Abaddon

Abaddon is a volcanic planet on the fringes of the Korpulu Sector. Located far beyond the reaches of the Koprulu Sector, the planet's harsh environment and distant location has made it a haven for rebel activity, primarily against the Terran Dominion.

Background
Abaddon is a vast volcanic world, with minimal scientific surveys aside from old Confederate probes confirming much on its tectonic history. The vast amounts of water locked in its atmosphere and volcanic crust, some oceanic fossils found on the world, and the amount of oxygen in thick sulfuric atmosphere hints at a history where the planet was once habitable beyond small creatures that feed from the planet's volcanic heat. Abaddon is habitable for human life in the more temperate areas of its climate: but only barely.

The world came into prominence with the formation of the Koprulu Liberation Front after the fall of the Confederacy. Two jumps from the infamous Dead Man's Rock, Abaddon lies far beyond Dominion borders into the sector's Outer Fringe. Even the most dogged Dominion force can expect little support out that far. Many criminal powers and fringe elements who thrived under the old Confederacy, seeking a world to hide on, established a base camp on the planet to serve as a haven to coordinate their attempts to take down Emperor Arcturus Mengsk. As these were joined by other discontent elements, the Koprulu Liberation Front began to pick up movement against the emperor.

After the invasion of the United Earth Directorate, survivors and stragglers of the destroyed UED fleet were guided to Abaddon by the KLF, hoping to find an ally in their conflict against the Dominion. The two forces controlled the planet in their operations against Mengsk, establishing firm fortresses on the surface. However, operations on Abaddon only lasted approximately two years, as Mengsk later sent ghost agents, including Nova Terra, to assassinate the KLF's leadership and remove key UED officers from Abaddon. While the KLF was decapitated by this and further operations to uproot their leadership, the UED remnants remained firmly rooted on Abaddon, though Mengsk's constant destabilization and counterterrorism operations foiled any attempt they had at forming into a creditable threat.

Though the UED on Abaddon have remained silent, other factions have stepped in to take the KLF's place on the massive world, including criminal enterprises using its location close to Dead Man's Rock as a staging area. Notable among these is the Alterian Syndictae, who took on the the primary KLF bases of Fort Morsby to use as a staging area for operations on the opposite end of the sector from their primary Umojan-based operations, and as a fallback should their Umojan operations crumble. Recently however Syndicate ships have been landing on the world laden with classified cargo, catching the eye of the other powers of Dead Man's Rock. As word travels fast among the loose lips of the mercenary world, the Shadowguard quickly discovered the Syndicate's operations on Abaddon, and eye it with keen interest.