Komarr

Name:	Komarr
Planet:	Komarr

Details

Komarr is a planet with a gravity of 0.9g that does not contain a naturally breathable atmosphere. The original colonists built domes to house themselves while they embarked on a project to terraform the planet which has already taken three-hundred years and is expected to take a couple hundred more.

The terraforming project involves heating the atmosphere and seeding the planet with plants that produce vast quantities of oxygen from the mostly nitrogen and carbon-dioxide atmosphere. Part of the project also involved the construction of a vast array of mirrors, the Soletta Array. It also involved acquiring more water for what was essentially a dry planet, this was achieved by dropping comets onto the planet surface, these are now lakes. It is impossible, and will remain so for a minumum of another hundred, for the Komarran population to leave the domes with out a breath-mask.

Although many better planets have since been found, Komarr remains inhabited because of its status as a wormhole nexus and the resulting position as a major trading hub and thoroughfare.

The planet was originally ruled by the Komarran Planetary Shareholders, an oligarchy that used the profits from its many trade ventures to further the terraforming project.

The Planetary Shareholders charged enormous tarriffs on ships passing through Komarr and were always on the look-out for schemes to enhance their profits.

It therefore transpired that the Komarran government, in exchange for trade concessions, allowed a Cetagandan invasion fleet to pass unhindered through their space to attack Barrayar. Komarr being the only wormhole link Barrayar has to the rest of inhabited space.

Once the Barrayarans had thrown the Cetagandan's off their planet, and out of their space, the Komarran's were soon taken to account for their part in the occupation.

A Barrayaran fleet, under the command of Admiral Aral Vorkosigan, achieved a stunning and almost bloodless occupation of Komarr.

The Komarrans received no support from their neighbours, who had long been displeased by the high tariffs. The Komarrans also had little military of their own and the mercenaries they hired retreated once they discovered the strength and strategic superiority of Vorkosigan's forces.

The most infamous part of the occupation came near its end when the ruling council, who had been promised their lives, were executed against the orders of Vorkosigan, by the political officer. The political officer died for his transgression.

Known as the Solstice Massacre, after the planet's capital where the incident took place, this mass execution triggered a revolt and uprising on Komarr which left hundreds dead and created a legacy that still taints relations between Komarr and Barrayar.

The Barrayaran government has always attempted to be a benign ruler and even restored a large amount of self-rule to the Komarran population.

A series of revolts of various sizes have taken place since the Solstice Massacre, but none were of the same scale and while there is still grumbling by some of the population, their situation has been mostly accepted.

Shortly after Emperor Gergor's engagement to Liasa Toscane (a Komarran) the Soletta array was damaged in a space-traffic accident. Both Gregor's marriage to Liasa Toscane and the decision to repair and expand the Soletta array have done much to finally repair relations between Komarr and Barrayar.