Ardoxia III was originally an uninhabited rock. It lacked an atmosphere, which allowed the planet to be pelted with meteors which collided, unimpeded to its surface. This has left the surface littered with craters of all different sizes. While otherwise uninviting, its cool, solid surface made it and its sister planet, Ardoxia IV, the preferred locations for settlement when the system was first explored. The original settlements were constructed in craters or underground, where they would be safe from the high levels of heat and radiation from the system's large star. As the colonies developed, powerful plasma shield systems were built to both shield the surface from the star and contain a thin, artificial atmosphere that is hospitable to most species.

During their campaign through the Halla sector in Year 21, Ardoxia III was the first planet in the system blockaded by the Tresario Star Kingdom. Because deactivation of the shield system would have been fatal to the many nearly two-billion residents, great care was taken in the eventual subjugation of the planet. The strong shields and abundant stockpiles of food on the planet were some of the major reason why the Ardoxia system was the last to fall in the sector.