Space Marines - The Planet Belegos

Belegos' time has passed. Once, it was a thriving hive-world, with unparalleled industry and a vibrant, multiethnic culture. Its chief hive colony, Abis, exported refined materials, fuels, and manufactured goods. The spaceports were busy, and from time to time, the Elevator would whine to life, lifting some gigantic triumph of construction from the bowels of the hive's manufacturing levels, up to the heavens on a pulsating beam of light. To see it now, though, is to behold a hive-city in decay. Entire levels have been rendered toxic by exposure to the harsh outer atmosphere. Gigantic machinery, its purpose long forgotten, sits idle and rusting. What remains of an aristocracy huddles near the Spaceport, leaving the rest of the hive to anarchy. From time to time, from the Depths, the places no sane man would go, come echoing peals of maddened laughter.

The Past

Belegos was once a beacon, and Abis, its city-of-a-hill, the example of the benefits the Imperium could bring. Abis was a multicultural oasis, with several factions that opposed each other violently on other planets living in total harmony. The natural resources mined from Belegos provided an economic platfrom, but the hive itself had been built entirely by the united effort of the planet's citizens, a citadel for their mixed and unique culture. It stood as an elegant, gigantic testament to the power of unity.

Abissinian artisans were soon in demand, and the hive world's foundries and workshops hummed with creative energy, producing groundbreaking works of design and function. The prevailing culture was encouraged work towards knowledge, appreciation of culture, and dedication to craft, and within millennia, Belegos was a tourist destination appreciated from all over the Imperium. The wealthy of the galaxy soon took to Belegosi fashions, and Abis' famous open-air cafes became mixing pots of intellectualism, creativity, and forward-thinking.

The Fall

In M41.3, several corporate entities trickled in to Abis, and put roots down. The upper-class sniffed, and turned up their noses at the thought that Abis intellecualism could be industrialized. Apparently, the corporates had not come to export culture, though: within a decade, corporate gangs were roving the streets, fighting each other for some reason that none of the intelligentsia could fathom. The violence grew worse and worse with each passing day, shattering the harmonious existence that had produced the famed Abissinian culture. Without the creativity and collaboration that had marked Abis' rise to cultural prominence, the economy of Belegos crashed.

The Present

Abis is now populated by corporate elites, government officials, and whoever would risk living on the lower levels of the hive. The corporate entities still fight each other, either covertly or in the Depths where none would see, apparently over the mining rights to Valerium ore, which refined is an excellent material for building starship hulls. The quantity of Valerium mined on Belegos seems to drop every year, and the corporate presence diminishes accordingly. Lower levels of the hive are dangerous no-man's land.

And now, apparently, there's an uprising. Who the protagonists of the conflict are is as yet unknown. The stakes of the conflict are similarly unknown.