Amargosa was a Class-E Planet colonized by Mars. It was founded approximately 329 IE. Together, with Gilead, it supplied approximately sixty percent of Fairgha's food before the colony was destroyed.
As a Martian colony, it hosted moderate interstellar traffic. The native vegetation used a dark red substance for photosynthesis. However, the soil could support crops from other worlds, including Earth. While the planet had it’s share of insects, it did not have bird analogs most Class-E worlds had. Flying creatures were mammalian or reptilian in nature. Other native life forms included large, shaggy livestock called moosalo, wolf-like predators called lycanths, a three-legged deer analog called gosalope, and a very large predator called an ursoid. Small vermin included wuzzles and squonks.
Amargosa was unusual for a Class-E world as, relative to the other planets in its star system, it had a retrograde rotation. As such, residents referred to the sun rising in the west and setting in the east. The planet had two moons, one comparable to Luna.
When the Gelt invaded, they attempted to rename the planet “Cyal.” However, because most of the population survived the initial incursion, the name did not stick. The occupation lasted about a year before a Compact Navy battlegroup, augmented by ships and troops from Hanar liberated the planet. The occupation ended with the Section 11 Execution of human warlord Lucius Kray and the death of Amargosa’s third occupation governor, Laral Farad in a fusion blast that destroyed Riverside.
After the war, most of the Gelt settlers and many of the occupying troops expressed an unwillingness to return to the Realm. Some accepted an invitation to resettle on Hanar. However, others offered to settle elsewhere on Amargosa in exchange for rebuilding many of the settlements and properties they had taken. The human population accepted.
Amargosa came under Metisian authority late in the occupation in a vain effort to keep the core world from seceding. Hanar “amicably disputed” their claim to the planet to allow residents more flexibility to choose their own fate. Douglas Best became provisional governor of the planet. Metis appointed Athena Jovann governor-general to represent their interests and provide a backup to Best. Hanar also appointed a representative. Additionally, the Thulian diaspora setup an enclave east of New Lansdorp, the replacement for the destroyed capital. Best’s wife Jayne oversaw the enclave and its clinic. She disappeared after an assassination attempt on Best’s life. Best himself survived and requested his wife be found and, if need be, rescured.
Amargosa seceded from the Compact, joining a new Metisian Republic after Governor Best and Governor-General Jovann witnessed evidence Salamacis murdered the previous Sovereign of the Realm.
Appearances: No Marigolds in the Promised Land, Gimme Shelter, The Children of Amargosa, Broken Skies, Warped, Second Wave, Among Wolves, Flight Blade, Storming Amargosa, Suicide Run