Bob

Bob
Bob 3151.svg
System Information
X:Y Coordinates440.689 : 243.842[e]
Spectral classM1IV[1]
Recharge time202 hours[1]
Recharge station(s)None[1]
Planet(s)4[1]

The Bob system was home to at least one habitable world and as of 2765 was located in the New Samarkand Prefecture of the Galedon Military District within the Draconis Combine.[2]

System Description[edit]

The Bob system is located near the Kazanka and Suianheer systems. At the heart of the system is a very dim and cool subdwarf star.[3]

System History[edit]

The Bob system was colonized during the Star League era at some point after the end of the Reunification War.[4][3] Originally named Dunklewälderdunklerflüssenschattenwelt, the system was depopulated during the First Succession War[2][5][6] due to an unfortunate combination of bureaucracy and the widespread effects of the war. The awkward name originally given to the planet led to the government setting a name change in motion from the planet's original name to "Bob", but due to the chaos of the First Succession War, the change failed to gain wide recognition and essential supplies of terraforming equipment failed to arrive as a result, dooming the colonies on the planet.

Political Affiliation[edit]


Bob I[edit]

Bob I
Bob Orbital View.jpg
Astrophysical
Also known as(See System History)
System positionFirst[1]
Jump Point distance2.96[1]
Moons1 (Riesenschild)[1][34]
Geophysical
Surface gravity1.1[1]
Atmospheric pressureStandard (Toxic)[1]
Equatorial temperature15°C (Cold - Temperate)[1]
Surface water72%[1]
Highest native lifeBirds[1]
Landmasses4 (Ketzerheimat, Klüfterlande, Lunarblessed, Lamarae)[34]
History and Culture
Colonized2689[1]
Population346,000,000 (2765),
ca. 956,000 (3130)[1]
Government and Infrastructure
Political LeaderMission Director Thaddeus Øystein (ca. 2689),[1]
Governor Patton MacDonald (ca. 2786)[35]
CapitalKrimhildshausen (–2765), Ruprecht (–3130)[1]
HPG ClassNone (post-2780)[1][34]

Planetary History[edit]

Early History[edit]

While Dunklewälderdunklerflüssenschattenwelt had been surveyed in the 2500s and considered for various uses, it wasn't until 2689 that the planet was colonized by a consortium of developers. Mission Director Thaddeus Øystein's unfortunate name for the planet was intended as a gimmick to stand on out maps, and as an accurate description: The name roughly translates to "shadow world of dark woods and darker rivers".[1]

Early colonists were plagued by a variety of health issues stemming from intense ultraviolet radiation, toxic pollen clouds, nearly continual darkness, and fearsome predators. Only with careful development and culling programs was the colony able to grow.[35]

Star League Era[edit]

With Star League medicine, filtration technologies, and off-world imports, the colony persevered and by the 2760s had grown in excess of 300 million settlers. For regional protection, House Kurita had established a permanent garrison on Dunklewälderdunklerflüssenschattenwelt, but in 2784 it was redeployed in response to General Aleksandr Kerensky's military buildup for Operation EXODUS.[35]

Succession Wars[edit]

At the beginning of the First Succession War, Governor Patton MacDonald led several initiatives to improve security and infrastructure, but also championed a referendum in 2789 to rename the planet. Cynics might describe it as a ploy to distract the masses from the interstellar crisis. The winning name was... "Bob."[35]

Tragically, the name change caused unforeseen dire complications. A perfect storm of lost courier communiqués, wartime demand for JumpShips, and a nonfunctioning HPG station meant that "Dunklewälderdunklerflüssenschattenwelt" vanished from the Combine bureaucracy without being replaced by "Bob." Trade and supplies dried up, with no way to communicate off-world and call for help.[34]

Within fifteen years, over half the population had perished to economic collapse, rioting, starvation, illness, and ravenous native predators. ComStar survey teams in 2815 found only the wreckage of a lost civilization and wrote the world off.[34]

However, the survey missed small pockets of survivors. Three centuries later, a precarious early industrial society of "Bobbies" has formed in the southern continent of Lunarblessed.[34] The Bobbies also claim that small cannibal tribes of "Dunkels" can be found on the other continents.[36]

Military Deployment[edit]

2760s[edit]

2786[edit]

  • Twelfth Galedon Regulars[37]

2821[edit]

  • Twelfth Galedon Regulars[37]

Geography[edit]

Bob has four major continents, and all but one are shaped by the rain of debris from an ancient collision of Bob's moon with a large celestial object, pockmarking the planet with craters. The largest continent is Ketzerheimat, which bore the majority of the impacts. The coast of the southern continent Klüfterlande bears a large crater, and the resulting volcanism created a prominent island in the middle. The frozen content of Lamarae in the north also carries celestial scars. Only Lunarblessed in the south seems to have been spared. As of 3130, most of the surviving population lives on this continent, with the largest settlement, Ruprecht, having a population of 25,000.[34]

The planet is covered in towering forests, punctuated with river valleys, mountains, and crater remnants.[38]

Planetary Locations[edit]

  • Fliegerabwehrbataillon: the ruins of the DCMS garrison base and spaceport are located where Ketzerheimat and Lamarae connect[39]
  • Krimhildshausen: planetary capital until 2765, located on the continent of Klüfterlande
  • Ruprecht: the largest settlement remaining on Bob and de facto planetary capital through 3130, located on the continent of Lunarblessed with a population around 25,000[34]

Local Flora and Fauna[edit]

Image gallery[edit]

Notes[edit]

