Planet Miura

First charted by the Blood Dragons in 688 A.S. when they discovered the Okinawa system, but due to the resources that a terraforming project would require the Blood Dragons simply could not afford such a vast undertaking. Instead, they focused their assets into building the more viable and long-term investment of Sendai Research Complex, leaving Miura untouched despite the mineral deposits that deep scans revealed.

Miura is an icy, snowbound planet with some quite large glacial formations. Although the atmosphere is breathable to humans, it is rather uncomfortable without decent filter systems. The average temperature rarely rises above -2 degrees Celsius, even at the relatively mild equatorial regions. Despite this, there are a number of indigenous life forms, including the Kaishi, an ice burrowing rodent similar to a cross between an ancient Earth rabbit and rat. Many of the life forms, however, have barely progressed from the invertebrate stages of evolution.

The planet was left alone for several centuries save for the occasional landings by the scientists at Sendai to collect samples for research purposes, until the arrival of a GMG ship, the exploration vessel Kinai Maru, in 812 A.S. The Captain, Toru Watanabe, spent almost a year surveying the planet and the nearby Mintaka Hydrogen Field, before returning to Aomori Station to present his findings to the Guild Administrative Board. After deliberating for several months, which included secretive talks with Kishiro Technologies, the decision was made to go ahead and push for a full terraforming project using the accelerated methods recently developed by Kishiro scientists (using stolen Planetform information in some places) in their attempts to solve the overpopulation problems facing most of the Houses.

Starting in late 813 A.S., the terraforming of Miura was initiated, with the construction of the Kishiro base in orbit beginning soon after. Upon landing, planetary geologists and terraforming engineers discovered vast deposits of a number of various rare ores, leading Kishiro to make the decision to begin large scale mining operations on the planet, despite it being during the terraforming process. Due to the desire by the GMG and Kishiro to reduce costs in an already expensive project, it was decided to use prisoners instead of ordinary workers, and they are shipped in from various prison stations to serve as a work force in the plutonium mines.

The shipments of prisoners to such an unusual location have raised some eyebrows within the Kusari government, but for the most part they are only too happy to be rid of the troublemakers. Kishiro has, interestingly, refrained from using any Golden Chrysanthemum or Blood Dragon prisoners for the work in the mines, for fear of reprisals from both groups though possibly also at the behest of the GMG, since the Guild knows that they are certainly aware of the Okinawa system's location.