2175 Aeia

2175 Aeia is the first planet from the star Alpha Draconis. Named after a renowned Asari scientist, it was discovered by Humans on deep-space scanners in 2165. After their probe surveys confirmed the existence of a breathable air, ample fresh water and a diverse biosphere on the planet, the Human Systems Alliance upgraded its classification of 2175 Aeia from an Earth-type world to a potential garden world colonisation priority, despite its location within the lawless Terminus Systems.

In 2173 the Alliance covertly sent a research team aboard a privately owned frigate named the MSV Hugo Gernsback to 2175 Aeia. Their mission was to conduct tests on whether the planet would be a suitable site for a Human colony. Shortly after entering the Alpha Draconis system, the Hugo Gernsback went radio silent. The Alliance’s official stance on the incident is that the crew are presumed killed in action and their vessel destroyed. However, in 2185 the distress beacon of the Hugo Gernsback came online, after 12 years of silence.

Turian spectre Desolas Arterius II conducted an investigation of the beacon’s signal, independent of the Alliance military. He discovered that, while the Hugo Gernsback had indeed crashed planet-side, some of the crew had survived. The ship’s captain - Captain Harris Fairchild - was killed in the crash. In his place, Ronald Taylor was promoted to Acting Captain. Taylor was unfit for the burden of command and struggled under the pressure. To keep order, he split the crew into two groups; officers and standard crew, hoarding the remaining food for the officers and forcing the rest of the crew to eat the toxic local flora. The vegetation caused neural degradation, reducing the crew to docile slaves who could not fight back. Female crew members were subjected to rape and sexual abuse by officers, while male crew members were either exiled or killed.

Accounts deviate as to what became of Ronald Taylor after Desolas’ intervention. Some say that he turned Taylor over to the Alliance to be tried for his crimes under Human law. Others say that Taylor is in fact dead, executed either by Desolas, the surviving male members of Taylor’s crew, or his own son - Jacob Taylor - a former Cerberus operative who was serving under Desolas’ command at the time.