Eridanus II (EpicZealot1239)

"Eridanus II was beautiful colony, it was economic, commerce, agricultural, and industrial center in the Outer Colonies and it was also where I was born. The First Battalion, Seventh Regiment, Eighth Marine Brigade, First Marine Division was originally assigned to the Eridanus II Garrison for about a year then the Covenant came, glassed and screwed up my home."

Captain Parisa Hill on the Colony of Eridanus II

Eridanus II is a Unified Earth Government Outer Colony located in the Eridanus system and was one of the UEG's breadbasket, industrial, economic, and resort worlds. The UEG outer colony was mostly rural, devoid of overpopulation, pollution, the colony is also a haven for terrorist, pirates, and rebel activity in the Outer Colonies and by 2530 the colony was home to about 6 billion human colonists. There was a Forerunner city and several relics on the planet.

Pre-Colonization
The planet was colonized by the Forerunners before the Forerunner-Flood War and only had one city on the surface which had about around 6 thousand colonists which were all infected by the Flood and the city was reduced to ruins by the Pre-Halo Firing humans to prevent the Flood from leaving the planet. The remaining Flood was destroyed by the Halos. Over the next millennia, the city would be over taken by nature and would be rediscovered by both the UNSC and the Covenant during the Battle of Eridanus II.

Colonization
The planet was discovered by humanity in the 2290s and in the early 2440s the Unified Earth Government made plans to colonize the planet the first wave of colony ships were sent to the Eridanus system in 2440. The first colonists reached the planet on April 19th, 2441, these colonists were of Southern European, Japanese, and Pacific Islander descent. The colonists then built Elysium City which quickly became the planetary capital, the colonists continued to build the more settlements: New Fiji, New Nagasaki, New Hiroshima, and New Arcadia. On December 7th, 2441 the second wave of colony ships arrived on the colony.