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Bocage is the second system settled by the Veiled Republic. It was colonized in 2830, opening the Republic's first era of expansion during the early Succession Wars.
The Bocage system is a violent, chaotic place, with many thick asteroid belts. Navigation here is difficult for outsiders, forming a natural deterrent against invasion. Bocage's primary is a powerful F5IV/V yellow-white star, on the big side of the main sequence. The star has half a dozen planets that have cleared their orbits between the asteroid belts; Bocage itself is the fourth planet, and is farther from its primary (and thus its jump station) than other Republic worlds. Not all the diverse material in the Bocage system is native; some of the asteroids and one of the outer planets were captured from the Normandy system during a close encounter in the distant past.
Bocage itself is a Terran world, but only marginally habitable due to the difficulties of its terrain. Rugged hills and craggy mountains form vales, plateaus and valleys filled with mud and thickets. This makes the wilderness almost impassable, and much work is required to build in new areas. These extra problems are made worthwhile by Bocage's great mineral wealth, both on and off world. Local gravity is slightly higher than standard, at about 1.1 G.
Bocage is the Veiled Republic's heavy industrial heart. Its economy is centered almost wholly on mining (both ground and space) and industry in various forms. If something can be built, it is most likely built at Bocage; this includes heavy tanks, Mechs, and ships from the Bocage Naval Shipyard. It is worth noting that Bocage is the only world in the Republic that requires food imports to support its population, which currently stands at 2.2 billion people. Bocage's population is the largest in the Republic despite its environmental issues, due to its security and the constant growth of industrial jobs.
Bocage is defended by the 2nd Guards Brigade, better known as the Partisans. Its badge is a pair of crossed polearms (partisans) that divide a shield into red and blue quarters. The Partisans are less experienced (Regular status) than other units, due to the fact that the VRDF's navy fanatically defends Bocage's resources, and no enemy has ever made a successful landing in this difficult system. The Partisans thus rely on training and duty exchanges with other units to keep up their readiness.
Except for a few ambitious pirate raids, Bocage's history was fairly uneventful until the Jihad, when it came under major attack for the first time. The VRDF (with local help) fended off both the first large assault, and the many smaller raids which followed throughout the Jihad, inflicting heavy casualties while taking only relatively minor damage to some space facilities. The people of Bocage are proud that their mines and factories have never stopped working for the Republic, and their hard work and support has been instrumental to the Republic's recovery since the Jihad.
When the Blakists attacked Bocage during the Jihad, they had to fight not only the VRDF, but miners using asteroids as missiles! This stubborn, blue-collar, make-it-work attitude is stereotypical for the people of Bocage, and more of the VRDF's engineers come from Bocage than any other world.
_________________ Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it. 
Last edited by Shades of Grey on Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:47 am, edited 3 times in total.
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