent settlement, yet was viewed as an equal to any other planet in the Union. It is a barren, rocky world and is located on the Union's frontier. Since colonization, it has become home to a number of Terran settlements, including an airstrip.

Genocide

Telamon was attacked by unknown assailants during the Border Worlds Conflict of 2673. A large flight of unmarked ships, unknown to either the Confederation 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 escorted a squad of marines led by Lieutenant Colonel John Dekker to Telamon to investigate the attack. Blair flew a F-107 Lance 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 Lance, which was the same type of fighter that attacked the planet. Blair convinced them that they were friendly, and entered a medical tent to talk to the survivors. He learned from one of the doctors 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 their levels 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 had arrived, 90% of the population had been exterminated, and Telamon was considered a total loss. The Union would have no choice but to evacuate the survivors. Blair and his strike team then returned to the Intrepid, where they followed a lead that would help them track down 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, led by Admrial Geoffrey Tolwyn, was instigating the war between the Union and the Terran Confederation in an effort to restore the Confederation's Kilrathi War era military power. They also intended to exterminate the "weaker elements" of humanity using the Gen-Select Bioweapon, which was tested on Telamon with deadly efficiency. Blair led his forces to Earth to prevent the Confederation 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 role in the genocide on Telamon was a key factor in his conviction. Tolwyn was eventually sentenced to death for crimes against humanity and the Black Lance was promptly dissolved.