There were usually numerous of factors to consider when choosing a planet to claim. One would mostly speak of air to breath as the major factor which was probably correct.
The process of conquering a planet usually took in the least two to three months. This was mainly because during the first month, they had to tour the whole planet and study its composition.
This included the gases present in the atmosphere, the gravitational pull, the terrain, the availability of resources; water was major component. It would be a shame if after they tried to get water into the planet by planting trees that the gases would swallow it all.
This was just one of the reasons. Even if the gases could be purified to match the required state, it was usually not as successful. Sometime, the atmospheric gases would fail to react.
This occured in cases where the four major gases were not produced after the reaction. If this was the case, then there was no easy way they could conquer the planet and it could only be flagged as a danger zone.
Though, technologically speaking, biotechnicians had invented suits. These suits were designed in the same way as After Entropy as they called it. These suits could merge with the user and they usually had special respiratory function.
This function was where one would intake the air of the current Planet even though it was not suitable. Inside the lungs, it would be converted into oxygen.
This was a breakthrough but it was not usually possible in every planet. In some cases, it would be impossible to convert the gases into oxygen as expected. At such, the system was fitted with emergeny alert.
The creator of the systems had considered this possibility and had come up with a counter measure. The system usually had a back up air pack that lasted for six hours before it was depleted.
Within these hours, one had to find a way to get back to their planet. These six hours were if one did not do any exhausting activty. If one encountered a battle, the time would be halfed.
This was to mean that during the first month when the planet was under survey, it was not necessarily compulsory to send drones or satellites. More importantly, it was better to send humans especially the youths to survey these areas for exposure and experience.
These youths usually were given the suits. These suits were similar to the one Marx had but Marx's was the original prototype. The youths were given a one month timer to study the planet and come up with ways to counter it.
In cases where the system could not convert the gases into oxygen, it was high time to send drones and satellites to study these places. In most cases, these planets were usually never conquered.
The other factor that was considered befoe conquering a planet was time flow. What was the use of conquering a planet, stay there for ten minutes and come back home ten years later?
The first case of this phenomenal shook the heads of the space exploration units to the core. It was usually a great fall to lose these geniuses and if one lost elites, they would end up in dire situations.
The youths had even been forgotten about and after they came back ten years later, they explained everything to their higher ups and this factor was brought into consideration.
After time factor matched, the planet could be said to be close to conquering. One had to remember that not all planets conquered were habited. At most, only fifty planets were habited.
The other factor considered in the terrain was the amount and type of gases released from the ground. It would be washing chicken's feet if they cleared the air of a planet but the ground released the same gases back into the atmosphere returning it to its original composition.
When it was decided that its air was safe it was then the elites were sent into the planet for exploration in the first month. Here, they encountered numerous dangers and had to survive them all. In some cases, it was a life and death situation.
Fighting creatures that could be termed as impossible existences. The great news was that since they all had suits, they had access to numerous weapons that were destructive. More destructive than what Marx could currently use.
These were elites. Their stats were rated out of ten. Once one's stats were above 5, it had no harm saying that they were now geniuses. These geniuses underwent various battles and finally after one month, they would head back.
This period could be extended if they failed to clear an expected range of distance. In minimum, these youths were supposed to clear 5 kilometer radius. The number of youths usually ranged upto 20.
After these youths left, there would come a second group that did not involve itself in close combat. These were the youths in charge of claiming the planet. Conquering planets was usually a competition. There were known top ten conquerors and it was everyones dream to join them.
To claim a planet, the team had to build a station on the planet. Conquering a planet earned one millions of points but there was another dangerous conquering that earned billions of points.
Conquering a planet that was a danger zone was ultimately winning billions of points. One could ask how the points were awarded but the process was ingrained into the suit's system.
If one conquered a danger zone planet, they would automatically be awarded billions of points. The top ten were leading each with trillions of points. Most of them each fought for danger zone planets but not all were granted to the youths.
These were usually taken by adults...
***
Sitting across a table was a hooded figure. It was difficult to tell her gender from a single glance. The person closed the book they had been reading quickly slamming it on the table.
The gender had been revealed. It was a she. She stood up her hands on the table revealing what she was wearing. One could mistake it that she was only wearing the heavy black hooded sweater.
The sweater reached to her thighs close to he knees. It was obvious she was probably wearing a very short short. Her shoes were just a pair of balck slides and black ankle socks. Pushing the chair with the back of her legs attracted the attention of those who were busy studying.
She then walked from her seat and went to the shelves and started looking for a book. One could wonder why books with the ban of paper? The answer was simple; The ban of paper had existed for a few hundred years after Earth set out to explore outer world.
But during one meeting, the Emperor suddenly lifted the ban. He gave his reasons and those present agreed. Thus of the fifty habitable planets, one was a forested planet with a population of no more than a thousand.
This planet became the source of papers. One could have expected books to meet high resistance but they had not. It was the first time for 99.99% of the population seeing books.
Curiosity killed the cat and this nailed it. Their curiosity was driven towards this new invention. Everyone thought that it was an invention. The books were highly accepted and the use of computers to store most of the learning resources reduced.
Book became used in schools as the main medium of education. It was even realized that books were better in teaching than the use of computers. What even excited them most was the ability to write.
Many people were used to holding weapons and had a hard time holding pens. But after a century, it became obvious that the use of computers in learning institutes had decreased.
Books became widespread and there were now city libraries. The girl was currently in one of them. She finally landed her eyes on a book with a blue hard cover. She pulled it and on it, she saw a blue planet with shades of white around it.
Its title proudly stood out: EARTH. She picked the book and went back to her seat. She pulled the chair closer to the table dragging it on the floor. This once again caused stares to land towards her but she did not even glance at them as of they were not worthy of her eyes and opened the hard cover which hit the table causing a noise that attracted stares but she did not even seem to notice.
One could say that the reason not many knew about Earth was due to their ignorance. Earth's information was in the internet but no one cared about it. No one even searched about it. After it was printed, it was probably the first time the book was being opened.
Also, the location of this planet had been lost in time. Even as she read about it, it brought her not much of excitement. It was just a desserted planet. What the book did not mention was that it was the original habitable planet.
One could wonder the reason for her to read this book. But the fact was simple. She had just joined a major exploration faction and, she was being used as an errand girl. This explained her anger.
She read through the infromation and finally she finished. She then pushed the chair with the back of her legs and caused a disturbance. All eyes fell on her once again. Even the librarian came at her but she brushed by her.
The female librarian wearing a white blouse and black skirt watched helplessly as the girl left. In this city, it was seeking death if one went offending everyone. Especially the mysterious ones, it was better to let them do as they wished.
The girl pushed the door open. The doors were 180⁰ thus they opened outwards and closed after her, opening inwards. Luckily they did not have any noise but that moment of distraction irritated everyone. She walked out and started heading in her left direction...