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| ~ Official Description. |
Basquine VIII is one of six planets found in Rigel Sector. Together with Sangis, it was added to the game on June 16th, as the first two planets with the Westfall Forest biome. Additionally, along with Sangis, it was the first planet to ever be the objective of a Campaign, this being the Census Thunder Campaign.
Topography and Astrography
A Super Destroyer, and the 
Democracy Space Station nearby, in orbit over Basquine VIII.
Similar to planets like Sangis, Basquine VIII is a fresh planet of ochre meadows and rolling prairies of amber grass highly similar to those found on the northern portions of Sector 7 of Super Earth during the Autumn. The ondulating hills and valleys of this planet are occasionally interrupted by the occasional shallow creek or small, scenic pond, with the surrounding meadows often having the odd tall rock or small crest, often populated with various odd collections of bushes and shrubberies.
Basquine VIII's climate is fairly stable and does not have any particularly extreme weather, with the only notable occurrence on the planet being occasional periods of light rainfall that barely disrupt visibility, if at all.
The Ochre Woods of Basquine VIII
Being a natural preserve prior to the Second Galactic War, Basquine VIII does not have any Mega Cities or any notable Super Earth infrastructure. However, the planet is still inhabited by a number of Super Earth citizens who managed to build a collection of urban settlements scattered throughout the planet's surface. Besides these settlements, the undeveloped forests of the planet are also sparsely dotted by small detached settler dwellings, frontier camps, farms, broadcast stations, research outposts and 
S.E.A.F. facilities. Additionally, having been part of the 
Illuminate Empire during the First Galactic War, Basquine VIII's surface is home to a number of abandoned Illuminate ruins. However, do remember: Only a traitor is curious about alien artifacts!
Ancient ruins of the Illuminate Empire, unearthed on Basquine VIII
Basquine VIII is the eighth planet in the Basquine System, a binary star system comprised of a blue subgiant and a white giant star. Basquine VIII appears to be orbiting closer to the white giant in the system, though it is still close enough to the blue subgiant that its light illuminates the planet surface at night. Besides Basquine VIII, there are at least seven other astronomical objects in the Basquine system, among which there are an ice giant and a distant yellow exoplanet.
An occupied Urban Settlement in Basquine VIII.
Because of the planet's remoteness and its status as a natural reserve prior to Operation Census Thunder on June 16th, 2186, Basquine VIII doesn't serve any greater strategic purpose in the struggle against the 
Illuminate Cult. While it's proximity to The Void could prove valuable, its lack of significant FTL lines only really gives it short term value.
History
Second Galactic War
Operation Census Thunder
A Helldiver sapping an Illuminate Encampment established within what appears to be the ruins of an ancient Illuminate imperial foyer. June 16th, 2186.
Basquine VIII was, for a long time, a peaceful distant planet far away in the Southern Galactic Fringe. Prior to their defeat in the First Galactic War, it was one of many planets colonized by the Illuminate Empire and would be incorporated into the Federation of Super Earth as a natural preserve. Because of this, combined with the overall remoteness of the Rigel Sector, Basquine VIII would not see much colonization during the Great Democratization, even when nearby planets like Hort and Rirga Bay were already seeing their first Mega Cities starting to flourish.
However, the environmental protection would not keep Basquine VIII safe forever. From within the darkness of space, its former colonizers, the Illuminate, would resurface and lay claim to its natural riches once again. At some point after their resurgence at Calypso on December 2184, the Illuminate would capture Basquine VIII. Due to Basquine VIII being a protected natural reserve however, the local S.E.A.F. garrison received virtually no aid and was completely decimated in a valiant stand against the xenophobic invaders.
A Helldiver operating the M-103 Supply FRV on the meadows of Basquine VIII. June 16th, 2186.
This hideous act of aggression would go uncontested since, as Basquine VIII would not appear on any Super Earth military charts, due to its status as a natural preserve, until June 16th, 2186, when hordes of Voteless were detected emerging out of The Void and towards nearby planets. Because of this, Super Earth would immediately declare the start of Operation Census Thunder, issuing orders to the 
Helldivers to liberate both Basquine VIII and Sangis from the nefarious appendages of the Illuminate, and proceeded to give clearance to all military vessels to deploy towards planets Basquine VIII and Sangis and authorized the deployment of two new variants of the Fast Reconnaissance Vehicle: The M-103 Supply FRV and the M-104 Incinerator FRV, with the Supply FRV being first deployed on Basquine VIII.
A Pelican spaceshuttle flies over an urban settlement recently liberated from the Illuminate. June 16th, 2186.
Because of its distance from an ongoing attack against Karlia and Alaraph, Basquine VIII would see the majority of the Helldiver Fleet and the Democracy Space Station warp onto its surface to liberate it in the name of Managed Democracy.
Because of their time entrenched on the planet however, the Illuminate on Basquine VIII had managed to mount a considerable resistance and would take a considerable amount of manpower to dislodge from the planet. While the campaign progressed smoothly, it would draw away resources from the defenses of Karlia and Alaraph. The Democracy Space Station would activate the Eagle Storm and provide much needed support during the final 12 hours of the campaign on Basquine VIII. By June 18th, at 14:30 SEST, Basquine VIII would have been liberated from the tentacles of the Illuminate, securing the natural preserve once again and allowing the Supply FRV to be deployed fleetwide for the remainder of the operation.
FTL Lines
FTL Timeline
Trivia
- The planet's name seems to be reference to Helldivers 2 Community Manager, Baskinator.