Bolder

Bolder was a human agricultural colony world and a moon of the gas giant Tiamat in the Iota Pegasi system. It is the homeworld of the Spartan-III Laura-G179, who was born on the moon in the small farming community of Point January in 2539.

History
The gas giant Tiamat (Earth Survey Catalog designation B-876-JG) was one of the few enigmas humans encountered during their outward expansion. The planet was superficially similar to Jupiter in size and composition, but lacked the intense radiation belt characterized its Solar cousin, and was atypically close to its system primary. Most bizarrely, Tiamat defied any attempts at deep probing: probes that had no trouble navigating similar conditions on Jupiter or Saturn went dark shortly after penetrating certain atmospheric layers. What prevented Tiamat from remaining a mere scientific curiosity, however, was an extensive system of moons, two of them close to Earth-sized and several more much like those found in the Saturnian and Jovian systems. Coupled with the low levels of radiation, the system was practically inviting prospective colonists - though a small group of doomsayers warned about potential dangers concealed in Tiamat.

The largest moon, named Bolder after the CAA explorer captain Jeremiah Bolder who first charted the system, was swiftly settled in 2391, with several arcologies set up while terraforming machinery was put to work. In less than a century, the moon was transformed into a nearly-Earthlike world with the purple prominence of Tiamat and its other moons looming in the sky. Due to tidal effects from the complex system of moons, some degree of active climate control was required. While Tiamat continued to stymie probing efforts, befuddle scientists and even inspire a fringe religious cult, the colonists went about their business. Tiamat's second-largest satellite, Calvary, was never fully terraformed and served as a minor industrial colony and UNSC depot.

For much of its history, Bolder was a stable, relatively quiet, largely agricultural world as it was not situated along any major spaceways. That changed in the 2530s, when it saw an influx of activity and an economic boom unequaled since its founding, prompting an extensive development of infrastructure across the moon's rough-and-tumble hinterlands. All this stemmed, ironically, from others' misfortune. Since the early 2530s, the glassings of several key worlds in that area of space caused significant amounts of commercial traffic and business interests to be diverted to Bolder. The moon's government and businesses took full advantage of the boost provided to their trade and industry, launching several grandiose infrastructure and construction programs across the moon.

The boom was short-lived, however, as Bolder was ultimately discovered by the Covenant and glassed in late 2544. A UNSC response was launched, first from the world's assigned UNSC defense fleet and shortly reinforcements from an intersystem patrol battle group, but as with other human colonies they could only delay the inevitable. Only a small number of the population was evacuated following several days of intense battle, the majority of them ending up in the Epsilon Eridani system.

The Covenant invaders showed significant interest in Tiamat. Remaining COMsats recorded several small craft being deployed into the gas giant's atmosphere shortly following the invasion, though just as with humanity's efforts, none came back. After several weeks of stubborn study and eradication of human holdouts across the system, the main Covenant fleet left the system. A smaller Covenant presence remained, seemingly intent on continuing their research on the Tiamat anomaly.

In the post-war era, the system remains in disputed territory. It is not along any major spaceways, with most of the colonies beyond having been destroyed, nor has the UNSC made serious attempts to reestablish a foothold as of 2558. Prowler reconnaissance has recorded post-Covenant cultist activity near Tiamat, with at least one ship seemingly making a suicidal dive into the gas giant. Piracy and smuggler activity have been on the rise in that region of space as well, and the mining and industrial facilities of Calvary in particular have been of interest to salvagers.