The name came about in a funny way.
I was bantering with Herb over Instant Message, and we were discussing something, and I make an offhand comment that X should visit the planet "Bob". To which Herb replies "We have a planet named Bob?!".
Which of course, at the time, we did not.
So I made up one of my usual yarns about "It is a dead planet that was named something horrible, but decided to change its name. But unfortunately in the chaos of the First Succession War, the name change got misfiled and all necessary goods they ordered to be sent to the planet "Bob" went nowhere, because records didn't show such a planet existing. It was not until the end of the First Succession War the error was discovered, but then the vital terraforming equipment had failed and the planet was uninhabited. Such a sad sad fate."
To which Herb about fell over with laughter and decided to make it canon, and he came up with the original name.
Cheers,
Øystein
  — Øystein Tvedten, 09 Mar 2012
  • Bob was canonized through an offhand remark in Part VIII of the BattleCorps story Forgotten Worlds (Finding Jardine), written by Herbert A. Beas and published on 21 January 2009.
  • "Dunklewälderdunklerflüssenschattenwelt" is grammatically incorrect German by current linguistic standards, translating literally as "Dark Forests - Darker (of) Rivers - Shadow World", and the correct name would be "Dunklewälderdunkleflüsseschattenwelt".
This was acknowledged by the author:
Well, hey, I asked for help with the name, and my German friends deserted me, so I used Google Translate and rammed every world I found together....
Thank you,
- Herbert Beas
  — Herbert Beas, 09 Mar 2012
However, the in-universe explanation for the name was later clarified:
We blame the German-illiterate Draconis Combine clerk at the Ministry of Colonization who took down the name from the charter. They demanded an explanation what the name meant, and it got translated back again to German via the Ministry's own internal translation software. Which wasn't too good at German :)
With regards,
Øystein
  — Øystein Tvedten, 09 Mar 2012


Map Gallery[edit]

Nearby Systems[edit]

Closest 24 systems (23 within 60 light-years)
Distance in light years, closest systems first:
Kazanka 14.6 Suianheer 21.3 Greypearl 23.4 Tottori 23.4
Osset 23.9 Dneiper 24.4 Zlatousi 27.6 Milligan's World 28.2
Prinis Prime 34.2 Tabayama 34.8 Pondicherry 39.3 Quantraine 41.4
Nexus Ri 43.0 Antallos 43.8 Enif 46.3 Rushaven 46.5
Risin 46.5 Brasha 49.1 Helland 49.3 Old Canton 50.0
Bad News 51.9 Ramgarh 52.4 Chirala 55.1 Zalaf 61.3

References[edit]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 Touring the Stars: Bob, p. 4
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 11: "Inner Sphere - [2765]"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Era Report: 2750, p. 37: "Inner Sphere - [2750] Map"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Historical: Reunification War, p. 159: "Inner Sphere - [2596] Map"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Field Report 2765: DCMS, p. 25: "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Map - [2765]"
  6. 6.0 6.1 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, pp. 122–123: "Inner Sphere - [2822] Map"
  7. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 18: "Draconis Combine - [2319] Map"
  8. 8.0 8.1 Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 147: "Outworlds Alliance after Age of War (2571) and at the Fall of the Star League (2750)"
  9. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 31: "Draconis Combine after Age of War - [2571] Map"
  10. Field Manual: SLDF, p. xi: "Inner Sphere - [2764] Map"
  11. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 43: "Draconis Combine after First Succession War - [2822] Map"
  12. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 53: "Draconis Combine after Second Succession War - [2864] Map"
  13. House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), foldout: "Draconis Combine Map - [3025]"
  14. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 64: "Draconis Combine after Third Succession War - [3025] Map"
  15. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 66: "Draconis Combine after Fourth Succession War - [3030] Map"
  16. Historical: War of 3039, p. 133: "Inner Sphere - [3040] Map"
  17. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 68: "Draconis Combine after War of 3039 - [3040] Map"
  18. Era Report: 3052, p. 11: "Inner Sphere - [3050] Map"
  19. Era Report: 3052, p. 23: "Inner Sphere - [3052] Map"
  20. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 71: "Draconis Combine after Operation REVIVAL - [3052] Map"
  21. Objective Raids, p. 24: "Map of the Draconis Combine"
  22. Era Report: 3062, p. 11: Inner Sphere - [3057] Map
  23. Era Report: 3062, p. 29: "Inner Sphere [3063] Map"
  24. Inner Sphere, p. 21: "Draconis Combine Map"
  25. Handbook: House Kurita, p. 74: "Draconis Combine after FedCom Civil War - [3067] Map"
  26. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 42: "Inner Sphere - [October 3067] Map"
  27. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 65: Inner Sphere - [3075] Map
  28. Field Report: DCMS, p. 21: "Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery Deployment Map - [August 3079]"
  29. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 63: "Inner Sphere - [3081] Map"
  30. Field Manual: 3085, p. 127: "Inner Sphere - [3085] Map"
  31. Era Report: 3145, p. 11: "Inner Sphere - [3135] Map"
  32. Era Report: 3145, p. 39: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"
  33. Field Manual: 3145, p. VI: "Inner Sphere - [3145] Map"
  34. 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 34.6 34.7 Touring the Stars: Bob, p. 6
  35. 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 Touring the Stars: Bob, p. 5
  36. Touring the Stars: Bob, p. 7
  37. 37.0 37.1 First Succession War, pp. 136–137: "First Succession War Deployment Table - DCMS"
  38. Touring the Stars: Bob, p. 14
  39. Touring the Stars: Bob, p. 9

Bibliography[edit]