History

   Gerome was declared a Red Zone by the Imperial Navy in 945. The
   reason for this was kept classified until recently, however, now
   under the Regent's policy of openness, the truth can be revealed.
   Gerome was established as a top secret research base in charge of
   finding new military applications for biotechnologies. These included
   anti-bacterial warfare agents, creating geneered animals to serve in
   both combat and intelligence roles, methods in speeding the growth of
   clones, (TEXT DELETED BY ORDER OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE OFFICE: ORDER
   18734945-A) artificial RNA learning techniques and many other
   projects. The reason for the Red Zone was simply to keep away spies
   and others without the Imperium's best interest at heart. In an effort
   to keep the existance of the base secret, the Navy released fake
   data on the system, falsely showing the planet to be uninhabited.

   The results of the scientific experiments were filtered through other
   research bases. This way the Zhodani and other enemies would not even
   know that a top secret base even existed. The Civil War did not
   disrupt the research, as it was located far behind the Claw. In the
   aftermath of the Civil War, the base did suffer significant budget
   cuts, but proceeded much as before.

   In 1135 there was a major accident which would alter the world
   forever. The base had been doing research into artificial bacterial
   symbiotes that would enable humans to exist in a vacuum without a
   vaccsuit. The work was still far from finished, but proceeding nicely.
   On 114-1135 an explosion of still unexplained origins ripped through
   the lab where the symbiote was being designed. The symbiote was
   released into the atmosphere of the planet. The high speed winds
   quickly dispersed the symbiote. Over the next few days it became
   apparent the symbiote was far from finished as it infected several
   thousand people across the face of the planet. Instead of allowing the
   infected to survive in a vacuum, the symbiote slowly asphyxiate d the
   victim over a span of several hours. By now the symbiote had been
   spread across the entire surface of the planet and was thriving in the
   environment. It was designed to survive in the cold vacuum of space,
   the atmosphere provided more than enough heat and carbon dioxide to
   thrive. An immediate quarantine was placed around the planet. All
   projects were halted, as everyone tried to find an antidote.
   Unfortunetly those scientists who understood the symbiote best where
   the first to die. After six months, no progress had been made towards
   a cure and over half the population had died. What made the task so
   difficult was the symbiote had been designed to withstand the extremes
   of space, high and low temperatures, high levels of radiation and
   vacuum. It could be killed by extreme methods such as plasma bursts,
   but this wasn't a practical method of decontamiating infected
   individuals. The populace holed up small groups in underground
   bunkers.

   The Navy Commander in charge of the planet made the painful choice to
   permanently close the planet. Slowly the underground bunkers became
   infected, until the population has dwindled to barely 8000 out of
   70,000 former inhabitants. Estimates suggest that within 40 years the
   remaining inhabitants will perish. A small group of scientists still
   tries to find a way of defeating the symbiote, but a solution evades
   their grasp, as the symbiote continues to mutate and adapt. The Navy
   maintains a squadron in the system to prevent anyone from violating
   the quarantine. It also drops frequent mercy packages to aid the
   survivors. The only penalty for violating the quarantine is life long
   exile to the planet. When asked about the severe actions of the Navy,
   Cmmdr Wafoua Syoisuis replied, "It's better then dealing with another
   Virus."