Arcturus

Arcturas is a UNSC 'Fortress World', being a major military production, training and forming point, as well as command centre of FLEETCOM Sector 7 and a vital lynch pin in the Hadre-Karida Plan.

Ecosystem
Arcturas is most unusual in that it is not a temperate world, unlike many mass colonised by the UEG. The world has a colder than usual climate, with its ecosystem being comparable to to the 55th parallel north on earth. The temperate is often cold, rainy and windy. Despite this, further to the north pole of the world there are artic areas and more amazing yet, towards the south pole there are arid desert regions. This diverse and rough world makes it perfect for training UNSC forces in all combat aspects and the numerous near abandoned towns, abandoned during the first failed colonisation.

One curious element of the ecosystem is the Arcturas Wolf. Arcturas Wolves are descended from common dogs abandoned on the colony in the 2300s and have since 'devolved', though that term is not entirely accurate. Over time the common dogs interbred and survived on the harsh world and features akin to Earth Wolves began to reemerge and gradually, a creature akin to the Wolf evolved. These 'Arcturas Wolves' are now a apex predator, living as a pack animal that hunt the wild Grand Horns, large, well defended and aggressive bovine like creatures. Arcturas Wolves are comparable in size, disposition and fearsomeness to the extinct Canis Dirus, also known as the Dire Wolf. Since recolonisation some have been domesticated and they can in fact be bred with common dogs. They have been employed by the UNSC as tracking dogs and have proved paticularly useful in combatting Synth and Zombie infiltration.

History
While originally colonised as a 'first wave world', along with others like Reach, it was soon abandoned as a 'dead end'. The vast and unchartable gap between the Orion Arm and the Sagittarius Arm prevented any further colonisation from here and it was soon abadoned. However, with improvement to slipspace travel and navigation technology post Great War, Arcturas became a viable 'hopping point' for colonising these worlds. As a result, it was recolonised and became a major military zone for escorting the new wave colonists.

Great War
Due to its distance from Covenant territory, and indeed Human territory, it never saw any action.

Remnant War
During the Remnant uprising, the world became a a major military zone and also home of Camp Sparta. From here, it used its position as a centre point of mineral mining and refinery to become a major production world and sent out legions of freshly trained and armed troops.

Necros War
During the Necros War, Arcturas continued its duty as a military staging area and continued to send troops to the front. It also acted as the staging area for OPERATION: REDEMPTION. However, even after the Gundark Pocket was relieved, Arcturas came under attack by the Necros fleet designated Devastator.