Okay, the idea of the 12 colonies isn't, in and of itself, impossible-- if you assume SL terraforming, you could have 12 inhabitable (or semi-inhabitable) worlds in two systems, especially given the map we're shown.
(some discussion of it is here.)What can't be brought in is the tech. The cylons, as they are and most especially the FTL, because the FTL breaks Btech and laughs all the way to the bank.
So, here I'm gonna be trying to create the twelve colonies, without the extra tech and coming up with ways they could interact with the main powers in the campaign.
So, without further adieu, part the first.
The Twelve Colonie were the result of a stellar accident— a quaternary steller system, with no fewer than 12 major worlds that were either habitable, or were capable of being made so. Most importantly, the system was shrouded by extensive clouds of dust, possibly from earlier supernovae, or simply cosmic dust that was drifting through the region, explaining why it had not been detected by earth’s astronomers. First found during the Great Exodus from the Terran Alliance, the main world was named Caprica, by Captain David Lee, a man with perhaps an overly unhealthy interest in astrology (explaining the names of the other habitable worlds). Caprica and its large moon Gemanon became the first worlds to be settled, and over the course of the next 150 years, continuing immigration and slow terraforming of the other worlds continued to make the Twelve Colonies a landmark and draw for massive numbers of immigrants.
Unsurprisingly, the Hegemony found itself focusing on this prosperous system, providing it with a large garrison to ensure that none of the neighboring powers turned their eyes to it, maintaining a full fleet of warships in the system at all times.
It was this very focus on the 12 Colonies that led to a somewhat superior attitude, while also insulating them from many of the vicissitudes of the larger galaxy. Twelve worlds in close proximity traded among themselves and if they made money from larger trade, they didn’t need it. The worlds were curiously, oddly, insular. Many things happened in the larger world, the Reunification War, the founding of the Star League, wars and rumors of wars…but the Twelve Colonies were untouched by it.
Above it.
Pride Goeth…But even so, they remained an important part of the Hegemony, and one of the first colony systems to be equipped with the advanced SDS systems, including the largest single deployment of Caspers outside of Terra. But Grayson electronics wished to go on further. Having missed out on the deployment of the spaceborn Caspers, Grayson worked on the development of land based autonomous combat drones, ranging from human sized combat weapons to mobile tanks and subs.
The SLDF didn’t adopt the system, it is believed at least in part due to General Kerensky’s influence, but the local government eagerly adopted them, letting out contracts for their own factories, while the SLDF reduced the size of its ground garrison, letting the shining drones of the Colonies take over. It was, many felt the ultimate example of the triumph of technology— the Colonies children would never have to go to war, not while they had their robot defenders.
Before a Fall…But the Twelve Colonies were dedicated to the Star League and were too big for Amaris to conquer. They could easily become the kind of fortress system that Kerensky could use— and so, as he wormed his way into the Confidence of Cameron, Amaris sent his spies and soon had many of the command codes for the drone defenders of the Colonies.
And When the Coup ripped through the Hegemony, suddenly the shining defenders, Caspar and ground forces alike, turned on those they were intended to defend. Laser bombardments rained down, turning the shining skyscrapers of Caprica city to vapor, while robotic combat units rolled out of their bases and started attacking the few military units left in the system. The devastation was unbelievable.
During the Civil War, the Twelve Colonies thus were occupied by their own conflicts, with Converted and second line mechs and fighters battling the drones. Even by the time they had defeated the ground based units, a number of caspers lurked in the system, launching hit and run raids. By the time Kerensky liberated the system, the vast industrial plant that had so frightened Amaris was no more. Indeed, there was starvation on several worlds, as the tightly knit system was shattered by the destruction of its interconnected economic order.
Kerensky did what he could, but there wasn’t much to be done— the Colonies size worked against them, and with lurking Caspers a threat to relief ships, they found themselves on their own.
After the Conflict, things only got worse— the Exodus took some of the forces that were handling the reconstruction, and once again, the potential value of the Colonies worked against them. Lyran and Kuritan forces battled over the system, using biological, nuclear and chemical weapons to destroy what they could not take. The last major casper units were destroyed around this time, but it was little comfort to the Colonies. By the End of the First Succession War, the total population of the Colonies had been smashed down to just over 4 billion— from nearly 40 billion. It was then, that Comstar quietly removed them from its maps, listing the plagues as one reason to declare the worlds dead or dying.
Sidebar: Why did Comstar do that?
The Colonies were clearly not dying, and so historians have wondered why Comstar took them off hte maps. The reason, finally uncovered in the late 3130s, was simple— several Comstar workers had come from the Colonies and inserted the data into the files, hoping to protect their system from further destruction. Whether or not their superiors knew about it, the definition stayed.
And it saved the colonies.
The Long Recovery.
The Colonies industrial might had been smashed, their population had been ravaged and more importantly, their confidence shattered. Fortunately, in addition to the removal from Comstar maps, rumors of still active caspers helped preserve the system from much of the looting that went on in other areas (And blackwasp fighters remained active in some parts until the early 3000s, making looting expeditions rather risky in any case). Gradual rebuilding efforts were sporadic, and it wasn’t until 2830, ironically the year the Second Succession War begain, that a Colony wide government was formed under the Quorum and Lower Assembly, using salvaged jump and drop ships to engage in some limited commerce between the Colonies.
Nobody was interested in expanding beyond them, with what little information they had pointing to ever more cataclysmic conflicts.
For the next hundred years, the Colonies focused on rebuilding— and defense. The idea that robots could protect them had vanished ,and indeed, Colonials remained highly skeptical of any sort of automation that could be turned against them. In fact, building an armed drone was a Capital crime, and one of the limiters for Colonial development was the stigma associated with some types of computer science studies.
But gradually, they rebuilt. None of the worlds required continuing terraforming activity, as the population grew and factories were built— no longer open campuses, but buried under mountain ranges. Cities grew, but now every building had its shelter and connection to vast, underground shelters. A few cites took this further— New Caprica was noted for being wooded and open—because the entire, 5 million strong city, was largely located underground. Legions of conventional aircraft and missile batteries were aided by smaller numbers of recovered and rebuilt dropships and aerospace fighters, which included nuclear missiles—another reason few scavangers returned alive from their expeditions to the Colonies.
