Thanks to the daring recon mission the 13th Starborne Squadron performed last week on the Tau Ceti system, we now know a great deal about the world the Ceti call home. Though we still lack solid data on Ceti physiology or psychology, this can now be speculated given details about the world and the system in which they live.

Tau Ceti is a type G8 star, close to the size of our own sun but somewhat cooler. Five planets orbit the star: two massive gas giants, each twice the mass of Jupiter; and three smaller, terrestrial worlds. The second and third planets from Tau Ceti both support life. In fact, both worlds seem to support sizable Ceti populations. Whether one of the two worlds was colonized by the Ceti several hundred years ago, or whether intelligent life evolved on both worlds is a question the reconnaisance data cannot answer.

The more populous and advanced of the two worlds is Tau Ceti II, which leads Terran Defense Force strategists to believe that it is the Ceti homeworld. Water is abundant on the world, though nowhere near as abundant as on Earth or Kentaurus Prime. Tau Ceti II is a desert world with cool, dry weather. Its recorded average temperature is 20° C, and its average humidity is about 30%. Vegetation over the planet's surface is sparse, and the mineral content of the world seems poor in comparison to Earth's based on the measurements taken.

Tau Ceti III is more lush, and in fact bears some similarities to Kentaurus Prime. The world's average temperature is 28° C, warmer than Tau Ceti II because of a higher carbon dioxide concentration in the planet's atmosphere. Water and vegetation are far more abundant on Tau Ceti III than on II. The population of Tau Ceti III seems significantly smaller; however the vegetation on this world and the amount of surface area dedicated to Ceti agriculture seems to indicate this is the primary food production world for the Ceti system. Exactly when Tau Ceti III gained this status is uncertain. However, estimates of the Ceti population on Tau Ceti II indicate that as much as a quarter of the planet's four-billion-being population would starve if it did not import food from Tau Ceti III.

At the time of the 13th Starborne's raid, the Tau Ceti system was woefully underdefended--a pullback of forces from the Ceti armada has no doubt rectified this problem, but the damage is already done. In the course of their mission, the 13th Starborne also attacked and destroyed the largest Ceti fleetyard in the system; one of only three fleetyards in the Tau Ceti system. The loss of the fleetyard may drop Ceti production of fleetships and of smaller craft by as much as fifty percent. The 13th Starborne's flight records do indicate a period of fourteen minutes that are tagged at Infrared-level confidentiality; what data is contained within these fourteen minutes, only Admiral Tenaka and the pilots of the 13th Starborne may ever know.