The beacon
Drakonus B had been kept secret. Fifty years after the execution, an older Knight returned out of regret and revived those he had killed, including Mr. BoVine. The restored life signal reactivated the beacon.
Cowdonia followed that signal to retrieve Mr. BoVine. What began as a recovery became a long occupation focused on the planet’s resources, ruins, Light Energy, and the force later called Corruption.
Occupation and research
Cowdonia seized the Stronghold through a drilled breach and established facilities across the region: volcanic, oceanic, forest, agricultural, containment, and Corruption research sites connected by towers and transmissions.
The research expanded even as containment failed. At the new Corruption Energy Development Facility, the prisoner Henry deliberately detonated explosives, killed twenty executives, and released Corruption through the site. The blast severed an active transmission with Dr. Tali at the Mako facility.
Departure
The final Cowdonia team left Drakonus B in 21,400 D.E. Facilities, cryostasis chambers, records, experiments, and powered systems remained behind.
One year later, the first Settlers entered the same region without fully understanding what had survived beneath it.