Gaia

Originally, Gaia's main exports are believed to have been metal ores. However, the rich mineral deposits in the planet's crust provided enough wealth to support a thriving culture. In <date>6140</date>, it became the first planet to have a line station specifically catering for tourists travelling off-world. It also spawned a number of popular musical trends and other artists; though the only one whose name is still known is prog-punk band Goodhead.

However, this success was short-lived. In <date>5569</date>, the planet had to be abandoned due to some natural catastrophe. In a spectacularly magnanimous gesture which is still remembered today, the planetary mining corporation (GEBCAR) used their private wealth to fund a complete evacuation, a massive fleet of carriers lifting the entire population to Balescar and Fortesquee in only a couple of weeks. It is known to history that one of the pilots (later known as Saint-Pope John II), returned alone in his freighter "Arc of Space" to rescue the animals from the Gaia Zoo and Orphanarium, but like many details of this epic story his reasons for this remain a mystery. Many historians have attempted to put together a more complete account of this event from fragmentary records, but most people's knowledge of the evacuation is based heavily on the Silver Age epic film The Voyages of John of Arc.

The Conspiracy

Some historians believe that the catastrophe of Gaia was not natural (such as the supernova described in the film), but man-made. The leading theory is that GEBCAR massively overestimated the depth of mineral deposits when drawing up contracts for the excavation rights, and could have been prosecuted for selling land under false pretences. As such a suit would have bankrupted the company (having to refund the planet's population the entire cost of the colonisation project), they instead took the cheaper option of resettling elsewhere, which gave them a much better public image and allowed them to recoup some of the cost through charitable support.

This theory is gaining support, but no conclusive evidence either way has yet been found.

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Timetable code: GAA