Telamon was a fictional planet found in the fictional Wing Commander universe. It is a primary location in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom.
History[]
Telamon was a remote planet located in the Telamon System. It was a territory governed by the Union of Border Worlds as of 2673. Telamon was only recently discovered, presumably within the 27th Century, and as a result still retains its discovery number, FT957. The planet had a relatively small population by 2673, but was home to at least one airfield belonging to the Union and an unknown number of settlements. The planet was a barren and rocky world with minimal vegetation, but was still capable of supporting life.
The 2673 Black Lance Conspiracy[]
During the year 2673, the Union of Border Worlds came to the brink of war with its former ally, the Terran Confederation, when a mysterious Confed faction called the Black Lance instigated fighting between the two nations by harassing their ships with unmarked fighters. Confed assumed these craft were Border Worlds craft and were quick to blame their neighbors for the attacks. During the conflict, Telamon was attacked by a squad of these unmarked fighters, who released a new type of bioweapon against the planet. The colonists on the planet sent a distress signal to the Border Worlds flagship, the BWS Intrepid, which was the only ship within the Telamon System's range. Colonel Christopher Blair, who commanded the vessel at the time, immediately escorted a team of Border Worlds marines to save the colony using a captured Dragon Heavy Fighter. This advanced fighter happened to be one of the unmarked ships. After fighting through the Black Lance patrols, Blair and the marines, led by Lieutenant Colonel John Dekker, landed at Telamon's airstrip to respond to the attack.
Genocide[]
Upon Blair's arrival on Telamon, it was discovered that the airstrip was virtually untouched by the attack. However, the base was littered with body bags, so Blair's team approached a medical tent housing a small band of survivors. After Blair identified himself and his team, Dr. Clivers, the head doctor, informed Blair that the attackers employed a bio-convergence weapon later identified as the Gen-Select Bioweapon to wipe out selected colonists. The weapon was preprogrammed with a specific genetic code to pinpoint which humans the attackers wished to spare. When the weapon was deployed, it deployed nanobots into the colonists' blood streams. If their DNA did not satisfy the predetermined code, the nanobots attacked the victim's RNA, causing the human body to destroy itself. Those who did satisfy the code remained unaffected. Within hours, hundreds of victims were mutilated beyond recognition, and 90% of the population was exterminated. The dead bodies would cause many other diseases to spread across the planet. Telamon was considered lost and the survivors had to be evacuated. Colonel Blair and his forces moved on to hunt down the killers responsible for the attack.
Aftermath[]
The disaster on Telamon would have severe effects on the outcome of the conflict. Colonel Blair eventually identified the mysterious attackers as the Black Lance, and that their leader was Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn. He had hoped to cleanse humanity of the "genetically impure" so that the strong humans would be left to wage war against future threats. The Gen-Select Bioweapon tested on Telamon was specifically designed for this purpose, and Tolwyn had every intention to use it. Blair appeared before the Great Assembly on Earth just as they were about to vote on war with the Union of Border Worlds, and he revealed the full extent of Admiral Tolwyn's conspiracy to the Confederation Senate. When he revealed the occurrence of the Telamon Genocide to them, they were shocked at this accusation, and it was ultimately this statement that motivated the Senate to reject war. Tolwyn was later convicted of crimes against humanity, with the Telamon Genocide being among his most prominent offenses. The Gen-Select Bioweapon was discontinued from service afterwards. Telamon remains unsafe for colonization even today.
((((To be Continued))))