I found this notion from the show to be really stupid.
Just because someone come to my house and burn it down doesn't mean that the land, which I have land title to, is now public domain.
If so I think the act of burning down other people's house so they can steal their land would be a very popular act. lol.
To answer the op.. ask a native american *indian not the pilgrim squatters that came over* :P
One word, Gulanite.
They needed to terraform the planet they would move to so that they could produce Gulanite which is used as the primary power source for all VotTech.
Why would someone destroy a habitable planet?
Ever been around a mine? Or maybe an oil field?
It was clearly stated that the terraforming that was done initially was an accident. "He" is an evil man, some men just want to watch the world burn.
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@KeevanSixx: Thank you for that very specific summary. Like the OP I've had difficulty hammering some of the details of the story. Could you if possible go into more details on the Pale Wars? Also, were all of the Votan races on one planet?