Taos

System Description
There are scattered forests of orange, porous stalks. These areas are protected and under scientific study. The land is a maze of steep valleys with many natural cave networks. Many of the settlements and operations are built into these caverns.

System History
Charted and colonized by Titan Metals in 2393, Taos has been a source of various mining projects.

Planetary History
Originally claimed for the amount of easily obtained high grade cadmium and iron deposits on the surface. TM's presence was limited to only a handful of surveyors and miners, until the discovery of naturally occurring ferro cadmium alloy deeper. Other corporations like Trans-World Mining and Hadesmatic Industries took an interest and began disputing the claim to the world. Citing previous surveys and other legal precedent, they attempted to set up their own operations on Taos.

It didn't take long for corporate espionage to turn into covert sabotage and escalate into a full blown corporate war. The exchanges eventually became too costly for Trans-World, and after a month of open conflict, they withdrew.

Hadesmatic would be forced off the planet, but not the system. Their legal team had found a loophole that let them claim the moons of Taos, since those were not included in Titan's original filing. The two corporations would wage a low intensity war that would last up until the Uprising, when both would lose hold on the system.

Titan Metals still operates the mining facilities on Taos, but under heavy regulation from the NSR. Smaller independent operations dot the planet and several of the mining mega-arcologies are now prosperous cities.

Local Fauna
There are only two major fauna species found on Taos. The first and most prevalent is the M'Baja. The M'Baja is a spotted winged creature that spends its entire life in flight, not even landing to reproduce. They emit a constant humming sound. They are primarily harmless, feeding off the various small insects that move above the canyons.

The second is the more dangerous Devil Ant. Growing to about the size of a small jeep, these insects are normally docile. Most hives are deep underground and it is rare to encounter anything other than workers on the surface. However, when the hive is under threat, the Devil Ant's warriors will appear en masse. There are several known mega-colonies on Taos that have been marked and sensor nets monitor any movement outside the 'hive-zone'.