Oceanus

"Oceanus cannot be owned; it can only be visited. Let us be polite guests."

- Maraĵa Eller

Oceanus was a small human colony world notable for 90% of its surface being water. Its few landmasses are a collection of archipelagos. It was terraformed in 2368 for use as an agriculture world. Upon discovery of indigenous life and evidence of past alien civilization, however, the planet was declared a nature preserve. Strict laws were put in place to keep corporations from polluting the world, damaging the Oceanus farm and fishing industry. The planet became a haven for xenoarcheologists and followers of the religion Bela seeking spiritual enlightenment. In 2532, the planet was attacked by the Covenant Empire in the Battle of Oceanus, resulting the planet's eventual glassing.

Etymology
The Latinized word Oceanus comes from the Greek Okeanos. In Greek mythology, Okeanos was a primeval god, one of the basic components of the universe that emerged at its creation. The source of all fresh water, Okeanos was the personification of a great river believed to surround the world. The planet was named after this figure because of its vast ocean.

Neev
The planet was originally settled on by the Neev species, who built several structures on the island landmasses. There is no evidence that they altered the planet's atmosphere to closer resemble their homeworld, suggesting that pre-terraformed Oceanus was suitable for their physiology or that they wore environment suits. They left during a series of violent volcanic eruptions, abandoning their settlements to the elements. What became of the Neev is unknown; however, it is speculated by some that they encountered the Covenant and were among the many victims of the Covenant's genocidal Prophets.

Humanity
The planet was among the first candidates of terraformation after its discovery in 2147 as an ocean planet, but it was not until 2335 that terraformation was undertaken. Because of the lack of suitable landmasses to supporting terraformation machines, the UNSC commissioned Diana Lindle to develop aerial atmospheric processors. Automated processors capable of spaceflight were sent from Reach to Oceanus, where they descended into the atmosphere and converted its gasses into Earth standard. Following the introduction of a breathable atmosphere, the Oceanus archipelagos were settled by humanity.

Post-Colonization
The civilization of Oceanus was motivated by the farm and fishing industry. Corporations such as EFAL and Slazak Co. saw Oceanus as a great investment and sent workers to the planet to seed the ocean. The companies' presence encouraged population growth. This was halted, however, when it was discovered that Oceanus had its own ecosystem with millions of diverse species in the depths of the ocean. Not wanting the introduced Earth animals to disrupt the Oceanus ecosystem, the UEG passed laws restricting farms to within 10km of the islands. Upon discovery of Neev remains, further laws were passed to restrict development of island cities. The big corporations that once drove the Oceanus economy decided that the endeavor was becoming too costly and pulled out. The Oceanus citizens adapted to the change, however, and created new wealth out of the tourism industry that rose up after news of the Neev became widely publicized. What was once a society built around agriculture transformed into one built around study of the Neev.

A century later, interest in the Neev started to wane and the tourist industry went with it. While scientific institutions continued to study the Neev, the decline of the tourist market negatively impacted their effectiveness. The local capitalists tried to revitalize the industry by changing their focus from the Neev to the natural wonders of Oceanus, such as by offering submarine rides through the schools of indigenous fish and other wildlife. Though hurt, the Oceanus economy began to recover.

When the Insurrection took place in 2494, however, the economy crashed. No one wanted to travel to a far-off destination for tourism when suicide bombers were cropping up everywhere. The Oceanus society became stricken with poverty. Everyone who could afford it left Oceanus in hope of finding work elsewhere, leaving only the poorest citizens to work the kelp farms. With the farms being the main source of income, the restrictive farming laws laid in place over a century ago to limit big business became a noose to choke the citizens of Oceanus. From this emerged a trend of pro-Insurrectionist thought. Blame was placed on the UEG for restricting the growth of Oceanus, and discussion of where the loyalties of the Oceanus people truly lay began to be openly debated. Fearing an armed revolt, the Colonial Administration Authority contacted the Colonial Military Administration to come and restore order. The sight of military forces on their islands did not intimidate the Oceanus people into submission, however, and served only to heighten the tension. Before open hostilities were initiated, the people were calmed by the emergence of a new religion called Bela, from the Esperanto word bela for beauty.

Oceanus native Maraĵa Eller, the first to practice Bela, published her autobiography in 2502. In it, she described her spiritual beliefs, which she believed to be a discovery rather than a creation. From these writings came the new religion Bela. While Eller described a feminine god at the heart of her belief system, she left the god's role vague enough that many felt comfortable adapting Bela to their previously held spiritual beliefs in a masculine god, many gods, or none at all. A versatile religion, Bela inspired hope and love among the weary people of Oceanus, keeping the peace for many decades.