#951
Ghosts from Hell
First we take Omagh,
then we take Luthien (popular song on Helghan)
Omagh IV was uninhabited world in the Omagh system. Borderline habitable in theory, but the two tragic failed colonisation efforts discouraged further attempts, with inhabitants of Omagh III giving the world nickname Hell.
As the Alliance of Galedon gave Omagh ultimatum to voluntarilly join the alliance or suffer the consequences of joining involuntarilly, the majority supported joining, but there was a vocal minority opposing what they called capitulation without a fight. With some of the more radical memebers of the resistance faction proposing a coup, leaders of AoG faction reacted swiftly, aresting the leaders of resistance faction and several thousands of most vocal supporters, transporting them into exile on Omagh IV. This ruthless act caused a wave of unrest, which the authorities cracked down on with even more deportations, activity that earned nickname ''ghosting'', with deported becoming ''Ghosts in Hell'' as they were expected to die there, later shorted ''Hellghosts''.
While mortality amongst the exiles was high, for most part they did not perish, but endured. Whatever gear and supplies the government left the first groups of ghosts under pretence that this is really an exile and not an execution, would only prolong the agony, if not for the facility that the radical subfaction had been clandestinely building at the site of an abandoned research station, giving the exiles a badly needed shelter and secret shuttle flights by supporters bringing additional supplies and equipment.
Shiro Kurita greatly approved of such measures and in the following years rulers of neighbouring worlds also joined Omagh in ghosting their detractors to Hell until forced labour replaced ghosting as a more profitable solution.
It was only during the Stare League that Draconis Combine sough to utilise Hell again, this time as a penal colony instead of execution site. Ministry of Justice unofficially partnered itself with several jakuza clans who were to compete to extract most worth from the prisoners. Encountering native population on the world, calling themselves Helghasts, the warders first saw them as a welcome addition to the penal workforce, but were violently disabused of this notion, triggering brutal guerrilla war in an unforgiving enviroment, that jakuza thugs and ministry enforcers were not prepared for. Rather than lose face and ask DCMS to take over pacification, Ministry of Justice cut a deals with Helghast clans, not realising they were dealing with centrally led nation, whose leadership was playing a shell games. Thus for decades the Helghasts were trading with Ministry of Justice, fighting the occasional raids by jakuzas who sought to add natives to penal workforce they were controlling, while also hiring themselves as mercenaries in clashes between compeating jakuza clans.
This, rather fluid, status quo lasted until after the first Succession War when Procurement Department was looking for out of the way location for production facilities utilising salvaged machinery and tooling from several destroyed factories and a secret penal colony seemed like a right place. As construction of manufacturing sites began, the Ministry of Justice decided it is time bring the recalcitrant natives fully into fold so they could be properly utilised for the glory of Draconis Combine (and career advancement of the leaders of the project). The attempts to turn the supposed clans against each other were a complete fiasco, while direct action by BCP troops and jakuza thugs, went even worse than during first Helghan war. With MoJ making a complete mess of pacification of a (supposed) handful of primitive survivalist tribes, ISF got involved, it's leadership seeing it as a little more than training exercise for it's direct action units, which didn't go as well as planned so in order not to take away from strategic commitments, ISF manipulated several planetary militias to send contingents to assist them in rooting out these persistent pests whose existence they would never admit.
As the haphazard campaign went on the Lyrans somehow learned about the secret industrial center and with Second Succession War flaring up, they moved to destroy it. LCN combat group jumped into Omagh system, destroyed recharge station and all the shipping, then proceeded Omagh IV where they destroyed the orbital station, Dropport and all the surrounding facilities. The few remaining radio contacts reported some contagation, before dropping off, one after another. A salvage mission two decades later found nothing to salvage, encountered no Helghast and contracted a hemoragic fever. This convinced those in charge that Hell really was a dead world and best left this way.
But it wasn't dead and it's inhabitants were seeking for a way to wreak their vengeance.
