Theta 49

History[]

Around 1259, during the First Shadow War, the starship Qal’Thaa was carrying a shipment of some one thousand slaves from Zander Prime when it was shot down by a Shadow Vessel in orbit over Theta 49. The Qal’Thaa was destroyed though a handful of escape pods managed to escape and land safely on the planet. The marooned slaves began a new life away from their homeworld and managed to stay hidden from the galaxy at large. A thousand years later, when Zander Prime was destroyed by a Shadow Death Cloud in 2261, the small colony became the last surviving sustainable population of their race in the known galaxy.^[1]

On June 21, 2243, a Minbari ship emerged from the local jumpgate having headed badly off course in Hyperspace and crashed on Theta 49. The commercial trading ship Archimedes arrived a short time later from Beta Durani to assist and in the hope of finding some useful salvage. The rescue team included a young Dr. Stephen Franklin who had been hitch-hiking aboard the Archimedes in exchange for his medical services. Though they found nothing useful at the crash site, seven badly wounded survivors were recovered, ranging in age from the equivalent of four to sixty five Earth years old. Dr. Franklin did his best but laked even a basic knowledge of Minbari biology, and they all died of their wounds.^[2]

In early 2267, the planet was thought to be uninhabited when some 30 cyber-enhanced humans lead by Robert Black put down on the planet after escaping Earth during the Drakh attack and the deployment of the bio-genetic plague. They soon found the small village of aliens and kept a respectful distance, not wanting to disturb their way of life. Unfortunately, even that brief contact was enough to unintentionally infect the population with the plague because their own food supplies had been intentionally tainted prior to their arrival.

In June 2267, the starship Excalibur arrived to remove the human colonists and prevent any further spread of the plague. Dureena Nafeel was shocked to discover a village full of her people, having believed she was the sole survivor of her homeworld's destruction. A group of human colonists tried to escape the planet but their ship was destroyed in orbit by the Excalibur to keep the plague contained.

The official Earthforce and IPX reports filed by Matthew Gideon and Max Eilerson, respectively, stated that there is nothing of interest on Theta 49 and that all the humans were on-board their ship when it was destroyed. In fact the human colonists were all alive and well; Gideon only destroyed their ship in order to strand them after discovering why they were really fleeing Earthforce. Dr. Chambers had told Captain Gideon of the village of Dureena 's people and determined that they too were infected, but would succumb to the plague's effects in only one year if a cure couldn't be found. The Excalibur crew kept the colony of Dureena's people secret from Earthforce.^[1]

A human colony on Theta 49 in 2267

The Qal’Thaa's life pods heading for Theta 49.

The Qal'Thaa destroyed by Shadow Vessels..

Note[]

Captain Gideon stated that Theta 49 is in the Orion Sector, without specifying its star system. Eilerson responded "Orion System... Theta 49... looks incredibly dull." It's unconfirmed whether Theta 49 is in fact in the Orion System within Orion Sector, or if Eilerson misspoke.^[1]

References[]