Cel is one of the many agri-worlds that feed Askellon, but it is one of the most renowned for the succulent meat it provides to the wealthy across the sector. Over long millennia, a pyramidal system has come into being that provides much, though not all, of the sector’s needs, with different tiers of agri-worlds in an interstellar food chain and Cel at the top.
At the lowest tier of the sector’s agri-worlds are over two dozen planets set aside for the production of crude plankton-like life. Artificial seas of slime cover the surfaces of each world. When the bloom reaches the height of its life cycle, it is siphoned off into huge fermentation tanks of unimaginable size. Crane-like structures rearing dozens of kilometres into the upper atmosphere pump the processed contents of these vats to waiting tanker vessels, before the contents are shipped to the second tier of agri-worlds.
The second tier consists of planets given over to the production of a variety of primitive flora. The material shipped in from the first tier agri-worlds is sprayed across continent-wide fields, where it serves as feed to fuel the growth of these crops. Many of these agri-worlds are populated by Ratlingss, a diminutive class of abhuman known for their skilful fieldcraft as well as their bucolic indolence. When harvested, the second tier crops are shipped out to feed the third tier, half a dozen planets on which millions-strong herds of grazer beasts are raised for the sole purpose of providing food for the planet at the apex of the pyramid, Cel itself.
The surface of Cel is one endless, bone-strewn plain across which wander beasts the size of Warlord Titans known as Mhoxen. These creatures are believed to have been created by Askellon’s founders using technologies long lost to Mankind, and they represent the most bountiful source of protein in the entire sector. Mountains of blubber with enormous, teeth-ringed mouths, Mhoxen are fed on entire herds of the transported grazer beasts. When they achieve their full size, roughly two thousand tonnes, the Mhoxen are herded for slaughter. Squadrons of armoured walkers armed with electro-prod lances drive the gigantic beasts towards the grinder-gates of the yawning meat processing plants situated across the world’s surface. Their meat is rendered into a wide variety of forms, then shipped off to all corners of the sector
Mhoxen flesh is highly prized for its supremely delectable flavour, a taste so exquisite it borders on addictive. It is said that wars have been fought at the rumour of a shortage, but fortunately such a situation has never befallen the sector. It would take the disruption of several entire planets to interfere with the process significantly. Should that happen, however, the entire pyramid could crumple, and billions of souls would starve or be reduced to cannibalism simply to survive.